The clouds scattering above the Kinoya mansion accumulated into a few huge clouds heavy with what would sooner or later turn into precipitation. Sensing a slight change in the temperature, Miyuki pawed on Kenta's shoes before dashing towards the direction of the house. 

Kenta entered the hallway to the ground floor just as the pitter-patter of raindrops hit the roof and turned the pine leaves a deeper shade of green. In the living room, Shiori and Aikawa were drinking hibiscus tea while watching the news about a municipal referendum happening in Kazenotori, a town to the west of the Mizunotori-Hinotori metropolitan area. The referendum was to determine whether the tiny town would remain its independent entity or be integrated into the metropolitan. Proponents of the plan said integration would give Kazenotori residents greater access to quality education and healthcare, while opponents worried that merging the town with the bigger cities would lead to Kazenotori culture being eroded or even erased. 

"Hi, Kenta. Have you been visiting the koi pond again?" Aikawa greeted his son and picked up the cat before gently placing her between himself and his wife. "You've spent quite a lot of time with the fishies. Something is up, isn't it? You seem more tired than usual too. Have some tea. Your mother was wondering when you would be back from meditating outside." 

"I am okay," Kenta replied as his mother handed him the tea kettle. "It's not me you should worry about but Akira. Otou-san, I think Aunt Chiharu's parenting style is tough on my cousin." 

"What has Akira told you?" Shiori asked after turning down the TV volume. "Is she still upset about being advised to stop seeing Ezekiel? I feel bad for her. Chiharu shouldn't control who her daughter can or can't date, but what do I expect? That woman has always been nosy." 

"Has always been?" Kenta looked up from his mug. "What do you mean, Oka-san?"

"Chiharu and Shiori didn't use to get along well," Aikawa chimed in while softly stroking his wife's palm. "Especially during the first couple of years after Shiori moved to the Kinoya mansion from Kazenotori. You know that's where your mother was born, right? Life was different there." 

"I know that. I know that Kazenotori is the poorest town in our region and most of the residents work on farms that they don't even own for a salary that is just barely enough to survive on. What does this have to do with Aunt Chiharu's nosiness, though?" 

"Time for a story!" Aikawa grinned and turned the TV off. "There's so much your mother and I have never revealed about ourselves and you're about to find out how we began dating and all the obstacles your mother had to overcome just to be with me. She's incredible." 

"No, you're the incredible one for always defending me no matter what your older brother's partner tried to tell you!" Shiori blushed. "You're an angel, Aikawa-san. You rescued me."

"Rescuing you from... an otherwise inescapable poverty?" Kenta stared at his parents in amazement. "I am very happy you two met. Oka-san deserves so much happiness."

"Yes, but also from an arranged marriage and a life as nothing but a debt-payer!" Shiori replied, still not tearing her adoring gaze away from Aikawa. "For generations, my family owed a huge debt to our landlords, the Kishi, for saving my great-great grandma Shizune Hashimoto from an ableist government in Black Elm who wanted to use her as a subject for their experiment on Deaf people. If the Kishi had not saved her, she would still be living as a hostage." 

"That's terrible! By the way, you said she was Deaf? Is that why I am Deaf too?" 

"Possibly. We've never done genetic testing on you, Kenta, so we don't know for sure," Aikawa answered. "But where were we? Oh yeah, the debt the Hashimoto owed the Kishi. To pay off the debt, your mom's family worked at the hibiscus farms owned by the Kishi. Over time, the farm workers also had a second job at the hibiscus tea factory. Your mother, however, grew tired of bagging tea and sought a better job elsewhere. Coincidentally, your grandpa Shigeru was looking for a gardener. Shiori passed the interview and started living in an empty but clean shed that was later renovated and nowadays became the site of our karate dojo." 

"Were you already great at gardening, Oka-san? You must be. Otherwise, Grandpa Shigeru wouldn't hire you. Wait, what exactly did he ask you during the interview stage?" 

"Oh, the interview was easy. He just asked me if I would be okay leaving my family behind to come work with him and he also made sure that what he was willing to pay me would be an amount I could accept. I didn't have any prior gardening experience but he said he would be happy to lend me his many gardening books. He even invited me to use his private library." 

"That's generous of him!" Kenta said with sparkling eyes. "Is the library the same one Uncle Lee now uses as his studying room? And do you still have Grandpa's Shigeru's old books?" 

"Yes and yes!" Shiori chuckled at her son's curiosity. "But this was also the beginning of my tension with your aunt. She was protective of that space because, in her opinion, that space should be reserved for her boyfriend and not for some random girl from Kazenotori." 

