The sun hovered across Japan, especially in the Kanazawa region. At a certain family restaurant, many nuclear families were enjoying their lunch meal.
Particularly the one where three members were seated near a round table, which was next to a big rectangular window.
"Daddy! I want ice cream for dessert!"
"Yeah? Which flavour?"
"Strawberry!" A little 4-year-old girl excitedly asked his father.
"Okay. Let's see....."
He looked up at the menu and set his eyes on a specific item. He smiled as he decided to go for his choice.
He called for the waiter and requested for it.
"I would like to order a strawberry parfait and a strawberry smoothie. That would be all."
"Yes sir."
The waiter left with the orders by the man.
"Dear. Aren't you spoiling her too much?" A long ginger-haired woman, seemingly the mother, complained to her husband.
"Oh come on. Should my little princess be unsatisfied for the day, I would be very sad."
The little girl followed after as she cheerfully supported her father.
"Daddy! I love you!"
"I love you too my little princess."
The woman was watching the duo as they were talking in a cute manner to each other. She thought that her husband regressed to the same age as his daughter.
Well, she left her husband off the hook since she saw the delirious expression on her daughter's face.
She caressed on her daughter's short black hair, while she was waiting for her dessert.
Just this moment was her happiness peaked. In front of her was a man, black hair and black eyes with well defined facial features. He is handsome at this age and well, he was the woman's crush before they even married.
This was not a dream but a reality to which she did not think that would happen. It was just surreal for her.
To marry her crush, was something that not all people could achieve. And to her, she considers herself to be one of the luckiest women in the world.
It has been 4 years that they have been married and blessed with a beautiful daughter.
"Here is your parfait and you smoothie, Sir."
"Wah!" The little girl exclaimed happily as she saw a strawberry parfait.
It was in a glass cup big enough to put a good amount of whipped creams. There were sliced almonds too at the bottom, further increasing the tantalizing flavour.
"Thank you very much." The man expressed his gratitude to the waiter.
The waiter bowed before taking his leave.
The girl took the spoon that came with the strawberry parfait and dug a scoop into the cream. Finally, she ate the dessert.
"Mmm! It is delicious!"
The cream melted in her mouth and smoothly entered her body.
The parents watched her with joyfulness as she enjoyed the dessert.
She took another spoonful of the parfait but this time, she hovered it near her father's mouth.
"Daddy. Eat it. It is so delicious."
It was such a cute order.
He could not disobey her daughter. If he had done otherwise, then the discontentment would be showcased to him.
No parents would want to see that in his child's face willingly.
So, he leaned forward a bit and ate the parfait that was slowly starting to melt out of the spoon.
He brightened his expression as he tasted the dessert. Along with his dad, the little girl had a mutual understanding.
"You are right. This has a really good taste."
"Hehe~"
The girl took another spoonful and veered her attention to her mother.
"Your turn, Mommy." She also obliged to her demands and ate it. As expected, she did the same to please her child's mood.
"Don't forget your smoothie."
She reminded her daughter to drink. She replied positively but she continued to dig into the parfait.
It was getting hot nowadays so it was a good idea to have something cold.
The father stared at her daughter's way of eating. It felt so endearing to him and seeing this sight probably satiated his hunger completely.
He had his daily dose of his daughter's cuteness for the day. He drank a cold orange juice that he previously ordered before dessert.
*Bump*
All of a sudden, the table abruptly moved which caused the smoothie to fall over. It spilt on the little girl's small green dress, spoiling it. Partially, the smoothie also got splattered on the mother's brown trouser.
The father was angry at the result. He looked up at the cause of this trouble.
It was a man who bumped to the round table. He was young, medium-length black hair with brown eyes.
"What are you doing!?" The father furiously inquired.
"Dear..."The mother tried to calm him down but he did not hear anything from her.
The young man was apologetic as he started to bow to them.
"I am so sorry. It was not on purpose."
The father was still not happy with the incident. He momentarily looked at his daughter' and wife's situation.
The little girl was about cry as tears started to well up. This infuriated the father.
He again turned towards the young man and insulted him.
"Can't you see where you are going?"
"I am sorry sir, it was clumsy of my part."
Before the father further slanders the young man, a waiter closeby came and tried to disarm the situation.
