Nayuta puffed out her cheeks. For a moment, she even considered getting rid of Yasakana.
But Yasakana was Kokono's mother. If she got rid of her, Kokono would definitely be unhappy.
Just as Nayuta wanted her own mother to stay by her side forever, yet knew that was impossible, she cherished every moment she could spend with her mother all the more.
Perhaps she should be by her mother's side right now instead of here? The little girl looked somewhat unhappy. Sakura stopped walking. They were no longer in Kyoto.
It was this child who had said she did not want to stay there.
So she had chosen to give it up.
"Why did you make that choice?"
Sakura crouched down and gently held the little girl's shoulders.
Little Crimson Kite obediently landed on the ground, then hopped onto Sakura's shoulder.
Its tiny paws, which had stepped through the mud, were not stained in the slightest.
"Coo coo!"
Little Crimson Kite seemed to be saying something.
Words of encouragement for its master.
"I want to stay with Mom."
Nayuta raised her head, then lowered her gaze slightly.
"Mom probably won't have much time to spend with Nayuta in the future, right?"
"Perhaps."
Sakura smiled helplessly. How could anyone know the future clearly now?
Even with the power to grasp fate, one could not truly explain what the future held.
Just as the saying went, plans could never keep up with changes.
Time was always changing. Even if it left no traces upon powerful individuals, it would ultimately leave marks called time upon other things.
Fate, the future, what came later—though they seemed different, they were actually the same.
"It's enough for Nayuta to have Mom."
She stood on tiptoe, stretched out her arms, and hugged that snow-white neck.
"Have you