A week later, it was now July.

A notification was sent to every Geo Timer user early Monday morning.

'Notice : Fruits Line Reopened!'

This created a bit of buzz within the tiny, but dedicated community that was now growing from the Discord group that Iori, Norio and Shigehiro created.

The tourists were gone, so were the police activities. It was finally the time to run again.

—

The meltdown from Ryoji's situation caused quite a commotion within the Tsuchiura First High School. He had not been attending since that day, which to many were very suspicious as most students knew he was fine after a very short stay.

Of course, the rumors were abound in the students group, a few of them were accurate ones such as Ryoji's family being bankrupt, or he's getting expelled due to some sort of harsh infractions, but no one could confirm the true story. To the more inaccurate such as him having persistent chronic illness or him moving to a foreign country.

With this being the case, most other students, even close friends like Akira, accepted that whatever the truth was, they'd probably never know, and the best they could do would be to forget about it after a while.

Except for Ippei and Sachiko, who of course knew the truth by chance, even if it wasn't the whole truth. Ippei later decided to not withhold the truth from Akira, who seemed to have no choice but accepted it as well. Nothing could be done about it.

After a week, almost everyone seemed to have forgotten about it all.

Monday morning, and people are arriving in their classes, including Akira who saw Ippei was already there at his desk, looking forlornly out the window. Akira noticed that his friend had been pretty down lately, and he knew the reason, yet he didn't really know how to cheer him up either.

Akira was sad about Ryoji as well, but he knew that whatever happened, Ryoji probably didn't have a choice in this matter, and as tragic as having to quit school in his third year while being academically good enough to be accepted into any university he wanted, whatever had happened, couldn't be change.

"Good morning." Akira greeted Ippei, who wasn't paying attention.

Akira never thought of Ippei being anything but unflappable, only when he's together with Sachiko-chan that he's started showing his other emotion than usual curmudgeon self. Right now it's the opposite in that the event that transpired had left Ippei broken somewhat.

At least he had Sachiko to be with him now. Akira would not want to deal with Ippei's moody side by himself, as he also felt terrible for Ryoji, especially once he heard the truth.

"Where are you going this summer break?" Akira asked again, trying his hardest to converse something, anything, with Ippei.

"Huh?" Ippei turned and appeared confused, like he had not heard the question.

"The summer break. Are you going anywhere on the summer break?"

"Oh, right, only a few weeks huh..." Ippei replied without an answer, and he still seemed gloomy.

"Are you going somewhere with Sachiko?" Akira tried the romance angle.

"Yeah."

That was it, Ippei did not elaborate any further and went back to being completely quiet, which also made Akira quite sad by proxy.

Another student opened the classroom door, and everyone who turned to look gasped loudly, which made everyone look in the same direction, and most had the same reaction, including Akira and Ippei.

Ippei, especially, who was so surprised he stood up and quickly walked up to the door.

It was Ryoji, looking completely fine. Every student there started crowding around Ryoji as soon as they noticed.

"Ryoji! You're back!" One friend said very gladfully.

"What happened? We were so worried!" Another asked.

"Hey, you all don't need to be this surprised! I'm not dead!" Ryoji said with a smile, the joking tone made everyone there quite relieved.

Except for Ippei, who's staring in disbelief in what he's seeing, even if he was happy and relieved as well.

"You're back?" Ippei asked, still couldn't quite believe his eyes.

"What? Even you are surprised about that?" Ryoji smirked at his close friends, who didn't have an answer.

"But..." Akira refrained himself before saying what he's really thinking, "well I'm glad you're back."

It was weird, Ippei thought. Something was clearly not right in his view. Especially after seeing the apartment where Ryoji lived, he thought Ryoji moved a long way away and would never be coming back, ever. So why was he here again so suddenly and appearing like everything was okay?

Not long after, the classes started, and every student went back to their seats. Isao Tanigawa walked into the room, and was as equally shocked as the students as soon as he saw Ryoji at his seat.

"Sasaki-kun? You're back?" Isao asked immediately when he saw Ryoji.

"Yes, Tanigawa-sensei." Ryoji replied.

"That's... good."

Isao then started the class as usual. Ippei couldn't focus much on the lessons though, even if the midterm exam will be coming in a few days. He couldn't stop contemplating how and why Ryoji got back seemingly without any signs of trouble in his life, which he knew there was.

Ippei could see that Tanigawa-sensei also had something in his mind, being the one who went to Ryoji's apartment with Yamada-sensei a week back as well.

