'But… Since he's been really honest with me, I gotta respond to that, I guess.'

'Haaah' She took a deep breath and then started speaking.

"Well, I don't know how to answer your question, honestly. I don't have any idea."

"When you died, you know, I was hurt so much. I couldn't even bring myself to attend your funeral."

"I hated you for leaving me behind."

"That week after you died, we moved to a different location, I urged my mom."

"I wanted to escape from that place where we had shared tons of memories... together."

"I couldn't afford to be reminded of you, that's how affected I was."

"So I haven't heard of your mom since then."

"That's why I'm sorry I can't tell you about her…" Kanae said apologetically to Shin.

"..." Shin dropped his head in silence after hearing what she said.

'He must have missed him so much by now.' 

Kanae was reminded of how much his mom meant to him from the look and tone in his voice when he asked earlier. 

She knew that it had happened already and there was nothing she can do to change the course of her previous action.

But even so, Kanae felt a pang of pain in her heart seeing his grieving expression.

After a moment of silence, Shin looked up.

"... I see. Once again, I'm sorry about leaving you behind." He said with a sincere tone. 

He was feeling disappointed that he can't know about his mom's condition.

He was also sad when he learned that she didn't attend his funeral. 

Though, he could understand where she was coming from. So, he accepted it and move on.

"It wasn't just that, right? Tell me the rest." Shin looked into her eyes. He wanted to know more.

Kanae witnessed the gleam of interest in his eyes urging her to continue.

"So yeah, I was affected so much by your death that I stopped going to school and drowned myself completely in anime which was my only outlet to let out the sadness I felt in my heart."

"You know what? My mom resigned from her job just to look after me. She was really sweet and caring." 

Kanae made a longing expression on her face.

"..." Shin wanted to hug her again right now but held himself back and let her finish first. 

She continued,

"You know that my mom was a movie type of person right?"

"Hm." He nodded.

"As she stayed by my side, she naturally became an anime otaku like me. She didn't fancy it at first but when I let her watch One Piece she was immediately hooked up." 

Kanae's mom was named Elizabeth. 

Kanae remembered Elizabeth's various emotions when she watched the anime. There was a time when she laughed, was pissed, got excited, had been emotional, cried, etc. 

The anime One Piece was just that impactful to her mom.

Well, Kanae too had an experience with it so she was feeling happy as she reminisced about those times she spent with her.

As she did, Kanae unconsciously showed a smile on her face.

"One year later, I didn't expect my mom to take her WEEBiness to the next level when she invited me to go to a cosplay event in Japan. We planned to go to that country, not just a mere tourist or bystander but a cosplayer at that."

"So we booked a visa to stay in Japan for a month just for this. Imagine how she was really into it."

"... That's unexpected," Shin commented.

He tried to stay calm and show that he was listening to her attentively by giving her some responses.

"Right?" Kanae agreed with him.

She continued,

"That time I was feeling a bit better so I planned to pay my respect on your grave just after we go back home…"

'Planned…' Shin had read into what that sentence implied. 

So he kept silent and listened to her as she continued.

"But, on our flight to Japan, we had an accident. The plane had an engine failure. Panic emerged and at that moment, we knew that our time was coming."

"As we were having our last moments, I was told by my mom that she had breast cancer and would die 4 years later."

"She also informed me that there was a good chance of me getting that disease. It was hereditary, she said."

Kanae swallowed hard, and continue with a shaky voice.

"And you know what I felt at that moment?"

"..." Shin kept his silence. Though, he was staring meaningfully into Kanae's eyes.

"I… I felt peace." She said with an emotional tone.

She elaborated:

"I don't want to live a life expecting 4 years later expecting that my mom won't be with me anymore."

"To top it up, I had just lost the man whom I dearly love…"

"..." Shin felt his heart being torn as he saw the sadness in her eyes as she said that.

"So, with what the situation had presented at that time; an ongoing accident, knowing that I was about to die, I just felt thankful that I could receive an early salvation."

"Shin, living without you and mom, I know that would've been hell for me."

"..." Shin balled his fist. He was closing his limit. He was feeling guilty. 

"To continue it, the airplane crashed, a flash of light blinded my eyes and that's the end of my life. I'm sure my mom died with me too."

"After that, I woke up in this world in a new body as a child born from a medicine-expert family." 

"I lived a happy life with them."

"But… an accident occurred that took their lives, earlier than expected, away from me." She said with an empty smile.

Kanae only spent less time with her parents in this world compared to her mother from her past life. However, her feelings of love towards them were nonetheless lower than what she had for Elizabeth. 

Yeah, there was a difference. 

It was 2:1. 

Elizabeth was her father and mother at the same time. While Konan and Chupapi in this world had played their respective role

Elizabeth was '2' while they each were '1' — that was the difference.

However, Kanae in this world, felt the first time experiencing an actual loving father. Her mother was great, and a kind woman too.

So that's why, when every time she speaks about them she unconsciously smiles that way. 

Kanae's affection towards them, after all, was genuine. And she was missing them.

Deep inside, she felt that their death was so unfair. She couldn't accept it. She was starting to slowly adapt and was looking forward to a happy life with her new family.

That's why she became crazy for getting revenge and getting stronger back then. 

Kanae felt bitter about it obviously but she knew she can move on — she was trying.

Shin couldn't hold himself back anymore. 

He grabbed her arms and pulled her over.

Then he made Kanae's head rest on his chest.

And hug her frame tightly. 

"..." He didn't say anything and let himself express his feelings through his action.

Shin wanted to show that he was here now, and there was nothing to worry about anymore.

'...What?' Kanae was surprised but then again, was made comfortable after she felt his chest and smelled his scent.

Kanae felt Shin hugging her protectively. 

'How much sweeter can you be?' 

She was giddy inside. His care and love were transmitted into her and she felt it.

Kanae still wanted to continue talking about how she ended up in the demon slayers with her sister and her plan to bring him to HQ.

But the moment she was brought back again in his comfortable embrace, she thought to just let it be and tell him the rest later.

She could feel that Shin wouldn't release her no matter what she do. 

She was locked tightly in his arms.

Kanae was inside his cloth artifact, so she had her head resting on his naked chest. 

Soon, her arms closed up above his waist.

She hugged him back.

"..."

"..." 

They didn't say a word since then.

They just continued to bask in each others' warmth and presence.

And that day was spent with both of them just cuddling with each other.

…