"They will be here soon," Kenji said, putting down his phone and standing up. Ryu had just informed him that they were close.
"Oh!" Akiko moved the food tray in front of her. Kenji took it and placed it on the table.
"Why do you look so nervous?" Kenji asked, noticing Akiko adjusting her now very short hair. It was even shorter than Kenji’s. Despite fixing it repeatedly, it didn’t look much different.
"I forgot about her too, just like you. We’re married now, so you can accept this oddity better, but what if she can’t? She might get upset at me. She might not like me anymore." Akiko didn’t want to feel anxious, but again, she couldn’t understand why she felt the need to be cautious when meeting her friend.
Kenji was tempted to laugh at this complaint. If anyone was in danger, it was more likely that Kyoko would kill him, not Akiko. Kenji sat on the bed and held Akiko’s hand.
"She's coming all the way from T
Kenji cursed silently, as expected. Sakura had come bearing terrible news."When is the invitation for?" Kenji asked."One week from now! What kind of insane plan is this?!" Sakura was clearly panicking."Just pretend to be sick or something. Postpone the date. There's no need to send out invitations. The wedding won't happen," Kenji said firmly."You think it's that easy?! My mother has already contacted dozens of boutiques to rush a wedding dress!" Sakura snapped."Delay it by a day or two. I'll stop the wedding!" Kenji ended the call abruptly.Even though Sakura had done the right thing by contacting him, her outburst only fueled Kenji's anger.Kenji bowed his head, thinking hard. He at least had to stop the invitations from being made and distributed. Once it reached that stage, the damage would be difficult to control, as word had already begun to spread.Canceling the wedding would tarnish Kuryugumi's reputation. He didn'
Akiko glanced at Kenji, noticing he was lost in thought. They had finished breakfast, and there was still some time before his daily therapy session began.Usually, Kenji would strike up a conversation, answering any questions she had, but today he was silent. Akiko had seen him type out a rather long message, but after that, he put his phone down and seemed deep in thought.Kenji kept staring at the table, holding a cup of tea in his hand. But the cup never moved; it just hovered in the air without touching his lips.“Mm... Kenji... Anata-san...” Akiko corrected how she addressed him.In the past few days, Akiko hadn’t called out to Kenji at all since their conversations flowed naturally without needing to. But even though she hadn’t needed to, Akiko felt it was wrong to call Kenji by name alone, whether adding –kun, –chan, or –san. So now, she tried the most common option, though she still felt it didn’t s
"It's quite good, but we still need to be cautious. I'm confident her walking reflex will return to normal."The neurologist standing beside Kenji reassured him. Kenji had requested that he come and discuss the details of Akiko's training. Kenji made sure to remember everything without missing a single point."Thank you for the explanation." Kenji extended his hand, surprising the doctor slightly. Kenji had never been rude to him, but he hadn’t been particularly friendly either. The gratitude and handshake were unexpected."Of course. I hope Tanaka-san recovers quickly." The doctor made the usual pleasantries and then excused himself from the therapy room.Kenji went back to Akiko, who was finishing her final walking session. During these exercises, Akiko almost appeared completely normal because she was concentrating hard to avoid falling.However, when Akiko was walking normally and distracted by other thoughts, she would often stumble. For
Naturally, Kenji headed straight for the highway. He had to get out of town before his father did something extreme—like asking the police to conduct a large-scale road inspection. It was drastic, but possible. Before that happened, Kenji had to leave Karuizawa.The first half-hour of the journey was silent. Akiko was still confused, but she spent most of her time gripping tightly. Kenji's driving was harrowing.“Hold on a second.” When they arrived at the toll bridge intersection, Kenji stopped the car. He pulled over into the emergency lane and got out.He looked down at the highway below the toll bridge. After spotting the right target, Kenji reached for his phone. It had been vibrating for a while, but he ignored it. Kenji recognized that it was his father calling. News of his escape had already reached Osaka.He stared at the glowing screen for a moment, then tossed the phone over the side. The phone didn’t fall onto the highw
Kenji smiled, then reached for Akiko's chin, gently turning her to face him.“It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you, but you realize I’m a man, right? What do you think I’d want after kissing you?” Kenji asked.The answer popped into Akiko's head immediately, and she slowly let go of Kenji's hand, wanting to turn away. Her face was flushed red.“So now you understand why I couldn’t possibly do that while you’re sick,” Kenji said, completing his thought.Akiko kept her head down, and his response effectively silenced her. Kenji’s laughter rang out again, but it was cut short as the waiter brought their food.“Why are we running? What are we running from?” After the waiter left, Akiko inquired. She was too embarrassed to discuss the kiss any further, so she finally asked the real question.Kenji didn’t mind, as it was time to discuss the matter anyway. He woul
