Chapter LXX.

The first school semester had come to an end the day before. And today, it was the twentieth of July, which officially marks the beginning of the summer vacation. 

Six weeks had gone by ever since the funeral. It hurt everyone to see the dark-haired girl this sad. 

Gōjun had noticed that she would force herself every day to try to behave normally, but her grief was apparent in her eyes. He wished he could take away all her pain. But what was reassuring was that, neither he nor the others would give the girl the occasion of finding herself all alone with her person. Solitude was the greatest enemy of a person who is in grief. Gōjun was comforted by the idea that the dark-haired girl was not living all alone; that she had moved in with Shunsui. The reddish-brown-haired young man and he would spend all their time outside of school with her, and their beloved blonde woman, Tsubasa, would often dine with them at Shunsui's place and she had slept over a few times to keep the dark-haired girl in her arms through the night. 

Katsura would meet her every morning at the shrine. She would call her every evening, and she would come to visit her with Kenren every weekend. She would take her to her apartment for them to spend some time together. Natsui and Yūsei would visit her too during the weekends. Saien was equally present for her. He would always keep an eye on her at school, and every now and then, he would bring her a desert which he has prepared with his own hands for the two of them to enjoy it together.

And during that lapse of time, Hideyoshi Daicho-san had been able to find some clues about the whereabouts of her father. Shin Kirigakure has been arrested, and he has pleaded guilty. He was going to spend a few years in jail.

'I would advise you not to try to threaten me! I know the law very well! They don't have any legal rights on him!' Gōjun heard Kenren shouting on the phone, when he returned home that evening from Shunsui's place.

Closing the entrance door behind him, he looked at the older male where the latter was standing in front of the furniture by the side wall of the entrance hall. The man's expression was angry. He had hung up the telephone now.

'Is everything alright?' the teenager inquired, feeling a bit concerned, but the dark-haired man didn't answer him and simply flung around to flounce away. 

Gōjun was truly preoccupied now and he followed after Kenren, catching up with him just outside of the back door of the house. The man had plumped himself down to sit there under the porch. Gōjun couldn't remember the last time he had seen Kenren this angry.

Sitting himself down next to him, the younger male asked him, in an anxious tone, 'Who was on the phone with you just now?'

'It was the manager of your mother,' the man answered, after a long minute of silence, his expression softening a little as he took a glance at Gōjun.

The younger male's eyes went wide at him; his breath catching.

'She had an accident yesterday. She was driving while she was drunk. Fortunately, her injuries are only superficial, but the doctors think that the problem might be more serious than that; they think that it could have been a suicide attempt. Her manager told me that she has asked to see you.'

Lowering his eyes immediately, Gōjun stared at the ground for a moment, his heart accelerating in his chest as he asked himself what he should do. He would lie to himself if he said that her accident did not affect him. But- 

'I'm not going to visit her!' he stated, in a decided tone.

'Gōjun, she is your mother!' Kenren scolded him, and jerking to his feet, he stated at him, severely, 'Listen to me carefully! You will go to visit her at the hospital, is it understood?!'

The teenager stared at the man in shock. 'But-'

'I don't want to hear anything! I said that you're going to visit her, and so you're going to visit her, is that clear?!'

Gōjun continued to stare at him for a few more seconds, still very much shocked, before he clenched his teeth together, and jerked to his feet too to tell Kenren that he refuses to go, and flinging around, he dug his hands in his pocket to walk away, angrily.

'Gōjun, where are you going?!' Kenren demanded at him. 

'To Shunsui's house! I'll sleep there for the night!'

***

'Shunsui?' I called, softly, as I approached him where he was sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching a movie. 

'Yes?' he asked, looking at me instantly, lowering the volume of the television.

Scratching the back of my head a little and averting my eyes, I told him, very shyly, 'I wanted to thank you for all that you're doing for me. Every one of you have been taking such good care of me, and I wanted you to know that I really appreciate it. I know that I've been extremely low these days, and that you must all find it quite depressing, but I promise that I will try to be gayer from now on to show you my gratitude.'

'Hime, it's normal that you feel low after the funeral. You don't have to feel guilty about that,' he assured me. 'But it's also true that we would like to see you smiling more often like before. It would reassure us and make us very happy.'

Giving me a tender smile, he sent his arm around my waist and pulled me down, making me sit next to him on the sofa. 

My eyes widened at him a little.

