「なぁ、ヴォックスってずっと昔日本にいたんだろ、生で見る日本の桜ってやっぱり綺麗なの？」
「そうだな。春になると少しずつ小さな花が開いていって、何百年、何千年と生きているものは特にえも言われぬ美しさがあって、畏怖さえ感じたもんだ」
　先程まで上を向いてスマートフォンを何と無しにいじっていたのを放ってごろん、と体をこちらへ向けて、まだほんのりと赤く染まった頬と少し蕩けた口元で突然そんなことを聞いてきた。そんなまたどうして、と聞くと、どうやらSNSを見ていたところで花見やら何処かの神社で大切にされているという大きな桜の木の写真を見たからだという。確かに彼も日本へ何度か足を運んだことはあれど、あれはまだ春には遠い頃だったからな、などと考えていた。

「ちなみにだ、ミスタ。どうして桜の花はあれ程美しく、長きにわたって人々に愛されてきているか知っているか？」
「え？いや？ただフツーに綺麗だからとかじゃねぇの？」
「ふ、勿論それもあるんだがな、桜の木の下にはなんでも死体が埋まっていて、それ故の美しさだと言われているんだ」
「Eww…なんだその話…。じゃあその死体から栄養をたくさん貰うからってわけ？」
「さあな、あくまでも小説の中で書かれていた一節だ。『桜の樹の下には屍体が埋まっている！これは信じていいことなんだよ。何故なぜって、桜の花があんなにも見事に咲くなんて信じられないことじゃないか。』とまぁ、こんな感じだ」
　ずっと昔、友人に聞いた一節を暗唱して聞かせると、なんでそんなに自信満々に死体が埋まってるだなんて言えるんだよ、なんて言っていた。

「…でもさ、俺は例えあの美しさが死体のせいだっていいって思うな」
「あれだけ不満そうだったのにか？どうしてまた急に」
「だって例えば俺が死んだ後、ヴォックスがそこの庭に桜と、その下に俺を埋めてくれたら、その木と１つになってその先ずっとそばにいられるだろ？それに春以外は花を見られなくてもそこに居れば、ずっと忘れないでいてくれるだろ」
　どうせ俺の方が先に死ぬんだし、とどこか自嘲気味に呟く彼の夕焼け色の瞳には、気づけば今にも零れ落ちてしまいそうな位の涙で満たされていた。
「あぁ可哀想に。ほら、大丈夫だよ。こっちへおいで」
　
　身体を起こして腕を広げると、彼は涙が零れ落ちそうなのを堪えながらすっぽりとその中におさまった。まだ微かに残ったシャンプーの香りと汗の香りが混じる柔らかな髪を優しく撫でると落ち着いたのか、訥々と話し始めた。
「さっきも言ったけどさ、どうしても、俺たちってヴォックス程長くは生きられないじゃん。こうして近くにいて長い事一緒に過ごして愛されてんな～って思っても、ふとした瞬間、鼓動の速さとか髪の伸びる速さとか、そんな小さい事でも、俺たちってやっぱ違うんだなって」
「例えお前が俺より長く生きられなくても、今世もその先何度何に生まれ変わろうが、忘れないし変わらず愛し続けるさ。俺はかなり執念深いぞ」
「はは、確かに」
　そう静かに笑って、溢れ出した寂しさや何処へもやれないやるせなさを分け合うように、いつもより強く抱きしめてきた。

「でも、いずれ俺が死んだらそこの庭に桜の苗木を植えて、そこに俺も埋めてね。約束。絶対だよ」
「…分かった」
「ヴォックスの誕生日の頃にはもう散ってるかもしれないけど、毎年春になったらその桜を見て俺を思い出したらいいんだ」
「その前に忘れる日なんてないよ」
「それで…それで、ずっと、桜を見たら俺との事思い出して泣いたらいいよ。あ～あ、でもそれ見れないんだもんなぁ～、残念」
「ハッ、お前のよがってる顔思いながらうまい酒飲んでやるさ」
「どうだかな、ダディー、泣き虫だもん」
「かもな」
「ひっでぇ顔」
　慰めていたはずがさめざめと泣いている俺の手を取って、だから言ったろ、と言わんばかりの表情で、でもどこか嬉しそうにしながら自身の胸元にあてがう。
「俺から言った話で悪いけどさ、ほら、ね。まだ生きてるでしょ。あと何十年…何年生きられるか分からないけどさ、俺の残りとこの先全部あげるから、心配すんなって」
「言ったからな」
「うん。俺も、約束」

