The Dark Memorial Box

—Two weeks had passed since I talked to Reika.

During those two weeks, I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer within myself.

In the meantime, the anime adaptation of “Always With You, 24 Hours” was announced, and the attention and interest in Mari grew even stronger.

Mari, on the other hand, was busy with her manga drafts and meetings regarding the anime adaptation.

Even so, she tried her best to make time for me every day, but… the small talk and messages with editors and work colleagues that she got inevitably became a part of our daily lives.

This day was no different.

“Oh, sorry, Sei-kun. I got a call from the editor…”

Mari’s smartphone rang while we were together in her room.

“It’s okay, don’t mind me. It’s a work call, right?”

“Yeah… I actually have enough money, and to be honest, I think I could already stop drawing manga…”

“That would cause trouble for a lot of people… Being irresponsible is not good.”

“Mmm… Okay.”

Mari turned her back to me, holding her smartphone. In that last moment when her face was no longer visible, there goes her “work” face, which she never showed me. My heart tightened slightly, as if it were creaking.

I couldn’t help but feel that this expression, which I couldn’t do, was the proof of the big difference between Mari and me.

“…”

I recalled Reika’s words.

——Mari-san tells you everything, like what she wants to do and what she wants.

——If Mari-san does something for you, you should just do the same for her.

Reika had said those words, and I agreed with them.

What kind of relationship do I want to build with Mari from now on? What do I want to do with Mari… or perhaps, what do I want to do for her?

For the past two weeks, I had been pondering this, but no matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t come up with an answer.

To be more precise, it’s not like I had NO ideas.

For example, next time, I’d like to go on a date with Mari somewhere… or maybe one day we would get married… and I think it would be nice if I could do lots of things that will make Mari happy. Those thoughts do cross my mind from time to time.

But the uneasiness I felt that day seemed to be something different.

I mean, to begin with—at a fundamental level…

“What part of Mari did I really fall in love with?”

I muttered to myself while looking at Mari’s back as she talked to the editor on the phone.

To be honest, I could come up with plenty of reasons why I fell in love with Mari. 

She was that kind of girl, full of obvious charms.

For example, her appearance.

She was a flawless beautiful girl. It’s often said that the conditions for being a “beautiful person” or “handsome” include having a face without any flaws, and if that’s the reasoning, then Asaguri had a perfectly symmetrical face with flawlessly arranged and defined features.

Moreover, her figure was well-proportioned, almost like a model. Anyone who saw her would undoubtedly declare Mari a “beauty.”

Another example is her abilities.

With her results in manga, illustrations, and novels—all while still being a middle school student—she possessed a monstrous level of artistic talent. It’s rare to find someone who has achieved such results as she has.

I couldn’t deny that I was envious of her talent and that it made me feel inferior to her. I’m sure there are people who want to possess such a dazzling talent.

Another example is her wealth.

When I heard the figure of two billion yen from her mouth, I was shaken. To be honest, I was scared.

However, in this world, there is also the concept of “a reverse Cinderella story,” and for those who aim for such a thing, it must be incredibly alluring, don’t you think?

And furthermore, her fame.

With the above three “charms,” Mari also had fame.

If you were to see her as an “accessory” in a non-superficial way, fulfilling that role as a lover, there wouldn’t be many women as amazing as her.

Well, I’ve brought up various arguments and thoughts, and it seems that my mother has a tendency to be excessively affectionate toward Mari for reasons that likely stem from these very reasons—

“It feels like I’m missing the point…”

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I didn’t think I fell in love with Mari for those reasons.

But on the other hand, I also felt that I might just be convincing myself of that. After all, I was the son of that woman, and I probably inherited her blood and values somewhere.

“Haaa… I feel like things were better when I was a kid. I think I used to get along with Mari without thinking about such complicated things…”

I tried to remember my encounter with Mari when I was ten years old.

At that time, I was…

“…Huh? Hnn? Wait, wait a second, back then I… wait, hold on, wait a minute… huh, wait, what!?”

The presence that is resurfacing in my mind… no way, could it be, you…?

My Dark History!?