219 Who killed you in your past life?

"did you like it?" yuta asks her after she finished the meal. though he has huge confidence in his father's skills, he is feeling jittery. in their other lives, she had never shown him her true self. after seeing her cry once, he doesn't want to see her crying ever again. but it doesn't mean that he has forgiven her. she still owes him a lot.

"it wasn't bad." yuki gives him a side-long glance. the rabid dog's house is different from hers. she wants to stay here longer, but she has to go back home. she exhales. her mother and grandfather will get mad if she's out for long. "i'm going back home."

"why?" yuta widens his eyes. "you can stay here."

kiyohira stares at his son. is his son planning to raise his future wife? will yuki's innocent mind be safe around yuta? he doubts it.

yuta rolls his eyes. why can't he raise his woman? his father isn't against it, is he? he isn't worried. he will convince his mother. he only needs to act cute and his mother will agree to anything. 

while father and son are contemplating, rie stands up and walks around the table. she takes yuki's hands. "you can stay here if you want."

their home is nice, but she wants to stay at her home and wait for her father. yuki smiles at rie. "thank you, lady. but my mother will be worried if i stay here for long. i will come back tomorrow."

"will you be alright?" rie asks with a calm voice. they haven't found the father yet. yuki seems like she's attached to her father. if they find the father, they can help him win the custody. it won't be a big problem anyway. she also needs to look into the kirishima family. something about them just doesn't feel right. her gut feeling might be wrong. 

why is this lady asking that question? yuki furrows her brows. but, rie's eyes are full of kindness and free of disgust. yuki blinks her eyes. the lady is not a bad person. the lady even scolded her son when she complained to her. "i will be fine."

this child won't come to them if anything happens. rie purses her lips. still…"if anything bad happens, we are here. don't hesitate to come to us."

"thank you, lady." yuki nods at her. "i have to go now."

she's so determined to leave. yuta climbs down the chair and grabs her hand. "i will walk you home."

"i know the way." yuki wrinkles her nose. he is acting strange. "it's not far."

before they could start arguing again, rie turns her head toward her husband. "kiyohira, walk her home. take yuta with you."

he was already going to do that. it's not a good idea to leave yuta alone with yuki, for yuki's sake. also, he needs to have a talk with yuta. kiyohira sighs. it will take awhile to absorb the information and changes.  "imamura will call."

"i got it," rie replies to kiyohira and pats yuki's head. "if yuta ever asks you to do anything weird like seeing his male parts, kick him between his legs. that part is his weakness. don't bother touching it." 

after hearing that, yuki smirks at yuta. she knows his weakness now. "i will do that, lady. thank you for revealing his weakness to me."

don't give out such important information! yuta pales and places his hand over his crotch. his mother is insane. he's still haunted by the 'incident' that happened earlier. does his mother not want grandchildren?

didn't she just tell yuta not to talk about strange things to a young girl? kiyohira rubs his forehead. then, she goes ahead and does it herself. even if yuta wasn't reborn, his son would have been raised by a peculiar woman. "let's go."

rie watches them leave together with shadows in her eyes. there's no mistake. her son loves this child more than his life. if it is like this, then she has to change her plans. she can't ask her son to stop loving someone. she needs to find out everything about the child's family and choose. they are already involved because of her. she wonders if her son knows who kirishima yuki is.

***

the mud clings to their shoes as the two children and the adult walk on an uneven path in silence. there's not a single cloud in the sky. without thinking, yuta holds yuki's hand and hums a song with his child-like voice. yuki doesn't push him away. though she has never heard the song before, she finds the song soothing. 

kiyohira slows down his pace and walks behind the little ones, keeping an eye on them. his wife wanted to keep yuta away from this child, but yuta won't leave the child alone. it seems that his wife has also changed her mind. otherwise, she wouldn't have sent yuta with yuki.

the girl stops on her feet when she sees a car coming in their direction. yuta stops singing the song and looks at her. "what's wrong?"

the car stops a few feet away from them. yuki doesn't realize that she's holding her breath. she widens her eyes when the man in his early thirties stepped out. he pushes his glasses up on his nose and smiles at her. "yuki…"

her lips trembles. tears fill her eyes. her father is back. she's not abandoned. she jerks off yuta's hand and yells, "father."

yuta watches her run to the man's arms and bursts into tears. the man is the same man from the photograph. he scrutinizes the man picking up the little girl. his heart clenches when he sees her crying again. but, even he can tell that she's relieved. 

