Nineteen

Kaori-nee’s mother had sent a few pictures to me to show that Aki-chan was getting along with her cousins. She had always been close to them and, hence, it was not a surprise. However, she also did admit that Aki-chan did not sleep too well and that there were occasions when she would cry.

 After having been abandoned and sent away by her own parents like that, it was definitely not going to be easy for her. And I felt responsible for it too.

I had called Kaori-nee’s mother and asked to talk to Aki-chan. She came on call, said that she was doing fine and that she wanted to play and ran off again. She could spare me- her Kake-jii- less than a minute. It was clear that she was upset with me for not trying to keep her with us.

Her response made me feel incredibly guilty. The most that I could do to make up for it was to pay her a visit. Given my work and that I did not want to leave Hikaru-nii, it was difficult to find the time needed to visit her three hou