Tennessee remembered a large sign he had seen on the way to the motel. It was a famous pancake house. It wasn’t the kind of atmosphere Tennessee liked. He felt uncomfortable in those worlds that were too harmonious, happy, and leisurely. But his younger self would have certainly wanted to go there.

“Do you like that place?”

When he mentioned the name of the famous franchise, the child nodded blankly.

“Let’s go.”

“Are we coming back after breakfast?”

“No, pack your things.”

Nodding to himself, the first thing the child grabbed was the Mountain Dew he had kept in the fridge.

“……An addiction, huh.”

Since there were cola addicts and McDonald’s addicts, a Mountain Dew addiction seemed plausible.

However, the road to the famous franchise restaurant was treacherous.

Because the car in front suddenly cut in, Tennessee reflexively slammed on the brakes. With the sound of screeching tires, their bodies lurched forward. The impact was strong enough that his head snapped back against the seat.

Fortunately, there was no accident, but shortly after, Tennessee had to pull over to the shoulder. The child had shown him a blood-stained finger.

He had felt something hit the front seat with a thud during the sudden stop.

“Where is it?”

Putting the gear in Park, Tennessee gestured. The child hesitantly leaned forward. Tennessee grabbed the child’s chin—which felt like a small ledge—and turned his head from side to side.

“Say ‘ah’.”

“Ah-?”

“Does it hurt?”

Tennessee checked the blood on his finger. Blood flowed like a gust of wind between the white teeth. As a test, he grabbed one small tooth that was bleeding and shook it.

“Aha-uh.”

“This was already loose, right?”

The child nodded. Even to a layman, it was clear that the shaking tooth was a baby tooth, not a permanent one. Before the child could realize it, Tennessee applied pressure with his finger and pulled it straight out.

“Ack!”

The baby tooth fell into his palm along with a small piece of flesh. Tennessee tossed the bloody tooth carelessly into the child’s lap and turned away. His attitude was as clean as if he were opening a can for someone.

“That hurts!”

“I pulled it out for you.”

After a moment’s thought, Tennessee turned the car back toward the motel. Fortunately, the manager hadn’t checked, and the key was still in the door.

Tennessee took the first-aid kit out of the bathroom. Behind him followed the child, whose frustration had filled his small head to the brim. He looked like he wanted to argue right now but couldn’t. He had a very honest look of dissatisfaction.

As Tennessee handed him a piece of gauze, the child muttered.

“I can do this by myself.”

Tennessee let out a short laugh. But looking at the child’s complex expression—whether it was disappointment, betrayal, or just anger from being startled—a sense of mischief, which Tennessee hadn’t known existed, reared its head.

“Put your tooth under the pillow.”

It was a secluded motel, but at least it had a pillow and a bed. Because Tennessee’s tone lacked inflection, the child frowned, confused as to whether it was a joke or serious.

“So the Tooth Fairy will take it?”

Convinced he was being mocked, the child’s expression crumpled like a discarded Mountain Dew can.

“I’m too old to believe in things like that.”

To hear such words from a kid in his early teens. Now, Tennessee’s tone was clearly laced with mischief.

“Surely you don’t disbelieve in the Easter Bunny too?”

“…….”

“What about Santa?”

“Absolutely not.”

If the child had said he believed in such things, Tennessee would have seriously questioned his intelligence. He seemed like a child who couldn’t afford the luxury of childhood innocence.

“I used to believe.”

The child flopped down on the edge of the bed. One of his loosely tied shoelaces hung long.

“I hung up a stocking for Christmas and waited, but Derek found it, tore it up, and stuffed it in my mouth. He said he’d kill me if I screamed.”

Tennessee gave no reaction while organizing the first-aid kit, so the child no longer knew if he was just talking to himself.

“Then he hit me. ……I don’t believe in that stuff.”

He had said too much. Like a fool. Stupidly, naively.

As soon as he poured out something from his heart, the child immediately blamed himself and regretted it.

Tennessee hadn’t hit him, nor did he seem to have a good personality, but would he think he’d found a weakness? The child glanced up like a puppy gauging a mood. But Tennessee, still in the bathroom, showed no particular reaction.

Stupid. I was so stupid. Why did I do that? I shouldn’t have said it.

The child pressed his lips together. The gauze tasted of blood. When Tennessee had given him the gauze, there was a faint scent of tobacco. It was a smell he hated with a passion, but it was equally familiar.

However, Tennessee’s tobacco smell wasn’t musty, nor did it feel stale or dirty. Rather, a strange sweetness lingered on Tennessee’s fingertips.

Perhaps it was because of that dissonance that he had spoken.

Now, the child bit his lip.

Am I hoping for comfort?

He would have preferred even a nasty answer. How foolish must he have looked? He might have looked like a dog craving affection, wagging its tail for anyone. Did it look like he wanted to be comforted and treated as someone special?

Please, say anything.

Just as the child squeezed his eyes shut, the scent of tobacco brushed his nose again.

