[Meeting Under the Same Sky] #87 Something That Shakes the World

"Emma is... eight years old."
Charlotte answers weakly.

"Eight years old..."
"That's right, I'm eight!"

Emma says proudly.

────She wasn't my child...

Domeki feels his strength leave him, and his legs wobble.
He staggers and sits down on a bench.

"Charlotte, are you married?"

────Who is this child's father?

"No, I'm a single mother."
Charlotte answers with a pale face.

Domeki felt so drained that he couldn't even think about anything else.

─────I see. I see.

For so, so long.

───Ever since that day, I haven't been able to be in a serious relationship with a woman.

───The thought that my child might be being raised somewhere I don't know about made me afraid to get deeply involved with women.

I couldn't bring myself to date anyone casually, fearing I might be told the same thing again, so I couldn't make a specific girlfriend.

Dating just for fun was out of the question. Dealing with women whose thoughts I couldn't fathom was nothing but terrifying.

I am aware that I am reasonably popular.

The affection I received from colleagues other than Sawara was both pleasing and terrifying.
────Why do you come near me when you don't even know me?

Ever since then, "that day" had remained in Domeki's heart like sediment.

After ten years, his heart suddenly feels lighter.

".........Charlotte."
".........Yes, Masa?"
"......Are you happy now?"

Charlotte paused for a moment, looked at Emma, and smiled.

I am happy.
Emma also smiled at her mother.

...I suppose so. Emma is very cute, just like you.
Domeki also smiled at Emma.

Emma smiled proudly at Domeki as well.

......Sorry for holding you up.
Domeki said, looking up at Charlotte.

---He would not say, "Shall I take you home?"

It was better if they never met again from here on out.

Charlotte also smiled as if the sediment in her heart had been cleared away, took Emma's hand, and left.

When he returned to his country and told Yura about meeting Charlotte, she had an expression that looked like she was about to cry and was angry at the same time.
When he said she had a child with her, she turned pale and dropped the mug she was holding onto the floor.

As Domeki wiped up the spilled coffee in her place,
"It wasn't my child,"
he said, and Yura twisted her face and sat on the sofa with her knees pulled up to her chest.
Her shoulders were shaking, so she must have been crying.

It will be a while before you become an aunt.

Yura threw a cushion at her brother, who said that, shouting, "Idiot!"

---Yura must have also had sediment remaining in her heart for a long time.

---I'm glad. Domeki smiled at his younger sister, whose eyes were red.

─────Around the time when winter was about to begin.

The whole world would be shaken.

---That afternoon, emergency alerts suddenly rang out on smartphones across the country.

An earthquake? When Nori looked at her smartphone screen, a text she had never seen before was displayed.

No, it was a warning message that everyone who received the alert had never seen before.

Suspicious floating object above Japan.
Please evacuate inside a building.
Do not go outside.

────What? What does this mean?

Nori checks outside from the window, but can't tell what's going on.
She feels like she can see something in the sky far off toward Shinjuku.

Nori then turns on the television.
Sure enough, every station was broadcasting an emergency program.

An object floating in the sky────

Nori cries out involuntarily.

“Narodnaya-san!?!?”

Kaori's scream from downstairs was almost simultaneous.

Thud, thud, thud—footsteps come running up.

When Nori turns around with a pale face, Kaori is leaning against the doorway, looking even paler as she watches the TV.

“…………Kaori-san.”
“…………What is this? Why?”

What the camera is showing is unmistakably Narodnaya.
Is that Shinjuku?
It is floating even higher than the skyscrapers.

It is too high up and the focus is a bit blurry, but it is definitely Narodnaya.

Kaori is wearing clothes she has never seen before. It is not her usual suit.
It is an unrealistic outfit, like some kind of ceremonial dress or something from another world.

Her expression is a smirk as she looks down at the world below.

Stunned, the two of them stare at the screen without a word.

A reporter is shouting as they explain the situation.

Apparently, the same 'floating objects' appeared all over the world at the same time.

They say that the exact same thing as the one in each country can be seen from every country.

And, in the language of each country,

“We will now rule over you; people, follow our instructions.”

That is what they said.

"That's impossible... There's no way Narodnaya would say something like that."
Nori squeezed out her voice, sounding frustrated.

It seems the Self-Defense Force scrambled jets, but they are keeping their distance and observing the situation.
They are issuing warnings, but there is no response.

────Before long.

The U.S. Air Force, losing patience, took the lead and fired missiles.

─────Narodnaya did this.

With a joyful expression, she spun around and around, drawing them into the whirlwind she had created, and then threw the missiles right back down to the ground.

In an instant.

The entire area was reduced to a scorched wasteland.

Following that, Russia and other countries fired missiles in the same way, but they were likewise drawn into the whirlwind, and the ground was reduced to a scorched wasteland.

"What's the matter?"

Suddenly, a voice came from the television.
────Without a doubt, it was Narodnaya's voice.

"Aren't you going to attack here?"

────She is laughing.

Kaori collapsed.

"...It's a lie. ...That's not Narodnaya... No. No, is this a dream? This is a dream..."

Kaori cried while trembling.

Nori walked up to her with firm steps, crouched down in front of Kaori, and shook her shoulders.

"Pull yourself together!!!"

Even so, Kaori did not stop crying.

"This is wrong! Narodnaya-san wouldn't do something like this! Kaori-san! You know that better than anyone!"
"But... but..."
Nori shakes Kaori's shoulders with all her might.

"If you don't believe in her, Kaori-san, then who will! Even if! That! Really was Narodnaya-san!! Kaori-san, if you don't stop her, then who will!?"

Kaori's sobbing stops.
He slowly looks up at his wife's face.
She has a look on her face more terrifying than anything he has ever seen before.

---More terrifying than Narodnaya.

With a sigh, the tension leaves Kaori's body.

---That's right, that's wrong. If I don't stop her, who will? I will stop Narodnaya.

"............I'm going."
Kaori declares firmly and stands up.

Nori's expression turns into a gentle smile.

"............Be careful."

Shortly after Kaori rushes out of the house, Nori receives a phone call.
---It's from her older brother, Daiki.

"Hey, what is going on!"
He sounds extremely panicked on the other end of the line.
"Brother, Kaori-san just went to stop her a moment ago."
"Damn it, so there's no mistake that it's that Naro-whatever, Kaori's 'father'?"
"Narodnaya-san. Honestly, no matter how many times I tell you, you never remember."
"What is going on with that? Can Kaori stop her? You, are you okay?"
"I'm at home, I'm fine, but─────"

────She swallowed the words "I intend to go" and hung up the phone.

I have to go. I have no idea what is happening, but the only thing I cannot allow is for those two to fight.
Besides, Narodnaya-san wouldn't hurt Kaori-san.

---That is, if that really is Narodnaya-san.