That Saturday morning, Ippei tried to excuse himself from the Kinoshita, ready to go home as to not be a bother to them any longer, but Daizo wouldn't allow him to go that easily.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Daizo asked Ippei, as he was eating breakfast prepared by Kimi, who's also at the table.

"Yes, Kinoshita-san. I feel a lot better now." Ippei replied, trying to smile to appear normal.

"What are you going to do?"

Ippei didn't have an answer, he could just make something up that he felt would sound good, but he thought it was not something Daizo or Kimi would not detect. Maybe it was better to not lie.

"I honestly don't know." Ippei replied.

"Well, I don't want to be judgmental or anything with your family concerns, so I'm not going to advice anything much other than, you know, say sorry."

Daizo's advice did resonate with Ippei, and it was a similar message to the one Soji told Ippei only a few hours ago. It only reinforces it. Even if Ippei wasn't really hopeful of what it'd actually achieve.

"I'll make Sachiko keep an eye on you." Daizo then continued suddenly, and it surprised Ippei.

"Eh?" that surprised Ippei.

"She knows you the best, and we don't really want you to go home if we aren't sure you're completely fine." Kimi added.

This was actually something Daizo and Kimi discussed last night away from Sachiko and Ippei. It was already decided.

After Sachiko got up not long after, she was told and was pretty surprised as well by that decision, although she would gladly do it as if it's anyone in this house who cared about Ippei the most, it's her.

The two small Honda bikes then rode in a convoy up to Takita, with Ippei being in the lead.

Ippei didn't know how his father would react, would he get violent? or would it be fine? He was dreading it and he didn't want Sachiko to bear it with him.

The Gorilla and the Cub arrived at the Noda PC shop, and Ippei saw from quite a way away that the 10.3 million yen Lexus was still parked on the driveway. It made him shudder a little bit, but he was calmer than before so he realized that his father would not have bought it if he didn't have the means to.

"That's quite an expensive car, huh." Sachiko commented, as she saw Ippei had been eyeing the Lexus for quite a while.

"Is it that obvious?" Ippei wondered, "I thought it was just a Lexus at first, it can't be more than 4 or 5 million yen. It's a domestic car, isn't it?"

"Well, it's..." Sachiko thought of a way to explain, and she decided the social norm meant it was weird she had to do that, "It's not the shitty old van that you talked about before. A Probox, right?"

"Did you know it's 10.3 million yen?"

Sachiko quickly turned to Ippei, her eyes widened and mouth wide agape.

"Shit... I thought it was a Hybrid. It's the 500?" Sachiko said, and Ippei wondered why she looked so shocked, he didn't understand a thing she said.

"What's a 500?" Ippei looked utterly confused.

Before Sachiko could start to explain, the door of the PC Shop opened, and Mizuho walked out and saw both of them looking at the Lexus.

Mizuho had a neutral expression when he walked out, no anger or sadness that could be detected. When he noticed Sachiko was with Ippei, he looked genuinely surprised.

Ippei was worried that Mizuho might be pissed off, and himself was also worried that he might appear pissed off again involuntarily, but it seemed that Mizuho was acting completely normal.

"Ah, is that Sachiko-kun?" Mizuho said, looking at her who was now a bit shy, as she was unfamiliar with Ippei's father.

"Good morning, Noda-san." Sachiko greeted him.

Sachiko was surprised when she first saw Mizuho, Ippei already told her he was pretty young for a father with a teenage son, but he looked to be in the early 30's, not nearly 40. Maybe it was the silly t-shirt he was wearing that helped the perception. A holo no graffiti holoSushi t-shirt. It's not like Mizuho could pass for Ippei's brother or anything, the difference was obvious enough, but it's borderline.

"Why don't you two come in?" Mizuho asked with what Ippei saw as a forced smile.

Ippei still seemed hesitant, and it made everything slightly more awkward to Sachiko. She was relieved when Ippei started walking, as standing there would definitely make it even more awkward.

