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悔恨
| category | story | ending | Body | bond level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MaiAihara's Story | 悔恨 | 悔恨 |
The sun shined brilliantly outside the meditation room, but a thick shadow was cast in the courtyard under the shelter of the fence. An old man stood in the darkness with a key held tightly in his grasp. The building behind him in the inner shrine was exceptionally sturdy. According to legend, it was once a warehouse for storing valuables. The thick and icy door shook constantly as Mai banged on it from the other side. "Open the door... Open the door! Grandpa! Please let me out! I promised I would go and say goodbye!" "Like I said before, you must train today..." The old man knew one of his granddaughter's friends from school was moving away today, and he also understood that adults should respect the promises that children make to each other. But at the same time, the Aihara family wasn't like ordinary families. To the old man, his granddaughter's mission to inherit the Temple of Moons as its heir, like many others had before her, was the most important, so she must not neglect her training for even one day. "I've never thought of running away from my training! I just want to go and say goodbye, or even just have a look at my friend! Grandpa, I'm begging you! I... soon I'll never be able to see her again!" "No." The old man believed his granddaughter, but he couldn't let her become used to this. "Once a precedent is set, this type of situation will just keep recurring... You'll meet many people in the future. Will you neglect your mission for them every time this happens?" The knocking stopped. After a while, faint sobbing could be heard behind the door. The old man closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he was too strict, and that he didn't need to be like this... but he was overwhelmed by the medical report he received from the doctor. He didn't have much time left, yet there was still much to do... He glanced at the sweet osmanthus in the courtyard, a tree he and his daughter planted together for commemorative reasons. "If only you're still here..." The moment this thought flashed through his head, the old man felt that his despicableness was ridiculous. His daughter was also once an obedient child who trained with him to inherit the shrine. But in the end, he found out that her "obedience" was only his wishful thinking because she abandoned her baby daughter Mai, and left the Aihara family, never to return. He still remembered the last words she said to him... "I don't care about the mission. I want to live my own life, father." Don't care about the mission? How absurd. The people of the Aihara family take pride in performing their duties every generation. This is the way of life of the Aihara family. "Uwaaa... I have always trained hard... Is nothing important compared to becoming a priestess?" The crying of his granddaughter reminded the old man of the anger, disappointment, and regret he had suppressed at the bottom of his heart. "I... I don't care about this mission... Uwaaa... I don't want to train anymore! I want to live life the way I want to! Grandpa!" He didn't want to acknowledge that emotion as it was equivalent to denying the meaning of his life and the existence of the Aihara family. "... G-Grandpa?! Can Mai... go out?" By the time he came to his senses, he had opened the door. After watching his granddaughter leave in a hurry, the old man squatting under the sweet osmanthus stared blankly at the air in front of him. In a trance, he seemed to see creamy yellow petals sprinkled on top of his head. This isn't the right season for the sweet osmanthus to bloom. He understood that everything in front of him was just an illusion. Regardless of his hopes, the daughter he had always missed would no longer come to him wearing the ceremonial overcoat cherished by his beloved late wife. Those were his fondest memories. That year, his daughter danced gracefully, smiling like a flower, at the coming-of-age ceremony... "Father... I... I'm growing up..." "Yes... You and Mai have both grown up..." Perhaps aging really does change a person. The old man suddenly had the urge to put down his obsession with the mission for the happiness of his granddaughter. He couldn't change what had already happened, but at least he can avoid making the same mistake again. |
絆レベル2 |
