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"Hey, are you crying?"
The child didn't answer, but the sobbing, now seemingly unhidden, grew louder.
Idris asked, flustered, "Why are you crying?"
"I don't want my precious people to be sick..."
Idris paused at Aria's words, which poured out with sobs.
'Am I her precious person?'
Because of his pride, he hurt the child who was worried about him.
Realizing this, a part of his chest began to prick like needles.
Only then did Idris recognize the name of this uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling.
It was guilt.
I'm sorry, it was my fault...
But instead of the clumsy sincerity that reached his chin, a much softer voice came out.
"...You can just get it treated."
"Really?"
Despite the blunt voice, Aria asked back with a look of delight, as if she had never cried.
Feeling awkwardly embarrassed, Idris began rummaging through the drawers.
There should be some ointment left that his mother had picked up near the hospital before.
Aria, who was watching the scene, jumped up and approached.
"I'll do it! I'll do it!"
Aria quickly found the ointment rolling around in the corner of the drawer.
Then, she drew water from a nearby well and began to wipe Idris's wounds.
The first place she checked was his split lip.
Her touch gently wiping around his lips was so ticklish that Idris unconsciously twitched his lips.
Aria's hand paused at that.
"Does it hurt?"
"...It's not like that."
"You know, scars aren't something to be ashamed of. It's proof that you fought without running away."
It's not shameful, it's ticklish...
It's definitely ticklish, so why does his face keep feeling hot?
But he didn't dislike her touch, so Idris closed his mouth instead of arguing.
"I got a scar when I was trying to protect my mom from shards of a glass bottle. I still have a scar behind my ear, and my mom said it was proof of my courage in trying to protect her."
Idris, who had been quietly listening to her encouraging voice, suddenly felt annoyed.
"...Who said that?"
Aria stopped talking.
'Shouldn't have asked...? I didn't even tell her my name.'
Feeling awkwardly embarrassed, Idris quickly added, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to—"
"My dad did."
It was a calm voice, as if telling someone else's story, but the discrepancy made Idris's heart drop.
He had never told Aria about himself, and so he had never asked about Aria's story.
But he just assumed she lived in a happy family.
He felt sorry for having been jealous of this child's happiness and acting petulant, fearing she would leave his side.
Idris didn't know how to react and only moved his lips, but Aria took her hand off his lips.
"All done here! Let's look at your arm now."
The child chattered about other things in her usual bright voice, as if she had never been gloomy.
Idris, listening to her voice, suddenly thought.
'It's peaceful.'
Her quiet voice, her soft touch carefully caressing him.
It was the first time since his mother died.
No, it was the peace that had been by his side all summer, but he hadn't noticed.
Idris, who hadn't taken a nap since his mother passed away and he met Aria, closed his eyes without realizing it.
It was his first nap in a long time.
When Idris woke up from his sweet nap, it was late afternoon, with the sunlight turning golden.
Idris, relying on his senses to find Aria's presence, soon realized there was no need to.
The weight on his shoulder, the even breathing that came from nearby, and the hands clasped together told him that the child was by his side.
In fact, Idris, who could see the ground to some extent under his blindfold, hardly needed help, but Aria often held his hand on the rough forest path.
Whether it was a habit or not, Aria would casually hold his hand even on flat ground. Just like now.
'...It's ticklish.'
He was mindlessly playing with her soft hand when Aria suddenly mumbled in her sleep.
"Umm... Mom..."
Idris was startled like a child caught doing something bad, then hastily supported Aria when her head tilted forward.
'Always so bothersome.'
She was about to fall forward like that.
Idris sighed and tilted Aria's body so that she would rest on his lap.
In the process, Aria's head brushed against Idris, and the loosely tied blindfold came loose.
And at that moment.
"Ah."
He met Aria's eyes as she looked up at him.
Under the golden sunlight, at the same time as he met her wavy hair and sparkling blue eyes like jewels.
His heart sank, and time stopped.
Thump, thump...
Aria's voice shook Idris, who was stunned and didn't know what to do with the feeling he was experiencing for the first time.
"Your eyes... are pretty..."
Aria mumbled, looking at Idris's golden eyes, and soon fell asleep again.
Idris, looking at Aria's eyes covered with long eyelashes, finally exhaled, which he had forgotten.
Then, he hastily tied the loosened blindfold.
But even with his eyes covered, Aria's face, which he had seen for the first time a little while ago, kept floating before his eyes. His heart was also racing erratically.
Only then did he think he knew what his mother's 'curse' was.
'Curse...'
This was definitely a curse.
That he would live the rest of his life bound to this fleeting moment.
A little later.
Idris, who had barely come to his senses, was belatedly terrified.
'If it's a curse... what if something bad happens to this child?'
His mother said that both the person who saw his eyes and himself who saw them would be cursed.
But even though his heart was beating fast and Aria's face kept appearing like a vision, he didn't have any symptoms that made him feel like he was going to die.
Aria also seemed to have no abnormal symptoms, as he could hear her even breathing.
Even while he was worried, he wanted to take off his blindfold again and see Aria, but he held back, fearing that something bad might happen to Aria.
However, all his nerves were focused entirely on Aria.
With the rhythmic breathing and the warm temperature he felt.
He wanted Aria to wake up quickly and see her unharmed, but at the same time, he hoped this time would last a little longer.
While hesitating between the ambivalent feelings, dusk began to fall.
Aria finally woke up.
"Gasp!"
Her even breathing stopped, and Aria jumped up and sat down.
"S-Sorry! Did your legs hurt?"
Aria asked if his legs were really okay, if he had been hurt anywhere, and then bustled about, saying she had to go home now.
Whether she didn't care that she had met his eyes, or didn't remember it.
She didn't seem to care at all.
"Then, let's go to the forest when we're healed!"
Aria, who had already made plans for a few days later, approached the door as if she was going home.
Frustrated by the sight, Idris stopped Aria.
"You, don't you... remember anything?"
"Remember? Remember what?"
Aria acted as if she really didn't know what he was talking about.
'If she doesn't remember seeing my eyes, doesn't she get cursed?'
Apart from the fact that he was relieved that Aria was safe, he somehow felt sulky that only he remembered that moment.
"...Never mind. Just go home quickly."
"Good night! See you tomorrow!"
Idris closed the door, barely acknowledging Aria's greeting.
But once he was left alone, the silence and the warmth that had disappeared from his hand felt even more lonely today.
'But it's okay.'
Because I can see her tomorrow too.
But that day was the last day of their ordinary lives that seemed like it would last forever.
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