"You shouldn't have given my phone number to another person," Shingo spoke up. "Although I suppose I never stated this explicitly, you should have known better."
Chiaki remained silent.
"I'm not against you making a boyfriend, but I definitely won't easily recognize him as your boyfriend," Shingo continued in the same light tone. "More than eighty percent of high school relationships will end with a breakup. You may believe that your feelings for each other will persist for a lifetime, but those feelings are actually quite fragile, just like a cup made out of ice. It will break instantly if you drop it. And even if you don't drop it, it will melt over time. The more feelings you invest into your relationship, the more you'll regret it when you break up. You should understand this logic. Don't be overly immersed in these youthful games. Otherwise, you'll be the one hurt most in the end."
"…You're absolutely right, Dad," Chiaki responded in a similarly light tone. "But, I'm already immersed in this youthful game. I want to play this game with him for my entire life. Even if I can't succeed, even if I regret and feel pain in the end… I'll still think that it was worth it."
"That's only what you think right now." Shingo looked directly at her. "Your way of thinking will definitely change in the future."
"Perhaps… But I won't forget." Chiaki also looked directly at her father.
The famous artist took a good look at his daughter's face.
"You will forget." After a period of silence, he averted his gaze and spoke in a cold and distant tone.
At this moment, a server arrived with their orders.
The food appeared exquisite and was served on the highest-quality porcelain plates. The food's beauty was just like artwork.
Not only was the food beautiful to behold, the taste was also wonderful. But right now, Chiaki missed the regular food that she ate at Seiji's place every day.
At this time, Seiji and the others would also be having dinner in their apartment.
Rather than the beautiful food before her, Chiaki would have preferred to be in that apartment and eat regular food together with them.
Seiji took a bite of a meat bun.
He had purchased this meat bun from a convenience store. It was hot and filling, with a nice taste.
Why was he eating a meat bun? That was because he was currently outside instead of in his apartment. He was waiting close to the restaurant where Chiaki was meeting her father.
Although he respected Chiaki's wish and didn't spy on her meeting with her father, he had never said anything about waiting at home for her.
It was also an option for him to enter that high-class restaurant and eat there as he was quite rich now. But, Seiji preferred to return home and enjoy Shika's dinner as it was her turn to cook tonight. So, he only purchased a single meat bun to tide him over until he went back.
At this moment, something approached him. Seiji turned around, only to see a gray-haired dog.
The dog's expression made it evident that it wanted the meat bun Seiji was eating.
After exchanging glances with it, Seiji tore off a piece of his meat bun and tossed it to the dog.
The gray dog lowered its head and swiftly ate the morsel. It then looked back at Seiji again.
Seiji finished off the remainder of his meat bun and opened up his hands to indicate that there was no more food left.
The gray dog blinked and left disappointedly.
Seiji stayed where he was and waited as the wind blew past him.
After dinner was dessert, and after dessert was teatime as the ending to this delicious meal.
Chiaki inhaled the fragrant scent of her tea and slowly sipped, tasting its bitterness as well as the sweet aftertaste.
"Dad… I want to know—"
"There's nothing to say about your mother," Shingo spoke in a light tone before his daughter even finished speaking. "There's no need to pay it any attention or think too much into it."
"Why?" Chiaki inquired.
"Because there's no meaning." Something flashed in Shingo's eyes. "It's meaningless for you to know about someone who's no longer here."
"In that case, all of history is meaningless. Why not have schools stop teaching history class?" Chiaki replied in a cold voice.
Of course, nobody would cancel history class. Chiaki was just being sarcastic.
"She isn't part of history, as she isn't a famous or important figure. She's simply a woman who won't affect anything in the world after she's no longer there," Shingo stated. "What you learn in history class at school is just like a renowned painting. History has great value for humanity and the world. But the issue about your mother is just like the scribble of a child. It's deemed worthless to the world and is destined to vanish. You've never minded it before in the past. That's perfectly fine. Simply continue not minding…"
"I really mind!!!" Chiaki suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs.
Anger, sadness, hatred, helplessness, and various other emotions could all be seen on her face. She had an incredibly complex expression.
"How could I possibly not mind! That's my mom!! But, you always refuse to tell me anything… I don't know anything about her besides some paintings that don't show her face! I want to know, but I never learn anything even if I ask you, so I can only force myself not to care. But, it doesn't mean that I actually don't care!!!" Chiaki's shouting was also mixed with her crying by this point. "I want to know my mom's name, I want to know what type of person she was, I want to know if she's still alive or not, and where she is if she's alive, or where her grave is if she's dead, and what she left behind… Even if all these things are worthless to the world, they're the most valuable things possible to me! Because I'm her daughter!!"
Shingo widened his eyes slightly when faced with his daughter's sudden outburst. It was evident that he had received an impact from this.
Tears started pouring out from Chiaki's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Dad… You've always given me everything else that I wanted while raising me all this time. I'm truly grateful… But… this isn't normal… I want to know… what mom meant to you… I also want to know… what your daughter… means to you…"
Chiaki's tears dripped down into her teacup.
Shingo lowered his gaze and looked at her teacup. He remained silent for quite a long while.
After Chiaki calmed down, she took out her handkerchief and wiped away her tears.
At this time, she really wished that Seiji was by her side.
She would feel warm even if all she did was hold his hand.
Should she send out the signal to have him come?
As long as she took out her cell phone and called or texted him, he would rush over immediately!
She was certain that Seiji would arrive extremely quickly… if he saw her like this, would he immediately try to hit her father?
Chiaki suddenly felt like laughing out loud as she recalled her earlier conversation with Seiji when he pretended to be a no-good delinquent.
Just thinking about this gave her courage.
She decided not to rush things and refrain from summoning her delinquent boyfriend. Otherwise, it would be really hard to fix her relationship with her father if Seiji broke one of her father's bones.
Just as Chiaki was thinking about this, her famous artist father slowly looked towards her again.
"A dream…"
He still spoke in that same light tone of voice.
Yet, his tone seemed infused with more emotion than before.
Chiaki returned to her senses and looked back at her father. She saw that under his black-rimmed eyeglasses, he now had an expression that she had never seen before. His expression seemed sad, helpless, and full of melancholy…
"To me, your mother was a dream. I remember some memories involving her, but I can't recall her name or face… I feel like the memories involving her are important… but they might just be my hallucinations… because not a single person around me knows about her… Especially you, Chiaki. In my 'memories,' she was together with you, taking care of you, doting on you, and raising you… You're the person who should know her better than anyone. But, as you've just said, you know nothing about her…"
Shingo took a deep look at Chiaki.
"That's why… she was only a dream."