"I already..."Akiko, who had just opened the bathroom door, paused when she saw Kenji lying in front of the open side room door. He was sprawled out on the tatami mat, asleep, and had left the door open after attempting to let some fresh air into the room.The ryokan wasn’t just classically styled; it was genuinely old. There had been a faint musty smell when they first entered, but that was Akiko’s only complaint.Despite its age, the building was still beautiful, and they had a room by the garden with a perfectly functioning bathroom. She wouldn’t ask for anything more.Slowly, Akiko took a blanket from the two futons already spread out and draped it over Kenji's body. She turned off the light but didn’t close the door, letting the cool night air flow in.Akiko sat beside Kenji’s sleeping figure, gazing at him in the darkness. There was only a faint pale light from the moon, making Kenji look pallid. But even
SLAAP!Ryu closed his eyes as the slap landed on his cheek, and then he kneeled before Masaki, who slowly sat back down, his heart unable to keep him standing for long.The slap was still a small price to pay, in Ryu's eyes, compared to what Masaki had ordered him to do. He would never betray Kenji.“You failed to protect him, and now you reject my request?!” Masaki shouted, rubbing his chest.“Forgive me, Nidaime. I believe that the decision to appoint Ryu as Sandaime was far too hasty. You will face a lot of opposition from other family branches,” Yui chimed in, also bowing low beside Ryu, her head pressed to the tatami mat.BANG!Masaki slammed the table, but that was all he could do. Yui was not wrong. Appointing a Sandaime from someone known not to be of Tanaka blood was impossible. His decision was purely emotional.“If I hear that you helped him escape, I will chop you into pieces,” Masaki gr
“Where are we actually going?” As they entered the ferry terminal after two days of travel, Akiko asked.Until now, Akiko hadn't really cared or paid attention, leaving everything up to Kenji. But now that they had to cross the sea, of course, her curiosity peaked.“You haven’t figured it out yet? We’re crossing over to Hokkaido,” Kenji said, handing the tickets to the attendant at the ferry terminal.Kenji pressed the gas pedal and drove the car to the designated area for vehicles boarding the ferry.“Yes, now I remember. We were in Aomori earlier, and now we’re crossing over to Hokkaido.”Thanks to Kenji's words, the knowledge Akiko required resurfaced. This time, the topic was Japan's geography.Aomori is located at the northern tip of Honshu, Japan's largest island, and now they are crossing to Hokkaido, another large island in the far north of the country.The island could act
“Himawari! Natsu!”A ten-year-old boy let out a loud shout when he discovered two other children hiding behind the bushes beneath the tree.“Kenzo—big brother!”Natsu was startled to see Kenzo suddenly appear. He pulled the girl, Himawari, beside him to stand, intending to run away, but Kenzo stopped him.“No! You’re making Okaa-san worried. You have to go back.” Kenzo grabbed Natsu's arm.“But Himawari is scared. She doesn’t want to go to school,” Natsu pointed at Himawari, who was now sobbing.“Hima-chan.” Kenzo knelt down and gently stroked Himawari's head, which was bowed down.“School isn’t scary. You’ll meet many new people and make new friends,” Kenzo coaxed softly until Himawari looked up to meet Kenzo's gaze.“But… but… I want to be with Natsu. I don’t want to go to school…”
“This place isn’t bad.” Kenji didn’t outright refuse, but his reluctance was evident.“Indeed, I will make sure this place will never be bad for those children. However, Kenzo stands apart from these children. They are kids who truly have no family and are forced to live here. Kenzo has me. I am his family. I am the only family Kenzo has."Akiko didn’t want to acknowledge this while remembering Kenzo's mother’s actions, but Kenzo was still the child of her mother’s younger sibling—her family. No one else was her blood relative as of now.“I can’t forget that fact and pretend Kenzo is someone else. It will haunt me in my sleep,” Akiko urged again.Kenji fiddled with the car keys beneath him while staring at the back of Kenzo's head, who was now trying to draw something with crayons on a new piece of paper.“I know you hate his mother—I do too. But you don’t hav
“I still don’t want to do this,” Kenji grumbled.“I know, but I’m sure you also know that this is the right thing to do,” Akiko replied, looking at her husband, who was now unbuckling his seatbelt. Although they arrived two minutes earlier, neither of them got out of the car.The decision they—Akiko—made was indeed a significant one. Akiko needed to calm herself. Kenji had left the choice to her, but he was still going through it with a heavy heart.“Come on, let’s go.” Akiko finally opened the door and stepped out.Children playing in the yard rushed over when they spotted her.“Tanaka-san! What did you bring today? Candy? A storybook?”A chorus of voices greeted Akiko. She often visited the orphanage with gifts, so the children expected her to bring something.“I brought something in the car for you, but it’s a secret. You can…”
