Chapter 12: Epilogue
Chapter 12: Epilogue
IN a police station in a certain provincial town, within the Criminal Affairs Division. Ren, who had two years prior fulfilled his biggest dream—becoming a detective—tapped the report he had been working on against his desk to straighten the papers in one pile. Not that he had any particular reason for it, but he had wanted to become a detective for the longest time. However, real life, unlike his dreams, had been harsh, and it had taken him six whole years from starting as a beat cop to achieve his ambition. Even so, he was on the luckier side compared to many of his peers.
Now, after having worked as a detective for two years, what he had realized about the job was that it involved a lot more paperwork than he had expected, and that about eighty percent of it was patience and hard work away from the spotlight. Not to mention, that he now had a lot less vacation than during his beat cop days, and that taking all of his vacation days at once was frowned upon.
Ah, I’m really not making it easy on her, huh? Ren let out a small chuckle.
Having finished all the tasks requiring his immediate attention, Ren stretched his arms out over his head, rolled his shoulders, then opened his bag and took his lunch box out. Conveniently, lunch break had just begun. Ren’s stomach growled, drawing attention to the fact that it was empty and starving for some food. What would it be today? He always looked forward to unpacking his lunch box to discover what was inside. Amid all of the brownnosing he had to do for work, inevitably landing him in a bloodthirsty mood, eating his packed lunch was one of the few ways he could find peace again.
When he slid the lid off, his eyes were immediately greeted by a plethora of colorful side dishes. In a small drawstring pouch, an assortment of three kinds of onigiri lay snuggled next to each other, the fillings invariably pickled plum, cod roe, and salmon. Apparently, those were the top three best rice ball fillings of all-time according to her.
In the beginning, she couldn’t make a single dish right, but in the four years of them dating her cooking skills showed impressive growth. …Well, at least that was what she believed, anyway. The slightly burnt omelet was savory to taste. She properly flavored it with both soy sauce and mirin, but going a bit heavy on the soy sauce was how she preferred it.
The main dish was yesterday’s leftover Salisbury steak. She must’ve made a smaller sized one for the lunch box. Either the grind was too coarse, or the pieces of onion too big in comparison with the patty size, but when he stabbed a chopstick into it, it crumbled apart miserably. It tasted really good. The fact that it made him laugh inadvertently was the cherry on top.
“Dang it, seeing you smile like a fool while eating the lunch your wife lovingly made you really ticks me off!” A groan came from behind Ren’s back.
Before Ren could whip around, a hand extended towards his lunch box, nimbly plucking a stalk of asparagus wrapped in bacon from it. When he did turn around, he saw a senior detective chewing on the snack.
“…Isn’t the asparagus a bit chewy?”
“She says she likes it like that.”
Indeed, the bacon asparagus roll-ups she made were a tiny bit tough. Otherwise, they were properly made, and it didn’t make them inedible. They were pretty yummy in fact, so he guessed he shouldn’t complain.
“Ah… Guess I’d better get started on my lunch too…”
His colleague, seated at the desk next to his, rummaged around in his bag from within the depths of which he produced a cup of instant noodles. To it, he added the flavoring and the powdered soup stock, and then stepped out of the office to boil some water. Ren continued eating the contents of his lunch box, and by the time his colleague returned, he was biting into one of the rice balls.
Her onigiri always scored a perfect ten. The amount of salt was absolutely perfect, so much so they would taste great even without any filling. As he was savoring the taste, the office door creaked open again and another one of his fellow detectives entered the room, muttering, “Ugh, I’m beat!”
“Ah, finished the interrogation already?”
“Yeah. I mostly stood on the sidelines, watching a senior officer do it though.”
That alone must’ve been mentally draining, because the man heaved a huge sigh before plopping down at his desk which stood back to back with Ren’s. He took out his store-bought lunch box. Snapping his chopsticks open, he piped up again, as if reminded of something, “Ah, by the way, I saw your wife on my patrol route!”
“You lucky dog, scoring such a young wife! She’s what, ten years younger than you?”
“Nine, actually,” Ren mumbled curtly.
Not that he minded it much. Nine wasn’t much different than ten, but hearing their age difference being amped up to double digits just rubbed him the wrong way. Working in the same place as his wife was an inexhaustible source of teasing. He was looking forward to the day it became old news.