'Let's watch this film together, alright?' he declared, cheerily, and I nodded, returning the smile.

A few seconds later, we realized that somebody had arrived outside; we could hear footsteps on the gravel, and soon, the door opened and we saw that it was Gōjun. We were both a bit surprised to see him.

He had left for his house only a short while earlier. 

His expression was troubled. 

Raking his hand through his hair and averting his eyes, he asked the reddish-brown-haired young man, 'Shunsui, can I sleep here for tonight?'

'Yes, you can,' the latter replied, getting to his feet, watching him with concern. 'But, is everything alright?'

Gōjun didn't answer him. He simply thanked him, before he started to make for the corridor.

I got to my feet too. Something was definitely wrong.

'Gōjun, what is it?' Shunsui inquired, following after him, worriedly. 'Did something happen with Kenren?'

But the reddish-brown-haired young man still didn't receive any reply. He didn't give up though. He continued to follow after Gōjun, calling out to him, their footsteps disappearing into one of the bedrooms of the house.

Oh Gōjun, what's going on?

***

Sometimes later...

Ever since Gōjun has arrived, he has not come out of the room he has picked for himself even once. 

Shunsui and he had talked to each other for a while. When the latter had come out of the room and I had asked him what Gōjun had told him, he didn't answer me. 

His expression had been as troubled as Gōjun had been, and the reddish-brown-haired young man had left to closed himself in his own room. 

I guessed that the matter needed to be quite serious. I wondered what had happened.

After I had switched off the lights in the kitchen, I was about to head for my own bedroom to go to sleep when, I noticed that the lights in Gōjun's room- which was situated at the end of the corridor- were still on. The door of his room was open. I asked myself if he is still awake.

Timidly, I made my way up the corridor to his room, and pausing outside of the door, I took a peek inside of the room, calling out, softly, 'Ano!'

My breath caught when my eyes fell onto Gōjun. 

He was sitting on the floor at the foot of his bed, with the buttons of his shirt standing wide open, with water dripping from his hair, while he was fixating the ground, completely lost in his thoughts, his expression as troubled as before. Apparently, he had just come out of the bath, and he had not closed the window of his room; a cold breeze was blowing in. I knew that we were still in summer, but I also knew that he has asthma.

'Gōjun, what are you doing?!' I exclaimed, in a panic, and crossing the room in a few long strides, I closed the window rapidly, before I rushed up to him, and getting down on my knees in front of him, I started to button his shirts up for him, watching him worriedly as he continued to stare at the ground, showing no response. 

His hair was very wet, and grabbing the towel resting on the bed behind him, I brought over his head to dry his hair with it.

He allowed me to do for a moment, until he caught one of my wrists to look up into my eyes. 

I paused down to look back at him.

His expression was filled with anguish. It made my heart stir.

'Gōjun, what is it?' I asked him, in a small croak.

Lowering my hand to keep it on the ground and averting his eyes, he began to tell me about his mother's accident, which the doctor believes was a suicide attempt, and her asking to see him.

'I don't want to go. But Kenren is insisting.'

Oh, Gōjun…

I knew that her accident didn't leave him indifferent. I could read it in his eyes. But I could understand that he didn't want to see her or his biological father. I could understand him because I didn't want to see my father ever again either. When I had asked Shunsui and he to accompany me to visit my father in prison, so that I could tell him that I wanted him definitely out of my life and that of my mother, they had both accepted to come with me; they had brought me their support. I knew that it could only hurt Gōjun to see his mother. But I could also understand Kenren's position. I had no advice to give to Gōjun, and I decided that no matter which decision he would take, I would support him in it. 

'What are you going to do?'

'I respect Kenren too much to disobey him.'

'In that case, I am going to accompany you,' I told him, and he looked up at me instantly, his eyes widening a little.

'You can count on me as well!'

At the sound of Shunsui's voice, we both looked around to see the reddish-brown-haired young man standing in the doorway. I didn't know that he was still up. 

'Shunsui...' I whispered, giving him a small smile. 

'Thank you,' Gōjun said to both of us, and the reddish-brown-haired young man and I assured him that there was no need to thank us.

***

The following day…

Gōjun was very agitated in the morning, and Shunsui and I would watch him worriedly, exchanging looks with each other every now and then. 

