Canopus
“Do you think things will go well today, father?”
When I was a child, I thought that prairie was boundless.
That prairie—it was a place my father had taken us both to countless times.
“I wonder. …Whatever the outcome, I’ll keep going.”
My father muttered curtly as he installed the radio, radar, and small parabolic antenna.
His words betrayed his resignation that success seemed difficult this time as well.
I noticed even as a child, and so refrained from saying more.
Under my father’s instructions, I grasped the telescope—one a tad larger than our usual one—with both hands.
It was hard for an elementary schooler to keep it in place, but my father soon reached out an arm, and the sloping telescope returned to its usual position.
I gave a small laugh, and my father’s serious expression loosened a bit.
“I wonder what shape the aliens will take.”
A casual question.
One guaranteed to soften my father’s usual stiff, tight expression—
“The alien I saw had the shape of a firefly squid.”
That’s how he responded.
My father was someone who dreamed of “space”.
Declaring that he’d someday become an astronaut and go to space, he’d take me along when I was still young to a prairie with no sign of life in the middle of the night, and attempt to contact extraterrestrial lifeforms.
No part of his dream was even close to success.
So, this time too…
This time too, I thought it would be the same, and yet—
“Huh?”
A sudden blinding light.
Impact.
The sound of my father gasping.
The equipment clattering and rumbling as it floated up into the sky with a restless tremor.
“Fath…”
No response.
My father was floating into the sky.
I reached out a hand.
My arms were still short, unable to grab the hem of his trousers.
My father grew distant.
At that time—was my father smiling?
☆
“Kagu, ya…”
“-…”
A classroom after school. Kinugawa was peering into my face with a hint of concern.
It seems I became dazed, recalling something that happened almost ten years ago now.
So much so that I missed someone standing right before my eyes.
I look through my space helmet’s visor at the clock.
It’s about time to go and pick up the Princess from kindergarten.
“Apologies for wasting your time. Let’s go.”
“Y-yeah… we should, try to, hurry.”
I stand from my chair with a nod.
Kinugawa nods back, relieved by my actions, and follows behind.
☆
“Your, sister… is honest, and, cute… isn’t she.”
“Yes, so much so that I just want to usher her into my eyes1.”
“That’s kind of, sca…ry.”
“Your sister is full of energy, an adorably precocious child.”
“Mhm… thank, you.”
Since coming to know Kinugawa after joining the Regional Revitalisation Club, we frequently go to pick up our little sisters together.
It happened as a natural result of them attending the same kindergarten, with roughly the same end time and route home.
“After picking them up today, you're… stopping by the dorm, first… right?”
“Yes. I believe Uu-chan is making some treats for us.”
“Kurama is also, affectionate towards, your sister. I heard… him call her, "Princess”.“
"Yes. The way I refer to her spread to Uu-chan before I knew it.”
“He's…doting, huh.”
“Of course. On that note…”
“Hm…?”
“Uu-chan told me he’d prepare treats for your sister as well.”
“Huh…”
“If you don’t mind, shall we both head to Hama House?”
“…Thank, you. I’ll have to, thank, Kurama…”
Kinugawa gives a faint, happy smile.
Now, there isn’t much time before we reach the kindergarten where the Princess awaits.
☆
During the summer vacation of my first year in elementary school, my father disappeared.
He truly loved space, and would often talk about his aim to be an astronaut, about his desire to discuss the existence of non-human lifeforms.
Yet right before my eyes, he was abducted by a UFO.
“It’s true…! He was abducted by a UFO. Right before my eyes.”
“But you fainted, didn’t you, Muneuji-kun? Did you see the UFO?”
“That's… I didn’t see it properly. But he really was…!”
“Perhaps he’s confused from the shock of losing his father?”
“Children do have a habit of suggesting fantastical things…”
I desperately tried to convince people—that my father had been taken by a light.
But none of the grown-ups around me believed a word I said.
While I was despondent from shock, my mother told me this:
“…The Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter?”
“That’s right. Our surname is pronounced "Kaguya”, after all. Maybe papa returned to the moon, like Princess Kaguya.“
But of course, it wasn’t as if she actually believed that.
She was just being considerate towards me.
Once, when I awoke to relieve myself late at night, I overheard a conversation between my mother and grandmother.
"You should forget about that man already. He probably left you for another woman—”
“But, he… I still…”
“Muneuji’s mental health should take priority. You are a mother. Act like one.”
“…”
My mother was also hurting. Of course she was.
That’s why I decided not to talk about my father openly anymore.
☆
It was Uu-chan who comforted me then.
“Muu-chan, here ya go!”
“These are… chocolates?”
“Yep, the first ones I’ve ever made. I wanted you to be the first to have them.”
“Thank you…”
“I’m not gonna tell you to cheer up or anything. But…”
Uu-chan fixed his eyes on me with a sincere look, and—
“No matter what happens, I believe you, Muu-chan.”
My decision was made.
Proof that my father was abducted; where my father was; I would go out and search for them.
If being open about it would worry my mother, then I’d do it in secret. But, I’d definitely…