The playground at sunset was a ritualistic space, marking the end of the children's daily routine. The children, who had been running about with an energy that suggested they feared nothing in the world, vanished one by one as they followed the parents who had come to collect them.
A young boy, who had been the "boss" of the group until moments ago, now played lonesome and solitary in the vacated park, harboring a quiet resentment toward his parents for being the last to arrive.
"「...And so, his father whispered softly. 'Ah, Grecios, why have you made such a foolish choice?' Grecios replied, 'Because it is the mission I have inherited, Father.'」"
"...?"
Startled by the sound of another voice in the playground he thought was empty, the boy stopped digging in the dirt and stood up. It was a small voice. When the other children were there, it would have been buried, but in the silence of the vacated park, it sounded peaceful—like a lullaby being sung to the playground itself.
"「The father frowned and set his jaw. He could not accept it. Why must his own son shoulder such a grueling hardship alone? Unable to contain himself, he spoke with a voice tinged with rage. 'Grecios. The hatchling dragon you have brought is undoubtedly a seed of calamity. It is a monster that will be hated by all of humanity—a creature that will return that hatred tenfold once it reaches maturity. What exactly is this mission of yours that compels you to raise such a thing?'」"
The boy felt a sense of tranquility from the voice, which seemed to belong to someone his own age or perhaps even younger, much like when his mother read him picture books at bedtime. He searched high and low for the owner of the voice, but they were nowhere to be found. Just as he began to fear he was hearing a ghost—
"「'Father, the war between humans and dragons has lasted for centuries. Do you truly not see how meaningless this conflict has become? I will give this child all my love so that she never feels the urge to return humanity's hatred. And on the day she reaches maturity, she will return that love a hundredfold, becoming the Savior Dragon that bridges the gap between our worlds.' ...What does 'Savior' mean? Dictionary, dictionary...」"
𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦.
With the sound of branches brushing together, a few leaves drifted down like flower petals. The boy looked up. It was just one of the ordinary trees planted in the park, but it was tall—far too tall for a child to climb alone.
Yet, somehow, a young girl was perched there, a book spread open in her lap. She looked to be about five or six years old, with curly hair that barely grazed her shoulders. Her pale cheeks glowed warmly in the light of the setting sun; she was so cute and lovely she could have passed for a doll.
"Ah..."
Captivated by the girl, the boy let out a small sound without thinking. Perhaps she heard him, for the girl looked down and spotted the boy staring up at her.
"Huh? ...Oops!"
As she leaned forward, the book resting on her knees began to slip. The boy could only stare with wide eyes, unable to react. From his perspective, the book looked incredibly thick. It gathered terrifying speed as it plummeted toward his head, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩!
"Whew! Safe!"
However, the expected pain never struck his head. He pried his eyelids open and looked up. The book, which had been falling like a gaping-mouthed monster from a storybook, was held firmly in the girl's hand.
If an adult had witnessed this scene, they would have noticed something strange. First, when the book first began to slip, the girl's hand should have been nowhere near it in time. Yet, she was already holding it. Second—and more importantly—the girl's 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 had changed. She had been sitting like a cat on a high branch that neither children nor adults could easily reach, but now she was on the lowest branch.
It was as if she had leaped from the upper branch to the lower one in the blink of an eye while the boy was cowering.
Having snatched the book, the girl dangled from the branch like a circus performer, peering down at the boy. It was certainly an odd sight, but the young boy, free of the rigid preconceptions of adults, saw nothing strange in her behavior.
"Sorry. I dropped my book by mistake. Are you hurt?"
"Uh, no..."
"Really? That's a relief!"
Hanging upside down and beaming a wide smile, the girl seemed to brighten the world as if the sun had risen all over again. The rowdy boy, who usually categorized people simply as 'friends' or 'not friends,' experienced a strange, heart-pounding sensation for the first time—the realization of the opposite sex.
"Hup!"
The girl swung her body back and forth like a pendulum. Then, with a cute little grunt of effort, she pulled herself back up onto the branch.
"I'll be more careful next time~."
Tucking the thick book under her arm, the girl began to climb the tree with impressive agility using only one hand. It was impossible to tell where such strength came from, given her slender limbs visible between her frilled t-shirt and short pants.
"H-Hey!"
"Hm?"
At the boy's shout, the girl stopped her climb and looked down.
"W-What's your name?"
The boy, who usually challenged everything without fear and caused trouble for everyone around him, was experiencing what it truly meant to 'summon courage' for the first time in his life. Clutching the hem of his shirt with both hands, he waited for her to speak.
"Me? My name is... Ah!"
She cut herself off, a radiant smile spreading across her face. It was a smile so enchanting the boy felt as though his soul were being stolen away—as if she had transformed into a beautiful gemstone. Unsure why she was smiling like that, the boy tensed up.
That was when a rough but gentle hand pressed down on the boy's head, ruffling his hair.
"If you want to woo my daughter, kid, wait until you're big enough to take one of my punches first."
"Papa!!"
The girl waved her arm—the one not holding the book—and spoke in a bright voice. The boy turned around in surprise.
The girl's father was a man much younger than the boy's own father. He felt more like a "big brother" than an "uncle." He wore a short-sleeved dress shirt suited for summer and a pair of well-worn jeans. In one hand, he held a grocery bag. It looked like the girl's house was having curry for dinner tonight.
The man looked up at the girl in the tree and spoke.
"Eto. I told you to wait at home."
"But if I wait out here, I get to see you sooner, don't I?"
"Even so, it's dangerous to climb up there..."
"Wheee!"
"Hey, you brat?!"
As the girl leaped from the branch, the man yelped in shock, tossed his grocery bag aside, and sprinted forward. He spread his arms wide and caught the falling girl securely in his embrace.
"Hehehe! It's okay if it's dangerous! Because Papa always comes running to catch me, right?"
"...Okay. Then I guess that means it's okay for me to give you a smaller portion of dinner as a punishment for scaring me like that?"
"No fair!"
The girl pouted but refused to let go of him. Instead, she climbed further up and sat perched on his shoulders.
The man, clearly used to this, picked up his discarded grocery bag and ruffled the boy's hair once more as he passed by.
"You should get home soon, too. Your parents will be worried."
"Bye-bye! Oh, right. My name is Eto! Eto Takaki!"
The girl who introduced herself as Eto walked away toward the sunset with her father until they vanished from sight. Seeing the look of pure happiness on Eto's face as she watched her father, the boy felt something within his heart say goodbye.
A short while later, the boy's parents arrived at the playground.
"Sorry, Tatsuya! Work ran a bit late today."
"...Mom."
"Yes? What is it?"
"...Why is love so painful?"
"What on earth is a five-year-old talking about!?"
And so, the boy's first love ended in heartbreak, having lasted less than a single minute.