Now’s the time for patience, Ren shrugged mentally when the door opened, just in time for him to throw the last piece of his onigiri in his mouth. …It was Subaru.
“Ren, have you finished your report? Oh, I see you’re done with your lunch too. Perfect timing! We’re about to conduct a door-to-door investigation, but we’re short on manpower, so if you would join us?”
“Yes, sir!” Ren swiftly put away his lunch box and ran out the door to catch up to Subaru who had already gone ahead.
Subaru had been promoted to detective two years before him. He was really glad to have a senior who really had his back. Subaru was bringing him along on a lot of his cases, which was an excellent learning opportunity for Ren.
While the two of them were heading to the parking lot, Subaru uttered a short question, “When is she quitting?”
“Huh? Ah, the job. Next month. She keeps saying she wants to work until she really can’t anymore, but it’s our first child, you know? She’s having a bad case of morning sickness, too. I can’t help it, I’m just too worried about her.”
Subaru scratched his head and smiled, turning to look at Ren over his shoulder. “Ever the worrier, aren’t you?”
“I know! I used to think I’m a very chill guy, but when it comes to her, I’m hopeless. In fact, I’m worried about her even now, right this very moment.”
Subaru chuckled, and when they finally reached the parking lot, he fished his keys out of his pocket and tossed them over to Ren. Ren nimbly caught them and hopped into the driver’s seat.
“Well, that’s only natural, I suppose. The more precious someone is to you, the more you fret over them.”
“Guess you’re right. Well then, let’s get to it!” Ren exclaimed. He confirmed that Subaru, sitting next to him in the front, had fastened his seat belt, and revved the engine.
***
A two-lane road a few blocks away from the main street was busy at this time of day. Not only was this a busy residential road, but it was also often used as a bypass in case of traffic congestion on the main street, so there were quite a number of cars running up and down it every day. If someone left their car parked out on a street like that, it was only natural that they would get reported. It would just get in the way of too many people.
Aya was just doing her rounds in her small patrol car when she received word of the parking violation, so she had to turn around before heading out to where the illegally parked car sat.
She addressed a female officer sitting in the front next to her, who was currently confirming the location on the map, “So, have you figured out which way to go?”
“Yes. Turn to the left over there, then turn right at the end of the street, and we’ll practically be there.”
“Ah, thank goodness. You know, it’s already been a year since our GPS broke, but will someone fix it? Noooo!”
To think that the wave of cost-cutting would hit as far as their backwater little town… Apparently, it was pretty hard to get the funds to buy a new GPS system for a patrol car. Aya uttered a small sigh and shot a quick glance at her coworker’s belly.
“Hehe, look at that baby bump! Aren’t your clothes starting to feel a bit too tight?”
“Yeah, a little bit. Actually, I’ve removed all of the hooks on my skirt. You know, there are these suspenders, but small, so I clip them on where the hooks are supposed to be, and then the skirt does not slide around and it is easier on my stomach,” the woman popped a few buttons of her uniform jacket open to demonstrate.
“Five months, huh? Don’t push yourself too hard, okay, Mia?” Aya chuckled.
The female police officer nodded. It was Mia Oonari, only looking a few years older.
Maybe it had been the influence of the now-disbanded Champions of Justice, the Crow Rangers that had inspired Mia to become an officer of the law. Maybe it had been the “new path” that she had been looking for ever since that fateful day. Either way, after graduating high school, Mia had become a policewoman. She had been assigned to the Traffic Division, the same as Aya, where she displayed her characteristic sense of justice while throwing herself into her new job with impressive zeal. With her optimistic and cheerful nature, she had fit in at her workplace in virtually no time, and everyone adored her, including her seniors.
Then, when she had turned twenty, she had married Ren, who was twenty-nine at the time. Ren making his dreams come true by getting promoted to detective was probably one of the big contributing factors to that decision. He was going to get much busier and have a lot less vacation days, so it was a logical step for the two of them to get married when they always had to fight for those precious few minutes spent in each other’s company. They loved every precious moment they had together now that they shared a home.
And now, two years later, a new life was budding inside Mia. She was at the five-month mark at the moment. As for the gender, the doctor’s answer was a vague, “I think it’s going to be a girl, probably.” Well, as long as they arrived hale and healthy, it didn’t really matter, Mia would welcome them whether her baby turned out to be a boy or a girl.