Last night, he had come to the decision that he would visit his mother today. In fact, Takara-san was ready to take us to see her once we were prepared to leave. But Gōjun had not said a thing about it again ever since he had woken up. In fact, he had been avoiding the subject. And Shunsui and I didn't know how to address the matter, so much it was something delicate. And so, we preferred to remain silent and wait for him until he was fully prepared. 

It was sometimes after noon that Gōjun decided to talk about it by declaring that we should head for Akaboshi if we wanted to arrive there before it was dark.

His biological parents didn't live in Kokubunji anymore. They had moved to the City of Akaboshi just after they had abandoned him legally. I had spent the night doing a few researches about them on the internet. Kenren had told me that Gōjun's mother is an idol and that his father is a politician. It was not too difficult for me to obtain information about them, as several newspapers had covered the accident.

Gōjun's biological mother, Yui Kazama, born Shimotsuki, and using the stage name Yu Yutsuki, has started her career very early as an idol. She was considered as a child prodigy in music and singing, and she has also engaged herself in modeling and acting, all of which have brought her incommensurable success. She has always worked individually, but this has not prevented her from becoming a star. 

She emancipated from her parents at the age of sixteen, and at seventeen, she was married to Sōhei Kazama, who was five years older than her, and who belonged to a family of politicians and would become one himself. Even if they were married, the press doesn't tell much about their relationship with each other, except that they met at a charity gala, perhaps due to the restrictions on idols pursuing romantic relationships. But what was even more surprising was that there was no mention anywhere of their having a son together. I guessed that it was yet another tactic at controlling her image as an idol, if not their image to both of them as ex-parents.

Shunsui and I were deeply worried for Gōjun. They had abandoned him. We both knew how much it would hurt him to see them. But above it all, we wondered how they were going to behave with him. This, terrified us.

It was in the late afternoon that we arrived in the City of Akaboshi. We had stopped at a red light when Gōjun seemed to notice something on the street, a frown appearing on his forehead. 

As I followed his eyes, I saw that he was fixating someone- a man. The latter had just came out of a skyscraper, accompanied by a young woman and several body guards.

The man in question was around forty-one or forty-two years old, and he wore spectacles. He was quite tall, and was muscular, with fair skin. He had short black hair that was combed to the side, and he was clothed in a tie and suit. The young woman who was accompanying him couldn't be older than twenty-five. She measured average height, was slender, and had mid-back level, black hair that was tied up in a pony-tail. She was clothed classically too, in a short pink skirt and blazer of the same color, on top of a white blouse, and she was carrying a file in her hand.

The man was leading her to the car which was parked on the side of the street just in front of the building, keeping his hand on her back. He opened the back door of the vehicle for her gallantly. The young woman gave him a smile, before she hopped in.

'That man...' Gōjun said, and I looked at his face again, wondering if he knows him. 'Takara-san, can you please follow that car?'

'Hai!' the old man replied.

'Gōjun… I don't think it's a good idea,' Shunsui told him, in an agitated tone, and at that moment, I realized that that man could be Gōjun's biological father!

'Shunsui, please...' he murmured, watching him with distraught.

Taking a deep breath, the reddish-brown-haired young man let out a sigh, giving in, reluctantly.

We followed the car up to a luxurious hotel just outside of the city. I wanted to ask Gōjun about the identity of the man that we were following, but without daring to. 

The car dropped the man, as well as the young woman who was accompanying him, together with their body-guards, in front of the entrance of door of the hotel to drive away to the parking lot. The dark-haired man kept his hand on the young woman's back as he led her inside of the building and she was chuckling as he spoke to her. 

Gōjun asked Takara-san to drop us at a distance away, and we waited for them to have entered the lobby for us to follow after them. Apparently, the man had reserved a table at the restaurant of the hotel, and a female attendant arrived to escort the young woman and he through the door of the restaurant to show them to their table. 

Their body-guards were about to follow them, but the man paused down in the doorway to dismiss them. The three body-guards hesitated to obey, but only for a second, before they complied.

'Come!' Gōjun said to Shunsui and I, gesturing for us to follow him inside of the restaurant. The reddish-brown-haired young man and I exchanged an anxious look with each other, before we tagged along with him. 

Shunsui most definitely knew Gōjun's biological father, but I didn't dare to ask him either if it was him that we were following.

Gōjun paid the reception clerk of the restaurant a large sum of money for the latter to obtain us a table as far away from that of the dark-haired man and the young woman. These two were talking to each other in a gaily manner, and now and then, the dark-haired male would touch the back of the young woman's hand or her hair, and she would smile coyly at this.

