The Day We First Met
I was five years old when I first met Iris.
My parents and hers were already very close friends, and thanks to that, the two households visited each other constantly. Then one day, when Iris's birthday came around, I was brought along to a place the adults usually went to alone.
Iris's parents' mansion was enormous and absolutely magnificent. My father knocked on the door and called out.
"Hello there, Rex! Are you in?"
"Well, well — right on time, as always."
"Have we ever been late?"
"Not once."
The two fathers shook hands and exchanged greetings, while the mothers beamed at each other.
"Welcome, Seina."
"I'm afraid we'll be in your care again today, Ares."
"Come on, Leon. Say hello."
"Ah...... hello?"
"There you are. Welcome, Leon. Make yourself at home."
"Thank...... you."
Back then I was terribly shy, and I always hid behind my father's legs when greeting people.
"Leon, there's nothing to be scared of."
"B-but......"
"Hahaha! A child this young, already so shy of strangers!"
"I'd say your daughter's the same way, wouldn't you?"
"Ahem."
While the adults chattered on, we heard footsteps descending the stairs.
"D-Daddy......"
"Oh, Iris! Our darling daughter!"
Iris's father darted across the hall and swept his daughter into his arms.
"What kept you, sweetheart? What were you doing all this time?"
"I, I, I......"
"Hmm? Don't be scared, now. Tell me."
"I didn't...... want anyone to see what I look like......"
At his daughter's mumbled reply, Iris's father leaned in closer.
"I can barely hear you, dear. Speak up a little."
"I-I managed to hide my tail and wings, but...... my horns won't hide."
The moment he heard that, Iris's father burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! So that's why you came down late, my girl?"
"Yes...... I'm sorry, Father."
"You have nothing to apologize for. It's only natural."
"Natural...... you say?"
"Of course! When I was your age, I could hide everything else just fine, but the horns — no matter how I tried, those simply wouldn't go away. So don't be too heartbroken about it."
"Really? Hee hee. Okay, Father."
"That's my girl. I always did love seeing you smile."
Watching the scene, my own father couldn't help but comment.
"Quite the doting father you are."
"Oh, and you're one to talk? You can't stop smiling whenever you look at Leon."
"W-wait, honey. Why bring that up......"
"Why not? You make it obvious enough — may as well let it all show."
"Come on, a man has his dignity."
"And what has that precious dignity ever put on the table?"
At my mother's scolding, my father's shoulders sagged in defeat.
A little later, Iris's father came over to me.
"Now then, say hello, my dear. This is my friend's son."
Iris, back on the ground, approached me with a shy expression.
"H-hello...... I'm I-Iris."
"Ah...... yes. I-I'm Leon......"
And so the day of our first meeting finally came to pass.
In the days that followed, I would occasionally meet up with Iris to play together and doze beneath the trees, passing our days in happiness. Time flowed on, and five years slipped away.
At ten years old, the two of us were playing in the forest we always roamed.
"Iris! Where are you?"
We were playing hide-and-seek — but that day, there was no trace of her anywhere.
"That's strange. She should've popped out by now with a 'boo!' to scare me."
Every time we played, whenever I seemed about to give up on finding her, Iris would sneak up quietly and startle me instead.
"Iris!"
But now she neither jumped out nor appeared at all, and a creeping uneasiness began to stir in my chest.
"What is this feeling? Something's not right."
I started running through the forest, searching frantically.
"Iris!!"
I called her name over and over, uselessly. And then —
"Kyaaaaaaaah!"
"That voice —?!"
There was no mistaking it. It was her.
"Iris!"
I rushed toward the source of the scream — and found Iris there, an unknown black beast raising its claws to strike her down.
"No!!!"
I threw myself toward her, wrapped my arms around her head, and pulled her close.
Thud—!
"Guhk—!"
"Leon......?"
Three jagged gashes torn by the beast's claws ran across my back, and red liquid began to drip from them.
"Kgh......!"
"Leon! Leon!"
The searing pain made it impossible to think.
"No — no, no! Leon, stay with me!"
"Iris...... run...... get away, now!"
"I won't! How am I supposed to run and leave you behind?!"
While we shouted at each other, the black beast licked the blood from its claws, then turned its gaze back toward us.
Grrrrrrr—.
The creature let out a low growl as it stalked toward us.
"......"
"Iris, quick — at least you——"
"How dare......"
"Iris?"
I saw her pupils narrow into vertical slits. And all around us, the grass and the trees began to freeze over.
"How dare a mere beast......"
"Iris, what's wrong?"
"HOW DARE A MERE BEAST!!!!"