“I don’t want to sleep with you.” Ryu repeated the question in disbelief because it seemed too absurd. He shook his head while rubbing his face.“I think your ability to draw conclusions isn’t very sharp right now,” Ryu said.“No!” Kyoko was obviously offended. Although it wasn't a direct insult, Ryu had implied that Kyoko was stupid.“Don’t be angry; I understand. I would be disappointed if your mind was entirely calm at the moment.” Ryu smiled with satisfaction.“I’m calm!” Kyoko retorted.“You just asked about my desire to sleep with you. I think that’s quite a disturbance that’s keeping you from being calm.” Ryu left his suitcase and approached Kyoko, who suddenly panicked and stepped back.“Don’t deny it. You won’t succeed in making me think otherwise.” Ryu chuckled softly at her panic.“I don&
“Don’t open it now. You’ll get wet.” Ryu raised the hood of Kyoko's raincoat just in time as a large amount of water splashed toward where they were sitting. It was as if someone had poured a giant bucket of water on them.The orca whale show they were watching involved jumping out of the water. Of course, when they fell back, they splashed a lot of water toward the audience.Ryu clapped like everyone else, appreciating the hard work of the giant mammals, but Kyoko didn’t clap at all—not even when the show ended.“Didn’t you like it?” Ryu inquired as they exited, discarding their soaked raincoats.Ryu grabbed a small towel handed out by the staff, then used it to dry Kyoko’s hair and neck. Although Ryu had covered her hoodie just in time, some parts of Kyoko’s hair and neck were still wet.“You don’t like aquariums. I’ll note all of that.” After waiting for a
"I want to go home."Kyoko suddenly spoke up just as Akiko finished applying pink lipstick to her lips.“Huh? Why? Did you forget something?” Akiko straightened up, confused, as she glanced at the kimono Kyoko would be wearing.Kyoko's kimono was simpler, with only a hair ornament as an accessory. It wasn’t as elaborate as the one Akiko had worn when she got married in Utoro.Ryu had planned for their wedding to be similar to Akiko’s, but they had compromised for a more modest ceremony at the city hall. Ryu knew Kyoko's feelings about temple buildings, so he wouldn't dare force anything. Besides, the reception would still happen; just the ceremony would be different.Nobody objected to the decision. Everyone agreed as long as the wedding took place, including Akiko. Even though her expensive kimono was a bit much for a city hall wedding, she was still happily helping Kyoko.“Everything's ready. I just need to pu
“You must be crazy!” Kyoko stood up and paced back and forth in the living room, trying to recall if there was any sign that Ryu wasn’t serious.But everything was serious. Ryu had even sent her a photo of the kimono he would wear on their wedding day. When Kyoko saw the photo, she thought Ryu was insane, as discussing kimono patterns would escalate their deception.In the end, Kyoko made her choice, wanting to end the pointless discussion. But it turned out that the discussion was important.“Are you just going to sit there?!” Kyoko yelled angrily, glaring at Ryu, who was calmly sipping beer and munching on peanuts he had brought earlier.“What do you want me to do?” Ryu frowned.“Cancel everything! Call them all! Cancel it!” Kyoko sat back down next to Ryu and then attacked him, reaching for his waist.“Hey, wait! Don’t get aggressive all of a sudden,” Ryu was, of cour
Ryu shook his head, while effortlessly unlocking Kyoko's apartment door once more by simply inputting her birthday—the day after tomorrow.He had repeatedly reminded Kyoko to change the password, which was extremely easy to guess. Not just once—like when he first broke in to find the listening device—but several times since.Now, Kyoko no longer lives in Tokyo. Since becoming actively involved in Kuryugumi and assisting Kenji and Ryu, Kyoko had relocated to Osaka, where she now primarily worked.However, Kyoko hadn't been working regularly since visiting her parents, and no one was pressuring her to do so either. Kenji didn’t give any orders, leaving everything up to Ryu.The apartment’s security was truly weak, especially since there was still no sound, despite Ryu walking into the room for several moments. It was evident that Kyoko had fallen asleep due to the late hour. Ryu had come straight to the apartment after returnin
Akiko adjusted herself in front of the mirror, gazing at the new kimono she would wear the day after tomorrow.The kimono was custom-made for her, so naturally, it fit perfectly. But Akiko wanted to see if the color matched her expectations. And indeed, everything was perfect. It fit her body beautifully and didn't feel heavy or hot, which was crucial considering it was still summer.The modern kimono, with a white base, was adorned with pink cherry blossoms. Akiko had even prepared hair accessories filled with cherry blossom designs to complete the look.She wasn’t wearing the hairpiece yet, but when she tried placing it on her head, the pink color matched perfectly with her black hair. Everything was set. She had also prepared clothes for Natsu and Kenji.BANG!Akiko flinched and dropped the hair accessory she was holding. The loud noise from the sliding door startled her.Luckily, Natsu was in the next room, so he wouldn’t be