When they had finished eating, the man helped her out of her chair gallantly, and keeping his hand on the small part of her waist now, just above the hip, he led her back through the door that opened onto the lobby. 

Jerking to his feet instantly, Gōjun dashed out of the restaurant through a different door.

Shunsui and I looked at each other's face once again, a bit startled, before we got to our feet too to ran after Gōjun, but we had lost sight of him.

'Where is he gone?' I wondered, looking athwart of the corridor.

'I think I know,' Shunsui told me, and I followed him into the restaurant again and back into the lobby. 

The man we had been following was standing at the reception desk now. The clerk gave him a key, and I thought I saw the dark-haired male slip something over the counter towards him, but I couldn't be sure. I thought that he was going to part with the young woman there and I prepared myself to skip backward through the door of the restaurant so that he would not detect Shunsui and my presence but, contrarily to what I believed, he led the woman into one of the corridors of the hotel with him, still keeping his hand on her waist.

Shunsui made after him, following him discreetly from behind, and I tagged along with the latter. I feared I was beginning to understand the reason why the man and young woman had come to this hotel, even if, I refused to conceive it.

The man led the young woman through another corridor, and Shunsui and I waited for a minute before we rounded the corner. The moment we entered onto this new corridor, we both came to a stop when we caught sight of Gōjun. 

The corridor ended on an elevator, and Gōjun was holding himself there in front of it, leaning against the side wall, with his arms and feet crossed in front of himself, watching into this direction, without any doubt, for the man's arrival with the young woman; his expression severe.

The dark-haired man had come to a stop too at his sight, and he took a glance over his shoulder at Shunsui and I.

'Shunsui,' he said, flatly, before his eyes returned onto Gōjun. 'I suppose that you're here to see your mother. She told me that she has asked to see you.'

I held my breath. I was right! This man is well Gōjun's biological father!

Shunsui and I shifted closer, moving down the corridor.

'His mother?' the young woman asked, looking at the dark-haired man's face and blinking in confusion. 'I didn't know that you have a son.'

'But you do know that he's a married man, don't you?!' Gōjun pointed out, in a reproachful tone. 'And yet, this didn't stop you from accompanying him to this hotel.'

The woman lowered her head, her expression filled with shame. 

'Let me guess! You're his new secretary!' he told her, uncrossing his arms and feet to stand straight, facing them completely. 'You do realize that once he'd have had his way with you, he'll sack you, don't you? However, if you don't let him has his way with you, even then, he'd still sack you. But it's not too late. You can still decide to turn around and walk out of this hotel, keeping the little dignity that you still have left. That is, if you still have any dignity left, which I seriously doubt!'

The young woman's mouth went slightly open at him, clearly feeling degraded, and slapping the man's arm off her waist, she flounced away, vexed.

The dark-haired man, Sōhei Kazama, followed her with the eyes for a minute, before he looked at Gōjun again, his expression unhappy.

'What are you up to?' he muttered at the latter. 'Decidedly, you have inherited the theatrical side of your mother!'

'Speaking of her, your wife is in hospital, but instead of visiting her, you're frolicking with your employees?! You never change, do you?! Decidedly, you make me sick!' Gōjun stated, and making past the man, he hit into him intentionally in the shoulder to flounce away.

Oh, Gōjun…

Shunsui and I ran after him. 

'Gōjun, wait for us!' we called after him, but he didn't seem to hear. 

He was completely absorbed in his thoughts; the chaotic emotions raging inside of him showing on his face. 

The moment we came out in the open, he took out a cigarette to bring it to his mouth and light it up, taking several large puffs at it, while he continued to walk. It was only when we had reached the car in the parking lot that he came to a stop. Closing his eyes, he rested his palms upon the upper-frame of the car, holding his cigarette in-between his index and middle fingers.

Shunsui put a hand down onto his shoulder from behind, watching him in deep worry. 

'Gōjun, are you alright?'

'You know that it's not the first time that he's cheating on her, don't you?' he said, opening his eyes and shaking his head. 'He's been cheating on her throughout their married life, and the worse is that she knows it, but she continues to stay with him.'

Lowering my eyes, I clasped my hands in front of myself to stare at the floor, my feelings agitated.

Kenren Shoran had told me about the state of Yui and Sōhei Kazama's relationship with each other. 

