32 Mio's Birthday 3

Year 966, January 16.

"Otō-san, Otō-san. Birthday."

Early morning.

Jin woke to the sensation of his shoulder being shaken.

"Otō-san, wake up quickly."

"Hmm... What time is it...?"

"Five o'clock!"

"Early..."

He was slightly sleep-deprived, having stayed up late yesterday.

"Today's Mio's birthday."

"I know... I know, but just a bit longer..."

He smiled at how much she had been looking forward to it—but more than that, he was tired.

He buried his head deeper into the pillow, asking to be allowed to sleep a little longer.

"Ugh, Otō-san, get up!"

"Alright, alright..."

Yielding to his daughter's persistent prodding with the blanket, Jin rubbed his eyes and sat up.

The daylight setting for this season was six o'clock.

It was still dark outside.

Mio stood before him, waiting.

Seeing her, Jin immediately remembered what he needed to say.

"Happy birthday, Mio."

"Thank you! Mio, seven years old!"

He ran a hand over Mio’s head, her chest puffed with pride, and considered today’s plans.

School for Mio during the day, training school for Jin—work awaited.

For Jin, the main event began in the evening.

For Mio, it did not.

She went to school, then proudly told two friends.

“Mio’s birthday today!”

“Huh!? You’re supposed to say that in advance! You can’t leave presents unprepared!”

“Unprepared presents… that’s an odd phrase… but what now? I didn’t prepare anything.”

At the sudden birthday announcement, Emisa and Ya leaned together, brainstorming gifts.

Before them.

“Hey, Higashi. Happy birthday. Here, gift.”

Shu handed it over casually.

“Higashi! How come you knew Mio’s birthday!?”

“Huh!? Why am I being scolded?”

Shu's eyes glisten with unreasoning anger.

"Ooh, Tōya-kun, thanks. By the way, when's your birthday?"

"April first."

"Such a clean date... that's impressive..."

"Never mind that—how come you know? You stalker!"

"Why should I be scolded just for a gift? I heard it from your brother!"

Ooh, Mio nods in understanding.

Apparently, Kou, who had heard about Jin and the others during training, had passed the information along to Shu.

"Ah. Right."

Something occurs to him. He dashes to his locker and retrieves a single bookmark.

"This. A pressed lavender bookmark. I made it for Mio-chan. Happy birthday."

"Adorable. Thank you!"

Kou hands over something he'd prepared for another reason. Now, only Emisa remains without a gift.

Searching with slight urgency, as if looking for something she could hand over.

“Uu….”

She seemed unable to find anything, her eyes welling up.

“D-Do you want anything? I’ll get it for you, anything at all!”

“Hm… Ah, then I’d like one like Emisa’s hair ornament. Matching!”

“Matching! That’s perfect! Then I’ll give you this one. I’ve got plenty more at home!”

“Thank you, Emisa.”

The hair ornament Emisa handed over now was small but intricately set with topaz—highly valuable.

No one present understood its worth, which was perhaps the only relief.

“But Mio, you’ve become much more… human-like since the beginning, haven’t you?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. When we first met, you were like a doll—sort of hard to approach, I guess.”

“Is that… true?”

Mio visibly sank at the memory of her appearance a year ago.

"Is that right? He was spitting blood on the first day. He’s been kind of an idiot since I first met him."

"An idiot!?!"

Mio’s face flickered with surprise—then, for reasons unknown, a faint smile touched her lips.

In contrast, the two who had just learned of the bloodshed seized the moment to confront Shu.

"Hey, Higuchi. What exactly were you doing?"

"I don’t think so. Higuchi-kun."

"Wait—seriously. He blew himself up on purpose. Just ran headfirst into a tree. That’s all."

Watching the three bicker, Mio murmured softly.

"This way is better..."

"Mio-chan?"

"Right, we were talking about the class change next year, weren’t we? Based on academic performance."

"Wait. Really?"

Shu’s expression darkened at Emisa’s words.

"He said they’d sort us by test rankings in March."

