I opened my eyes. Before I could even register my surroundings, I reflexively pushed my upper body up.
It was an instinctive reaction born from the tension and sense of crisis that had clung to my body right up until I lost consciousness.
After a moment, I felt a brief confusion at the fact that I wasn't under the bridge anymore. The light around me was so bright that it was hard to keep my eyes open. I tried to figure out where I was using only the senses other than sight.
The smell of disinfectant, the feel of bandages and gauze, the bitter taste of medicine lingering in my mouth, and voices from a little farther away throwing around medical jargon like they were in a drama... Huh? Wait, is this a hospital?
I slowly opened my eyes, getting used to the light.
I could just barely make out the scene of some hospital room.
I saw bandages wrapped around my arm and an IV line inserted there. Just from the sensation alone, I could tell my abdomen and head were bandaged too.
"You're awake?"
"Father..."
When I turned my head, Father was sitting in a chair, reading a book.
For some reason, he wasn't wearing his usual Ghoul Investigator uniform, but plain clothes.
"You ran yourself into that state. I don't know who you inherited that recklessness from. You spent three full days running a fever. Thanks to that, I even took leave I thought I'd never have a use for in my life."
If I said, "How long have you gone without taking leave, you workaholic, Father..." then Father and I would probably be able to return to a normal conversation.
But not yet.
We couldn't go back to normal yet.
Because one important thing was missing from that normal life.
"Where's Eto?"
"..."
As soon as I woke up, I checked where I was and looked for Eto. But no matter how hard I searched, Eto was nowhere to be seen, and my anxiety and anger only grew.
Father kept his eyes on the book and said nothing, so I asked again, my voice sharper this time.
"I said, where is Eto!?"
Thump.
Father closed the book.
He looked much older than I remembered, and with a tired sigh he said, "...I am a Ghoul Investigator. I don't know how to raise a Ghoul baby."
"Fatheeeeer――!!!!"
Crash!
I snapped. I clenched my fists and rushed at Father, but my body was far heavier than I expected. On top of that, the IV stand toppled over, and I ended up rolling spectacularly under the bed.
"W-what happened!?"
Hearing the commotion, a doctor and nurse who had been in the hallway rushed in. Seeing me trying to lunge at Father, they grabbed me and tried to stop me.
"P-patient! Please calm down! You still can't move around!"
"Shut up! Let go!! Even if it means severing the bond between father and son today, I'm going to beat that man to death!! What the hell did you do to Eto!? What did you do to Eto――!!!"
"Paa~! Ba~!"
"What did you do to...!!! .........…Huh?"
Mid-shout, I froze and whipped my head around at a cute babbling sound that didn't fit the serious atmosphere at all.
In the nurse's arms, who looked startled, Eto was smiling brightly and reaching toward me. It looked like she was acting cute, asking to be held.
"...Eto?"
"Since I only ever handle weapons, I completely forgot how to change a baby's diaper."
Father looked away as if making an excuse.
The nurse, who had changed Eto's diaper, heard that I'd been upset because I was worried about the baby and smiled warmly before handing Eto over to me.
"Paa~! Da~!"
Feeling Eto's weight and warmth transfer into my arms, I finally realized this wasn't some hallucination.
The tension drained out of my body, and I sank down onto the bed.
Seeing Father shoo the doctor and nurse away, I spoke.
"...You saved her."
"Don't say that. I'm already starting to think I've gone insane from my own actions."
"Still, you saved her."
"..."
I hugged Eto tightly, relief washing through me.
There, I found a warmth I'd thought I'd never feel again.
"Thank you."
"...Hmph."
Father snorted and walked over to a shelf. Then he began stuffing in a bunch of things that looked like his belongings.
"Where are you going?"
"I've seen you wake up, so I need to get back to work. I left my post, and the work piled up."
Thump.
With those words, he tossed a stack of documents, a bankbook, and a seal onto the bed.
I picked up the bankbook from among them and asked, "What's this?"
"Become independent."
"...?"
Still blinking, unable to understand what he meant, I heard Father speak again.
"Raising that Ghoul is the last bit of indulgence I'll allow you. I'm done treating you like a child. I won't give you any more living expenses, so use that money to support yourself and raise the kid."
"Father..."
"This was the path you chose, wasn't it? Then walk it. I'll walk mine. No matter what you think of Ghouls, they're still humanity's natural enemy, and I'll keep living by killing those things."
Father hoisted his bag. There wasn't a trace of falsehood in the way he looked straight into my eyes and spoke.
Feeling that this was the last time I would ever see Father like this, I raised my voice.
"Father!"
"Koma."
Father cut me off.
"I still can't accept what you're saying. ...So make me accept it."
"...!"
"That child you're carrying. Raise her yourself, and take responsibility for her. There will be no giving up halfway through. If you raise her wrong and she ends up hurting people... I'll be the first one to come and kill her, before anyone else."
Father turned and left the hospital room.
Just before stepping out the door, he only turned his head slightly and murmured, "So show me. Show me that coexistence between humans and Ghouls... is not some empty fantasy."
Rattle.Click.
"..."
The hospital room was left behind after Father left. I stood there, frozen.
I knew this was Father's way of saying goodbye.
That man probably wouldn't appear in front of me again until the day he died. Just like I'd once thought, I was gradually losing something.
Sadness washed over me, but I didn't let it break me.
Because there was a warmth filling the empty space Father left behind.
"Muu?"
Eto tilted her head in my arms and looked up at me.
I was sure I'd lose many things. But I also knew I wouldn't only be losing things. I'd gain some too.
I could no longer see Father's face, but as I'd thought when I looked at Hitokawa, he was still family.
And Father had left, but I had received his permission to raise Eto.
I spread out the documents left on the bed.
They were information gathered by arresting and interrogating the eccentric humans who had once raised Ghouls... no, "raised" wasn't the right word. It was more accurate to call it breeding.
There were detailed notes on the differences and comparative analysis of the growth process and characteristics of Ghoul children and human children. It was exactly the information I needed most right now.
It was Father's farewell gift, personally pulled from the CCG for me to raise Eto with.
Realizing that, I ran to the window, spotted Father just as he was leaving the hospital entrance, and shouted, "Father―――!!"
Whether he didn't hear me or heard me and pretended not to, Father kept walking.
I braced myself for a lecture from the hospital staff later, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of my lungs, "I'll definitely――!! I'll definitely raise her well――!! I'll raise her into a fine woman and on the day I send her off to marry, I'll――!! I'll make sure to invite you to the wedding――!!!"
Father didn't look back.
Instead, he raised his middle finger toward me. The meaning was, "I'd rather die!"
At that sight, I lost it and rolled around the room with Eto in my arms.
For a while after that, until a nurse came running in at the noise and scolded me, my laughter and Eto's laughter, though she had no idea what was going on, didn't stop.