"I'm a princess."

　On a sunny spring afternoon, a young girl and a boy were playing a game together. The girl was sitting on a chair under a tree in the garden, her head covered with a wreath made of woven white clover. It was a very pleasant day, with a fresh spring breeze swaying the grass and flowers.

"Miss, how are you today?"

　The boy put his hand on the back of the girl's chair from behind and spoke to her smilingly. The girl replied with an annoyed look on her face, "Wrong again!

"I made a mistake again!　I'm not a lady, I'm a princess.

"Excuse me, princess."

　The boy hurriedly rephrased. The girl frowned for a while, but soon smiled again.

"Come on, Joe, let's play house together!

"Yes, Mari."

　The girl said, and the boy nodded. So they played together, building castles out of the dirt in the yard and running around until it was dark.

　At that time, they were only five years old. It was a picture-perfect peaceful scene that could be found anywhere.

　The two of them were always together. When they ate, when they went to school, when they went to bed at night, they were always together. But they were not brothers.

　Before Joe was even born, his parents moved from far away to live next door to Mari's house. In order to raise their child, they bought a house a few blocks away from the city.

　Joe's parents and Mari's family were very close, and they even had Christmas parties together. So, after Joe and Mari were born in the same year, the family became more and more involved with each other. There were times when the mothers lined up the strollers and went shopping with the four of them, or took them to the park to play.

　But when Joe was three years old, his parents suddenly died of tuberculosis.

　Joe's paternal grandfather was bedridden and his maternal grandparents had already passed away, so he was supposed to be taken in by a distant relative, but the relative had no money to spare and was reluctant to take in a child he barely knew, even though he was related to them. It looked like Joe was going to end up in an orphanage.

　At first, Mari and her family took temporary care of Joe, who had suddenly become an orphan. Fortunately, Mari's family of five was large and had plenty of room. Mari's parents, who were very close to Joe's parents, took great pity on Joe and took care of him as if he were their own child, saying, "At only three years old, he must be anxious to go to a new place where he has no ties.

　Thus, the Mari family decided to take Joe in as a foster child.

　Since his parents had passed away, Joe had always been attached to Mari, who was the same age as him, partly because he was lonely. They always went to the bathroom, ate together, and went out together. In the beginning, Joe was given a single room, but at night he would go to Mari's room and cry on her bed, saying "Don't leave me alone," so they ended up buying a bunk bed and sleeping in the same room.

　Even after they entered kindergarten, Mari and Joe were still like this, so to the untrained eye, they were probably just "friendly" or "smiling. Mari's parents saw them together and held a little "wedding" on Mari's fifth birthday. It was just a party with the whole family around a cake, but it turned out to be quite a decisive event for the two of them.

"Hey, don't stick with me forever!"

　As usual, Mari and Joe were playing together in the garden. It was a hot summer day, and Mari was sitting in the shade of a tree, refusing to move. Joe followed her anyway, but she seemed annoyed.

"I'm thirsty. Bring me some tea!

"What?"

"You're my husband, aren't you?　You're my husband, right? Then do whatever I say!

"...... Yes."

　Joe nodded reluctantly and went toward the house. By this time, Joe had already begun to accept whatever Mari said.

　Joe went to the kitchen, filled a cup with tea from the pot, and came back to Mari. But Mari glared at Joe with a frown.

"What's this?　Why aren't there any sweets?

"Because you didn't tell me. ......"

"Why are you so insensitive?　Don't you at least have cookies?

　It was arrogant, even for a child. But Joe didn't get angry, he just apologized apologetically.

"I'm sorry, ......."

　Mari seemed increasingly uncomfortable with this pandering attitude, sighing exaggeratedly.

"I don't like the shape of your nose. I'm going to 'reconcile' with you and find you a better looking boyfriend.

　Mari continued to mumble to herself, "Why is it always me ......? Joe looked a little annoyed as he rubbed his nose, but as usual, he didn't try to get angry.

　Mari was cute, to say the least, and had been rather popular with the boys around her since kindergarten. It seemed like a mistake for her to have chosen Joe, who was more like a brother to her.

　Mari also had an older sister who was even more beautiful. Mari's sister was not only beautiful, she was also smart. In elementary school, junior high school, and high school, Mari's sister went out with the most popular boys in school, and Mari was extremely jealous.

　Although she didn't say it out loud, Mari's attitude toward Joe was such that she was jealous of him.

