Even in his dreams, he had never eaten food this good.
And he had certainly never met people this kind.
Kazuko-san, who should now be called Madam Kazuko. Madam Kazuko and her husband were both very good people. Rinyo had never really understood what joy or happiness meant, but now, with his stomach filled for the first time in his life, he suddenly became aware of a strange sense of contentment.
He thought that maybe this was a kind of happiness.
Even when, not long after, his face turned pale and cold sweat ran down his neck from the stomachache that came with eating too much after being hungry for so long, he still felt it had been a happy thing.
The man reached his hand toward him. Rinyo lay curled up on the floor, arms around his middle, staring at the approaching hand, his pupils trembling uncontrollably.
The hand landed on his head and gently ruffled his short black hair.
"Do not eat so fast. No one is going to take your food away."
That hand was not particularly warm, nor was its touch very strong. It only messed up his hair a little. The voice that accompanied it was soft, like a breeze passing his ear, tinged with quiet helplessness.
For the first time, Rinyo's frail body was not being dragged up by the ear or slammed into something.
"What is your name?"
"Which characters is it written with?"
"Rin as in winter's chill, and yo as in the sun."
"A winter morning sun. That is a very nice name."
Madam Kazuko always seemed to be smiling, no matter what she was faced with. She was always cheerful. Rinyo thought she must surely be a very happy person.
"It is not a nice name. My mother did not like it. That is why she gave it to me."
That sentence drew the man's attention from where he sat nearby.
Kazuko wanted to say something, but there was a knock at the front door. She had to go downstairs, so the room was left with just the two of them.
"Rinyo. Sounds like a girl's name."
The man's voice was very calm. It was hard to hear any emotion in it.
"Yes. Rin like a girl's name. And a sun that is no use to anyone. It is not a good name."
Rinyo answered quietly. There was no expression on his face and no rise or fall in his tone. His head was bent over the book on the table. In truth, he could not read a single word. He was only looking at the pictures.
"Can you read?"
Maybe he had been turning the pages too quickly, because the man had noticed something was wrong.
"No."
He answered honestly.
So the man sat down beside him, turned the book back to the first page, and began to explain from the simplest characters.
One big head and one small one leaned close together. One teaching, one following along.
Rinyo often felt that everything now was a little unreal. A new home. New family. He did not have to do anything, did not have to work. He only had to live and recover his health. To tell the truth, it was only now, after living this long, that he realized his body was something that needed to be cared for, and that illness was not something that could never be eased. Things had only been this bad because his family had never once considered treating him.
A lady doctor came to see him from time to time. She always came at night. The timing fell just before Rinyo usually went to sleep, so he remembered her visits clearly.
Each time she came, she prescribed him medicine. The medicine tasted awful, but Subaru-san had told him that if he drank it properly, his body would gradually get better.
Whether his body got better or not did not mean much to Rinyo himself. He only knew that if he took his medicine properly, Subaru-san would be pleased, and Madam Kazuko would be pleased.
This place was wonderful. Subaru-san was kind. Madam Kazuko was kind. This was a place even more beautiful than any dream. Rinyo felt that simply being allowed to stay here was happiness.
"These clothes do not fit you. You should have something that suits your size."
Rinyo knew what Subaru-san meant. He had changed into a different top, but it was still Subaru-san's clothing. It hung off him in a ridiculous way. Just the one shirt could almost cover his entire body. It did not fit at all, but Rinyo liked it very much.
"This one is fine. It is already very good."
Rinyo was easily satisfied. He did not need anything more. Just this much was enough.
But just as he had failed to hold onto that piece of candy back then, one year later he still could not hold onto this happiness either.
Everything happened a little too suddenly.
So suddenly that Rinyo almost did not know what kind of reaction he was supposed to have.
Sometimes Subaru-san and Madam Kazuko would have disagreements. They had their small conflicts and would occasionally argue. Rinyo never listened in to find out what they were about, because he could not resolve anything and it was not his place to know. He simply stayed in his room and reviewed the characters Subaru-san had taught him, one after another, slowly reading them out loud, again and again, until his throat went hoarse and he could no longer hear the sounds of the argument downstairs.
