“I don’t come to places like this often, but it’s really lively.”

“It must be because a lot of people stop by after work for drinks.”

The street was lined with cheap izakaya aimed at laborers.

There were plenty of grimy multi-tenant buildings, and Mizuki looked around with a hint of curiosity.

Eventually, they stopped in front of one shop.

“What’s this place?”

“Mizuki-sama… that is…”

Seeing Rei hesitate, Mizuki roughly understood.

Looking through the glass window, he saw suspicious adult goods displayed inside.

“Huh… let’s go in!”

“Mi–Mizuki-sama…”

Before Rei could stop him, Mizuki pushed the manual door open.

Several women inside turned, startled.

“Wow… there’s all kinds of stuff here.”

The shelves were lined with adult films aimed at women.

Judging by the packages, most featured women cross-dressing as men in staged scenes.

“Rei-san, do you buy stuff like this too?”

“…Of course not.”

“Really?”

“…Yes. I swear.”

Despite her words, Rei awkwardly averted her gaze.

Mizuki wandered through the store as if trying to distract himself from her unstable emotions.

“They sell… a lot of toys too.”

“M-Mizuki-sama… this sort of place is really…”

Seeing Rei flustered, Mizuki gave a faint chuckle and looked at the hanging toys.

He picked up one oddly shaped dildo.

“Why does this one have spikes?”

“…I have… no idea…”

The package had flashy and provocative marketing text.

Mizuki wondered if this spiked shape was somehow ideal for women, then put it back and walked further inside.

“…What’s this?”

Inside a clear display case near the register, men’s underwear was laid out for sale.

Next to each was a face photo and a hefty price tag.

“…You sell underwear here?”

She asked the woman at the counter, who looked like the shop owner. The woman nodded with an indifferent expression.

“Of course—everything’s consensual. We don’t deal in stolen goods.”

“I see…”

The prices varied.

Mizuki’s eyes were drawn to the higher tags.

His mind felt strangely cold, while his stomach felt unbearably heavy.

“How much?”

“Which one?”

“If it were mine. How much would I sell for?”

“Mizuki-sama! Please, this is going too far…!”

Rei cried out, but Mizuki held up his hand to silence her.

“How much?”

Seeing Mizuki’s serious expression, the owner realized this wasn’t a joke.

She looked Mizuki up and down carefully.

“For you… 800,000… no, 900,000… 1,000,000 yen.”

“Cash?”

“Yeah. We’d need a photo too.”

Mizuki let out a short breath and reached for his belt.

Rei quickly grabbed his arm.

“Mizuki-sama, you mustn’t!”

“Then you buy it for me!”

The words burst out of him without thinking.

Rei and the owner stepped back in shock.

“Mizuki-sama…”

Leaving Rei frozen, Mizuki removed both his pants and underwear right there and handed the undergarment to the trembling middle-aged shop owner.

“I-I’ll go get the money from the safe. Wait here.”

As the owner hurried to the back, an awkward silence filled the room.

The sound of Mizuki fastening his belt echoed loudly.

The cheerful radio music in the store felt painfully cold.

“…I need to take a picture too, is that okay?”

The owner returned, holding a paper bag and a small instant camera.

“Yes.”

“Then stand over by that wall.”

Mizuki did as told and made a peace sign.

He couldn’t smile properly.

Still, the owner said nothing and simply handed over the bag.

Mizuki checked inside—bundles of cash.

“Mizuki-sama… what are you doing…”

“Let’s go.”

She spoke shortly to Rei, who stood stunned, and turned to leave.

“W-Where are we going?”

“Back to the facility.”

She walked quickly back through the nightlife district.

Neon lights flickered at the edge of her vision.

He felt dizzy.

He knew his thoughts were scattered.

Only a restless sense of urgency drove him onward.

“Mizuki-sama, please try to calm yourself—”

Ignoring Rei’s attempts to stop him, Mizuki went straight into the old pencil building.

Amid the bright district, it alone was deathly quiet.

The elevator groaned with a worrying motor sound as it rose.

“What are you intending to do?”

“…”

The elevator arrived.

The receptionist looked confused.

“Toudou-sama?”

“I forgot something.”

Mizuki headed to one of the five private rooms.

Inside, the old woman remained lying on the bed.

“Oh? Did you forget something?”

Mizuki approached and knelt beside her, holding out the paper bag.

“Will this be enough for your surgery?”

The old woman peeked inside.

She smiled weakly and looked at Mizuki.

“I know I’m being pushy. But… please. I want you to use it.”

“No. You need to use this for yourself.”

The old woman gently returned the bag.

“But—!”

“My time’s almost up anyway. At this age, you know… the illnesses stack up.”

It was a gentle smile.

“Thank you. Truly. I don’t think anyone’s ever been this kind to me.”

