4. December 26th at midnight
The digital clock on the wall said 3:00 am.
Maybe it's the time of the calm, the sea is still deep asleep.
Adam whispered in his mind,
"Any more,I don't want to be going to get in trouble with stimulating the protected child .It had better put him to bed early ."
However, knowing devastated city of Slums like the back of his hand, Adam had a foreboding and refused to do so.
If he leaves Ikaru in the hands of investigators or the lawyers in charge of the Evans family, the Deep Darkness will continue to haunt Ikaru and eat at his heart for the rest of life.
At that time, Ikaru called out to Adam.
"I have a question"
"Question? To me? Who was the one said 'exchange condition'?"
"Oh, yes. Then Adam can ask me questions ,later."
Adam shrugged his shoulders upon hearing that.
This kid'll probably ask about the scars on my neck that he saw with great interest just now. If he wants , I'll tell him, but knowing such things just makes him to feel depressed.
However, Ikaru's question was even more difficult to answer than that.
Ikaru asked to Adam,
"Maman called me and said she had be the one on my father's deathbed ,Why did she care such a thing?"
"……"
Looking at Adam who couldn't decide to answer, Ikaru made a devilish face and laughed. Ikaru leaned closer to Adam and whispered in his ear.
"Well, unlike other adults, Adam doesn't dodge me. So I'll tell only Adam my secret.
She is an idiot. it was actually me saw Papa's end! "
"……What does it mean"
"Just like I said. After I got the call from her, I went to Dad's bedroom. He was lying on the ground in the bedroom, his head was bleeding and his eyes were empty . So ｗhen my father noticed me, he reached out his hand towards me."
Adam cried,
“Was Mr. Evans still alive at that time! Ikaru, why didn't you call for help then? Even though there were servants in the mansion!'
Ikaru answered,
"Because I didn't want to take my father's hand. Then he looked very sad. So I made him feel better. And until he stopped moving, I was by his side the whole time, looking at his watch.
Adam suddenly remembered what Ikaru said when he saw the strangle marks on Adam's throat.
― Papa's throat had the same marks ―
“Ikaru…was it you who strangled Mr. Evans with the string of his nightgown and put an end to his life ?”
"No! It's not that I finished my father off, but I was present at his deathbed'."
The sound of waves echoes from outside. That is very ear wrenching.
The calm time is over, and the wind blowing from the sea was swaysing the decorations on the balcony.
It's not dawn yet. This night is too long.
Adam asked to Ikaru,
"You said you had been looking at your watch. What time did Mr. Evans die?"
Ikaru answered,
"Just on time for midnight"
"Midnight..."
That was an unforgettable time for Adam as well.
― The same time when Maria mother of Adam died ー
"It's an ironic story for me. "
Adam thought,
' Is this telling me to do something about this twisted child? But the load is too heavy. There are many senior detectives in the Luna City Police who flaunt their elite status. They should be in charge of such complicated cases.
But...'
Adam said,
"Ikaru, you're misunderstanding what it means to 'to be present someone's deathbed'. Coincidentally, two years ago, I had be to present my mother's deathbed.
When I was 6，It was she left the mark on my neck by strangleing.
It was midnight when I attended the death of the mother ,I'll tell you the story of that time.
I don't care what you think, but after listening, I'll ask you one question as a condition of exchange. But choose your answers carefully, or you'll lose everything."
＊ ＊
Adam looks back on his own past.
A person's death... especially, the death of my mother, whom I had never met since I was taken to an orphanage in a slum at the age of 6, was nothing but hesitating for me.
The late-night sea over the balcony.
When morning comes, the waves will push my hidden feelings on the surface of the water.
'At least, let's finish this story before dawn.'
Adam thinks so, and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket for an IQOS . But suddenly stopped his hand. After that started talking about his life to Ikaru.
＊ ＊
My hometown is a slum, a poor town called the lowest layer of Luna City. I spent the years from 6 to 16 in the city's orphanage.
I don't know my father's face. Every night, my mother went out at night and didn't come back until morning.
My mother's name is Maria. Unlike me, she was beautiful with bright blonde hair and green eyes. I have black hair and dark skin that looks just like my father. My mother hates it and hits me, cries, pouts. However, It's not my fault.