　Once, Mari had gotten fed up with Joe following her everywhere and had punched him. Joe got angry and hit Mari back. Then Mari suddenly got scared and cried out loud. But this had only happened once, and no one else was supposed to remember it.

"'Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

　Mari, now thirty-five years old, was throwing up in the bathroom of her parents' house. Earlier she had been flailing around in bed, shouting things like "I have bugs crawling all over me," but now she suddenly seemed to be overcome by a fierce nausea, grabbing the toilet seat and barking in a voice that could be heard throughout the neighborhood.

　Eating disorders, hallucinations and delirium - these were the symptoms of withdrawal from the drugs he had been using for years.

"Mari, are you okay?"

　Joe, who was also thirty-five years old, heard her scream from the yard and hurried to wheel her to the hospital. The aftereffects of the fall had left him paralyzed. Entering the house, Joe shouted to Mari, "I'm on my way.

"I'm on my way, wait for me!"

　Mari, with some sense of shame, answered Joe with all her strength.

"Don't you dare!　You're always so persistent!　You can use the bathroom by yourself. ......"

　Mari threw up with a loud "ohhhhh" sound, as if all the contents of her stomach were being thrown up.

　The rest of the family was gone. Mari's brother and sister are on their own, her father passed away from cancer, and her mother, who was bedridden and being cared for by Joe, was taken in by a nursing home this year.

　It's been thirty years since their small wedding, and the garden in Mari's house is overgrown with tall weeds, and the floor of her room is covered with dust from lack of cleaning.

　Joe rubbed Mari's back in the bathroom for a while, but after about thirty minutes, she finally calmed down and went back to her room to sleep in her bed. Joe tried to see Mari off, but she refused. But he couldn't help worrying, so he went into Mari's room without telling her.

　Mari was lying face up, snoring. When he got closer, he could see that her long, crisp hair was spread haphazardly on the pillow, and the skin around her eyes was dark and hollow due to her weight loss. When she first came back to her parents' house, Mari had jokingly said, "I wonder if I can go out for Halloween without zombie makeup now. But Joe was saddened to see how much she had lost.

　Her eyes and nose are not bad, but this is ruining them.

　He muttered in his mind.

　The season was spring. It was supposed to be the most pleasant season of the year, but for the two of them, it was the winter of their lives. Mari was a drug addict after two failed marriages, and Joe had suffered a spinal injury in an accident that left him unable to walk. They were both unemployed, and relied on Joe's pension for the disabled and their savings to make ends meet.

　The next morning, Mari finally woke up after sleeping for over twelve hours straight. At that time, she never left the house, only going back and forth between the front door, the bathroom, and her room, always wearing the same tank top and shorts.

　Joe made breakfast for the wandering Mari. It was just toast, bacon and eggs, chopped vegetables, and milk, but she didn't seem to like it again.

"Didn't I tell you before that I don't like crispy bacon?

　This was what Joe had said just as he was about to put the bacon and eggs from the pan on the plate. It was true that Joe's bacon was a little overcooked, like you see in American movies.

"Is it?"

　Joe didn't even look at her and replied in the same absent-minded way. Mari glared at Joe, annoyed.

Mari glared at Joe in annoyance, "Say it once and you'll remember it, you useless piece of shit."

　For some reason, Joe laughed happily.

"I'm sick too, you know.　You have to take care of me.

　Due to the aftereffects of the accident, Joe could no longer move his arms as well as his lower body as freely as before. However, Mari, who was also suffering from the after-effects of drug addiction, had no choice but to rely on Joe as the only "flesh and blood" she could rely on, and she had no room to think about him.

　The two of them sat around the table having breakfast and watching TV in the living room. The news and talk shows were showing celebrities and athletes around their age who were doing well. There was no conversation between them, and the room was quiet and still. There was no conversation between them, and the room was silent.

　Mari seemed to have a good appetite, even though she had thrown up so much yesterday, and she ate all of Joe's food, even though she complained.

　But after dinner, while drinking milk, she said something like this.

"It's all your fault, ......."

　Joe was so distracted by the TV at first that he didn't notice her talking. She turned off the TV with the remote control and said to him again, "I'm the one who got you into this mess.

"It's all your fault that I'm like this.

　Joe finally looked at Mari's face. Mari's face was twisted in anger and resentment. But he just smiled again, a mysterious smile, and kept silent.