"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
"Do you like it?" Kenji asked, slightly worried, because Akiko had been staring silently at the house in front of them ever since they got out of the car.But after walking around the car and seeing Akiko’s face, Kenji realized she wasn’t being quiet—she was simply too amazed. Her eyes sparkled with delight.The house in front of them wasn’t particularly grand, but it had a classic style that looked cozy. It was entirely made of wood and had a raised foundation, like Kenji’s old house. But in terms of size and shape, it was still far smaller than Kenji’s previous home.But Akiko didn’t think of that. What she remembered was the sense of comfort when she saw a house with a similar style."Did you buy this?"Akiko inquired, but she couldn't quite believe Kenji had managed it. They had fled so suddenly. It was impossible to prepare a house in such a short time. Even with plenty of money, purchasing a house cou
“A... what do you mean? Of course, we’ll sleep separately!” Akiko replied after a brief moment of shock.If she had only known they were married yesterday, maybe Akiko wouldn’t have hesitated to share a room with him.But right now, Akiko felt extremely nervous at the thought of them sleeping in the same room. Her heart was already pumping too much blood in a panic.“Hmm… I’m a bit disappointed, but fine, if that’s your decision.” Kenji shrugged.“Disappointed? We’re not even married yet. We didn’t… Oh… umm… Did we…”Akiko swallowed hard, her question getting stuck in her throat, caught by embarrassment. But at the same time, she wanted to know. She pretended to pick up a dusty kettle, moving it to the sink to make it seem like she was doing something.“What about us?” Kenji’s face remained neutral, deliberately
“Akiko-chan!”A voice called from outside, and Akiko immediately put down her knife. She had been cleaning fish to cook for dinner later.“Ha–i!” Akiko responded as she walked outside, seeing Miura waiting at the door, carrying a basket full of produce.“I wanted to share some of my harvest with you all. I just picked it earlier today," Miura said, lifting the basket and showing it to Akiko with a cheerful face.“Oh my, Miura-san. This is a lot. I... I can’t possibly accept this for free.”The basket was filled with two bundles of green mustard greens, more than five fresh carrots still covered in red soil, corn in husks, and vibrant red tomatoes. There was a lot.“Eeee… It’s just from my garden behind the house. I was cleaning it up and remembered you need to eat lots of healthy food. It’s really healthy, and I’m sure you’ll recover quickly,” Mi
Akiko began to regret her suggestion to follow Miura earlier.She had no experience in farming and had to receive many instructions before she could properly harvest the cabbage. However, it wasn't this aspect that caused Akiko to regret her decision. The conversation between Miura and the other women made her want to leave.Of course, Miura wasn't alone. There were a few other women helping to harvest the cabbage so that it could be finished quickly.Those groups of another woman whose talking skills were on par with Miura’s. As time went on, their conversation grew bolder, and they started asking all sorts of questions Akiko didn’t want to answer. She hadn’t prepared any detailed lies about her marriage.“So, you’ve been married for eight months?”“Yes,” Akiko replied to Fukuda’s question.Fukuda was a woman five or six years older than Miura, with nearly all of her hair already gray.
Kyoko stared at Ryu—who had just stepped out of his car—from behind the glass wall and scoffed.Ryu was definitely walking toward the café where she was waiting, but his appearance was too flashy.Ryu had been the one who said he wanted their meeting to avoid drawing attention, yet just his arrival was enough to catch people's eyes.Kyoko rarely admitted that three-dimensional beings were handsome, but after meeting Ryu multiple times, she knew he was indeed handsome. He exuded a warm aura and seemed approachable.No wonder Misa was willing to lead the unofficial Ryusuke Sato fan club. Many female employees were clearly infatuated with him.But because of his attractive looks, it was obvious that their secret meetings would be difficult. He was too noticeable—and too friendly.Kyoko scoffed again when Ryu smiled at a woman who was staring at him. Charming, as always. The woman looked shy but then boldly approac
“They asked about what?”Kenji, who was in the middle of cutting fish and helping Akiko prepare dinner, turned to look at Akiko sitting at the dining table. She was picking spinach.After Kenji had finished telling her about the events at work—he had to rush someone to the hospital in his car earlier that day—Akiko began to recount her day.All the village had was one ambulance, and one of its tires was flat. So Kenji had to take on extra duty and drive a patient who was struggling to breathe to the nearest town.It was quite an eventful day, but Akiko's day turned out to be just as exciting, despite the fact that she only went to Miura’s house.“They inquired about the details of our wedding. I almost died from panic.”Akiko complained about what happened earlier that afternoon when she joined Miura in harvesting fish from the pond behind her house.The pond was quite large, so Miura had call
“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