The child's mother and the man watched the little girl eat, her cheeks puffed out...
Their faces both softened into smiles.
The child's mother thought of what the man had just told her about the girl...
Her gaze fell on the child.
There wasn't the slightest trace of fear in the girl's face now.
It seemed she was all right.
Still...
The girl had seen the same thing twice...
That made her mother a little uneasy.
Once the girl had nearly finished eating...
The child's mother asked, "Anna, do you know what you did wrong today?"
The mushroom-haired little girl froze.
Confusion and unease appeared in her eyes.
Had she... done something wrong?
The child's mother put on a stern face and looked at her. "You shouldn't have run straight out into the rain without even taking an umbrella."
"You know it's easy to catch a cold when you get soaked."
"Do you want to get sick?"
After a brief pause, the mushroom-haired little girl shook her head.
She didn't want to get sick.
"That's right."
The child's mother wasn't surprised by the girl's answer. "Being sick feels awful."
"So if you don't want to get sick, you have to take care of yourself."
"Understand?"
The mushroom-haired little girl hung her head.
"...I understand."
She answered in a small voice.
"I was trying to find Dad..."
"It was Dad who came late," the man said at once.
"You were worried, weren't you?"
"I called your teacher."
"Your teacher should have told you..."
"Because of the weather, Dad got stuck on the way..."
The mushroom-haired little girl shook her head.
The man froze.
She was shaking her head?
What did she mean?
He tried to remember what he'd just said.