The man, who had been silent until now, asked.
"What dessert do you want?"
"How about strawberry cake?"
The ponytailed girl's eyes lit up.
"Dad, I want..."
The ponytailed girl suddenly remembered an ad she'd seen earlier.
This cake shop was doing a collaboration with Strawberry Bear.
They'd be releasing lots of merchandise.
She'd taken an instant liking to one of the keychains.
The tiny Strawberry Bear holding a cake was so cute.
She'd been keeping track of when the collaboration would start, planning to find the right opportunity to talk to her parents about it.
She felt a little nervous.
The cake was a bit expensive.
The set that came with collaboration merchandise cost even more.
She wasn't sure if her parents would buy it for her.
"Okay."
The man nodded.
The ponytailed girl's eyes grew even brighter.
The pallor, fear, and unease had completely vanished from her face.
Her cheeks flushed slightly.
A huge grin spread across her face.
"Thanks, Dad~"
Her dad had agreed to buy her the cake set with the Strawberry Bear keychain.
Wonderful.
The ponytailed girl was so happy.
The woman shook her head with an amused smile.
Well.
She'd spent so long comforting their daughter.
And her dad had cheered her up with just one cake.
Oh.
It was a collaboration cake set.
The woman furrowed her brow slightly.
In her opinion, these collaboration sets were overpriced and unnecessary.
But their daughter liked it.
Looking at her daughter's smiling face again...
Never mind.
Since she'd had a nightmare, they could let her have what she wanted this time.
"All right."
The woman reminded her daughter, "It's almost time."
"You should get ready for school."
"Okay."
The ponytailed girl happily grabbed her backpack and headed out.
"Dad."