Suribachi's vagabond (english vers)

Chapter 0.6 : "Here s a beautiful day..."

Yokohama, Suribachi district, morning.

Mishima had just woken up. As usual, he made his way to the small bathroom of the house, accessed through the door next to Toru's bedroom. He emerged a few minutes later, noticing that Toru hadn't gotten up yet, as was her habit. Deciding to let her rest, he left the small house and settled on the roof to admire the surroundings. The view from here was quite impressive. He could see the entire district in these quiet morning hours as the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, gracing the sky with shades of gray. He even had a slight view of the sea, which he gazed at with empty eyes, a gentle breeze tousling his hair as he pondered on what Toru had told him a few days earlier. He couldn't help but think back to her words, wondering if she was right or if they were just the naive words of a child... Could he really hope that the one he loved would forgive him for keeping her away from him by leaving her with a child to care for? If only he had found her sooner... If he had decided to search for her before everything changed... These thoughts haunted him as he whispered to himself.

"If you were still here and gave me a chance to make amends, no matter what it took, I would have done it... If only I hadn't left you alone with a child on the way... maybe you wouldn't have gone to such lengths to find him a present father, whoever he may be?"
These thoughts tormented him... he mulled over them for a moment before hearing noise in the small house. He quickly realized that Toru had also gotten up.
This made him smile for a moment.
"What's the use of dwelling on the past? I probably can never redeem myself... but..."
"... I can at least take care of the child you left behind in the best possible way, right?"

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A bit later in the morning, Toru and Mishima were heading to the office. Toru to assist Yuki, and Mishima to meet a new client in need of his translation services. It was a man from Russia who had recently arrived in Japan. He apparently already had a good command of the local language but needed help with written documents, which made Mishima's work much easier as he could easily converse with him.

Toru: "You'll be busy today, Mr. Mishima?"

Mishima smiled at her as they walked out of Suribachi to reach the office.
"Yes, a new client needs translations... but don't worry... We'll have time to meet at the port as usual, I promise..."

Toru smiled back, happy to know they would be able to spend another late afternoon together.
"Okay."

He decided to tease her as he often did.
"And if I'm a bit late... you can always read one of the books I lent you."
He joked, but deep down, he was serious... He really wanted her to have a fairly comprehensive education... but Toru never read any of the books he lent her, always giving up reading after a few lines. She was a smart child, no doubt, and quick to understand, but had very little endurance when it came to problems that required more effort, he had noticed, especially when she asked him to teach her chess. She proved unbeatable in every first round but lost every subsequent one, unable to concentrate for long... and he knew exactly where she got that from.

Toru grimaced slightly.
"Hmph... do I have to?"

Mishima chuckled before replying.
"Of course, you're not obliged. But... I think if you find a book that interests you enough, you'll read it without a problem."

Toru: "Do you think so?"

Mishima: "Of course. You just need to find a book where you can't predict the ending after the first few lines and that interests you. I actually think novels aren't really for you. How about starting with encyclopedias?"

Toru's eyes seemed to sparkle at the mention of encyclopedias.
"With pictures?"

Mishima looked at her for a moment... He had thought of something with few pictures... but he certainly couldn't refuse anything to that little face.
"Well, actually I..."
He sighed.
"Yes... if you want."