Chapter 109: It's too late.

[Eden's birthday party was a great success. You vaguely feel that you and Eden have become a little closer... Well, no, if you get any closer, you'll almost become one. You have to be careful~]

[In the middle of the meal, you showed off your skills by making some snacks, which drew praises from the people around you... Even Sakura, who was feeling a little down for some reason, cheered up a little and smiled.]

[As expected, sweetness can bring joy to people... I just wish Eden's father's eyes were a little kinder.]

[Afterwards, you and Eden returned to your respective paths... You are still on your respective paths of pursuing your "wishes." Even if you stop for each other for a while in the middle, you will not be attached to each other for long, because you know that your light will shine on each other, and you will meet at the "end."]

[You start traveling around the world again, playing on the streets of various cities, attracting passers-by to stop, attracting other people's attention, bringing them some relaxation and music, and taking away some troubles and stories from them.]

[Of course, you are sometimes lucky, and the city you are going to and the city Eden is going to happen to overlap... This is the happiest time for you and Eden, because it means that you can meet again, and even... you can bring some "little surprises" to others.]

[You remember that one time when Eden held a signing event, you happened to be in the same city as her. You agreed to go out for a walk together after the event to appreciate the city's scenery, so you chose to stop and wait at a convenience store.]

[As a result, when you were taking a break, you heard two female students whispering beside you. One was lively and the other was calm. The lively one complained about not being able to get Eden's autograph just now, even though she was almost in line... while the calm one was comforting her softly.]

[You felt a little amused, so you subconsciously struck up a conversation with them, relying on your identity as a "fan of Eden" to chat with them... Of course, you were slightly disguised at this moment, and were also wearing a mask, so the two of them didn't recognize you directly, but one of them was a little confused about your voice as if she had heard it somewhere before.]

[As for why you want to disguise... isn't it obvious? In the next period of time, you still want to enjoy a quiet "two-person world" with Eden, but you can't be caught by those nosy media.]

[Perhaps it was your personality and politeness that won the favor of the two. The lively student did not resist your approach, but after a few tentative questions, she happily chatted with you, while the calm student kept silent, as if she didn't know what to say.]

[Later, the lively student became a little too talkative and asked you your name. She also introduced herself and her friends. From this, you also learned their names - Carol and Hua.]

[However, when you told them your name, they were all stunned. Carol didn't react for a moment and joked that you had the same name as a famous star... Then when she saw that you didn't react and even looked at her with a little smile, she was stunned again, and the expression on her face became stunned.]

[I don't know if it was just a coincidence, but Eden, who had already finished her disguise, had already walked in. She looked at you as if she had telepathy with you, then walked to your side and whispered your name in a very soft voice.]

[Carol and Hua, who were sitting nearby, also heard Eden's whispers and recognized Eden's voice... Fortunately, you signaled them in advance, and Hua covered Carol's mouth in time, otherwise, Carol's screams would have attracted people from the entire neighborhood.]

[Luckily, Carol soon understood why you and Eden were dressing up. She suppressed her excitement and collected your and Eden's signatures as smoothly as possible. Then she quickly said goodbye to you and dragged Hua away - if she stayed any longer, she was afraid that she would not be able to help but cheer.]

[In addition to this interesting incident, you also remember that at one of Eden's concerts, you and Eden discussed an interesting way to appear and perform together, so you quietly mingled in the audience... At that time, there were two teenagers sitting next to you.]

[One is a sunny and enthusiastic white-haired boy, who greeted you when he sat down and chattered about something else. The other is an unusually quiet gray-haired boy who nodded at you and responded to his companion's mumblings skillfully.]

[In the middle of Eden's singing, the white-haired boy seemed particularly excited. After all, he found that Eden would always glance in their direction from time to time, which made him want to cheer excitedly several times... Fortunately, his friends restrained him, otherwise, the scene would have been very funny.]

[Of course, when it was your turn to appear on stage, when the spotlight shone on you next to them when you took off your mask and sang with your gentle voice like the wind, they were so shocked that they were speechless... They could only stare blankly at you as you slowly stood up, calmly walked to the stage, and stood shoulder to shoulder with Eden.]

[Honestly, their expressions were really interesting. I believe they will remember this experience forever.]

[In this process, you naturally did not forget to continue your "duty." While harvesting stories, you followed your inspiration to write new songs. At the same time, you did not forget the original agreement.]

[As time goes by, the song you wrote for Sirin has been perfected and mailed to Sirin's father, hoping that he can bring it to Sirin and let the father and daughter meet.]

[It is said that Sirin's father was a little flustered when he first received the song in the mail, and he seemed not to be mentally prepared. But after a brief thought, he still accepted it solemnly, packed his luggage firmly, changed into clean clothes, and set off to reunite with his daughter.]

[only...]

————————

Slap!!!

"You still remember to come back?! You still have the nerve to come back?!"

Following a loud slap, the restaurant owner... or rather, Sirin's aunt glared at the man in front of her, and the accusations in her mouth never stopped.

"Where have you been all these years?! Do you know my sister she...she!! How dare you come back?!"

"...sorry."