The child snapped his eyes open. Tennessee was standing right in front of him. With a cigarette in his mouth, he was looking down with dead eyes that revealed not a single shred of emotion.

Tennessee forced open the hand of the child, who was looking up at him with blurry eyes. The extracted tooth was still there, stained with blood. Taking the tooth as if in exchange, Tennessee opened his wallet.

Since cards were traceable, Tennessee conducted most of his transactions in cash. While he sometimes received gold, artwork, or bonds as payment for his work, he primarily preferred cash, and his wallet always held a certain amount.

Looking at his wallet, Tennessee clicked his tongue. Come to think of it, he might have put all his change in a tip box.

“100 dollars. It’s yours. Take it.”

The child couldn’t believe the situation. He was beyond shock; he was appalled. Benjamin on the bill was wearing a benevolent smile, but the child wanted to tear that piece of paper and spray it all over Tennessee’s arrogant face.

“Who would tell a story like that just to get money like this……!”

“The Tooth Fairy.”

Lighting his cigarette, Tennessee put the baby tooth in his pocket.

Tooth… what?

The child was lost in a blur of a thousand emotions—whether to be angry, baffled, or bewildered.

Watching the child stammer, Tennessee lit his cigarette.

“Now that you’ve squeezed out all the blood and tears, let’s go eat breakfast.”

Watching Tennessee’s back as he walked away after saying only what he wanted, the child opened his mouth in hollow disbelief.

He had intended to be angry at the annoying prank, but he felt as if he had been hit squarely in the back of the head. He had been hit so hard that his brain rang, making him forget he had even intended to be angry.

With a deep scowl, the child followed Tennessee.

After facing the unexpected hurdle of a loose tooth, they arrived at the famous pancake house. The child ate with excitement, and by the time they got back into the car, he began to doze off.

Watching the small, doll-like head sway and lean diagonally against the window, Tennessee stepped on the brake gently. With a screech, the body lurched slightly forward, and the child woke up.

“Fasten your seatbelt.”

Tennessee clicked his tongue, wondering if he still hadn’t learned despite having just paid the price for pulling a tooth. Glaring at Tennessee’s irritating mouth, which held a cigarette askew, the child nonetheless buckled his seatbelt. After all, he wanted to live.

“How much further do we have to go?”

Tennessee wondered why this question hadn’t come yet. He had been driving for well over half a day.

Though they had stopped for meals and bathrooms, other than that, he had been driving without rest. Tennessee didn’t feel the boredom, but the child, who had been tucked away in the backseat, was different.

He had spent the first few hours napping, but after lunch and brushing his teeth, he had woken up completely. Having muttered to himself that he’d seen every single piece of scenery for his entire life, the child had tossed and turned.

Unable to withstand the boredom, the child had finally asked a question after enduring for twelve hours.

Tennessee’s blue eyes were reflected in the rearview mirror. Letting out a deep sigh behind him, the child lay flat on the backseat.

“If you’re bored, play a game or something.”

“……Do you have a phone?”

The child had sat up with anticipation, but upon seeing Tennessee’s burner phone, he slumped back down, deflated.

“There are no games on this.”

“Play ‘I spy’ then.”

Are you kidding me? the child asked with his eyes. He seriously wondered if Tennessee viewed him as a preschooler.

To shut the child up, Tennessee gave him a Mountain Dew. Naturally, the child snatched it.

Tennessee didn’t even need to look to know the situation in the back. The sound of a can opening, the sound of the drink being gulped down refreshingly.

Now that he noticed, the gap where the tooth was missing whenever the child spoke was quite cute, and Tennessee let out a chuckle.

The black, empty space made the child look rather like a mischievous rascal. To think that the heavy scent of gloom and despair could look this lively just because of one missing tooth. Perhaps that is why children recover so quickly.

Tennessee wondered if such a transition was possible in his own life. Could his soul ever feel this uplifted by simply removing, adding, or changing one thing?

It might be impossible for him, but the child could likely do it with ease.

Forgetting his boredom for a moment over a can of soda, Tennessee kept the sight of the child’s swinging feet in his view.

“Please put the radio on.”

“It’s distracting.”

“Please.”

The child clasped their hands together and asked once more. When they said “Please,” the corners of their mouth stretched wide horizontally. Gaps where teeth were missing revealed pale, empty gums.

Though annoyed, Tennessee turned on the radio. A famous song began to play. It was a track Tennessee had heard a few times before.

Tennessee had thought it was a new release, but apparently not for the child; despite a look of boredom on their face, the child began to sing along. They bobbed their head and swayed their body lightly. The child followed the fast rap sections quite well. They missed a few spots here and there, perhaps not knowing the lyrics perfectly, but that could be overlooked as a cute quirk.

For the first time, something other than smoke drifted through the open window.

Do they have a talent for this? Tennessee listened to the voice skillfully following the softer parts of the song.

“Next channel!”

Quite the demanding one.

Even as he intended to snap at them, his hand naturally turned the dial.