𝔸ℕℕ𝕆𝕐𝕀ℕ𝔾

9.

They laughed along with me as the other one, a strangely familiar woman, cooed gently at Megumi, who wasn't fazed the slightest. I squinted a bit, trying to recall where I had seen her before, but quickly stopped when she looked at me with brown, beaming eyes.

"Your Japanese is pretty good! Sorry if we made you uncomfortable with our glances; well, none of us speak English, so we had no idea how to communicate properly." She looked at her friend who nodded in agreement. "How long have you been here? Were you born here or did you learn Japanese later?" she asked, adjusting her things and the stroller where a one-year-old boy slept soundly.

"No worries, I understand. Since August actually but I learned some before coming here so it wasn’t that big of a deal." I curtly replied making them hum in understanding. They were kinda nice to talk to.

"Impressive! You're quite good!" the familiar woman laughed good-heartedly. Okay, I really think I know her.

"Say, what are your names?" I asked, pinching the grumpy baby's cheek who made an annoyed noise. "I am Tobe Colith. Nice to meet you," I said, slightly tilting my head forward since bowing was out of question with Megumi strapped around my chest.

They realized that they had forgotten to introduce themselves and chuckled in embarrassment before quickly doing so.

"I am Matsuri Haiko," the brown-haired woman quickly said before motioning to her baby in the stroller, "and this is Fuki, she's two!" I nodded, smiling gently before looking at the other one expectantly.

"Yoshino Nagi! This is little Junpei!" My eyes widened, breath catching in my throat but I quickly regained my composure before they could notice, "He cries a lot but he's a sweetheart!" she chirped, smiling tenderly at her sleeping son as my heart sank a bit.

'Junpei...'

I watched the sleeping boy in sorrow, fully aware of what was going to happen to him and his mother in the future. Nagi didn't understand why I had such a sad expression while looking at her child, but she decided not to ask.

We ended up parting ways after exchanging contacts, mostly me since they already knew each other. I told Nagi and her friend that we should meet again one of these days, which they happily agreed to, hoping to learn more about me.

Checking my phone and seeing that it was time to feed Gumi, I walked to a bench where tiny bits of snow were covering it – which I swiftly cleaned with a flick of the hand – before sitting on it, placing Megumi on my lap, and beginning to feed him. I should probably introduce him to more solid foods now that I think about it.

He greedily drank the warm formula I had previously warmed a bit with my powers so it was pleasant for him. I was rewarded with satisfied humming noises.

Some passerby threw us curious glances. I mean, a black woman taking care of an Asian baby as if he were hers must be surprising and uncommon for 2004. Sure, he might not be mine but that in no way means that I don't love him. I've recently noticed these maternal instincts kicking in whenever I am around my beans, so I ain't surprised it's happening here as well.

'Not that strange, I've always been like this.'

I glanced at the sky, wondering how my life would've turned out if I hadn't died so prematurely. Would I have found love? I knew I wanted a husband and a couple of kids in the future. The idea of being a stay-at-home mom was rather appealing, even though I'm convinced I could have worked from home, being an artist and stuff.