Glenn had recently noticed how his life had been turned upside down when he met Yumiko on the bus. That was back in the spring, but he wasn't about to forget their meeting until now. Experiencing difficulty communicating with Yoshiro, the runaway child, the idea occurred to him to ask an acquaintance for help. The young man knew almost nothing about her, so he didn't care if he got a negative answer. But when Yumiko agreed, something struck him. Something he couldn't have thought of before — the hope of another person.
For the past three years all he had done was work. He had to work to survive, and to survive, so he wouldn't leave his family to their fate. He didn't care if he felt regret for his time afterward; he just didn't want to die empty-handed, leaving no trace behind.
Now, he had the opportunity for medical prophylaxis at the central hospital for a long time, and his routine was suddenly cut short. The teenager did not understand what grimace he was supposed to make now, for all this was something new and unknown to him.
It was certainly a good thing that he would be able to settle down and rest from his burden, but he could not think of any serious improvement in his health. Doctors have said that it will take more than a year to suppress the development of this unknown disease, and a complete suspension of it is not possible.
'It's like I've been trapped in these four walls forever.'
Glenn fell into apathy. Rest seemed to him to be some kind of unrestrained thing. He began to undergo the first stage of adaptation to the new conditions. In time, however, this apathy vanished without a trace, thanks to visits from his friends at the club. Glenn, nevertheless, was saddened to trust them with his life, both his own and that of Tomoyuki, who needed help. Unable to do anything else, he asked them to save their mutual friend.
As time passed, he slowly began to think about what he wanted to do in the future.
And now it has been two weeks since he woke up from his long sleep. Akiko knocked on his room and asked him to come in. Glenn accepted the request and they walked in unaccompanied by a nurse.
'That's right,' he thought to himself, lifting his back from the bunk. 'I'm beginning to see what kind of people make me feel livelier,' and glanced happily at Akiko, who began to sit gently on the chair.
"Still require you to wear those glasses?" she began small talk.
"Ah, yes. Without them I see blurry, a strange feeling. They don't seem to fit me?"
"You look beautiful in them."
"Glenn-sama..." Mari sloppily looked out the door, clearly embarrassed to enter the hospital room.
"Mari-chan, good to see you again."
The guy's politeness prompted Mari to go inside, and Akiko, noticing her changed mannerisms, suggested to herself that it might have something to do with the style of their interactions with each other. Even though Akiko knew that she and the head of the Hirota clan had first met during an order from Daisuke, she didn't know the details.
Meanwhile, Mari was standing at Glenn's bunk waiting for him to say something.
"So, are you doing great at Akiko-chan's house chores?"
"You don't have to put so much pressure on her from the start, she just got here."
Glenn was quite surprised by his friend's answer, but soon shifted his gaze to Mari and realized that what he was facing now was not the same Mari who had been a maid at the manor, but a changed person.
'Ah, I hadn't even noticed how she had changed... These walls, they forbid me to think straight.'
"You're right, for she is no longer a servant girl, but an ordinary girl who will soon begin packing for school."
"I have a lot to learn before that," Mari retorted in her sweet little voice. "School subjects are so hard to learn, but Sis is trying desperately to help me."
'And I don't know much about learning either,' Akiko thought to herself. 'But even I can teach her the simple rules and tasks that are manageable for young children like her.'
"Speaking of which, have you decided where Mari-chan should live yet? Akiko-chan, I doubt your parents haven't thought about it."
Mari took a seat in the chair next to Akiko.
"Yeah... To tell you the truth, we're having a hard time solving this problem ourselves. My parents have already had time to process the situation that happened to her, and they were very surprised when Akihito-san announced in broad daylight that he was coming to visit us."
Akiko looked at Mari, who was troubled by her bitter look, and then showed a smile so as not to alarm anyone. Mari considered herself unworthy of any special excitement or attention, for she knew she was being treated like a child, and this was obvious human behavior.
