The Father

"This should be the place."

Haruto mumbled to himself as he stared at the cafe's sign that was indicated in the letter addressed to him.

It had been a few days since he had opened the letter with Mahiru and he was now about to meet Mahiru's 'father' who had been the subject of a few brief conversations that was told by Mahiru.

Adjusting the collar on his shirt, Haruto walked towards the entrance and opened the door, entering a very modern cafe that was enveloped in a calm and quiet atmosphere.

'Is he here already?'

Haruto looked around the cafe to see if the person who had invited him today was here and after looking for a while he had managed to spot him. He had a white cup of coffee in front of him and he was slowly taking sips from said cup.

He had familiar golden coloured hair and caramel eyes that made him realise just where Mahiru had gotten her appearance from. He wore a black suit and a gentle demeanour surrounded his figure as he waited for Haruto to arrive.

Not waiting for a second longer, Haruto walked up towards the table and called out his name. 

'He definitely looks like Mahiru.' Haruto thought in his head as he glanced at the man in front of him.

"Shiina-san."

"Ah, although we had interacted just briefly it seems like you already knew who I was "

"Well I already got a general description from Mahiru and the two of you look very similar so it's not too hard to figure out."

"I see…"

A wry smile appeared on his face when he listened to how Haruto mentioned Mahiru's name and gestured him to sit down.

"You can order anything you want."

Asahi called up a waiter so that Haruto could order to which he just got latte for him to drink. Silence enveloped the two but this was eventually broken when the waiter brought Haruto his order.

"I just want to thank you again for accepting my sudden invitation."

"...Don't mind it. I also wanted to meet the father of my girlfriend."

Haruto calmly replied to Asahi who just gave him a small smile after hearing his response.

'His demeanour is more different than what I have thought.' Haruto thought in his head as he analysed the man in front of him. His gentle impression made it hard for him to imagine that this person would abandon his child and neglect her for her whole life.

The two of them returned back to silence and the sounds of their surroundings quickly seeped into their area.

"Do you mind telling me why you called me out?"

Feeling like the conversation might not go anywhere, Haruto bluntly asked Asahi on his reason for calling him out.

"Well… I got to know that you were dating my daughter so I wanted to know how it was going so far…"

"Is that really the reason?"

"You really are on guard huh."

Asahi continued to put on a wry smile as he listened to Haruto's blunt responses but he then nodded as he thought it was understandable for him to do so.

Haruto on the other hand began to fall into greater confusion as the longer he continued to communicate with the man in front of him, he began to think of him as a person who truly wanted to know how his daughter was doing.

"Why do you suddenly want to initiate contact with Mahiru despite the many years of ignoring her. I find it very suspicious if someone who was absent suddenly wants to put in the effort to confront her."

Although with his impression of Asahi changing, Haruto still didn't put his guard down as this was a problem that affected the thorns Mahiru had to bear during her childhood.

Asahi turned silent and after a while he began to pick up the spoon that was in his cup and gently stir his coffee, as if to collect his thoughts.

"It's.. hard for me to fully explain but just say… I want to see her."

"Despite the fact you decided to abandon her during her whole life?"

"That's pretty frank of you to say."

Instead of getting angry, Asahi gave a dry laugh and continued to spin the spoon he had.

"I just want to say that I have no plans of interfering with the life she currently has right now but you can also take it as me not having the right to do so."

Haruto didn't say a word and taking that in, Asahi continued to say his words.

"I cannot just push away what I had done to that girl as I know it was something a parent shouldn't have done. I can even imagine seeing that girl thinking less of us as a parent but more of a stranger who just so happens to share the same blood."

Asahi calmly laid out his thoughts as Haruto slowly rubbed his fingers around the cup of coffee he had in his hands.

"Makes me pathetic…"

"Hmm?"

"As Mahiru told me her past, she said with tears falling down her face that 'it makes her pretty pathetic thinking that she could have the chance of having her parents look at her but was met with the opposite showing just how unwanted she really was.'"

"I see…"

"Just by listening to that snippet you can see just how far you had neglected her."

"Yes."

Despite hearing his calm responses, Asahi was able to hear the cold and sharp tone that was being backed up by Haruto's words which made Asahi smile slightly as he looked at the person in front of him.

"Yes...I'm able to understand that I did something terrible towards my own daughter."

"So why do you want to meet her now? From my understanding so far, you realised that you have done something terrible to her but still decided not to do anything. I find it difficult for me to have you meet Mahiru as opening wounds that have closed is the last thing I want happening to her."

