Would You Mind If I Tell You About My Tale of Woe?

On one of the city's main roads, a dark gray car speedily moved on the tarmac, gliding through the night.

Both Izumi and Chiharu were already sleeping in the backseat, leaving only Himari to accompany Kazuya driving.

They didn't talk much until Kazuya broke the silence.

"Teacher Kato, about Chiharu... Are you really okay with it?" Kazuya asked quietly. He looked at her with a glance before he focused back on the road ahead.

"Do you mean about the picnic?" Himari accurately guessed his words.

Kazuya let out a soft sigh, "I'm sorry, she requests you to join us even though you have another plan. She never said anything like that before. I thought, she didn't really think about her father because... she rarely asked about him."

It was negligence on his part as Chiharu had always looked happy.

In fact, the child hid her feelings well.

"Although she is still small, she might already notice that her family isn't the same as her friends' families," Himari glanced at the backseat.

The little dumpling was sleeping soundly in the child's car seat.

"Yes," Kazuya agreed with a pang of regret, "No matter how well I treat them, I still couldn't replace the parental figures of their life."

With a mother who had gone ahead of them and a father who was comatose, Kazuya didn't dare to think what the siblings actually felt. They were so small and couldn't understand anything much but, they still understood how mismatched of a family they were.

"You have said that before," Himari softly interjected, "You said you're being negligence toward them but, I don't think it's true."

"En? What do you mean?" Kazuya looked at the young female teacher through the corner of his eyes.

Himari smiled faintly, "You said you're too busy with your brother's company and couldn't pay them more attention but, have they blamed you? Aside from the little complaints, I could see they understand how hard you work for them. Izumi wouldn't let himself be bullied just because he was afraid it would affect what you're working for."

If not, the siblings won't endure the days where they had to wait for their dear uncle to come to pick them up at school. Although it didn't happen every day, the frequency was higher than most students of the school.

"Still, Chiharu is thinking about her mother and father," Kazuya swallowed a bitter smile, "It makes me think I haven't done a good job in taking care of them."

For some reason, he chose to confide in her despite only knowing her for a short time.

Himari felt exasperated in her heart. Their conversation inadvertently reminded her of her childhood days.

Her eyes gleamed with melancholy.

"No matter how young a child is, he or she couldn't help but yearn for a family like how they see. I felt that way too."

The mood inside the car felt so gloomy. It propelled her to blurt out the last sentence.

Kazuya narrowed his eyes, "Have you... experienced that?"

The way she talked sounded like she had gone through the same thing.

Himari smiled awkwardly. She threw a gaze to the outside of the windows.

"Would you mind if I tell you about my tale of woe?"

Thinking that he had shared about the circumstances that led him to take care of the siblings, Himari didn't feel it was repulsive to tell him about hers.

Still, she asked him before opening what she rarely told others.

"What have you experienced before?"

Confusion and unpleasantness lingered in his brows. He thought she really had gone through hard things in her life for her to say that.

And, even though she hadn't told him about it, he already felt bad for her.

In a low voice, Himari recounted, "My mother raised me single-handedly in the countryside. I've never known who my father is. Whenever I saw a complete family like in the picture books, I would ask my mother about him but, she has never told me. So, I understood Chiharu's feelings."

Her words sounded perfunctory as if she was talking about someone else's experience but, the way she tightly held her hands together betrayed her calm mask.

On the other hand, Kazuya was shocked to hear her story.

Raised up by her mother single-handedly and didn't know who her father was...

It meant her mother might be unmarried at the time she gave birth to her.

An unwed mother, raising up her child alone in the countryside, it would be inevitable if they attracted scorns. Countryfolks weren't as open-minded as the city dwellers. They took the matter of an unwed mother and her child seriously.

A sense of helplessness spread all over his heart. Kazuya didn't realize he tightened his grip around the steering wheel.

He didn't expect that the girl who he accidentally met three years ago had already encountered so many things in her life.

