𝐈𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 ✓

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

ASAHI
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We waited in front of the grey door. Lina impatiently tapped her foot on the floor.

I heard the lock on the other side and the door finally started to slowly open. Tapping noises on the wooden floor was the first sound that reached my ears.

It was a dog. Golden retriever. He immediately started to jump and placed his pawns on Lina's thighs.

"Ares! Hello buddy! You missed me?" Lina spoke to the dog and scratched his head and ears. The dog seemed happy to be in her presence. He then came to me and started sniffing my hands.

"I'm sorry for Ares, he's extra energetic today." A voice spoke in front of us and my eyes flew to the person standing next to the door.

It was a man, maybe in his late thirties. He had light brown hair and a pair of black glasses set on his crooked nose. His eyes were dark blue and he was fairly tall.

A kind smile was forming on his face as his eyes traveled from Lina to me.

The next thing I noticed was him leaning on a crutch, while his other hand was missing to his elbow. Despite his struggle to stand on his legs, he gave us a tender smile.

"Nice to see you Steph. I thought you forgot about Angel." He joked and ushered the dog to get close to him. For a second the name caught me off guard but then I remembered that it was her fake one.

"I'm sorry, Josh. Asahi here..." She pointed to me. "He came by to visit me and we got caught up and lost track of time."

"Oh, this is the guy you were talking about. Nice to meet you, I'm Joshua." Lina's face blushed at his comment. "I'm sorry I can't really shake hands as you can see." He said.

"It's fine. Nice to meet you, I'm Asahi." I nodded with a small smile and slid my hands in my pockets.

"Angel's here." He gestured with his head to his right where I spotted a couch.

Lina went to the brown sofa and lifted the tiny rabbit in her hands. She quickly kissed its head and walked towards me again.

"Thank you for keeping her, Josh."

"No problem, Steph. Ares loves her." We said goodbye to the man and he slowly closed the door after him.

Lina led me to her apartment on the floor above the one we were currently on and she spoke to the rabbit the whole way up.

I was glad that she found comfort in the small animal and I was glad I got it for her. The fluffy bunny was adopted after I went to the animal shelter. My initial thought was to adopt her a puppy but then I changed my mind when I saw the rabbit.

Lina unlocked the door and we stepped in.

Because it was already dark outside, Lina flicked the lamp on and it nicely illuminated the living room, giving it the right amount of light.

The apartment was decorated by her style and the walls were filled with frames. All kinds of poems and pictures of the sea were hung everywhere.

Then I spotted the small working place where she had a couple of books and scrips.

The curtains were open and the view of the town was very calming.

She placed Angel in the small bed-like furniture for animals and went to put the bag on one of the chairs positioned next to the miniature round dining table.

When I told Isamu to find her an apartment, I asked if there was a good view from her windows. I felt like it would have meant the most to her. Also, I wanted to be in a safe area.