One night my mother stopped coming back home. The door is locked from the outside, and the doors and windows are taped. I couldn't go out, I had no food, and I was waiting for my mother all the time with nothing but tap water.
Two weeks later she returned. It was my 6th birthday.
I think she wanted me dead. However, I was alive.
When she opened the door of the house and saw me, my mother really smiled like the Virgin Mary. But, right away, she turned into a devilish look and strangled my neck.
"Hurry up and die"
Those were the last words I heard from my mother, Maria.
I still have the marks of strangle on my neck. After that, I was protected and to be taken into an orphanage.
Ikaru sits still on the sofa and listens to Adam.Then,he said,
"Hmm, how did a person in the lower classes like you become a detective of the Luna City Police, ?"
Adam glared at Ikaru、
"You know, not improve the way to speak, you're seriously going to be beaten ."
"Huh? In the slums, people don't get beaten, they get killed, right?"
Ikaru said so, and laughed cheerfully.
Adam furrows his brow, but he got back on track the story that nearly derailed .
"In regards to getting a job in the Luna City Police, supporters have appeared.I don't know what kind of person it is. But that person paved the way for me to get a job interview.”
"Yeah, I know how that supporter feels. Because Adam is very smart. you are incomparable to other detectives who are hard-headed and all talk and no action."
The true intention behind the blue eyes of a smiling child is immeasurable.
Adam continued his story while carefully observing Ikaru's expression.
"It was Christmas, when I got notification from the Luna City Police Department I passed the entrance examination.
I think my supporter was kind enough to send me the notification on that day,it was certainly the best Christmas present for me."
Adam keeped talking.
"However, in the late hours of the night, I received a phon call. It said my mother missing for a long time is in critical condition.
Her lungs were ravaged by drugs and she was dying when I got to the hospital .
"Probably your mother won't hold until dawn. That's why, at the very least, please hold her hand until the final moment comes."
The nurse said so and left the hospital room, leaving me and my mother behind. However, being left alone with my mother in the hospital room late at night, I was confused. It would be so? What am I supposed to do with a woman who abused me a long time ago and abandoned me?
My mother was thin and pale.
It was obvious that the god of death was at her bedside, but her face was as beautiful as ever, with her blond hair smoothing out.
Her thin, long fingers were sticking out of the sheets.
Mother's fingers that brushed away my hand as soon as touched .
The fingers I've been yearning for .
Now,Ican touch it……
I'm an idiot.
I touched my mother's hand, rebuffing the fact that she had strangled me by those fingers.
The hand I held was cold, but I even had a funny fantasy that she might squeeze it back.
I racked my brains to recall the few memories I had of fun, and kept talking about how tasty the pancakes she made ...... were, or how beautiful the sunset at the beach was ...... when she took me there . That would have been too embarrassing for me, if the nurse heard.
"Did your mother hear Adam's voice? Did she hold your hand back?"
Adam silently shook his head.
"It can't be. My mother hated my existence from the bottom of her heart. The only thing I wanted her to hold my hand for was my self-love. Then I would be saved." Even so, I..."
Adam continued.
"My mother was breathing irregularly and walking down the path of death. However, the time I spent with her was the quietest I've ever been. If I had a time like this when I was young, If my mom had waited a little longer... I could have made her a little happier when I grew up.
All I could think of was regret, but I loved that time. But my mother's breath was getting smaller and smaller. All the while I was looking at my watch. I decided in my heart that I would see my mother's end.
December 26th at midnight. That's when her mother stopped breathing.
After that, the doctor who came to confirm my mother's death told me.
'December 26th Time of death 12:15 am Confirmation of death.
I'm sorry for your loss.
But in my heart I was thinking."
'No, it's not.It was midnight when my mother, Maria, died.'
It was a time only I knew. I was the one who saw her last.
Adam said in a low voice.
Ikaru, the time you saw your father die and the time I saw my mother die were both at midnight.
But did you be able to know what it means to be with someone when they die?
Maybe it was self-satisfaction.
Still, the moment I thought my mother had finally returned to me.
I was saved.