Unlike Chiharu and Izumi, he couldn't help but guess that life in her early years wasn't as well as now.

But.

Thankfully she had a mother who loved her.

The rest of the drive was shrouded in silence. Neither of them spoke anymore.

In less than ten minutes, they finally arrived at the apartment.

"Mr. Hayashi, thank you for tonight's dinner. I have fun with you guys," Himari didn't forget to show her gratitude despite their topic made her mood gloomy, "So, I expect the picnic would still be going?"

"Kazuya," The man swiftly said.

"En?" Himari blinked. The hands that were about to unbuckle the seatbelt stopped moving.

Kazuya smiled, "Call me Kazuya. Would you mind if we're on a first-name basis? We've dined together twice, took a walk together, spent time together and my niece and nephew have troubled you for times. Can I think we're friends?"

His justifications made her laughed.

Now, she knew from who did Chiharu learn to be as confident as she was now with her amusing excuses.

"Hehe, sure, Kazuya," She smoothly called his name without any hint of awkwardness, "As friends, you can just call me Himari."

"Himari," Kazuya repeated. His voice softened a lot as he called her name, "En. I'd like that, the picnic, I mean."

Himari got out of the car, followed by Kazuya. He rounded the car then stopped in front of her.

He was a skyscraper to her small frame. As the golden lights of the lamp poles fell on the back of his head, his expression was faintly obscured by the shadows.

Yet, Himari could still see he was smiling softly at her.

Her gaze drifted to the small beauty mark under his right eye. It was dimly lit by the golden lights.

"I forgot to ask. I have your number but, could I add you as a friend on LINE?" Kazuya asked cautiously.

Himari blinked. She quickly answered, "Sure, you could. It'd be easier to contact each other."

Her LINE account was mostly used to interact with her mother and Nanako. Her Timeline was mostly filled with the photos of Chobi and the dishes or desserts she attempted to make.

The two newly proclaimed friends added one another on the messaging app. Kazuya's smile turned into a laugh when he saw her Display ID on his Friends list.

"Pink Hollyhock?" His eyes bent into crescents, "You literally use the meaning of your name as your username? And, pink, this must be your favorite color."

"Yours not even better," Himari followed along as she laughed, "A Calm Uncle of Two Brats? What kind of a username is this?"

Did he purposely use the meaning of his name to soothe him whenever the children made him wanted to scratch his head?

Both of them burst out laughing, dispelling all the gloominess of what they talked about inside the car to the air around them as the night breeze carried it away.

Perhaps, because they openly claimed themselves as friends, the wall that stood in between them crumbled down.

They were no longer a guardian and a teacher.

They were friends.

And, perhaps, in the not-so-distant future, they might be even closer than normal friends?

Of course, it was still unknown to these two people about the faint thread of Fate that linked them together.

Himari continued smiling even after she reached her apartment unit. Before she went inside, she looked down and saw Kazuya was leaning against the car, looking up in her direction. She waved at him, entered the door and closed it behind her.

She didn't see that he waved at her back.

"En... Chobi? What are you doing over there?" Himari put down her bag on the low table.

She didn't worry about her fat cat's food because she had put the kibbles in the cat food dispenser that she bought the other day. His water had been changed into a clean one before she went to work too.

An orange-colored puddle was lying listlessly on his favorite cushion. When Himari walked closer to him, Chobi turned his head away as if he wanted to ignore her.

"Meow~" I don't want to talk to you, you traitor.

Himari was both amused and annoyed.

Did this little ancestor sulk with her because she came back late?

"Oh?" Himari folded her arms around her chest. With one raised brow, she smirked at the arrogant fat cat, "I feel sorry at you because I went for a delicious dinner while you're only eating kibbles at home. Does this mean you don't want your favorite~ wet food?"

Chobi's ears perked up.

His stupid brain thought he had heard his most desired words.

"Meow~~~" Mama, I'm sorry!