I Want to Hear Your Voice - Chapter 20-2

Extra SS “After the Fairy tale” (2)

It was less than an hour later when Satori came home. Sousuke was making coffee in the kitchen after finished cleaning the bathroom, which Satori usually did on weekdays, when he heard the clicking sound of the door opening. He went to the front door to greet Satori.

“Welcome back.”

Perhaps not expecting Sousuke to be there, Satori was so startled that he jumped on the spot and hurriedly hid something behind his back.

“I-I’m back!”

His behavior was clearly unnatural.

…What is it?

Sousuke squinted his eyes slightly. When he didn’t comment any further and instead headed into the living room, he heard something like Satori’s relieved voice behind him.

…What’s with him? Does he not want me to know that much?

A small thorn pierced inside his heart. Sousuke didn’t like the fact that he was sulking over this like a child, but he couldn’t do anything about his feeling of irritation.

“So-sousuke…?”

Satori was confused with Sousuke’s frustrated emotions. Sousuke wanted to calm down, but his heart couldn’t help but beat faster. He was restless and couldn’t calm down.

Sousuke poured the coffee from the coffee maker into a mug and took a sip. While doing that, he reminded himself to calm down quickly.

“U-umm, I…”

Satori stared at Sousuke in dread.

He wondered if he had hurt Sousuke’s feelings without knowing, or if he had done something wrong again.

Satori’s eyes were so pure; they were a mirror that reflected his heart. Even if Sousuke couldn’t read people’s minds, he could tell what Satori was currently thinking about.

Sousuke clicked his tongue when he saw Satori’s eyes that were wavering with worry. He placed the mug on the counter and hugged Satori.

“…Sorry. I was just a little irritated. There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s all my fault.”

“Sousuke…?”

Satori turned his head toward Sousuke.

When Sousuke smelled the scent of Satori’s body, he felt the feeling of irritation in his heart that he had felt from earlier had gradually calmed down. Satori, who was in Sousuke’s arms, must have felt it too. Satori, who had released the tension from his body, then stretched his hand and touched Sousuke’s cheek.

“Ah, that’s right! You see, I have something for you, Sousuke.”

Satori’s hair swayed as he bounced up and down. When Sousuke reluctantly let go of Satori’s body, Satori nervously took out the small package that he had been hiding behind his back.

The long, thin item was wrapped in a wrapping paper with a fancy drawing that children would like, and a red ribbon was awkwardly tied around it.

“…What is this?”

As Sousuke asked that question, Satori looked a little embarrassed, but then he smiled softly like a flower.

“Sousuke, happy birthday! At times like this, humans send gifts to others, right? I saw it in a film.”

…Birthday? Sousuke’s birthday was on the same day as Valentine’s day. It was still more than three months away.

“…Satori, how did you know about that?”

While trying not to hurt Satori’s feelings, Sousuke asked because he wanted to confirm the truth. Then Satori tilted his head a little.

“When I was cleaning before, I found a book with Sousuke in it. It was written there.”

Sousuke unconsciously grimaced his face at Satori’s words. It was because he had an inkling about the magazine that Satori talked about.

When Sousuke had just become an announcer, he was once interviewed by a woman’s magazine for a special issue or something. He wanted to refuse at first because it had nothing to do with him, but he couldn’t because of a business relationship.  On top of that, his birthday was published with wrong information, and the broadcasting station even received a lot of gifts from female fans after that. He intended to look over the magazine and throw it away along with some old newspapers, but he didn’t know that the magazine was still left here somewhere. Moreover, it was seen by Satori. Even though it didn’t contain anything that would trouble him if it was seen, he felt uncomfortable, as if the embarrassing part of his youth had been exposed.

“So-sousuke…? Umm, I…?”

The expression on Sousuke’s face made Satori’s eyes clouded with fear. Those eyes made Satori wonder if he had made a mistake again.

At that moment, Sousuke came back to his senses. If Satori had mistaken today for his birthday, then…

Sousuke dropped his gaze to the awkward wrapping, which looked like it had been forcibly wrapped around something it wasn’t supposed to be wrapped around.

“…Can I open it?”

Satori nodded as if relieved when Sousuke asked him.

“Y-yup!”

Sousuke gently untied the red ribbon and carefully peeled off the tape so as not to tear the wrapping paper. From inside the wrapping paper, what came out was a blue water-based pen that could be found in any convenience store or stationery store.

“Yo-you see, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I don’t know what Sousuke wants, but the other day you said you had no pen, right? That’s why I, err…”

As Satori explained the reason for the gift with a faltering, nervous tone, Sousuke widened his eyes.

Sousuke remembered Satori’s attitude over the past few days that was clearly different than usual. Satori seemed restless like he was hiding something, but sometimes he couldn’t hold it back and laughed happily. He must have been trying his hardest to think of a present that Sousuke would like the most. He even went outside, something that he wasn’t comfortable with; he surely had tried his best to make Sousuke happy.

Sousuke blushed. He hurriedly tried to cover his mouth with his hand, but there was no way to hide the burning feelings that were welling up in his heart. A deep emotion filled Sousuke’s heart with warmth.

“…Thank you, Satori. This is the best present I’ve ever received.”

Satori chuckled shyly. Sousuke hugged Satori tightly, and this time Satori didn’t try to escape, but stayed in Sousuke’s arm.

Satori didn’t seem to believe him, but to tell the truth, Sousuke didn’t regret the choice that he made in the slightest.

Even if he was no longer human, Sousuke thought that he couldn’t care less. He felt sorry for his family, but fortunately, his sister who was five years younger than him had just given birth to a child last year. They would be fine even without Sousuke.

If there was one thing that he regretted, it would be the fact that he had left Satori alone for years because he couldn’t keep his promise. But from now on, he won’t leave Satori alone again.

However, Sousuke was a realistic person, so he intended to earn money for as long as he could. After all, he didn’t know what might happen in the future. To make Satori happy, it would be better to have what he needed.

Satori had lived for a long time all alone. Sousuke hoped that he could be a place where Satori could belong. He had no intention of letting Satori go ever again.

At that moment, Sousuke saw something that looked like a white fluff jumped around Satori’s feet. It looked like it was trying to tell him something. When he rubbed his eyes, he could see that it was definitely there, never disappearing.

 “Sousuke?”

Sousuke chuckled, then Satori tilted his head curiously. Sousuke lightly lifted Satori’s chin and placed his lips over Satori’s. Satori’s eyes dimmed lightly, and his downcast eyelashes quivered faintly.

Sometime later, there was a rumor among the female employees in the broadcasting station. It was said that the popular announcer, Ogigami Sousuke, was seen carefully placing in his chest pocket a cheap water-based pen that could be bought anywhere. Sometimes he would pick it up and look at it with a smile. But that was another story.

End.