The little boy smiled wryly as he did not reply but followed Halb. Letting Halb take her away.
A cup of warm, jasmine-scented tea sat beautifully in front of the little boy.
"You made a promise earlier, didn't you? So I hope you'll answer soon." The little boy reminded Halb of his promise.
Halb was silent for a moment. He sighed. "Why do you want to know so badly?"
"Just answer my question."
There was another sigh. "What kind of truth do you want to ask me?"
The little boy smiled broadly. "Aren't you curious how that person named Rain will end up? Or rather, how he ended up. I just want to know your reaction—will you leave him at the last moment or stay together with him? When that person named Rain gets a bad end."
Halb's eyeballs fluttered. His ears always became much more sensitive whenever Rain's name was mentioned. "What do you mean? I'm sure I've never known you before, but why would you recognize someone named Rain? Or is it a coincidence that the person mentioned earlier just happened to have a random name?" Halb tried to deny it; he would never take anything for granted, especially anything about Rain.
The little boy chuckled. "You sound so naive." He looked at Halb closely. "You're trying to deny. I'm talking about someone who lives with you. The person you think of as your savior"
"What are you talking about? I don't understand. Stop this nonsense."
"So sensitive. I want to ask you, Would you stay by his side even if he were in a situation that could harm you?"
"Your question has gone too far. I'm getting too lazy to bother with you."
"You are blinded by misguided affection."
Halb stared at the little boy intently. "Are we done? If there's nothing more to talk about, then let me take you home."
"You like to try to keep avoiding something that should be resolved quickly. Are you going to be like this forever? I'm sure deep down inside, you're feeling confused and anxious yourself. Why don't you choose to be honest?"
"Let's go. I think it's starting to rain outside. Tell me your address, and I'll take you home."
The little boy sighed. "You chose to continue avoiding. I hope you don't regret your decision too much in the future."
Halb did not reply. But he took the little boy's hand to lead him out of the teahouse.
"It was nice meeting you. As a parting gift, I will tell you my name by way of introduction. I'm sure someday you'll remember my name in the most important moments. My name is Poppy; please remember my name in your last moments," said the little girl. She ended her sentence with a smile.
Halb looked away from Poppy. He was a little surprised and also felt bad hearing those words just now. "Come on." Halb tugged on Poppy's hand. But it wasn't long before he realized that his hand had never held anything. When he turned around, he could no longer see the child behind him. Poppy had simply disappeared without leaving a trace.
"Poppy?" called Halb in panic. He tried to look for the child but couldn't find her anywhere at all. The little girl just vanished as if she were a shadow.
***
"Where are you going?" Halb reprimanded Rain, who was getting ready to go out.
"None of your business!" replied Rain coldly, as usual.
Halb chuckled. It was hard to get Rain to stay at home. When Rain himself went out of the house, he would be home for a long time. He certainly never came back quickly. This habit of his made Halb feel uneasy.
"Can't you stay home a little longer? You're really bad at leaving the house for so long. I'm sure you just keep messing around out there. It makes me feel uneasy about you," Halb protested.
"You're too controlling. Since when did you dare to act like this? Remember that you never had the right to speak up." Rain raised her voice, and it clearly showed her displeasure.
Halb bit his lip in annoyance. He immediately fell silent and did not argue. Again and again, he was always unable to stop Rain from acting up. He always lost just because of little things like this.
"Don't interfere too much. You just do what you normally do. Don't be an overacting bully. Be aware of your position." Rain walked past Halb unceremoniously with quick steps.
"You're always acting out and never, ever listening to anyone for once," Halb said disappointedly.
Rain stopped her steps for a moment, turned away, and looked at Hal lightly. "Mind your own business. Since when did you go around telling me what to do? Know where you're coming from, you little bastard." After that, she left Halb with all her disappointment.
"Place? Who brought me here in the first place? If only that day he had never shown up and come to save me, then there would never have been a story like this," Rain regretted.
Again and again, her head was filled with nothing but disappointment. There were already too many disappointments piled up in his heart. Halb increasingly realized that he might slowly be destroyed if he continued to hold on to his idealism.
***
"Your life is complicated too," I commented after hearing Nakamori's past story. Today, for the first time, the girl began to tell me all the events in her life. Hearing her story, I now began to understand how her seemingly annoying actions had a special reason.
"Don't pity me. You're just sowing salt in my wounds," Nakamori commented irritably. Of course, hearing sympathetic words would only make her feel uncomfortable. In a way, I kind of understood her part in that.
"I know that. My words just now must have sounded very irritating to your ears. But... know that I just wanted to say it sincerely to tell you. I don't know; you might be offended by it, but I still wanted to tell you that. I feel empathy for you." To be honest, I'm also not good at stringing words together, and obviously, this could cause misunderstandings.
"Are you saying it sincerely?" she asked with sharp eyes. She was trying to find the truth in his sharp eyes. It felt like her gaze could have pierced my head.
"I don't know; I can't give you a good reason myself. Even if I told you that my words just now were sincere, I'm sure you wouldn't believe me. It will all come back to you too," I replied.