My father would cheat on my mother too, and just like Gōjun's mother, she knew it. It would make me unbearably sad to see two persons sharing this kind of relationship- if relationship it could be called- with each other. I knew how Gōjun must be feeling; how he must have felt when he was living with them, seeing them like this every day.

'Come on!' he exhaled, lowering his arms and opening the back door of the vehicle. 'Let's get this over with! I want to return to Kokubunji as quickly as possible!' 

Shunsui and I nodded once, before we looked at each other's face one more time, nervous at the idea of his meeting with his mother, both of us afraid that it might leave him more hurt than he already is, just like with his biological father.

***

Thirty minutes later, we had arrived in front of a large private hospital building in the City of Akaboshi and we were making for Yui Kazama's room. 

The door of the room was open, and the moment we arrived in front of the doorway, my eyes instantly fell onto the woman who was standing there in the room, in front of the window, gazing out of it, her back turned into this direction. The woman was wearing a hospital gown. It needed to be her.

My heart accelerated a little.

Shunsui knocked once before we entered the room, and she turned around to look at us on the spot.

She was a beautiful woman, who looked at least ten years younger than her real age, with large green eyes, full pink lips, high cheek-bones, and waist-length, curly, blonde hair with pink highlights. She had fair skin, measured average height and was slender. 

Her expression showed nothing. 

'Ah, Gōjun, you've come!' she declared, in a cold tone. 'And I see that you still hang around with Shunsui.'

As she took a glance at the latter, a small mocking smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes would then shift onto me.

'Who is this girl? I don't know her. Is she your girlfriend?' 

She had approached us now.

'I would understand that you hang out with Shunsui. He has such a beautiful face...' she said, in a murmur, and I was a little shocked at the way she trailed her forefinger over the reddish-brown-haired young man's cheek in an alluring away, smiling at him seductively.

Aghast, Shunsui pulled her hand away from his face, his expression unhappy. 

Staring at him in the eyes and clenching her teeth, she slapped his hand off to get him to let of her, before she looked at me again, a jeering look on her face.

'But this girl… Where did you pick her up? From the slums?! Just look at her clothes! It's clear that she does not belong to a wealthy family!'

I lowered my eyes in shame.

'That's enough!' Gōjun stated at her, severely. 'I forbid you to take on her.'

'Alright! Fine!' she declared, putting her hands up at him and rolling her eyes, only to back away to sit on the edge of the bed behind her. 'I see that you're still as rigid as before.' 

She fixated him in the face for a minute with what I refused to qualify as contempt, before she let out a snort, to mutter, 'I guess that it must be making you laugh to see me in this state! All my life, I have accused you and your father of being the reasons for the decline of my stardom. But now, I am forced to recognize that it had nothing to do with my marriage or being mother of a child; I am forced to accept that I am aging! I am not as beautiful, or attractive, to the public as before. Usually, a female idol changes career at the age of twenty-five; it took me a lot of struggles to be able to remain in the industry till this age. But now, I can't continue to blind myself! I am behind the times! Yeah, I'm sure that you must be laughing to yourself! Because I loved being a star more than being a mother!' 

I looked at Gōjun's face, my heart clenching. I felt hurt for him.

'It doesn't make me laugh at all,' he asserted, in a firm tone.

But she wasn't listening. 

Turning her face away and shaking her head, she gritted her teeth together, continuing, 'When I think about it, it's so unfair! The agencies earn so much money on the head of the idols that they promote! But once these same idols have reached a certain age, they throw them away like they are a piece of junk!'

A small, intense silence fell in the room after this. 

It was Gōjun who finally broke it.

'About your marriage with-'

At the mention of Sōhei Kazama, she looked at Gōjun instantly, her eyes growing huge at him, her expression becoming enraged.

'Why are you talking about him?!' she snarled, jumping to her feet. 'You're trying to mock me, aren't you?! By reminding that even my husband is not mine, just like my career!' 

And on these words, her hand went for his face to slap him violently. The impact caused his face to whip roughly to the side. 

Gōjun went completely still, while I covered my mouth with my hands, gasping out in shock; Shunsui letting out a gasp too. 

'Does it amuse you to rub salt on my wounds?!' she shouted at him, fisting him by the collar of his T-shirt with both her hands, her expression hysterical.

But he didn't show any reaction. He kept his eyes down, an expression of desolation on his face.

