Chapter 23: Chapter 23
"We met Rena-san for the first time when we were ten years old when I accompanied Hiro here searching for an apartment after he decided he wanted to leave the orphanage." I smile at Megumi-san's explanation. Even though it was not me who did that, the memories of the former Hiroyuki are enough for me to know that it was a good time.
"I remember that time we almost got scammed by the apartment agent by charging him twice the rent should be. Fortunately, the owner of that apartment was Rena-san, so she saved us from the agent. But after that, she scolded us for wandering around and she thought at first that we were just pranking the agent.
But after we explained our condition, her eyes softened and she decided to help us settle our apartment. She also decided to stick with Hiro for a while because she thought a kid should not live alone."
"She even cooked for us every day and won't let me pay the rent for almost a year before we really have a job. Hell, she even taught me how to cook." I added. Megumi-san let out an unladylike snort at that.
"Yeah, I remember that one. You were so persistent when you beg to Rena-san to teach you and keep it secret from me because you wanted to surprise me on my birthday. It was matcha with chocolate tart, right?"
"Yup. And that was the moment you fell in love with matcha." I smile at her teasingly.
"Did you live together in that apartment?" Kiyoko asked, interrupting our nostalgia trip. This time,
"Not really. The orphanage we lived in before is letting everyone live there until they reached 17 years old, and I have to say the prospect of living alone was scaring me until I was 14 years old. That was also because I have seen Hiro live alone and I found the courage to do the same.
But even if I didn't live together with Hiro, Rena-san and I visited him together almost every day. We even made soup chicken together when Hiro was sick. She cared a lot about us even though we were nobody to her. She was a good person."
"So both of you learn how to cook this kind of amazing food from Rena-san?" Kiyoko asked while she eats her Neapolitan.
"Not really. While Rena-san was a very good cook, she could not tolerate sugar. It is your brother here who has a sweet tooth that learned by himself how to make all of the desserts here and taught me how to make it."
"Really?" Kiyoko once again showed her astonished look at me.
"Yup. You have been eating my food since we lived together, so you can compare the dessert here with the one I made. I bet you would think mine is better." I smile while looking smugly at the amused Megumi-san. We spent the rest of the afternoon at this café nostalgizing our past before we decided to leave again.
"I want to visit Rena-san's grave," I said before Rena-san asked me. She didn't speak anything and just gave me a big hug before we leave. After a few minutes of silence, she finally releases her hug to me.
"If you ever want to move to Tokyo once again, you will always have a place here. Just tell me."
"Thank you, Megumi-san, I will hold that in the future." I smile back at her. I can see a few tears threatening to leave her eyes, but I know she hates it when she looks weak, so I pretend to see nothing. She then turned her attention to Kiyoko and gives her a bear hug too.
"My offer stands for you too. You are his sister, so you are my little sister too. You will have a place here if you ever decided to move to Tokyo. Don't forget about that, okay?"
"Thank you for your kindness, Megumi-san. See you later." Kiyoko releases the hug and gives Megumi-san her warmest smile.
"Well, don't let me hold you anymore. Say hi for me to Rena-san please!" She waves her hand as a goodbye. After buying a bouquet of lilies, we went straight to Rena-san's grave. Here, in front of his grave, the memories and feelings from the former Hiroyuki blended with me as one, resulting in a single tear that shred from my eyes. The next moment I know, I found myself kneeling in front of the grave and start muttering,
'Hello, Rena-san. It has been a long time since the last time we met. How are you? I am doing well here. Megumi-san is also saying hi to you. While I can say I have never met you before, I can remember how fond you were of my former self, and I can feel how much love I had for you.
I wish wherever you are, I can meet you someday and hug you like how my mother will hug me, and I will say over and over again how much I love you. Watch for me from the above, and I will make you proud, okay?
Thank you for being the mother that the former Hiroyuki never had. Till we meet again. Goodbye, Rena-san.'
When I opened my eyes, I found myself being embraced by Kiyoko beside me. I give her a small smile, assuring her that I am okay. But before we can say anything and leave, a confused voice greeted us from behind.
"Uhm… Excuse me, but who are you?" When I turned around, I can see a teenage girl, younger than Kiyoko, maybe even younger than Hinata, with a bouquet of flowers in her hand. She has beautiful long red hair like Rena-san with star hair clips as accessories.
"Are you alright?" She asked once again, snapping my thought. I can see a worried look from Kiyoko, but I ignored it for now and replied,
"I am okay, thank you. If I may ask, are you Rena-san's daughter?" Now, it is time for her to look surprised.
"You know my mother?"
"Yeah. She basically raised me when I was little. I don't know that she had a daughter, though. Oh, my name is Hiroyuki Hori if you are wondering who I am." I smile at her stunned expression.
"Are you little Hiro that mom always told us when w-I was little? Little Hiro and Megu?" I chuckled a little. Who would have thought that Rena-san would tell her daughter about us, and even called Megumi-san with a ridiculous name, 'Megu'.
"Yes, I am the little Hiro as you said. Unfortunately, 'Megu' is not here with me today, but I bet she will be very happy to meet Rena-san's daughter. This is my sister, by the way." Then Kiyoko introduces herself.
"My name is Kiyoko Shimizu, nice to meet you."
"I forgot to introduce myself! How rude of me, sorry! My name is Itsuki Nakano, nice to meet you." She smiles as she introduces herself. But a moment later, her smile vanished, replaced by a horrified expression.
"Did you say Shimizu? As if the Akira Shimizu?" We hesitated a bit before I replied,
"Yes, he was our father. Is there something wrong with that?" Then she panicked.
"You have to leave from here! If father or his men saw any relative from Akira Shimizu visit mom's grave, he will kill both of you! He hated your father passionately!" Then Kiyoko and I looked at each other, knowing that this is one of the enemies father made when he lived.
"There is no time left! Father and my sisters will be here in five minutes, you have to go!" Kiyoko and I both are too stunned at her horrified expression to react, so we leave the grave as quickly as possible. But this leaves me with a very big question, what did father do to Rena-san's husband?
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Author note:
This is the first interaction between Hiroyuki and the quintuplets. I made it so that he didn't know about their existence from his first life. What do you think about it?
You can also read:
- Transmigrated Into Anime World as Kiyoko Shimizu's Older Brother up to chapter 28
- Naruto: Ashigaru up to chapter 02, my new fanfiction that I will start posting it at the beginning of October.
You can read all of it at my Patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (Without '_') Thank you for your support! :)
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