The man neither refuted nor resisted. He just lowered his head silently and endured the accusation he deserved.

"Will an apology be enough?! Can an apology erase all the mistakes you've made over the years?! Do you know what the child's situation is?! She has never seen her father from the beginning... from the beginning! There's not even a photo of you left. What on earth are you thinking?!"

"Since birth, people have said that a child is a fatherless child. Do you think that child can bear it? Can a child bear it?! Can my sister bear it?! Where were you at that time?! Where were you when they needed you the most?! Dead!? If you're not dead, why didn't you come back? If you're not dead, how dare you come back now?!"

"Do you know what happened to that child after my sister left? She was in a trance and kept repeating that her mother would come back all day long. She didn't sleep every night, and kept the lights on waiting there, just worried that her mother wouldn't be able to find the house when she came back. Where are you at that time?!"

"And even if the child has no impression of you, she will miss you all day long because of my sister's nagging... Do you have the nerve to let a child care about someone who almost only exists in imagination?!"

"Why are you back now?! You can't make it out there, so you come back again?!"

"Get lost! That child doesn't need a father like you!!! If you dare to disturb her, if you dare to touch a hair of that child, I will never let you go!!!"

"Alright, alright... slow down, slow down..."

The restaurant owner hurriedly comforted his wife, while frantically signaling the man in front of him with his eyes to leave quickly.

The man hesitated for a while. The boss lady's anger and scolding weighed on his heart, and the thought of escape came to his mind again... But in the end, he still stood where he was, holding the express package that Nozomi had mailed to him tightly in his arms as if this could provide him with some support and strength.

"I... just want to see her and then give this... to her."

"What is this? Money? Do you think the money you've saved this year can make up for the mistakes you've made over the years?"

"No...just..."

"Forget it. I don't care what's in there. You're going to give it to the kid, right? You can put the stuff down and get out of here."

"...I want to give it to her personally."

"You dare?!"

"Please…I beg you…"

The man begged.

"I just... want to hand it to her in person, recognize her, and tell her... that she still has a father..."

"......"

The proprietress looked at his sincere expression and the tears in his eyes and was silent for a while, then slapped him again.

"Shame on you."

"Also, what does it look like for a man to cry?"

Although she was still scolding, her tone had slowed down a little, as if she had relaxed.

"Okay, okay, calm down... calm down... let me talk to him."

"...If you dare to take him to see that kid, I will never forgive you!"

"Yes, yes, calm down... and have a little cocoa, how about that?"

The boss comforted his wife, took her to the kitchen, poured her a cup of her favorite hot cocoa to ease her anxious mood, and signaled the man with his eyes to go to the backyard quickly... This time, the man did not insist, but just walked to the backyard silently and waited.

After a while, the boss slowly walked out, carefully closed the door to the backyard, then walked to the man, looked at him carefully, and then shook his head helplessly.

"You know where the kid's room is, don't you?"

"...Um."

　　"That guy who wanders around town all day is you, right?"

　　"Um."

　　"...Ah, I really don't know what to say to you."

　　The boss held his forehead with a headache. After getting this answer, many questions were solved... If the homeless man in the town was the man in front of him, it meant that he had returned when Sirin grew into a girl.

　　But... maybe because of his guilty conscience, or because of fear, he did not recognize Sirin directly but just watched from afar...

　　'What an irresponsible father' the boss frowned, but in the end could only sigh helplessly.

　　"I understand you, but... that doesn't mean I agree with you, understand? For what that kid went through, I'm going to beat you up anyway."

　　"If... this will make you feel better..."

　　"Forget it, that's not what we should do now."

　　The boss waved his hand to stop him from speaking.

　　"It's better to say that you didn't hide it from us and went to see the child directly... Humph, you have a conscience."

　　"...sorry."

　　"Okay, stop talking nonsense... Let's go and meet the child together."

　　"But your wife..."

　　"Ha, don't think that she cursed so harshly, but that was just because she was angry... In the end, she softened a little, didn't she?"

　　"um..."

　　"Alright, alright, stop talking. You already know where the kid lives, so you can go there by yourself, so... I'm just following you to make sure you don't hurt the kid."

　　"...Thanks."

　　"Don't thank me, just go now, or you will be in trouble if my wife changes her mind later."

　　The boss quickly dragged the man out of the backyard and walked towards Sirin's house.

　　"...snort."

　　Inside the house, the proprietress looked at the two people leaving, snorted with some displeasure, and then lowered the curtains to block the scenery outside the window. She simply adopted the policy of "out of sight, out of mind"... She took another sip of the hot cocoa in her hand, relying on the sweetness to suppress the irritability in her heart.

　　"That's all the conscience you have... Humph, you stinky man."

　　She got up and prepared dinner... If nothing unexpected happened, they should have a small family dinner tonight. Well... she might as well make something delicious, just for the child.

　　only...

　　"...Um?"

　　However, when the two men reached the edge of the town, where Sirin lived, they found that the door had been opened.

　　This is obviously not normal, because at this time, Sirin should still be catching up on sleep and the door should be locked!

　　So...something happened!

