240 If she poses a threat to his life again

"the sudden change is a little strange." rie asks kiyohira with worry, "did he not tell you why? his young friend lost her mother and grandfather. we should see the girl."

yuta has been playing games all day. though he has been trying to act as if there's nothing wrong, even a stranger could tell that the little boy is going through a whirlwind of emotions that are not suitable for his young body. 

right now, he's practising calligraphy in his room.

kiyohira sighs. everyone has their own way to deal with complicated emotions. he wonders if he should send yuta to live with takeshi for a while. if he's away from mira, he might be able to forget. 

"why did he suddenly change his mind about bringing her to our family? did they have a fight?" rie narrows her eyes. 

"she remembers her past life." kiyohira closes the book. 

"what?" rie shouts in shock. why can't her son tell her things directly? she still has to pretend that she doesn't know anything. "did they break up again?"

"something like that," kiyohira answers her crisply.

she could tell that there's more to it. "you are hiding something from me."

"maybe." 

"between husband and wife, there shouldn't be any secret."

that's what they decided on.

kiyohira tells her sternly, "give him some privacy. he's not a kid."

"but he is bullying me." rie has been the victim too. this morning, yuta bombarded her with trivia. she couldn't answer a single question. kiyohira managed to answer all the questions. yuta's judgmental eyes are still plaguing her. "so, i don't know the name of the current president of our country. why is it a big deal? it's not like i have ever met him."

"you know the names of the game developers you have never met." kiyohira chuckles, "don't worry about him. he will be fine. he's trying to distract himself."

"i want to do something." rie sighs. "by the day, did he tell you who killed him in his previous life?"

kiyohira purses his lips, wondering if he should tell her or not. she knows almost everything about yuta's previous life. but keeping secrets might cause unseen quandaries again. she's waiting for him to speak. "if you promise that you won't make any rash action, i will tell you."

"when did i ever make rash decisions?" rie makes a face. when he narrows his eyes on her, she looks away and coughs. "maybe i made a few in the past. but you are here now. i won't do anything without talking to you."

"is that so?" kiyohira raises his brow. "when you destroyed the dark hacker, you forgot to talk to me first."

she looks down, puckering her lips. "i won't do it again."

"i doubt it." he turns his back to her, hiding his smile. 

"kiyohira, don't get mad at me again." she hugs him from behind and speaks with a sweet voice, "i promise that i won't do anything crazy again. tell me, honey. who is it?"

"you are really not going to sprint out of the room and attack that person?" he turns to face her and raises his brows sharply. "you won't hire people to kill that person in secret?"

he can guess her mind. rie cups her husband face and grins. "i won't do it before telling you."

"then, it's better if i keep it a secret." he plants a kiss on her nose. "he doesn't want us to deal with that person. don't you think that it's his right to decide what he wants to do with his murderer?"

"but if we let that person free, he might get hurt again." rie grimaces at him. "it's better to erase that murderer."

he does agree with her. but the situation isn't simple. at least, she's not hiding her thoughts. "i will tell you the name only if you promise me that you won't do anything to that person before you talk to me about it. three of us will make the decision together."

"okay." rie doesn't think much about it. she did make a lot of wrong decisions in the past. at that moment, they felt like the right decision. there were times when she didn't care whether she made the right decision or the wrong decision. but a person's decision also affects other people.  "tell me now."

"it's mira." kiyohira looks into her eyes, still wondering whether he's doing the right thing or not. but he wants to trust her. "kirishima mira."

rie widens her eyes in shock. kirishima mira was her son's lover in his past life. her son still loves mira. she clenches her fists. her knuckles turn white. "why did she do it?"

"it was related to the consortium. he might have been used as a sacrifice." kiyohira explains it to her, "he doesn't want to hurt her. it's better if we don't do anything."

"how could we do nothing?" rie argues. "she was already dangerous to him, but i overlooked it because he loves her. but how do i accept that my son's murderer is walking free? she even has memories of her past life. she did it once. she might do it again."

"if she poses a threat to his life again, we will take care of her. remember that she's still a child. "

"an adult in a child's body," rie grumbles. her son is also like that. how could she judge that person? still, she hates the girl. "it's good that he already made the decision of not seeing her. we should move away from this place. it's not good for yuta if we continue to live in the same place where she is."

their conversation is interrupted. rie frowns at her phone when she sees the unknown number. she picks up the call. "who?"

[rie chan, it's been a while. i am standing outside your door. aren't you going to let your old friend come inside?]

"maddox, when did we become friends?" rie manages to keep her voice calm. "why are you here?"

[are you going to continue talking on the phone? i have something important -- hello, little yuta.]