My breath caught. I was quite stunned.
'You won't have a rent to pay anymore which will be very economic for you. And also, the others won't be able to intrude themselves at your place anymore.'
There was also the fact that he wanted to protect me from Tadashi; I was well aware of it. I was deeply touched by his proposition but, I couldn't embarrass him in front of his family and cause unnecessary tensions between them; my name was attached to that of a mass murderer.
Lowering my head, I murmured, 'Thank you for proposing it to me. But I don't think that it's a good idea.'
'If it's my family that's worrying you, the thing is that I've already talked to them about it and since I'm at the head of the clan, it's up to me to take these kinds of decisions.'
I looked up into his eyes, my mind in conflict.
There was no doubt that he had thought about it properly but I still believed that it wasn't a good idea for the same reason as before.
Suddenly, we were interrupted by a young woman who approached us.
'Tsunan!' she called.
She was absolutely gorgeous. There was no other word to define her. She was around twenty-four, and was tall and slender, with waist-length straight blonde hair and a divine face. She had two cartilage piercings on her left ear and wore two small hoop earrings. Dressed in a black gown that fell to her ankles, she resembled one of those movie stars that could be seen on advertising boards around town.
'Hatsu!' Doctor Tsunan called back.
He presented us immediately.
'Shun, I present you Hatsu Sho, the remaining member of the organization you haven't met yet.' He turned slightly to her then. 'And Hatsu, I present you Shun Shutsuki.'
She is Hatsu Sho? I had always thought that Hatsu was a guy!
'Nice to meet you, Shun,' she said, pleasantly, sticking her hand out at me.
I shook her hand, nervously; it was like shaking the hand of a diva.
'I'm glad that we can finally meet in person. Master Kagami has said much about you. And Ts-'
She bit her tongue suddenly and I wondered if she had been about to say "Tsunan also" before the latter had given her a look I had surely missed.
'How about we go have a drink all together such that you and I can get to know each other better?' she suggested, then.
Doctor Tsunan looked at me, seeking my approbation.
I agreed and the three of us ended up in a small bar nearby.
The place was chic and quite private. We sat at the counter, with me in the middle of the doctor and her.
Hatsu Sho made a sign to the bartender to bring us three drinks and I told her, immediately, 'Oh, I don't drink!'
'Well then, it'll be only two,' she corrected to the bartender with another sign of the hand.
'I'm not drinking either tonight. I'm driving,' Doctor Tsunan informed her and she let herself fall over the counter, whining, 'It's not funny to drink alone!'
'I didn't know that you're back.'
'I arrived only this afternoon from Kusunoki,' she said, straightening up in her seat. She glanced at the doctor then, her expression falling a bit. 'I should probably not talk about it.'
'Don't be silly! How are Shiragiku and Shuko?'
'It'll be better when they move in here.' She exclaimed at me cheerily, then, 'The thing is that Naoto, Tsunan and I are best friends and we used to come have a few drinks here very often!'
'I see,' I murmured, smiling sadly. They'd never be able to come here with Naoto again.
In all of a sudden, my body became very heavy and I yawned.
'To Naoto!' declared Hatsu as she lifted her glass in the air and topped it down, before moving to the other drink which was supposed to be for Doctor Tsunan.
***
'So, how do you find our organization?'
When Hatsu Sho didn't receive any answer, she glanced at the red-haired girl sitting next to her only to find her sleeping over the counter.
Hatsu's expression turned awkward and she glanced at the doctor. 'What's up with her? She didn't even have a drop of alcohol!'
'I was well telling myself that she didn't sleep even once during the whole film,' the latter commented to himself, smiling a little.
'Oh, I see!' She slammed her fist in her palm in realization. 'She's narcoleptic!'
She grinned twistedly at the doctor then, saying, 'It's crazy, we're friends since a long time now and I still can't get anything out of you!'
'Don't you know about professional secrecy? Also, I've talked about her only once with you on the phone, so avoid embarrassing me in front of her, will you?'
'That's okay... IF you don't reveal my secret to her immediately.'
His eyes narrowed at her but Hatsu knew that her little blackmail has worked.
The doctor let out a sigh.
'I'm going to the washroom,' he said, then, standing up. 'Keep an eye on her, alright?'
He gave the blonde a meaningful look.
'Don't you worry! I won't let any pervert touch her or take her in photo! You can count on me!' she exclaimed, flamboyantly, and ordered for another drink.
***
I rubbed my eyes as I woke up. I was about to apologize for having fallen asleep in the middle of our conversation when I noticed that the seat on my left was empty; Doctor Tsunan gone.