Even if Ippei didn't have direct access to the school staff's circle of talk, he would have guessed that in the background, a lot of shits were going on, much more than the students. That was absolutely correct.

Isao pretty much immediately relayed the message to the entire school staff that Ryoji was back. They were worried about not being able to trace him, so some were relieved that he came back, despite their fear. Yet, for a few in the know, they knew there was an elephant in the room.

As soon as the first period ended, Isao quickly ran to the general staff room, where an emergency meeting was called. Iori was already there, along with a lot of staff, including even the vice principal.

"He just came back?" The vice principal asked, very surprised.

"Yes, sir." Isao confirmed.

"Well," The vice principal had something in mind, but saw that some of the staff there, not all of them knew of the issue Ryoji had, "that's good. His attendance is still good enough, right?"

"That's correct." Isao replied.

"Then I can't see any issue."

Iori and Isao were relieved that the vice principal did not bring up the issue of the drug test result into this meeting room. They believed that the vice principal would rather sweep it under the rug, rather than making it a cause for expulsion.

Them telling him about Sasaki's financial issue may have helped with that, and they were glad that the vice principal chose to give priority to Ryoji's future, rather than the strict rule-keeping. It would have ruined Ryoji otherwise. As heartless as any big governmental organization could be, the people in it still had empathy, if you were lucky. Not all would be as lucky.

After the short summary, every teacher went back to their duty, and none of the students knew about their decision.

Isao didn't think of anything but being glad Ryoji was back, but Iori was not the same. She had doubts. It was too convenient, this world was not a place that was kind to anyone in the dump. Something like a lottery ticket that came in clutch never happened to anyone.

The underlying issues were still there, and most of the people around Iori already decided that Ryoji's return was a good thing, so she couldn't even contradict. But at the same time there's nothing she can do.

By lunch time, everything felt normal to everyone.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Hey, Ryoji, what would you like to eat today?" Akira asked with a smirk, "I'll treat you."

"Treat yourself, man. Don't worry about me." Ryoji replied with a chuckle.

"Come on, I thought you were dead and buried!"

"You're being too dramatic."

Ippei was observing the two and wasn't saying anything much at all. He just brought up the bento he prepared this morning. Fried pork and salad.

"Aren't you going to eat with your girlfriend like usual?" Ryoji turned to Ippei and asked.

"Being together all the time can get tiring." Ippei replied honestly.

"Eh, that's not good, is it?" Akira asked, unintentionally being insensitive.

"Nope, it's having a healthy relationship." Ippei didn't seem compelled to explain any further than that.

"You've been together for what, 2 months? Don't act like you're an expert." Ryoji jokingly said, but it rubbed Ippei in the wrong way.

"That's rich for someone who's never been in any."

"Pfffff." Akira chuckled, as the banter was on brand for all of them.

Although, there was this uneasiness brewing in Ippei's mind, that neither of his friends seemed to notice.

"I know you guys have been missing me, but I'm going to eat alone today in the cafeteria." Ryoji went back to the lunch topic.

"Ehhhh? But I've already bought a bento. I'll go with you anyway." Akira said, but Ryoji quickly shook his head to decline.

"Why not stay here with Ippei, who's a bit lonely today? He's not used to loneliness now, you know?" Ryoji kept joking around, like usual.

Ippei didn't buy the act, he smelt something fishy with that, but he didn't want to call Ryoji out.

"Fine, but only because you're just back." Akira gave in, and let Ryoji have his way.

"See you later, alright?"

After Ryoji said, he got up and walked away alone.

"The bastard," Akira turned to Ippei and said, in a joking manner, "still the same."

"That's horseshit, isn't it?"

Akira was shocked to hear that from Ippei, saying that about Ryoji who just came back.

"Huh? Why are you being grumpy today? It's weird. Maybe what you were saying about healthy relationships was horseshit as well considering how you are today." Akira was having enough of Ippei's gloominess right now. Their friend came back and he didn't seem keen to be happy.

"You didn't find it weird that Ryoji didn't want you to have lunch with him?" Ippei asked, but Akira wouldn't have any of that.

"Like you said, being together all the time is tiring," Akira said snarkingly, "like me being with you right now."

"Something's not right, I'm telling you."

"If you have any issue, bring it up with Ryoji, don't talk behind his back."

That statement from Akira was dead serious. He was pissed with Ippei now, but Ippei wasn't concerned about that right now.

—

It's been a week since Tadamori was transferred to Japan Safe Driving Center, Central Safety Training Center. It turns out to be a blessing.

