Archie looked at him, a calm, water-like light shimmering in his eyes.
— "Hey, Arata… what do you want?"
Arata lifted his head.
His voice trembled, thin, like a line about to break:
— "To live… I want to live."
For a moment, time stopped.
Before his eyes, the dust of years slowly drifted away.
A fragment of the past came to life:
He was sitting in a classroom. A younger Arata among desks and lists.
The teacher asked the children:
— "Children, what do you want to have the most?"
Others answered loudly:
"Cars! Toys! The latest phone!"
Arata's eyes quietly shone.
He stood up and spoke in complete silence:
— "I want to have a quiet life…
Wake up in the morning, go to work, come home, sit down, sleep…
Far from noise… I want a life that feels right to me."
At that moment, all the children burst into laughter.
The teacher tried to silence them.
But Arata felt something ignite inside him —
silent tears slipped from his eyes.
Those simple wishes, that desire for a quiet life —
in that moment, they were his entire world.
— "Give me your hand, Arata."
Arata took Archie's small, delicate hand.
He felt that this touch was both comforting
and a very fragile kind of trust.
As they descended, his heart was still beating fast.
— "Archie… am I the only one who can see you?" — he whispered, his voice still fearful and broken.
Archie shook his head, his wings trembling slightly.
— "Of course not… why would I be sick? Of course not, Arata.
I'm your guardian, your light of hope."
Arata widened his eyes.
— "Then… stay with me. Always, Archie."
As Archie's voice wavered, a warmth slowly spread inside Arata:
— "Always…"
They went down. The quiet silence of the park embraced them.
As Arata looked around, he noticed a small job posting:
— "Waiter wanted at a restaurant…"
A faint smile appeared on his face.
— "Perfect… when it opens tomorrow, we'll go."
At that moment, daylight began to spread over the park.
As if the entire night had been a symbol for Arata —
the first light emerging from darkness,
the thin yet eternal glow of hope.
Arata paused for a moment.
Archie stood beside him, like a light that guarded every step,
softening every fall.
Inside him, the quietness and the spark of dreams he had lost for years began to burn again.
Now he knows: living is possible.
Even if it's only a little, every day.