Through the PC Shop, which was closed today, and into the living room behind the door. Sachiko of course had been here before a few times, and she saw that nothing had changed.

Ippei didn't say a word during all of this, he sat down at the table with Sachiko, while Mizuho was still standing up. The television was playing the last night VOD stream of Oozora Subaru playing ARK: Survival Evolved in a company wide collaboration.

"You want some tea?" Mizuho turned and asked Sachiko, who shook her head.

"It's fine, Noda-san." Sachiko answered.

"What about you?" Mizuho turned to Ippei, who wasn't looking at him.

Ippei didn't reply.

Mizuho went into the kitchen anyway, and not long after came out with a bottle of Iemon tea, for himself, before he sat down opposite of the two.

"Are you guys going to have lunch somewhere?" Mizuho inquired.

"Ahhh. We haven't planned anything." Sachiko replied with an awkward smile, trying to maintain the order.

"Dad," Ippei suddenly said, with a harsh tone of voice, "stop acting like everything's normal. It's not."

The whole room went cold in a blink of an eye. Sachiko had a chill sent down her spine as soon as Ippei brought up the elephant in the room.

"Well you know I'm not going to have an argument with you while your girlfriend is around. It's impolite." Mizuho pointed out the obvious.

Ippei quickly turned to Sachiko.

"If you are uncomfortable, you can leave right now." Ippei told her quickly.

"But," Sachiko didn't want to leave, as she was worried about Ippei, "will you be fine?"

"I don't know." Ippei replied.

That made Sachiko unable to leave, despite Ippei obviously wanting her to be away from this matter, because he didn't want her to bear it. Ippei then turned back to Mizuho, unable to hold his dissatisfaction in.

"So what's with the shop accounting then, dad? What's the reason we've been having a loss for years?" Ippei started by asking the most pressing question.

"It's an adult's matter! You wouldn't understand!" Mizuho dismissed him immediately, as Ippei expected.

"Is it complicated, or are you hiding something?" Ippei retorted.

"I'm not hiding anything! Idiot! It's the actual account legally reported to the government, as approved by the family's accountant."

"Wait, we had family's accountant?" Ippei seemed surprised.

"I use the same guy as your grandfather, yes. I pay him separately though."

"Still, I would appreciate it if you at least try to explain what's going on!"

Sachiko sighed, as it was getting more complicated and pretty weird.

"Well, you see, the yearly income tax is calculated by the earnings of the previous year, right? If the income is less than 8 million yen, I pay 15% tax and not 23%." Mizuho explained, sounding more complicated as he went on.

"Wait, a company still has to pay taxes when it's in the red?" Ippei was truly confused now.

"Actually, no, I don't pay any corporate tax... Shit. Er. I paid consumption tax... per capita tax... property tax..." Mizuho was now just as confused.

Truthfully, the family accountant has dealt with Mizuho's tax since day 1 of Noda PC. Mizuho only ever did the earnings and expenses report so he had no idea what taxes he was paying either.

Mizuho really was just rattling off complicated sounding stuff to one up Ippei.

"Still, it is a tactic! So I don't have to pay tax!" Mizuho continued.

"But isn't that tax evasion?" Ippei wondered, and was quite alarmed once it sank in.

"No! The reports are accurate! It's our real earnings and expenses!" Mizuho corrected Ippei's misunderstanding.

At this point, Ippei had a realization, and it confused him even more.

"Wait, let me get one thing straight... The tax on earnings is 15%, right?" Ippei asked.

"Yeah, I think for a small business with less than 8 million yen annual income. Above that it's 23%" Mizuho replied.

"How much are you paying our accountant?"

"About 2 million yen per year?"

"ISN'T THAT MORE THAN WHAT YOU'D SAVE FROM NOT EARNING ANYTHING?!!!"

Ippei shouted so loud that it startled both Mizuho and Sachiko, the latter still sat quietly, if slightly less confused than Ippei.

