A Kindred Spirit
Why could she no longer see him?
The child felt a little dizzy.
The boy smiled faintly.
"That's right."
"He used to be able to see them."
"But then he couldn't anymore."
"Yaya."
The boy looked at the child.
"Do you know?"
He gently pointed at the child's eyes.
The child instinctively closed her eyes.
"...Your eyes might not always be able to see."
The child opened her eyes.
Her face was full of confusion.
And a little helplessness.
W-what?
"It's all right if you don't understand for now."
The boy's lips curved slightly.
"Someday..."
"You'll understand."
What was that supposed to mean!?
The child grew anxious and irritated.
"He can't see anymore..."
The child hadn't really understood what the boy had said.
She'd only listened to the part she wanted to know.
She'd thought she'd finally met someone just like her.
But...
He couldn't see anymore.
Why?
How strange.
She'd only just seen him...
"Yaya wants to meet someone just like herself..."
The boy looked at the child, who was staring blankly at him because of what he'd said. "Is that right?"
The child instinctively nodded.
When she realized what she'd done, she quickly shook her head.
Then her face filled with confusion.
She... didn't know either.
Gradually, the child had come to understand that seeing the big leopard was something special.
But it wasn't a good thing.
It was something terrible.
She was sick.
She had a very strange illness.
Being sick was bad.
And she still wanted to meet someone who was sick just like her...
Wasn't that strange?
When she'd been sick before, her parents had told her to stay away from the other children.
She shouldn't pass her illness on to them.
They'd