"I was surprised that Lee still wanted to date Chiharu despite knowing what she thought of Shiori back then," Aikawa grimaced. "But I knew better than to criticize my older brother. He wouldn't have listened to me, anyway. He used to have a huge ego because Shigeru-san spoiled him and he was only too aware of his position as the heir apparent of the Kinoya mansion." 

"Favoritism is bad!" Kenta folded his arms. "Hey, now that we're on the topic of favoritism, is that why Uncle Lee seems to like me more than he likes Akira? He doesn't have a son of his own, so is he basically treating me as if I were his son?" 

"That's possible, but he really shouldn't have neglected poor Akira in favor of his nephew. It's not like he can't make Akira the heiress of the mansion. Her gender shouldn't matter," Aikawa patted Kenta on the head affectionately. "But back to your mother's story. The Kishi found out that Shiori left the tea factory and, while they were not angry or anything, they still wanted her to pay for technically breaking the generational contract. The head of the Kishi family wanted Shiori to marry the eldest son, Hayato, who was almost twice as old as your mother was. She was nineteen and Hayato was almost thirty-eight." 

"Initially, I had no problem being engaged to Hayato despite the huge gap in our ages," Shiori sighed and started shivering. Aikawa put his arms around her shoulders and she smiled gratefully before continuing her story. "But Hayato forbade me from working at the Kinoya garden anymore. He said working hard would ruin my hands and she wouldn't want a bride with calloused hands. I didn't try to argue with him but, from then on, I had to do my gardening in secret. It wasn't easy, but I loved gardening too much to obey him like a dog obeys its master. Gardening relaxed me, and still does." 

"Hayato was so shallow!" Kenta's eyes grew huge. "You're beautiful, calloused hands or not." 

"Aw, you're being so kind today!" Shori gave him a tight hug. "Three months before my wedding ceremony with Hayato would be held, Aikawa came home from his training as a Shinto priest and a traditional martial artist. Grandpa Shigeru introduced the two of us and we started becoming good friends. Aikawa loved listening to the wild birds in the garden while I took care of the flowers or pruned the many bonsai in the greenhouse nearby." 

"Was he really listening to the birds?" Kenta laughed while teasing his father. "Or watching you?"

"I liked the birds, but yeah, I was watching Shiori too. At one point, I started bringing her mochi ice cream and other snacks as an excuse to spend more time speaking with her. I know she already had a fiance, but I couldn't help falling in love with her. The way she tenderly handled the flowers captured my heart and you know my heart became hers from then on." 

"And I couldn't help falling in love with you, Aikawa-san, when you started showing an interest in my Kazenotori culture. You were the first person, and probably the only one, who ever asked me why the Kazenotori people worshipped birds. I love how you're open-minded enough not to make fun of my religion. I'm sure you know this already, but when I converted to Shintoism I did that of my own accord, not because I felt that I had to repay your kindness." 

"Wait, what? Oka-san, you used to worship birds? I never knew!" Kenta said with a hint of admiration. "Tell me more about this bird-worshipping religion, please." 

"In Kazenotori mythology, birds are believed to be the messengers of the universe's goodwill for humanity. Their soothing music, which they sing through their melodious twittering and chirping, is believed to be a gift for humans. By worshipping them, we acknowledge that the universe is looking after us and that by being like birds, meaning practicing musical instruments and singing, we will one day become one with the universe itself like the birds are. Birds know the secret of the universe and Kazenotori people seek the wisdom the birds have." 

"That's awesome!" Kenta marveled. "And I'm guessing you're now a Shinto because of the similarities between the two religions, right? Shintoism teaches that there is a spirit in everything and that everything can be a spirit, so I assume when you pray to Kami-sama you're thinking that technically you're also praying to the spirits of the birds that protect our mansion."

"Exactly!" Shiori nodded. "Unlike Aikawa-san, though, Hayato thought my fascination with birds was bad. He wanted me to leave my religion behind and practice a hybrid of Taoism and Confucianism with him. It would've been the last straw for me if I were not bound by that oppressive generational contract. I'm glad the contract was no longer in place today." 

"Ugh! Forcing a religion on others is never okay!" Kenta frowned. "I'm glad you didn't end up marrying him. He sounds a lot like Johan's dad. You would've had a sad life, like Johan's mom."

