He asked with a puzzled look, but the child simply stared at him in silence without a word. After some time like that, a small hand gripped him tight and turned his body around. The direction was toward their home.
“Do you want to go home?”
Still no answer. The child walked ahead in silence, and behind those small footprints, Ollie’s own footprints were pressed into the snow. He looked down helplessly at the trail left behind.
To wherever those burning-hot hands led, he simply put one foot forward and followed.
He was on his way back to his home after leaving Masa’s house. Jackson’s grumbling send-off had managed to sour his mood right until the very end.
“Hmph. So annoying. The nerve of him, grinning away like an idiot.”
This was the first time he and Jackson had come face to face since the day he’d hurled insults at him in the street. The moment the door opened and he was met with those fiercely glinting eyes, he nearly let out a startled hiccup — but he remembered the small warmth in his hand and straightened his back.
Lucy and Jackson had visited Masa’s house to pass along word about the upcoming festival in a few days. At her summons, Ollie had no choice but to come along with Asel.
Masa had let Lucy and Jackson know that Ollie would be coming to the festival as well, bringing a child with him — and Jackson’s reaction had been exactly what he’d expected.
Whatever, come if you want. Not like you’ll do anything but sniffle in some corner and leave.
The moment those words left Jackson’s mouth, Masa’s thick hand came down squarely on his back. Asel had laughed with such delight at the sight of it that Ollie couldn’t help snickering along for a good while. It felt almost like the child had mocked Jackson on his behalf.
“Good job. Asel.”
He stroked the round little head of the child smiling his innocent smile, and praise came freely. He didn’t like Jackson, but for the sake of Lucy and Bes, he figured he ought to prepare gifts. Even if the only things he knew how to make were jam and knitting.
Just don’t cause any trouble and quietly give your congratulations, then leave. Unless you want things to get ugly.
Jackson’s obnoxious voice rose back up in his mind. A guy who couldn’t be satisfied unless he was running his mouth every second of the day. A guy like that being a father — Lucy’s child was going to grow up miserable without even needing to look. In the back of Ollie’s mind, he painted a picture of their child, bruised all over from Jackson’s abuse, becoming the object of his own ridicule.
And yet strangely, it brought him no satisfaction whatsoever. Smothering an inexplicable irritation, he gripped Asel’s hand tightly. As though that were the only remedy for the restless, unsettled feeling inside him.
In the distance, the great trees surrounding the village came into view. A heavy sigh escaped him. Ollie steadied his slowing steps and walked on with his chin up. Beside him, Asel’s soft humming drifted over like the sound of the wind.
As they stepped into the village entrance, sure enough, a group had gathered there with Danny and Noah at the front. He quickly averted his eyes and looked away.
“Hey. Ollie!”
At the voice calling his name, his expression crumpled openly. The distance was close enough that he must have clearly been seen, but without a moment’s hesitation, he kept his scowl firmly in place and walked straight ahead.
“Hey!”
Even that shout like a bark didn’t stop his feet. Asel hadn’t looked their way either. He was at an age of intense curiosity — more than half of everything he said on any given day was questions — and yet not even a glance went toward where the village crowd was gathered. Ollie felt a deep sense of kinship with the child.
“Don’t you dare ignore me!”
That warm feeling lasted only a moment before a hand grabbed his shoulder with force.
“Ugh.”
“Why are you ignoring me. I called you.”
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Danny was standing right in front of him, having appeared there somehow, looking down at Ollie and Asel.
“Hey. I heard you picked up a kid.”
“What?”
“Everyone knows. Jackson said so. That you picked up some little brat and started raising it. Is this the one?”
“If you’re going to talk nonsense, get lost. Stop bothering me.”
He answered with a sharp, upward glare. Noah, still young, quietly sidled over next to Danny. At that, Ollie flinched and instinctively took a half-step back. The memory of dangling from that guy’s tree just a few months ago flashed suddenly through his mind. But wounded pride at the fact that he’d retreated made him pull his chest back up and take a step forward instead.
Noah blinked his large round eyes and looked down at Asel. What filled them was pure curiosity.
“What now. You too.”
“……Is it Ollie’s baby?”
“……Of all the hopeless……. Ha.”
That awkwardly tall frame and scrawny build, reaching out at a sluggish pace to point at the child — it was stupidity embodied. Ollie felt ashamed that he’d ever been intimidated by someone like this.
“He’s my family. Mind your own business. I’m leaving.”
“Hey! So you’re coming this time too?”
“Coming where?”
“To the festival! Bes and Lucy had babies. I heard you’re coming.”
“What’s it to you?”
“Ha. What if you show up and steal something again? I’d better keep a good eye on you.”
It wasn’t something he wanted to hear in front of Asel. He held the gaze of those golden eyes looking up at him for a moment, then turned away quickly.
“I’m going to stay quiet and leave, so mind your own business.”
“Like I’d believe that.”
“I said mind your own business!”
He snapped at full volume, then made a point of stomping his footsteps loudly as he walked away. Danny watched his retreating figure and scratched his head. He hadn’t meant to pick a fight, but the cold reaction kept drawing sharp words out of him before he could help it. Beside him, Noah was still blinking those vacant eyes, watching the two of them.
“Danny…… did Ollie have a baby?”
“……No. It’s family. A new one.”
“Oh.”
Whether he understood or not was hard to say, but he nodded slowly. Danny gave Noah’s head a few absentminded pats and then walked toward the group waiting for them.
“Miserable lot.”
The moment they were out of the village, Ollie’s rough cursing poured out. Asel had been walking alongside him holding his hand, but the moment Ollie spoke, he stopped.
“Hm?”
He turned around at the weight that was no longer following, and Asel was looking up at him quietly. Then a small hand slowly wrote letters into his palm.
Ollie. Don’t be angry.
Startled, he bent his knees and met Asel’s eyes.
“I’m not angry. It’s just…… it’s just that sometimes you feel a certain way, you know. That’s all it is. Okay?”
You’re not angry?
“I’m not! You know I get like this sometimes. I’m just a little, a bit like that. You’re not scared, are you, sweetheart?”
Asel shook his head. Then he wrapped his small arms tightly around Ollie’s neck. Their bodies fitted together without a single gap between them — close enough that even the cold wind filling the forest couldn’t pass freely between them. The child then lifted a hand and clumsily stroked Ollie’s hair, just the way Ollie often did to him.
It felt as though someone had wrapped a rope tightly around his entire body. Like a dish filled to the brim with water — if he tipped even slightly, everything would spill out — and so he stayed just like that, nestled in the child’s small embrace, and shut his eyes tight.
“I’m alright. As long as I have you…… I really feel like everything’s okay.”
Asel pulled back slightly and smiled. Those golden eyes disappeared and reappeared between fluttering lashes, and the Ollie reflected in them looked like a worshipper kneeling before a god.
The child smiled down at him like a god looking upon a supplicant, then helped him to his feet. And then took his hand again. Fingers laced and held tight, they walked over the softly piled snow. Two sets of footprints were pressed one by one, side by side, toward their home. Snow would pile over them again before long — but for a time, the deep imprints would remain, just as they were.
The village was in a flurry of activity from the early hours of dawn. It was a day everyone had been waiting for. Decorations made by the children were hung between the dry branches, and spaces were set out for chairs and tables and a display of various teas and drinks. All of this had been prepared by the villagers — everyone except the Tree Folk who had given birth. Today’s stars were the new lives and their parents.
