'"The End," I read, and wiping the tears that had appeared at the corner of my eyes, I declared, cheerily, 'Now that's a story as we like it- with its happy ending!'
Closing the book in my lap, I stood up from my chair and walked up to the window of the hospital room to gaze outside.
When I had arrived, it had been the visiting hours of the morning and I had not left this room since then. By this time, the sun has completely changed position in the sky and was about to go down the horizon, the sky having now taken different hues of orange and blue.
But inevitably, I had to leave now. I didn't let this sadden me though. Today was a happy day and I was determined to chase away all the clouds from the sky.
'It's our little tradition, you remember?' I said, turning to my mother with a smile. 'Every year, for your birthday, we watch this film together. It's not possible for us to watch it this year, but the book is as good as the film, don't you agree?'
Putting the book away in my bag, I then moved up to her bed and picking one of her hands up in both of mine, I placed a small kiss on her knuckles.
'Happy birthday again, Okā-san!' I whispered, and saying goodbye to her reluctantly, I made for the door.
As I slid it open and stepped outside into the corridor, suddenly, I paused down when I saw the director of the hospital holding himself there by the side wall.
'Excuse me,' he said. 'I was thinking to enter, but I didn't want to disturb you.'
I shook my head to mean that it was okay.
The dark-haired man was kinder than he appeared. When I had thought about asking him if I could spend the whole day at the hospital with my mother because it was her birthday, I had expected an outright refusal on his part. But, he had accepted to bend the rules for me.
'Are you ready?' he asked, and I nodded in reply, smiling nervously.
He had only asked me for a service in return, even if, he didn't tell me what kind of service it was going to be.
'Come!' he told me, and placing a hand onto my back, he ushered me towards the staircase.
We came down together into the entrance hall, then outside in the open onto the parking lot of the hospital, where he led me to his car.
Are we going somewhere? I wondered, without daring to ask him this question.
I felt pretty nervous in his company; he always looked so angry, that I felt intimidated by him. In fact, he reminded me of somebody else- Gōjun!
He drove for a few minutes, and when we came to a stop, I looked around of ourselves to realize that we had arrived on a busy street of the city.
He came around of the vehicle to open the passenger door for me, and I looked at his face as I stepped out of the car, wondering where exactly he was taking me.
We crossed the street to enter into a restaurant, where I discovered he had reserved a table.
The waitress indicated us to it. It was a table for two near the window, and she left us to ourselves after having told us that she'd return in a few minutes to take our order.
'Order what you want!' he told me, as his eyes went through the menu. 'I'm inviting you!'
'No-No. Thank you,' I replied, scratching the back of my head and smiling nervously again. 'I'm not hungry.'
'You're not going to watch me eat! Order something!' he stated, with authority, and I was immediately cowed.
He is a demon!
Picking the menu up in a jerky movement, I went through it rapidly and opted for the cheapest meal available.
After the waitress had taken our order and was gone, he placed his elbows on the table and intertwined his fingers in front of himself to stare at me directly, making me all the more nervous.
I gulped hard.
'I wanted to talk to you,' he said.
I had thought so…
'To be more precise, I wanted to ask you for your advice!'
Eh?
This time, I was puzzled.
'My-My advice?'
He lowered his hands onto the table to explain, 'Well, here's the thing! I have a son of your age. As you might have already noticed, I don't wear a wedding ring- I'm not married; I'm still single. In fact, he's my adopted son. I'm going to spare you the details of why he doesn't live with his parents anymore, but all that you have to know is that, I have known him ever since he's a baby; I was his doctor. It's been a little more than two years now since we've been living together, but…'
He paused to look down at his hands, and I thought I could read sadness in his eyes.
'Our relationship has not evolved ever since. For him, I was, and I continue to remain only his doctor.'
Looking up at me again, he carried on to say, 'I want to change this. But I really don't know how to deal with him. I have to admit that things have really changed a lot from the time I was a young man of his age. Not to forget that he has taken really bad habits during these last two years. He smokes. He drinks. He got himself tattooed, and has bleached his hair.'
Oh? I know someone of the like! I said to myself, with irony, a picture of Gōjun Shoran cropping up into my mind immediately. And if his son is as standoffish as Gōjun, he's not out of the woods…!
'Since you're of his own age and you two belong to the same generation, I was hoping that you could give me some advice.'
'I- I see,' I stuttered, feeling all panicked. I had not expected him to ask me my advice about something so important. What can I give him as advice? I tried to think about it, but my mind was refusing to function properly so much I felt tensed. I was afraid of saying something stupid.
He's waiting, Hime! Say something!
I had to think of something that could really work, that could really help!
Okay, calm down, Hime! And think!
