When the two young men woke up in the morning, their anger had been replaced with frustration.
Gōjun had decided to spend the night at Shunsui's place. He had been too angry to go back home. And the two young men had been way too furious after the dark-haired girl to speak a word to each other the whole night. Gōjun had taken a room for himself, and after having taken a bath, the two males had thrown themselves into bed to try to find some sleep. This, had been very long to come.
'Are you up?' Gōjun asked the reddish-brown-haired young man, as he arrived in the doorway of the latter's bedroom, pausing down there.
'Yeah,' Shunsui replied, and sitting up in his bed, he averted his eyes to rake his hand through his hair, frustratedly. Gōjun averted his eyes too to rake his hand in his own hair in the same manner; both young men unable to keep themselves from thinking about the dark-haired girl.
Sometimes later, after they had freshed up a bit, they both decided to skip breakfast and go outside for a drive. It had rained all night, but the weather had calmed down by now, even if the sky was still cloudy.
As they came out of the house, however, a terrible shock was awaiting them.
They both jerked to a stop, their heart skipping a beat, at the sight of the dark-haired girl, who was holding herself there on her knees in the yard, with her hair damped and disheveled, her school uniform all wrinkled on her for having half-dried on her.
Tell me that it's not what I'm thinking! they both said to themselves, as they stared at her frantically. Her face looked very pale. And her lips and nails were blue. Did she stay here all night, outside in the rain, kneeling in front of the door of the house?!
***
I looked up when I heard Shunsui exclaim my name. It was very strange; I had not heard the door open.
'Shunsui, Gōjun...' I croaked in anguish, breaking into tears. 'I'm really sorry!'
'What do you think you're doing, you idiot?!' Gōjun shouted at me.
Just at that moment, I felt myself start falling backward. But both Shunsui and he caught me just in time before I could hit the ground, both young men having gotten down on the floor in front of me.
I had no idea what was happening to me. I felt so cold. And my eyelids were so heavy. In fact, my whole body seemed to weigh a ton.
'It's my punishment!' I told them, in another croak.
I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, my consciousness slipping out slowly.
***
'Oh my god, Gōjun! She's falling into hypothermia!' Shunsui Shigeizumi exclaimed, frantically. 'Her pulse is so weak! And her breathing is slow and shallow! If we don't do anything, she's going to die! Let's take her inside immediately!'
Without losing a second, Gōjun picked the girl up in his arms to rush inside of the house with her, carrying her to the reddish-brown-haired young man's bedroom urgently. He placed her on his bed, and Shunsui took out of his cupboard several blankets, as well as a shirt and a tracksuit of his, to bring them to him rapidly.
'Make her wear these! And then, cover her with the blankets! I'm calling the Doctor Nakamura!' Shunsui exclaimed, his tone completely panicked, and already, he was dialing the doctor's number.
Gōjun looked at him, hesitating despite his alarm.
'Shunsui...'
It was not like it was the first time that he was going to see a girl naked. No. Far from that. But they were talking about the dark-haired girl here...
Looking around at him again, Shunsui told him to just do it and get under the blankets with her to keep her warm, before he moved into the corridor to speak to the doctor on the phone.
Gōjun's eyes returned back to onto the girl, and he stared at her still hesitating for a few more seconds, before he started taking off her clothes and do as Shunsui had told him.
***
My eyes opened to an orange light.
It took me several minutes to really be able to concentrate and realize that I was not cold anymore. I felt warm, and I was in Shunsui's bedroom, resting on his bed, under several layers of blankets. And I was not alone there. Gōjun and he were there too. The former was lying by my side, with his arm around my waist, cuddling me, while the reddish-brown-haired young man was sitting on the other side of me with his back resting against the headboard; both young men watching me anxiously.
It was dark outside by now.
At the sight of the two males, I was filled with anguish again and tears welled up my eyes and began to fall.
'Shunsui, Gōjun… I'm so sorry! So sorry!' I said, covering my eyes with my two arms while I cried.
'Hime, stop crying!' Shunsui told me, softly.
'I'm really, very sorry!'
'Hime, stop crying now!' he repeated, and I felt Gōjun and he shift on the bed. A weight came upon my hip and I felt a pair of hands close around my wrists to pull my arms away from my face and uncover my eyes.
