The four-year gap in his memories had always been a form of torment for Ritsu.
Ever since he could remember, he had lived in the Honjo household. He didn't know who his biological parents were, didn't know what had happened before he turned four, and couldn't even remember what kind of life he had lived during those missing years.
But after reaching adulthood, many forgotten memories gradually returned. He had believed that, among them, he would finally remember his birth parents.
Instead, he discovered that even those recovered memories contained nothing about them.
Ritsu had never been the imaginative type, nor did he enjoy indulging in unrealistic fantasies. Yet whenever he thought about growing up without the love and care of his parents, it felt as though something inside him was missing.
He had wondered whether his parents simply hadn't loved him.
He had even wondered whether he had been such a troublesome baby that they had entrusted him to the Akai family.
Dressed in casual clothes, Ritsu sat quietly at his desk. Before him rested an old cassette recorder and a cassette tape that had long since become obsolete.
The truth he had spent so long pursuing was finally right in front of him. Yet he couldn't find the courage to press play.
'What if... they really abandoned me because they didn't want me?'
"...Telling everyone else to be brave enough to face their fate, yet lacking the courage to face my own... How pathetic."
Brushing his bangs aside, he covered his eyes with one hand.
After a long silence, he carefully picked up the cassette tape. Unbothered by the thick layer of dust coating it, he gently wiped it clean before inserting it into the recorder.
After seven seconds of silence, a warm voice filled the room. A voice he had never heard before.
—
"To our one-year-old little Ritsu, happy birthday! By now, you should be growing up safely under the care of your two older brothers, right? I wish I could see how adorable you are. Have you been eating well? Be sure to listen to Mary, okay? Please forgive Mommy and Daddy for not being able to stay by your side. We'll do everything we can to leave this place."
"Because... we really, really want to see our little Ritsu we love most."
—
It was his mother's voice.
His eyes instantly reddened. His nose stung.
He had thought he had cried all the tears he could two years ago.
So why...
Why did he still want to cry?
Slowly, Ritsu lowered his head onto the desk and closed his eyes. Tears continued to slip down his cheeks.
He was strong.
But even the strongest people had their fragile moments.
So... his parents hadn't abandoned him because they didn't love him.
Like Akemi and Shiho's parents, they had been imprisoned inside the Organization's research facility.
Which meant, back when he had secretly protected the APTX 4869 research files, were those two researchers whose names he couldn't make out are his parents?
The thought filled his sapphire-blue eyes with hatred.
His parents had been looking forward to meeting him again. Yet in the end, they had died in a fire.
Not even a gravestone remained.
And he, their son, didn't even know where they had died.
—
"To two-year-old Sasajima Ritsu, happy birthday."
—
His father's voice resembled his own, though it sounded far more mature and composed. In the background, he could hear his mother protesting.
—
"Why are you calling your own son by his full name?"
"Dad hopes you'll grow up healthy and happy, and that you'll never come into contact with the Organization. If you're listening to this before entering university, I hope you won't choose a major related to biochemistry. Just be an ordinary child... and live an ordinary life."
—
A bitter smile spread across Ritsu's face.
'Dad... it's too late. There's no way I can live an ordinary life anymore... But don't worry. I'll destroy the Organization that killed you.
I swear I will.'
—
"To seven-year-old little Ritsu, happy birthday. You're about to start elementary school, so you must already be a dependable young man, right? While studying hard, don't forget to take breaks too. Mommy believes you're a very smart and wonderful boy."
—
"To eight-year-old Ritsu, happy birthday. Your mother and I have left all the wealth we've accumulated to you, but remember! You must earn your own money through your own efforts—Hey! Why'd you hit me?"
—
His mother's exasperated voice could immediately be heard in the background.
She was most likely scolding her husband for expecting their eight-year-old son to earn his own living. Even Ritsu couldn't help feeling speechless.
Glancing toward the legal code sitting nearby, he answered his father as though carrying on a conversation across time.
"Dad... no company is going to hire an eight-year-old. No matter how smart I am, I wouldn't have enough knowledge to work."
—
"To fourteen-year-old Ritsu, happy birthday. Recording birthday wishes for every year until your twentieth birthday all in a single day... I honestly don't know what else to say anymore."
"But that doesn't mean your father doesn't love you. Maybe your personality is like mine; not good with words, not good at expressing what you really feel. As someone who's been through life already, let me tell you this, people only understand your feelings if you say them out loud. Don't always expect others to guess what's on your mind. Understand?"
—
Fourteen years old...
Ritsu couldn't help recalling the year he had decisively left the Honjo household and moved to Tokyo alone.
It had been the most rebellious and reckless thing he had ever done as a teenager. Yet he had never regretted it.
Because it had also been one of the best decisions he had ever made.
Had he stayed... perhaps he would have lived the ordinary life his parents had wished for him.
But only by leaving had he met the precious friends who loved him, and whom he loved in return.
—
"To seventeen-year-old little Ritsu, happy birthday. By now, you've probably found a girl you like, haven't you? Let Mommy give you some advice. When you're pursuing a girl, you have to be patient. That's one thing you can learn from your father. He has plenty of flaws, but he's incredibly romantic, not one of those dense, clueless guys."
—
Ritsu let out a helpless smile.
When he was seventeen, his mind had been filled with nothing but studying.
He wanted to skip grades so he could graduate from university alongside his friends, pass the bar exam together with them, and then enter the police academy together.
Dating? Back then, he genuinely didn't have the time or energy to devote to romance.
And as for the romantic part his mother mentioned...
Ahem.
Ritsu admitted, rather awkwardly, that he clearly hadn't inherited that particular trait from his father.
—
"Ritsu must be really popular at school, right? There must be lots of girls chasing after you! I held you in my arms when you were born, you know. Everyone agreed you looked just like me, so you must have grown into an incredibly handsome young man!"
"But remember! Even if lots of girls like you, you can only choose one, and you have to cherish her properly, understand? Otherwise, when I finally come see you, you'd better be ready to receive Mommy's Fist of Justice!"
—
Ritsu couldn't help but laugh.
So his mother had this kind of personality.
And "Fist of Justice"... wasn't that exactly the kind of over-the-top attack name Hayasaka would come up with after watching too much anime?
Shaking his head helplessly, he wished he could tell his mother the truth.
He had ended up a lonely bachelor. Romance was something he would never get to experience.
After taking the first-generation APTX 4869, his time had effectively stopped. He was no longer qualified to love someone.
He couldn't bear remaining forever young while watching the person he loved grow old nor could he bear witnessing the death of someone precious to him.
So he had chosen never to give his heart away.
If he stayed alone forever, he would never have to suffer that pain.
—
"To eighteen-year-old Ritsu, happy birthday. You're about to become an adult, and you've gained enough ability to stand on your own. Dad hopes that if you ever meet Akemi and Shiho in the future, you'll take good care of them."
"We've talked for so long without ever telling you our names. My name is Orihara Yuichi. I have a younger brother named Miyano Atsushi. As for why our surnames are different, Atsushi took the surname of his adoptive father."
"Hey, hey! That's so unfair, you introduced yourself first! Ritsu! I'm your mother! My name is Sasajima Haruka... well, Orihara Haruka now!"
—
Ritsu slowly raised his head.
He had never imagined that he and the Miyano sisters were actually related by blood.
So, he was their first cousin? No wonder he had felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity the very first time he met Shiho.
It had been the bond of blood all along.
He quickly stood, intending to tell the two women waiting in the living room.
But then, a string of English suddenly came through the headphones.
---
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