Keita had long fallen asleep on the sofa, hugging his penguin plush tightly as he waited for his mother.
The food on the table had gone cold hours ago—the dinner Keita had cooked with care, timing everything just right so it would still be warm when she came home.
Yet there was no sign of her.
Pengi was the first to wake.
He opened his eyes and gently shook the boy, "Keita, wake up~ Keita… Keita—"
"Mm…" Keita only curled in on himself, shrinking like a snail retreating into its shell.
Pengi sighed.
With a resigned look, he lifted his flippers and released a sharp burst of cold air against Keita's neck.
"P-pengi… cold…" Keita mumbled, rubbing his eyes, still heavy with sleep.
Then he saw the clock.
7:12 PM.
He shot upright, all grogginess vanishing in an instant.
His eyes widened, already starting to glisten, "O-oh no… I overslept again… Pengi..."
Before he could say more, Pengi cut in gently, "Don't worry. Your mother still hasn't come home."
Keita let out a breath of relief and forced a small smile.
"…I see."
The smile didn't last.
Pengi clicked his tongue, irritation bubbling beneath his worry.
Tsk… where did that woman run off to this time?
His gaze shifted to Keita, whose eyes lingered on the untouched dishes he had carefully made for his mother.
"It seems I'll be eating alone again…"
Keita turned toward the kitchen, suppressing the sadness rising in his chest, and quietly prepared his meal: a bowl of rice and steamed fish.
Before sitting down, he went to the storage room and returned holding something fragile.
An old picture frame with peeling edges.
Inside was a partially burned photograph—his mother and father when they were still young.
The last keepsake he had of his father.
"Yosh~" Keita said softly as he placed the frame in front of him.
"Now Mama and Papa can eat with me."
He smiled, clasped his hands together, and bowed his head, "Thank you for the food!"
Why… why are you smiling, you fool…? Pengi thought, his chest tightening as he sat beside him.
"You know, Mama," Keita began cheerfully, "I cleaned the whole house today just like I promised. I think you'll really like it when you see it—"
He talked as he ate, sharing everything about his day.
What he cleaned.
What Pengi helped with.
What he learned.
He spoke to the frame as if they were really there.
As if he wasn't "alone".
Pengi turned away, his vision blurring.
K-Keita…
No... I can't… I can't watch this anymore…
"…And Papa," Keita continued softly, "Pengi gave me a popsicle today. It was really cold, but really good… hehe…"
"…Good… yeah," Pengi whispered weakly.
"It was good… really…"
His voice faded.
Tears slipped into Keita's rice.
The sight was too much as Pengi clenched his flippers against his beak, shaking.
He wanted to stop Keita—to tell him to stop hurting himself like this—but he couldn't bring himself to say a word.
With each bite, more tears fell.
"T-the rice tastes g-great, Papa…" Keita sniffed.
He swallowed hard, "I-I promise I'll be b-better… so please… p-please come back soon… Mama… Papa…"
His hands trembled.
"Why… w-why are the chopsticks so heavy…?"
One slipped from his grasp and clattered onto the floor.
"Haha… how clumsy of me…" he laughed weakly.
"T-this must be why no one—"
He stopped.
Not long after, Keita finished eating.
Pengi quietly wrapped the remaining food and cleaned the table while Keita washed the dishes, neither of them speaking.
"…Captain Pengi."
Keita said softly, forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Let's sleep now. It looks like Mama won't come home early."
Pengi nodded, words caught in his throat.
Holding the picture frame close, Keita headed to the storage room. Together, they laid out the futon.
As he lay down, Keita kissed the frame gently.
"Good night, Mama… Papa."
Pengi pulled him into an embrace, holding him tighter than usual."…Good night, Keita."
"Mm… good night, Captain Pengi," Keita replied, hugging him back happily.
In the small, cold storage room with barely enough space to breathe, the two held onto each other as tightly as they could.
...
The middle of the night was cold and restless.
Wind swept through the empty street, and the stars were hidden behind looming clouds.
Despite the chill, laughter rang out.
"Y-you're really funny, Sato-senpai~" Ayase hiccupped, her words slurring as she laughed again.
"Ayase-san, you're very drunk," Sato Ren said gently, smiling as he supported her weight.
"We're almost there. Just hang on for a moment."
Earlier that night, their team had celebrated Ayase's promotion.
Drinks turned into laughter, laughter into excess.
"Sato-senpai—!!" Ayase suddenly shouted, puffing out her cheeks in a childish pout.
Ren stiffened slightly as he rummaged through her bag, trying to find her keys.
"Yes…?"
"W-why are you so nice to me…?" she giggled. "Y-you know what… hehe~ y-you're way better th-than that bastard~"
Ren laughed awkwardly, heat creeping into his cheeks.
"You're nice," Ayase continued, poking his shoulder clumsily.
"Not that handsome though~ BUT you're totally h-husband material~ like, anyone would w-want you~"
Ren chuckled, scratching the back of his head.
"I see. So I'm not handsome enough for you, Ayase-san? You really are as interesting as people say."
He didn't mind. In fact, her words made him smile.
Ren knew he was considered attractive—neat, mature, well-groomed.
But Ayase calling him "not that handsome" made him think she wasn't shallow like others.
But… who is this 'bastard' she keeps talking about? A past lover…?
Before he could think further, Ayase shifted on his back, tracing shapes on his suit and humming drunkenly like a teenager.
Chu~!
She kissed his cheek.
Ren froze.
"A-Ayase-san?!"
As he instinctively looked forward, something else caught his eye.
The door was open.
