[ A/N – In the fifth episode, when the protagonist thinks, ‘Well, that means we’re not related by blood,’ I thought it was weird that he realized the relationship at this point, so I changed it to, ‘What kind of relationship is that?’
So now, I believe that Saki-chan is now blood related to Mika. ]
After eating the curry, I had an after-dinner tea and talked with Chinatsu again.
Saki-chan stopped coloring and started drawing in her sketchbook.
When I glanced at it, it looked like it was curry that she was drawing. So, next time, I would buy her a picture diary to keepsake her daily memories.
After dinner, we chatted about various things, and Chinatsu and I became friends, and without reason, I decided to teach her how to cook next time.
“Saki’s parents are dead, aren’t they? I didn’t know that, and I’m sorry I blamed you.”
Hastily, I said,
“I… don’t mind.”
I always talked to Saki-chan, but I had to address myself as ‘I,’ this time.
It was okay if it was work, but if it was in my personal life, it was difficult to change your mind.
Next time, I might have to practice saying ‘I’ in my mind.
If I continued to use ‘me,’ then Saki-chan might get told by people, “Your mom is so weird!”
I was not sure if I could do that… No, I was going to be a great mom!
It was for Saki-chan!
Huh? Now that I was a woman, was that normal? I was not sure anymore.
“But Mika and Saki are not related, right? I happened to hear you talking to someone named Yuki?”
“I thought you were violent because you weren’t polite and wouldn’t cook for me, but today, when I saw how Saki-chan was behaving, I understood that she really liked you.”
“…….”
“I must have been narrow-minded too. There are many reasons why you can’t cook for your child… Thank you for making me aware of that.”
“Oh, uh, yeah.”
What should I do? I didn’t know where to start with this. It seemed like this story was good for Chinatsu, but not… for me.
My mind was in turmoil.
I thought Saki-chan was Mika’s niece, so they were blood related. That was why she took her in and raised her, but if not, then what the hell was going on here?
“When I was in the coffee shop, I heard that you were a foster child, right? You were taken in and Saki-chan was taken in, your life seems to be quite 1tumultuous, doesn’t it?”
I learnt a pretty shocking fact, but there was one thing that had been bothering me for a while now.
“Hey, Chinatsu-san. Why don’t you fix your glasses?”
It had been bothering me since a while ago, because every time she spoke, we were out of sync.
Chinatsu quickly raised her glasses again, which had slid down, and muttered, “They’re my favourite,” as she averted her gaze.
“But Mika’s story has convinced me. Saki was afraid of the rides at nursery school because of what happened to her parents.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, she was crying a lot.”
Huh? But when I met Saki-chan for the first time and when I went for a job interview, we took a taxi together.
I wondered what was going on, and when I looked at the person who was being talked about, I found her drooling and sleeping on a picture of curry that she had drawn herself.