　夜明けが近づき桜色に染まった空を遮るようにカーテンをひいて、お互いを確かめ合うように深い眠りに落ちて行った。






　” Hey, Vox, you were in Japan a long time ago, aren't the Japanese cherry blossoms beautiful in person”
　"Yes. In spring, little by little, small flowers open up, and those that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years have a beauty that is hard to put into words, even awe-inspiring."
　He had just been looking up and fiddling with her smartphone, but she let go and turned her body toward me, suddenly asking me such a question with her cheeks still slightly reddish and her mouth a little prodigal.
　When I asked him why, he replied that he had been browsing SNS and had seen pictures of cherry blossom viewing and a large cherry tree that was said to be cherished at a shrine somewhere. He had been to Japan several times, but it was still far from spring.

　"By the way, Mysta. Do you know why cherry blossoms are so beautiful and have been loved by people for so long"
"Ah~...no Is it because they are just beautiful, isn't it"
"Of course there is that, but it is said that there are dead bodies buried under the cherry trees, and that is why they are so beautiful."
"Eww...what's that story.... So, it's because they get a lot of nourishment from those corpses, right"
"I don't know, it's just a passage from a novel. 'There are corpses buried under the cherry tree This is something you can believe in. Why, because it is incredible that cherry blossoms can bloom so spectacularly.' And, well, it goes something like this."
　When I recited to him a passage I had heard from a friend a long time ago, he said how can you say with such confidence that a corpse is buried.

　"But I don't care if that beauty is due to a dead body."
　"After all the complaining you did Why all of a sudden"
　"Because, for example, if Vox buried me in the garden there with the cherry blossoms and me under it after I died, I would be united with the tree and stay with it for a long time to come, wouldn't I And even though I won't be able to see the flowers except in the spring, if I stay there, I'll always be remembered."
　His sunset-colored eyes were filled with tears that looked as if they were about to fall.
　"Oh, you poor thing. It's all right. Come here."

　　I raised my body and opened my arms, and he was completely submerged in them, holding back the tears that were threatening to spill out.
　I gently stroked his soft hair, which still had a faint scent of shampoo and sweat mixed in, and he calmed down and gradually He began to talk.

　"As I said before, we don't live as long as Vox. Even after spending so much time together and feeling so loved, I still feel like we are different, even in the little things like how fast our heart beats and how our hair grows."
　"Even if you don't live longer than me, I will never forget you and will always love you, no matter what you are reborn as, in this life or the next. I'm pretty vindictive."
　"Ha, indeed."
　He laughed quietly and hugged me tighter than usual, as if to share the loneliness that had overflowed and the sense of helplessness.

　"But when I die, plant a cherry tree in the garden there and bury me there too. Promise me. Absolutely."
　"...I swear."
　"They may be gone by the time of Vox's birthday, but every spring you'll see them and remember me."
　"Before that, there will not be a day when I will not remember you."
　"And... and then you can always remember me and cry when you see the cherry blossoms. But you won't be able to see them, that's a shame."
　"Ha, I'll drink a nice wine while thinking of your ecstatic face."
　"I don't know, Daddy, you're a crybaby."
　"...Maybe you're right."
　"You look like shit."

　I was supposed to be comforting him, but he took my sobbing hand and placed it on his chest with an expression of I told you so, but with a hint of happiness on his face.
　"I'm sorry to tell you this, but, you see, I'm still alive, I don't know how many more decades...I don't know how many more years I have left, but I'm going to give you the rest of me and everything in between, so don't worry."
　"Promise me you'll do it"
　"I said so. I promise."

　As dawn approached the curtains were drawn to block out the cherry-red sky, and they fell into a deep sleep as if confirming each other's presence.