Chapter 06

Ryo approached the table. He looked fearful, but he sat down before his daughter who was watching him with extreme joy. Shiromiya seemed to disappear for a few moments, but then returned, leaving one of the rooms. Then he went to the woodstove and took the pot. He took her to the low table and placed her before Satoshi's friendly gaze.

There, in the dim light of the lamp, he carefully admired the features of his love. Kazue was even more handsome than he remembered. There was a strength in him that did not exist when he met him. The way he took Miya's plate and served it, made him understand that it was fatherhood that gave the boy that expression of determination that made him even more attractive.

"I don't want to," he heard the child's voice for the first time.

Ryo shivered before her. It was exactly how he remembered past visions.

" You will eat the cabbage" Shiro was firm.

"You can't make me," she said, even more determined.

" No, I can't. But I can sit with you at the table until daybreak, waiting for you to eat the cabbage!"

Then he got up, looking like he was going to get something from the stove. In that quick moment, Ryo watched the girl get up and put the cabbage on his plate. Understanding the intention, the newcomer covered the vegetable with the broth.

Miya winked at him, and then Satoshi knew they had created an instant bond.

Shiromiya returned to the table with a plate full of boiled corn. He looked at his daughter and then looked at her plate.

" Where's your cabbage?"

" I ate."

" So fast?" seemed to doubt.

The child nodded, and Shiromiya knew immediately that she was lying. However, the voice on the other side of the table contradicted him.

" She ate it, I saw it."

He glared at Ryo, who didn't seem to mind, as he laughed like an idiot to the child. So he just helped himself too. In silence, they ate for a few minutes, until he heard Ryo grumble in front of him.

" You keep cooking well ..."

He ignored the compliment, but he couldn't resist and ended up staring at him. Why the hell was Ryo watching him with so much ...?

Shiro drove thoughts away. What did he mean? Love? Passion? Fascination? Emotion? No matter what he was playing at the time, it was all a big theater, a lie.

"And also" the other went on, not bothered by his silence "You continue to be methodical with hygiene. Your home is very clean."

The girl nudged her father.

" What is methodical?"

"I don't know, nor am I interested in knowing," he replied, deliberately ignoring the other.

Ryo did not let himself be beaten.

" Methodical is someone who follows an order, a system. Your father was always very picky about cleaning. I remember that when I went to see him in Tokyo, his room was the cleanest of the place where he lived" the smile died suddenly. "When he left my house, he left his room tidy, all his clothes folded and tidied. He cleaned the bathroom and made the bed. It seemed that the place had never received someone so important."

"Because never received anyone important," Shiro countered, addressing him for the first time at the table.

"You are wrong. That room housed the most important person in my life" he confessed. " Shiro, I ..."

The other got up, leaving almost all the food on the plate.

" Miya, are you finished? Go brush your teeth" he said. "I have to get up early and I want to sleep early."

The child nodded and went to the bathroom. While Kazue collected the dishes, Ryo got up and went to him.

" Are you going out tomorrow?"

" No, I work."

" On Sundays?"

Shiromiya removed a pot from the stove. Ryo saw the hot water and realized that there were no taps in the place.

" Where do you get water from?" He asked, legitimately interested.

" I have water well."

"If you like, I can have a pump installed and run the water for you," he offered.

Shiromiya laughed out loud.

" I'd rather carry buckets on my back the rest of my life than receive any help from you."

The words hurt Ryo, but he didn't back down, willing to make up for a lost time.

"I didn't," he said suddenly, trying to bring any trace of sympathy to the other. "When you left, I canceled the engagement.'

" I didn't ask you anything."

" But ..." Ryo was about to cry. " I looked for you ... I went crazy, I thought you died in Hiroshima ..."

The mention of the city brought melancholy to Shiro.

" Do you know if Keiko survived?" He asked hopefully.

" She died with his son. Midori and Rika too."

Shiro swallowed the tears, taking a deep breath. He already wondered what had happened to his friends, but he didn't have time to mourn them.