　　The two reacted immediately, running forward almost at the same time, knocking open the half-open door, and rushing into the inner room.

　　Then, a man with strange clothes, a ferocious face, and strange purple lines on his neck was seen pinching Sirin's neck, as if he wanted to kill her.

　　"You!! stay away from my daughter!"

　　The man went up and gave a flying kick, but to everyone's surprise, the strange man didn't move at all, but the man himself was knocked to the ground by the recoil.

　　However, this action also attracted the man's attention. He quickly turned over, grabbed Sirin's neck roughly, and threw her towards the two men. The boss was so scared that he quickly withdrew his move to beat him and hurriedly caught Sirin, who was thrown at him.

　　But the huge impact still knocked him against the wall. The severe pain stimulated his nerves, but he could not care less. He hurriedly checked the condition of Sirin in his arms. He could hear her violent coughing. After confirming that she was not unconscious, he felt relieved.

　　Looking up, he found that the man had already wrestled with the weird guy. The boss didn't bother to answer Sirin's question "Is he my father?" and quickly took her to the living room to keep her away from the dangerous guy. Then he dragged a chair and rushed back with a thermos filled with hot water, poured the hot water on the weird guy's head, and then seized the opportunity to pick up the chair and hit the man, trying to knock him down.

　　But these had no effect on the strange guy. Instead, they further angered him. He reached out to grab the boss. The boss was not careful, and his nails scratched five bloody marks on his arm. If it weren't for the man's help, the boss would probably have suffered a few more wounds.

　　"Let's go! Let's go first! Take Sirin with you first! There's something wrong with this guy! Let's go find someone to help!"

　　The man seized the opportunity and shouted immediately, trying his best to fight against the extremely violent guy with inexplicable strength, dragging him away from the door as much as possible, away from the boss, away from Sirin, and away from... his daughter.

　　"But you..."

　　"Let's go! Take Sirin away first! And then call the police!"

　　"Okay! I'll be right back!"

　　The boss also realized that now was not the time to be pretentious, and immediately turned around, picked up Sirin, who had cautiously peeked into the living room and witnessed everything, wrapped her in a cotton coat, and carried her out. Before leaving, Sirin and he also heard a crisp sound of glass breaking.

　　The boss didn't care about the noise coming from the house. He could only wade through the snow on the ground as quickly as possible and approach the center of the town, shouting all the way, hoping that someone around could hear him and come to help.

　　"......"

　　Sirin was looking at her home which was getting farther and farther away and was slightly dazed.

　　A few minutes later, people who heard the cry for help rushed over. Even the proprietress hurried to the boss and took over the somewhat bewildered Sirin. Then the boss quickly led everyone back to the house and after some effort barely subdued the strange man.

　　only...

　　"Hey, hey... brother, are you okay... Don't scare me, don't die..."

　　The boss supported the man while speaking nervously. He wanted to touch the glass that was stuck in the man's chest, but because he didn't know how to deal with it, his hand kept reaching out and retracting, appearing extremely flustered.

　　"You finally came back, and you haven't officially met Sirin yet. You better not die... You better not die!"

　　"It's okay... I'm... okay."

　　The man took the cloth handed to him by others and used it to block the warm blood that kept flowing out of his neck. His face turned pale and he responded weakly - the wound on his neck was bitten by that weird guy. That guy was very strong, like a zombie, and almost bit him to death with one bite.

　　"Sirin...are you okay?"

　　"It's okay, it's okay... The child is okay, you protected him... You did a good job this time..."

　　"That's good... That's... good..."

　　"Stop talking! Blood! The blood is gushing out again! Where's the doctor?! Hasn't he come yet?!"

　　"It's okay…it's okay…"

　　The man's eyelids drooped slightly and then forced themselves up again.

　　"Help, please, help... help..."

　　His voice was faint, as weak as a candle flame that would disappear at any time but was unwilling to go out.

　　"Giving that...to Sirin...is what that...that [Bard] promised to...bring...a gift...for Sirin."

　　"Come to think of it, I have to... thank him, otherwise... I would have no excuse... to come back to see her..."

　　"What nonsense are you talking about? What excuse do you have for coming back to see your daughter?!"

　　"Is... is that so? That's good... That's good..."

　　"Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes! Wake up! Didn't you say you would deliver that thing to Sirin personally? Don't sleep! Hang in there, the doctor will be here soon..."

　　"It's okay... don't be afraid... Sirin... don't be afraid... Dad is back... don't be afraid..."

　　'My eyelids are drooping, I can't stop them, his head is lowering, I can't resist, my thoughts are becoming dull, my vision is becoming blurry, and my perception of my surroundings is becoming weaker and weaker.'

　　'In the dim light, I could see the gorgeous purple hair and the dazzling golden eyes coming into my sight.'

　　There was a hint of confusion and timidity on her lovely face, but more of it was sadness and expectation.

　　She looked at herself and called out that name softly and slowly.

　　"...dad?"

　　He heard it, that voice that both Sirin and himself had been waiting for and expecting for a long time.

　　So he raised his head, and even though his vision was blurred, he still smiled in the direction where the voice came from and responded softly.

　　"…Yeah, Dad…is here."