Three months had passed since Ferruccio left, and finally, the first call came. Akio and Kiyomi hoped it would bring good news—maybe Ferruccio was coming home.
The phone rang, and Akio rushed into the living room, where Kiyomi stood by the phone. Despite his lingering anger toward his father, a flicker of hope remained. If his father was calling now, surely it was to apologize and promise to return.
"Is it Dad?" Akio asked anxiously.
"We'll find out in a moment," Kiyomi replied.
"Hmph… I'm still mad at him!" Akio grumbled.
"Oh, Akio," Kiyomi said with a sigh. "Can't you forgive your father already?"
Kiyomi answered and put the phone on speaker.
"Hey, hello! Am I on speaker?" Ferruccio's voice came through.
"Yes, we can hear you perfectly," Kiyomi answered.
"Is the little man there too?"
"There's no little man here! I'm big!" Akio protested.
"Hmmm… too bad. I wanted to talk to a little man," Ferruccio teased.
"Yes, I'm wondering where he could be," Kiyomi played along. "All I see is a little boy."
"HEY! I'm a grown man!" Akio shouted indignantly.
"Then, can I talk to Akio? Is he there?"
"No!" Akio snapped.
Kiyomi decided to humor him, adopting a faux-serious tone. "Akio? Akio, where are you? Hmm… this is tricky. Where could he be?"
"Mom, you can see me!" Akio waved his arms wildly and jumped onto the sofa to make himself visible.
"I don't see or hear any Akio," Kiyomi said with mock confusion.
"Mom, that's not funny! I'm right here!" Akio shouted, red-faced and exhausted from his antics.
"Oh, there you are!" Kiyomi exclaimed suddenly. "Where were you hiding?"
"That wasn't funny!" Akio pouted, crossing his arms.
Kiyomi seized the moment to teach a lesson. "Akio, what did you learn from this?"
"That I'm not a little man!"
"That wasn't the lesson," Kiyomi said dryly.
"Sorry," Akio muttered.
"Good. Now listen: if you pretend to be someone else, people might ignore you or push you away. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mom."
"Do you really understand?"
"Yes, but when I'm a big man, I can make my own rules!"
"That's not what I said. We'll talk about this later."
Akio froze, his face pale. He knew what "We'll talk about this later" meant. With a gulp, he quietly moved aside, letting Ferruccio take over the conversation.
"How are you both doing? How's my little guy?" Ferruccio asked cheerfully.
"Hmph…" Akio tried to ignore him, his earlier hope extinguished.
"Still mad, huh?" Ferruccio sighed.
"He says he's angry," Kiyomi explained.
"Any chance I can talk to him properly?"
"You should ask him yourself," Kiyomi suggested.
Akio broke his silence. "Are you coming home now?"
"I wish I could say yes, but I can't," Ferruccio admitted reluctantly.
"Then why are you calling?" Akio snapped.
Ferruccio hesitated. "I wanted to let you know it might take longer than I thought."
"WHAT? ANOTHER 100 YEARS?" Akio yelled.
"Don't exaggerate, Akio," Kiyomi scolded, her irritation clear.
"Sorry, Mom," Akio mumbled.
"Ferruccio, what does 'longer' mean? You said a few months, maybe a year. Now it's 'longer'?" Kiyomi pressed.
"It means I don't know. It could be more than a year," Ferruccio admitted.
"You don't want to come home!" Akio shouted before storming off.
"Akio, no!" Kiyomi called after him, but the sound of his bedroom door slamming was her only reply.
---
Kiyomi sighed deeply. "He just doesn't understand."
Ferruccio's voice softened. "I don't blame him. I feel guilty too, but this situation is worse than I anticipated."
"What's happening over there?" Kiyomi asked.
"It's what's not happening that's the problem," Ferruccio explained. "We've found no leads, and the murders keep happening."
"What do you mean, no leads? There must be something," Kiyomi argued.
Ferruccio sighed. "It's like the evidence just vanishes. Notes, objects—anything we find turns to ash, disappears, or disintegrates. And it's not just the evidence. The perpetrators vanish too."
"That makes no sense," Kiyomi said, frowning.
"We suspect they're spirit mages," Ferruccio explained. "The victims could've been manipulated into suicide before their bodies were mutilated. It's a pattern, but it keeps changing."
"That sounds horrifying," Kiyomi said, shuddering. "No wonder the government is terrified of organized groups like this."
"Yes, but it confirms that our work is necessary," Ferruccio said. "The government licenses mages like me to stop threats like this."
"If only everyone in the government had your principles," Kiyomi replied with a small smile.
Ferruccio seized the moment to change the tone. "Is that a compliment or a flirt?"
"Oh, shut up," Kiyomi said, though her voice betrayed a grin.
"Maybe you should get licensed too, Kiyomi. Your magic might be more powerful than you think," Ferruccio teased.
"Stop it!" Kiyomi huffed.
Ferruccio laughed warmly, lightening the mood. "Your charm must be magic. How else do you explain it?"
"Ferruccio, you're impossible!"
The call ended on a playful note, but Kiyomi's thoughts lingered on Ferruccio's struggles. She hoped he would return soon—safe and sound.
Later that evening, she sat with Akio, who was still sulking in his room. "Akio, I know it's hard for you. But your father loves you, and he's doing this to protect us and others. It's not because he doesn't care."
"Then why can't he come home?" Akio whispered.
"Because he's fighting to make the world safer. But I promise, we'll get through this together, okay?"
Akio nodded hesitantly. The disappointment was still there, but a glimmer of understanding began to show.