"you have been a good child," the man says to her. 

the man is neither tall or short. his dark hair is a little messy. he's wearing an oversized white t-shirt with two vertical black stripes, russet brown trousers and black leather shoes. the man purses his lips as he soothes the child in his arms. the gleam in that man's eyes disappears within a second. however, it's not missed by yuta. 

after seeing him in person, yuta is sure that this man isn't yuki's father. he looks at his father. the way his father looks at him is different from the way that man looks at yuki. 

just what is going on here? who is yuki's father? is it maddox then? yuta runs his fingers through his hair. what is this family hiding? 

"mister." pretending to not know, yuta walks forward and asks, "are you her father?"

the man stares at the little boy in front of him. the boy's eyes are crystal clear. he smiles at him, "yes, i am. are you yuki's new friend? i haven't seen you around before."

that smile… yuta narrows his eyes. this is where she picked it up.

"we moved here recently," kiyohira speaks to him with a calm voice and raises his hand. "i am kamiyama kiyohira. that's my son, yuta."

the man returns his smile and shakes kiyohira's hand firmly. "daniel nagasawa."

"i wish to talk to you about --" kiyohira closes his mouth when yuta tugs his hand. he glances at him. yuta blinks at him once and says, "father, i am starving."

yuki peers at yuta with puffy eyes. "didn't you eat a while ago?"

"tsk! i'm a growing boy." yuta pouts and looks away. she remembers him now? who ran away from him right after she saw her father? did she also forget him after killing him? the girl knows how to play him. when he hears no reply, he looks back at her. putting her head on his father's shoulder, she is staring at him with quiet eyes. even if she's a kid, why doesn't she try to make up with him?  

when she sees him pouting at her, a smile appears on her lips. a smile that she never showed him before. a smile as radiant as the surface of a lake on a hot day

the corners of his lips curl up. it's not bad as long as she stays like this. the last life doesn't matter. he loves this idiot too much to hate her for too long. besides, how can he hurt her when he can't even see her tears? 

"you were saying?" daniel asks kiyohira with a pensive look in his eyes. the boy and his father aren't as simple as they appear.

"i was going to ask if there is any good school around here," kiyohira tells him. he will talk to yuta before discussing things with yuki's father. yuta also needs to know the truth about yuki. "your daughter and my son are around the same age. since they are already close, i thought that it would be good if my son attends the same school she goes to." 

"oh." daniel's eyes become dark. they know. how did they find out? in any case, there's no point in pretending that yuki is a boy. "she doesn't go to school yet. she will start next year in e country." 

yuta can't hide the animosity in his eyes. there's no way that he will let this person take yuki away from him. no one in yuki's family is suitable for her. there's still a year left. he needs to do something before that. "where in e country?"

"l city." daniel grins at kiyohira. "i must head home. else, my wife will chase me away again."

kiyohira chuckles. "i won't keep you here then."

daniel nods at him with amused eyes. he settles his daughter in the car seat who is quieter than usual. he sighs. the child will be asking questions now. his plan is messed up because of a nosy family. 

as they get closer to their home, yuki asks her father, "why did you make me believe that i was a boy?"

daniel answers her question after a long silence, "did you finish reading the diary that i left in your room?"

she looks down at her hands. the diary of kirishima heiji. "i have not finished it."

"i will answer your questions when you finish it." 

***

yuta watches the car drive away from them in silence. he's uneasy about that man. how much was she influenced by her father in that life? did she become that way because of this person? 

"why did you stop me?"

he looks up at his father and says, "that man isn't her father."

"he isn't?" kiyohira frowns. imamura sent a thorough report. "who is her father?"

"i don't know." yuta tells him with a quiet voice, "she lied about her identity in my previous life."

he doesn't know then. kiyohira looks at him with a grave expression. "who killed you in your past life?"

the boy pinches his lips together. kiyohira's gaze feels heavy on him. he shrugs and says, "i don't remember."

"is she related to your death?" his father asks him with a cold voice. 

"i don't remember," yuta mumbles. there's no point in digging the skeletons out of the grave. he's alive now. she is a child. a child who hasn't committed a crime yet. 

"it is going to be like this." kiyohira crosses his arms and grimaces at his son. "if you still go after her, your mother and your safety will be at stake. that child isn't an ordinary child. she's the granddaughter of dionne ash."

yuta meets his father's eyes with confusion. who is dionne ash? why does it matter though? 

"the president of the consortium of sinners." kiyohira informs him with a straight face, "yuki's real name is mira kirishima. she's one of the heirs."