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In a quiet little house, a young girl in pink pyjamas patterned with little white bunnies climbed into bed. She tucked the covers beneath her chin and looked up at her father, eyes wide and expectant.
“Tell me a story,” she said.
Her father, Sakuta Azusagawa - who was no stranger to this routine - reached for the nearby bookshelf.
“I don’t want one of those,” the girl protested. “I want a different story.”
“Which one do you want?” Sakuta asked.
“A new one,” said the girl.
Sakuta paused thoughtfully.
“I don’t think we have any new stories,” he told her. “We can find some more tomorrow at the shops.”
“I want to hear one of your stories.”
Sakuta raised an eyebrow.
“My stories?”
The girl nodded.
“Uncle Kunimi says you tell the best stories,” she said, putting on a pout. “Please? Please tell me one.”
Sakuta looked at her, trying to stand firm. But he knew that wasn’t going to work.
He let out a sigh.
“Alright,” he said. His daughter’s eyes lit up. “I’ll tell you a story, and then you have to go to sleep.”
“I promise.” She nodded solemnly.
Sakuta smiled.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll tell you the best story I know.”
He settled down beside her bed and softly cleared his throat.
“Once upon a time there was a boy. A normal, ordinary boy. One day he visited the library, looking for some stories to bring back for his sister.”
“Ooh,” his daughter murmured. “Like you do for me.”
Sakuta nodded.
“He was minding his business, when all of a sudden, a strange person walked past him. It was a girl, with beautiful long dark hair…”
“Like mine,” his daughter said excitedly.
“Exactly like yours,” said Sakuta, smiling. “But despite her beauty, the boy was distracted. You see, not only was this girl beautiful, but she was also wearing a bunny costume.”
“Why?” His daughter’s brow furrowed. “Was it a costume library?”
Sakuta stifled a laugh. He’d never heard of a costume library before, but would quite like to see one.
He pushed on with the story.
“There was something else that confused the boy even more,” he told her, ignoring the question. “Nobody else could see her.”
“She was a ghost,” his daughter guessed immediately. “It was a dream.”
“It was not a dream,” said Sakuta. “And the girl was very much alive. But she was invisible, to everyone in the library… everyone except the boy. And when he looked, he realised that he recognised her. She was a classmate from his school, an older student in the year above him, who had been a famous child actress.”
His daughter gasped.
“That’s mummy,” she said, sitting up eagerly. “This is a story about mum, isn’t it.”
Sakuta smiled.
“And the boy,” his daughter continued, eyes widening with excitement. “Is that you?”
A soft chuckle escaped Sakuta’s lips.
“You’re very smart,” he told her. His daughter smiled proudly. “Yes, this is a story about me and mummy. It is the story of how we met.”
His daughter gave a delighted little squeal, looking up expectantly for him to continue. Sakuta obliged.
“The boy was surprised,” he said, returning to his story voice and the vague description of the characters, even though the cat was out of the bag. “But he was also worried. You see, the boy knew something was wrong. He knew that a wicked curse had fallen over this girl.”
His daughter gasped dramatically, settled back into her mattress and listening intently.
“He talked to the girl, and introduced himself,” said Sakuta. “But the girl was proud. She wanted to handle her own problems and not rely on a stranger for help. She told the boy to forget about her and everything he had seen.”
“But he couldn’t,” Sakuta continued. “The boy knew the girl was in danger. At school the next day he found her and told her of his knowledge of the terrible curse. He told her how he had been cursed himself and offered his support.”
“How did he lift the curse?” his daughter wondered.
“We’re not there yet,” said Sakuta, smiling softly. “The bunny-girl hasn’t accepted the offer of help. You see, no matter how pure the boy’s intentions, he could not know the pain she was suffering. He would say the wrong thing and accidentally hurt her, and the girl left.”
“But she came back, right?” his daughter worried.
“She did,” said Sakuta. “The curse was getting stronger. More and more people were unable to see her. So, she finally returned to accept the boy’s offer of help.”
