At Mint’s spot, there was a milkshake. At Chocola’s, a bowl of milk. And in front of Pochi, a salad had been placed.
Meanwhile, Mother carefully poured wine into the glasses in turn.
Into my glass.
Into Karen’s glass.
Into her own glass.
And then—into a fourth glass.
Once everything was ready, Mother looked around at everyone’s faces and said:
「Sui-kun. Happy 20th birthday.」
※※※
Clink. The sound of glasses touching filled the room.
「Happy birthday.」
First, I clinked glasses with Mother.
「Happy birthday, Sui.」
Next, with Karen’s glass.
「Uuu!」
Then, with Mint’s cup.
「Bark!」
Lightly, I touched Chocola’s forehead with my glass.
「Kyuru?」
And I gently tapped Pochi’s horn.
Finally—at last.
I picked up the wine-filled glass placed on the table, the one meant for Father.
「Father. I’m twenty years old now.」
I raised it in a toast, reporting the milestone to him. And suddenly, a memory came back to me.
『—Hey, is alcohol tasty?』
I wonder, how old was I back then?
It must have been when I was still in Japan, so I was at least six.
But I don’t think I’d started cooking yet, so I must have been younger than twelve.
It was during one of Father’s evening drinks, as he sipped a can of beer, that I had asked him.
Is alcohol tasty?
「What’s this, Sui? Do you want to try some?」
「Not really. I’m just curious.」
「It’s bitter.」
「Bitter? Why would you drink something bitter on purpose?」
「Well, because that bitterness tastes good.」
「Huh, that’s strange…」
That was it—just a trivial, insignificant conversation.
I hadn’t forgotten it. It was simply buried beneath the countless everyday moments of our lives, too ordinary to stand out.
It was nothing more than a conversation on a day like any other.
What followed after that is hazy in my memory, but…
I remember Father said something.
He spoke quietly, with a slight smile, as he gently patted my head.
While gazing somewhere far away, he said—
「’When you turn twenty, I hope we can drink together as with family.’」
「’With family’… Kazu-kun said that?」
「Yeah. I thought it was a little strange. Since it was just the two of us, normally, he would have said, ‘with you.’ Back then, I had lost my memories of Mother and Karen… but still.」
To drink together with family—
「Uncle was thinking of you, Viole-sama, and me, too. He wanted to celebrate Sui’s twentieth birthday together as a family.」
Karen’s quiet words linger in the air.
Everyone’s gaze shifts to the glass sitting on the table.
Mother. Karen. Even Mint, Chocola, and Pochi.
All of them look at the glass meant for Father.
So I smiled amidst the calm.
「It came true, Father.」
I raised the wine-filled glass.
Thinking back to the faint remnants of the past I saw in the kitchen a month ago.
It wasn’t just the grave in the garden. Or the lock of hair buried beneath the soil.
It was in every corner of this house. Right here, in this moment.
「Our whole family is here. Everyone is celebrating my twentieth birthday together.」
I raised the glass to my lips.
Tilting it back, I took a full drink.
Wine made from grapes harvested the year I was born, in the land of my birth. The taste… I couldn’t tell if it was good or bad—my senses couldn’t make sense of it.
The aroma of grapes was comforting, the bitterness that spread in my mouth was surprisingly not unpleasant, and the warmth of the alcohol sliding down my throat, along with the dizziness that faintly shook my mind…
But more than that, I could feel the thoughts behind it.
Father’s dream. Mother’s planning. Karen’s cooking.
Mint’s watchful gaze. Chocola’s companionship. Pochi’s presence at my side.
And Grandma’s kindness in ordering the wine.
I drank it all in, along with the wine itself, down to the last drop.
「Sui-kun, are you okay? That was your first time…」
「I’m fine.」
I could tell because it was my own body.
It seemed my magic could manipulate the effects of alcohol as well.
By tweaking causality, I could let myself experience just enough intoxication to enjoy it safely—cutting off anything beyond that.
Setting the now-empty glass on the table, I encouraged everyone.
「Let’s eat. Everyone went to so much effort to prepare this.」
And so, the party began.
※※※
「Delicious! Crunchy? Crispy? Like!」
Mint chewed on deep-fried prawn and crabs, clearly enjoying the texture.
「Did Karen make this too? You’re really getting the hang of it.」
Mother, impressed, savored the duck confit.
「Hehe, but I’m still far from being as good as Sui. I’ll never catch up to him.」
Karen, sipping wine slowly while nibbling on sesame tofu as her snack.
「Bark! Nom nom nom!」
Chocola devoured his dog food eagerly,
「Kyuru kyuru!」
And Pochi happily barked while munching on his salad at his own pace.
「Indeed, it tastes better with the wine.」
I snacked on dish after dish, enjoying how they paired with the wine.
「From now on, I want to think about these combinations and study seasonings more.」
There was so much food, and on top of that, dessert with cake was still to come.
As the family chatted away happily, I thought about the past twenty years.
Five years spent born into this different world.
Thirteen years spent in Japan after my transmigration.
And then a full year since coming back here.
Adding up the fractions of time, it made exactly twenty years.
I thought it had been a tumultuous life, even by my own standards.
Separated by death and distance, then reunited, welcomed, new lives born, and new encounters.
But I think the longer part of my life is yet to come. I think my future will be much longer than my past.
Perhaps—
This moment is the accumulation of everything up to now, a milestone, and also a new beginning.
※※※
Mother, smiling happily, quietly clinked her glass with Father’s wine glass.
So I too, quietly.
I closed my eyes and, in my heart, I spoke.
Father, Mother.
Thank you for raising me up to this point.
I’m twenty years old. I’ve become an adult.
So, please take care of me from now on too.
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