Volume 1, Chapter 3: Heart-to-Heart

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hi! Jio Kurenai here!

Feel free to leave a comment below whether you got a random question, or if you have any constructive criticism to help me improve! A "Like" would definitely be appreciated too!

Knowing that I have readers can make the sun shine for me on a rainy day! With that being said, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Have a great day! ;D
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In another nation on the eastern side of the planet, a walled house stood in the countryside. Slightly elevated off the ground, it was built with a traditional design in mind and made mostly out of furnished bamboo and wood.

The walls that surrounded it were made out of concrete while the roof that shielded it on rainy days was tiled with broad eaves. Only a single story high, every side of the structure had open windows and exterior hallways, allowing the wind to enter as a fresh breeze to the rooms inside.

From a single view outside the living room’s porch was a Zen garden. The artificial, stylized landscape was composed entirely out of carefully arranged rocks, bushes, pruned trees, and a rectangular section filled with sand. The carefully raked sand and gravel made patterns reminiscent of water ripples, which helped to visualize the garden with the calming essence of nature. The side of the house in which the Zen garden lay, pointed to the south, allowing the sun’s rays to keep a steady light in its living room during the day.

Facing the garden in a kneeling position was a girl. Her long raven hair with a hint of midnight blue cascaded with an asymmetrical fringe framing her face. She listened to the morning chorus of cicadas while meditating with one eye closed. Her other eye wore a strapless eyepatch. She was dressed in a modest casual summer garment, consisting of a sky-blue robe made from cotton with a sash of a darker hue tied around her waist.

A cackle from the far distance broke her out of her trance. A blot from the sky headed straight for her, its shape becoming more evident as it got closer.

It was a raven that carried a single piece of paper rolled into a scroll in its talons. As the raven passed the girl, it dropped the scroll, which she caught before it could touch the ground.

The girl unraveled the scroll. Her azure eye read through every detail, not skipping over the slightest bit of information. Once finished, she stood up and disappeared into the house’s living room, taking a curved and slender, single-edged blade off its wooden mount along the way.

✦✧✦

Lucas was still relaxing in the jacuzzi. Thanks to his mind floating away into bliss, he didn’t realize that over four hours had already passed since he first took the dip. Watching the steam rise from the hot tub and the dyed water’s purple color made him wish this was a magical hot spring like its appearance suggested. He wished it was capable of getting rid of the aches and bruises on his body in a few seconds at first but resigned to reality a little later. Technically, this was healing water, and what did he need to rush for? The jets of water hitting his back in a relaxing torrent felt too good to cut short.

“Lucas, what are you up to?”

The door in the room opened, and Rhea walked in. With no patient at the moment, she took the time to check on her adopted son out of concern for his well-being as any decent doctor or mother should.

“Oh, hey. I just spiced up the jacuzzi a bit with some lavender, and it feels great.” Lucas answered.

Slowly, he let himself loose and submerged under the colored water until not even a single trace of him peaked out on the surface.

“Lavender, you say? That’s not a bad choice.” Rhea began to unbutton her lab gown. “Then make some room for me, will you? I’ll join you in a bit.”

Lucas hardly heard a thing as he was still holding his breath underwater and relishing the kind of massage the torrents gave to the back of his head.

When he reached his limit, he emerged for air and rubbed the water out of his eyes. Right as his sight became clear, Lucas nearly jumped as a lean but shapely figure dipped into the water in front of him. Rhea had shed her lab gown, revealing a pendant she always wore around her neck and her swimsuit, now flaunted in plain sight.

“Mmmh... You weren’t kidding...” She closed her eyes and let out a pleasant sigh of relief as she sat down. Hearing it made Lucas a bit uncomfortable with his position.

“Okay, I’m done here.”

He tried to climb out of the jacuzzi in haste, only to be stopped by a hand that placed itself on his shoulder and gently urged him back to sitting down.

Rhea gazed at him with slightly concerned eyes. “There you go with that excuse again. It’s because we’re not related, isn’t it?”

“Is it really okay for us to be doing this?” Lucas murmured under his breath as he averted his sight to his distorted reflection on the water.

“You shouldn’t be getting nervous. This is nothing compared to how it’s done in Nihan,” Rhea said. “At least I’m wearing my swimsuit, while you have a towel around your waist.”

She stretched out her limbs and relaxed. In response, Lucas tucked legs in to avoid any physical contact.

