Back home

The sunlight was illuminating the whole place, the clouds filled the lonely blue sky while a light breeze swayed the leaves of the trees with the image of the mountains in the distance giving a feeling of tranquility difficult to describe with simple words. The sound of the cicadas had gone with the passing of the summer being replaced with the temperature that could still be enjoyed without much problem, and if you paid enough attention, you could hear the happy singing of the birds that had not yet started their migration.

A traditional Japanese-style house adorned the entire image, its characteristic materials made it difficult to confuse it, the perfectly maintained garden in addition to the small pond surrounded by stones and the lawn where a few koi fish could be seen made the image even more beautiful, but if we forgot all that, we could concentrate on the scene that was happening right in the garden of the huge house.

In short, Kurono had just heard a question that made him very confused, and the reason was that he didn't understand why Shizune would ask him such a strange question.

At first he thought she was joking a bit, although in reality he couldn't see any of that in her, besides he again noticed the outfit she was wearing and the curious expression on her face.

"Well... I think it's pretty obvious that we know each other." Kurono decided to play along a bit, although he was beginning to doubt a bit.

"Hmm..." The woman Kurono had identified as Shizune had put on a thoughtful expression after laying the broom she was carrying with her leaning against the wall, and began to look Kurono up and down. "I'm sorry, but I'm sure I would remember to a young man as handsome as you, ufufu."

Kurono had to admit that "Shizune" had an aura of tranquility around her that he didn't remember about her, plus that laugh that had come out of her was quite characteristic.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten everything we've been through? Maybe I'll be sad about that, Shizune." Kurono still thought she was joking, but it wouldn't take long for everything to become strange again.

"Shizune…?" Hearing that name and asking that question unconsciously, she was a little surprised, she was about to ask Kurono something important, but then a voice came that made her attention fall on it.

"I found you!" That loud and clear scream was produced by Rena, her steps were quick but careful enough not to trip.

And before anyone else analyzed the situation, Rena arrived with "Shizune" and then opened her arms to give her a big hug. Kurono saw all this and again a confused expression formed on his face due to the emotion that Rena gave off at that moment.

"Oh, my little Rena. So my suspicions were correct, why didn't you call saying you were coming to visit?" An extremely warm expression formed on the woman's face at the same time that Rena separated from her to clear things up a bit.

"Sorry, we really wanted to surprise you, hehe." Rena hadn't even been aware of Kurono's presence since all her attention was focused on that woman. "By the way, this little one here is surely happy to be here too."

Rena touched her belly to indicate who she was talking about, which made the woman now move closer to her and then touch that specific area to a beautiful smile formed on her face.

"You don't know how happy it makes me to see you so healthy and happy, I'm also sure that very soon we will be able to meet the new member of the family." Rena only nodded without saying a single word, everything was quite clear to her, but after a few minutes, Rena felt strange about the next question.

"By the way, do you know who he is?" The woman turned her attention back to Kurono since she was still there, and she asked Rena that question since she thought she would have the answer she was looking for.

Rena had also turned around to later see Kurono's figure and finally be aware of his existence, but before she explained everything, something caught the attention of those present.

Just when Kurono thought everything couldn't get any stranger, it actually did. A figure was advancing rapidly towards them, somewhat agitated as it seemed to have been running a bit, the sunlight completely illuminated her making none of her beautiful features go unnoticed, but more importantly, and what Kurono noticed was that... Actually was Shizune.

She had been chasing Rena all this time, and at that moment she was finally able to see her figure again as well as Kurono's in the distance, she was quickly approaching to join them, but her steps slowed down just as the third person appeared in her field of vision.

She did not stop despite that, and, although slowly, she reached the place and then brought one of her hands to her chest to close her hand trying to calm herself enough, a silence was present, Rena knew that was no longer it made sense to say something since Shizune was present, so she just stepped aside so the pair of women stared at each other.

Kurono had also been forgotten at that time, although he had also stepped aside, but that didn't prevent his confusion from going through the roof; even so, that would end very soon.

"How have you been all this time?" That woman's question was totally directed at Shizune, and she answered as best she could.

"I'm fine… Actually, I could say much better than before." Shizune had lowered her head before her, but she had remembered her determination and she wasn't going to let the negative feelings get the better of her.

"I can tell that… You look more beautiful than before, and the feeling you give off is hard to ignore." The woman moved closer to Shizune as she took her hands.

"I..." Shizune wanted to say many things, she had been thinking about the words she wanted to say all this time, but nothing could come out of her at that moment, and although she kept trying, she had to stop because of that woman's words.

"Don't worry, you know yourself that it's not necessary to put all that into words, but if you still want to do it, we can always do it later… And I think that's not important right now, but I just have something I really want to tell you." That woman's words carried a calmness, as well as a sentiment that Shizune knew well. "I'm glad you're okay."

Shizune only nodded to that woman's words, but upon hearing those words, she herself had to get rid of her complicated feelings and then let a beautiful sincere smile adorn her face, at the same time that a few simple words came out.

"Hehe, I'm back home, mom."