Return.

Blue-Eyed Child: “Hic, sob… I’m sorry, I-I’m sorry…”

Brown-Haired Man: “Why… Are you crying…? It’s alright…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “B-But there’s so much blood… It’s all my fault…” 

Brown-Haired Man: “Fufu… It’s not— your fault. Today just… Happens to be the day that… I…” 

Brown-Haired Man: “…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “No…! Please, wake up! Wake up…!”

???: “Goodness… What terrible injuries…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “Ah…! Who are you…?”

Purple-Haired Man: “There are an infinite number of answers one could give to the question of ‘who’, but… I suppose as of the current moment the correct response would be that I am a friend of that dying man there.”

Blue-Eyed Child: “You’re… This man’s friend…? I’m so sorry! He’s dying and it’s all my fault, I…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “What should I do? I want to help, I-I’ll do anything, please tell me…”

Purple-Haired Man: “There’s nothing to be done.”

Blue-Eyed Child: “What…?”

Purple-Haired Man: “He’ll be dead soon. There’s nothing you can do.”

Blue-Eyed Child: “N-No…”

Purple-Haired Man: “There’s nothing I can do for him now, either. Perhaps if I’d gotten here even slightly sooner we might’ve been able to exchange a few words, but…”

Purple-Haired Man: “Well, he’s going to die regardless.”

Blue-Eyed Child: “Die…?”

Blue-Eyed Child: “So, then… We’ll never get to see this man again…?”

Purple-Haired Man: “Indeed. Such is the way of the world.”

Blue-Eyed Child: “…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “No… I don’t want that… I didn’t even get to say thank you for saving my life…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “…Please, God… I’ll do anything…”

Blue-Eyed Child: “Please, I just want to see this man one more time…”

Purple-Haired Man: “…”

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

…I can hear the sound of something nostalgic around me.

Shoes walking back and forth across the hard ground; the commotion of people passing each other by.

These are sounds that I once used to hear every day. They’re sounds that, at some point, I stopped hearing entirely…

And I can smell something nice, too. A sweet, almost transient floral smell… Surely, this has to be…

Akira: “Mnngh…”

Akira: “I must have fallen asleep… Where am I…?”

As I blinked sluggishly, trying to make sense of things, the previously quiet murmur of the crowd around me suddenly became overwhelming with sound and noise.

People discussing things in hushed voices. People arguing in angry voices, only to suddenly turn into raucous laughter.

People wearing suits smoking things that left a purple haze in their wake, their eyes sharp and their backs all hunched over. Walking briskly past me on both sides of my body.

Akira: “Ah— Sorry…”

Flustered, I hurried to get to the side of the road and out of everyone’s way. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a fluttering, dancing something gently falling to the ground.

Akira: (Is that… A petal?)

Looking up, I saw many light pink flowers blooming overhead, weaving their way through the small gaps between all the crowded buildings.

One of these petals brushed lightly against the tip of my nose, and when I followed its descent with my gaze I noticed some gruff-looking men discussing something beneath the eaves of a roof.

Man With a Scarred Cheek: “You find anything out about this ‘Kirsche Persche’ stuff yet?”

Man With a Moustache: “Yeah, a whole lotta nothin’ is what I found. Goin’ out at night ain’t easy ‘cause of all the rampages. Would be easy if we could just find some kinda lead durin’ the day…”

Man With a Shaved Head: “All I heard today is that another poor bastard vanished outta the blue in the old district on the west side o’ town.”

Man With a Scarred Cheek: “Great, ‘cause one more disappearance is exactly the kinda shit we needed. Bet he left his clothes behind in a pile of Lunaset flower petals like the rest of ‘em, didn’t he?”

Man With a Scarred Cheek: “The hell’s goin’ on in this damn town…”

Akira: (Rampages? People are disappearing? This all sounds really serious…)

Man With a Scarred Cheek: “…Hey. You.”

Akira: “Ah!”

Man With a Scarred Cheek: “Y’don’t look like someone I recognise. Where ya from?”

Akira: “Um, well…”

Akira: (…Huh…?)

Akira: “I… I can’t remember anything… I don’t know who I am…” 

Man With a Moustache: “What, issat supposed to be some kinda joke? Who the hell is gonna fall for somethin’ like that?”

Man With a Shaved Head: “Maybe some pain will help ya remember.”

Akira: “W-Wait, please! Wah…!”

In my hasty attempts to try and get away, I ended up tripping over the uneven cobblestone pavement beneath me, falling back onto my butt.

The men had me surrounded before I could even blink, and I couldn’t see anywhere to run.

Akira: (W-What should I do…?)

???: “Aha. Found you at last.”

Akira: “Huh…?”

“Excuse me,” says a man I don’t recognise, slipping through a gap between the men to stand over me, his lustrous brown hair tied back by a single knot.

???: “I’m afraid to say that you’ve been quite the troublesome customer of mine. Doing whatever you please within my establishment, only to refuse to pay for any of my services…”

As he said this, the unfamiliar man peered down at me with a bewitching smile on his lips.