“Speaking of Nihan,” Rhea added. “I hear that people who relax in the hot springs together tend to be more open about themselves. Like this is the chance for them to understand each other better.”

Lucas shuddered. “R-really?”

“It’s all superficial, but while we’re here, why don’t we give it a go? Be honest, how do you see me?”

Her arms spread across the rims of the jacuzzi. As for Lucas, he turned around and buried his face into his crossed arms.

“Um... well... make no mistake about it, you’re important to me.” He was unaware of his adoptive mother’s slight upward lip curl from his honest answer. ”I’ll always be thankful that you took me in when I had no idea what to do. Although your work can sometimes take up most of your time, deep down, I know you’ve been doing your best to look out for me whenever you could…”

His eyes peered out the cross of his arms and stared at the blank wall.

“...But you know, it’s hard for me to call you ‘mom’ just like that. Ever since I started living with you, it always felt like you were trying to replace the mother I lost forcefully. Almost like you wanted me to forget, she existed.”

“I see.” Rhea closed her eyes and crossed her arms under her bust, deep in thought. ”I’ll admit, trying to make you call me your mother was a bit of an obsession on my part. Perhaps it was because I found it a bit disturbing to be called ‘Ms. Nightingale’ instead of something a little more... endearing...”

Lucas felt a bit puzzled by that last word.

“...Then you got older and started to call me by my first name. For me, it’s a little better than ‘Ms. Nightingale,’ but still disrespectful for most families when you think about it.”

“Hey, that reminds me,” Lucas turned around after remembering a moment he considered to be comical. “We’ve had a picture taken of just the two of us once every year. Even though both of us got older with every new photo, I was the only one who kept aging. I know you’re over twice my age, but since you still looked the same as back then, calling you by your first name just started to feel natural.”

Rhea gave a smirk that didn’t go unnoticed. “Bringing up how my age contrasts my looks?”

“Also, because we looked like we were around the same age, some people mistook us for a couple. Sometimes we even had to clear it up for them, and the reactions that came after that were often priceless. A little embarrassing, but also a little fun to remember.”

“So, going by that logic, right now you’re embarrassed because a girl who looks around your age is joining you here?” Rhea asked.

The tense shudder from Lucas that followed told her everything.

“Ah, that confirms it. You really need to get used to socializing with girls, Lucas.” Rhea shot an amused look at her adopted son who shuddered again. “Also, I assure you that our relationship is that of a parent and her child. No ulterior motives are coming from me, at least.”

“Same here...” Lucas muttered, a little ticked off Rhea was bringing up the possibility of an ulterior motive from his side.

“Hear me out. Being a family goes beyond a relation by blood. A true familial bond comes from everyone who looks out for you. The best comes from those who do it even when you don’t ask for it.”

Upon reaching the end of her statement, Rhea felt like something had struck her. She flashed back without any intention of doing so, looking like she was in a trance.

What she remembered was a pair of gravestones erected in the ocean depths.

“It’s thanks to you that I can feel better over the loss of my husband and son--” She clamped a hand over her mouth, right as she blurted a whisper.

“Did I just hear something?” Lucas asked, his curiosity piqued by the contents of that last line. Rhea quickly mounted a facade of indifference, which led Lucas to dismiss it as an auditory hallucination. The hot water they relaxed in must have been starting to cause some side effects. That was the conclusion he jumped to.

“Well, it’s my turn to ask you a question,” Lucas said. “You could have gone to an orphanage if you wanted a son, but the orphan you choose was found in an abandoned apartment complex and forced to rely on eating raw food for days just to survive. What made you want to adopt someone like me?”

Rhea froze in place. The pair of gravestones emerged into her thoughts again.

“Are you alright?” Lucas moved closer, almost not remembering his earlier shyness.

“Oh, you seem to be better.” Rhea snapped back into reality and changed the subject in haste. “That reminds me. Since you’ve been occupied for a while, shouldn’t you get something to eat?”

As if the timing was perfect, a grumbling noise erupted from Lucas’ stomach, and tiny bubbles appeared to be popping in his throat. It looked like mending his injuries made him forget that he also needed something called food.

With a heavy sigh, Lucas climbed out of the jacuzzi, leaving Rhea to ponder to herself as she faded into the water.

“That memory... It should’ve been buried a long time ago.”