At last, I had an idea, but I was uncertain about it because it was nothing original.
'Maybe...' I began, only to stop to look away, hesitantly.
'Yes?' he prompted, with expectation.
'Maybe, you could try to spend some time alone together- like going on a small vacation somewhere during one weekend- only the two of you,' I suggested, in a low, timid voice, my words coming out quite distortedly.
I studied his expression with apprehension, wondering if he would find this too old an idea. His eyes had widened at me a little, but he didn't seem irritated; he looked thoughtful.
'I have to admit that we don't get to spend a lot of time together. We only meet during the evenings when I return from work, and during the weekends. And we have never gone on a vacation together; he has always spent his school holidays traveling with his best friend. I like your idea!'
'R-Really?' I asked, too surprised to believe it, and he responded with a smile that dazzled me. I had always seen this man angry and yelling at someone or another; this was the very first time that I was seeing him smiling, and this helped me to relax a little.
'Come on! Let's eat now!' he declared, as the waitress returned with the dishes we had ordered, and I nodded, smiling back shyly.
After we were done with dinner, we said goodbye to each other in front of the restaurant, and I parted with the dark-haired man, carrying a pleasant feeling in my heart at the hopeful thought that the wall that separated him from his son would soon crumble down.
My mind drifted to Shunsui and Gōjun after that, and I wondered what I could prepare for them tomorrow.
Should I make ebi tempura? I asked myself, with enthusiasm. Shunsui likes them, and they're Gōjun's favorites!
Something occurred to me in all of a sudden, and I jerked to a stop.
Wait a second! Why am I so enthusiastic about it?! I'm doing this to repay my debt- I'm not supposed to be enjoying it!
The sound of a blaring horn shocked me out of my thoughts at that moment, and I realized that when I had come to a stop, it was right in the middle of a street!
Very quickly, I stepped backward out of the way of the oncoming vehicle until I was onto the pavement.
'You've got a death wish?!' the driver shouted at me as he drove by, and I giggled in embarrassment.
Placing my hand over my heart then, I let out a sigh, relieved that I had escaped the accident.
'I'm really way too distracted!' I said to myself, critically, before I decided, 'Okay! Let's go for ebi tempura!'
***
Later...
Should I call her? Gōjun asked himself for the umpteenth time, as he fixated his cellphone, which was lying next to him on his bed.
Feeling irritated with himself, then, he let out a growl, snatched the phone up and switched it off impulsively.
Why am I thinking about that girl?! Why should I call her anyway? She has been absent only for a day!
But why she was absent, was the question that was eating him up.
Did she fall sick?
No, let me guess! That girl is so petite and physically weak that all her limbs must be hurting her after these last three days! What a small nature! But, wait a sec! Why am I still thinking about her?!
Feeling even more irritated with himself, he pulled off his earphones, closed the magazine in his lap with a wave of the hand, and sat himself up properly in his bed.
It's all Shunsui's fault! he said to himself, scratching the back of his head in frustration. He's messing with my mind! If he had not given me her number-
A knock came down on the door of his bedroom at that moment, interrupting his line of thoughts, and he heard Kenren Shoran's voice on the other side of it, calling that he was entering. The next second, the door opened, and the man walked in, making directly for Gōjun's cupboard.
'Gōjun, pack your things up! We're leaving on a vacation!' the dark-haired man informed him, and grabbing the large bag atop of the furniture, he brought it down to place it onto the teenager's bed.
The latter was astonished. 'What?! We're leaving right now?'
'Yes,' Kenren replied, and opening the bag, he turned to the cupboard again and began to take a few of Gōjun's clothes out of it to put them into the bag.
Still very much astonished, Gōjun pointed out, 'But it's night outside! And tomorrow I have school!'
'I've already informed your school that you'll be absent for a few days. There's no problem.'
The young man jumped out of his bed to onto his feet now, asking, in confusion, 'But what's going on?'
'Nothing,' Kenren replied. 'I just realized that we've never gone on vacation together. You remember I told you that I own a small cottage by Shintō Lake? That's where we're going!'
Gōjun's eyes narrowed at him, his expression becoming cynical. 'Let me guess! You've made a terrible blunder at the hospital and now you're fleeing the police!'
'Come on, don't talk nonsense!' the older male stated. 'And pack your things!'
And on this command, he left the teenager to himself, to go pack his own things.
Thirty minutes later, the two were driving off together for their destination.
'Don't you want to tell me what's going on?' Gōjun asked Kenren, again, and the man took a glance at the teenager to find that the latter was observing him with a befuddled expression.
'I already told you,' he insisted, edgily. 'I only thought that we could spend a few days at Shintō Lake and get some vacation.'