Opening them, I saw that it was Shunsui who had moved to on top of me and he was holding one of my hands by the side of my head against the pillow, while Gōjun was holding the other in the same way, from where he was kneeling beside me on the bed now.
'You know, I think I understand why you didn't tell us anything or even the reason why you didn't even think to ask us for our help!' Shunsui told me, his tone a bit sad. 'It's true that you started to hang out with us only to repay me for my broken phone.'
My eyes went wide at him.
'Shunsui, no! If I didn't approach any one of you, it's because I thought that it would be so inappropriate; it's not the kind of thing to do! And I remained silent on the subject because I felt so ashamed of myself! I didn't have the courage to tell any one of you about what I had done!'
'You don't have to feel ashamed with us about anything, you idiot!' Gōjun stated, grumpily, turning his face slightly to the side, and I almost thought I could see his cheeks take a small shade of red. 'And where did you find that it'd be inappropriate to ask us for our help, huh?!'
My eyes grew even wider.
Oh, Gōjun…
'We're ready to forgive you this time!' Shunsui asserted. 'However, let me inform you that your debt has further been increased. In effect, I hereby declare you indebted towards me for the rest of your life! And don't expect me to go easy on you!'
A devilish smile had come to his lips now, causing me to flinch.
Shunsui!
'You're going to suffer, my poor girl!'
***
'How is she?' Tsubasa Shigeizumi asked her son, casting an anxious look into the direction of the sleeping dark-haired girl through the doorway of the room.
'She woke up an hour ago, but she was very tired and fell back to sleep. The doctor has said that she needs rest. Her injury at the head is only recent. Not to forget that she has neither been sleeping nor eating properly for days. And after yesterday… She'll need some time to recuperate completely.'
'I see,' the blonde woman whispered, as she continued to watch the girl with the same anxious look.
After a minute of silence, Shunsui declared, uneasily, 'By the way, I wanted to thank you for having accepted to give me the money.'
At this, her eyes immediately shifted onto him to gaze at him, and tell him, tenderly, 'Shunsui, you don't have to thank me about anything. And you didn't need to ask me for my permission either; this money belongs to the Zaibatsu; it belongs to you. You know, I'm very proud of the young man that you've become! You're someone who takes care of his dear ones!'
The reddish-brown-haired young man's cheeks reddened.
Pressing her eyes shut, the blonde woman gave him an affectionate smile.
***
When my eyes opened again, the first thing that I saw were long, blonde locks of hair in the lights of the early morning.
'Tsubasa-sama!' I exclaimed in surprise.
Stirring up from where she was sleeping next to me, with her head resting on my belly and arms around me, the blonde woman rubbed her eyes to greet me with a smile. But she wiped the smile off her face almost immediately, and climbing on top of me, she began to pull at my cheeks angrily, chiding me, 'Hime! May I know why you didn't come to see me?! I thought that we were closer than this!'
Ignoring the pain in my cheeks, I stared at the blonde woman through my teary eyes for a whole minute, my heart filled with anguish, before I brushed my arm over my eyes to try to contain my tears, and apologized to her, fervently, 'Tsubasa-sama! I'm really sorry! Please forgive me!'
'Ah! Don't you think that saying sorry is going to be enough!' she asserted. 'I'm warning you! Your punishment will be terrible! Atrocious! You're going to suffer, my poor girl!'
At this, I couldn't help but smile.
Truly, Shunsui and Tsubasa-sama resemble each other so much!
I was ready to accept any punishment as long as they would forgive me.
'Why are you smiling?! It's not something to be smiling about!' she shouted, and she began to pull at my cheeks harder. But I couldn't stop smiling.
After a few minutes, she let go of my cheeks to stare at me with her eyes filling up with tears.
My heart skipped a beat.
Tsubasa-sama…
I had worried everyone so much! I truly regretted it!
'Hime,' she murmured, putting her hands down onto my shoulders. 'I'm so happy that nothing happened to you!'
'Oh, Tsubasa-sama…'
'Now, come on,' she declared then, shaking off her tears and clapping her hands once, her tone becoming enthusiastic, 'Go freshen up a bit and get yourself dressed! There's somewhere that we need to go!'
