Yuya Seto is Japanese.

A man who will turn 20 tomorrow.

"I will be celebrated."

He whispers those words.

He said in a very faint, faint voice.

In a municipal housing complex in the suburbs, I lie alone on my bed, breathing heavily.

While it was snowing outside, I couldn't help but wonder how much time had passed since the sun set.

The room is pitch black.

Perhaps because of my weakened body, I have been feeling unwell for the past week and have had a high fever for the past few days.

The cold is deepening, and my body can't move.

I wish I could just eat, but my body won't be able to handle it tonight.

Just take the medicine.

As he dozed off, he remembered the life he had led.

Yuya is an abused child who was taken into care when he was three years old.

Debt collectors raided the house where his parents had just left after running away in the night, along with the landlord, and discovered the house.

His birth has not been registered and he has no family register.

So there was no name for him, but the city named him.

His age is also unknown, so it was estimated based on his physical condition and the documents left behind in the room.

Moreover, his body was showing signs of disability.

Due to local circumstances, he was exceptionally given home treatment at a public housing facility rather than a child protection facility.

Until he was 15 years old, he had to be cared for for long periods of time, but after that, a helper came to take care of him every day during the day as a normal disabled person.

Due to malnutrition and abuse after his birth, Yuya's lower body was paralyzed and his left side was also crippled.

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He can barely see out of his left eye and has extreme amblyopia in his right eye.

His left ear also has little hearing, but his right ear can hear well.

A helper took care of me and sometimes took me out around the neighborhood in a wheelchair.

He doesn't have to be bedridden, but lying in his bed was the most comfortable thing.

"The weather is nice today."

Nagashima, his aunty's helper, says.

She comes over in the morning again today and does the laundry and cooks for me.

It looks like she's making Yuya's favorite tempura.

Yuya turned his body so he wouldn't get bedsores.

His eyesight is impaired, but his ears can hear well.

I can hear birds chirping from outside the window.

Will I be able to go out in my wheelchair this afternoon?

Even after Yuya was taken into care, he never lamented his misfortune.

For Yuya, having food, clothing, and shelter was nothing but happiness.

Yuya was educated at his home.

Books were made readable using a machine that enlarged the text.

For Yuya, who cannot see the scenery, all he has to do is learn through letters.

He devoted all his spare time to reading, and was able to fully master the content of compulsory education and high school.

Something that Yuya was looking forward to happened.

That is listening to music.

He could hear well in his right ear, so he always had music playing.

He deftly operates a computer with his freely moving right hand and searches for songs from the internet.

From that point of view, he was just a normal young man.

He loved classical music, but he also loved rock and pop music.

This is because when he listened to the lyrics, he felt like he was experiencing life and emotions that he didn't know.

They worry about their lives with friends, are swayed by romantic feelings, and talk about their hopes for the future.

All of them were things that were beyond my reach, and I had a lot of admiration for them.

The enthusiasm that could be felt in his songs and live performances, more than in his novels or editorials, felt to Yuya to be ''emotion'' itself.

Because he continues to live like this every day, he can recite all his favorite songs by heart.

He didn't discriminate against foreign songs, and he was also putting effort into studying English.

For Yuya, people's lives were told through songs.

His immobile body's tissues become weaker and his resistance weakens.

That's why even minor illnesses can become serious.

His helper, Nagashima, says she will be celebrating his 20th birthday in a week.

She says she celebrates me every year, but my 20th birthday is special.

I wonder if I drink alcohol.

But after that, unfortunately, he started coughing and became more unwell than expected.

This kind of thing has happened before, so it should be okay this time too.

That's what I thought.

I'm having a hard time breathing tonight.

Actually, I have an emergency contact number, but this has happened before, so I've put up with it.

Nagashima told me, ''If it gets too bad, please be sure to contact me.''

This kind of thing has been happening more and more recently.

Tomorrow is my birthday celebration, so I don't want to worry her, and I feel bad about burdening her too much.

It was a trick, a trick, and before I knew it, I was in this situation.

I wonder how long it has been since I last took medicine.

There's no music playing right now.

I feel dazed and can't think clearly.

Yuya wasn't sure if he was awake or if he was asleep.

His condition was rapidly deteriorating.

Before he knew it, his weakness had progressed.

That night, Yuya's consciousness was clouded and time passed without him realizing it, until eventually he lost consciousness and passed away quietly in the early hours of the morning.