Blue Night

June 2nd, 2013 – Iozen Mountain, Kanazawa

The trees stood like old guardians around them, their thick branches swaying gently under the early summer sun. The scent of pine and earth filled the air, a sweet, damp perfume that wrapped itself around Aoi Tachibana like a warm, invisible blanket.

She clutched her father’s hand tightly, her short legs trying to match his longer strides as they made their way through the last stretch of forest. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and her backpack — far too big for her small frame — bounced against her back with every clumsy step.

“We're almost there, kiddo," Shinji Tachibana said with a grin, squeezing her hand.

Aoi huffed, cheeks puffed out adorably. “You said that ten minutes ago…”

Her father laughed, a deep, rich sound that echoed between the trees. “This time, I mean it.”

When they reached the clearing, Aoi's eyes widened.

A small stream ran lazily through the meadow, sparkling under the sunlight. A few wildflowers peeked through the tall grass, and in the distance, the rise of Mount Iozen stood proud and steady, like the spine of some ancient beast sleeping beneath the sky.

"It's beautiful..." she breathed.

Shinji dropped their packs onto the grass and stretched, his joints popping audibly. “Perfect place for a little adventure, don't you think?"

Aoi nodded, a shy smile tugging at her lips. Despite her usual nervousness around new places and people, with her father by her side, everything felt safe.

Everything felt right.

They worked together to set up their small, battered tent — or at least, tried to. Aoi fumbled with the poles, collapsing them twice before she dissolved into helpless giggles. Her father simply shook his head, laughing along with her.

“You’re hopeless,” he said, ruffling her hair fondly.

“Hey! I’m helping!” she pouted, cheeks coloring.

He grinned. "You're my number one helper."

Those simple words made her heart lift like a kite in a spring breeze.

---

Later, after the tent was finally up — crooked but sturdy — they cooked over a tiny portable stove. Rice balls, grilled fish, miso soup carefully packed in a thermos.

Aoi sat cross-legged on a blanket, devouring her food between peals of laughter at her father's terrible jokes.

“What do you call a fish with no eyes?" Shinji asked, waggling his eyebrows.

Aoi blinked. “Huh?”

“Fshhh," he said, mimicking a fish blowing bubbles.

She nearly choked on her rice, laughing so hard tears sprang to her eyes.

They spent the afternoon playing card games, skipping stones at the creek, and lying in the grass watching clouds drift by.

Aoi forgot about school, forgot about the girls who whispered about her weight and called her "gluttony aoi". forgot about the cold silences that sometimes filled their tiny apartment at night.

Here, in the dappled light of the forest, she was simply Aoi — a girl loved beyond words.

---

As the sun slid lower toward the horizon, painting the world in gold and pink, Aoi chased a butterfly across the clearing, her laughter ringing out like tiny bells.

She strayed farther than she meant to, down a gentle slope, into a little hollow where the trees grew closer together.

That's when she stumbled — literally — over a root sticking up from the ground.

"Oof!"

She landed hard, grass and dirt smudging her dress.

Before she could even push herself up, a hand appeared in front of her.

"You okay?" a boy asked.

She looked up, startled — and the world seemed to tilt strangely.

He was taller than her by a head, wearing a simple white T-shirt and denim shorts. His hair was messy, catching the dying light in soft waves. But it was his eyes that froze her — a sleepless night, filled with something sharp and lonely.

"I-I’m fine..." she stammered, taking his hand. His grip was warm and steady, and he pulled her up with surprising gentleness.

He brushed dirt off her elbow.

Aoi's heart thudded painfully against her ribs.

"Where is your guardian?" he asked.

Aoi lost words what to say.She was scared.

The boy understood her fear.He hold her hand and start walking.

Aoi startled.

"I sometimes came here with my friends so I know the roads here.You don’t have to be scared. Which way you came from? Just raised your hand that way" He said gently.

" This way"Aoi whispered.

Holding hand they were walking to a destination without any care of world.Aoi just wondering "Is this real?"

The boy hold her hand tight but she can feel the gentleness and responsibility that the boy have shown her.

