As the moments passed, and Aki still couldn't find Kanro, she decided to wander around, hoping to spot him. Unfortunately, she couldn't find him. However, she noticed a child crying nearby.
"Are you okay?" Aki approached the child gently. "Why are you crying? What happened?" she asked.
The child, still scared, looked up at her and cried even louder, "Wahh, wahh!"
Aki gave a bittersweet smile. "I'm not a bad person, boy," she murmured to herself.
To calm the child, Aki thought of giving him something, hoping it might ease his fear. "Here, do you want this?" she offered after she found lollipop in her bag
The child glanced at her and paused, then gave a slight smile. "Here you go," she offered again.
Slowly, the child raised his hand and took the lollipop from her. As Aki handed over the lollipop, she noticed how much the child resembled Kanro.
Because the child looked so much like Kanro, Aki decided to ask his name. She was stunned to hear his response.
"May I know what your name is?" Aki inquired, trying to keep her voice steady.
The child looked up at her with wide eyes and said, "Kanro."
"Kanro Agatzu" Aki gasped in shock. "Kanro? Your name is Kanro?" she repeated, her heart pounding.
The child nodded, still holding the lollipop. Aki stared at him, her mind racing with possibilities.
"That's impossible, it's only possible if Kanro has a twin but this child is too young to be his twin," "How could this be? There's two Kanro? " filled Aki's mind.
While Aki's mind was racing with questions, she thought of asking the young Kanro a few personal questions such as, "How old are you now?"
Little Kanro looked up at her with teary eyes and replied, "I'm seven years old."
"Seven?.." Aki asked in disbelief, "If he's just seven years old that means, I have traveled back-" her heart began to race and she covered her mouth in shock. "15 years ago.."
As she was still in shock, a small hand touched her. "Ate, are you okay?" little Kanro asked with concern, seeing her sweating in surprise.
"Umm, yep... I'm okay," she responded with a forced smile.
"Are you sure, Ate?" he asked again, worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Aki assured him.
"Let's change the topic, what are you doing here and why were you crying?"
"I heard they're going to take me to an orphanage,"
"Hmm? Why would they take you to an orphanage? Where are your mom and dad?"
"They've been gone for a long time, and now even Grandpa is gone so one will take care of me. I heard from our neighbors that they would send me to an orphanage," the child explained.
After a while of talking, suddenly a stomach growled loudly. Little Kanro looked down, a bit embarrassed.
Aki chuckled softly, "Are you hungry, Kanro?"
Kanro nodded shyly, "Yes, Ate. I haven't eaten since morning."
Aki felt a pang of sympathy and decided they needed to get something to eat first. "Let's go get some food, okay? "
Kanro's face lit up with a smile. After they found a nearby convenience store , they ordered some rice meals and snacks. As they ate, Kanro's mood brightened, and Aki could see the tension easing away.
"Feeling better now?" Aki asked as she watched him take a big bite of his food.
Kanro nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, Ate. Thank you for the food."
Aki smiled, "No problem. We need to keep our energy up, right? "
"Yes!!" he responded cheerfully.
"How cute," Aki said to herself while looking at him. Suddenly, Kanro looked at her, "Hmm?" which startled her. "Ahhhh!! What are you doing, Aki!!" she said to herself, and then looked behind her.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Kanro, still annoyed by Aki's interference, suddenly felt hungry. Fortunately, he saw a nearby convenience store and decided to head there. Before going in, he put on a hat to shield himself from the heat.
After he had made his purchase, he stepped out. Despite the heat, he preferred being outside because the store was crowded, and he didn't like crowds. Though reluctant to step out into the heat, he did so.
As he walked out, he recognized a familiar face and indeed, it was Aki.
As he approached Aki, his face was still marked with shock because she was there. He was even more surprised to see the child with Aki.
"What the-?!"
As Kanro came closer and closer, Aki noticed him. "Kan-" she was about to shout his name but stopped herself and looked at the little Kanro. They exchanged glances when suddenly Kanro grabbed Aki's hand, which startled her.
"How-? What are you doing here? Why are you here!!?" Kanro asked angrily. "You shouldn't be here!!" he added.
"Don't be mean to her!!" little Kanro shouted, trying to pry Kanro's tight grip off Aki.
Kanro looked at little Kanro with a piercing stare, which frightened the child and made him about to cry. Aki noticed this so she also gave Kanro a fierce look, making him let go of his grip on her.
"It's okay, it's okay," she reassured the child, brushing his hair back.
"You're making the child cry," Aki said while still comforting the boy.
"We need to talk," Kanro said coldly. "Apologize to the boy first," Aki demanded with a steely tone.
"I'M SORRY," he said, without any true remorse in his voice. "Now, can we talk-," he began, but Aki's icy stare made him stop. "I'm sorry.." he said again, this time with genuine sincerity.
"Are you alright now?" Aki asked the little Kanro softly. He nodded, still holding onto her hand. "That's good," she said with a smile.
"Okay, he's fine now, so we can talk," she said. "What are we going to talk about?" she asked, looking at Kanro when Kanro looked seriously at her, who seemed to imply with his stare, "Just the two of us will talk and no one else." She quickly picked up on his signal and said, "Stay here for a while, we'll just talk." said he to the child
However, the child didn't want her to leave, holding onto Aki more tightly as if to prevent her from going.
"It's okay," Aki said with a smile.
"But-" The child began, but Aki smiled at him and didn't let him finish