He hadn't opened it.
Standing there—trembling in a thin jacket—was a small boy.
White hair.
Blue eyes.
Keita stared at them silently.
"…Mama?"
His gaze locked onto the scene before him—his mother laughing, smiling brightly, kissing another man.
"W-who are you…?" Keita murmured, voice barely audible as he shifted awkwardly.
"Sato-senpai~! W-why did you flinch~? Do you li—" Ayase laughed, lightly punching Ren's back.
Then she looked down.
"Oh— ah~! What a cute kid~!"
Her smile froze.
"White hair… blue eyes—"
Her body stiffened.
"Ayase-san?" Ren asked, uneasy. "Do you know this child—?"
Ayase slipped from his back.
Slowly, she raised her head.
Her eyes were drunk and filled with raw hatred.
"W-why…?" her voice trembled violently.
"WHY ARE YOU HERE NOW, SATORU?!"
In that moment, she no longer saw her son.
She saw Gojo Satoru.
THWACK—!
The sound echoed.
Keita collapsed to the floor, his face snapping to the side as tears spilled instantly from his eyes.
"AYASE!" Ren shouted, finally snapping out of his shock.
Keita didn't scream.
He didn't cry out.
He only bit down on his lip, shaking.
Ayase grabbed Keita's arms, her grip feral.
"I CALLED YOU—!" she screamed, her voice breaking.
"I CALLED YOU EVERY SINGLE DAY!! I WAITED—WHY DID YOU COME BACK NOW?!"
"Ayase, stop!" Ren yelled, grabbing her shoulders. "That child is hurt! Please—stop this!"
She thrashed violently.
"YOU RUINED MY LIFE, YOU BASTARD!!" she shrieked.
"I SHOULD HAVE JUST KILLED YOUR CHILD—!"
Ren's blood ran cold.
"AYASE—!"
"THAT CURSED BRAT SHOULD HAVE JUST DIED ON HIS OWN!!!"
"I SHOULD HAVE JUST ABANDONED THAT FREAK!"
Keita's lips trembled.
Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably as his knees hit the floor.
"I-I'm sorry…" he sobbed weakly.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… Mama…"
He kept saying he was sorry.
Again and again.
But the words inside his head were different.
I should have just died… yeah… Mama doesn't need me anymore…
I'm just a cursed child, as she said… can I just die…?
Ayase screamed incoherently as she hurled her phone across the hallway—then whatever she could grab from her bag.
Keys.
Wallet.
A heavy stapler.
PANG—!
It struck Keita's head with a dull crack.
Blood trickled down his temple, and strangely, his wound didn't heal.
Not this time.
Whenever she was near… it always never did.
"... h-hurts…" Keita whimpered, barely able to stand.
Ren finally snapped.
He grabbed Ayase's bag and flung it aside.
"Ayase, have you lost your mind?!" he shouted. "That's a child you're hurting!"
"Let go," Ayase said, her body trembling with rage.
"No." Ren's voice was firm. Unyielding.
Ayase slowly lifted her head, eyes filled with malice.
"I said… let go, you bastard," she hissed. "Why are you protecting that monster?!"
Ren froze.
This woman—this version of her—was someone he had never known.
In that brief hesitation, Ayase ripped free from his grip.
BANG—!
She grabbed Keita by the hood and smashed his head against the door.
Blood splattered.
Tears fell.
And something inside Keita broke.
For the first time, he felt it clearly.
Her intent.
Her desire to kill him.
…Yeah.
If it's Mama…
Then I guess… it's okay.
Sorry, Captain Pengi, for leaving first…
Sorry, Papa…
Sorry, Mama…
…and thank you… for raising me…
Keita smiled.
Just once.
As his vision blurred, he saw Ren rush forward again.
He's a nice guy…
I'm glad… someone like him exists…
Keita finally collapsed.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
SHING—!
The sound was sharp and unnatural.
Jagged ice burst violently from the apartment walls, pinning Ayase in place and freezing the lower half of both adults solid.
The hallway was swallowed by frost.
Mist poured from Ren's mouth as his breath turned white.
…What…? Am I… hallucinating…?
From the doorway, a penguin plush stepped forward.
Its movements were gentle and cute.
Its eyes, however, were full of grief.
It knelt beside Keita, softly tapping his cheek.
"Woman," Pengi said quietly—its voice trembling with restrained fury.
"Remember this."
"I am not killing you right now… because Keita would be sad if I did."
The air vibrated with pressure.
"If not for my promise… not to intervene while you hurt him," Pengi continued, "I wouldn't hesitate to repay what you've done to him a hundredfold."
Ren's mind screamed.
Hahaha... I really need to stop drinking…
I'm now seeing things… a talking stuffed toy…
But why is it so cold…?
The freezing spread as the ice crept upward, sealing mouths, silencing screams.
Both adults fell unconscious—entombed in frost.
CRACK—
"I'm sorry, Keita…" Pengi whispered, "…for breaking my promise."
Its body began to change.
Cottons cracked softly.
Joints twisted.
The air trembled.
A door down the hall opened, "HEY! CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN—"
The neighbor froze at the sight of it.
The cracking. The towering shadow. The frozen bodies.
The door slammed shut.
Silence returned.
Moments later.
Where once stood a small plush…
Now stood a mascot-sized penguin, towering and solid.
Carefully, Pengi lifted Keita and placed him inside its belly pouch.
"Let's go now, Keita."
Without looking back.
Pengi walked away from the apartment that had been Keita's home for eight years.
And the child who once wanted to be normal…
Was gone from her life.