Asahi was able to see how defensive Haruto was being towards him and a bitter smile gradually graced his lips as he stopped spinning the spoon in his hands.

"You really treasure her don't you?"

"That goes without saying."

"I see… well let me just rephrase my previous words from before. I just want to meet her right now while I have the chance to."

"While you have the chance to? So what you're saying…"

"Yes it's probably what you're thinking right now."

Haruto turned quiet trying to digest his words while Asahi slowly sipped the remainder of his coffee, wrapping up the thoughts he currently has.

"You don't need to worry anymore, after thinking about it some more I decided that I'm content enough just to see her smiling the way she was from far away."

"You…"

"I honestly do not want to inflict anymore unhappiness towards her as I have done enough harm as it is. So instead of inflicting more harm on her I think having her continue to hate me is something I would like."

"....."

Haruto turned silent as he didn't know what to say after hearing Asahi's decision.

"Are you really okay with this…?"

"I think this is the best. Just by seeing her smile happily despite facing the neglect that both me and Sayo inflicted on her made me content despite my selfish self not making up for it.

"...."

Asahi smiled slightly as he looked at the boy in front of him.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"...Go ahead."

"Is.she… happy right now?"

Haruto stared straight into Asahi's eyes and saw the gentle look that was being conveyed.

"You have to ask Mahiru to answer that question but I'm confident that I'm able to bring her the happiness that she deserves."

With a confident voice, Haruto straightened his back and looked Asahi steadily in the eyes as he spoke with utmost conviction in his answer.

Asahi's caramel eyes opened slightly after hearing his answer but not long did his mouth turn into a gentle smile that was similar to Mahiru's very own.

"I see, I'm happy to hear those words from you." Asahi rubbed his finger against the porcelain cup in front of him as he slowly spoke his words.

"Although I have no right to do so but…I shall entrust her to you."

"I will do my very best to keep her happy."

"....Thank you."

Asahi looked down and gave a gentle smile as he thought back to his short time with Haruto and felt happy at the thought of entrusting Mahiru to him.

***

"I'm home."

Locking the door behind him, Haruto was able to see Mahiru sitting on the couch as she looked towards the book in her hands.

"Welcome back…"

Hearing her uneasy voice, Haruto was able to tell that she was trying her best to stay relaxed. Looking at her appearance, Haruto quietly sat down beside her to which Mahiru slowly leaned her body towards him.

Mahiru placed the book down and leaned her head on his shoulder before wrapping her arm with his.

"He's… a bit different than what I had expected. Do you want me to talk about what happened?"

"...It's up to you."

Hearing the slight hesitation in her voice as if afraid of hearing the contents, Haruto grabbed onto her hand and slowly rubbed it with his thumb as he started to talk about what happened.

The living room turned quiet as the only thing audible was Haruto's voice that recounted the moments that happened during his meeting with Mahiru's father.

Finishing up what he had to say, Haruto closed his mouth as he let Mahiru digest what she had just heard.

"..I don't know how to feel about this…"

"Well he said that he won't interfere with your current life right now. But I honestly think that he really wishes for your happiness."

"...."

Mahiru turned quiet after hearing his words and slowly began to recall her childhood.

"..If he really felt that way then why didn't he act sooner..?"

"That's the thing that confuses me too."

Haruto felt Mahiru's small body continue to move closer towards him where he just accepted her advances and wrapped his arm around her waist.

He continued to let her think before finally asking a question.

"What do you want to do?"

"I…think that having the current situation is what's best. He had suddenly showed up out of nowhere so it was still hard for me to decipher his role as my father."

"I see."

"..Is it weird for me to say this..?"

"People have their own opinions when it comes to stuff like this so I can't really say anything. But just know that I will support you in your decision no matter what, so rely on me whenever you need it."

Hearing his comforting words, Mahiru felt a warm sensation flow towards her chest and moved her head upwards to look at Haruto's face. 

She quietly looked at his profile before she pushed her body upwards to meet his face.

She leaned her face towards his and captured his mouth with her own and began to initiate a deep kiss between the two of them.

Haruto felt a bit surprised by her sudden action but he welcomed it as he placed more force into supporting her body and gently held onto her. A few seconds proceeded to go by as the sounds of lips smacking against each other continued before the two of them finally separated.

"..Thank you.."

"You're welcome, I guess that was my reward huh."

"M-Maybe…"

Haruto chuckled as he noticed Mahiru hiding her crimson stained face into the crooks of his neck. He quietly caressed the back of her head that was still out in the open even with Mahiru's face resting on his neck.

'I wonder if I could get more of that reward.'

***

I hope you enjoyed it. Peacu.