"Oh yeah, you have talked about Clara before," Shiori's tone of voice turned a little sorrowful. "And my heart goes out to her. I pray that she would be strong enough to divorce Petrus one day, for the sake of her children. Hey Kenta, you're still secretly dating Johan, aren't you?" 

"Behind his dad's back, yes, but it's been a rocky time for us," Kenta quivered. "In fact, I was asking Uncle Lee's opinion on whether I'm making the right choice sticking by Johan's side. I know that I won't be able to heal his trauma and that dating a trauma survivor won't always be easy, but I do not have it in me to stop loving Johan. I know I can't fix him, but--" 

"But fixing him is not your job!" Aikawa interrupted. "He doesn't need to be fixed because he isn't the one whose mentality needs to be repaired, his dad is. What you can do for Johan, instead, is to become his anchor. Remind him that he is worthy of being loved and worthy of life. Remind him that his trauma does not have to define him and that he's stronger than he realizes."

"Listen to your father, Kenta. That was the same advice he gave me when I asked what to do about Hayato. He said I am worthy of having someone who loves me for me and does not demand that I do things I disagree with just to be deemed loveable enough in somebody else's eyes. Aikawa-san taught and has continued teaching me that love shouldn't be demanding." 

"I will never ask Johan to do things that go against his conscience just to prove something," Kenta said. "Thank you, Otou-san. I will make sure he knows having gone through traumatic stuff doesn't mean he is worthless or that being traumatized weakens him in any way. But I want to hear more about your story with Oka-san. How did she end up breaking the engagement?"

"It has something to do with her pregnancy," Aikawa smiled mischievously and Shiori's face was aglow with a hint of pink. "Yes, she was pregnant with you," he said to a shocked Kenta. "But no, Hayato isn't your dad, if that's what you're worried about. You're our kid. What happened was that Shiori purposefully kept Hayato in the dark so that he would think the baby was his."

"Wow. Does this mean you stole Oka-san away from him, Otou-san? That's brave of you!"

"It took a bit of strategizing to steal her, but yeah, that was the gist of it. Hayato wanted to throw an elegant baby shower to celebrate Shiori's pregnancy. In preparation for the baby shower,  he housed Shiori in a separate room in the Kishi residence. It was a common practice back then to keep pregnant women in isolation. Anyway, Hayato needed a tailor to make a new gown for Shiori to wear during the baby shower. I pretended to be a tailor and that I needed to take Shiori to my shop to take her measurements for the gown." 

"Clever. And then you eloped, didn't you? But how come Hayato didn't find out where you were? Wasn't he rich enough to send a search party city-wide or to hire a team of detectives?"

"Ah, well, he found out but your grandpa took care of it." 

"Through negotiation?" Kenta took a guess. "I never knew Grandpa Shigeru wasn't just a poet and a scholar but also a skilled negotiator. He kept surprising me. Too bad he died before I was born or I would have loved to learn useful skills from him, like how to be more assertive."

"Your grandpa knew that the Kishi family would never let Shiori go as long as her family had not finished paying off the generational debt. Thus, he offered to pay the debt on their behalf." 

"And then you two live happily ever after!" Kenta squealed. "And Oka-san becomes a princess."

"Hm, not quite!" Shiori laughed. "This isn't a fairytale. Remember I told you that Chiharu and I didn't get along? She gave me a hard time after I eloped with Aikawa-san. She said I was a burden to Grandpa Shigeru and did not deserve to be a member of the Kinoya family." 

"That's so mean! Why did she think she could become a Kinoya but Oka-san should not?"

"I used that argument against her," Aikawa shrugged. "But she didn't seem to grasp the illogical thing about what she believed. Chiharu is a classist. She thinks only well-educated people deserve to marry into the Kinoya family. Now history is being repeated, huh? Poor Ezekiel." 

"But Oka-san is educated! You read all of the books in Grandpa Shigeru's library, didn't you? Considering that the library has books on various topics, from herbal medicine to political science and economics, I would say that you're more educated than Auntie Chiharu, who only specializes in anthropology and mythologies. Keep your chin up, Oka-san." 

"I will, Kenta, I promise. You too, don't let anyone tell you you're not a true Kinoya just because your mother is not someone with a college degree. As long as you keep on learning, that's what matters. A college degree is just a piece of paper and doesn't tell you much about a person." 

"When did Auntie Chiharu start being kinder to you? It didn't happen overnight, I'd guess."

