Across Worlds - A Coyote Starrk Love Story

Chapter 13 - Locked Up Heart

This chapter is dedicated to Captainstarfrog! Happy reading! :)

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Saki pov:

"Ka san?" I mumbled, looking at the woman.

Sei kun hurriedly went around the table and to her side. Unlike how cool and confident he always looked in front of me or anyone else I had seen him talk to, he looked tender and flustered now. It was a side of him that I hadn't seen before.

He was....adorable.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?" He asked her gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I....I just followed you after school." She said, averting her eyes embarrassed to have been caught.

"Would you like to sit down, ma'am?" I interrupted, getting their attention. I smiled and she glanced at Sei kun for a moment before smiling and accepting my hospitality.

I got all of us some tea to drink and I dragged the cash counter chair to the table so I could sit with the both of them. While Sei kun drank the tea, he winced as the cut on his lip hurt. His mother looked at him concerned but he smiled and told her that he was alright.

She then turned to me getting a sort of hopeful smile. She even blinked back a layer of tears that had formed in her eyes and looked at the tea cup in her hands with a sad smile.

"Thank you. Thank you so much for watching over my Seiji." She said, closing her eyes. Her shoulders trembled and her voice cracked in between. "Thank you for letting him come here, for supporting him and helping him have a better future."

I held up my hands, waving them in front of me feeling awkward. "I didn't really do anything, ma'am. There's no reason you need to thank me for."

I tensed slightly though when she met my gaze. She had a gentle, warm smile on her lips and her eyes reflected true happiness. She took a hold of Sei kun's hand in hers, caressing them with all the affection she had for him. Sei kun looked a little awkward at this open show of affection but he didn't pull away from his mother.

"You have given much more than I can ever thank you for. I have never shown Seiji that I was having a hard time living in a society that judges people based on who they are, which family they are from and how rich they are. I've always tried to be strong and told Seiji to be strong too....but....he suffers more than me every single day. Listening to insults, having to be shunned away from everyone and every place just because of who his father is....or is supposed to be. Perhaps....it would have been better if I gave him off to an orphanage when he was born."

"No! Don't ever say that, ka san! You know I wouldn't want to be separated from you!" Sei kun said flustered, placing his free hand on his mother's as he looked at her with pained eyes.

"But because of me, because of what I did....you have to endure being called dirty! If it wasn't for me, your life could have been beautiful! If only I....!"

"It's not your fault! It's that b*******!! Don't.....!"

"Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder...." I said softly, interrupting their conversation that was slowly starting to get a bit too serious. I smiled when they looked at me and spoke again.

"True beauty is what is in the heart; that's what I believe. I've met a lot of people and I've been through a lot of situations. I grew in an orphanage, being loved and cared for by Aunt Chiyo but I had to struggle to come to where I am now. I had troubles too....being an outcast in school, being bullied. I know what it feels like to be in Sei kun's place. But the Sei kun I know is absolute gentleman. And if the others can't see that...." I shrugged. "They're losing out on much more than what they think."