'Where did he go?' I asked Hatsu Sho, quite panicked.
'He's gone home,' the latter shrugged, swallowing her drink.
My mouth went agape; I was definitely panicking now. 'Eh?!'
'He's in the washroom!' she giggled at my reaction.
I relaxed, my expression turning cynical. It was- just a joke!
Suddenly, Hatsu became serious and she said, 'I've been told that the other members of the organization keep playing dirty tricks on you. It surprises me a lot of them. But well, even if they're all very loyal towards the master, they don't trust him blindly for that much. I guess that it allows to keep relationships healthy in a certain way.'
She looked at me then as she carried on, declaring, 'But it's totally not my case. I'm ready to follow the master blindly if needed and I have complete trust in Tsunan and thus, in you. Especially, when I see that he's invited you to move in at his house.'
My eyes widened at her.
So, she's overheard our conversation of earlier?
'It shows how much esteem he has for you!'
Doctor Tsunan has… esteem for me?
The latter returned at that moment, asking, 'What did I miss?'
We both turned around to face him.
'I was just telling Shun that she and I are going to become as thick as thieves very quickly!' Hatsu exclaimed, wounding an arm around my shoulders with a laugh.
'Stop it, you're going to scare her!' the doctor muttered.
'It's not very nice of you to say this to me! Since you're being so nasty with me, I'm not talking to you anymore!' she pouted, vexed and grabbing her bag, she ran away, shedding her false tears melodramatically.
The doctor shook his head, cynically. 'That Hatsu, I tell you! I find myself having to fix her bill as usual! I kind of expected it though!'
He sighed.
Hatsu Sho is penny-pinching? I wondered, before I smiled to myself. I like her a lot though.
As we came out of the bar, I paused down to tell Doctor Tsunan, timidly, 'About what we had been talking earlier…'
He stopped to look at me.
'If your offer still holds, I'll be very honored to come and live at your place!'
I bowed down at him, holding my breath, and waiting for him to say something.
Thanks to Hatsu, I was seeing things from a different angle. I wanted to be up to the esteem the doctor had for me.
'My offer still holds,' he said and I straightened up to find him smiling at me. I returned the smile.
'Pack your things tomorrow! I'll warn Master Kagami such that he informs your landlady. I'll come to fetch you in the afternoon.'
I acquiesced.
***
Shortly after breakfast the following day, I began packing my things. I didn't have much of anything, mainly some clothes and foot-wears. After that, I began cleaning up the apartment in its every nook and corner, in sign of respect for having sheltered me all this while.
I would always keep an image of this apartment etched in my heart; after all it was my very first home after I came out of prison.
Once I was fully satisfied, I took out the picture I had carefully hidden in the flooring and put it into my bag.
It was around four o'clock in the afternoon that Doctor Tsunan came to fetch me.
When I opened the door, I found that he wasn't alone; Yama-san and Gakkuri were accompanying him.
'Ane-ue!' exclaimed Gakkuri as she threw herself at me, hugging me.
'Hey!' I cooed, caressing the back of her head, affectionately.
'I met them downstairs,' Doctor Tsunan informed me. 'They wanted to see how you're doing.'
'Thank you for coming,' I said to both Yama-san and Gakkuri, pleased.
'How are you?' the kid asked, staring up in my eyes worriedly.
'Oh, I'm fine, thank you,' I replied, tensing up. I wondered what she had been told about my kidnapping. She should not know that her parents were involved in that. It will only make things worse.
'It's due to the job that I do, you see, it's pretty dangerous. It was Aōbozu who kidnapped me,' I told her very quickly, without thinking.
A-Aōbozu??
What took over me to say that?
'Aōbozu?' She gave me a puzzled look. 'Isn't he the blue monk who kidnaps children?'
I broke into cold sweat.
'Right,' I replied, nervously. 'But- But he has evolved. Yes. Now he takes on girls of my age. He has even found himself some acolytes. And did you see how he used modern means for his kidnappings?!'
I'm ridiculing myself!
'But we have sorted him out so there's nothing to worry about anymore. He won't be able to take on anyone from now on,' I added, cheerily.
'I'm happy that you're alright,' she told me, her eyes lowered, a poor smile on her lips.
She left with Yama-san right after and bidding them goodbye, I wondered if the child had believed my story.
'Are you ready?' Doctor Tsunan asked, turning to face me.
Taking a deep breath, I answered, 'Yes.'
I went to fetch my bag and Kōmori-san, and after taking one last glance around the apartment, I headed out with him to my new home.
Thank you for reading!