A cemetery stood on a small hill in the suburbs. My aunt and uncle had chosen this spot for my parents’ grave, deciding that a place with such a beautiful view was only right.
It was a place I had visited more times than I could count—ever since I was a child.
—Dear Mom, Dear Dad. Today was my birthday. Uncle and Aunt both wished me a happy birthday, but I didn't feel happy at all... Why? I wonder what's wrong with me.
As I walked slowly through the graveyard, I heard a young voice. I saw the back of a translucent little boy. He held a diary in his hands, its pages wrinkled from tears, and he was reading it aloud to the headstone as if he were giving a presentation in class.
Looking back, I don't think I truly grasped the reality of my parents’ deaths at that age.
I had convinced myself that Mom and Dad had simply gone to a far-off place where I couldn't easily see them, but that they would return someday. That was why I started keeping a diary—I wrote in it as if I were writing letters to them.
Before I knew it, it became a habit, and I began starting every entry with "Dear."
—Dear Mother, Dear Father. I played an online game today. I met a beginner named Hibis, and I've decided to show him the ropes. Yes, our meeting was certainly...
Walking a bit further, I saw another translucent figure. This one was older, somewhere between a boy and a young man. He held a thick diary and read it to the grave, page by weary page.
The length of my daily entries had ballooned by then. Indeed, I wrote in that diary whenever I had a spare moment. I recorded everything that came to mind, from trivial conversations to my deepest anxieties.
I suppose I had mostly played online games just to have something interesting to tell them.
That was likely why, even though I must have played quite intensely, I didn't feel like much had left a strong impression on me, other than my memories with Hibis... with Aoi.
—Dear Mother, Dear Father. I passed my university entrance exams. I didn't have any particular goals or dreams, so I ended up choosing a school nearby. Mother, you were a person with so many dreams, weren't you? I still remember that little notebook where you wrote down everything you wanted to achieve. But I just can't seem to find a dream of my own. I have nothing I want, nothing I want to do... even as my body grows into an adult, I'm still carrying this hollow feeling in my chest.
I saw a figure kneeling before the grave, reading from an open diary as if in conversation. It was me, from only a short while ago. Seeing it objectively like this made everything clear.
I hadn't accepted their deaths at all. I had written stacks upon stacks of diaries. Every time I finished a volume, I would come to this cemetery and read every single page to the headstone.
Even though I should have known long ago that I would never get an answer.
I was afraid. I was terrified that if I stopped writing, my memories of Mom and Dad would fade away. That was why I kept writing those diaries—those letters to the dead. Even though my days were stagnant and repetitive, I kept writing.
—The Otherworld Was Peaceful.
However, starting just one year ago, color began to bleed into the diary entries that had once been so empty.
—The Story Began.
Truly, it was as if a stopped clock had finally begun to tick—slowly, yet with absolute clarity.
—Being Able to Depend on Someone...
Yes, there had been a catalyst. Someone had reached out and taken my hand.
—I Fell in Love.
And yet, I was the one who chose to keep walking.
—Getting Closer to Kuro...
I wondered when it had started. The time when I couldn't finish writing about my day because there simply wasn't enough time to fit it all in.
—I Think It's a Happy Thing.
I wondered when it had started. The time when I began to spend less and less time writing in my diary.
—From Friends to Lovers.
I wondered when it was. The moment when writing in that diary started to make me feel nostalgic rather than desperate.
—I Want to Protect This Smile.
Before I knew it, Mom and Dad had finally become memories.
—I Was Able to Say I'm Home.
I wasn't supposed to have anything I wanted. I wasn't supposed to have any dreams.
—Because Our Hearts are Connected.
But in the otherworld, I found something precious. I found a treasure.
—I Intend to Live in This World.
My eyes, which had been fixed solely on the past, were now looking toward the future.
—I Think It's Because I Seized It with My Own Power.
The things I hold dear have increased until I can no longer carry them all, and the future I desire grows brighter every day.
—Because I Think I Became Stronger.
Even so, that lingering weight in my heart had remained until now.
—I Guess You'd Call It a Bond.
It was something I had to face eventually. But for a long time, I couldn't find the courage to stand before it.
—I Can Stand Without Kneeling.
I received so much. I was touched by an immeasurable kindness. I remembered how to find the courage to move forward.
So, yeah. I'm okay now. I’m ready to face the past I’ve spent so long running from.
The phantom voices faded into silence as I reached my destination.
I knew what was waiting there. When the inhabitants of this virtual world had been replaced by black zombies, two people had suddenly vanished.
There could be no one else waiting for me here.
"...Mom. Dad."
At the sound of my voice, the two figures standing before the grave slowly turned around. They were wearing gentle, warm smiles.
"...Kaito, shall we go home?"
"Yeah. Let's go back to the house together, Dad and Mom."
I knew they would say that. Even so, the small, wounded child hidden deep in my heart let out a tiny cry. It told me to reach out, to take their hands and go with them.
"Everything is here. I'm here, your father is here, and you're here. Isn't that enough? You don't have to struggle anymore. You can just stay in this happy dream forever."
"...If you're worried about the past, Kaito, we can ask Shallow Vernal-sama to turn back time. Back to that day, before the accident... and then the three of us can start over as a family. I know we'll be happy."
Their words were so sweet, so kind. If I were the person I used to be, I would have thrown everything away and seized their hands in a heartbeat.
Even after coming to the otherworld and being saved by Kuro, the thought "if only Mom and Dad were here" had crossed my mind more than once.
To start everything over... that was the miracle I had desperately wanted for so long.
"...Mom. Dad."
I could give up. I didn't have to fight anymore. If I took their hands, a world of happy dreams would be mine.
"...I'm sorry."
But I couldn't take those hands.
"I have people who are precious to me. People who are waiting for me to come back, people I absolutely refuse to lose. So... I can't go with you."
"..."
"..."
"...Even if it's only a dream, I'm so glad I got to see you again. I was truly happy. Even now—no, forever—I love you both. I’m truly, deeply happy that I was born as your son."
Tears spilled from my eyes, but I kept moving forward. I passed between them and spoke the words I hadn't been able to say back then.
"...So, goodbye... Mom. Dad."
A farewell I had never voiced. A choice for my future made with absolute resolve. Immediately after I spoke, I felt two hands touch my back.
"...Eh?"
I knew whose hands they were. But they weren't trying to pull me back. Instead, they gave me a gentle, firm push forward.
"...That's right, Kaito. That’s my boy! That’s the son I’m so proud of!"
"Hey now, he's 'our' son, isn't he? But really... you've grown into a fine man."
"...Mom? Dad?"
I turned around in surprise. There stood my parents, enveloped in particles of light just as Arisa and the others had been, wearing radiant smiles.
"Kaito, there is only one trial left. It will be a difficult one... but I know you'll see it through!"
"Yes. Go now, Kaito. Go back to the people who love you..."
Their figures began to dissolve into light, starting from their feet.
"Kaito, I've always loved you. Thank you for being my son, and for growing up so well."
"We can only give you a little push... but I'm glad we could finally act like parents, even if it was just for a moment."
"!?"
Mom gave me a strong thumbs-up, and Dad gave me a gentle wave. Then, both of them vanished into particles of light at the same time.
"...Thank you. I’m going now."
I left them behind, carrying only the warm, powerful sensation of their hands against my back.
Serious-senpai: "...That was a rare episode where Kaito actually felt like a proper protagonist, even after all these chapters."
Mystery Entity: "Shut it, you pseudo-serious hag. Why are you butting into Kaito-san's emotional scene? Keep your mouth shut or I'll kill you, got it?"
Serious-senpai: "How unreasonable!?"