Mirai was tending a patient in the clinic. This time it was a seven year old boy with bruises and scrapes on his knees and palms. The boy had fallen down on the nearby street, the mother said. After doctor Hayato examined him and made sure there was no serious wound, he let her gave the treatment. After cleaning the wounds, she rubbed a certain ointment to the wounds then wrapped the worst small-gash with cotton and bandage.

“There, it’s alright now. Just make sure it doesn’t get wet for today. You can remove the bandage tomorrow,” she said to the mother.

“Thank you, Satou-san.”

She smiled in return, and noticing the boy stifled a cry, she bent forward a little to meet eyes with him. “It’s alright, Shin-kun. A little hurt will make you stronger.”

The boy nodded while wiping his tears off his cheeks. Not long after that, the mother and the son left the clinic. Almost at the same time the front door was closed, doctor Hayato’s head poked from his room.

“Mirai, isn’t it the time you pick up Ainosuke?”

Mirai noticed the time immediately. “Ah, yes. Then I’ll be off, Hayato-san.”

“Go ahead. Oh, and please buy me another roll of bandage in the shop near the school,” doctor Hayato threw her a silver coin which she captured easily.

“Alright,” she said while putting her winter coat on then left the clinic.

The snow from yesterday still blanketed either side of the road. As she ambled down her way to the school, the scene from two days ago replayed in her mind.

She, Umika, and Yuri could only stare at each other when they heard about Ainosuke’s wish. Her chest tightened, but when Umika gave her hand a weak squeeze, she let go of the pain and mustered a smile before leaning in to kiss Ainosuke’s cheek.

“Now that you have made your wish, what should you do, dear?” she asked, smiling gently.

“Be patient and wait until it is granted, right, Mother?” Ainosuke looked up while smiling widely without any hesitation in his eyes.

“Yes,” she said while maintaining her smile.

After that, the party went on as usual. When she just thought that Ainosuke had put his yearn for his father aside, she got a bit surprised when they were preparing to sleep.

“Mother?” Ainosuke called when she had settled beside him on the bed.

She lied on her side to look at her son, “What is it?”

“Today… Riku was picked up by his father.”

Comprehension dawned on her as she heard that. Riku’s father was working as a trader that he often traveled abroad for a long time and this time he had spent a year in Kyoukai. So it was possibly what triggered Ainosuke to make that wish, she thought.

“Did you greet Toyama-san?” she asked while adjusting the blanket over Ainosuke’s body.

Ainosuke nodded. “Riku looked so happy, Mother.”

She could not help but cradle him closer as she felt her eyes grew warmer, hiding her weakness from her son. She said, “Isn’t it good that your friend is happy?”

Ainosuke put his tiny arm on her waist, “Mother… I’m a bad friend.”

She pulled away to look at him. “Why do you say so?”

Ainosuke buried his face on her chest, his voice muffled, “Mother always say that when a friend is happy, a good friend should be happy too. But… I was not happy, Mother.”

She could not form an immediate response that Ainosuke added, “Mother is upset with me?”

She kissed the top of his head, pulling him closer then answered, “No, dear. I’m not upset. You just missed your father, right? That’s why you envied Riku and his father, hmm?”

“Yes. But now after I made my wish, I will wait patiently, Mother.”

“Your father will be proud of you.”

“Really?” his voice had return to his usual cheerful tone. Ainosuke was just like her who could switch from one emotion to the other quickly.

“Yes. He likes a good and cheerful kid like you.”

He stifled a yawn, “I will always be a good boy, Mother.”

She smiled before giving a peck on his forehead, “Sleep now, dear.”

Ainosuke nestled closer to her before eventually dozed off.

She drew a breath. She prayed every day, every moment, for the fate not to break Ainosuke’s pure heart… their hearts. She could not deny that sometimes fear crept up. She felt worry grew stronger by every passing day despite her resolution to hold on to Ryosuke’s promise. But the word ‘if’ in his letter always generated anxiety in her. She tried so hard to give Ainosuke a happy childhood. She struggled to appear strong in front of her son, never shed tears, always gave him her smiles.