The head of the training center was an old friend of Ishioka Station Chief, and ever since Tadamori went through training at the center, he'd been earmarking for him ever since, purely because he did so well. Tadamori aced the tests so much that the head considered him to be the best he'd ever seen.

When the news reached, the head of the training center wasted no time calling in some favor, to transfer Tadamori, who wasn't wanted at the station anymore, to here.

Sometimes, things can fall into place like that. Some people really were just that lucky.

Tadamori's main job? Driving Instructor. He's been demonstrating and teaching driving techniques to a class of students. 6 traffic police squad officers from Fukushima prefecture. Tadamori actually found it quite enjoyable as well, even if he had never considered it.

Today was the last day for this group, and the lesson was a practical test on the training center's test track.

There was a special guest appearance today as well, which surprised even Tadamori. It's been dealt with since before he came here, so he didn't know until he saw the person walking in. A big body middle aged man with a kind face. Koichi Sasagawa. A famous racing driver was invited for the training? That's so cool!

The lesson was mostly letting the students drive a powerful Nissan Skyline around the road course, in which Koichi also demonstrated by drifting the car around the track. That was the coolest shit Tadamori had ever seen in his life. Koichi Sasagawa drifting an old decommissioned police car? He'd seen a video of Sasuke Sarusawa or Takazaki Aomoto doing that, but this was different because he'd seen it with his own eyes!

After the class ended, Tadamori couldn't help and went to talk to Sasagawa, who could be said, was an idol to many car enthusiasts.

"Sasagawa-san." Tadamori called Koichi, who was sitting alone in the prepared breakroom.

"Ah, you're one of the instructors, right? I've seen your driving, it's good." Koichi quickly replied with his same chilled out voice that Tadamori always sees on screen, not in real life.

"I've always been a fan of yours, ever since the early Speed Running program you've been in." Tadamori was gushing.

"Heheh, that's always nice to hear. Want a selfie?" Koichi asked, which made Tadamori chuckle.

"It's alright, Sasagawa-san, I'm not that kind of fan." Tadamori respectfully declined.

Koichi was wondering something, this guy's driving he saw reminded him of something. A story Mizuho Noda told him from a while ago, it could be coincidence but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"You're relatively young, you weren't here before, you could drive like crazy. Which department did you transfer from?" Koichi asked, while guessing already that he's an ex-police.

"Ishioka Station Traffic Squad." Tadamori replied, which confirmed what Koichi was thinking.

"Are you Officer Tadamori Tachi?"

That question from Koichi did surprise Tadamori quite a bit, especially when he asked specifically with the title, Officer Tadamori, not Sargeant, and not his name alone.

"I was for a while, yeah." Tadamori replied also with a hard nod.

"Ah! So you aren't Tadamori anymore, I see." Koichi joked with him, which made Tadamori laugh so hard.

"I'm still Tadamori, but I'm not a policeman anymore."

"That tracks." Koichi nodded, "Someone told me about you a long time ago."

Someone? Well Tadamori could think of only one who knew Koichi Sasagawa closely enough.

"Was it Noda-san?" Tadamori just went for it, and he was right.

"That's the guy! I'm surprised to see you here." Koichi gave a finger gun to Tadamori.

Tadamori was the one who was surprised, Mizuho Noda told Koichi Sasagawa about him? In what context?

"The world is small like that." Koichi continued.

"It really is." Tadamori concurred.

—

At 3 PM, the bell rang, it was the final period before club activities and all the students were ready to move to their clubroom or go home.

"You've been away for too long, you're probably outdated now, old man!" Akira was still joking with Ryoji, as they packed their bags.

"Yeah, no. I'm still pretty sharp with my codes," Ryoji retorted, "but today I'm skipping."

"Eh? Why?" Akira was a bit curious.

Ippei was overhearing all of this but was not saying anything.

"I have some family matters. My grandfather is picking me up today." Ryoji replied.

Ryoji's grandfather? Ippei thought that his maternal grandparents were both dead, and he wouldn't have seen his paternal grandfather much since his parents divorced.

"Ehhh. Well, good luck anyway." Akira bid him goodbye.

Both Akira and Ryoji were expecting Ippei to do the same, but he wasn't. Ippei was still packing his stuff.

"See you tomorrow." Ippei finally said after a short while.

"You too." Ryoji replied.

After wrapping everything up, all of them walked out of the classroom to go downstairs. Once they got to the first floor, Ryoji was prepared to go separate ways.

"See you two tomorrow, okay?" Ryoji said.

"Sure." Akira replied.