"Sir, this man is not at fault. I accidentally made him trip with my foot. I wasn't looking where I was going, Sir."
The waiter bowed respectfully towards the angry father.
"I am sorry, Sir."
The young man and the waiter both had an apologetic expression. The people watching were silent as they looked over the ruckus. He noticed all the gaze of the people focusing on him.
He glanced at his wife who was wiping the spillage with a tissue. He sighed and calmed down.
He did not want to encourage further discussions.
"Hisaki. Take Reika with you and go to the washroom. Wipe all of the liquid if you can."
His wife, Hisaki nodded as she took off with her daughter. His attention veered to the young man and the waiter.
"All of us make small mistakes. Be careful and make sure to never to this again." He maturely talked them down.
The waiter lifted his head, apologized again and proceeded to clean the chair and the floor that was spoiled by the smoothie.
The young man was still standing near the father.
"What?"
"It's nothing, sir. I just want to compensate for your inconvenience."
"It's already settled so just go."
"No, I insist."
The waiter finished cleaning the chair and stained floor. Before he could go to his services, the young man stopped him and made a request.
"Would you please bring another smoothie for this man? I will pay for it."
"Yes sir."
The father twitched as he overheard their small exchange. He was about to stop it but the young man noticed his intention.
So he immediately gestured him to not intervened with a polite smile. The waiter left, leaving the two men.
The young man took a seat just where the little girl, Reika previously sat. The father raised his eyebrow but stayed silent.
"You didn't have to do this."
"Overall, it was majorly my fault. If I had seen the waiter in the first place, I wouldn't have stayed in his path. Again, I am so sorry for the mess I made."
"It's already done now. Let bygones be bygones."
"You are so mature, mister." The young man was genuinely impressed by his behaviour.
The father just casually played it off, "Hmph. Age does this."
The young man lightly laughed at his reply and digressed.
"Now that I think about it mister, your face seems familiar. I may have seen you before."
".....I'm sure some people do resemble me."
"But yours just seems like I have just seen you yesterday. Where I have though?"
The young man pondered as he continued scanning the father's face. He was just tired of this young man and wanted for his wife to return.
Then in one instant, the young man's face glowed up.
"Ah, I remember!"
The father's indifference didn't faze from his sudden recollection
"Weren't you with a dead woman yesterday?"
His heart sinks as he felt a strange heat surging to his mind. The young man's happy-go-lucky expression was not there.
A crescent wide smile touching from ear to ear invaded his face. This was too amusing for the young man to see the father just suddenly get weak from fear.
The frightened father tried to compose himself, but he only succeeded from the outside.
He nonchalantly replied, "What a bad joke. Are you trying to ruin my day even further?"
The young guy did not say anything more. He just maintained his wide smile as he squinted his eyes more. His gaze contained a meaningful message.
'It's no use lying.' That's what it conveyed.
The father started to sweat due to the looming danger in front of him. He had to do something.
"Here is your order sir." The waiter approached those two and placed down the smoothie that the young guy ordered.
He then left again.
The father had his casual look but secretly behind his mind. He thought about defending himself.
His hands slowly tried to reach a fork nearby as he did not break eye contact.
"There's no need to attack me, you know. I'm not here to capture you or anything like that."
His hand stopped in its track but he still had a belligerent intention. He composed himself and accepted the fact that he has been caught.
"...Who.....exactly are you?"
The young guy's carefree smile returned as he replied like being in a normal conversation.
"You can call me Yemon. Should I refer to you as the media calls you? Shi?"
He squinted his eyes upon Yemon's question.
'So it is him. Hoga's hunch worked this time.'
The man reluctantly answered him.
".....Call me Noboru."
Yemon continued to talk with him. About what he came for.
"Anyway, you don't have to worry unnecessarily, I'm not from the police or the SMF and most definitely, I am not a Hero."
"I can see that.....if you had been either of those, you would have arrested me already."
"Yes. That is correct."
"That doesn't explain who you are exactly."
"Let's just say that I am from a beneficial organization and you have the chance to take part in it."
Noboru was confused about what he was trying to tell.
"...What does that entail?"
"I am saying that you have the one in a lifetime opportunity to have a profitable life. And I am not saying that you have limited benefits. We can give you anything."
