Kyuuketsu Hime wa Barairo no Yume o Miru

I met the kid when I worked for a local supermarket on a short-term job.

Is it like junior high?

Bright white skin on chestnut hair, neutral face, thin body of lines.

Beautiful boy, at first glance.

I doubted my ears when I was told later that I had recently graduated from secondary school and was currently seeking a major examination in telecommunications education.

"Height, hair color, it's just malnutrition."

When I first joked about the words I said with such mockery - I had no basis in this modern society for assuming that it should not be - it was not long after I found out that apparently it was true.

He was such a prominent looking kid that he had a number of part-time buddies who spoke with interest, but while lovingly answering, he felt somewhat intimate to the way he was drawing the line somewhere, and no one was ever more aggressive to speak to him, but he was floating in the opposite wind that he was no longer bothered.

Well, on the contrary, I was interested in talking more and more when I was free, on my lunch break, on my way home, etc.

"You're weird, too."

Because the money was wasted, and when I convinced him to go home reluctantly, the fast food store I invited him to - as the saying goes, he ordered the cheapest set - and I twisted my neck when he told me to face it.

"- Right?"

"That's right. Most of the time I read the air and it's not close to me, but hey."

"Uh-huh, maybe when they say that, but I'm interested. Because there's no one around me who's as young as you and yet obsessed with it."

"It's typical to kill a curiosity cat. You are. Well, in a way, I appreciate that vitality."

Then we talked about it with no reticence either (or even though it was a pattern where I asked the question unilaterally and he answered it in a nasty way).

Being alone with the loss of my parents.

That I've been working part-time in that supermarket for two years at the mouth of an identity guarantor.

Must be studying for a big exam in the library on the day off.

My hobby is that it's an online game.

"Hmm, that's a brilliant nerdy life."

"Leave me alone, we're wearing each other's masks. The internet's easier for us to do without the slightest hint of a relationship."

I told him that story and it was from me that I forced him to invite him home, so I tried to pay for his share with him, but I couldn't get him to accept all this stubbornly.

"I hate these loans. I'll pay for myself."

"Nothing. To this extent, I don't think I owe it either. Mostly because I asked you out, don't you owe me one first?

"You're not," he affirmed in a cold tone somewhere. "In any case, it's better to give money a spiritual advantage."

Every opportunity we had since, we enjoyed tea and chatting on our way home (well, maybe I was the only one who enjoyed it, but he didn't hate it because he dated me, too).

Considering his nostalgia of having no money though, it was convenience store coffee every time, or can juice on a park bench.

As I talked to him a few times, I gradually saw his private parts as well.

"Well, I was so wealthy when I was born, and my parents with social status adored me, but before I turned 10, I was lightly in an accident."

"I guess it wasn't long after that. A kindred relative who thought he was a sweet grandparent or relative wanted to stop by and take away his parents' house and property."

"So, I was eventually taken to the house of my uncle and his wife, who have one older cousin, and then this is a common story, and it's not a physical and mental abuse. I haven't even grown tall since I was 13."

"I just couldn't stand it, and I even complained to the school and the police and stuff, well... it's obvious which way the administration listens, not least with my uncle, who has more social status and community honor than the kids say. And then the abuse got worse."

"There's only one older cousin who came here. When you're in middle school, you'll notice the color, right? So, as you can see, in addition to physical and mental abuse, sexual abuse is starting to add up."

"Well, I was ignorant about my fortune and stuff, and I deserved it in a way, but at the end of the day, I had to protect myself and my life."

"I ran away from home and the caseworker picked me up by accident. Sometimes these days, it's been such abuse, violence and social problems, and I think it feels like they're taking me to a shelter and I'm still here."

"Oh, I don't think I'm miserable or unhappy, there are people in the world who are born with difficulty, and if you look around the world, nearly 70% of them struggle with the water they drink that day."

"Yeah, nothing. I don't think my relatives or uncle were all bad guys. There is no fraternity or selfless love in this world, I guess it was sweet of me to expect people to think and act like they were convenient."

"Or is there a good guy or a bad guy? Until my parents died that day, they were good men to me, and they must still be good men from other people."

"That's why you said you were obsessed with me. I'm just a coward."

Before long, he died in an accident.

After that, they also finished the online game that he was playing a lot in no time. Originally, as a company, I ran it for five years, but I managed to read in online writing about the recent decision to abolish online gaming away.

I don't know if his funeral took place or where it was buried.

So today, a year after the accident, I put down a bouquet of red roses that I said I liked him at his accident scene and gently put my hands together.

"I like roses, especially red roses. You know, they plant roses in vineyards that make wine in France or something. Because roses are so vulnerable to disease, hey, they've been doing that for a long time instead of alerting me about whether or not they can get sick first. Aren't you healthy trying to protect yourself with thorns even though you're so weak?

That's what he was like as a rose.

I guess you knew. Red rose flower words are 'passion' and 'affection'.

You said you don't believe in love with your mouth, but you really wanted to, didn't you?

I can't hear the answer to that anymore, but I loved you.