Her hidden wings and tail burst forth as she leapt into the air.
"You insignificant creature — you dared to wound Leon?"
With those words, Iris stretched out her hand toward the beast.
⟨ [Arctia] ⟩
At once, an intense cold began pouring from her outstretched palm. At first the beast watched the chill warily, but when nothing seemed to happen, it lunged forward again.
Then, all of a sudden, the beast's movements stopped.
Slowly, it began to freeze.
And not from the outside in — from within its own body.
I could only stare, dumbfounded, at the sight before me. A moment later, Iris folded her wings, landed, and ran straight to me.
"Leon!"
"Iris, you're...... that form......"
"You idiot! What on earth were you thinking, shielding me like that?!"
Tears streaming down her face, Iris hugged me tight.
"Sniff......"
"I'm sorry, Iris."
"If something happened to you, I...... I would......"
"Oh, come on. You really think I'd die from something like this?"
"You're making jokes at a time like this?!"
"That's exactly why I have to joke. It's the only way you'll stop crying, right?"
At those words, a flush spread across Iris's face.
"Y-you idiot! What are you even saying......"
And even as she said it, she couldn't bring herself to meet my eyes.
"S-so, your back?"
"Still hurts."
"Then let's hurry to my house. My mother will heal you."
"But this is the first time we've come this deep into the forest. Do you even know the way back?"
"Did you forget?"
White light gathered around her body, and a mid-sized dragon spread her wings and looked down at me.
"Oh, right. You're a dragon."
"If you get it, hurry up and climb on."
"Got i—— ugh!"
I tried to stand so I could mount her back, and promptly crumpled to the ground again.
"Leon, what's wrong?!"
"......I can't move yet."
"You can't move?"
"Yeah. Every time I try to move my legs, my back hurts too much."
I kept trying to get up, but the pain was so severe I couldn't take a single step. And then, to make matters worse —
"Leon? Your face is looking paler by the second......"
"I don't...... know. Everything's...... getting dizzy......"
"Leon? Leon, stay awake!"
Was it because I'd lost too much blood?
In the end, I lost consciousness.
When I finally opened my eyes, two full days had passed.
I woke in a bedroom in the mansion.
"Ugh...... how long was I out?"
I held my head and looked around — and there, fast asleep beside me, was Iris.
"Iris?"
I shook her awake.
"Mm...... mm? Leon?"
"Iris, you were nursing me, so——"
"Leon!"
She flung herself at me and squeezed me in a fierce embrace.
"Gahk — Iris! I can't breathe!"
"You idiot! Do you have any idea how much I—— how worried I was?!"
"Okay, okay! Just let go of me first!"
"No. If I let go, you'll get hurt again."
"What is that even supposed to mean? We're in your mansion!"
"Being in the mansion doesn't mean you're safe. I will protect you — I will. I swear it!"
At this rate, I was going to die of asphyxiation.
Just then, the bedroom door opened and our parents filed in.
"Leon, our boy!"
"Are you hurt anywhere? You don't feel dizzy or anything?"
They turned me this way and that, checking me over.
"I'm fine now. More importantly, how long was I asleep?"
"Two full days, my boy. Do you have any idea how worried your old man was?"
"Two days? I slept for two whole days?"
The fact hit me hard.
Doesn't feel like I slept much at all.
That said, I did feel remarkably well-rested.
"So what exactly happened while I was out?"
"Allow me to explain."
Iris's father, Rex, took over.
"When our daughter arrived at the mansion, she was carrying you on her back. My wife treated you immediately. Thankfully your life was never in danger, but you wouldn't wake up after that. So our daughter declared she would nurse you herself and carried you off to her own room."
"Iris said that? Then this room is......"
At my words, Iris's face went bright red.
"My room...... it's my room."
"......"
"Unless...... you don't like it?"
"No? I like it a lot, actually."
"......pervert......"
"Why, though?"
Cupping her own cheeks in her hands, she smiled shyly.
"......I hesitate to ask, Leon — but are you seducing my daughter right now?"
"What's that supposed to......"
Rex's expression was truly terrifying. It was the look of a father who would forgive nothing if anyone laid a hand on his daughter.
"Honestly, that doting-father streak of yours never goes away."
My father sighed as he said it.
After that, once I'd recovered my strength, I visited the mansion again — because Iris's father had something he wanted to say to me.
"Excuse me......"
"Welcome, Leon."
"Hello, sir."
We exchanged greetings, and he led me to the parlor, where he brewed a pot of coffee and settled into a chair.
"I'm sorry for calling you out like this."
"Not at all. If you ask for me, of course I'll come."