" I didn't get married, Shiro" Ryo insisted, bringing the matter back to the agenda.

" I've heard that."

" I didn't get married because I love you."

Shiromiya finished washing the dishes and immediately started to dry them in a mechanical gesture. He seemed oblivious to the words.

" Kazu..."

" Tell me: what does that interest me?" suddenly, turned to the other, furious. " You didn't get married because you didn't want to! Don't blame me for your choices."

" Did you hear anything I said?"

Suddenly, the sound of the bathroom door opening, made them turn to the girl.

" Have you peed yet?" Shiro asked.

" Yes."

"Great, then go to Daddy's room," he asked. " Ryo-san will sleep on his futon tonight."

The girl nodded.

"Good night," she said to Ryo, as he crossed over to her.

"Sleep well, my angel " he caressed her face, moved.

When the child disappeared, he turned to Shiromiya. The other stared at him coldly.

"You can stay tonight, but tomorrow you will be gone," he said.

When the bedroom door slammed, Ryo almost laughed. Now that he had found them, he would never leave them.

***

Ryo Satoshi fidgeted on the futon. The fragrant blanket covered his face, relieving the cold, and he snuggled into the soft fabric, smiling, relieved. For a moment, he had believed that he had woken up in Sapporo and that the previous day had been nothing but a good dream. However, as soon as he opened his eyes and found himself in that poor but clean little room in that village, he knew that Kami-sama had forgiven him for his failures and was giving him another chance.

"Good morning," he heard the childish tone and opened his eyes.

He sat on the bed, feeling that overflowing happiness again reaching him.

"Miya," he whispered. " Are you really in front of me?"

She laughed softly.

"I know you're surprised." Her tone was one of complete understanding. "Me too. You cannot imagine my fright when I realized that Otousan saw him too."

Ryo did not understand the placement.

" What you mean?"

" Well, you know. I always see him around the house, walking through the vegetable garden, doing the dishes. Sometimes you have tea with me" she smiled. "I thought it would never appear in the flesh, just in my visions."

Satoshi's mouth opened in amazement. For a few seconds, he panicked, knowing how the gift manifested itself in childhood.

" Do you have visions?"

" Apart from you, only dreams."

" And what do you see?"

" Nothing important, just small things like when the chicks will be born, or when it will rain. What's it?"

He was in a panic because he feared everything that Miya could go through. It was true that he missed his power, but it had destroyed his life. Because of the damned visions, he had lost Shiromiya. That burden was too heavy for such small shoulders.

" Does anyone know you have these visions?"

" Besides Otousan?"

Ryo nodded.

"Only Uncle Jiro," she said.

Uncle Jiro? Ryo raised his eyebrows while the girl chattered, sitting on the futon.

" Otousan always says that I should never tell anyone about this power. I'm only telling you because I know who you are."

" Who do you think I am? A friend?"

" Not."

" A trader?"

" Not."

" A psychic?"

She laughed.

"Not really," she denied. " I know you have no more visions."

Did she know that too?

" So who am I to you?"

The girl smiled. He reciprocated because that image itself was already so comforting that it made him immensely happy.

" My father."

The direct and sincere response made Ryo's heart flutter in his chest. The tears came and he couldn't resist. Understanding that emotion, Miya hugged him.

Something exploded inside him when he felt his small, fragile arms surround him. He held her tightly to his chest, telling himself that nothing else would separate that child from him.

"I thought I lost you," he admitted, even though he knew she wouldn't understand.

"But I'm here, and so are you," he said. " And we'll be a family now."

They parted. Ryo wiped the tears away.

" I don't know, Miya. I don't know if your father will ever forgive me ..."

" But he loves you."

The statement hit him hard. He lost his breath.

" He said that?"

" What? " she laughed again. "Otousan would never admit that," she disappointed.

" So how do you know?"