They reached the camp side where aoi and her father was staying.

Aoi's father wasn’t there.

" Are you came here alone ?" the boy asked suspiciously.

" No-no,,,,,, " she stopped and again said " Papa was here.He went to fetch some mushroom I guess.

"I am not alone"

She looked at him with confidence, expressing that she is telling the truth.

" Her expression is honest."the boy thought.

"That's good.Then, I will go now."He said.

"Thank you,,,,, " She said with a low gratitude expression.

He helped her without any selfish motives where no one in this world care about her beside her father.She felt ease in her heart.

"I’m Aoi..." she managed to whispered.

"Sora. Sora Irie," he said. "Nice to meet you, Aoi."

He smiled slightly , a small, lopsided thing that made her heart skip a beat.

Back side of him,walking away from aoi make her chest squeeze strangely.

Aoi couldn't stop starring at him while his departured. Memorizing the way the sunlight danced in his hair, the way his voice softened when he talked to her

It was stupid. It was sudden.

But Aoi — small, clumsy, lonely Aoi — fell in love for the first time.

---

"Aoi, Aoi?"

She turned and saw her father.

She rushed and hug him.

"What happened? "

"I-I met someone!" she blurted out, cheeks burning.

Shinji’s eyebrows lifted, "Who?where?"

She explain everything, without leaving a word.

"Did it hurt a lot?" "Sorry, papa wasn’t there for you"

"It's okay papa"

"But was he handsome ?"

Aoi flustered. "What,what are you saying,papa?"

"Like how you described him without any fail,I thought he might be very handsome. I guess, I was wrong.He wasn’t that handsome." he teased.

"No,,,no,,,,he is".

"He is the most beautiful and gentle person I ever meet beside you papa"she smile.

He hugged her and pated her head.

"You'll meet more kind person in future because you, my daughter, is the most kind person in the world." he smile bright and kissed aoi's forehead.

Aoi was happy.

---

"Papa where are the mushroom?"She asked.

" Mushroom?" her father curiously asked.

" I thought papa has gone to fetch some mushroom.wasn’t you?"

"Ohh,,no I went to do some business " He slightly smile.

"Work,,,here?" she crossed her hand and said.

"It's not office work,so don't worry.Papa will not leave aoi alone again."

"Promise?"

"Promised." he chuckle.

As the sky deepened into twilight, her father handed her the water bucket.

"One last mission, Commander Tachibana," he said, grinning. "Fetch us some water for tea,would you?"

Aoi saluted, giggling. "Aye aye, Captain!"

She skipped off toward the creek, still buzzing with happiness, the image of Sora’s smile burning behind her closed eyelids.

But when she returned, everything had changed.

---

The clearing was wrong.

Too still.

Too quiet.

A knot of people had gathered near their campsite, their faces twisted in horror.

"Papa?" Aoi called, the bucket slipping from her fingers.

No answer.

A terrible, cold weight dropped into her stomach. She ran, shoving through the adults, panic making her breath come in short, ragged gasps.

And then she saw him.

Her father.

Lying crumpled on the grass, his shirt dark with blood, his face turned toward the dying light of the sky.

"Papa?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

She dropped to her knees beside him, pressing her tiny hands against his chest, his face, anywhere, trying to find warmth.

But there was nothing.

No smile.

No laughter.

No heartbeat.

"Papa, please," she begged, shaking him. "Please wake up... I got water... just like you asked... we were supposed to have tea..."

Her voice broke into helpless sobs.

Someone tried to pull her away. She fought them, her fists pounding uselessly against adult arms.

"No! No! Let me stay! Let me stay with him!"

The forest around her blurred — flashing red and blue lights, police tape, distant shouts.

Stabbed, someone whispered.

A random attack, someone else said.

Wrong place, wrong time.

It didn’t make sense.

It would never make sense.

The last thing Aoi remembered before the world went dark was her father's hand earlier that day — rough, calloused, warm — squeezing hers so tightly, like he would never let go.

But he had.

And nothing, nothing would ever be the same again.