"And that's all," Akiko expressed, exclaiming, "what's the first thing you tell us?"
Glenn couldn't find the right words to reassure the girl, and Ryo, at the sight of him, closed in thought.
"You have arrived, Glenn-kun," a surprised Yumiko stammered.
"You didn't even dare to warn us yourself about your absence. The teachers at school had vague answers about you — did you think to cut your ties at the root?"
"I didn't know what kind of surprise to give you."
"What other surprise?" displeasure did not pass from Akiko's face, puzzled by Glenn's hopeless excuse. "You could at least explain why you've been gone so long."
"I really wanted to talk about it now."
Glenn walked a few steps toward their table. Technically, they were finally able to get together for an entire month, and they, realizing the enormity of such a long-awaited event, were finally able to relax their shoulders. Making up for lost time after the events with the arrival of Ryou's Kyoto friends, the club members were finally able to breathe easy, but their excitement about Glenn, who had not been contacted in a long time, was not going away. And so when he showed up, all they wanted to do was spend the day together, as before, with carefree faces.
But Glenn couldn't squeeze a smile out of himself. His dejected, grim face acknowledged the truth of his present condition. He had no hope for anything but himself, because at this moment, if he had slowed down, the passage to a future life would have been closed to him.
"At last we come together," Akiko said sadly, causing the others to immediately lower their lashes. and the others immediately lowered their lashes. Everyone was waiting for this moment, and so was Glenn, though he tried not to show his emotions.
Lifting his eyes, Glenn became rigid. "I can't explain the whole picture to you," he said, "because that would leave you even more confused than if I told you nothing at all about what I encountered."
"But why?" Akiko wondered. "Has something bad happened to you?"
"Only I can do my job — I won't bother anyone," Glenn approached the lone board. "Masumi-sensei, in truth, has only stopped placing orders on you because she has decided to leave you a choice: whether you want to keep working or not, because forcing you to continue would simply not be a good thing."
"We'll think about our decision," a thoughtful Yumiko added.
"Now I must explain myself, if that is what you expect of me. I spent the whole month with my family, who came from another country to rest, and at the same time performed work at Daisuke. I stopped showing up at school due to time constraints and a temporary move to another residence."
"An unexpected move?" the brown-eyed girl asked, and Glenn, hiding under a guise of indifference, nodded.
"It has to do with the family moving to another country. The apartment stayed, but I don't go in there now — I've been asked to stay with someone I know."
"So your family has moved," Ryou considered. "Then why didn't you follow them, too?"
"I have to finish my last year of school."
"Afterwards, are you going to move to another country?" Tomoyuki asked, dumbfounding the young man, causing Glenn to shut up.
"Let's talk about something else!" retorted the pink-haired girl, waking Glenn oblivious to her thoughts.
Grateful, the dark-eyed man soon lowered his gaze and said: "I'm going to leave the club," which made his friends' pleasant eyes go wide.
"Why have you decided to leave?" Tomoyuki asked.
"I won't be able to show up at school until the exam days. If I don't leave the club now, the teacher will do it for me."
He took his stinging eyes aside and apologized for his action, "After things get better… I'll go back to the club. So that Yumiko-chan won't have problems in the future, I should leave now."
"Tell me honestly," Akiko's lips pressed together with sadness, "Glenn-kun — will you come back?"
"I will…"
"But how to believe you…? There's no proof that you won't decide to move to another country without telling us anything, like you always do. It's not right… to keep it from us. We made a promise, didn't we?"
Akiko's words tore at Glenn's heart, unable to say anything back. It seemed to him that all he had to do at this moment was to listen. After all, they had made a promise to each other.
"You can always ask for our help," Yumiko said, comfortingly. "We made a promise, but what kind of promise is it if we don't keep it?"
"Glenn-kun, whatever we can do, we'll help you," Ryou perked up to shower his friend with comfort as well.
The dark-eyed man averted his eyes to the side, confused by his friends' pleasantries. His faith in them — genuine and bitter — awoke in him, and Glenn, listening to the boys, put away his fear of bothering anyone and said weakly: "Thank you."