She had actually wanted to continue working until it was almost time for her to give birth, but her husband, who was supposed to be the laid-back one out of the two of them, wasn’t taking any risks when it came to her well-being. He talked her ear off until she had agreed to quit her job starting next month. She had been considering taking a maternity leave, but her husband had begged her to just focus on her health and raising their child, so she decided to take the plunge and leave the force.
Well, it’s not as if him fretting over my safety like a madman is something that began yesterday, Mia giggled to herself, remembering the past.
“Oh, right, it might be a little too early, but your morning sickness has faded quite a bit, hasn’t it? So, we’ve been thinking that we should all gather and have a meal together sometime. It’ll double as your baby shower, too!” Aya announced with a big smile on her lips.
“Aw, that is so nice!” Mia returned the smile after scratching her head shyly.
“I see you and Subaru almost every day, but it’s been at least six months since I’ve last heard from Shou or Misaki. It’s probably because they left before I received the good news.”
“Yeah. But don’t worry, you aren’t missing anything. When you’re young, every time you meet up with your friends after a while apart, you think ‘wow, they’ve changed!’ But people their age, well, they don’t really change all that much anymore,” Aya giggled, making a sharp turn.
They must be getting close to where they needed to be.
Misaki had gotten promoted in recognition of his impeccable work ethics and was dispatched to work in a prefectural police department. It wasn’t as if his primary concern in life was the advancement of his career, but he did put in hard work, so both his work situation and his standard of living were improving in leaps and bounds.
Sayoko, who was now his wife, had moved to live with him immediately after their wedding. At the time, Mia, Aya, and Sayoko often used to meet up for a stroll around the town, some tea at a café, or to do some shopping. After Sayoko’s first child had been born, she had had no time to go out with them anymore, but Mia and Aya still managed to regularly scrape together some free time to go to Misaki’s to see her in person. Misaki was so busy with work they barely saw him anymore, but they were a regular presence in Sayoko’s and her baby’s life. Mia hoped that when she had her child, he or she would grow up to be great friends with Sayoko’s children.
Then there was Shou, who had also advanced to work in the prefectural police department. How he managed to pull that off is somewhat of an enigma. He was neither as passionate about his job as Misaki, nor had he booked any outstanding achievements.
“I’ve gotten assigned to prefectural police, toodles, guys!” he had uttered airily one day with his hand wrapped around a stunning beauty of a woman with a bright blush coloring her cheeks as he whispered words into her ear, and the next moment, he had been gone from his old police station.
Misaki, who had once again become Shou’s coworker, mentioned that he was now apparently in forensics and dating the chief’s daughter who happened to be the same woman Mia saw that day in the police station. His career path up until that point was also shrouded in mystery, so how he had managed to go from a regular police officer to a lab guy was anybody’s guess. Although everyone thought it might have to do with the shy chief’s daughter who was always fidgeting around Shou with a deep blush on her face.
The one thing everyone could agree on about Shou was the certainty that he hadn’t changed at all. He was as happy-go-lucky as ever, loved dirty jokes, and could be a bit, or rather, quite mean. According to the rumor mill, he was pretty hot stuff and he may have found his opposite in love fetishes with the chief’s daughter. Not that Mia really understood what that meant.
“Oh, he’s being ooh’d and ahh’d over like a celebrity all right. I have no idea what they see in that perverted sadist,” Aya, who had a lot of acquaintances in the prefectural Traffic Division had said once, rolling her eyes.
Eventually, the car stopped, indicating they had arrived at their destination. Mia wasted no time in getting right to her job; while jotting down the license plate number of the illegally parked car, she subconsciously found her eyes drifting up to steal a brief glance at the sky.
…Once, just for a short while, I sure used to fly a lot. I should probably pick this habit up again. Yeah! Taking Ren for a midair date seems like a fun idea. He’s such a worrywart though. I’m sure he will go all, “At least save it for after you’ve made it through childbirth safely, okay?” Mia mused to herself and chuckled.
Mia almost never used magic anymore. It came in handy in some situations, so she still resorted to it from time to time, but choosing flight over walking, or casting flashy spells didn’t happen anymore. She had no use for it now.
