[The expected due date is getting closer.]
[Toru began to stay by your side constantly. He would often lean on your belly, listening for the baby's movements, his face full of happiness.]
[Nijika also visited you many times during this period. After graduation, she became a kindergarten teacher and smiled as she told you that when little Yui goes to kindergarten, she can take care of her.]
[Ryo said she could be responsible for teaching the child's studies.]
[In recent years, Ryo has made a name for herself in the literary world. Her tragic novels have become famous among readers.]
[Fans sigh that Sensei Yamada must have had many unforgettable romantic experiences, otherwise she couldn't write such heart-wrenching stories.]
[Kita suggested she would be the child's piano teacher. In addition to the guitar, she also knew a little about the piano.]
Hitori, with her keen senses, noticed something.
You'd better really be doing this for the baby.
[Under everyone's care, there were no accidents during your delivery, and the child was very healthy.]
Really?
[...]
No twist?
No weakness or sickness from childhood?
Isn't it strange that the simulation went so smoothly?
Kitahara-kun didn't die young, and the child isn't sick... this isn't right!
[Other than being a bit naturally spacey and not very talkative, Kitahara Yui showed no abnormality whatsoever.]
That's good.
Hitori looked at the little baby in the simulator who was connected to her by blood, and a boundless motherly love surged within her.
So cute, Yui-chan.
[However...]
[In the process of educating your baby, you discovered a not-so-good little thing.]
What is it?
[Although Kitahara Yui is bright and clever, her thought process is different from ordinary people, and she is only good at dealing with a single-task at a time...]
[You often see her crawl out to find a toy halfway through drinking her milk, forgetting to finish, and ending up crying from hunger.]
Single-Core Processor+ Genius.
Hitori savored these two words, and the name of a woman suddenly popped up in her mind.
That was a bad woman with short blue hair.
Huh?
Is this really my child?
...It's not surprising that Hitori was suspicious.
The main thing was that Kitahara Yui's personality was nothing like her mother's but instead, it was similar to Auntie Ryo's.
[When Kitahara Yui was four years old, you sent her to the kindergarten where Nijika worked.]
[In the same year, you and your husband stopped using contraception and prepared to have a second child.]
A second child.
Yay.
[This time, after discussion, you named the child Kitahara Ui, hoping her future would be carefree.]
It's a girl again.
Hitori quite likes daughters, so it doesn't matter.
[In the spring of the following year, Kitahara Ui was born. She inherited her father's gentleness and talent, without Kitahara Yui's 'flaws,' and was a flawless genius.]
Does this mean the younger sister is more capable than the older sister?
However, since both were her biological daughters, Hitori wouldn't think one was inferior to the other.
Both are equally good.
[Time flies.]
[Your daughters slowly grew up, and their exceptional talents gradually emerged.]
[The two children inherited a certain trace of you as they possess a talent called 'absolute pitch'.]
[In junior high school, Kitahara Yui learned guitar under the guidance of Kita and quickly reached a very high standard.]
[Kitahara Ui was not interested in musical instruments. In contrast, she preferred to take care of others. You saw the shadow of Nijika in your daughter but to lighten your burden, she took over a lot of housework for you.]
[In the end, the scatterbrained older sister became more like a younger sister, and the capable younger sister became the de facto older sister.]
[The two sisters had a good relationship, which greatly relieved you and your husband.]
[The happy times flowed slowly like a stream, and the eldest daughter quickly reached high school age.]
[Your husband sent her to an all-girls school.]
[One day, Kitahara Yui accidentally heard that her mother once had a dream of starting a band. On a whim, she decided to rally partners at school and form a band.]
[In just half a month, your enthusiastic and lovely eldest daughter successfully found several like-minded partners and formed a club called 'Light Music Club.' They ate snacks, practiced songs, and had a great time every day.]
[Seeing your daughter realize your childhood dream, you feel very gratified as a mother.]
[But in fact, that original dream had long been forgotten by you...]
[The band was merely the path to your happiness, not the destination of the journey.]
[Over the years, the emptiness in your heart had already been filled by your husband.]
[Compared to the unreachable dream of being Bocchi the Rock, now, a cozy little house, two lovely daughters, and a perfect husband.]
[This small happiness is enough for you.]
Reading these lines of text.
A hint of warmth flowed through Hitori's heart.
That's right.
This is enough.
[Compared to the naturally spacey older sister.]
[The smart and capable younger sister, Kitahara Ui, never made you worry. Sometimes, precisely because Kitahara Ui was too sensible, your husband felt heartbroken.]
[Kitahara Ui never acted spoiled towards her father, but you know that your daughter actually loves her father very much. Every time she attended parent-teacher conferences, Kitahara Ui would secretly introduce him to her friends with pride.]
[Time flows like water, and years fly by.]
[They grew up step by step, and Kitahara Yui, relying on her musical talent, became a superstar in the rock world at a young age, hailed as a treasure bestowed upon Japan by heaven.]
[Kitahara Ui, after graduating from university, inherited the family business and managed her husband's company meticulously.]
[The growth of the children was accompanied by your aging.]
[After reaching middle age, you moved to a new home facing the sea, where spring was warm and flowers bloomed, preparing to spend the rest of your lives there.]
[For the next twenty years, you were free from disease, and your daughters rarely bothered you.]
[Thanks to the advancement of technology, life had few inconveniences.]
[In these twenty years, you and your husband's affection remained as strong as ever, only adding white hair and wrinkles.]
[Time is fair, and likewise, it is merciless.]
[In your seventies, your health was taken away by time. Your vision became blurred, and your memory faded considerably, but you still remember that spring, the season of cherry blossoms, and the young man who suddenly broke into your life.]
[And your childish 'I love you' games again and again.]
[This thing called time always takes what it needs to take, right on schedule.]
[Finally.]
[You passed away in a beautiful spring season.]
[The spring breeze blew, and cherry blossoms fell from the branches, the speed remaining the same.]
[Simulation ended.]
It's over.
Hitori lay on the tatami floor, slightly lost in thought.
For some reason, she felt a little empty.
A beautiful story coming to an end is sometimes more profound than a tragedy.
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