Yemon leaned forward as he strained his word slowly.
"A. Ny. Thing."
He leaned back and crossed his arms. He was observing Noboru's reaction to his demands.
Obviously, Noboru thought that this offer is a scam or some type of hoax. However, the fact that this young man sitting in front of him, Yemon, stated that he saw a dead woman next to him, it meant something to him.
Only Noboru could deduce what Yemon was trying to say. He hesitantly spoke up.
"What...happens if I refuse?"
"Well, I'm sure your wife and your daughter don't want to see you behind bars. Even worse, in that Anti Magic-User Prison."
He shuddered at the thought of that. This was worse than he imagined.
Nonetheless, he inhaled and exhaled largely. He was trapped in all side. In the end, he looked at Yemon and relinquished his desire to oppose anything he said.
He chuckled and clarified.
"So this is just plain blackmail."
"It is a little misinterpretation but I am going to let you off this time. So?" Yemon rested both his arm on the round table. "You in?"
Noboru paused but his answer was blatant. He slowly nodded to Yemon. He got his acceptance. Yemon fiddled on his phone and show him a map.
"3 weeks from now on, you are going to meet me at this specific place. You got it?"
"...Yes."
He put his phone away. At that very moment. Noboru's face lit up as he called out.
"Hisaki, and my little princess."
"Dear..."
Hisaki noticed a man sitting on their seat. She did not know who it was since his back was facing her.
Yemon veered his head behind him and saw Noboru's wife and daughter. So he stood up from the chair. He immediately bowed.
"Ma'am. I am so sorry again for the inconveniences I caused."
"Ah. No, it's nothing."
Yemon reached down his pocket in his black jeans and took out ¥2000. He gave it to Hisaki.
"Eh? No. Really, it is nothing."
"No. I insist ma'am. It is my fault."
After much persistence, Hisaki was forced to take the money. Yemon then turned to the little girl.
He clasped his hands together and asked for forgiveness.
"Reika-chan. I'm sorry to spoil your clothes. Forgive this clumsy uncle."
He took out a lollipop with strawberry flavour. Instantly, Reika wore a happy expression. She then blurted out.
"Apology accepted!"
Hisaki had to handle Reika to properly deal with Yemon.
"Reika. What do you say when someone gives you something?"
The little girl then cheerfully said to Yemon.
"Thank you, Oji-san."
Yemon smiled as he slightly bowed to Hisaki and the man, then he proceeded to leave this family alone.
Hisaki, sat down as he inquired about that man.
"Dear, what was he talking with you?"
"He was just going on with how much he has caused us trouble. He wished to compensate for his clumsiness."
Hisaki was surprised, "He is a good guy."
"Yeah, he is." Noboru automatically replied as if it was obvious.
"Sir, your parfait."
Hisaki and Noboru were confused at the waiter who brought another item for which they haven't ordered.
"Excuse me but we haven't ordered anything more."
"Sir, that man over there paid for you. He said that this is a treat from him."
The two looked at Yemon as he smirked in response. Finally, he left the establishment. The little girl, Reika excitedly reacted.
"Wah! Another one?"
Hisaki's impression of the man increased favourably. But, it had the opposite effect on Noboru.
15 minutes later, at the back door of the restaurant, Yemon was waiting for someone. Abruptly, the door opened and it revealed the same waiter who was taking the blame for the spilt smoothie incident.
"What took you so long?" Yemon annoyingly asked.
"Sorry, I had to deal with the manager since I was the 'cause' of the accident."
"Is that so?"
"I hope that this is worth it because I just got insulted by my Boss, that piece of shit."
Yemon took out ¥500, 000 and showed it to him before putting it in a brown paper bag.
"This was well worth it."
The waiter greedily forgot about the humiliation he endured from his Boss. He took the bag and checked it.
It was real and that made him ecstatic.
Yemon chuckled at him but then his seriousness took over. He asked monotonously.
"Do you know me?"
The waiter smirked at his change of behaviour and hid the paper bag in his black pants.
"I don't really want to know since I have no interest or connections whatsoever with you."
Yemon, happy with his answer, walked away on the busy street and merged with the crowd, disappearing from this location.