Purple - Yata Misaki Love Story

Part 38

Rei came to the bar a lot more often with me since I was here all the time. Jesse had offered to watch Rei for a while until I was sure I was okay, but I feel like having Rei with me makes things easier to start with.
The four year old sat silently in a booth and read his book for homework, silently mouthing the words. I sat with him for a little while and made sure to correct him if he was wrong, but I left him to try on his own as I made lunch.
Yata came up while I was cutting the sandwich in triangles. He either slept all night and into the day, or didn't sleep at all and then thought too much and lost track of time.
He always ended up coming out, though.
"Hey. Lunch time already?" He asked, "Good morning, Rei."
"It's good afternoon now, Yata-san." Rei stated matter of factly.
I nudged Yata's side as I walked over to Rei.
"Put your book away and eat."
"Okay!" He cheered, setting his book aside.
"Care for a peanut butter sandwich, Yata-kun?" I asked.
"Sounds really good, actually." He replied, eyeing me as I went to grab him a plate, "Did you get that from the recipe book too?"
I laughed at his joke, "Yeah! It's an ancient one, passed down for centuries."
That was the first time I heard Yata laugh since Tatara's death, especially after Mikoto's death. But one month later, he was laughing again and I was laughing too.
And that was the first step to things finally working out in the end.