Mizuho had this look of realization that the narrative he had in his mind was pure bullshit. None of it was necessary.

"Alright, I'll be honest with you then." Mizuho stated, which made Ippei pretty eager to hear. He was more than ready to listen to some truth instead of bullshit.

"Yeah?" Ippei replied.

"I kept the shop open so as not to earn anything. I just like having people visit sometimes."

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That confession made sense to Ippei, and it made him understand quite a lot of what Mizuho had been doing. Still, Ippei was wondering about a few more details.

"Where are you getting that money anyway if we aren't earning anything from the business?" Ippei lowered his voice, as he got Mizuho more now.

"There's plenty of cash reserves." Mizuho answered simply.

"Enough for you and me to keep the lifestyle we're currently having?" Ippei was not convinced.

"Oooh yes," Mizuho almost sounded proud, "do you want to go to a private university in Tokyo? I can pay for that. Rent, food, everything."

As much as Mizuho said it in such a blasé and prideful tone, it made Ippei get more annoyed.

"Why didn't you let me know all of this, dad?" Ippei asked, quite hurtful.

"I thought you'd already guessed..." Mizuho replied, he did look quite guilty about it at least.

"No, seriously, dad. How comfortable are we really?"

Mizuho seemed hesitant, and Sachiko also thought it was a question Ippei shouldn't really have asked.

"Well I could close the shop tomorrow and it wouldn't even make a dent in the financial report..." Mizuho replied straightforwardly, but there's a look of concern on his face.

"Was it earned illegally?" Ippei asked, and it made Mizuho look up, eyes widened.

"No!..." Mizuho shouted again, "God, no, it was not."

Ippei observed Mizuho right now, and saw that he was not really comfortable talking about it, but he was not lying. It'd have been very obvious if Mizuho was lying about it.

"So why?" Ippei asked again, "You must have a reason to not tell me any of this..."

"Yes, I do."

Ippei and Sachiko saw that Mizuho looked saddened by this, as he paused and didn't really explain further.

"I..." Mizuho started, but then paused again, "...I don't want you to make the same mistake as me."

"What mistake?" Ippei didn't really understand.

"I don't want you to take things for granted. I don't want to spoil you. Make you into one of those rich assholes who doesn't appreciate things that's important to you. That these things aren't meaningless."

Ippei kind of understood, but still didn't quite get the intention from the vague way Mizuho was explaining.

Mizuho then went quiet for a while, Ippei and Sachiko were looking at each other, wondering where this was going next.

"I'm sorry, Ippei." Mizuho apologized, tears started rolling down.

To be honest, it was not enough to fix the years of neglect Mizuho had done, but it was a start.

Ippei turned and saw that Sachiko couldn't help but cry as well, seeing Mizuho cry, but Ippei was not, which made him a bit surprised.

"Dad, I'm sorry for lashing out at you as well... and for running away..." Ippei also apologized, and it was the sincerest apology he had ever done to anyone.

"It's alright," Mizuho wiped his tears, "as long as you understand I'm actually worried for you. All the time."

It was at this point that Ippei thought of what happened last night in Mizuho's viewpoint. Him riding away from home, it must've been hell for his dad. It made Ippei even more guilty about it.

"I'm really sorry..." Ippei repeated.

Sachiko was finally relieved.

While Ippei and his dad may not reach a total understanding, at least they're trying to reconcile.

The three sat there quietly for a bit trying to deal with their own emotions.

"So, do you two want to have lunch somewhere nice? My treat." Mizuho said after a while, which made Ippei surprised.

"It's... errr..." Ippei thought it'd be a bit awkward.

"Soba, do you like Soba, Sachiko-kun? Cold soba, hot soba, even yakisoba. All kinds of soba. A friend of mine has a restaurant in Kenkyugakuen."

"Kenkyugakuen? There's a soba restaurant there, Noda-san?" Sachiko looked perplexed.

