As The Wind Blows Your Scent To Me

"Grandma is good~ Right, Aunt?"

"Yup! No wonder you like your grandmother so much, Chiharu."

"Hehehe~"

Chiharu couldn't stop emphasizing the greatness of Madam Tokioka to Himari when they were making dessert together. Only Izumi was quiet throughout the entire time.

Because her mood brightened, Himari asked the siblings if they wanted to have a tasty and cool parfait for tea time. As expected, both of them agreed.

Inside a tall and thin glass, Himari began layering the parfait. She did each step for the other two glasses simultaneously.

Himari put some cornflakes at the bottom, threw some chopped strawberries next, put a dollop of whipped cream on top of the fruits, placed bite-sized brownie cakes, covered the cakes with more whipped cream then added another layer of cornflakes and strawberries slices.

As the finishing, Himari scooped a big ball of vanilla ice cream and put it on the top. More brownie pieces surrounded the ice cream.

"Wah~ Look so yummy!" Chiharu clapped her hands.

"Let's eat!" Himari laughed along.

While the two ladies, big and small were clearly enjoying the sweet and refreshing dessert, Izumi quietly stared at his aunt.

It really seemed like Aunt wasn't faking her happiness. She seemed different from her previous self that forcing smiles to avoid them from being worried.

What did Grandma talk to Aunt?

Izumi saw them talking in the backyard. He also saw Aunt crying before Grandma moved to comfort Aunt.

Was Grandma really accepting Aunt in their family?

Izumi's impression of Madam Tokioka changed again.

Still, even though Izumi didn't notice anything alarming anymore, the boy still planned to tell his uncle. Instead of waiting for Uncle to get home, his brain calculated that conveying the news to Uncle as fast as possible was the better move.

He had already let Aunt be sad for two days. Fortunately, Grandma arrived and made Aunt feel better.

"Take good care of your aunt and little sister. Immediately tell me if there's something wrong."

Those were Uncle's words before he left for his business trip.

The 'something wrong' that Uncle mentioned wasn't the kind of emergency that needed prompt attention. The urgent ones should be directed to Uncle Shuichi and the guards.

The one that Uncle stressed about was if anything troubling happened to Aunt and Chiharu, Izumi was responsible for bringing the news to Uncle.

Unknown to Himari, Izumi made up his mind to contact Kazuya and tell him of what had been happening these days.

At six o'clock, Himari brought the siblings to a nearby supermarket. They bought the ingredients for making honey steak tonight. After that, they immediately returned home.

"Aunt, let's eat dinner outside?" asked Chiharu. One hand was pointing to the tent.

"Sure~!"

Himari put a low table inside the tent next to the mattress. They occasionally ate there; either lunch, tea or dinner. 

Without Himari realizing it, she had been treating the villa as her home.

The siblings were shooed upstairs. Himari told them to bathe while she cooked. As she moved around in the kitchen, her phone suddenly rang.

"...Kazuya?"

To Himari's surprise, the call came from her man that was thousands of miles away from her.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing?"

Kazuya spoke ever so gently as he inquired.

Himari lowered the heat of the stove. She stood with her back hip leaned against the kitchen island.

"I'm cooking dinner," Himari instinctively smiled, "What are you doing, honey? Aren't you suppose to be working at this time? Have you eaten breakfast?"

If Himari calculated correctly, Kazuya was supposed to begin his day at this time.

"Hey, can't I call my sweetheart before working?" Kazuya poked fun at her, "Do you wish me to work that hard?"

"My honey has to work hard if he wants to raise me," answered Himari cheekily.

Kazuya's pleasant laughter echoed from the end of the phone. 

"Hehe, so, I'm in charge of raising money while you're in charge of spending it?"

"Bingo!"

Kazuya laughed again. Himari smiled softly.

She really loved to hear him laughing. 

"En, sweetheart, there's something I want to ask you."

Himari blinked. Kazuya's tone sounded a bit serious after he ended his laughter.

"My mother suddenly came. Were you alright, sweetheart? Did she do something to you?"

Surprised, Himari gasped, "No! No! Everything was alright when your mother was here."

It was not unknown that Kazuya's relationship with his mother was a bad one but, Himari felt somewhat sad when she recalled Madam Tokioka's words before.

It seemed like the middle-aged lady was serious when she said that she wanted to rebuild her relationship with her son.

"...are you sure?" Kazuya sounded skeptical.