She had climbed off me now, and sitting up, I asked her, with an intrigued look, 'Somewhere?'
'Yes. You'll see,' she answered, heading for the door. 'I've asked Takara-san to make a small jump at your house this morning to bring you some clothes. And don't worry, I've cooked up a good excuse about your absence from home in order not to worry your grand-parents. They don't know anything of what happened. Let's keep it a secret, okay?'
Lowering my head, I smiled gratefully, tears coming to my eyes again.
Shunsui, Gōjun, Tsubasa-sama… Thank you for not telling Ojii-san and Obā-san anything!
Something occurred to me at that moment, and instantaneously, I looked down at the clothes that I was wearing.
I was not in my school uniform anymore!
I was clothed in a long white shirt- with its long sleeves hitched half-way up to my elbows- and a pair of black trousers that were too long and too large for me. I still had my under-wears on me though.
'These clothes...'
'It's Gōjun who changed your clothes!' Shunsui informed me, as he arrived in the doorway of the room at that moment.
My face heated up and I almost had a nose-bleed.
He saw me n-naked?!
'He didn't have the choice! If he had not, you might have died!' he added, in a small giggle.
Tsubasa-sama was giggling too.
I want to faint!
No, in fact, I want to die!
Totally embarrassed, my only reaction was to jump out of the bed to make a rush for the bathroom to hide myself there for as long as it would be possible, but just as I placed a foot on the floor, in all of a sudden, a terrible pain hit me at the knees and my legs gave me under me. I fell into a sitting position on the floor, holding my knees in pain.
'Hime!' Shunsui and Tsubasa-sama exclaimed together in alarm, and without losing a second, they rushed up to me to get down on the ground by my side.
'Your knees must still be very soar!' Shunsui told me. 'You're going to have some difficulty to walk. Frankly, Hime, I don't understand what went through your mind! You're truly the biggest idiot in the world!'
'I'm sorry,' I whispered.
'Come with me! I'm going to help you to the bathroom,' Tsubasa-sama declared, with a reassuring smile, and helping me to my feet, she sent her arm around my waist while holding one of my hands in her free one to help me walk.
I gave her a grateful look.
After I had taken a shower and got dressed, I came to meet up with the boys and she in the kitchen. My knees were hurting me and I had to take support on the wall to walk, but I truly felt that I deserved this pain; it was my punishment to myself.
When my eyes fell onto Gōjun, my face heated up again and I looked away on the spot. He had the same reaction. However, he moved up to me after a minute to hold his hand out to me, and I looked at him in surprise. His face was still slightly turned to the side, his expression grouchy now.
Lifting my hand up, I placed it onto his palm. He closed his hands around mine tightly and led me to the table, helping me to walk.
Shunsui refused to tell me how he had managed to convince Tetsuya Tsurugi's boss to leave me alone. But whatever he had done, he had put Tsubasa-sama in the confidence, and this reassured me.
We all took breakfast together, after which, we left the house to head for a destination that was still unknown to me. This, revealed to be the hospital. I looked at the face of the two young men and the blonde woman, both anxious and intrigued. We had headed into a different direction from that of my mother's room. But I didn't dare to ask them anything.
At last, we arrived in front of the door of an office, which turned out to be none other than that of the director of the hospital; that of Gōjun's father.
I had completely forgotten that Katsura-san and Kenren Shoran were supposed to return from their vacation today!
And, indeed, as Gōjun opened the door of the room and we entered the office, I found that the two of them were back to the city.
The dark-haired man was sitting behind his desk, while the brown-haired woman was holding herself by his side. The moment we entered the room, she ran up to me to embrace me.
'Hime! I was so worried when Gōjun called us last night! Why didn't you tell us anything?! We would have returned immediately!'
'Katsura-san,' I whispered, lowering my eyes, filled with remorse. 'I'm sorry.'
'What happened is very serious!' Gōjun's father declared, getting up from his seat. 'I believe that I owe you my most sincere apologies. I have been able to enter into contact with the United States' authorities. I assure you that I won't let the Doctor Sudo get away with it so easily. Once the authorities will have detected his presence on their territory, I shall start legal pursuits against him. And as compensation to you, I wish to inform you that you won't have to pay for the medical bills of your mother anymore. The hospital is going to take charge of it from now on!'
