Chapter 2: The Daughter from the Future
"Daddy, don't... leave... me..."
"?"
Looking at the Little one in front of him, who was speaking in broken phrases, Aragaki Takiya wondered if he had misheard. Just as he was about to repeat himself, he noticed that she had already wrapped her arms around him, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Is she mistaking me for her father?"
Looking at the teary-eyed loli, Aragaki Takiya could only patiently explain again. It would have been better if he hadn't explained at all—after hearing the same words once more, the Little Girl simply tightened her grip, refusing to let go no matter how much he tried to explain.
"Alright, stop crying first. I won't send you away, is that okay?"
Seeing that she kept crying and holding onto him without letting go, Aragaki Takiya could only tentatively make a promise. The moment he said those words, he could feel the loli's arms, which had been tightly wrapped around him, loosen slightly, as if she had truly listened.
"Forget it, I'll just calm her down first and try to get some information out of her later..."
Seeing that her emotions were gradually stabilizing, Aragaki Takiya didn't bring up sending her home again. Instead, he turned and walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Since there was an extra person, he hadn't prepared a bento in advance, so he simply made a cup of instant noodles to make do. As for the bento he had painstakingly bought, he left it for the Little one sitting on the sofa in the Living Room.
The dinner preparation process wasn't complicated. Aragaki Takiya simply boiled a pot of water and put the bento in the microwave. Soon, all the preparations were complete, so he placed the dinner on the table and called over the Little Girl who had been sitting on the sofa in a daze.
"This is all there is for dinner, don't mind it. I'm a High School Student, so I'm not very good at cooking, and what I'm eating is even worse than yours..."
Looking at the silent loli, Aragaki Takiya thought the bento didn't suit her taste, so he patiently explained. But before he could finish, the loli sitting at the table pushed the bento box toward him and stared straight at him.
"She's definitely cute, but it feels like there's something a little off about her personality..."
Aragaki Takiya thought to himself. He didn't take the bento but pushed it back toward her.
"That's not what I meant. Instant noodles aren't suitable for Children to eat, so you should have the bento..."
Looking at the loli with tears welling up in her eyes, Aragaki Takiya immediately became flustered. After finally managing to calm her down, he noticed that she still insisted on pushing the bento toward him and drew a line in the middle with a spoon.
"What does this mean? Is she trying to split it in half for me?"
Looking at the line she had drawn, Aragaki Takiya tentatively asked.
The Blonde Loli looked up at Aragaki Takiya, who was asking, and nodded, but then immediately lowered her head again. This behavior made it hard for Aragaki Takiya not to suspect that her parents might be abusing her.
Seeing that she had already made this choice, Aragaki Takiya didn't insist further. However, considering that she was a child who might still be growing, he decided to share some of his instant noodles with her, achieving a balanced meal.
And so, dinner at the Aragaki Residence concluded in a peculiar atmosphere. During this time, Aragaki Takiya occasionally observed the loli beside him, but he noticed that she maintained her manners even while eating, making him even more curious about her parents' identities.
Soon, the two of them finished dinner. After Aragaki Takiya cleaned up, he noticed that the Blonde Loli was still sitting on the sofa, watching him. So, he walked over and took out his phone. Although he considered that she might cry or make a fuss, staying here indefinitely wasn't feasible.
"Um... could you tell me your parents' phone numbers? Even if you don't want to go back, you should at least let your family know you're safe..."
Looking at the loli sitting on the sofa, staring intently at him, Aragaki Takiya sighed inwardly but still approached and spoke carefully. However, he didn't expect the loli in front of him to make a move he never anticipated.
"Daddy..."
Hearing the boy's words, the loli sitting on the sofa reacted. Though her eyes were still teary, this time she held back her tears and repeated the word "Daddy," then pointed her finger at Aragaki Takiya.
"?"
Looking at the Little one's actions, Aragaki Takiya was somewhat confused. Fortunately, the loli sitting on the sofa seemed to notice his confusion, so she stood up, glanced around the Living Room, and under the boy's puzzled gaze, found some paper and a pen. After writing for a few seconds, she carefully handed the paper to the boy in front of her.
"This is..."
Looking at the paper handed to him, Aragaki Takiya set aside his earlier curiosity and quickly examined its contents... "Huh???"
Seeing the words "My father is Aragaki Takiya" written on the paper, Aragaki Takiya was inwardly shocked. He had never told her his name, so how...? Aragaki Takiya thought of a highly absurd possibility, but he still couldn't quite believe such a thing could happen to him. So, he wrote a few small questions on the paper that only he knew about himself, but to his surprise, she answered all of them correctly.
"This can't be real... Could she really have traveled back from the future?"
Thinking of that absurd possibility, Aragaki Takiya decided to ask the loli in front of him who her mother was, so he wrote the question on the paper.
"Who is your mother?"
Looking at the question on the paper, the Blonde Loli didn't hesitate at all and directly wrote the words "Sawamura Spencer Eriri" on the paper.
"I must still be dreaming..."
Looking at the words written on the paper and considering the Little one's hair color, Aragaki Takiya had already confirmed who her mother was. However, in his memory, aside from some interactions during elementary school, he had basically had no further contact with her. Could there really be a possibility between the two of them?
"Forget it, no matter what, I should deal with the current situation first..."
Although Aragaki Takiya always felt it was unlikely, the facts were right in front of him. Now, what he needed to do was calm her down first. As for further information, he would have to dig it out slowly.
"By the way, I still don't know your name. Can you tell me what you're called?"
"Aragaki Moeha."
A clear, crisp voice rang out.
"What's this? I thought there might be a slight issue with your language skills, but it seems I was overthinking it..."
Hearing her clear response, Aragaki Takiya inwardly breathed a sigh of relief but immediately felt a headache coming on. He was just an ordinary High School Student, yet now he had to take on the responsibility of caring for a child. How should he put it? It still felt a bit overwhelming...