"It's okay if you leave the club. If it's your decision and you're sure about it, let it be. Know this, Glenn-kun, the entrance to this office will always remain open to you."
Glenn lifted his head and, with trembling lips, apologized again. The atmosphere in the office was no longer pressured and changed to a sadder one.
The ringing heat that had hung over the office vanished as quickly as the saddened faces of the club members. Tomoyuki, who had fallen out, sitting in one place for the entire time, dared not open his mouth. His vacillating wide eyes were hidden under his hair that had grown in six months, and his thoughts took a critical turn. Unsure of what he should have done next, he was gripped by doubts about his own plans and behavior, which made Tomoyuki inadvertently wonder what had given rise to such speculation.
***
Glenn sat in the subway, staring thoughtlessly at one point, thinking about Akiko's words. The promise he'd made to his friends, the guy didn't know it could have mattered to them. Now, however, he had an unlimited amount of time to realize his goals. After some thought, he decided to get to work from today. In the beginning, it was not in his plans to talk to the members, but Glenn was glad of the outcome, for he was lucky enough to see their faces again. He had only to fulfill Akihito's request for the sake of what other help this man could give to the young man's life. He wanted to use Akihito's favor to his advantage, but Glenn was not sure that this man could help him.
Back in his room at the manor, he was leafing through a general chat room with members of the literary club. Staring aimlessly at his phone, he sank more and more into the abyss of his thickened thoughts, eventually not hearing the door to his room open. When he came to his senses, Glenn turned his gaze to the side and saw Mari's face peeking out of the door.
"Mari-chan, did you want something?"
"Let me talk to you, Glenn-sama."
He called her to him and they both sat down in front of each other. Mari's sour look foreshadowed a serious conversation — exactly what Glenn wanted.
"I spoke to my master today and he told me that my release from my debt would be the best happiness for both my master and myself…"
Mari quoted with a restrained tone all the words Akihito could recall from her recent conversation with him. At the time, Mari listened to his speech.
"Mari," Akihito said at the time, taking his words with complete seriousness, "has Glenn-kun ever told you how fascinating the outside world is? The culture of the country we live in and nature and modern science? They all breed the ability to perform their routine duties. A trifling stroll through the city can be considered important to one's state of mind if one realizes the joy of the many little things that surround him everywhere."
"But master, my routine, which I treasure, is to serve you and this estate…"
"I fear that if you remain here to serve, you will lose all this flavor, imbued with human desire and love. In this place you are like a noble she-wolf, chained from birth and standing on a corner of the earth where she can never experience the sweetness of pleasure. I cannot do that to you."
"But why? It's what I was born to do…!"
"At your age…" Akihito glanced over at the saddened girl, "others try not to miss their chance of childlike carelessness. They go that way to experience freedom and independence of action. This world is free, so why do you reject it?"
Glenn listened with interest to Mari's words as she tried to clarify her misunderstanding of why she could not live the way she had lived before.
"Also," she added softly, "the Master told me many things about nature in the countryside — the mountains and the lakes, and how people have acclimated to modern technology that they couldn't previously imagine. How marvelous: people didn't believe a hundred years ago that they would fly metal birds…"
Though Mari was depressed, she told the story with fervent interest.
"Glenn-sama, I want to see all these views: the heights, nature, the human world from a bird's eye view! As I listened to you, it was as if I were imagining riding on a slide, sliding down a snowy slope, and watching a movie in a dark movie theater. However, I feel something is stopping me — the thing I value the most, and it pains me when I realize that if I make the choice I will lose half of my feelings. For me, the choice between the two used to be predictable, because I lived only for the purpose of serving my master. In truth, I still strive to serve him, but when I realize, as you try to convey to me, that my life cannot continue at the same pace until I die… it makes me myself afraid to think that I will die without ever having explored this world, trapped within four walls."
Tears flowed involuntarily from her desperate eyes, and she gradually wiped her eyes with her thin hands, as if not to look like a crybaby in front of the young man.
