Azalea no Shinzou

Chapter 7

Before Going To The Island / Orange

—

“The ocean is pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, pretty, isn’t it?”

As they headed to the pier, the two walked along the top of the sea barrier, as if crossing a single log bridge.

“The ocean is like Mother, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s like Mother.”

“Are you tired?”

“No, I’m not tired.”

They watched the bus that came along the road heading towards the pier.

The two of them have always been together. However, neither of them could remember for how long. Even without having any proof, they felt certain that they’d been together since birth. It was almost as if they had never experienced the moment they’d been born in the first place. The two of them felt the exact same way, even without voicing it out loud.

“Do you remember Mother?”

“I don’t remember her.”

They tapped the ground with the branches they’d picked up while walking.

They always did the same thing. They felt connected in a way that couldn’t be expressed in words, to the point that it felt wrong to do something different than the other.

“Then, I’ll become your mother.”

“I’ll become your mother too.”

“That’d be weird.”

“Yeah, it would be.”

“I give birth to you, and then you give birth to me—-”

“You give birth to me, and then I give birth to you.”

“That’s weird.”

That night, they did different things for the first time. One of them did something that the other couldn’t, and the other accepted that.

—–

Orange

A universal farewell song.

It is a very noble thing to let go of someone and wish for their happiness, but it is also a lonesome thing to do.