"When her kidney began to not function correctly shortly after Akira's birth and the doctor diagnosed her with kidney failure, which was exacerbated given that she is also thalassemic, I was the one who visited her in the hospital every single day. I brought her flower arrangements and fruits. I also held her hands each time she underwent the dialysis procedure. I mean, of course Lee-sensei did those too for her, but his job as a professor didn't afford him a lot of flexibility to visit his wife as often as I did. Gradually, Chiharu stopped being mean to me. I am just glad that she finally saw that I'm not a gold digger. I would still marry Aikawa-san even if he weren't from a wealthy family because he is a compassionate guy." 

"Maybe she was the gold digger for marrying Lee!" Aikawa snickered. "I never told her that outright, of course not, but I never get the impression that she's genuinely fond of him." 

"I don't know, Otou-san, I think Auntie Chiharu loves him in a quiet way that's not readily apparent to us." Kenta sighed before giving his dad a gentle hug. "Otherwise, she wouldn't stick with him when his money is running out. I just hope that she would stop teaching Akira to value money above all else. Money is important but there are more important things to value." 

"I already talked to Lee about making sure that Chiharu does not go overboard in trying to steer Akira toward one direction or the other," Aikawa shrugged. "But we will see if my talking to him does anything good. Lee is smart but he's not that smart when it comes to interpersonal relationships. I would say he yields to his wife too much and is non-confrontational." 

                                                                                      -----

While Kenta had a conversation with his parents about their past, Akira was in Chiharu's room along with Lee. Chiharu had told Akira that they needed to discuss something urgent. 

"Your father has brought to my attention recently that you've been deeply unhappy," Chiharu began while Lee nodded encouragingly. "And that I am the reason for your unhappiness." 

"Not true!" Akira quickly grabbed her mother's hand and put it on her cheek. "I indeed am unhappy these days, but you're not to blame. It's just tiring studying for the Mathlympic." 

"Akira, you don't ha--" Chiharu started to retort but could not finish her sentence as she began coughing violently. When the coughing fit stopped, she gestured weakly for her daughter to come closer. "You... You don't have to compete at the M-Mathlympic if you d-don't want to." 

"I want to!" Akira squeezed Chiharu's hand harder. "I want to make you proud of me." 

"She's already proud of you, Akira. There's no need to prove anything to her," Lee pulled the teenage girl into an embrace. "And I am also proud of you. You're a very good daughter." 

"But you're not proud of who I'm dating and never will be," Akira sulked and strained to escape the embrace. "Unless I can show you that Ezie has what it takes to make it to Blue Orchid." 

"A-About that y-young man," Chiharu struggled to say in between her coughs, "I h-hope he would grant me m-my last wish. Before I d-die, I want to a-apologize to him." 

"Last wish?" Akira held on tighter to the sickly woman. "Please don't use that word. You have to live. I need you and I am sure the doctors would do anything to save you. You're still going to undergo the kidney transplant, right? Don't give up. You will get well again, I know." 

"No, you don't. I-I can f-feel D-Death himself knocking at the door. I d-don't think the kidney transplant would be e-enough to k-keep him away," Chiharu's eyes started to water. "But before Death claims m-my s-soul, I want to o-offer Ezekiel an apology for l-looking d-down on him." 

"Ezekiel would know that your apology isn't sincere and feel hurt," Akira gave her mother an icy stare. "Because let's face it, would you still want to apologize to him if you are not dying? A fake, half-assed apology is worse than no apology at all. So no, I'm afraid he won't come see you." 

"Akira, you misunderstand!" Lee cried. "She really does think she's taken everything too far."

"If that's true, then don't expect Ezie to come to you. You come to him!" Akira shouted before jumping off Chiharu's bed and running out of the room with hot tears trickling down her face.

"Akira! You know full well your mother isn't healthy enough to travel!" Lee shouted back and was about to chase her but Chiharu motioned for him to stay put. 

"We... We m-mess up, L-Lee. She h-has e-every right to r-resent me. And K-Kami s-sama probably hates me too and when I die my death would be a gruesomely p-painful one." 

"Even if the whole world hates you, my flower, I would never do," Lee rested his head on his wife's shoulder. "Aishiteru. My love for you isn't changing anytime soon, watashi no hana." 

"S-same here. Lee, you're the b-best man I've ever known and you should k-know..." Chiharu reached for Lee's hand before she gasped and clutched her chest. "I w-will m-mi--"

"Yes, I know. Save your breath, Chiharu." Lee carefully lifted her up so that he could give her the cough suppressant pills. Her wheezing slowly came to a halt and she closed her eyes. 

"Good night," the man whispered softly. "I'm sorry that Akira doesn't believe you, but I do."