She wasn’t completely sure what she was going to do when her baby came though. After all, until now, the sorcerers had always passed their magic on from parent to child. Did she have the right to put a stop to this tradition in her generation? However, she knew very well she should under no circumstances teach her child that great magical art of darkness. …But then she inevitably ended up thinking that there was no meaning in teaching the child ordinary magic if she didn’t teach them “Miangia”. Mia was just the tiniest bit conflicted on the matter.
***
ONE afternoon, when their days off overlapped, Ren and Mia headed to the mall in front of the train station. They had decided it was time to start stocking up on baby products. They couldn’t match their days off for a long while now, so they jumped on the first chance they got to go shopping and get prepared for the coming of their baby, merrily chatting about nothing and everything on their way to the store.
“Ugh, I have no idea how many of these we actually need.”
“Yes. Babies grow up fast, they say. Ah, but I remember Sayoko saying that it’s best to have as much underwear on hand as possible.”
“Hm, that’s true, it’ll get dirty often. Let’s buy two sets of three, then.”
There were many kinds of underwear to choose from: short ones, long ones, romper somethings, onesies… Anyway, there were just too many of them, which prompted the endless questions beginning with whether they had to buy at least one of each kind or a few of just one kind. Looking over this and that with Ren, Mia put selected pieces of tiny clothing into their shopping basket.
“Socks… Look at how small they are! So cute!”
Baby clothing was all so tiny and adorable. Looking at those little socks made them realize anew just how small the baby’s feet that fit in them would be. Watching a starry-eyed Mia admire the fluffy socks, Ren chuckled, taking the tiny garments in his hands and feeling the softness of the material.
“Wanna buy a pair?”
“The sheer amount of options is making me dizzy! There’s so much we need to buy, but look at me, I keep on lingering in the clothing section.”
“Yeah, but we’re getting a crib and a baby seat handed down from one of my seniors at work, so let’s go wild and buy what we like. Within reasonable limits, of course,” Ren said, stretching his lips in a big, happy smile, and patted Mia on the head.
Becoming a husband had done nothing to change Ren’s scary face making him look like a villain, but his eyes were incredibly kind. Mia nodded and, after careful consideration, chose just one more cute animal onesie to put in the basket, and then they went to the checkout counter, adding several more baby necessities along the way.
***
“YOU know, I’ve been thinking a lot lately,” Mia uttered softly, addressing Ren who was sitting next to her.
After they had finished shopping, the two of them had been unpacking their new goods at home. Taking another sip of her rooibos tea with a dash of maple syrup that Ren had made for her, Mia let out a sigh.
“Hm?” Ren, seated on the same sofa, turned to face her, his mug of coffee still attached to his lips.
“We are going to have a baby, right? But should I teach them magic, or should the sorcerers’ lineage end with me?” Mia doubted aloud, softly stroking her barely rounded belly.
The first time she had felt the baby move had been just at the end of her fourth month of pregnancy. She remembered feeling startled at the sudden sensation; it had felt as if something had bubbled up from within her. …She had felt such overwhelming joy bloom inside her at that, but gnawing doubt had accompanied the happiness, almost overshadowing it.
Magic had been passed down through blood in her family. Even if she wouldn’t teach her child magic, they might still end up casting a spell accidentally. However, originally, the very reason for the existence of Mia’s magic had been to activate the great magical art of darkness. That is what she had been told growing up.
Maybe, hiding this truth from her baby was what was best in the long run. Having special powers, the pride and the whole manner of thinking associated with magic, was something that Mia had learned through growing up as the future “Supreme Ruler of Evil”. However, the last vestiges of the Supreme Ruler of Evil had already vanished from within the young woman.
How should she bring up this kind of topic with her child? It’s not as if there is the ‘Magic Talk’ and no, not the one that deals with your body going through changes… What should she do when her child discovered magic for themselves? Mia couldn’t help but worry about these questions.
After giving her belly a gentle stroke, Ren asked her quietly,
“What about ‘Miangia’?”
“I have no intention of teaching such a spell to our child. I will not tell them that there once was a ‘Supreme Ruler of Evil’ or about the spell to take over the world. The ideals I have inherited from Father end with me. Those sins are mine to bear. I will keep on carrying them my whole life, and I intend to take them with me to my grave…apologizing to my ancestors all the while.”
