But...
The old man was injured.
For the time being, he couldn't go on any more adventures with Tiger Cub.
Tiger Cub was very disappointed.
Tiger Cub had grown to dislike hospitals.
As for the old man's family, it had never liked them.
Ever since it first heard the old man's parents tell him to get out.
It knew.
The old man had been very sad then.
It was a sadness Tiger Cub had never seen in him before.
Tiger Cub looked at Xiao Xiao.
It had been a long time since this human had come by.
If it hadn't needed to stay by the old man's side to keep those annoying humans from bullying him, there had been many times when it wanted to go out and look for Lord Xiao Xiao.
Whenever he came, the old man's mood improved.
Now that it finally saw him, Tiger Cub felt a great weight lift from its heart.
It hoped this human could solve the old man's troubles.
It wasn't any good at understanding human troubles.
Sure enough.
Human troubles were best left to other humans to solve.
A smile suddenly appeared on the old man's sorrowful face.
Before Xiao Xiao could ask, the old man had already begun to explain.
"I just realized that my relationship with my parents has always seemed to be like this."
"They weren't wrong, and neither was I."
"No one was wrong."
"But things still turned out badly every time."
The old man took another sip of tea.
His lowered eyes made him look a little dejected.
"...I insisted on living the life I wanted, and they couldn't understand."
"We all hoped the other would be considerate and make a compromise."
"But the truth is, no one gave in."
The old man