“While she was gone, the boy had been busy,” Sakuta continued. “He tried to learn all he could about the girl, to discover how this curse had fallen upon her, and what he could do to help her dispel it. So, he turned to the smartest person he knew…”
His daughter screwed up her eyes, thinking intensely.
“She was a friend of the boy,” said Sakuta. “A classmate, with long hair and glasses.”
“Aunt Futaba,” his daughter announced, a broad grin crossing her face.
Sakuta nodded.
“She did not believe in curses,” he told her. “But she was the boy’s friend, so she tried to help using science.”
“That’s so Aunt Futaba,” said his daughter. Sakuta chuckled.
“The boy found her in the science classroom and told her what he had seen,” he said. “She tried to come up with a scientific explanation, talking about quantum physics…”
His daughter’s forehead creased in confusion. Sakuta’s lips twitched.
“…which confused the boy,” he said. “But his friend explained it, helping him understand.”
“Unfortunately, things were only getting worse. On a trip to the beach, the boy found that no one could see his bunny-girl, not even her own mother.”
His daughter gasped.
“They travelled, far away, searching for anyone who might still be able to remember her. But no one could.”
“Until…” Sakuta paused for effect. His daughter looked on desperately. “The boy called his friends; the science girl, and a boy on the school basketball team.”
This time his daughter didn’t even try to guess who the new character was. She was too invested in the story.
“Despite no one being able to see the girl all day, both of the boy’s friends remembered her. The science girl even had a theory. If they could all still see the bunny-girl, then that might mean the curse had something to do with their school.”
“I knew it,” his daughter breathed.
Sakuta smiled.
“The next morning the boy and his bunny-girl travelled all the way back to school,” he told her. “But when they arrived, they found that only the science girl could still see her. The boy’s basketball friend could not. He couldn’t even remember talking about her the night before. She was completely gone from his memory.”
“The science girl had an idea,” Sakuta continued, his voice low and serious. “A terrible idea. She realised that neither she nor the boy had slept the night before, and guessed that when people were asleep, they were vulnerable to the curse. That’s why the basketball friend had forgotten. That’s why no one at school, no one in the entire world, could see her. Only the boy and the science girl.”
“They have to stay awake,” said his daughter fervently. “Please tell me you stayed awake.”
Sakuta looked at her sadly.
“The boy would have done exactly that,” he told her. “He even tried. But people need to sleep. They can’t live without it. So, after three nights without rest, the boy was struggling. The science friend had already forgotten. He was the only one left.”
“But the bunny-girl, she saw what was happening,” said Sakuta. “She was smart. Even though the boy and the science girl hadn’t told her, she figured it out that sleep was causing people to forget. She saw the boy trying so hard to stay awake, knowing he was hurting himself just to try and save her, and she made a choice. She tricked the boy, and made him fall asleep.”
“No,” his daughter gasped. “But, mum…”
This was no longer just a story. Sakuta would have to finish quickly and get to the happy ending.
“The boy awoke the next morning with no memories of anything that had happened with his bunny-girl,” he said. “He went to school, thinking everything was normal. Then, the science girl approached him. She gave him a letter she couldn’t remember writing, which said the only thing that could dispel the curse was the boy’s love.”
His daughter’s breath hitched. She watched him with wide eyes.
“The boy was confused,” Sakuta continued. “He couldn’t remember his bunny-girl, so he didn’t know what he needed to dispel. He went on with his day, sitting exams, in the back of his mind wondering what that note was all about. And then…”
Sakuta took a beat.
“… he started to remember.” His daughter’s face brightened. “Slowly, blurry images came into focus, of times he had forgotten. He wondered, were these memories real or just his imagination? But then he saw her, a clear picture in his mind of his bunny-girl standing in the library where they had first met, and he remembered everything.”
“He stood up,” Sakuta said dramatically, “rushed from the room, leaving his exam behind. He ran down the corridors, holding on desperately to his recovered memories and knowing what he must do. He had to make everyone else remember. He had to bring back his bunny-girl.”