Oh Gōjun…

My heart jumped to my throat suddenly, as I saw her lift her hand in the air, preparing to slap him once again, but before she could hit him this time, somebody caught her wrist, stopping her. 

Shunsui and I let out another gasp as our eyes zeroed onto the person who had arrived. That person was none other than Kenren Shoran!

The dark-haired man's expression was furious. 

The woman stared at him, her breath catching.

'Stop this immediately, Yui! I don't permit you to raise your hand on him!'

He let go her wrist in a shove.

'You're not forced to live this kind of life! All that you have to do is sign the divorce papers and give yourself your own freedom! Do you realize that you have a dream life?! You could go anywhere! Do what you want in our life! And you had a son!'

Gripping Gōjun by his upper-arm then, he started to drag the latter out of the room, telling him, 'Let's get back to Kokubunji! We don't have anything to do with these people anymore!'

Shunsui and I hurried after them immediately.

Gōjun's expression was now a mixture of anger and angst. Kenren, Shunsui and I watched him in dead worry.

'Gōjun, I'm sorry,' the older male told him, the moment we came out of the building to onto the parking lot. He had released his arm and came a stop now. 'I should never have forced you to come!' 

'No, you shouldn't have!' the latter stated, jerking to a stop too to look at the man in the face, and flinging around then, he started to make towards the trees at the far end of the parking lot to enter the woods, asking the dark-haired male to leave him alone.

Oh, Gōjun…

I stared after him for a whole minute, my heart clenching again, before I looked at Kenren Shoran's face. The dark-haired man's expression was filled with regret and pain.

'I'll go,' I told him, in a whisper. Shunsui put a comforting hand down onto the older male's shoulder, while I left after Gōjun to catch up with him.

'Gōjun!' I called, as I followed after him into the woods. 

But he ignored me. 

'Gōjun, wait!'

Reaching out for his hand, I caught it in both of mine pleadingly, and that's only when he stopped. 

Turning his face to the side, while keeping his eyes set on the ground, he told me, 'Why doesn't he understand?! He is my only father! And the person that I have always considered as my mother is Tsubasa Shigeizumi! And now, there is also Katsura! They are my only parents.'

Gōjun... 

My heart stirred.

Kenren would be so happy to know that he considers him as his father. I remembered the two conversations we had had at the restaurant about Gōjun.

'You should tell him about it,' I whispered, and spontaneously, he turned around to face me, his eyes widening at me. 

Letting go of his hand, I gave him a small encouraging smile, repeating, 'You should tell him.'

Lowering his head, he murmured, 'It's true that every time he would try to get close to me, I would push him back. It was like a reflex.' 

He looked up again after that to gaze at me, his expression softening. 

'Oh, Princess...' 

Unexpectedly, he stepping closer to me and bent down to rest his face in the crook of my neck. 

I stilled, blushing hard, but only for my whole face to go completely red when I felt him breathe in my skin. 

He stayed like this for a whole minute, before he lifted one of his hands up to grab hold of my right shoulder and straightening up a bit, he sent his other hand at the back of my head to grip at my hair, pulling at it. 

At this, my eyes closed on themselves, my lips parting a little.

Gōjun, my hair…! Itai!

I could feel his hot breath on my face. 

My heart picked up speed. 

The next second, I felt his lips come over mine to seal our mouths in a kiss. 

My heart fluttered. 

When he broke the kiss, I opened my eyes to look at him in the eyes, both surprised and confused.

Once again, he has kissed me! And I don't know why.

Ever since the funeral of my grand-parents, he had stopped.

Gōjun, what's happening to you? Why did you kiss me?

Letting go of my hair then, he took hold of my hand, and turned around, to start making his way out of the woods, dragging me along with him. 

When we came out onto the parking lot, we found the dark-haired male and Shunsui standing where we had left them.

'Kenren, we need to talk!' Gōjun told him, averting his eyes and scratching the back of his head a little.

'Alright,' the man said, holding his breath in anticipation.

'Gōjun should come with you in your car,' I said, with a small, timid smile. 'Shunsui and I will follow you with Takara-san.'

They both nodded in agreement, and the older male started to lead Gōjun to where he has parked his car, while Shunsui and I remained standing there for a while, gazing after the father and the son. 

This journey to Kokubunji was going to be totally different for them compared to the one when they had returned from their vacation at the cottage. 

Thank you for reading!