"Yeah, my friend Wac-chan does handmade soba. It's incredible. It's in Gakuen South actually but I thought most people would think it's empty..."

"Isn't that where Yatabe track was before it was demolished?" Sachiko said without thinking.

Mizuho was absolutely shocked by that comment.

"Where did you find this girl?!" Mizuho jumped and grabbed Ippei's shoulders over the table, startling him quite a bit.

"We met at the school?" Ippei was confused as to why Mizuho suddenly acted this way.

"You sure you aren't an old uncle disguised as a high school girl or something?" Mizuho turned and asked Sachiko, while still grabbing Ippei's shoulder.

It made Sachiko slightly embarrassed, cringing as she was scratching her head thinking of a reply.

"I like learning about the contemporary history of the Tsukuba and Tsuchiura area..." Sachiko explained. What Sachiko really meant was, she liked listening to her dad ramble about it.

"Have you ever been to the banking itself? You ride a Cub, right?" Mizuho released his grip from Ippei and sat back down, still pretty excited.

"No, I couldn't find where it was..." Sachiko shyly replied.

"I can show you... It's a bit difficult to see as it's summer, but you'll be able to see it."

"Really?"

All the while, Ippei sat there and wondered how the conversation came to be, and the day didn't get any more ordinary after that.

Mizuho was almost giddy getting in the red Lexus, while Ippei was a bit skeptical, and Sachiko was simply slightly confused as to why she was now going to a soba restaurant with Ippei's dad.

Of course, a Lexus IS would be more plush than the shit Probox that Mizuho usually drives, but Ippei was surprised by how the engine growled and roared as it went along the road, even at residential speed.

"Don't you think it's weird that the 'Yatabe' Oval was not in Yatabe, Sachiko-kun?" Mizuho asked as he was driving through Tsukuba.

"I don't know..." Sachiko answered with an awkward laugh.

"Because the area around here used to be really rural, the closest town was Yatabe. Kenkyugakuen only became developed after the train station was established. Around the time before you two were born."

"Ooooh." Sachiko exclaimed with interest.

"I've been coming here since I was young, you see." Mizuho continued.

"Are you from around here, Noda-san?" Sachiko presumed.

"Nope," Mizuho shook his head, "I'm from Omiya."

"In Saitama?"

"Yes."

Ippei was still befuddled as to why these two suddenly were talking about areas around Tsukuba. He wanted to interject but find it awkward.

One thing that confused Ippei so much was that Mizuho never talked about his background to anyone he just met. Ippei guessed that something just clicked between him and Sachiko, and it did make him relieved that at least Mizuho would not hate his girlfriend, but it was weird seeing them geeking out about neighborhoods.

"So why did you move here, Noda-san?" Sachiko asked.

"Oh, even Ippei doesn't know this actually. I have a mentor who lives around here." Mizuho gladly answered, reminiscing like a proper old man.

"A mentor?"

"Yeah! Kenji Kumamoto is his name. I think he still lives here, actually, in Kurakake. I haven't seen him in nearly 20 years"

The red Lexus continued on its path, until Mizuho realized something as he noticed the area they were in. It's mostly large, empty fields with few buildings around, but all fenced off. Ippei's eyes were focused on the weird robot mural thing on the big building on the left.

"Ah! You two! Look to the right." Mizuho shouted and pointed.

Ippei turned and looked in that direction and saw nothing much. Sachiko did the same and was excited.

"Is that the remains, Noda-san?" Sachiko asked, as she looked out of the window towards the right side of the road.

"Yes, the old Yatabe Oval banking." Mizuho replied.

It was a piece of road, maybe 50 meters long, banked 45 degrees. Situated behind the fence and mostly obscured by growing vegetation.

Ippei didn't say anything, but did notice that Sachiko was actually mesmerized by the impromptu tour. She was completely taken in by the sight of that weird structure behind the fence.