"Hmph. You truly are our precious—— rather, our daughter's friend, aren't you."
"So what did you want to see me about?"
He set down his coffee cup, his expression turning serious.
"Leon, I called you here to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"Yes. I heard from my daughter that you saved her from that doomed beast's claws."
"Yes, I did."
"Thank you, truly. If it hadn't been for you, my daughter's face would carry a terrible scar for the rest of her life. Thank you."
He bowed his head deeply toward me.
"Please, raise your head, sir. I only did what anyone would — what was natural — to save my friend."
"And it's precisely because that 'natural thing' demanded your life that I'm doing this. You took an attack meant for my daughter, staking your own life on it, and your life was threatened for it. You are my daughter's hero."
"A hero......"
"Which is why I want to express my gratitude like this. If I didn't, the weight would sit on my heart."
"Thank you."
"No, no — it's I who should be thanking you."
"Um...... may I ask you one thing?"
"What is it?"
"You, and Iris, and the rest of your family — what exactly are you?"
In that instant, the hand holding Rex's coffee cup froze mid-air.
"......Why do you ask?"
"I've always wondered. I know Iris is a dragon, but I've never known exactly what kind."
"Hoo......"
After a long silence, he spoke again.
"Yes. It's time you knew."
"You'll tell me?"
"I always intended to, someday. And now is as good a time as any."
"I'm listening."
"Very well. You already know that my wife, my daughter, and I are all dragons."
"Yes, I do."
"And among dragons, my wife and I belong to the highest order of them all — the High Dragons."
"High Dragons...... did you say?"
"Yes. More precisely, we are High Dragons known as White Dragons. We are beings who command the cold itself."
"So that's why the beast froze."
"That's right. But even we have our troublesome side."
"Troublesome how?"
"White Dragons like us are immune to the cold — but for mortals like you, it is nothing but a curse."
What do you mean, a curse?
"As my daughter grows, so does the mana she carries within her. And as that mana grows, everything around her is exposed to the cold, again and again. Then one day — without her ever meaning to, without either of you noticing — you will simply freeze."
"......"
"Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
You will freeze.
The crushing weight of those words left me speechless.
"If you stay by my daughter's side, one day you will freeze solid and lose your life. I do not want that. You saved my daughter — you are her benefactor, and you are the son of my friend."
"......"
"So I ask this of you. I called you here to thank you, yes — but my true purpose is to separate you from my daughter."
"And you're saying this to me now?"
I shouted at him.
"Say I leave Iris's side. Then what about her? You really think she wouldn't grieve?"
"......"
"Shouldn't you at least talk to your own daughter first? You think she'd simply accept being told to stay away from me, just like that?"
"......"
"I'm disappointed in you, sir. How can anyone be this selfish?"
I rose to my feet at once and, pausing at the door of the parlor, said my last piece.
"I have no intention of living apart from her. Even if it costs me my life someday, I will never blame her for it."
"You......"
"So I'll accept your gratitude, sir — but I refuse your request."
After that, I walked out of the mansion without looking back.
I had been walking for a while when I felt a chill at my side.
"You were nearby, weren't you, Iris?"
"......"
Iris emerged from behind a tree. Her face looked as though she was about to burst into tears.
"Leon, if I stay by your side...... will you die?"
She must have overheard my conversation with her father.
"I guess I did."
"......Then I......"
"I already know how boring it'd be if you told me you'd stop seeing me, Iris."
"Leon......"
"I will never leave you. You know that. We're childhood friends — the only kind there are, the irreplaceable kind."
"Childhood friends......"
"That's right. So forget what your father said. Better yet — show him."
"Show him what?"
"That you can control your cold."
"Can I...... really do it?"
"You can. The Iris I know is a dragon who has never once known how to give up."
"......Okay."
"Don't worry. Every time you practice, I'll be right there beside you."
"Really......?"
"Have you ever known me to lie?"
"......No. You never have, Leon. Okay. I believe you. I believe in you, Leon."
"Good. That's all I need."
Embracing Iris one more, I headed home.
Everything up to this point had been good.
"......Leon said he would never leave my side."
The corners of her mouth began to curl upward, slowly, steadily.
"Leon bled for me. He protected me."
Watching Leon's back as he walked away toward his home, she whispered.
A thread of mana, thin as silk, reached out from her hand and touched Leon's.
"Now he is mine. Forever."
With an expression of pure rapture, she continued.
"So look forward to it, Leon. I will live up to every one of your expectations."
Having said her piece, she gazed after Leon's retreating back for a long, long while — and then, at last, returned to the mansion.