Ippei didn't once again, he was just staring at Ryoji, which kind of made Ryoji uncomfortable and Akira wondering what the hell was wrong with Ippei. Ryoji just walked away after that.

"You know what." Ippei suddenly said, "I want a Calpis."

"Eh? You're going to a vending machine? Can you buy me a bottle of Iemon?" Akira requested.

"Sure. You bring my bag to the clubroom."

As soon as Ippei said that, he just threw his bag in Akira's direction, which surprised him so he couldn't catch it and it dropped to the floor.

"Hiyaaa, what's going on with this guy?" Akira picked the bag up, a bit pissed off.

Ippei quickly ran in the direction Ryoji went, and he found him pretty quickly as he turned around the building corner and about to go out of the school entry.

"Ryoji!" Ippei called for him, and Ryoji turned around.

"What is it, Ippei?" Ryoji was curious, but didn't look particularly concerned.

"I've seen your apartment, Ryoji."

Once Ippei said that, Ryoji's face changed immediately into one of guilt and shame. Ryoji knew now that Ippei knew.

"What's going on, really?" Ippei asked again, frowning from concern and worry about his friend, but there was also a bit of anger from all this secret keeping.

"My mother's bankrupt. What else is there to say?" Ryoji replied, conceding there's no point in keeping the charade going anymore.

"I also know that you..." Ippei stopped himself before he blurted it out, "...I know why you were hospitalized."

Although Ryoji knew what Ippei was going to say, he appreciated that Ippei did not say it directly. It shocked Ryoji quite a bit, and he didn't know how Ippei knew about his attempt.

"I'm sorry, Ippei..." Ryoji said, his face turned sad, and it looked like he's holding his tears.

"Don't be. Just. You know you can rely on us, right? Whatever issue you have, it's not the end of the world?" Ippei didn't know what to say, and was scared if he's saying anything wrong right now.

"I know. But sometimes... you guys just can't help." Ryoji couldn't stop the tears from rolling down now.

"Isn't your only surviving grandparent's in Yamanashi? Why is he here really?"

"Well... I didn't want to tell anyone yet..." Ryoji replied, hesitantly, "After the summer break, I'm moving there, to Yamanashi."

"But what about Tokyo?"

"Tokyo?..."

It was at this moment, Ippei realized that his concern was not unfounded in any way. His intuition was completely right. Something was wrong, and Ryoji didn't want to tell anyone.

"Forget about Tokyo, man. It's all fucked up, man. We can't stay in Ibaraki, let alone Kanto. No one would rehire my mother. She's moving back to her hometown. I wanted to stay, but my grandfather would not let me if he's the one paying for it... Because I've done some fucked up things..." Ryoji continued, it was like the floodgate opened and now Ryoji was telling Ippei all the truth.

At that point, Ippei wondered, what fucked up things?

"What did you do to warrant that kind of act from your grandfather?" Ippei asked, fearing the answer.

"I... took some drugs, man... and the school found out. I don't know how I got away with it. I did not want to, man, but the stress of everything was too much." Ryoji confessed, and that was another piece of the puzzle that slotted in all of this mess.

"Don't worry about that. Will you be okay?" Ippei knew it was a stupid question, but he had to make sure.

"I don't know, man..." Ryoji replied honestly.

Ippei couldn't stop his tears either once he heard the truth, he was seething from the fate that lay ahead for his friend. It was not one that he would wish upon his worst enemy.

"Promise me one thing." Ippei said.

At that point, Ippei noticed Ryoji turning back to the school entry, and looked at an old looking, grey Mercedes-Benz E-Class that pulled up. It was Ryoji's grandfather's car.

"I gotta go now." Ryoji said, looking like he wanted to bolt.

"Promise me, Ryoji." Ippei repeated.

"What is it?" Ryoji asked.

"One day, you'll come back here, and we'll be going to Komien or whatever place you want, and we'll be having whatever expensive dinner we couldn't go often once again. Can you promise me that?"

That request from Ippei baffled Ryoji a little bit, he didn't know why Ippei was saying such a trivial thing, but Ryoji just nodded as a reply, before quickly turning around and running to his grandfather's car.

Ippei knew, of course Ryoji wouldn't suddenly disappear like that, but even if he came back to explain it himself to Ippei, did that make a blind bit of difference?

Ippei sighed, before he went on with his life. The relief was short-lived, at least for Ippei.

Ippei then went to the nearby vending machine, and bought the drinks, one for himself and another for Akira. They were cold, but Ippei didn't feel any of it in his hands.

No matter how hard he tried, the tears wouldn't stop rolling down.