"Amazing, right?" Mizuho asked as he drove past the banking.

The soba restaurant was weird, it had a generic name, and was in an almost empty field with few buildings accompanying it. The building was also pretty small, but there's parking space for about double what Ippei estimated to be the needed seating capacity.

"Oi! Wac-chan!" Mizuho called for the shop owner.

"Oooh! You're here again, huh?" The owner replied.

The proprietor was an old uncle, slightly older than Mizuho, and had a distinctive, long, horse-ish face. Ippei had a vague image of seeing him before, but couldn't put his finger on when.

"Ippei, Sachiko-kun, this is Wakaba-san." Mizuho introduced his shop owner friend to the kids.

"Hi." Ippei replied awkwardly.

"Nice to meet you, Wakaba-san." Sachiko was way more relaxed.

"Is that really the Ippei Noda I'm seeing, all grown up? Man, seriously. You're making me feel old. The last time I met him he was this big." Wakaba put his hand around his waist as he said.

"But you are old, Wac-chan."

Wakaba laughed heartily from Mizuho's deadpan remark.

"And I don't know the lady, who's she?" Wakaba turned to Sachiko with playful suspicious eyes. Both Ippei and Sachiko were quite embarrassed by this observation.

"Don't mock them too much, Wac-chan, they're bona-fide, truly, absolutely, a couple." Mizuho answered in a mocking tone.

"Oooooh. A family outing, huh. I'll have to do my best then."

The meal was delicious though, homemade Soba with great soup. Both Ippei and Sachiko were actually pretty amazed that a place such as this could exist in an area as ordinary as Kenkyugakuen.

The conversation was mostly between Mizuho and Sachiko, and it was purely about the recent history of Tsukuba and Tsuchiura, as Sachiko could not stop asking once Mizuho gave an 'interesting' anecdote. Even Wakaba chimes in occasionally. Ippei thought it was pure drivel, things from before the time they were born and with no chance of ever seeing for real.

Ippei didn't understand at all that in Sachiko's opinion, the eyewitness account was not something that you come across easily.

The three then got back to Noda PC, where Sachiko was grateful for the meal, and thought that Ippei and Mizuho probably were somewhat okay now.

"Thank you so much, Noda-san!" Sachiko bowed to show an appreciation for the impromptu guide tour.

"No worries, if you ever visit here again, we can continue talking about places." Mizuho replied, genuinely glad to be able to reminisce.

Sachiko then turned to Ippei, who stood there, almost like a statue in that he didn't say anything much at all.

Mizuho at that point, pretended he had to get something from inside the house, and went away from the two to give them some time alone.

"Well, do you think you'll be fine?" Sachiko asked, still a bit worried about Ippei.

"I'll have to try." Ippei replied with a pursed lips smile.

"Okay then..." Sachiko smiled back.

Then, after a moment, Sachiko went and gave Ippei a hug. Her love and warmth was something he needed, and was glad to have.

"Tell me when Ueno-san calls you, okay? I'll go with you." Sachiko reminded Ippei about his part time job application.

"Eh? You don't have to..." Ippei tried to decline, but Sachiko would not let him.

"I'll be there."

Ippei understood why, so he gave her a slight smile.

"Well, I'll see you then."

Ippei watched as Sachiko rode away on her Little Cub, and he was dreading a bit walking back into his house. The years of being neurotic would not be cured by an hour of discourse.

As Ippei walked through the door, he saw Mizuho standing there, looking unsure, like he had something to say more, and couldn't say when Sachiko was there. Mizuho waited for Ippei to be alone with him, and it did make Ippei nervous.

"Hey, I'm truly sorry, okay?" Mizuho said and he looked genuinely guilty, which surprised Ippei.

"It's fine, dad..." Ippei replied with more understanding.

"I didn't know... everything's just overwhelming, and I lost track of life. Once it got better with time, I didn't know how to properly fix it, as it seemed too late to do anything."

