-Vol 5: A New Life-

-Resolved-

The morning rays of sun tore through the curtains and fell right on a wide-awake Kenshin’s face. Try as he might, he couldn’t sleep the whole night. The words of Mrs. Yui resounded in his ears, making him unable to get a shut eye. As a hunter with high stats, even not sleeping for a few days won't harm him, he still felt unusually tired spiritually.

As someone who had lost his parents at a young age then betrayed by the relatives, he valued relations very seriously. That’s why, even after some many years, he still couldn’t find a close friend. Even with that cautiousness, he still managed to find a close person to him and his sister, who was like a sister and mother to both siblings. But he still couldn’t bring himself to call her sister, always addressing her as Mrs. Yui. During all these years, even though Akari managed to call her aunty, he still couldn’t bring himself to call her endearingly. The wound in his heart was that deep.

He had seen first hand what the ugly face of his so-called relatives was like. One of them even had plans to sell Akari to someone for some mere money. Just thinking about that night makes his blood boil. Those shameless people who were hellbent on separating the siblings. Had he not run away with a sleepy Akari on his arms that night, probably right now she would have…

Shaking his head to clear away these disgusting thoughts, he looked at the direction of Mrs. Yui’s bakery. The lady was currently wearing an apron and a headgear, lazily sweeping away the front gate. His hawk-like eyes scanned her face, finding bags under eyes, he became clear that the lady also didn’t sleep last night.

‘She might have been thinking about our conversation’ Kenshin thought offhandedly. He was aware of the lady’s disposition better than anyone. She was a kind woman who wouldn’t even hurt a fly. That day, even with all the nuisance caused by that Kaio, she still spoke to him softly. How could someone this kind talk like that?

‘There must be a reason behind this!’ Kenshin thought and felt it made more sense. ‘I must find the reason behind what happened yesterday. Who are those people and what they were doing in her shop…ultimately why they broke her shop!’

“Ellie is the key to all my questions!” making his mind, he dressed in a tracksuit and went for his morning running session. He couldn’t miss that no matter what. As he passed through her bakery’s front door, Kenshin did a ‘Good morning Mrs. Yui’ like usual and went on his way, not showing any indication of yesterday’s conversation.

As for the lady in question, she impersonated a ‘fish out of water’ expression and then shook her head with a hidden smile. Her shoulders also felt less stressed, as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders. With a jolly mood, she resumed her chore with a smile still hanging on her face.

After returning from his morning run, he brushed his teeth, had a bath. Dressed in black pants and a red T-shirt combo, he went out of his apartment and headed straight towards Mrs. Yui’s home. Its already around 11 am, Ellie would have already woken up by now.

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“Ellie!! Are you here?” he shouted loudly.

“Ah! Brother Shin! I am coming!!” her shout was heard somewhere form her upper floor. Then a few seconds later, she came running down wearing a blue pleated skirt and white shirt. With a yellow hat on his head and her twintails hairstyle, she was looking absolutely cute. She was twelve years old girl and this year was her last year in primary school. She would be a middle school student next year, looking at her, Kenshin felt a wave of nostalgia hit him.

She was only five years old when they arrived here for the first time. That time Akari was around nine years old, both kids hit it off pretty well. Now she was going to attend a middle school pretty soon;

“Ah! She grew so fast!” he muttered looking at the energetic girl pulling an unwilling Axel in a pretty skirt with her.

“Yeah! And she was just so little a few years ago!” Mrs. Yui’s voice came behind him making him look at her. She was still wearing that apron, or maybe this one was a different one of the same look.

Nodding his head in acknowledgment, he continued to look at Ellie.

“Is it okay if I walk her school today? I am getting bored at home!” Kenshin asked.

“Hmm! Is that so?” her eyes were narrowed as she continued to look at his face, trying to find something. After a few minutes, she sighed and turned around to return into ovens; “Do what you like…”

<<<>>>

“What is it, brother Shin?” skipping the whole way, she stood wide-armed in front him and asked while blinking her cute eyes.

“Wow! You look so cute!!” Kenshin couldn’t stop himself and glomped her into a big hug, rubbing his cheeks with her plump ones.

“AAH!! Brother Shin! It tickles…your cheek tickles…hahahaa…” the young lady flailed around as she tried to get out Kenshin’s embrace. Kicking her legs, she tried her hardest, but Kenshin was in no mood to let her go. She was just so cute, like how Akari had been all those years ago, not that she was any less cute now.

Axel who was watching everything from the sidelines, jumped into the embrace of Kenshin, circling his arms around his neck, trying to get a hug out of him. He was imitating every acton of Ellie down to last details, so when he saw her hugging Kenshin, he also imitated it.

“Wait! Wait!” although Kenshin protested, he didn’t hear it at all. It's not that he hated her and not wanted to hug her, it's just that he was just too special. Warming up to him so suddenly, it’s a little too much for our MC. Seeing that Axel was also joining the fray, Ellie became excited and added all her weight onto him, forgetting all about her earlier protests.

Laughing heartily, she circled one arm around Axel and another around Kenshin’s neck. She just seemed so happy. It brought a smile to his face.

“Okay! Okay! Now let him go. Ellie, go pack your bag. Your tiffin is also ready, put it inside now, or you might forget it later.” Mrs. Yui came out of the bakery holding a small box covered in a checkered handkerchief. Kenshin noticed her eyes were red, she must have been crying just now.

“Yes!” Ellie shouted hiking her arms up, an action Axel imitated. Though he didn’t smile and the stoicism still hung on his face. But it seems, Ellie was having a positive effect on him. Smiling though…it would take a while to appear on his face. After that, they both ran upstairs with Axel holding the box above his head. Her laughter could still be heard in downstairs.

“Mrs. Yui! This is my answer to your question. It's already too late for you to alienate me. maybe I wasn't clear enough before, but I always think of you as my family.” saying in a low voice, he turned around to show a serene smile on his face with a red eye that looked like it would tear down at any moment.

Although he controlled it, the kind lady couldn’t. Tears freely flowed from her eyes while she stared at his face with pure emotions.

Yes! This is the answer she was looking for all along!