“And so, he stood in the schoolyard, looking up at all the students in their classrooms, and shouted out, for everyone to hear, ‘I love you’.”
His daughter let out a tiny squeal, squirming under her covers as her face flushed with happiness.
“He shouted as loud as he could, everyone in the school came over to watch, and he brought his bunny-girl back. He apologised for forgetting, told her that he loved her, and as he did, the students in the school started whispering. They wondered, who was that boy standing next to the famous child actress who went to their school.”
Sakuta smiled.
“And that’s how the curse was broken, and the boy’s bunny-girl was returned to the world.”
His daughter beamed.
“And you lived happily ever after?” she said, gazing up at him, her smile wide and joyful.
Sakuta nodded.
“That’s right,” he said, and he softly ruffled her hair. “And that’s the end of the story. You made a promise. It’s time to go to sleep.”
His daughter didn’t put up a fight, simply nodding. She looked very sleepy. Sakuta was surprised she’d managed to stay awake for so long.
“Daddy,” she murmured, looking up through barely open eyes. “Will you tell me more stories about you and mummy?”
Sakuta smiled.
“Of course,” he said. “I’ll tell you all sorts of stories about me and your mum, about Aunt Futaba and Uncle Kunimi, about Kaede, and Koga, and Nodoka, and Shoko Makinohara. But not tonight.”
“I guess that’s okay,” his daughter murmured, her eyes drooping closed.
Sakuta leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead.
“Good night,” he told her. “I love you.”
She murmured something in return, an ‘I love you’ lost in exhaustion. But her next words managed to sneak through.
“I won’t forget you.”
Her breathing fell into a slow, steady rhythm.
Quietly, Sakuta rose to his feet. He tucked the covers up under his daughter’s chin, careful not to wake her, and switched off the bedside lamp. Walking to the doorway, he turned back to look upon her peaceful expression and closed the door softly behind him.
Standing just outside the bedroom he found Mai waiting for him, leaning against the wall with a soft smile.
“That was a good story,” she said. “You tell it well.”
“You were listening?” His lips twitched.
“Of course,” said Mai. “I love seeing how soft you are with her.”
Sakuta melted at Mai’s sincerity. Just as she’d intended.
He glanced back at their daughter’s bedroom.
“You know, I’ll have to tell her the story again,” he said. “That was a child-friendly version. When she’s older she’ll want more of the details.”
“You would traumatise your own daughter?” Mai wondered, tilting her head in amusement.
“It would set unrealistic expectations,” Sakuta admitted. He stepped forward, gently wrapping his arms around his wife. “No one can compare to you in that bunny-girl costume.”
Mai smiled.
“You know, I don’t think she was picturing it the same way you were,” she mused. “She probably thinks I was dressed like the Easter Bunny.”
“You would look incredible in that costume too.”
Mai lightly pinched him.
“Are you prepared to tell her the whole truth?” she asked. “The thoughts that were going through your teenage brain when you saw me in that bunny-girl costume, are you sure you want your daughter to see that side of you?”
Sakuta tilted his head to the side.
“I suppose we could just leave your old bunny-girl costume lying around,” he suggested. “Have her find out the old-fashioned way.”
Mai smiled.
“You still refuse to get rid of it.” She shook her head, amused. “It doesn’t even fit me anymore.”
“We both know that’s a lie, Mai-san.”
Mai gave a soft laugh, then let out a contented sigh.
“Let’s go to bed,” she said, slowly pulling herself from Sakuta’s arms and leading him towards their bedroom.
“In your bunny-girl costume?” Sakuta asked hopefully.
“It definitely won’t fit you.”
Sakuta flushed. Mai gave a triumphant smirk.
“Come on,” she said. “Brave hero who saved the princess from a deadly curse. It’s time for bed. Tomorrow is another day of our happily ever after.”
Sakuta smiled and followed his wife into their bedroom. Curling up together beneath the sheets, he held her close - her body delicate, warm, and comforting, her familiar scent filling his senses. He revelled in where he was now, and where he would be tomorrow.