Ryou's consciousness was in a dark realm. Thus, he pondered things known to him and his thoughts.
"All the time I was in the same cycle," Ryou told himself tiredly. "Everyone helped me: Sister, friends, family. There was nothing I did of my own volition. I always demanded help."
As he exhaled lightly, he heard the gurgle of water. Falling deep beneath the dark water, Ryou hesitated to open his eyes.
"This cycle didn't end... until I got my first form."
Remembering his grandmother's happy face, Ryou felt warm. The young man, embedded deep in his thoughts, became aware of joy in things he was previously unaware of.
"Mei-san... you were grateful for my coming to the hospital. Had I done something useful? And the responsibility..."
As he followed, Ryou opened his eyes and noticed the faces of the members of the club to which he himself belonged. He was in the club's office with them. Each of these faces was minding their own business, and their faces shone with warmth.
"You were trying to help me, too, and I wasn't even paying attention..." said Ryou , and pointed his hand as if wanting to reach out to the boys. "Forgive me, I understand everything now," he added, and once again found himself deep underwater, where there was pitch blackness. "I'm changing. Tokyo has sheltered me? Has it given me a chance to be what I want to be...?"
The space around him disappeared, and what was left was a solid dark, boundless light. Ryou's tone became bolder, and no longer did the boy want to feel insecure about his goals. He decided to take full responsibility. Soon only his pumped-up teenage body began to glow with white light, illuminating the view around his visibility.
"Glenn-kun, Akiko-chan, Tomoyuki-kun, Yumiko-chan, you were all confident from the beginning. I alone looked like a fool for moving aimlessly in one circle. But I can't stop now."
Ryou, who was lying down, opened his eyes abruptly, and getting out of bed began, at a brisk pace, to dress in his outdoor spring clothes.
"I must do as I am!"
Buttoning up his dark shirt, the boy put on his beige plaid jeans. He moved in a steady step toward the exit of the apartment.
"Ryou-kun," Megumi called softly, but the guy didn't turn around, "What's the rush?"
"Going to settle the matter," the brother replied, in a firm voice.
Following through the apartment rumbled the sound of the door closing, which broke the silence. Megumi had no intention of stopping her younger brother, only to make sure he began to change for the better.
"Good luck."
By this time, it was evening time. In his haste, Ryou ran to the city park, where he made an appointment to meet a man. Running down the street, Tomoyuki met him near the entrance.
"And why are we meeting Kobayashi-san twice in one day?" asked Tomoyuki, panting from the long run. "We can leave it for next time, can't we?"
"I'll get it over with now," replied Ryou, not looking back, and continued walking down the path in the park where Saori Kobayashi was looking. "I'll answer his riddle now."
"Ryou-kun..."
The public walking park was nothing special. Ryou's choice of this particular park was that the site was midway between the three people. Eventually, the young men met a man sitting on one of the benches. He examined Ryou's confident visage with a quiet, casual look, and then realized exactly what the young man had called him for.
"So, what is your answer to my question?"
"I realized that I could never answer that question without confidence in myself," Ryou stated. "Being in contemplation, I was always caught in a dead end of thoughts. I wonder what I was thinking, for a man who can't even answer his own questions wanted to help another."
"Hmm," stroked the man's stubby, blond chin, "I guess you've had a hard time."
"Certainly hard. But I couldn't back down."
Tomoyuki only looked wary at the grim faces of both men.
"The answer to the question is different for each person and there is no right answer. The answer sits within the man himself and his view of life's situations."
"That's true, so what is it?"
"What would I call a man who knows everything in this world?" clenched Ryou's hands into a fist and squared his shoulders. "My answer is man!"
Saori Kobayashi slowly widened his eyes as he heard the answer once familiar to him. Ryou's gloomy eyes covered his hair, which the young man had not thought of in his situation. He decided to continue.
"You said that as a child you were afraid to hurt even a tiny creature. That's because you were kind and laid their way to live on with their lives. No one deserves to die. Including the man who has known all life we've been talking about all this time."
Ryou was suddenly silent and took a tiny pause to take a big breath and state his opinion, to the crust. He clenched his fists even harder that it felt as if his fingers could drill through his palm.
"Life may seem unfair, but man's influence on the world is not measured by any laws! Our ancestors labored to achieve a carefree world, and here we are! How is this not human goodness? It is inherent in everyone and will not disappear, for man continues to exist because of this kindness," Ryou exclaimed with each passing moment, and soon lowered his eyes to the floor. "Even parents... People should be grateful to be born! They exist, here and now! Isn't that a joy? And if the man we've been thinking about all the time and building riddles around his person forgets to thank his family, then I'll be sure to come to him. I will come to him... and declare that he should treasure every second of his life again, for his family is waiting for him at home!"
Ryou put his right fist right up to his heart and lifted his eyes. He was glad that he could open up and spout his opinions toward Saori Kobayashi. Ryou began to look at Saori Kobayashi in a completely different way after talking to the man in his house. To him, the man was no longer a strange uncle, resentful of the view of the world at large.
"My sister has always been my support. She used to tell me how, since I was a child, I used to watch the same sunset. I didn't see the point in it, for all sunsets looked the same, but when I remembered one important thing from my childhood, an unbridled feeling arose within me. I realized that she treasured every second of her life, for the sake of the people close to her. Everyone has their loved ones, and if a person loses their humanity, the feelings hidden inside them, even if they are dark, will remain! They can be released! That is why I will call such a person a human being. If I meet such a person who has turned away from the right path, I will advise him to turn around. If that person does not heed, then I will do whatever it takes to save him!"
Ryou clung to life and sought answers to his questions. The sense of liberation and overwhelming responsibility for the things he had done, awakened within him, made him feel like a much more confident individual. Looking at him, Saori could not take his eyes off him, and Tomoyuki became alarmed.
"So… Kobayashi-san," Ryou complemented, slightly subsiding his ardor, and unexpectedly for Saori Kobayashi the young man bowed to him standing up. "Thank you for helping us all this time and pointing us in the right direction out of the kindness of your heart! Through our conversations I have come to the conclusion that you are a great mentor!"
The man was stunned by what he heard. He had been caught red-handed. In truth, he really wanted to give useful advice to the young boys, and he purposely chose the right words, and told them about his childhood so that the new generation would not make the same mistakes as he had once made. The subject of the conversation about a man who knew the world could fully tell everything about the man and his spiritual state. But there was a hitch: Saori Kobayashi really wanted to know the answer to his topic.
Silently turning around, the man sat down on the bench and called to them in an apathetic voice. The boys sat down with him and waited for Saori to answer. The man discreetly took a cigarette out of the pack that was in his pocket and lit it. As he exhaled, he seemed more tired than usual.
"I have something to tell you," the man declared.