My eyes went wide at him in shock; my heart skipping a beat.
How- How could I accept this? It would be too…
Just as I opened my mouth to tell him that I could not accept this, he cut me off, stating, 'I won't accept any refusal. I've already talked to your grand-parents. And don't worry, I didn't inform them of the reason behind this. Hime, I want you to know that I feel partly responsible for what happened, because Doctor Sudo was an employee of this hospital. And therefore, I am equally liable.'
I didn't know what to say. There seemed no way to make him change his mind. What he was doing was so enormous, that tears had come to my eyes.
'I don't know how to thank you,' I murmured, trying my best to contain my tears.
'You don't have to thank me for anything. And once again, I apologize to you for what happened.'
I shook my head, giving him a grateful smile.
Taking a glance at Katsura-san then, he declared, 'There's something else that we wanted to announce to every one of you!'
Another announcement?
I held my breath in anticipation; my heart accelerating.
Have they become a couple?!
Closing the distance between the two of them, he took hold of her hand, and after having exchanged a tender smile with her, he announced, 'Katsura and I are now engaged! We're going to get married soon!'
He had lifted her hand up now to show us the engagement ring she was wearing around her annular.
My heart fluttered in elation, and we all exchanged a look with one another.
It was better than anything anyone could have expected!
'Katsura-san!' I exclaimed, and utterly thrilled, both Tsubasa-sama and I jumped at her neck to hug her and present to her our most heart-felt congratulations. We were all ecstatic, and when I looked at Gōjun, I found the dark-haired man and him smiling at each other.
This image of the father and the son would forever remain captured in my heart.
***
Meanwhile, in China…
Hiyori Miyatsu was gazing out of the window of the small apartment- where she was now living with her aunt- at the city downstairs when, her phone started to ring. It was her father who was calling her.
Frowning a little, she picked up the call.
'Otō-san...'
But he didn't greet her. His tone was constantly angry whenever he would speak to her these days. But today, his tone was cold.
'Hiyori, tell me something! Do you know a young man named Tetsuya Tsurugi?'
Her heart jumped to her throat; her breath catching.
'It's okay. You don't have to answer me. Even if I told Shunsui and Tsubasa Shigeizumi that my daughter could never do something like this and that they should not to try to enter into contact with me and my family ever again, deep down, I knew that they were telling the truth. I know that you have taken money out of the account of the company. This money could not have disappeared just like that. I don't know how you did it, but I can't believe that you have done something like this! Not to forget that if something had happened to that girl- Hime Kirigakure- your mother and I would have found ourselves implicated too! But Hiyori, if I have called you, it is not to make any reproaches to you, because it is perfectly useless. No, if I have called you, it is to inform you that I have frozen your personal bank account, and that you won't have access to the company's finances anymore. And let me also inform you that when your mother and I will die, you won't inherit anything. I'm disowning you!'
On these final words, he hung up on her.
The dark-haired girl stared at the screen of her phone, frantically, her whole world seeming to come crashing down on her.
He- He is disowning me?!
Her cellphone rang again, and without looking at the identity of the caller, she picked the call up, expecting it to be her father who was calling her back. But it was a different voice. It was that of Tetsuya Tsurugi.
'How's life in China, eh?' the young man declared. 'Say, you didn't tell me that that girl is friends with the Shigeizumi! The boss is not very happy with me. And you know what that means, right? If he's not happy with me, then I'm not happy with you. Let me warn you already! We're in China and if we ever come across of you, it won't be good for you. You'd better watch your back from now on!'
And on this threat, he ended the call.
The girl began to tremble with fear.
It's not possible!
Why is this happening to me?
It's over! It's all over! I'm reduced to nothing!
Falling onto her knees on the floor, she hugged herself, gritting her teeth together, her emotions a mixture of anger and distress.
Natsui Mizoroge! It's all because of you! If today, I have no one and nothing, it's all because of you! And that damn girl, Hime Kirigakure! And Shunsui Shigeizumi…!
Thank you for reading!