With our faces so close, I could see that his eyes were a deep shade of red, calming and somewhat dewy.

Akira: “I… I did that…?”

???:  “Indeed. Such a terribly naughty guest you’ve been.”

Whispering the words sweetly, he blew some smoke from his pipe into my face.

Akira: “Mmh…!”

The smoke turned everything around me a soft pink colour, as if enveloping me in a cloud.

???: “This person is one of my honoured customers. Unfortunately, it appears last night’s drunkenness has left their memory somewhat faulty.”

???: “May I ask you fine gentlemen to leave them with me, so that I may ensure I get the compensation I deserve?”

Man With a Shaved Head: “…What now?”

Man With a Scarred Cheek: “If that’s how it is, then this ain’t our business.”

Man With a Moustache: “You’re gonna pay for gettin’ nice and wasted, punk.”

???: “…Fufu. It appears everything has been settled nicely.”

Akira: “Oh, um…!”

Akira: “I think I did something terrible in your bar… I’m really, really sorry!”

???: “Please, raise your head. I must also apologise for lying to you.”

Akira: “Wh… Lying to me…?”

???: “Those things I said before were mere lies told to help you. This is the first time you and I have ever met.”

???: “Such an adorable, purehearted person like you is hard to find in this town. How could I have resisted offering you my help, seeing someone like that in trouble?” 

Akira: “Oh, so that’s all…!”

Relieved, I felt my entire body suddenly relax.

Shylock: “My apologies for the late introduction, also. My name is Shylock Bennett. Please, call me Shylock.”

Shylock: “It is a pleasure to meet you. May I ask for your name?”

Akira: “Ah, my name is Akira. Thank you so much for helping me, Shylock.”

Shylock: “Akira… What a lovely name.”

Shylock: “Is this your first time visiting our humble town?”

Akira: “Um, I guess so…”

Shylock: “Hm?”

Akira: “I don’t know anything about myself except for my name. I don’t know what I do for a living, or where I came from, or how to get back there…”

Shylock: “Ah, I understand. I did think you looked rather lost, but now I see that’s exactly what you are.”

Falling silent, Shylock touched his hand to his slender chin, clearly deep in thought. As the silence began to stretch out between us, I felt anxiety slowly starting to grow inside my chest.

Akira: (What am I going to do now…? I have no money, and nowhere to go…)

Akira: (If I get surrounded by scary people again like I just was, I… What will happen to me?)

Shylock: “…In absence of anywhere else for you to go, would you like to accompany me to my establishment instead?”

Akira: “Oh… Is that really alright?”

Akira: “If I were in your position, I’d probably seem like a pretty suspicious person…”

Shylock: “I imagine someone truly suspicious would not say such a thing.”

Shylock: “Beyond that, I admit I find myself eager to get to know you better.”

Akira: “As happy as I am to hear that, I still don’t remember…”

Shylock: “The past you is not who interests me. The person you are right now, standing in front of me, is far more fascinating.”

Shylock: “The person who can have a pleasant conversation with me despite knowing nothing about themself… That is who I am interested in.”

My heart lightened a little bit hearing that.

Even if I don’t remember anything, even if I have no idea who I am — I still feel as if it’s alright for me to be here, nonetheless. It’s really alright.

Shylock: “Nevertheless, I suppose it must be rather frightening to have to follow a strange man through these streets.”

Shylock: “I certainly appear to be a far more suspicious person than you do at first glance…”

Akira: “You don’t seem like a suspicious person to me. You saved me from a dangerous situation, and I owe you for that. Besides…”

Shylock: “Besides…?”

Akira: “Oh, um— It’s nothing…”

Akira: (For some reason, I just feel like I’d be safe following Shylock anywhere… But that’s strange to say out loud, right?)

Shylock: “Hm. Well, let’s save any more conversation for when we arrive somewhere safer than here, shall we? For now…”

Man With a Moustache:  “—Boss!”

Turning at the sound of that deep voice, I saw the men from earlier bowing their heads low a short distance away.

Beyond their bowed forms was a dark-haired man, walking down the cobbled street dressed casually in an intricate kimono.

His face was doll-like and beautiful, with golden eyes that shined like honey. The sight of him holding an umbrella against the backdrop of all those flowers in full bloom was shockingly picturesque.

???: “…”

Akira: “…Ah—”

The moment my eyes met his, I felt something like a spark suddenly go off in front of me, making me gasp.

Shylock: “Akira. We should leave.”

Shylock’s voice was sharp as he spoke, and I felt him grab my hand in order to tug me back around to face him.

Shylock: “I beg of you, please — walk as if you saw nothing. And refrain from turning around, no matter how much you may want to.”

Akira: “O-Okay… But who is that man?”

Shylock: “That is Don Snow, the boss of the Ventisca Family. He leads the most militant organisation this town knows.”

Shylock: “You should refrain from staring at him intently if you truly do value your own life.”

Shylock said this as if it was all simply commonplace knowledge. Terrified, I swallowed the spit that had gathered in my mouth.

Akira: (I get the feeling I’ve ended up in a very dangerous town…)