Ash took a deep breath.
"This has happened once before."
Then he let out a heavy sigh.
"What did I choose to do last time?"
"Ah!" Seeing the gift box in Ash's hand, the girl's smile blossomed. "You already got it ready? That's wonderful! Let's hurry and give Mom a surprise!"
"No. My wife of fifteen years, the mother waiting for her surprise outside the door—none of this is real."
When the gift box slipped from Ash's hand and hit the floor, Homi's radiant smile froze instantly.
"And then."
Before the girl could scream or try to stop him, his raised heavy foot crushed the beautifully decorated gift box beneath it.
"This is fake too!"
"Crash!"
The carefully wrapped gift box caved in beneath his stomp, revealing the present inside.
"Crack!"
When the gift inside also smashed viciously against the floor and burst with a crisp crack beneath the man's foot, Homi's face, which had maintained its anticipation and smile all along, finally showed a more human change. Surprise turned to shock, then her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in an expression like despair.
That was something she and Dad had carefully chosen to make Mom happy, something they had specially ordered in advance...
"Ah—!!?"
A terrified scream, as though something had shattered, lashed against his face, but Ash remained unmoved with his foot still planted.
"You! You? You—you! What are you doing?! Why would you do something so horrible, Dad?!"
As the girl screamed, Ash stared at the shattered object on the ground. From the corner exposed by the box, he could see that it seemed to be a beautiful lamp. If Ai were here, she would surely have loved it.
"I'm sorry, Homi."
Yet now, it had been smashed to pieces by his own hand.
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