Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Epilogue
Epilogue
On an autumn afternoon with a clear sky, on a luxurious hospital bed of a single-patient ward, Genma is leisurely feeling sleepy.
Maybe it is because it has been such a long time since he last had a break like this, that he let his guard down. As he realized this, he felt someone’s presence standing beside his bed. Genma quickly hid his startled frame of mind, and opens his eyes with a very solemn expression.
“Hi!”
The intruder bends his lips to smile, as if to say, “You finally noticed?”
His grown-up son appears before his eyes. The feeling of inferiority that bowed Kazuma's actions according to Genma’s mood four years ago is long gone, and Kazuma very naturally looks straight into Genma’s eyes.
“...So it is Kazuma.”
“Everything is over.”
A simple and clear report, there is no better way to put it.
“Is that so? Sorry for the trouble.”
“Yeah, reflect on it.”
Even though he sounds very arrogant, unbelievably, Genma does not mind; he even feels comfortable with Kazuma’s calm, natural and equivalent attitude.
“There's a chair over there, right?
Kazuma ignores his fathers words, walks to the window on his own, sits by the window frame, and slowly takes out a cigarette.
“The hospital ward does not allow smoking.”
“...I know!” he says as he lights the cigarette.
They are still a pair of father and son incapable of conversing normally.
They remain silent for a while. Kazuma looks at the scenery outside, while Genma focuses on the ceiling.
“Do you…… still hate Miyuki?”
Breaking the silence, Genma throws out this question first. Kazuma places his eyes on his father, who continues to stare at the ceiling.
“You know about it?”
This is not said as a condemnation. As if he wants to observe Genma’s reaction, it sounds like a question unrelated to him personally.
“No, yesterday Soushu came to visit. I asked a little about it then."
“Yesterday?”
Given the visiting hours of the hospital, that would have been before Ryuuya's defeat, or even when they were still on the way there. Whether it is because he trusts Kazuma and company, or because he judged that they are no longer in Tokyo - either way, his attitude is impressive.
“I don’t hate her. In recent years, there are plenty parents that do not love their children! Even though that woman doesn't love me, I don’t recall ever liking that woman either, so we're the same, I guess!”
He says this so easily; the truth does not matter anymore anyway. “The woman who gave birth to him” - that is all he thinks about Miyuki, nothing more, nothing less.
“Is that so…… In that case, I shall ask you. Under this pretext, are you willing to come back home?”
“Ah? It is really willful of you to ask that now, don’t you think, Oyaji?”
Kazuma feels very disappointed. He should not be the kind of man who changes his mind and wants to make up just because his abandoned son is now very capable.
“I am not asking you to be a jutsushi for the Kannagi. I hope that you will take up the identity of my son, and once again bear the Kannagi name. If it would make you happy, I am even willing to kneel in apology, so, come back!”
Genma stubbornly looks at the ceiling while saying this.
Kazuma dumbly opens his mouth, dropping his cigarette onto the floor, subconsciously stepping on it to extinguish the flame.
This is way beyond his expectations. You could say he is shocked - that stubborn father of his is actually willingly to give in to such an extent.
Frankly speaking, he is tempted. But...
“……I cannot do that.”
For Kazuma, this is the only reply.
“I do not hate you, Oyaji, or that woman. But, I cannot do it. Four years ago I ran away, and I abandoned everything - including the me back then."
"If I was still just a little kid, as I was then, maybe it would be still acceptable, but not now. Things that I cannot abandon and things that I must not abandon - there are too many now. There is no way to start all over again.”
He is unable to pretend all these things never happened, unable to forget all these things, because all these things will not allow him to go back under the protection of others.
The one who made the decision to bear everything in the name of Kazuma Yagami, no matter what was gained or lost, to walk down the road with this name, is himself.
“That's how it is. Thank you for your good intentions,” he says easily, lighting up a cigarette once again.
“...Is that so?”
Unable to see any sign of sorrow, Genma nods his head, and silence visits them once more. However, this time, it is a comfortable silence, rather than the unbearable atmosphere from earlier.
Even if he refused to return to the Kannagi family, Kazuma still calls Genma “Oyaji” as usual, accepting his existence. He has not completely let go of everything from the past.
That kind of emotion is not conveyed through words, both of them know very well.
It is not the one-sided relationship of a father protecting his son, but of both of them recognizing the other as a man - a relationship based on the pretext that they are equals.
Compared to relationships built on love and emotion, ones with only warmness, this kind of relationship suits the two of them better.
“So, I shall be going now.”
After finishing his second cigarette silently, Kazuma stands up.
“What do you intend to do from now on?”
“About that, maybe staying in Japan for the moment is not a bad idea. After all, I had the pleasure of enjoying such an exciting event the moment I came back.”
“Is that so?”
A short response. As audacious as ever, it's not a problem once you grow accustomed to it. Nevertheless, it is common to want to change someone’s attitude.
“Good-bye! You are pretty old already, don’t push yourself too hard.”
After leaving this taunting sentence, Kazuma disappears from the window located on the tenth story.
“Hmph, that kid……”
Watching the curtains sway with the wind, Genma grumbles.
His intention might have been to scold, but the smile on his mouth now totally ruins such an intention. Without realizing it himself, his tone is just the same as Juugo’s “this stubborn daughter.”
The cold wind blows in from the open window. Even though it is very comfortable now, his body is likely to feel cold very soon!
“Opening that window and not closing it, damn kid.”
Still unable to stand up by himself, Genma scolds Kazuma as he ponders whether to bear the cold wind until he catches a cold, or to give up and press the bell for a nurse.
Looking up at the window, Kazuma shows a smile of bad intentions.
“Don’t catch a cold, old man.”
Saying that, he turns his back to the hospital and walks out with no planned purpose. This is how it has been since the past, and this is how it shall be from now on.
(Let’s just find a house to stay in first!)
The wind blows as it wishes. The back view of that man, who meaningfully hums a song, steps out with quick steps and slowly leaves.
