“Father, do you think it’ll go well today?”
When I was a child, I thought that no there was no end to that grassy field.
That place—where my father took me to visit time after time.
“I wonder… I'll keep on going until I get a result, no matter what it may be.”
Setting up the radio, radar, and small parabolic antenna, my father abruptly muttered to himself.
With a hint of resignation, he said, “Success this time will be difficult too.”
Even I, as a child, had noticed this, and so I stopped calling out to him any more.
Following my father's instructions, I held the telescope with both of my hands, as it was a bit bigger than usual.
Considering an elementary school student’s strength, it was difficult for me to keep the telescope in place, which made my father eventually extend one arm out and return the telescope to its upright position.
I giggled, and my father also grinned behind that serious expression of his.
“I wonder what an alien looks like.”
I asked a casual question.
Then, my father decided to change his usual stiff and strained expression into a somewhat relaxed expression and—
“The alien that I saw looked something like a firefly squid.”
He replied.
My father was someone who saw “space” in his dreams.
He was someone who was adamant that he'd one day become an astronaut and go to space, and he would take me, someone who was still a small child, to a deserted grassy field in the dead of night to try to make contact with extraterrestrial life.
But unfortunately, none of those dreams came close to success.
Which is why this time too.
I thought it would be the same this time too, however…
“Huh?”
A sudden, bright light.
An impact.
The sound of my father gasping.
The communication equipment floating up in the air, rattling and shaking nonstop.
“Father—”
There was no response.
My father… was floating in the air.
I reached out my hand.
My arms were still so short that I wasn't even able to grab the hem of his pants.
My father was moving farther away.
During that time, I wondered if my father was smiling.
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“Kagu….ya…”
“Ah…”
In the classroom after class ended. Kinugawa quietly examined my face, looking a little worried.
It seemed like I was in a daze when I was recalling what happened ten years ago.
To the point that I wasn't even able to realize that someone was standing in front of me.
I look at the clock through the shield of my space helmet.
It was almost time to go pick Hime up from kindergarten.
“Apologies, I had to make you go through the trouble of waiting for me. Let's go.”
“It's, alright… let's, hurry…up a bit.”
I nodded and left my seat.
Kinugawa, perhaps relieved once he saw my appearance, nodded in the same way and followed me.
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“Kaguya, your little sister… is honest, and cute…”
“Indeed, it's almost enough for me to take the initiative and welcome it into my eyes.”
“That's a little… scary.”
“Your little sister, on the other hand, is full of energy and is a cute and mature kid, Kinugawa.”
“Really…? Tha…nks.”
After joining the Community Revitalization Club and meeting Kinugawa there, we started to frequently pick our little sisters up together.
Since both of our little sisters attend the same kindergarten and the time period to pick them up and the road to bring them home were almost all the same, our relationship naturally progressed.
“Are you… going back to the dorm… once you're done… picking your little sister up, today?”
“Yes. Uu-chan told me that he'd bake some sweets for my little sister.”
“Kurama also likes, your little sister, right? I heard that… He also calles her… ‘Hime’.”
“Yes. Before I knew it, the nickname that I gave to my little sister somehow managed to influence Uu-chan to also use it.
“I guess, he… adores her.”
“Certainly. Also…”
“Hm…?”
“I heard from Uu-chan that he also prepared some sweets for your little sister, Kinugawa.”
“Eh…”
“If it's alright with you, let's go to HAMA House together.”
“...Thank, you. I have to, give Kurama, my thanks too…”
Kinugawa delightfully smiles in a heartwarming manner.
Now, it's about time we go to Hime’s kindergarten.
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During summer vacation, when I was in my first year of elementary school, my father disappeared.
My father would always tell me about things like how he genuinely loves space, how he aims to be an astronaut, and how there are other living creatures in space besides humans whenever I talked to him.
However, he got abducted by a UFO right before my eyes.
“I'm telling the truth…! Father really did get abducted by a UFO! It happened right before my eyes!”
“But Muneuji-kun, didn't you lose your consciousness? How did you see a UFO?”
“That's… I wasn't able to see it properly, but… but I really…!”
“Aren't you just confused by the shock of losing your father?”
“Children sometimes say things that sound like dreams after all…”
I desperately pleaded. That my father had been absorbed into the light.
However, not even one of the adults there believed my words.
There was a time when my mother told me a story while I was in a state of shock and depression.
“...The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter?”
“That’s right. Since our last name is Kaguya, Papa might have returned to the moon, just like Princess Kaguya.”
But of course, even my mother doesn't actually believe in that sort of story.
She was only doing it to cheer me up.
There was a time when I woke up in the middle of the night to take care of something when I heard my mother and grandmother discussing something.
“Just forget about that man already. He probably left you for another woman…”
“But, I still…”
“More importantly, you should prioritize taking care of Muneuji's mental health. You're his mother. Get your act together.”
“...”
My mother was also having a hard time. It was only naturally so.
Which is why I decided to no longer talk about my father publicly.
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The person who comforted me during that time was Uu-chan.
“Muu-chan, have this!”
“This is… chocolate?”
“Yep, it's the very first one that I made. I wanted to give them to you first, Muu-chan.”
“Thank you…”
“I’m not saying this to cheer you up, but…”
Because of Uu-chan looking at me straight in the eyes…
“No matter what happens, I'll believe in you, Muu-chan.”
My decision became certain.
I'll find the evidence of my father being taken and the whereabouts of my father.
If my mother gets worried once she knows about it, then I'll do it in secret. However, I'll definitely do it, no matter what.
—End of Track 1
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