“Mother!” she heard the child’s voice and when she looked up, she saw Ainosuke waved at her from the front yard of his school with some boys of his age. She crossed the yard immediately.

**********

Umika had done the last cake for tonight’s delivery when Mirai brought Ainosuke home. She had promised Mirai to take care of him while Mirai working in the clinic.

“Woah, Auntie, whose cake is that?” Ainosuke exclaimed, running to the table in the dining room where she placed the cake she had just finished.

She chuckled at his wide eyes. Ainosuke loved cakes so much.

“That’s for Okazaki-san,” she answered.

“Oh, it must be for Jun-niichan,” Ainosuke remarked with his child-thoughtful expression.

“How could you know?” Mirai carried Ainosuke down to the floor from the chair he was kneeled on.

“I heard from Shota that Jun-niichan passed the royal examination, so I guess his mother wants to celebrate it. Right, Mother?”

Mirai chuckled, “Maybe.”

She could only smile. Ainosuke was smarter than the kids around his ages. His teacher in nursery school had told them that if they wanted, Ainosuke could just enter the elementary school at the beginning of this school year, skipping a year, because when they ran a test for him, he had passed the standard of elementary school entrance. Yet, Mirai wanted Ainosuke to have a normal childhood that he remained in the nursery school. That was one of the reasons why she was worried that sooner or later Ainosuke would not be satisfied with the answer they gave about his father.

Mirai ushered Ainosuke to their room and after a time, they exited with Ainosuke had changed into a dark green sweatshirt and a black pants.

“I’ll return to clinic,” Mirai said.

“Alright,” she replied.

Mirai bent down to give a peck to Ainosuke’s cheek. “Be a good boy, okay?”

Ainosuke smiled widely, “Okay. Be careful, Mother.”

After ruffling Ainosuke’s hair for a brief moment, Mirai left the house.

“Ne, Ai-chan, what do you want to do now?” She asked while sitting down to the carpet near their small fireplace.

Ainosuke crawled to her, settling himself in her embrace. “Auntie, can you tell me about Father?”

She looked down to him, “Why don’t you ask your mother instead?”

“Will it not make Mother sad? Mother must have missed Father more than me, right, Auntie?”

She blinked away her surprise. This kid had understood the circumstance though a little.

“What do you want to know?” she eventually said.

“What is Father like?”

She reminisced about the distance past. Smiling, she retold the story, “Your Father is very handsome.”

“Really? More than Uncle Yuri?”

She frowned. Yuri? Handsome?

“Riku and Shota’s sisters often talks about Uncle, and says that Uncle is very handsome,” Ainosuke looked up at her, speaking as though he read her mind.

She remembered the sisters Ainosuke meant, and yes, they were part of what she called Yuri’s admirer club. What did they see in that little man any way? Well, Yuri was good looking. Wait! No. He was a little devil who liked to tease and annoy her… but often helps me, too.

“So, Auntie, how? Is Father more handsome than Uncle?” Ainosuke’s voice pulled her out from the daze.

“Of course. Ten times more handsome,” she firmly stated. “Every time your father appears, girls will try all their might to catch his attention.”

“Do you like Father, too, Auntie?”

“Eh? Well… it’s not that I don’t like him. Your father is not my type.”

“Oh, because Auntie’s type is like Uncle, right?”

She widened her eyes, “Eh? Where did you get that idea, Ai-chan? I don’t even like him.”

Ainosuke giggled and she frowned. “What’s funny, Ai-chan?”

Ainosuke shook his head twice, still giggling, “Poor Uncle Yuri.”

“Eh?”

“When I asked whether Uncle likes Shota’s sisters, Uncle said no and told me that Auntie is better than them. Uncle likes Auntie, but Auntie don’t like Uncle.”

Her cheeks grew warmer, but then she heard Ainosuke said, “Auntie, I’m hungry.”

She just realized that it was already time for lunch. Shifting Ainosu