The father and son stare at each other solemnly, measuring each other up.
Takes.h.i.+ scratches the back of his ear, feeling the tension between them. He"s been taking time to observe the situation. Sister-in-law is alive. Brother was aware of that. But his brother didn"t know about Yuta for sure. He knows well that his brother isn"t good with children. Yuta doesn"t seem like an ordinary child. He can see that his nephew is born with difficult sides of his brother and his sister-in-law.
"Yuta, I am your uncle." Takes.h.i.+ smiles brightly. "My name is Kamiyama Takes.h.i.+. Did sister-in-law tell you about me?"
Yuta"s expression eases up a bit. "I know you."
He doesn"t say more.
His mother never told him about him. He knows him from his past life. He also met him a few times to know more about his father. He never met his father in his previous lifetime.
Honestly, he didn"t know that his mother was that unreasonable.
At first, she wouldn"t tell him about his father. When he cried and called her unfair like an annoying child (he had to pretend), She told him that she would tell him if he could create an A.I. that could a.n.a.lyze CCTVs and identify suspicious activities.
She gave him a big challenge for his age and expected him to take a few months to complete it. But it was a mere play for him. She was shocked, not too much. Before his rebirth, young Yuta was already a genius child.
She kept her words and told him about his father. When he said that he wanted to see his father, she refused. So, he went on a hunger strike until she gave in.
He thought that she would come with him. He expected that the misunderstandings would clear up easily after they face each other. Who knew that his mother would pack him with divorce papers and send him away with Tsuchiya Tsumi? He could not fight Tsuchiya Tsumi with his 4 years old body.
Yuta sighs tiredly. He wants to clear up the misunderstanding first, but he can never tell her directly. She might pack him and send him to the mental hospital next time.
Kiyohira is watching his son. He is also nervous in front of his young son because his son is so much like Rie. He believes that he needs to take each step cautiously.
For the last 5 years, he"s been going through ranges of emotions. Sometimes, he wanted to let her go. There were times he desperately looked for her. He was waiting for her to come back or a chance to appear for him to go to her.
This boy is his flesh and blood. He is glad that Yuta looks more like his Rie. How did his son look like when he was born? There are so many moments that he has missed.
He has a son. His son is a wonderful gift from heaven. Rie survived that night and gave birth to their son.
Overwhelmed, Kiyohira bends down on his knees and hugs his son.
Yuta tenses his shoulders when he is hugged. While on his way here, he was nervous. In his two lives, this is the first time when he"s meeting his father.
A father"s hug is different from a mother"s hug.
In his past life, his father didn"t live long after his mother died. After burying her corpse, his father died near her grave. His father never found out about Yuta before he died.
He sniffles and rests his chin on his father"s shoulder. Why did his parents live such a tragic life?
"I am sorry that we had to meet his way. Thank you for giving the chance to be your father," Kiyohira says to him softly. He can see that Yuta is a different child. He will be direct and honest. Hopefully, his son won"t reject his like Rie again. "She raised you well. You are so much like her, my son."
My son.
Yuta can"t stop his tears when he hears those words and sees his father smiling at him warmly.
"Father." He whispers the word. The word is foreign and strange to say. Still, he has been craving to say it for a long time. Whenever he saw a family, he envied them. When he was supposed to hold his parents" hands, his hands held the cold weapons.
Kiyohira blinks. His heart is swelling with happiness that his son is calling him father, but he is also panicking to see him crying. He doesn"t know what he did wrong.
"Yuta." He wipes his son"s tears. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Yuta"s stomach grumbles in response. He looks away in embarra.s.sment. d.a.m.n! He"s not a kid.
Kiyohira asks him with a kind voice, "You must be hungry. What"s your favorite dish, Yuta?"
Yuta replies with a small voice, "Pancakes."
Kiyohira thanks his ancestors. His son is more honest than his wife. At least, he tells him what he wants to eat. He scurries to the kitchen.
Yuta blinks in his direction. Why did his father suddenly run away?
"Yuta, do you go to school?" Takes.h.i.+ takes away the papers from his hands and puts them away. Little boys shouldn"t hold scary things.
"No." Yuta looks down and redials the number. The number can"t be connected.
Though there"s still time, he doesn"t want to leave his mother alone. He needs to get her out of that place as soon as possible. That man is dangerous.
Takes.h.i.+ notices that Yuta is about to cry because he can"t talk to his mother. He strokes his hair gently and says, "We aren"t bad people. We are your family. This is also your home. Your mother will call you soon."
Kiyohira returns with pancakes. He places them in front of his son. He could ask the maids to make them for his son, but he wanted to make them for him. This is their first meeting. How could he let someone else make these pancakes?
Yuta looks at the pancakes dumbly and asks his father. "Did you make them?"
"I did." Kiyohira sits beside him.
His father also dips them in honey. Did his mother learn to make them from his father?
"Why do you dip them in honey?" Yuta questions his father.
"My stepmother used to make them this way," Kiyohira tells him quietly. Because Takes.h.i.+ loved them a lot, Kamiyama Hitomi would make it nearly every day. When his son said that he wanted to have pancakes, he made them that way.
"You try, but you can"t make them like my mother." Takes.h.i.+ laughs.
Yuta is starving. He begins eating while keep stealing glances at his father. He realizes that the taste is better than her mother"s cooking.
Though they are meeting for the first time, the love in his father"s eyes is unmistakable. His father loves his mother. He is sure that his mother also loves his father, though she never says it.
After finis.h.i.+ng the food, Yuta wipes his mouth with the napkin. Nevertheless, his parents are idiots. He will fix this. He needs to make them meet first.