Chapter 65: Once Upon a Time

When Haru was a child, he only had one dream. Only one desire in his heart.

That was to have his own family to belong to. He wanted warm parents to cling onto. He used to daydream at times about how he would smile and be obedient to his parents.

He thought he would never dare to cause trouble for them and he could even try to help them with anything. He imagined them caring and tending him for when he's sick and hungry and lonely.

And when it's cold, they would tuck over a warm thick blanket and sleep tightly. It was a very simple dream for a child his age.

Most of his peers want to be someone great and land a mark in history, but what he wanted was to be someone useful. Especially to his parents and would be family. He was always envious of the children his age laughing carelessly, hopping and skipping with their parents on both their sides.

It was such a pretty sight that he was jealous of.

But that was a mere dream for a lonely orphan like him. Haru always wanted to rely on kind people with the image of his parents, but the only ones beside him were the service workers and some nuns in that dingy orphanage that rarely anyone visits at all.

There wasn't much in it but tasteless and dull things.

The peeled off painted walls and fragile tiles and floors are a bit bearable. He even got used to the food they'd serve. He understood their situation because even the people there are struggling as much.

Sometimes, a bunch of high school students would visit them and provide them good food, mediocre entertainment, and uncomfortable attention.

It's like a volunteer program initiated by their school. Most of them are from Catholic schools and academies.

Nevertheless, it often ends with a great time for most of them.

Haru is always in charge of cleaning the bathrooms and some hallways and at times, when people are short, he would be assigned in washing the dishes as well. He got used to the lifestyle as well.

Since they don't have much to do anyway, that's all they could do to preserve the almost rundown place they're staying in. Haru had a sombre aura then, so the kids would only often approach him when needed.

Although he was never bullied and was even treated nicely by the other kids, he never had someone close to him to even be called a friend.

They would just invite him for a meal to be polite and smile at him as courtesy, but that's it.

Haru thought that was convenient, because he wasn't too used to socializing and never fancied the idle talks and simple plays they were fond of.

It was enough distance to make him and them comfortable.

Even the workers and nuns were extremely kind to all of them, so he didn't have any particular bad memories or traumas there.

He lived a simple, yet poor and lacking life. It wasn't too much and it wasn't enough, but it wasn't too less either.