It was Saturday. I met up with Mai at the station as planned.
“Whoa, that’s a lot of fruit… I’m sorry for making you go through the trouble.”
Mai gave a quick bow when she saw the fruit basket I’d brought along.
“Don’t worry about it. I thought about bringing flowers, but I figured food might be better for a kid, especially a boy.”
I had considered a deck of cards, but if he already had one, it wouldn’t mean much. Food seemed like the safest choice.
Mai’s younger brother, Kazuki-kun, was in a hospital almost an hour away from the station. It wasn’t a distance she could easily manage after school.
“It looks like my mom and dad are already at the hospital,” Mai said, glancing at her phone. We spent the train ride talking about Kazuki. Mai’s parents apparently visited the hospital almost every day now.
For the past year, Kazuki hadn’t been able to leave the hospital, let alone go to school. I could only imagine the struggles he must be going through.
If spending a day of my weekend could help ease his loneliness, I didn’t mind at all.
When we arrived at the hospital, Mai exchanged a few friendly words with a nurse she seemed to know and guided me to the room.
A voice called, “Come in,” from inside after Mai knocked on the door.
“Hey, Kazuki, we’re here!”
“Excuse us.”
I followed Mai into the room, where a young boy lay on the bed with two adults, likely his parents, beside him.
“I’d like to introduce him,” Mai began, smiling at Kazuki and her parents. “This is Yuichi Hirano, the friend I told you about in the email.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, giving a light bow. Mai’s parents welcomed me with warm smiles.
“Thank you for coming. I’m Masaya, Kazuki’s father. And this is my wife, Sanae.”
Masaya-san extended his hand for a handshake, which I took. Sanae-san, who had been sitting by the bed, also came over to greet me.
“I heard you helped out when our daughter had her accident… Thank you so much,” she said, bowing.
“Oh, it wasn’t much, really.”
If anything, I probably caused more of a scene than I helped.
“So, you’re Sis’s boyfriend, huh?” Kazuki teased, grinning brightly. Mai’s face turned red as she gave him a light chop on the head.
“How many times do I have to say it? We’re not dating!”
“Mai, who’s always been shy with friends, finally has a boyfriend, huh? Yuichi-san, please look out for our daughter.”
“Haha…”
“Dad!”
The whole room burst into cheerful laughter. They all seemed like genuinely nice people.
“Oh, here. I know it’s not much, but…” I placed the basket of fruit on the table.
“Well, thank you for going out of your way,” Sanae-san said, smiling. “Shall we dig in?”
“Sure! Kazuki, what would you like?”
“An apple!”
“Alright, let’s start with an apple,” Masaya-san said as he took two apples from the basket and handed them, along with a fruit knife, to Kazuki.
“Kazuki, would you mind cutting these up for us?”
“Okay!”
Kazuki took the knife in his hand without hesitation and began to slice into the apple.
“………Huh?”
The scene unfolded so naturally, I was momentarily stunned. Wait, hold on.
“No, I can handle it! Seriously—” I stammered, reaching out to take the knife from Kazuki in a reflexive motion. What were they doing, letting an eight-year-old, especially a sick kid, cut fruit with a knife?
“Oh, it’s fine, Yuichi-kun,” Masaya-san said, holding me back. “Kazuki, go ahead.”
“Okay, sure,” Kazuki replied, slicing away without a care.
“But still…”
I glanced over at Mai, but she just averted her gaze with an awkward expression.
“Yuichi-kun,” Masaya-san said in a slightly exaggerated tone. “I’d love to hear more about your relationship with my daughter. As her father, I’m quite interested. But oh, with her glaring at me here, it’s hard to have this conversation, isn’t it? Why don’t we step outside for a moment?”
Masaya-san playfully pulled me out of the room, leaving me no choice but to follow him, still somewhat dumbfounded.
Once we reached a quiet area away from the room, where we wouldn’t be overheard, he turned to face me.
“Um…”
“I’m sorry for taking you out so suddenly. But, well, if you’re seeing it for the first time, what you saw might be a little surprising.”
“No, I mean…”
With a heavy sigh, Masaya-san began speaking again.
“It’s for Kazuki’s sake.”
“What do you mean?”
“Please, don’t mention this to Kazuki, but… we’ve been told he doesn’t have much time left.”
“…”
“The doctors said it wouldn’t be surprising if he passed during his next episode.”
“Then, all the more reason he should be taking it easy, right? I could’ve cut the apple for him.”
“Kazuki’s just eight. Do you know what that means?”
For a moment, I couldn’t quite grasp what he was getting at.
An eight-year-old boy. One who doesn’t have much time left. So, what does that imply?
“—Oh.”
A sudden realization struck me.
“You don’t mean… his human level?”
“Yes, Kazuki’s human level hasn’t reached 200 points yet. Anyone under 200 points will be sent to hell.”
“Wait, hold on! That’s unreasonable! He’s just a kid. How is he supposed to accumulate good deeds?”
“I argued that with the gods, too. But they said… ‘rules are rules.’”
…That goddess.
A surge of anger rose within me.
“I refuse to let my son go to hell. So, before his time is up, we’re trying to help him earn as many points as possible by having him perform good deeds.”
“…”
Cutting an apple was probably just the start of it. Masaya-san, Sanae-san, and even Mai were all likely doing everything they could to find “good deeds” Kazuki could do.
But… what could there be? For a child who couldn’t leave his hospital room, the chances to help others would be nearly nonexistent. I’d reached the same conclusion after searching around town the past few days.
