Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 67
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch67
Mei burst out of the bathroom and jumped up and down in excitement before tackling Nunully onto the bed.
“Big sis and big bro are gonna get married, yay!”
“Mei we’re not getting married. Do you not know what dating is?”
Kazuki almost fumbled his words but Mei refuted them.
“Big bro, dating means you have to marry her right. Mei’s a big girl and even she knows that.”
Mei held Nunully’s hands and acted like she was a caring mother.
“Good girl good girl, shall we pick out a date for you the two of you, or do we eat wedding cake now? Oh, no, first you two gotta start making babies, that way big bro won’t be able to leave even if you two fight.”
Tsura walked up behind Mei and tapped her hard on the head.
*Thump*
Mei fell to the floor and began rolling around as she groaned.
“Mama, why?”
Tsura picked her up by her ear.
“Didn’t we just discuss what was appropriate and what wasn’t?”
Mei didn’t understand though.
“What, what’s wrong with talking about cake?”
Tsura looked Mei in the eyes and Mei did her best to avoid her mother’s gaze.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about little girl, don’t play dumb.”
Nunully finally came to her senses.
“Me and Kazuki…Babies, eh um no we should wait but if he wants to, um… No wait first we ought to have at least one regular date and then we can um…together we…”
Nunully’s mind was overheating from all of her own thoughts. Kazuki wanted to laugh but he felt like he should set something straight right here and now to prevent any misunderstandings or bruised feelings.
“Nunully, about us dating, we can’t date just yet.”
Nunully’s thoughts came to a standstill and she turned her head robotically with a question mark above her head.
“Don’t start thinking about strange things all on your own. I don’t mean we won’t go out. It’s just, for now, the situation is not one in which we can. Have you forgotten where we stand? Right now we have Reya trying to kill me and she’ll probably try to kill you all as well just for being in my presence. The danger is present and there is no time to think about love or dating or anything else that won’t help us survive. First, we need to come up with a plan for Reya. If we survive that then when I get you all to the Rin mountain range and I know we’re safe, only then will I even consider a relationship.”
Nunully lowered her head. She was definitely disappointed but after a moment of considering things, she knew Kazuki was right.
“Ok but when this is over, you better treat me nicely, got it?”
Kazuki was glad she understood and nodded.
Mei was sad as well.
“Eh, does this mean we won’t get any cake for a long long time?”
It turned out her concern was the sweets. This caused everyone to laugh a little.
After this, the mood was better and Kazuki was reminded of earlier.
“Mei, you seem to be fine now but earlier I thought something was really wrong. Why were you crying?”
Mei became quiet and hugged her mother. Kazuki felt like he just ruined the good vibes in the room.
“Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have asked.”
Tsura hugged Mei and rubbed her back before just telling Kazuki what had happened.
“It’s ok, you did nothing wrong. A few minutes after you left a maid was passing by and we had asked her if she knew what was going on outside. We knew beforehand that some people had died but the maid explained that a few hundred people had died at the very least. We all knew from the commotion outside that it wasn’t as light as we had thought but hearing that hundreds of innocent people had died, well, Mei was reminded of our own tragedies, mainly her father. She thought about him and she also thought about Asuna and the others and wondered if she would ever see them again and she just began to bawl her eyes out. You just came in at that time.”
Mei became mournful and now Kazuki realized why. For some reason, he forgot about Mei’s feelings and maturity.
(She’s barely 8 years old, of course, she’ll think about her father. For a child to go through such traumatic shit and still put on a smile every day, Mei appears stronger than most even stronger than adults emotionally but sometimes things can be overwhelming and it shows me she’s still a child. There’s no way she’s over her father’s death, it’s still so fresh.)
Kazuki thought about his own brother’s death. Even now it still tears at him. Recently it’s gotten better now that he can still communicate with Kai in his Soul World but he knows Mei can’t talk with her dad anymore. For Kazuki to still feel how he does for his brother and that was more than 10 years ago.
(She’s still hurting so much.)
Kazuki spoke softly.
“Mei it’s ok to feel sad when you need to. I get sad sometimes as well when I think about my big brother.”
Mei looked up at Kazuki with teary eyes.
“Big brother’s big brother?”
Kazuki nodded.
