"Mm, Gari... aren't you going to ask me why I kept it from everyone?" Minami Kotori could not help voicing the question in her heart.
"Heh. You silly girl."
Seeing Minami Kotori looking a little nervous, Senba Gari could not help laughing. At the same time, he reached out, placed his hand on her head, and gently rubbed it a few times.
"I know you're still hesitating over whether to leave or not. But I didn't come here to persuade you to stay, because whether you go or stay, that's something only you can decide. I won't interfere."
As he spoke, Senba Gari reached out with his other hand, wrapped it around Minami Kotori's slender waist, and gently held her soft body.
"Gari..." Feeling Senba Gari's embrace, Minami Kotori did not feel any resistance in her heart.
"Do you still remember the scene from ten years ago, when I was about to leave?" Senba Gari suddenly said beside Minami Kotori's ear.
"Mm."
Although her ears reddened a little from the breath of Senba Gari's words, hearing him mention the past made Minami Kotori unable to help recalling that day.
---Flashback Line
"Waaaahhh—!!!! Gari, don't go! Kotori doesn't want you to go!! Waaaahhh—!!!"
In the airport, the six-year-old Minami Kotori clung tightly to the eight-year-old Senba Gari, her entire little face blotched with tears.
Behind Minami Kotori, Kotori Minami looked awkwardly at the people watching around them, then shifted her gaze to Minami Kotori, who was still clinging tightly to Senba Gari.
"Haah— Dad, you go on ahead. I want to say goodbye to Kotori." Senba Gari sighed with a bit of a headache, then turned his head and looked pleadingly at his father, Senba Ryo.
"All right. The plane's about to take off too, so be quick."
"I know."
Senba