" During all these years, whenever he lay down to sleep, Otousan cried. Even when I started to have my futon, I heard his muffled gasps. But last night, he didn't cry. And," she continued, without letting Ryo's happy laugh interrupt her "he never leaves me alone with any man, other than Uncle Jiro. However, this morning, before leaving for work, he told me that I could let you sleep and that I didn't need to fear you."

The fact that Shiro was overprotective didn't surprise him. Not after his past.

Ryo raised his hand, stroking the child's face.

" Tell me about Uncle Jiro."

" His name is Jiro Saito."

Ryo felt the blood boil. That son of a bitch would eat the bread the devil kneaded when he got his hands on he.

" Are he and your dad dating?"

" Where do you get these ideas from?"

That mocking air reminded him of someone. It didn't take even a second to realize that her daughter had Sakamoto's strange way.

"Uncle Jiro has a lot of boyfriends," she said. " But he is very kind to us and always comes to give me gifts. And he took care of me many times " her tone became serious. " I know what you're thinking, but you should be grateful to him and not hate him, as he has protected us all these years."

"He took that right away from me," he objected. "I would protect them if he hadn't stolen Shiromiya from me."

" You're wrong, but we won't argue. We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"

He laughed at the mature attitude.

" How old are you?"

" Eight. But I will be nine next month."

"January?"

Just like Shin Sakamoto.

" Shall we walk outside?" The little girl asked, as soon as she got up.

Ryo accompanied her through the garden, heard her talk about the time they lived there, how Shiromiya sold corn and eggs to the grocery store, and how she adored the chickens. Realizing that Kazue had done a great job, Ryo wondered if he had missed any of that family.

" Is your father happy?"

Miya looked annoyed.

" He still cries for you!"

" But ..."

The girl laughed.

" You look so insecure. You love him, don't you?"

" More than a day I was able to imagine loving someone, Miya ... But he thought I was going to get married and then he left me ..."

" Why would you get married?"

They sat on top of two large wooden towers that served as a bench for Shiromiya when he wanted to rest. The chickens scratched in front of him and the sun touched his disheveled hair.

"For you," he confessed.

" What do you mean, for me?"

" Like you, I had visions. And I always saw you, walking around my house. So..."

" You thought I would be your blood daughter, right?"

What an admirable child!

" Yes " confirmed.

" How funny, because I always knew she was your spiritual daughter ..."

Ryo smiled, patting the girl on the head, who accepted the favor with a beautiful smile on her lips. The sun, in the center of the sky, indicated that it was soon lunchtime, and he wondered if he could take her to lunch somewhere pleasant in the city. Ryo wanted to give her all the best. He looked at her and saw the clothes. It were clean but too poor and too simple. Surely, a girl of that age would love to wear frilly dresses.

"However, that is past," he consoled himself. " The only thing that matters now, Miya, is that I found you" again, tears flooded her eyes. " I found you, daughter ... Nothing else matters. I am your father and I will look after you forever."

The sound of something heavy falling behind him had made them both go back. Shiro was there, with the ax at his feet, and he looked furious.

"Miya, go inside," he said. " I want to talk to Ryo."

The girl looked at Satoshi and, upon his confirmation, passed by her father and entered the house. As soon as she was gone, Shiro's voice came up again.

"Come with me," he called.

Ryo followed him to the front of the house. As soon as they got there, he saw the owner of the house opening the gate.

" Shiro ... " tried to talk.

" Go away now " the other was firm and cold.

" But ..."

Suddenly, Ryo felt a sharp blow to the nose. Incredulous, he felt the body falling towards the exit. While the mouth received the blood that dripped from the nose, he noticed Shiro with a closed fist, willing to hit more.

"Do you think you deceive my daughter and then will destroy her as done to me?" He asked, possessed. " I'll kill you if you make Miya shed a single tear, understand?"

Suddenly, Shiro slammed the gate.

"Miya only has one father," he said. "The sooner you leave, the better for her."

And he vanished before his tears-clouded views.