Ippei didn't say anything, he just walked towards Mizuho, and hugged him. Mizuho did not expect this either, and it was the first time in god knows how long that they did.

"I know a lot of time, you're neglectful, lazy, scattered brain, useless, judgmental..." Ippei started saying.

"Hey, hey, now, I know you're feeling better now and I'm glad for that, but you're still a punk saying that." Mizuho felt slightly annoyed by all those words, but not actually angry, which made Ippei laugh.

"...but you're still my dad."

Mizuho was welling up once he heard that, it was the first time in many years that they could connect, even if it's still clearly touch and go.

"Dad, I'm thinking about getting a part-time job." Ippei told Mizuho, which surprised him quite a bit.

"Hey, I can get you money just fine, okay?" Mizuho said, but Ippei shook his head.

"It's not about the money anymore, dad, although the idea started that way."

"So why would you do it?"

"I don't know what I want to do after I graduate."

What Ippei told Mizuho made him realize something. He didn't know at all about Ippei's plan after graduation, he just knew that whatever he came up with he could support the idea regardless.

It actually made Mizuho pretty delighted, as he realized such an experience could totally teach Ippei a thing or two.

"Where do you plan to work?" Mizuho asked, quite curious as to what Ippei had in mind, he guessed a convenience store or restaurant.

"Ah, well, there's a music store around Tsuchiura Station..."

Mizuho gulped as he heard that, he was clearly pretty shook by it, like it brought up some bad memories and Ippei didn't know what it was. It made him slightly nervous.

"What, dad?" Ippei asked, bracing for the reason.

"Well, eh..." Mizuho seemed hesitant to answer, "I don't think I could stop you anyway..."

"What is it? Just tell me. Considering I've already applied."

"Ah, it's nothing..."

"Do you know the place?"

"Errrrrr."

Mizuho was averting eye contact as he was thinking of how to explain it to Ippei.

"Is it Ueno Music World?" Mizuho finally asked, and Ippei nodded cautiously.

"Yes, dad," Ippei replied, "Ueno Music World."

"I don't think Ueno-san the senior still works there, but eh..."

"You know them?" Ippei said, surprised.

"I have not met them, no, but yes, I know who they are."

Mizuho was still being suspicious, and it only made Ippei more curious.

"The senior is Nobuzane Ueno, yeah? And he has a son, Nobuteru. I think it's his son that has taken over the store now." Mizuho was not really alleviating Ippei's concern.

"So, are they good or bad?"

Mizuho shrugged, his mouth frowning, like he didn't know.

"I guess they're good... typical medium size local business owners?"

Ippei was already annoyed by Mizuho's acting like he's keeping some sort of incredible secret, as it was clear he knew who the Ueno were, but was not willing to say directly.

"Yeah, whatever, dad. I don't know if they'll accept me anyway..." Ippei said, sounding slightly dejected.

"Hey, don't be like that." Mizuho replied, sounding concerned.

"I don't have experience, dad, the teacher said it's usually the people in the school band that got to work with them."

"It's a part time job selling shit guitars, managing record room booking, accommodating musicians, and so on, it's not that hard."

This comment from Mizuho actually confirmed to Ippei that he knew more than he let on, but Ippei let it slide as he didn't want to annoy his dad any longer.

"You know what, listen to me." Mizuho said, it was the voice that Ippei knew well, he was being absolutely serious about this, "The Ueno doesn't sell Electone, the thing you have, but you know how to play the Piano, right?"

"The last time I played the piano was when I was in elementary school, dad... Organists can't just go play the Piano like that." Ippei answered, which flubbed Mizuho a bit.

"Eh, shit, sorry, errr..." Mizuho tried to think of what to say, then he sighed, "Just show your enthusiasm and what you know, you'll be fine."

In some ways, that advice wasn't really useful, but on the other hand, it was what Ippei needed to have some confidence about it.

"Thanks, dad."