The cemetery is located on a small hill in the suburbs. My uncle and aunt built my parents' graves here because they thought it would be a good place with a beautiful view.
　

--Yes, mom and dad. Today was my birthday. My aunt and uncle wished me happy birthday, but I wasn't happy at all...why?　What is it?

　As I walked slowly through the cemetery, I heard a young voice I saw the back of a small, translucent child. He was holding a tear-stained diary in his hand, wrinkled with tears, and reading aloud in front of the grave as if it were a book report presentation.
　........Looking back, I don't think I really understood the meaning of my parents' death at that time.
　Mom and Dad had simply gone to a distant place where it was not easy to see them, and they would return someday... So I started writing a diary, like writing a letter.
　Before long, this became a habit, and I started adding 'Dear Sir' at the beginning of the diary.

--Haikei, mother and father. Today I played an internet game again. I met a newbie named Hibis-kun and I decided to teach him a lot of things. Yes, we met.....

　I walked again for a bit and saw an equally translucent man between a boy and a young man who had grown up a bit more than before. He was holding a thick diary in his hand and reading it page by page to the grave.
　Thinking back, since then.......it seems like the amount of diary entries for the day has been increasing rapidly. That's exactly what I was doing, I was writing in my diary whenever I had time. Everything that came to mind, from trivial conversations to how I was feeling at the time....

　Maybe the reason I started playing online games was also largely due to the aspect of.......creating topics to report back to Mom and Dad.
　That's why I don't think there are any events that have left much of an impression on me other than my memories of Haibis-kun........................Aoi-chan, even though I must have been playing it pretty hard.

-- Dear Mother and Father. I have been accepted into the university. I didn't have any particular goal or dream that I wanted to achieve, and in the end I chose a nearby university. Your mother had a lot of dreams. She wanted to make many of them come true... I still remember her holding a small notebook with the dreams she wanted to make come true. But I couldn't find my dream by any means. I have nothing I want, nothing I want to do... I'm growing up with this empty feeling of emptiness in my body.

　I crouch in front of the grave and read the diary as I open it and talk to it...the way I was just a few moments ago. This is how I really see myself objectively.
　I wrote a mountain of diary entries to show that I had not come to terms with my parents' deaths at all. Every time I finished one, I would go to the cemetery and read a page out loud in front of my mom and dad's grave.
　I should have known long ago that I wouldn't get a reply....

　Maybe I was scared. I was afraid that if I quit writing in my diary, the memories of my mother and father would fade, so I kept writing in my diary...letters to my late parents. I've been writing about the days that remained blocked up and only repeated, with no substitute, but still I kept writing.

--The other world was peaceful.

　But just a year ago.......Aya began to appear in the diary that had no content.

--The story began.

　Truly it was like a clock that had stopped ticking........slowly and yet clearly.......

--to be pampered by someone.........

　Yes, there was an opportunity. I even got him to back off.

--I was in love.

　Still, I chose myself properly and started walking.

-- as I was getting closer to Black....

　When did it start?　I'm starting to run out of time and I can't write down the day's content........

--I think I'm happy.

　How long was it?　I began to spend less and less time writing my diary........

--from friends to lovers.

　When did this happen?　Writing in my journal has made me feel nostalgic........

--I want to keep this smile on my face.

　Before I knew it, Mom and Dad had begun to turn into memories.

--to be able to say, "I'm home.

　I wasn't supposed to have wanted anything. I was never supposed to have a dream.

--because our hearts are connected.

　But in another world I have found a treasure, a treasure that I love.

--And I intend to live in this world.

　My eyes, which had only seen the past, had somehow turned to the future.

--I think it's because I was able to grab hold of it on my own.

　The things that are important to me continue to grow to the point where I can't hold them in my two hands, and the future I want is getting brighter and brighter.

--because I think I'm stronger.

　And yet, I think I still had this sore that I've been carrying around in my heart for a long time.

--I guess you'd call it a bond.

　It was something I had to face at some point. But for a long time, I couldn't find the courage to face it.

-- I can stand without breaking my knees.

　I was given so much. I've been touched with more kindnesses than I can count. The courage to walk forward I remember.

　So yeah, I'm okay now. So I'm okay now. Let's face it, the past I've been turning away from for so long........









　Before I knew it, the auditory hallucinations stopped and I arrived at my destination.
　I knew what was waiting for me there. When the inhabitants of this virtual world were replaced by black zombies, they suddenly disappeared.
　Those two would be the only ones waiting for them here.

"...Mother........Father.

　Hearing my voice, Mom and Dad, who were standing in front of the grave, slowly look back at me. With a gentle, warm smile on their faces........

''........Kaito, shall we go home?''
Yeah, let's get your mom and dad back home.

　I knew that he would call out to me like that. Still, the young me that was hiding in the back of my mind let out a small scream.
　He told me to grab that hand and go down to Mom and Dad........

'It's all here. There's me, there's your father, and there's a pleasant man. So I guess that's all right.　I don't need to work hard anymore, and I think it's okay to just dwell on my happy dreams all the time.
"...If you care about it, if you are concerned about Kaito, I'll ask Sharovanal-sama to turn back the time. Until that time, when that accident happened and then we'll start again with the three of us as a family. I'm sure you'll be happy.

　The words that Mom and Dad speak are really sweet and gentle... The man I used to be, I would have thrown everything I had at them and grabbed their hands.
　
　Starting over all over again I think that's what I've always wanted. I can assure you it's a miracle I've been wanting to see happen for a long time.

"...mom, dad.

　You can give up, you don't have to try. Take both of our hands and all I want is a happy dream world, all the way I want it.

I'm ... sorry.

　But I can't take your hand.

"There are important people in my life. There are important people who have been waiting for me to come home, important people who I don't want to lose, so I can't take my mother and father's hands away from them.
....
....
I'm so glad to see my mom and dad again, even in my dreams. I'm so happy to see you. I still love my mom and dad, and I will always love them for the rest of my life. I love my mom and dad and I am so happy to have been born as their son.

　While I was aware of the tears spilling from my eyes, I still stepped forward slowly. Then I passed between the two of them and said the words I couldn't say at the time.



　The parting words I couldn't say at the time. My choice for the future, which I told him I was prepared to make. Right after I said those words, two hands touched my back.

"........Eh?

　I know whose hand it was. But they were never the hands that were trying to hold me back. And the two hands slowly pushed me back.

''That's good enough for me, Kaijin. That's how I'm proud of you, my son!
Oh, come on. It's ours, right?　But really ... you've grown up.
"...Mom?　Dad?

　When I turned around in surprise, I saw my parents with a big smile on their faces, surrounded by particles of light, just as Arisa and the others had been.

'Kaito, there's only one ordeal left. I know it's a tough ordeal... but I still believe that Kaijin will make it through!
"Oh, go, kaijin. Go to your loved ones who wait for you...

　The two figures slowly disappear from under my feet.

'Kaito, I will always love you. Thank you for being born as my son and growing up well.........
All we can do is give you a little push back but it's nice to be able to do something a little more parental like this.
Huh?

　Mom gave a powerful thumbs up and Dad gently waved his hand at me.......and they both disappeared as particles of light at the same time.

"...Thank you. I'm off.

　Leaving only the feel of a warm, strong hand on my back....