“Yes, you saw him when my memories were shown in front of everyone. When I think about his death…when I think about him no longer being around for me to see and hug, it really hurts.”
Mei nodded with tears coming down her eyes.
“Yeah, it hurts super super bad and it feels like it won’t go away no matter what. Big bro, how do I stop it from hurting so much?”
Tsura’s heart broke hearing this and she squeezed Mei tighter.
Kazuki felt a lump in his throat but he knelt down and tried to explain.
“That hurt you feel, I don’t know if it will ever go away, at least not fully but that’s ok. It’s a reminder of how much we loved that person, how much we cared.”
Mei didn’t know what to say to that but if she had to deal with this pain every time she thought about her father, she would just die. Kazuki could see the stress on her little face and continued.
“But the pain you feel, if you do a little trick it does get better.”
“Really?”
“Yes, do you want me to show you how?”
Mei left her mothers embrace and put on a brave face, nodding.
“Ok, this is what I do. First, I want you to shut your eyes.”
Mei followed along.
“Good, now think about the person you miss with all your heart.”
Kazuki waited for a few seconds before he continued.
“Now I want you to think about your happiest memory you have of that person. Maybe they showed you something amazing or cooked a meal with you. Maybe it was simply a hug filled with warmth or they said something funny to you. Whatever it is, I want you to concentrate on that memory.”
Mei did just that and her tears came down even harder as she thought about her father.
“That feeling of joy, that special moment, that fond memory you have in your mind…when you think about your father, think about this moment. I’m sure at that moment he was thinking about you as well. Thinking about how much he loved his daughter, how much he truly cared for you, and how much he wanted you to be happy.”
Kazuki knelt down next to Mei and gently placed a hand on her shoulder and sent a bit of ki into her. A wave of warm energy spread throughout Mei and washed over her entirely, filling her with warmth. Mei’s tears began to fade and she slowly began to smile.
“Mei, from what I could tell, your father was brave and he cared for you and your mother very very much. All those fond memories you have of him, he’d want you to remember him with a smile I think and I think he’d want you to live life like that. One in which you smile brightly and have fun. Loving others and protecting them. Laughing and being kind and caring. When you think about him, remember that he loved you and live on as best you can. If you can do that, little by little you push out that pain.”
Kazuki circulated the ki around Mei and her shoulders relaxed and her expression changed completely.
“Can you feel the pain going away little by little?”
Mei thought for a moment. The pain she felt before was actually almost all gone. She thought about her happiest times with her father and she could barely feel any pain. In fact, she felt warm all over and a bit giddy as well. Mei began to chuckle a little.
“Hehehe, big bro, I think it’s working. My heart barely hurts now.”
Tsura began to cry seeing this and Nunully was watering up as well.
“Good, now open your eyes.”
Mei did as she was told and opened her eyes. As soon as she did, she met her own eyes in a reflection. Kazuki held a mirror up in front of her. She saw her giggling smiling face and she found it funny.
“So how do you feel now.”
“Hehehe, I feel silly.”
Mei wiped the tears out of her eyes and saw a few snot bubbles coming out in her reflection and laughed even harder.
“Is there any pain?”
Mei could barely respond properly, she was laughing too hard.
“It doesn’t hurt but hehe, my face is so funny.”
Mei wiped her entire face on Tsura’s shirt before she stopped and realized something.
“Eh, big bro it doesn’t hurt anymore, how come?”
Mei was patting her chest, repeatedly trying to feel her heart.
Kazuki shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s just how the trick works. I don’t know for sure myself why it does, it just does.”
Mei tilted her head in confusion and then Tsura scooped her up in one go and began kissing her little face. It’s a good thing Mei wiped her snot away a second ago or this would be a disgusting sight.
“Mama, stop stop, your doing too much.”
Tsura ignored her daughter’s protest and continued to kiss her face all over. Eventually, Mei just gave in and giggled some more. Nunully couldn’t help but look at Kazuki fondly.
(What is he thinking right now?)
Kazuki turned the mirror around and looked at his disguised face, although he was smiling, he knew it was fake. Maybe if one looked closely would they see the sadness in his eyes, and sighed inwardly.
(Haaaa. If only it were so simple.)
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