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When I went home to visit my parents, my mother gave me a ring. It was apparently a ring from some famous brand that she had bought with her very first paycheck when she was young. She must have taken excellent care of it; the small diamond set into its platinum base still glittered without a single scratch, as though the decades hadn't dulled it in the least.
My mother cheerfully said things like, "This design doesn't suit an old lady like me anymore, so you can have it. Sell it, or melt it down and turn it into a necklace or something," but there was no way I could ever turn something that had surely once been treasured into something else.
The morning after coming back from my parents' house, I absentmindedly slipped the ring onto my finger while watching the news.
I hadn't thought very deeply about it.
My dominant hand was my right hand.
Those two facts combined in the worst possible way and triggered a disaster.
"...So it got stuck, did it?"
"And of all fingers, it had to be my left ring finger..."
Dream Journey, after sounding the slightest bit disappointed, kept staring at my left hand. The usual teasing side of her seemed to have retreated, and she looked faintly tense instead.
"Sorry. I know it was misleading."
I gave her a weak smile, but after returning a tiny smile of her own, Journey's brows immediately knit as she stared hard at my ring finger.
"...Ah. I am truly relieved."
"Journey?"
"No, please don't mind it. Merely a private thought. But we should think of a way to remove the ring as quickly as possible. It's already been roughly half a day since you put it on this morning. If it stays like this, it could cause congestion or damage to the skin."
"...Yeah, you're right. It would be bad if I just left it like this."
I let out a rueful little laugh, perhaps because I'd relaxed a bit.
I never would have imagined my mother's ring would create trouble in a way like this. I really had no one to blame but myself for acting without thinking ahead.
"Do you know any good methods? I tried soap and hand cream this morning, but it wouldn't move at all..."
"In that case, perhaps it is swelling. I have heard that either cooling the finger, or alternatively warming it to promote circulation, can help."
After thinking about it for a moment, she looked at me with serious eyes.
"Shall we cool it in ice water?"
"Ice water?"
"Yes. We should reduce the swelling first."
The moment she said it, Journey brought ice water over before I could even ask if there was anything I could do to help.
She set the bowl on the table, and I sat down beside it a little uncertainly.
Journey took a seat next to me and gently took my left hand in hers.
"Let's cool it first. Please tell me if it hurts."
"O-okay..."
She lowered my finger into the ice water. The cold stung all the way to my fingertips, and I couldn't help shivering.
At once, she cradled my hand more gently, as though trying to take some of the bite out of the cold.
"J-Journey, your hand is going to get cold too."
"It's fine. I'm more concerned for your finger."
She said that and continued holding my hand firmly.
Her own hands had to be getting cold too, and yet her expression remained utterly serious.
While my finger stayed in the ice water, she kept staring intently at my hand.
Her gaze was so serious that I almost wanted to look away.
"...Does it hurt?"
"No, I'm okay. But... Journey, you look kind of scary right now."
At that, Journey blinked in surprise, then softened her expression a little.
"Do you know why lovers exchange rings on the ring finger?"
"Huh? ...Come to think of it, I've never really considered it that deeply. I just assumed that's what people did."
Watching my confusion, Journey smiled faintly.
"From long ago, people have said that the ring finger contains the 'vein of love.' Because a blood vessel there supposedly runs directly to the heart, it was chosen as the place where love is sworn."
"Huh... so there really is a story like that."
It startled me a little, hearing something so romantic from someone I didn't normally associate with saying things like that. I peeked at her expression.
"And so, to place a ring on the ring finger of the left hand means... a resolve to entrust your heart to someone, and to receive theirs in return."
As she said that, Journey tightened her grip around my finger just a little.
"I was truly shocked at the time, you know. When I suddenly saw you wearing a ring on that finger... I thought perhaps, somewhere beyond my knowledge, you had entrusted your heart to someone else."
Something lonely flickered in Journey's eyes.
That expression squeezed painfully at my chest.
"I know I was stupid, okay...? I just started trying it on from my left thumb and went one finger at a time... and then it got stuck..."
When I hurriedly explained myself, Journey let out a breath that sounded faintly relieved.
"...I see. That is good."
"I'm reflecting on my actions..."
When I apologized again, Dream Journey gently drew my hand out of the ice water and carefully dried it with a towel.
"No. ...But for now, I am at least a little relieved."
"Relieved?"
"Yes. Merely imagining you going somewhere beyond my reach... it was enough to make my chest ache unbearably."
Holding my dried hand in both of hers, Journey lowered her eyes as she said that. I couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath. I had never seen her expose her feelings so openly before.
"Journey..."
Her words were so unexpectedly adorable that I found myself laughing.
Before I noticed, there was a little space now at the base of the ring.
"...Journey, maybe this can come off now."
"Truly? Then let us try pulling it very slowly. If you feel pain, please tell me at once."
Together we carefully worked the ring loose.
It began to move little by little, and the moment it finally slid off my ring finger, Journey smiled in obvious relief.
"...It's off."
"It really—yes! Thank gooood!!"
I had already imagined the worst-case future of sprinting to the fire department first thing tomorrow morning, so all the strength ran out of my shoulders at once.
"Th-thank goodness! Thank you, Journey!"
"Not at all. I am simply glad to have been of help."
"No, seriously! Let me do something for you in return! Anything I can manage!!"
"...Oh? Are you sure you should say something like that?"
"Y-yeah! I won't take it back!"
"...Hehe. Hehehe. In that case, would it be all right if I collected it immediately?"
"...Sure."
Dream Journey wore a fearless smile as she took hold of the left wrist that had only just been freed of the ring and lifted it toward her lips.
"There are, in fact, meanings attached to which finger one wears a ring on."
"Eh, really?"
"Yes. For example, the right index finger is said to 'strengthen concentration,' while the middle finger of the left hand 'heightens intuition.' And the ring finger of the left hand—"
'—deepens love.'
She let the words settle between us before continuing.
"I understand that, at present, you are unable to see me in that sort of light. You are a sincere person. But until the day that changes..."
"Would you preserve this finger for me?"
A soft warmth brushed the base of my ring finger.
Because my hand had been chilled for dozens of minutes, that warmth felt all the more vivid, and for a long while afterward it left my ring finger feeling as though I had been lightly burned.