"Wasn't that what they said? That we’d be assigned classes based on academic performance."

"Really?"

"Are you serious?!"

Makoto clutches his head.

Among all of them, he has the worst grades by far.

Conversely, Mio has perfect scores in every subject.

Emisa and Sora have strengths and weaknesses, but both consistently score above average.

"We’ll likely stay in the same class next year… but Shitaya’s out of the question."

"Ugh. You’re acting way too happy about that!"

"Still. Shitaya said he’d make it in life through athletic ability… so it’s his dream, right?"

"He said that… wow, seriously…?"

"Tōya-kun in a different class?"

Mio’s shoulders drop slightly.

"Ugh… it’s still a month until the March test…"

"Even if you suddenly improved, the perennial zero wouldn’t be expected to change."

"Sometimes, a man has to do what he must!"

The day passed in that manner, Mio’s birthday slipping by.

Evening. After returning home.

"Alright, lighting seven candles…"

"Can I blow them out?"

"Wait. I haven’t lit them yet."

Jin fumbled through the unfamiliar task, then lit the candles.

"Mio, look this way."

"?"

He captured her image in front of the seven candles.

"Alright, done. Happy birthday, Mio."

Celebrating the birthday of the girl who had collapsed in the edge of the convoy that day.

Jin was certain that even his past self, a year ago, would not have believed such a thing.

That he could now live in a world without Rei—unthinkable.

"A birthday isn’t just about adding another year. It’s also about saying thank you—for being born, for making it this far."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Mio… are you glad you were born?"

At those words, Jin drew in a breath.

Mio had no memory of life before meeting Jin.

Yet, over the past year, there had been no trace of anyone searching for her.

Perhaps, even unconsciously, she had thought it.

"Of course. Of course I am."

He hugged her tightly.

There was no other way Jin knew how to express affection toward Mio.

He wanted to thank one person he had never seen—the parents of Mio—for one thing.

Letting her go.

Giving him the chance to meet her.

"I truly feel lucky to have met you, Mio. Thank you for being born."

"Otou-san, it hurts."

The embrace was too tight—Mio’s expression showed clear disapproval.

But when released, she smiled wide.

"Ah—should be ready now."

The final step of the gift for Mio was complete.

He checked the result, then handed it to her.

"This is my birthday present for you."

"A book?"

A physical book, bound in paper rather than electronic format—rare in this age.

Mio flipped open the cover, unsure what it might be.

Countless images of herself were displayed.

"This is an album—photos collected from the moment we first met."

The first photo.

The one taken at Jake’s shop.

The one from the mountain climb.

The one from the training academy.

The one with Shirley.

The one taken with everyone at the camp.

The one taken inside the stolen cruiser.

The aquarium, the pool, the hot spring, the park.

Every moment spent with Jin over the past year was captured here.

The first half was compiled by Jin, gathering photos from various places—many hands had helped, including fellow officers and Jake.

The second half was taken by Jin himself, documenting every moment spent with Mio.

And finally, the most recent scene, freshly captured.

"Let’s keep going to new places, and add more photos here."

"Mio… can you stay here… forever?"

"Of course. This is Mio's house, after all. If you leave somewhere, Dad'll cry."

Mio nodded slightly.

"Yeah... Mio, I'll stay here forever."

She rubbed her face against his, clinging with quiet affection.

"Alright. Then let's eat some cake."

"Mio, I want to eat the one in the middle with the chocolate!"

"Ah, good. Today's Mio's special day. Eat as much as you like."

"Yay!"

◆ ◆ ◆

Mio smiled as she looked at the birthday photo with seven candles lit.

She turned the page.

Eight candles.

Nine candles.

Ten candles.

The number kept rising.

And the final blank space.

She stared at the page meant for a photo of fifteen candles, her expression darkening.

"Dad... are you still not here...?"

January 7, 974.

Approximately one month has passed since the deployment of the large-scale unit 'Stalt' eradication force.

Jin Higashiō.

Shirley Byron.

Sasamori Kou.

Yulia Nastin.

Several thousand remain unreturned.