"I want to get out of the four walls. I'm afraid that I won't be able to see the rides you often tell me about — I want to ride every one of them. I'm scared for my life that I'll continue to stand in one place without ever experiencing freedom. After hearing from you how great the outside world can be, which human hands have been building for thousands of years, I finally began to realize the importance of loving the little things. I began to realize that I wanted to live outside these gates…! To go outside, take a walk in the park, and whatever my soul desires! I don't care if they look at me like I'm a savage — they won't understand what it's like to enjoy the little things! To walk with you for days on end, Glenn-sama — I want. And to finally talk to the Master as a man of the same caliber, I want."
"I will accompany you, Mari-chan. Whatever you desire — I will follow you until you are bored."
"I won't get bored… Glenn-sama, would you agree to walk with me through life, exploring the outer worlds?"
"If it makes you feel good, I agree."
"You have fried these feelings for me that I would not think of, further carrying the burden of the master's maid."
"It's all going to change now," he stroked behind her head. "I understand the weight you feel in choosing between things that will change the outcome of your whole world. It's hard for me, too — I live these choices every day, working in social services, but relentlessly continue to decide next, completely unaware of what the consequences of these choices will be in the future. However, there are always people who will both tell me the right decision, comfort me in a difficult moment, and give me advice when I need it."
"Glenn-sama, will you have faith in me if I decide on the wrong choice?"
"Whatever you choose, I will support you."
"At least I don't know myself which choice I should consider the right one."
"I would appreciate any choice you make — it would be the beginning of your development."
Lowering her head, her shoulders squeezed. "If I make the wrong choice, what happens to my future?"
"There is no wrong choice. What Mari-chan's heart desires is most important to her."
"That's how…" crowned her psychological state in reassurance. "How unfair our world is, since it forces me to choose between two choices dear to me. You didn't warn me about this!" she pouted, which allowed the tension to be removed from her.
With a sincere smile, Glenn agreed with her. A happy, bright smile appeared on the girl's face, by which Glenn could tell long ago that she had been made happy. But Mari had never smiled so warmly, especially since she could only smile like that with Glenn.
"What a shame… I cried in front of an important guest. There is no forgiveness for me."
"Alas, it gives me nothing but pleasure. Mari-chan, please smile more often."
"I shall."
***
As the next morning dawned, with the dusky chill just brightening under the warm rays of the rising sun, the dark-eyed man awoke and asked the mature maid for a meeting with the head. Soon, having received indirect consent, Glenn snuck into Akihito's bathroom, where the latter, stripped to the waist, stood in front of the glass and carefully shaved his lean and attractive face. Akihito turned his gaze toward him and greeted him with his kind tone. Glenn's respectful greeting put the man in a good mood from the start of the day.
Akihito's athletic build surprised the young man, which he told him as he approached him. Chuckling, Akihito said:
"Every head of one's kin must be able to stand up for himself and not stand still. However, I like muscularity myself — if in moderation, it beautifies a man and spares him from being untidy."
"I see."
"Hmm? Glenn-kun, what's your build? After all, you're still a teenager — you probably work out for the girls."
Glenn, carefully removing his dark sweatshirt, said that he used to work out for himself, but gave it up for lack of time. Finally, Akihito saw his lean but muscular torso.
"And you have more muscles than it looks when you're dressed," Akihito wondered. "More likely to be chased by your peers?"
Glenn nodded quietly. Looking at the boy's hair, Akihito was puzzled by the sloppiness of his thick hair, almost reaching his ears.
"Don't you have a problem washing that hair?"
"Oh, yes, but I don't pay attention to it. I've been going with the same length and haircut since I was a kid."
With a thoughtful hum, Akihito continued to shave his face. Afterward, he took the scissors and began to cut the ends of his dry, half-gray hair, which left Glenn puzzled.
"Why are you cutting your hair? You could have called a barber…!"
"Honestly, I don't like having to call a personal barber from out of town just to fix my already short top."
"That's his job."
"People shouldn't bother and waste their time. This barber, instead of fixing my hair, can still spend more time with his family."
Akihito soon handed the scissors to Glenn and asked if he should get a haircut, too. After thinking briefly, the young man agreed to shave his hair on the sides.
"Your tops are too long, like a forest. They're falling two ways: maybe you should shorten them."
"Please."
So, their morning routine began with a spontaneous haircut.