Gōjun was still staring at him, and he hoped that the younger male was not suspecting anything. Every time he had tried to get close to Gōjun, the latter had pushed him back.
If he realizes what I'm trying to do, how will he react this time? the dark-haired male asked himself.
'Alright,' exhaled Gōjun, with a shake of the head, and on this, he began to gaze out of the window at the defiling scenery.
The two didn't exchange another word with each other after this.
Kenren wanted to speak to Gōjun, but he was too scared to say anything, for fear that the teenager might guess his intention.
It was near midnight that they arrived at the cottage. This, was found in the middle of nowhere and was surrounded by trees for kilometers round. It was too dark outside to see much of anything. Kenren had a torch with him though, and therefore, they had no difficulty to find the handle of the back door.
Unlocking it, Kenren entered the cottage and began to switch on all the lights on his way; Gōjun walking in behind him.
The teenaged young man stood where he was for a minute to take a look around of himself. He was standing in a living room. There was a television set on the right-hand side, with a set of sofa sitting in the middle. On the left was a staircase that led upstairs- the cottage being two-storied- and there was also a kitchen, with a table and four chairs. Just opposite of the door through which they had entered, that is, at the other end of the living room, was a large sliding door which opened onto the front of the cottage and which gave off onto a lawn. The lawn was actually the banks of the lake. Gōjun could see the water glimmering under the light of the moon in the distance now.
'It's pretty well-kept!' he commented, smugly. There was not one piece of dust on any of the furnitures.
'There's an old couple who come to clean up the place two to three times a week,' Kenren informed him from the other side of the living room. He had slid the door- which gave off onto the lawn- open, to allow some fresh air to pour in the room.
'I see,' replied Gōjun. 'I'll go upstairs now. The bedrooms are upstairs, right?'
The older male turned around at that moment to look at him, only to find that the teenager was already making his way up the stairs.
Kenren was a bit disappointed. He had been thinking that they could perhaps sit together for a while in the living room and drink something, but he supposed that it was too late to do anything, and it was probably better to go off to sleep. His confidence didn't waver even once though, for he knew that there will be many other occasions, as they'll be spending several days there at the cottage.
***
The following day...
When Gōjun woke up, it was still early in the morning. In fact, it was the same exact time as he would usually wake up to go to school. He had hoped to stay asleep a little while longer because, after all, it was supposed to be a vacation. Nevertheless, he stirred up and after having freshened up, he made his way downstairs, only to come to a stop half-way down the staircase in surprise, when he saw Kenren working in the kitchen. The latter was busy preparing them their breakfast.
The moment the older male caught sight of Gōjun, he called at him, 'Ah Gōjun, you're up?!'
'You're cooking...' the teenager stated, in astonishment, and Kenren pointed out, with good humor, 'You look so surprised!'
'It's just that it's very rare to see you cooking!' Gōjun replied, in a mumble, scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes a little.
He came down the staircase then, to make his way up to the table to stand there.
'It's true that I don't cook very often,' the older male acknowledged, and turning around with the frying pan in his hand, he placed the eggs he had cooked in the two plates on the table, before putting the pan away in the sink. 'Let me think! The first time, it was the day you moved in with me! If I remember well, I had prepared you eggs for breakfast that day equally!'
When he looked up at Gōjun face, he saw that the latter's expression had changed, and instantly, he regretted having talked about it. He had not wanted to make the teenager uncomfortable. But, he also couldn't help but feel a bit hurt that the latter refused to confide his feelings to him.
'I think I'm going to sit in front of the TV to eat,' Gōjun told him, edgily.
'Ah, the television isn't working!' Kenren informed him, with regret. 'I tried to switch it on earlier. I'm really sorry about that. It's a bit of an antiquity.'
Gōjun stared at him, with traces of anxiety showing on his face, without any doubt, worried about how he was going to spend his time in this place now.
'But there are many other things that we could do!' Kenren told him, before hurrying up to propose, 'I was thinking that we could spend a few hours fishing at the lake. What do you think?'
Kenren was eager to take Gōjun fishing at the lake, which would allow them to perform an activity together, and hopefully, help them break the wall of ice between them.
The thing he apprehended the most was that Gōjun would refuse. He held his breath as he waited for the teenager's reply.
Gōjun seemed to consider the question, as he fixated Kenren for a minute, before he replied, 'Alright.'
'Great!' the older male answered, and they both pulled a chair to sit together at the table to eat their breakfast in silence. After they were done, they went out to the lake and spent half of the day on its banks, fishing.
But things didn't evolve as Kenren had expected. Gōjun hardly spoke a word to him. As usual, he seemed to have buried himself behind a wall, an impenetrable wall. But Kenren didn't lose faith. It had been only half a day yet after all.
Thank you for reading!