With people more inclined to do good deeds on their own now, opportunities for kindness didn’t just fall into your lap unless you volunteered for it. And even less so in a hospital room.
“Yuichi-kun, if you ever find yourself in need of help, please don’t hesitate to ask Kazuki. No, don’t just hesitate—please let him help. I’m begging you.”
“…Understood.”
But still, nothing came to mind right away.
With friends my own age, I might’ve asked for help with homework or advice. But what could I possibly ask of an eight-year-old?
Besides… would something like that even earn him points? During the last dream evaluation, trivial good deeds were all lumped together as just one point.
I didn’t know how many points Kazuki currently had, but with a target of 200…
And asking him to “do good deeds for me”… That felt like the worst kind of forced kindness, the exact kind of hollow gesture I despised.
But maybe now wasn’t the time to be picky about it.
“I’m sorry to bring up something so dark when you came all the way here to visit. Shall we go back to the room?”
I nodded silently and returned to the hospital room. Kazuki had already finished slicing the apple and was happily munching on a piece.
“Wow, Kazuki! You cut the apple so well!” Masaya-san said, his voice intentionally enthusiastic, as he took a bite himself.
“This is delicious! Somehow, it tastes even better when you know Kazuki cut it himself!”
“Really!?”
“Yes, it’s very delicious, Kazuki. Thank you so much, Yuichi-san.”
“No problem…”
I forced a smile and glanced away, noticing Mai looking down with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.
“Oh, Kazuki, I’ve got a new product launch coming up at work, but I can’t seem to come up with a catchy phrase for it. Can you help me out?”
“Catchy phrase… What’s that?”
“Well, it’s like a phrase that describes the product. For an apple, it’d be like saying ‘Sweet and delicious!’ or something.”
“But I don’t really get it…”
“That’s okay, Kazuki. Sometimes kids come up with the best ideas.”
“Yeah, just say anything that comes to mind.”
“Umm… how about, ‘Exciting, fun, and super cool!’?”
“That’s perfect! We’ll use that!”
“Yes, it’s wonderful.”
“You really do have a good sense, Kazuki. I’m so ‘grateful’ for your help.”
“Oh, Kazuki, I’m trying to decide on a new outfit. It’s between these two here in this magazine… which one do you think looks better?”
“Umm, this one!”
“You know, Kazuki, I think you’re right. This one does look better.”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll buy it. Thanks, Kazuki, you really helped me out.”
“Oh, Kazuki, by the way, I have one more thing…”
“Um… excuse me, I need to use the bathroom,” I muttered, unable to watch any longer. I escaped the room.
In the break area, I tried to calm myself down, clutching a cup of coffee. I covered my forehead with my hand without realizing it.
Footsteps echoed behind me, and I turned to see Mai approaching. She must have noticed I left and came after me.
“…I’m sorry, Yuichi-san. You had to see that,” she murmured.
“There’s no need to apologize. I get it. They’re desperate. Anyone would be.”
“Thank you. I was afraid you’d be disgusted by us.”
“Of course not. It’s just…”
It was just… painful to watch.
“You know I do a lot of volunteer work, right?” Mai said. “So, my parents always ask if there’s any kind of volunteer work Kazuki could do.”
“…That’s a tough one, huh?”
Mai nodded sadly.
“It might be wrong to ask, but… how many points does Kazuki have now? And… his…”
“His remaining time? We don’t know. They said an episode could happen tomorrow. But if all goes well, maybe he has a year.”
“I see…”
At most, one year… that was Kazuki’s time limit.
“His human level is about 150 points,” she said.
“150! So he’s… well, never mind.”
I held back my immediate response. Still, if he only needed 50 more points, there was hope. No wonder his parents were desperate.
“If only there was something we could do… or rather, something he could do for himself.”
“What about donations? Couldn’t he donate money, like pocket money, and get points for that?”
Mai gave a faint smile, looking conflicted.
“We tried that already. But Kazuki didn’t get the points.”
“Why not?”
“The goddess said, ‘Good deeds can’t be forced.’ The donation points went to my dad, who gave Kazuki the money. Dad argued about it, but she told him, ‘No cheating allowed.’”
“That woman… She’s all about results, except when it doesn’t suit her.”
It was infuriating how petty she could be when it came to helping someone in need.
“You know how I said I help people because I find it rewarding?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s true, but… maybe I feel guilty because of Kazuki.”
I understood what she was saying.
Kazuki, who couldn’t do the good deeds he wanted to, was right there. And here she was, able to do them freely. She probably felt bad that she had that freedom, while he didn’t.
“Kazuki’s been in the hospital for about a year now, right? But you’d already been doing good deeds long before that. You don’t have to feel guilty because of him.”
“…Thank you.”
“Come on, let’s go back. You’re here to see Kazuki, after all.”
I tossed the half-empty coffee cup in the trash and headed back with Mai.
That day, I spent hours talking with Kazuki.
Our conversations were casual. We joked about the people at school, talked about Mai’s recent volunteer experiences—her successes, her mistakes, and all the funny little stories. Kazuki laughed at every story with such genuine joy.
Mai also shared stories about me, although, in her version, it was all about how much help I was in volunteer work, how sarcastic yet kind I was. I nearly cringed at how flattering she made it sound. Maybe it was her little way of getting back at me.
Kazuki was straightforward, cheerful, and wise beyond his years. He was a good kid.
I stayed with him until the end of visiting hours, promising to come again the following week.
The Kawase family offered to treat me to dinner, but I politely declined. I didn’t feel I’d done anything to deserve that.
Before I left, Masaya-san reminded me one last time not to mention “the issue” to Kazuki.