Today was the same. Only when everything had gone quiet below, and his throat was dry and raw, did he finally stop reading.
Rinyo slipped quietly out of his room. He wanted to get some water. It was very quiet downstairs. So quiet that the only sound was his own footsteps on the stairs.
The house was dark. No candles had been lit. But when he reached the bottom, Rinyo realized he could still see everything clearly. He turned his head on instinct and saw that the window was open. Moonlight was pouring in. Subaru-san was standing there, his shadow stretched long by the moon behind him. When Rinyo looked his way, Subaru-san looked back. His eyes seemed to glow.
Rinyo thought he must be seeing things.
"Subaru-san, did I bother you…?"
He stepped forward, asking the question out of habit, but halfway across the room he lowered his head. Something under his bare feet felt sticky and wet. It was a sensation he knew all too well. His gaze moved slowly from his feet to the main room.
Madam Kazuko was lying on the floor.
Strictly speaking, Rinyo could hardly tell it was her anymore. That pretty face no longer looked like it had before. Her body was twisted into an impossible posture. There was blood everywhere.
Subaru-san was still looking down at him. Rinyo blinked and looked at Kazuko's body.
"Kazuko-san is… dead?"
"Yes. She is dead."
Rinyo stood there. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking. His eyes moved slowly again, from the outside window back to Subaru.
"Are you going to leave, Subaru-san?"
The window had never been opened before, so it was only natural he would think this way. Subaru-san, however, seemed unable to follow that line of thought. He watched Rinyo for a while before he answered.
"Yes. I am leaving."
A strange silence filled the main room. Rinyo could feel the gaze resting on him.
"Do you want to come with me, Rinyo?"
The man smiled at him. It was different from his usual smile. Subaru-san was a very good person. His smile was always gentle. It had never carried this much… threat.
"Become a demon and come with me, Rinyo."
Subaru. No, he should be called something else now. That man, whatever he really was, watched him closely. Rinyo's face remained completely blank.
"What is a demon?"
The question seemed to stump him. He thought for a moment, then gave the simplest explanation he could think of.
"If you become a demon, your body will get better. You will not cough anymore. Your stomach will not hurt anymore."
Rinyo understood. His eyes stayed fixed on the man's face. Without the slightest hesitation, he nodded.
Kibutsuji Muzan thought Rinyo was a very strange child. As Muzan's fingertip pierced his forehead, Rinyo was smiling at him.
It was his first time smiling, and it was at such a bizarre moment.
"Sir, you really are such a kind person."
Whether his attention had slipped for a second, or whether he had done it on purpose, Muzan did not know. What he did know was that he had given the boy far too much blood. Only afterward did he realize Rinyo might not survive it. How could such a small, frail body possibly endure that much demonic blood?
The boy collapsed on the floor, curling up silently. He could easily have died just like that, as quietly as on the night Muzan had first found him.
He had simply walked the path he had always been meant to walk. Only this time, it was one year later.
Muzan frowned, suddenly irritated. Just as he turned to leave, a hand caught the hem of his clothing.
When he looked back, he met a pair of gray-blue eyes glowing in the dark. The pupils did not quite focus. There was no emotion in them. They only shone with an eerie light. The eyes of a demon.
The boy had endured it, and he had done so with a speed that was completely astonishing. It was an unexpected gain, a special case, and it made Muzan even more interested in him.
"Who are you?"
Demons would slowly erase their human memories over long years. At the very beginning, they were not usually this far gone.
Maybe it was because a child's mind had not fully developed yet. Maybe he simply did not want to remember those things. In any case…
There was nothing left.
"Muzan. Kibutsuji Muzan."
The boy repeated the name, as if trying to carve it into his mind.
"Then who am I?"
This time, Muzan did not answer right away. He thought for a while.
He remembered the first time he had seen Rinyo. A street drowned in darkness, the blackest moment before dawn. Just then, the clouds had scattered, and the last trace of moonlight had broken through and fallen upon the boy.
"Rinko. That is your name."