Himari refrained from sighing.

"Honey, would you really be back the day after tomorrow?"

She immediately changed the topic.

"Yes. I might arrive late before sundown."

Himari smiled, "Then, I'll prepare a grand feast for you. What do you want to eat? Is there something you're craving for?"

The couple spoke for a few minutes more before Himari said she had to continue cooking. Unknown to Himari, Kazuya was actually heading to the airport.

"Boss, you said you won't return immediately to the city?"

Kazuya's assistant glanced at him. They were sitting inside a cab.

"You can take three days of leave," said Kazuya, eyes looking out of the windows, "I won't go back to the office in a few days too. There's something I have to do out of the city."

The streets were bustling with ongoing vehicles. The black cab that was iconic to the city where he was currently at moved speedily on the road.

"Okay."

The assistant didn't inquire more. He was more than happy to get some rest after a tiring business trip.

Kazuya never prolonged the trip as to how he had told Himari. He only did so because there was something important he wanted to achieve before returning to her and the children. 

Kazuya said he would return in two days because after more than ten hours of flight time to reach the country, he had to take another flight to bring him to that place. 

Still, Kazuya hoped he was able to return to her sooner. 

Izumi contacted Kazuya and said that the former's grandmother came unannounced. Because of that, Kazuya was fearful of the woman making trouble with Himari. 

But...

"Uncle, actually Aunt looked a bit sad since a few days ago but, she started to really cheer up after Grandmother left. I saw Aunt crying and Grandmother comforting her."

What did his mother say to Himari that make her cry then happy?

And...

What saddened Himari until Izumi noticed that her mood was low a few days ago?

What had exactly happened?

Kazuya wanted to ask Himari about it but, hearing how joyful she was earlier made him retract his intention.

It's alright. He would wait until he arrived home.

At the same time, in the East City Hospital.

Madam Tokioka was patiently waiting outside the ward. From the tiny gap of the door, she looked at the two doctors, a group of nurses and her eldest son's personal caretaker who surrounded the bed.

Please, let everything be alright.

Madam Tokioka had seen Hiroki before she let the medical personals attend to her eldest son. 

Hiroki still appeared wan and weak.

After what seemed like a long period of waiting, the doctors and nurses walked out of the ward, leaving the caretaker behind.

Hiroki's doctor, Dr. Yoshimura spoke to the middle-aged lady, "Madam, we should discuss this matter somewhere else. Let's go to my office.

"Yes, doctor."

Inside the office, Madam Tokioka was given a briefing on what Dr. Yoshimura recently found out.

"To be honest, I've wanted to introduce the treatment like what Dr. Fukumoto suggested but, the lack of practice domestically made me unable to," Dr. Yoshimura glanced at the other doctor, "Madam, with you bringing Dr. Fukumoto here, I believe that we can work together to let your son wake up sooner."

Madam Tokioka pursed her lips. A wide range of emotions swirled in her eyes.

Maybe she had used all of her luck to be able to persuade Dr. Fukumoto to return to Japan. She exhausted almost two months before the doctor finally agreed to her request.

"We cannot promise you the date, Madam Tokioka," Dr. Fukumoto chimed in. He was browsing the document related to the patient as he spoke, "But, please rest assured that we would do our best."

"Thank you, Dr. Yoshimura and Dr. Fukumoto," Madam Tokioka bowed her head slightly, "If not for my trust, I won't continue allowing my son to be treated here even though it's my youngest son's decision to place his brother in this hospital."

Madam Tokioka sounded harsh but her words didn't affect Dr. Yoshimura who was overjoyed due to a huge pie falling from the sky.

"I'm glad to hear that. But, I'm also grateful that you brought Dr. Fukumoto here," Dr. Yoshimura smiled. He focused back on his fellow doctor, "Doctor, I heard that you've resided and worked abroad for nearly two decades. Please allow me to learn more of your skills and experience."

Dr. Yoshimura was thoroughly shocked and glad when Madam Tokioka introduced Dr. Fukumoto earlier. 

Dr. Fukumoto was a big name in neurology. His research papers were highly sought after and had become references to the other neurologist. His skills to improve a patient's condition were also high.

Unfortunately, he worked abroad thus it was hard to come face to face with this senior doctor.

Dr. Yoshimura knew that this was a lifetime opportunity for him to work alongside Dr. Fukumoto.

Maybe, just maybe, the three years of waiting might end soon!