Chapter 312: She's back!!!
(Ryoto's pov)
I turned my head to see a pink, bubbly ball of energy run to me and hug me. It felt warm, and for a moment, it stunned me. My arms stayed in the air for a moment, but after a short hesitation, I returned her hug. I closed my arms slowly around her and tightened my hold on her, but not in any way that would hurt her.
As I embraced the girl in my arms, the only thing on my mind was, 'I'm home, Lala.' But then I used Haki to feel her emotions, and I was bombarded with happiness, cheerfulness, trust, excitement, delight, and, most importantly, love.
All these positive emotions in such a pure form slammed into me, and I felt like I could melt under her embrace.
Sensing my strange behavior, Lala freed her face from my chest and looked at mine, tilting her head cutely.
"Ryoto? There is something different about you..." She started thinking deeply about what was off about me. She looked cute as her brain worked hard to solve the mystery. I was about to tell her that I would explain to her what happened to me, but then she got an eureka moment. "I know! You are not sad anymore! Also, for some reason, your eyes are the same as Papa's."
I didn't expect that. I mean, +200 years allowed me to accept myself. I needed to do that if I wanted to get stronger—strong enough to protect my family. So yeah, I'm not feeling as depressed about my past as I was before. I also guess that her comment about my eyes was about how people's eyes change after seeing so much death. I may not have been at a long-lasting war as our dear Emperor, but we've both seen people die in an unnatural amount.
"I guess that I would need to explain some things." I sat down with Lala still clinging to me and looked at Rin. I wanted to share what happened to me with Lala, but I wouldn't share Rin's story if she didn't want to. She nodded her head, telling me that it wasn't a problem. She then took my hand into hers. It managed to calm me down a bit.
"I guess there isn't a way to say it gently, but I'll try anyway. Remember how we traveled where Koro-sensei, Kaede, and Rio were? It happened again, and this time it was with Rin and much longer than before..."