Accidentally become a father-Chapter 22: Patterns and Lines

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"Are there any special requests?" I asked.

"There is one."

I waited.

"Don’t make her feel abandoned."

The answer came a fraction of a second slower than the rest.

Still stable. Still controlled.

But a fraction of a second longer.

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I looked at Yuna.

She was still staring at the table.

"Too late," I said.

Silence on the other end.

Then I continued,

"She already came here on her own."

This time the pause was longer.

"I understand," he finally said.

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No defense.

No clarification.

Only acknowledgment.

I stared at the ceiling of my apartment for a moment.

"Alright," I said. "I’ll write this number down."

"Thank you."

"What if I change my number?"

"You won’t."

A statement, not a question.

I almost smiled again.

"Another observation?"

"Patterns."

"It’s dangerous to work with patterns."

"It’s dangerous to live without them."

We stopped there.

There was nothing left to discuss.

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"Good afternoon," I said.

"Good afternoon."

Click.

The line disconnected.

The room returned to the size of six tatami mats.

Yuna was still sitting across from me.

She didn’t ask right away.

Good.

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I placed the phone on the table.

Then pulled the school form closer.

The small box was still blank.

Emergency contact other than guardian.

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"He answered," I said.

Yuna gave a small nod.

"He always answers."

"Yeah."

I picked up my pen.

Let it hover over the paper for a few seconds.

"What did you ask?" she asked quietly.

"Not much."

"Are you mad?"

"No."

"Disappointed?"

"I had no expectations."

She stared at me for a few seconds.

As if trying to read something that wasn’t there.

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I looked down and began to write.

My handwriting wasn’t as clean as hers.

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Kuroda Seiji.

Below it, the number she had written out earlier.

I stopped after the final stroke.

The black ink looked perfectly ordinary.

Like anyone’s name.

But administratively, there was now a line connecting:

Me. Yuna. And the man who spoke without inflection.

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