"Takumi!" Someone happily shouted in the distance.

Takumi turned to the way the sound came from, only to notice Kuruka run happily to his way. Takumi smirked.

"Hello, Kuruka, how is it-" Takumi suddenly got interrupted by Kuruka.

"Not the time- Ryan and Anne are calling us." Kuruka said.

They all grabbed their bags and ran after Kuruka. The other children followed them up until the Mansion doors. Takumi gets left up behind, as the other two were way in front of him. Takumi starts sprinting and bumps onto someone else. He and the other person both fall to the ground.

"Ouch!" Takumi reacts to the pain, holding his head.

Takumi then looks at who bumped at him, as his eyes widened up. The person he bumped onto was Rin, he hadn't forgotten her name. Rin looked up as her eyes widened up. They both stared each other in the eye for a while, until Rin suddenly crawled backwards.

"I ehh… I am sorry." Rin said.

Rin slowly stood up. Takumi reached out his hand and wanted to say something, but Rin ran past him to the other side of where he was heading to. Was she really this nervous? Takumi though by himself. He ignored it for now, as he continued sprinting to Anne and Ryan. When he arrived he looked around, he saw no Taxi-Driver anywhere.

"So… Where is this new kid?" Takumi asked.

Kuruka turned, as he pointed next to the outer right gate. Takumi's eyes widened up. He saw this kid, almost his age, laying next to the gate. He noticed the ripped hoodie which was too big for him, so his hands weren't visible. The kid was sleeping and had been crying. Ryan walked up to the kid and grabbed him. They all walked back into the mansion.

"Hold the door open for me, will you?" Ryan asked.

Ukato nodded and held open the door, they quickly brought him upstairs and laid him on Takumi's bed.

"We let him stay in your bed for a while, until he wakes up." Ryan explained.

Takumi nodded. He wouldn't care less.

"Takumi?" Anne asked.

Takumi looked Anne's way: "Yes?" He replied.

"Could you, Kuruka and Ukato stay here, until the kid has woken up. Because we have too much to do." Anne explained.

Takumi smirked, as he put his thumb up.

"Got it..." Takumi said.

Takumi followed up putting his thumb on his chest.

"His safety from now on is my responsibility." Takumi followed up, saying brave.

Ryan snorted out a quick laugh. Takumi raised his fist up.

"Hey! Don't underestimate me!" Takumi followed up.

Ryan put his hands up. "Yeah, Yeah… Got it." Ryan said, laughing it off.

Ryan and Anne walked out of the room, leaving Kuruka, Ukato and Takumi with the kid. They all sat down on the bed. Takumi first looked at the kid, then at the other two. They were pretty calm. Takumi suddenly noticed it had been weeks since Kuruka's arrival, yet no other child has talked to either him, Kuruka or Ukato.

"You noticed too, didn't you?" Ukato said, looking to Takumi.

Takumi looked up. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"You know what I mean, the reason no one has talked to us yet." Ukato explained.

He read his mind as if it was a book. Takumi let out a sigh. As he looked back at the kid.

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

"You know why too, don't you-" Ukato got interrupted.

"Yes… I do know why..." Takumi interrupted him.

"...But I have no intention in telling." Takumi followed up, replying cold.

Takumi stood up, walked to the shelf and leaned onto it.

"Why?" Ukato asked.

Takumi clinged his teeth against each other. "No reason-"

"I asked, why!" Ukato interrupted Takumi, standing up.

"If you are hiding something, tell it now." Ukato followed up.

Kuruka looked feared to the both of them. "G- Guys- !"

Kuruka got interrupted by the both, as they walked to each other.

"Is this rumor so bad that you have to hide it?" Ukato asked frustrated.

"Yes, it is… I have the right to not tell you." Takumi followed up.

Ukato got more frustrated, as he grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him onto the wall. Kuruka stood up too.

"Guys- Enough!- " Kuruka begged.

"Tell it! What is this rumor about!" Ukato shouted, holding him tighter.

"Aren't we friends? Don't friends tell each other their problem to solve it with each other?" Ukato asked Takumi.

"How… How would you know, eh?!" Takumi shouted back.

"Guys stop it- really!" Kuruka shouted too.

"Say it!" Ukato shouted.

"Nev!- " Takumi got interrupted by an odd voice he hadn't heard before.

"Could you three just shut the hell up..." The voice said.

They all turned to the place the sound came from. They noticed the kid in the bed moving, as he had his slowly put his hood over his head.

"...Let me sleep in peace-" The kid was talking until...

"Since when are you awake?!" ...Ukato interrupted him.

The kid let out a sigh. "I wasn't sleeping at all, I just wanted to get it." The kid replied.

They all looked at the kid with a really confused face. Takumi got frustrated even more.

"So you lied your way into here?" Takumi mumbled.

The kid shrugged, as he followed up with the most unimaginable reaction ever--

"Like anyone even cares about this place..."

Takumi's eyes widened up. Ukato and Kuruka noticed this fierce anger in Takumi's face. Takumi grinned for a moment.

"...Heh… What did you say?" Takumi asked.

The kid sat up on the bed, looking at him.

The door slowly got opened up by Anne and Ryan.

"Like anyone cares about this- !"

-Smack!-

Everyone was speechless. The kid held his cheek, as it started to become red. Takumi made sudden eye contact with the kid.

"You… Kids like you don't know what happens around the world… do they?" Takumi mumbled.

Takumi charged again to the kid, but Ukato held him.

"You piece of shit! At least tell me your name before I kill you!" Takumi shouted in fierce anger.

Kuruka held Takumi too and Ryan helped with both of them. The kid's grin looked unharmful this time, as he slowly stood up.

"...First of all… The name is Nokado Tatafu..." The kid said, looking down.

Takumi calmed down and everyone slowly let go of him.

"...Second of all..." Nokado looked up.

Takumi's eyes widened up as he saw Nokado crying.

"... What do you even know about me?" Nokado followed up.

The despair in Nokado's left Takumi's mind in questions, was what he did really right?

- - - - -

Nokado was lying in front of a door of a house. The door slowly opened. Nokado turned as he saw his mother grinning. Nokado's smile on his face quickly changed into a frown.

"Nokado… Leave mother alone from now on, okay?" The mother asked.

Nakodo's eyes widened up in shock. Did he really hear that? Did his mother seriously say that to his one and only son?

"W- What do you mean?" Nokado asked.

His father stood behind his mother.

"We never, ever wanted a son to be our first child. So you aren't our child anymore. Change your last name and leave us alone from now on." His father explained.

Nokado's eyes widened up even more. Just as he reached out his hand for the door, the door slammed shut in front of him. Nakodo's eyes widened up, as he grinned. He slowly grabbed his reached out hand.

"I am so bothersome..." Nokado mumbled, walking off…

- - - - -

Takumi stopped moving. He noticed the despair he was in. He imagined what he could've been through.

"...The feeling… Of no one caring about you is the worst you know." Nokado mumbled.

Nokado suddenly charged to Takumi and swung his fist.

"Your parent's at least didn't leave you outside to rot!" Nokado yelled loud, punching Takumi in the face.

The fist on his face made Takumi slip over the ground and slam his head onto the shelf. His vision slowly went unconscious, but he at least noticed Nokado's worried face, too…

It was quiet for a long while…

Takumi slowly opened up his eyes…

* * *