HIDDEN INHERITANCE
He knew where to go:
Kigen Library, in Mizukagami.
But how would he get there?
He needed an adult.
He needed his mother.
Chiyo Chiba.
Twenty-seven cycles old.
Long hair, a deep black.
It fell in disordered strands over her shoulders.
Dark circles under her eyes.
Premature wrinkles marked her delicate face.
Brown eyes — dull, distant —
as if trapped inside an unending illusion.
A slender body.
Prominent bones.
Dry skin.
Worn.
She wore battered hoodies.
Moved like a broken whisper.
She swayed between despair and brief flashes of control.
Hikaru seized one of those moments.
He lowered his eyes.
"Okaasan… will you take me to Kigen Library?"
Chiyo narrowed her eyes.
The black of her son's iris reminded her of the bastard father.
A coward who had fled to Kurayami no Sora.
Maybe chasing the thorned embrace of a Ninkyō dantai.
"What do you want at the library, Hika-chibi?"
Her soft voice wrapped around the boy.
It reminded him of her corrupted sweetness.
"I want a French dictionary."
Her eyes widened.
"Shh — are you crazy?"
Don't say that out loud.
Mr. Saito is putting strange ideas in your head.
Hikaru gestured energetically.
"Mr. Saito has nothing to do with it."
His small hands wrapped around her long fingers.
"Please."
A forgotten string vibrated inside Chiyo.
A fleeting memory of her university months.
Before everything collapsed.
Before Hikaru's cursed, nameless father.
Before she chased chemistry inside laboratories.
Now she injected it into herself.
Her interrupted future flowing through her veins.
She wanted to stop him from staring into the abyss the way she did.
Before surrendering to her next dose, she dressed both herself and Hikaru as best she could.
How long had it been since she stepped into the city?
Mirai Yokocho.
A vibrant district surrounding Kigen Library.
Nano-shops.
Art studios.
Markets.
Exotic stores lined the lively streets.
The atmosphere pulsed with chaotic colors.
Electrifying sounds.
Crooked glances turned toward her.
Chiyo felt displaced.
Still — how could she ignore the light shining on Hikaru's face?
They entered.
Dark wooden shelves.
Overflowing with books.
They rose among floating holograms.
Tablets and holo-screens projected data in a dance of blazing light.
The soft hum of robots organizing items.
The nearly inaudible click of digital interfaces.
Low voices in the reading area.
Excited chatter in the commercial sections.
The scent of aged paper filled the air.
Cold metal touched the tables.
Soft leather chairs offered comfort to scholars.
The aroma of coffee drifted from a discreet corner.
And now?
How would she even ask about that subject?
Hikaru released her hand.
He wandered between shelves and machines.
"Okaasan, look at those droids!"
Chiyo crouched beside him in an empty corner.
"Hika-chiba, stay quiet.
We'll find what you're looking for.
I think it's somewhere around here…"
She knew very well that information like that wouldn't be available in the public collection.
Not for research.
Certainly not for visitors.
She searched the international section.
Discreetly, she studied the robot guarding the restricted area.
She had to distract it.
But how?
Hikaru picked up books.
Flipped through pages.
His eyes dazzled.
Then Chiyo had an idea.
"Chiba-chiba, did you see those robot insects on the other side?
I heard you can catch them."
He didn't even blink.
He ran toward the other aisle.
Soon enough, her plan worked.
The guard-robot, Kōsetsu, moved to investigate the commotion.
Chiyo slipped inside.
She took a deep breath.
Her heart racing.
She searched the internal archive for French terms.
She found something on shelf 76-RT.
She glanced around.
Endless corridors on both sides.
Chikushō, she thought.
One step.
The door opened.
Kōsetsu appeared.
Hikaru struggled in its metallic claws.
"Let him go!"
Chiyo demanded.
The metallic voice responded.
"Are you responsible for this child?"
"You noticed, huh?
Let him go now!"
His mother lifted her arms to take him.
Hikaru hugged her.
Tears in his eyes.
His luminous eyes glowed blue.
"You should not be here."
Her face warmed.
"I just need to find something for him."
"You must leave."
Kōsetsu bent over her.
"I only want a dictionary."
Hikaru looked at her with tearful eyes.
The machine hesitated.
It had never witnessed a situation like this.
It needed to adapt.
But how?
"What dictionary?"
"French."
Its database contained only imprecise information about that.
It should be safe.
Part of its role was to connect with humans.
It would do so.
"Did you search the archive?"
"It's in sector 76-RT."
"Follow me."
Kōsetsu guided them through endless passages.
Even Chiyo couldn't believe their luck.
She walked silently.
Afraid that even a wrong breath might alter the algorithms of that technology.
They could be expelled.
Kōsetsu's angular body scanned a section.
"76-RT."
She hurried forward into the odor of rotten paper.
Mold.
Books decomposing.
Something had to work.
She covered her nose.
Reached inside.
Searching.
Hikaru asked repeatedly if she had found it.
"Shh, Hika-chan."
Two books left.
Hands digging through dust and mold.
Fragile pages beneath her fingers.
Tension burning in her skin.
The weight of something bound slid from beneath the books.
A name engraved on the cover.
French.
A dictionary.
"I found it!"
Chiyo froze for half a second.
Was she really about to hug a guard robot?
The thought barely formed.
Warmth already surrounded her.
She laughed, embracing the robot.
"Thank you, Tsu."
She ran like a rocket.
Hikaru laughed at the sudden burst.
For a few seconds, Kōsetsu glitched.
When it realized what had happened, it triggered security.
Too late.
Wind blew through Chiyo's hair.
For a moment, it carried the weight away.
Her chest expanded with refreshing joy.
Light filled the dim corners of her expression.
Heart racing.
Adrenaline.
Dopamine.
Laughter flowed.
She and Hikaru laughed together.
They skipped all the way back to their shack in Kaigan.
Her happiness was so immense that night
she didn't even use neo-heroin.
She helped her son decipher a few words.
Told him bedtime stories.
Fell asleep beside him.
Peaceful sleep.
Sweet dreams under the waning moon.