Mia was still not done asking forgiveness for what she had failed to accomplish. After all, they had been working hard towards one ideal, and one ideal only since time immemorial, and it had been none other than Mia who had ruined their effort. It had been her foot that had squashed the will, the hopes, the fervent wish of all the sorcerers of the past. That alone was unforgivable, but to add insult to injury, she had chosen the dishonorable option to live on.
And to make matters even worse, despite the fact that the matter would be resolved once and for all if she perished without leaving anything behind, she was about to give birth to the next generation. Mia was both happy and sad at the same time about bringing this “next generation” into this world. It had unmistakably been this sprout of a life within her that had opened up a new path before her and all the people she loved. As if sensing Mia’s inner turmoil, Ren suddenly put an ear to her stomach.
“H-Hey!”
“Hm, is this the baby moving? I can’t really tell yet. I hope I’ll be able to feel it too.”
“Well, yes, right now it’s more of a light popping sensation. It doesn’t feel like kicking that people talk about so much.”
“Ah, okay,” Ren said and stroked her belly again, his ear still pressed to it.
Then he slowly raised his head back up, put an arm around Mia’s shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Whether you’re gonna teach our kid magic or not, I’ll leave that up to you. You’re gonna have to be the one to do any teaching in that regard after all. If you wanna know my opinion, I’d like you to teach her, though.”
“Really? …But—”
“It doesn’t have to be strict and nothing-but-magic like it was with you. Just teach her in bits and pieces whenever you have a spare minute and make each time a chance for mother and child to bond. Something that only the two of you will have together.” Ren smiled gently. “Of course you can always bring the old man along on any trips to the mountains or flights across Japan!”
Whenever I have a spare minute?! Mia’s eyes bulged.
“How about I teach you a lesson about the lofty and noble art of magic,” Mia began, but Ren placed his lips over hers in a bid to nip the brewing argument in the bud.
“Mmph?!”
Ever since she had met Ren, they had kissed countless times—first it was unprovoked touching, then he claimed it was a sort of means to annoy her, and now, when their hearts were one, the kisses became a part of their daily routine, akin to a greeting. But no matter how many times he claimed her lips, it always felt wonderful. However, he would always kiss her at the most unexpected of times, so he never failed to catch her off guard.
Tearing away from her lips finally, Ren let a lazy grin overtake his face. “Look, I was pretty serious when I told you I want you to teach our kid magic. Of course, you don’t have to teach her offensive spells and stuff. Pour intent into your words and speak them—this, the very basis of your magic, and some of those cute spells you’re so good at. Conjuring up flowers, making any drink taste like hot chocolate, stuff like that. I’m sure you’ll instill all the necessary morals and ideals needed to not be a future Supreme Ruler of Evil.”
…Because Mia was earnest and kind. From garbage sorting to people’s morals, she was a righteous woman through and through, despising everything that was wrong and crooked with all her heart.
“Any child that you’re raising will turn out great,” Ren crooned.
Mia, her cheeks tingeing pink, inquired from him in a tiny voice, “…Why do you want me to do it so much? Teaching our child magic, I mean…”
“Well, it’s just that it’d be so great to have a magic-wielding daughter, don’t you think? I am secretly so proud, you know, that my wife’s actually a sorceress. When I think that my daughter will be one too, it just thrills the heck outta me!”
“What kind of nonsense are you thinking?!” Mia’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at the chuckling Ren.
Is this what he had been thinking about the whole time? Unease resurfaced on Mia’s face; she was unable to shake the discomfort that rose in her at the idea of “teaching magic”. The pride, the entire philosophy surrounding the arcane arts. It was too heavy of a topic to approach casually. The whole system of thinking her ancestors had built and she had trampled underfoot was difficult to push aside lightly.
Ren hugged the brooding Mia close to him and carded his hands through her hair soothingly. You don’t have to deal with it alone, I’m right here, said the man’s gaze as he looked his beloved wife in the eyes. Then, he raised his index finger, indicating he had an idea,
“If you’re uncomfortable with using the word ‘magic’, there’s a handy replacement for it. You can use it instead to teach our girl simple spells.”
“…And what would that handy word be?” Mia asked with raised eyebrows.
He pressed a kiss to her lips and whispered, “You can tell her it’s a good luck charm.”
The End