Welcome to Heaven | ✓

41: Éclair

"Are you kicking back and relaxing here?" Leaning on his palm, he barked a laugh. "It is the perfect weather to be visiting the seaside. Where's Haruki? Sota?"

In spite of wanting to do anything else—be anywhere else—I hauled my hand upwards and approached in feigned enthusiasm.

"They're at home. But, Dad! If you were in Tokyo, you should've said something!"

"Sorry, sorry. I completely forgot."

Liar.

"You've met Namiko, right?"

The woman in the straw hat positioned beside him provided an acknowledging nod.

"Yup! It's nice to see you again..." The infant in her arms left me at a loss for words. I fluttered my eyelids. "Who...?"

Namiko tittered. "Her name is Ichino."

"Our daughter," Dad finished, grinning.

I thought my heart would stop. Maybe it did, for a fleeting interval. Dad and Namiko launched into lighthearted stories, but none of what they said processed in my mind. Time moved in slow motion. Spotting their matching wedding rings—a wedding they never mentioned, let alone sent us an invite to.

"I—Ichino, right?" The baby sucked on her tiny fist. "Ahah, you're so adorable! My name is Kotori. Your... half-sister?"

She babbled in response. Flailed her chubby hand for the strings of my sweater.

"Want these? You can play with them but don't put it in your mouth, okay?"

She was precious. Incredibly so. Yet, the unsightly sentiments terrorizing my mind and heart were enough to make me queasy.

I bid goodbye the instant I could. I barrelled down the beach, further and further from watchful eyes. My legs caved onto the closest bench I could.

Chiaki lowered himself next to me, concern laced in his frown. "That was your dad who runs a bakery in Miyagi, right? I had no clue you had a younger sister."

"I didn't either." A dry smile poked into my cheeks. I inhaled deeply, digesting the view of the setting sun. "He hardly keeps in touch. The last time I saw him was around two years ago when I popped in to visit his shop. Ever since he got a divorce with my mom, he's put a lot of distance between us. I still stupidly text him, telling him everything about my life, but he never responds. It's 'cause he was out here starting a new family."

"Teru."

"Sorry." I buried my face in my palms. "I do want to get along with him. Yet it's like I'm the one reaching and reaching and getting nothing from that. Dad loves desserts, almost as much as me, so I thought when I decided to become a pastry chef we'd at least have one thread connecting our lives. He wants nothing to do with us, though. It's ridiculously clear but I've been ignoring it."

I shook my head.

"Sota was a few months old when they got a divorce. He didn't stick around to raise him. He severed ties with us so easily. Will he leave Ichino when she grows attached to him too? Ugh. I'm being ugly. Really ugly."

His arm wrapped around me. He consolingly rubbed my upper arm. "You're not ugly at all."

"Look-wise, obviously."

His eyes crinkled at the corners, proof my off-kilter humour had reached him. Whenever I'd gotten down, or crushed by hopeless despair, Chiaki was consistently there for me. Maybe that was why...

"I was jealous of her."

He released me. "You... what?"

"Shiori," I said. "The way she talked about you made me realize she knows you better than I thought I did. I guess... I'd taken for granted that since I'm with you every day, there was nothing I didn't know. I really am cheeky, huh? She used to be your girlfriend so obviously you'd be close with her. Obviously... she'd notice things I wouldn't."