“…”

Her smile overlapped with someone from far away in Mizuki’s memory.

Beyond the fog.

Across the boundary of death.

Shadows rose and dissolved before Mizuki could grasp them.

“Please… take it.”

“No, dear. You mustn’t spend money like this. Pull yourself together.”

The sobs wouldn’t stop.

Mizuki wiped his tears and begged again and again.

“There, there. Calm down.”

The old woman embraced him. More memories surfaced.

Faces he couldn’t remember—names he couldn’t recall.

The loss of them hurt.

“Please… just take it.”

“Oh my, what a troublesome child.”

She patted Mizuki’s back kindly.

“Listen—if you do this for everyone, there will be no end.”

Everything felt like it was falling apart.

His emotions burst like a dam and flooded out.

“You’re a kind child. It hurts you to see others suffer, doesn’t it?”

The old woman stroked his head gently, like soothing a child.

“But this is something you mustn’t do.”

Mizuki could only nod.

“You should use your money for the people close to you.

See? Why not take that lovely lady over there out for a nice meal?”

Nakamura glanced toward Mizuki’s back.

Mizuki followed her gaze—Rei stood quietly near the wall, looking lost.

“Promise me. You must never give money away for someone else’s sake. That leads to a very bad end. Please, promise me—for my sake, at the end.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“The visiting hours are over. Especially for boys—you ought to be home by now.”

Nakamura lightly tapped Mizuki’s back, signaling the end.

Mizuki stood, wiped his tears, and bowed.

“I’m sorry… for troubling you.”

“It’s alright. Anyone who could smile calmly in a place like this would be stranger.”

Nakamura smiled one last time.

“Stay well, alright?”

Mizuki couldn’t find words to say to a woman who would die tomorrow.

All he could say was: “Thank you very much.”

He left the room, spoke briefly to the receptionist, and returned to the elevator.

“…Mizuki-sama.”

As soon as they were alone, Rei put an arm around Mizuki’s shoulders in concern.

Mizuki hugged the paper bag tightly and gave her a weak smile.

“Sorry. I… kind of lost it.”

“No… I should have stopped you.”

The elevator doors opened with a heavy clunk.

This time, Rei guided Mizuki out of the building.

The nightlife district was still absurdly lively.

In the crowd, Mizuki walked silently, holding onto Rei’s hand.

The paper bag in his arm felt unbearably heavy.

“Here.”

Back at the car, Rei opened the door.

Mizuki collapsed into the back seat and tossed the paper bag beside him.

He felt exhausted.

“It will take some time to return. Please rest.”

Rei said this while adjusting the mirrors.

“Okay…”

Mizuki stared at the slowly passing scenery.

His thoughts drifted to that hazy world of memory.

“Do you think… euthanasia is necessary?”

“…It’s one of the important decisions a person can make for themselves. Choosing a dignified death is among the most sacred rights.”

“…Yeah…”

She recalled the old woman saying the pain was unbearable.

It was, undeniably, salvation for her.

But Mizuki couldn’t shake the thought.

Was “important decision” just a convenient lie?

Was poverty what forced her into that decision?

—At the very least, I didn’t want to die.

The words rose to his throat, but he swallowed them.

Winter of his third year in middle school.

Rows of colorless apartment buildings. The roadway. Headlights closing in.

That cold night keeps replaying in his mind over and over.

And then, the face of Shirakawa Kento came to his mind.

His friendly smile twisted, breaking apart, turning into something like a crying smile, screaming—that image had burned itself into his memory and never left.

And then there was Koito Tsubaki, a friend from elementary school, stepping out of the girls’ restroom completely soaked, forcing a smile in front of Mizuki.

Bad memories resurfaced and disappeared.

Everything felt like it was falling apart.

“If I graduate at the top of the class… I can get a qualification for the National Party, right?”

“…Yes.”

Mizuki stared at the stack of bills spilling from the bag.

Money couldn’t change anything.

What was needed was power that could affect the foundation.

“If I become a National Party official… would I be able to change something?”

“I don’t know anything about politics…”

He thought about what lay at the root of the distortion.

The world he had seen on the brink of death had not been like this one.

There had been wars and tragedies there too—terrible enough that one could hardly bear to look at them directly.

But the way that world was twisted had been different.

Here, the true source of the problem was likely the imbalance in the gender ratio.

It had warped the very nature of human life itself.

“Today… even just for a moment… I wished the world could be just a little better.”

“…Yes.”

Maybe he could change almost nothing alone.

Biological imbalance couldn’t be undone.

But he still wished for the world to become—even if only slightly—better than it was now.

It felt like the reason he had survived.

“That’s why… I think I’ll seriously aim for Class A.”

So that in this broken world, everyone can at least have a moment of peace in their own heart.