"But I have become attached enough to Mari-chan," Akiko encouraged, thereby surprising Mari, "to convince my parents to take her in. It's my personal decision, but I don't think they mind taking responsibility for Mari-chan. They like her, too, and she can cook better than ours."
"I see. It's hard for you, Akiko-chan, and it ought to be up to me. I ran away from responsibility again. Besides, the house was empty, and it's unlikely Mari-chan would have handled it herself... Everything was going against me."
"No, don't you worry about that! I'm just thankful to have met such a sincere and sweet girl like Mari-chan! Glenn-kun, and you know how to pick your crowds."
'Is that a compliment or a pity?'
"I'd be glad," Glenn smiled, "if these family affairs were resolved... As yours are, so are mine. I think we should talk about something else. I have a knack for ruining people's moods."
His gentle smile changed to a bitter one that showed his self-pity.
Akiko, taking a fancy to him, said: "You have begun to look much more sincere. Has your routine smile dissolved into sincerity?"
"Ah, that smile was a habit of mine, preserved until recently. I'll disclose: I always wanted to look like a happy teenager who had no difficulties in life. Why? Because nervousness gets you nowhere. But I don't seem to have succeeded in that either, and my emotions took over. However, I don't think that smile wasn't sincere."
"Hmm? Why, I was sure that smile was just a fake smile to attract people to you, albeit in a bad way. A fool sees a fool from afar."
"No. I would not show my insincerity to the people I hold dear."
Akiko admired this answer. This friendly conversation eventually led to their eyes meeting for more than ten quiet seconds, which for Akiko passed momentarily.
She, with the summation of events past, was assured that Glenn, from the beginning of their relationship, saw them as certain individuals in need of moral secular assistance. Her gut could not be sure that he had planned each of his steps in advance to achieve his results, but she admired Glenn's determination not to let up and at all costs to finish what he had begun, for she herself had previously had to give up on the unfinished.
"Akiko-chan?"
"Ah? Uh-huh... What happened?"
"Maybe... will you tell me already why you cut your hair so suddenly and returned it to its native color? You've also, I see, started going without lenses."
"What?" Akiko was stunned again, but this time by her own forgetfulness.
'That's right, I don't tell him much about the life going on around the club members!'
Mari looked out from the curtain of his room in amazement and stared at a lively Akiko, then smiled sweetly.
"Glenn-kun, stop talking about unnecessary things, because your first priority is to find out what's been going on for the last two weeks!"
"Ah?! What are you so excited about?" Glenn stammered, stunned by her presentation, then realized that he hadn't heard much of any news lately because he'd lost his cell phone connection.
After coming to his senses, he added:
"That's right! I'd even forgotten about it myself!" Ahem, I guess we're both a little silly."
Mari was only content with her cunning, thinking to herself:
'I knew I'd done the right thing by forbidding my brother to go online! He gets visited a lot more often, because there is no other access with him.'
"By the way, Akiko-chan... You visit me often — thank you for that. And for dealing with me and bringing me out of my ennui. For everything."
Akiko was fascinated by his words and soon seemed grateful.
"You're welcome."
Mari was even more pleased, giving off a ray of bright optimistic light, and Glenn, feeling this sense of warmth, trembled.
"Brother Glenn, you and Sis fit together! You two are like inseparable from each other."
'Brother?' he marveled at his new nickname. Meanwhile, Akiko was confused in her embarrassment.
"W-what are w-what you talking about?!"
Glenn, after pondering Mari's ambiguous words thrice, was eventually conscious of what she had intended all along.
'That's how... Mari-chan, and you're more nimble than I thought you were.'
"By the way," Glenn chimed in, playing along with the girl, "sis, you never said anything before about your relationship. Do you have a boyfriend?"
"You, stop talking!"
'And where did she learn such things?' she thought to herself.
Glenn was happy with this time of his life. From then on, he started wearing eyeglasses on a regular basis.