Chapter 16: Parents

After returning home, I changed into something comfortable: black spats and a yellow one-piece dress I’d bought earlier. Then, to shake off the motion sickness from the car ride, I dove into bed and lay there for a while.

After a short nap, I went down to the living room. Mom was in the middle of making dinner, and it looked like Yuna was in her room.

Without saying anything, I flopped down on the living room sofa and opened the copy of Alice in Wonderland I’d bought.

Alice, who had chased after a talking white rabbit and gotten lost in a strange world, experienced her body growing and shrinking, met all sorts of bizarre characters, and in the end, woke up from the dream and returned to reality—that’s the kind of story Alice in Wonderland is.

『It really is a strange tale…』

The unique world and characters of Alice in Wonderland left a strong impression on me. I’d read it so many times as a child that I could still recite the plot by heart.

“There are so many absurd and unreasonable characters, but it’s fun in its own weird way. And yet, when you finish reading, there’s this strange emptiness to it… That’s the charm of Alice, I think.”

『…I can understand that. It’s my first time reading it today, but between the story and the illustrations, I was completely drawn into this strange world.』

I felt it yesterday too, but it’s really nice to be able to immediately share thoughts about something we’ve just seen or read…

Yuna will tag along when something piques her interest, but she’s pretty fickle about it.

As I was thinking that, I heard a noise at the front door.

I stood up, thinking maybe…, and headed toward the entrance. Just as I’d expected, the person standing there was—

Tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a slightly worn suit—exactly as I remembered him. It was my father, Ikuo Kisaragi.

“Dad!”

I rushed over to him.

Dad looked startled for a moment when he saw me.

“…Wait, are you Ikuto?”

“That’s right. Welcome home, Dad.”

“I’m home—and you’ve made it back too, huh. Your mom told me what happened, but… you’ve gotten really small, haven’t you…”

As he said that, Dad crouched down and started roughly ruffling my hair.

He was treating me like a little kid.

…Even though I used to be taller than him.

I’d passed him in height shortly after starting high school, back when Dad had gone overseas on a long-term assignment.

I’d been secretly looking forward to telling him when we met again, but that chance never came. I ended up in the body of a little girl.

“Welcome home, dear.”

“Welcome back, Papa!”

Mom and Yuna arrived at the entrance.

“Hey, I’m home. You two look the same as ever… or maybe Yuna’s grown quite a bit?”

“Ehehe, you noticed!”

Yuna puffed out her chest with her hands on her hips, proudly emphasizing her “growth.”

“…Dad, that’s borderline harassment. And Yuna, don’t encourage him.”

“Oh, come on, it’s just harmless family banter.”

“I don’t really mind either…”

I let out a sigh. I’m not wrong… right?

『Ikuto-san, may I greet him too?』

Alicia asked me.

『Go ahead.』

I added Dad to the list of recipients for the telepathic connection.

『It’s a pleasure to meet you, Father.』

Alicia greeted him via telepathy.

I synchronized my movements with Alicia’s mental image and turned to face my father.

『My name is Alicia. Your son, Ikuto, has taken great care of me. Due to our circumstances, we’ve caused your family much worry and inconvenience. I sincerely apologize.』

Alicia—I—bowed my head politely.

“On the contrary, I can’t thank you enough for helping our scatterbrained son. I’m Ikuo Kisaragi, Ikuto’s father. Please continue to look after him for years to come.”

Dad responded with a rare sincerity I hardly ever saw from him in front of family, bowing his head in return.

『The pleasure is mine. I look forward to it.』

“Well then, enough of the formalities. Alicia-chan, was it?”

『Y-Yes!』

“I’ve already heard the situation from your mother. Thank you for everything you’ve done for Ikuto.”

Dad returned to his usual demeanor as he extended a hand to me—Alicia.

Slightly flustered, I took his hand. It was large and rough—definitely my father’s hand.

“Well, no point standing around the entrance chatting. Let’s move to the living room. I’ll put on some tea.”

Prompted by Mom, we all moved to the living room.

Dad said he’d go put his things away first, so Yuna and I sat at the dining table and waited.

In the meantime, Mom had kindly prepared tea for everyone.

Once Dad joined us and the whole family was together, our little tea party began without any formal announcement.

I reached for one of the individually wrapped chocolates placed in a pile at the center of the table and popped it into my mouth. As the nostalgic sweetness melted on my tongue, Alicia’s voice reached me.

『What is this? It’s sweet and delicious! It’s melting in my mouth—it feels like bliss…』

『That’s a sweet called chocolate. Do you like it?』

『Yes! I love sweet things!』

Maybe I was being affected by Alicia’s taste buds, but sweets had started tasting even better than before.

I picked up another piece of chocolate.

Dad was watching this whole exchange closely.

『Ahem, ahem. Testing… testing… Hmm, seems like it’s working.』

Apparently, Dad had taken an interest in the telepathy.

『So this is what they call "telepathy," huh? I’ve heard of it, but this is fascinating. Ikuto, what’s the effective range of this thing?』

『Normally, it’s about a five-meter radius… but if you can see the person you’re talking to, it can stretch to about twenty meters.』

『I see… so it has directionality as well. This is becoming more and more interesting.』

『It’s really convenient—you can have a whole conversation while sipping tea like this!』

『Yes, I see that.』

『…Yuna, don’t get too chatty during meals. It’s not very polite.』

『…Okaaay.』

Yuna gave a slight shrug of her shoulders.

We spent a little while longer just chatting like that.

“…Well then. I think it’s time we talked about what comes next.”

Once the tea had settled and the air had calmed, Dad turned to me and spoke.

“Ikuto, you have two options—live on as Ikuto Kisaragi… or live as a completely different person.”