The Sunset Photo

"The police's research is still on as the whereabouts of the missing high school girl is still unknown."

"The news is always talking about me, huh."

"They don't talk about anything else but that it seems."

The man watched the television, and the girl crunched on some chips. She would offer a handful of crisps from time to time to him, but he would decline it with a shake of his head.

Left with no other choice, she crunched them into her mouth and licked her fingers clean off the flavour.

"XXX used to attend the sch…"

She glanced at the screen, filled with her classmates, then turned towards the man. His eyes were indifferent towards the news that spoke of his crimes, however, she wasn't worried about that.

From the moment she had arrived here, she noticed that her kidnapper never once said her name.

"Say, could you call me by my name? Since I came, I've only heard it on TV."

"Your name? I can but Ma-"

"Oh wait! I want you to name me!"

HIs eyes widened in disbelief from her abrupt request. What was she talking about?

The girl noticed his bewilderment and a light pink roused her cheeks, however, the resolute eyes she gave didn't back down.

"I-I mean. I've lived with the name those people gave me, but, from today onwards I want to live using a name you gave me."

"But I'm no good at names though."

"It's ok! It'll be special if you make it."

A sigh once again escaped from his mouth. How many times had he sighed since she arrived?

He sat there for a solid minute, then held his chin up with his hand. It wasn't until he looked at the girl smiling again that he decided.

"I thought of one."

"What is it?! What is it?!"

"Ehm… the goddess of summer, splendour, and happiness, Aine… as I thought. Sorry about th-"

Before he could finish, however, the girl flung herself towards him and squeezed her arms around him.

Her face snuggled into his body, "That's a lovely name. Since I'll be Aine from now on, you call me that too!"

"Understood, Aine."

"Yes!"

She released her arms around his body and sent another stunning smile before sitting beside him again, with a happy grin on her face.

'Aine… Aine… we're one step closer to being a family.'

She couldn't help but turn into a deeper pink and take a peek at him again.

'Come to think of it, I wonder what his name is?'

She wanted to ask him, but, from the corner of her eye, she noticed a black camera on the floor. It wasn't the flimsy cameras that teenagers bought, but the cameras that professionals use.

"Is that the camera you used to take photos of me?

"Ah… yes."

She picked it up and experimented with it, switching it on from its sleeping state. "Eh… It must be expensive."

"Say, Aine…"

"Yes! Aine here!"

"Uhh… about the photos, I took of you… aren't you surprised that I took so many? Looking at this room, haven't you thought that it's disgusting?"

She looked around the small room with photos of herself glued to the wall. '… I thought so, but,'

"When I think that there is a person who loves me this much, it makes me happy."

He stayed quiet at her reply and continued watching the television again. "I see…"

Her hands lightly tightened around the camera. 'I know what you're thinking - Does Aine really think that?' But those unheard words and our real feelings aren't relevant in our relationship.'

She walked around the room as she viewed the countless photos. Some were when she was at school, walking home, or at the park.

It wasn't until she got to the centre of the wall that she noticed a certain photo.

"Hmm? I'm not in this picture."

"Ah, that is the sunset?"

"The sunset? Do you like it?"

He got up and looked at the photo surrounded by the images of Aine.

"More like… I hate it. The bright sunset reminds me of the past, but, I felt that I couldn't forget that moment. So it's always been there since then.

'That moment…? I know nothing about him but, I vaguely understand what happened. He must've remembered something when he confronted me on that day.'

She held her arm with her hand and directed her gaze at him.

"I used to hate sunsets too since I had to go back home in the evening, but, since I've come here I came to like it a bit, and came to think about how nice sunsets could be."

Her feet slowly brought her towards the window where the gold disc hanged high in the cloudless sky.

"And thanks to you, I could think like that, because the way you view the world depends on your mind. If my parents were kinder, maybe I wouldn't have come to hate or like the sunset."

The vermillion in her eyes turned a darker shade at that moment. 'If only he was my family.'

She faced him once more and scratched behind her head, which didn't make the bandage loosen.

"So I don't think those bad memories are useless. Although it would be better if bad things didn't happen."

"… Aine."

"Yes?"

"Are you really 17 years old?"

She punched his arm in a playful manner, "Eh!? I am! How rude!"

"It's just, that way of thinking sounded more adult-like."

"Is… is that so…"

"Ah, no. That was a compliment."

A sensation, a warm one, gently placed itself on her head. She glanced towards the source and saw the flat of his hand pat her.

Her face ignited crimson, unlike her usual pink, however, she didn't stop his actions. It wasn't until he stopped that she spoke up once more.

"Pat my head more."

"Eh…"

"It's the first time I've been pat on the head, so!"

He released a long breath and continued to pat her head of white hair. It was soft unlike when she first arrived.

Her expression turned gentle as she indulged in the rare blissful moment which made her hands tighten involuntarily around the camera.

An idea popped into her mind and with a quick movement took a shot of the man. The flash went off which made his eyes squint and cover in defence.

"Let's hang a picture on the wall!"

"Eh?"

"From now on, let's hang pictures of us both on the wall! And then let's show those pictures at our wedding."

His eyes went blank for a moment in disbelief but returned to the colour of calm water. "Sure. Aine, you're always having fun huh."

She responded with a grin and sat beside him, putting her shoulders over his. Then with a click, the camera flashed once more.

On the screen was a young man and a girl happily taking a picture together.

'We have a distorted relationship, but I don't worry about that. If there is a moment of happiness in this room, then I want to cling onto it.'