Chapter 51: No Way Home (3)
The young girl’s mouth went wide for a moment. Before she could say anything, Hinata’s gaze drifted into the cozy living room of the house and immediately locked onto a woman in her early forties who looked just like ’Aoki.’
Hinata’s frown grew even deeper. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. His heart was beating so fast and loud that the young girl could probably hear it.
The girl raised her hand and tapped him on the arm. "Big bro, why are you looking for my grandma?"
"Your... grandma?" Hinata muttered under his breath as the world seemed to suddenly tilt upside down.
Hinata clenched his jaw as he tried to push down the ache in his chest. Again, he was starting to deny what was right in front of him.
Gradually he relaxed and smiled softly. "Yeah, I came to see your grandma. Can you call her over?"
The young girl, whose cheeks were flushed red, immediately ran into the house, only to rush back to the door. "Mmhmm, mister, what should I tell her?"
He lowered his gaze for a moment, then raised it again. "Tell her I was curious if she enjoyed the Jkk movie."
The girl tilted her head in confusion and ran inside, yelling the exact words Hinata had spoken. Immediately, the sound of a cup clattering against the ground echoed from a room upstairs.
A faint flicker of a smile touched his lips, but his eyes were filled with held-back tears. ’Looks like she’s still as clumsy as ever.’
The sound of slow footsteps soon rang across the now silent house as an old woman in her mid-seventies walked carefully down the stairs with a walking stick. The moment she locked gazes with Hinata, her eyes went wide and her staff fell from her hand.
The old woman stumbled a few steps back, her arm flying to her mouth as tears began spilling down her face.
Hinata just smiled, the skin around his eyes turning red. "Hey, Aoki. Long time no see."
The old woman rushed towards him even without the aid of her staff and caught him in a tight embrace. "You bastard!" she struggled to say before pulling back and cupping his cheeks in both hands. "Is that really you, Hina?"
Feeling the warmth of her wrinkled hands, Hinata could no longer stop the tears that were gathering at his eyelids.
And... He wept.
He cried more than he had ever done in his life. Maybe it was because he had found his way back home, or perhaps it was because the person he had promised to grow old with already had grey hairs while he still looked the same.
Even through the tears, Hinata grinned broadly. "Hey, why are you crying, you old grandma?"
The old woman chuckled heartily. "You still have that snarky tongue of yours."
Removing her hands from his face, she turned back into the house to see the two other women staring at them with stunned expressions.
She sighed. "Why don’t we take this outside?"
Hinata nodded and bowed towards the other two women before leaving the house with Aoki.
Snow was still falling lightly, causing the road ahead to look foggy.
Hinata and Aoki stood in front of the door for some time before moving towards a long bench by the side of the house.
Even after both of them were seated, they said nothing — instead, they simply leaned their shoulders against each other.
Hinata opened his mouth several times to say something, but nothing came out. He didn’t know where to start or where to stop. He didn’t know what he should ask or what he shouldn’t. Plus, a part of him didn’t want Aoki to know about the things he had done in that world.
Aoki glanced at him from the corner of her eye, then sneezed hard, causing Hinata’s focus to shift entirely to her.
He quickly used the Slime King to form a large blanket and draped it over her shoulders.
Aoki’s eyes lit up at his strange sorcery. "So you actually got summoned to another world?"
Hinata, who had been trying to wrap the blanket around her properly, paused, then sighed. "I guess that wasn’t outside your theory."
She nodded slowly. "After you vanished, there wasn’t anything I didn’t think about. At some point I thought you were tired of me and Mom and decided to run away."
Hinata’s gaze darkened. "I’m sorry."
She shook her head, placing her hand on his face. "You shouldn’t feel sorry — it isn’t like it’s your fault. Besides, you at least got back before I died. Now I can die a happy woman."
Hinata clenched his fist, then asked, "How’s Mom?"
Aoki lowered her gaze, which was enough for Hinata to understand.
"She did her best to find you. To her, protecting you was her only reason for living after your mom and dad sacrificed themselves for her."
Hinata sat back and stared up at the sky alongside Aoki. "The other world was brutal."
"I can tell."
"I died thirteen times."
"Must have hurt really bad."
"I killed people."
"I doubt it was your fault."
"I joined hands with a family who killed many innocent people and whose daughter raped me."
"I honestly don’t know what to say."
"I’m going to lose my powers for betraying them."
"Sounds just like you."
"My whole body hurts, Aoki."
"Man up. You aren’t a baby anymore."
Hinata turned to face Aoki, who was already looking at him.
"What?" she said with a smile. "Do you still find this old lady attractive?"
Hinata chuckled. "Yeah, weirdly so."
Aoki laughed for a long moment before wiping tears from the corners of her eyes. "You’re so silly."
Her trembling hands rose hesitantly and settled on his cheeks. "But I’m an old woman now, Hina, and you still look the same as when you left. I could even say you’ve grown younger."
Hinata’s eyes, still red from his earlier tears, began watering again.
"Hina, can you do me a favour?"
Hina nodded, nuzzling into her hands like a cat seeking comfort. "Yeah?"
She smiled. "I want you to be happy. Live a long, full life and forget about me and everything in the past."
Tears began spilling down his face onto her palms. "You witch, how can you say something so cruel."
"Hahaha. I guess this is payback for making me cry as a kid."
Hinata held onto her hands as though letting go would be the end of him.
This was the last thread of his past — the very thing he had been fighting so desperately for.
"If you aren’t there, what do you expect me to do? I fought through hell in that world just to come back and see you and Mom smile and welcome me home."
"Then..." she said, pausing just long enough for Hinata to raise his gaze.
The moment he looked up, she smiled brightly and spoke in the same voice he remembered from his childhood.
"Welcome back, Hina~"
The tears came uncontrollably this time, but before he could nuzzle into her hands, she pulled away and smiled — though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "Now let go of the past, Hina, and look into the future."
She rose to her feet, drew his head gently towards her and kissed him on the forehead. "Perhaps we will meet again in another life."
With that, she turned around and entered the house, leaving Hinata alone on the bench. The wind fluttered around him and snow fell over him, soaking into his clothes.
His heart ached so badly he could barely endure it. He reached up to run his fingers through his hair, only then noticing how heavily he was crying.
"I’m not crying," he said softly. "It’s just the wind, right?"
Hinata waited for someone to reply, but no one did.
He was all alone... again.