"Since it's already quite late, I suppose fifteen more minutes won't make much of a difference to your parents, right?"
Tsuji Toshio sat languidly across the table after Freda took her seat. They chose a family diner somewhere close to the cyber cafe to continue their conversation. Though the choice was entirely on Toshio's part, and Freda was just following him.
He'd asked her about it before they walked into the diner, and she agreed. The place didn't matter to the girl. She only wanted to reassert her position—refusing to interact with people from her previous life.
Still, her actions right then were contradictory, if Toshio had any say to it.
"Like I said, I like what's going on in my life right now. I already met Klaus, and now you."
"The way you refer to me hurts this soft heart of mine, Frederica."
"Don't call me that!"
Toshio shrugged and nodded absentmindedly and proceeded to order two iced coffee. The waitress had an abashed look on her face when Toshio smiled at her, much to Freda's chagrin.
"...I hate to say this, but Mom will get mad if he knows what you just did."
Upon hearing the second part of Freda's statement, Toshio's expression contorted in response.
"Don't tell her about this! I swear I didn't try to do anything!"
"Yeah, right. In this world, you're an entirely different person. So, you can hit on any woman that fancies you without holding back. You're not married to Mom anyway."
"That's a misconception on your part, Freda!" Toshio's eyebrow twitched comically, restraining his deepest desire to shout out his retort for everyone to hear. "I love your mother. Even in this world, I don't intend to love anyone other than my dearest wife."
"Ex-wife," Freda corrected him with a teasing smile.
"That's—I will only marry her!"
"Why bother? You're free to do as you please... Dad. You're not obligated to follow in the tracks of your past self."
"That doesn't mean I'll choose anyone willy-nilly. Just so you know, no one will replace Beatrice, and that's final."
"...I'll see whether your conviction will last or not."
"It will last until I turn old and teeth fall off my gums!"
"You're saying that you'll choose another woman once you turned old, right—"
"That's not what I meant!"
Fortunately for these two, there were no other customers in the diner at that time. If they bantered like so in front of anyone other than the diner's staff, they would surely be warned.
"...Anyway, you're still the same as always, Dad," said Freda before she brought her coffee to her lips.
"...Is that a compliment?" Toshio asked out of curiosity.
"What do you think?"
Toshio covered his face with one hand and grumbled out loud. His air of maturity had long abandoned him the moment Freda brought up his wife in his past life.
He'd thought he could handle her daughter's teasing side for once. Nonetheless, that was merely him getting his hopes up in the last ten minutes they'd stumbled into each other. It didn't take long for Freda to regain her acuity, much to his surprise.
"That being said, what are you doing up until now, Dad?" Freda asked so as to pull Toshio back to the conversation at hand. "From the looks of it, you haven't found Mom yet, right? Have you been searching for her all this time?"
"...Aside from you and Klaus, I had not met her yet. I do intend to keep searching. There's no way I'll give up."
"Not like I doubt your determination or anything."
"...Freda, won't you return to your life back then?" Toshio asked, somewhat pleading. "I know you're comfortable with your current life, but I want us to be together again."
"You're rounding up everyone, huh?" Freda came to the conclusion after tracing Toshio's line of thoughts. She understood him now. Even right then, this individual she once called father was clinging to the past, unable to move forward.
He was the same as Klaus.
"Why are you doing this, Dad?" Freda couldn't help but ask him this very question. She knew the answer to such a question, however, she wanted to hear him say it in front of her.
"Why, you said?" Toshio looked out through the window to his right, his eyes fixated on the vehicles on the road. "Is it wrong for us to experience those happy memories once again?"
"...?" Freda raised her eyebrow. She couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say to her.
"You, Klaus, Beatrice, and I are no longer a family. When I realized that back then, it hurt me so much that I couldn't sleep for days. I'm no longer the father of my beloved children, nor am I a husband to my dearest wife anymore. I was swallowed by my own tears, incapable of returning to those days again."
"..." Freda traced her index finger along the mouth of her mug, her attention was undivided.
"By the time I got over the shadows dragging me into its bog, I knew not to forget them—those precious memories."
"But not forgetting them means you're refusing to move out of your abode, Dad. I'm not going back, and you can't force me."
Toshio narrowed his eyes as he met the young girl's fierce gaze. "Do you hate us, Freda?"
"Huh?" His question struck her like a cannonball. What kind of question was that?
Freda was by no means a person who adapted to her environment. She relished in this second talent of hers—to be able to fit in a group and become likable towards anyone. Back during the day when she realized who she truly was, she didn't panic and scream, but chose a more passive option.
She tried to understand her circumstances and thus adapted accordingly to it. Her method of adaptation was simple—to say it bluntly. She discarded anything that got in her way of blending with her environment—consigning memories of people and acquired knowledge into the recesses of her mind.
If society favored one person over another, she would align herself with the majority. Doing that would undoubtedly remove the other person from her life. An inevitable outcome, so to speak.
Her method of adapting to her current life was no different. To gain her new family's approval and affection, she poured all her love towards them. The side effect of this method? She no longer loved her old family.
Her abandoned memories didn't mean a single thing. What possible merit could she gain by spending time with her family from her past life again? They were reincarnated, and so they had to adapt.
They had to persevere until the end.