Toward the end of the guest reception, an older man stepped into the middle. His large body, his gray hair, and the row of guards behind him signaled the importance of this person in the banquet. He stood in the middle of the hall, and the guests were silent when they saw him. He good-naturedly thanked everyone for coming and congratulated his campaign on his thirty years of laborious life. He was delighted when everyone in the guest room applauded after his speech ended with smiles on their faces. The banquet ended successfully. With that, the guest reception ended and everyone walked back out into the hall. After another of Sakura's conversations with familiar faces, she and Ryou continued to move around in search of the next interlocutors. These conversations with people were a mainstay for maintaining cross-national friendliness and the image of the companies.

As they talked, one person casually looked back toward the serene faces of Sakura and Ryou. This person gasped, covering her mouth, and without thinking about things, headed towards them with feminine steps.

Ryou heard a soft feminine voice that came from behind him. Turning around, he saw a woman in an important, long grayish-colored dress walking toward him. Her dark, long hair and wide-open eyes of a color that reflected a dark blue galaxy immediately caught the guy off guard in a way that raised his eyebrows to a house and caused his mouth to spontaneously open in disbelief. Unsure why her gentleman had stopped, Sakura turned her head, and what a surprise it was for her to see a familiar female face.

"Indeed, Ryou..." the woman lowered her lashes in a suppressed tone of voice.

Ryou's breath caught and he fell silent in a desire to erase his abrupt stress from the arrival of a woman looking inexpressibly like himself.

"Kurumi-san!" opened Sakura's mouth in impatience, causing the woman to stagger as she saw her behind Ryou. Sakura looked out from behind him.

"Sakura... How long has it been since we've seen each other," the woman closed her eyes, and looked back at Ryou. "So...you're being courted by my son."

Puzzled by what she said, Sakura glanced over interestedly at Ryou, who by this time had hidden under a guise of indifference to look at him sideways. "Oh, indeed, very similar."

After a brief conversation between Kurumi and Sakura, Sakura clarified that she didn't know that her young man was the son of Kurumi, the head of a large Japanese business company, Kurumi asked the woman to take her son away for a while, which resulted in them going to a sparse corner near a table with drinks on tap.

Ryou could at least consider the possibility that you might be here, but he did not believe it, for a meeting with an impressive volume of guests would be possible. Meeting your parents here was the most unwelcome situation for a guy in the most unwanted place.

"So how are you?" his mother asked with confusion. "Getting used to life in Tokyo?"

"Yes."

"It's a very noisy, big city. It must have been hard to get used to..."

"Yes."

"But we're doing fine. Our move was a success and now we live in downtown Osaka. We're not complaining about the city, much less picking on the infrastructure..."

"Of course. Osaka is a good city."

"And our health is fine...! However, your father is a little nervous about his work, but we're settling in a little at a time. You don't have to worry about us!" added Kurumi, trying her best to remove the indifference from Ryou's face, but her attempts were even. Ryou didn't lift a finger.

"Of course," the young man added, ending the brief silence between them. "Did you even tell Megumi that you came to Tokyo?"

"No..." lowered Kurumi's head, feeling guilty. "You know yourself, she won't want to hear. And you, sweet son, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Oh, I see... Moving to Osaka was the best idea for us to further develop our company. Unfortunately, things have been busy lately, and it's getting a little boring at home, and fatigue and old age are showing."

"Is Father here now?"

"He's... on the second floor, talking to the general manager of oil and gas construction. I don't think I need to know why you're here and are Sakura's beau, but I think she's pleased with your effort..."

"Of course. I won't be here long."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"And you'd better not see your father," the mother muttered guiltily, with all aloofness, as she continued to stare into her son's blank eyes. Not a spark shone through his eyes, as if Ryou's soul had lurked deep, so that no one could harm it. "He'll be on the second floor before the whole banquet is over..."

Kurumi was unable to ignite a spark in her son, who showed no interest in the conversation. From her perspective, the darkness thickening around Ryou shielded him from outside emotions like a defenseless child who didn't want to listen to the scolding in the house.

"I'll go."

"Yes..." the mother took a step back, in a quiet tone so her son wouldn't hear the sadness in her voice. So, she didn't want to burden him with the sadness she had burdened him with before he moved in, and which she recalls to this day. His tired, angry eyes were something Kurumi remembered for life. "I'm not holding. Be safe."

"Don't worry," Ryou barely squeezed out a faceless smile, "I'm fine, really," and he turned around and motioned to Sakura, who was standing at the other end of the hall.

Kurumi slumped her shoulders in despair. Not really knowing how to strike up a long-awaited conversation with her son who had moved out like his sister during the unexpected meeting, Kurumi remembered that day over and over again. Ryou's angry and tired eyes on that evening afternoon kept her restless and put some kind of fear in her mind of showing her emotions. The only thing she was happy about, and that warmed her soul, was seeing her son.

"It's just as it was then," her soft, cowardly voice trembled. "Megumi, are you doing well...? Wonderful child, Akito-kun, take care of him so he doesn't make trouble."

After the banquet was over, people slowly began to go outside. People's noises moved in at the entrance of the room and outside. Sakura and Himeno stood in front of the front door, by the stairs, waiting for the guards.

"Thank you for your service," Sakura bowed her head with a rank look, and Himeno repeated. The sisters seemed slightly exhausted, and Himeno's movements became sloppier, as did her shoulders sagging slightly. Sakura seemed to hide her fatigue to the full under the guise of her humble importance, and it occurred to the young men: that's the difference between the sisters' experience and training!

"What a pity," covered Himeno's mouth, looking at the boys, "I wish I could have been a goody-goody with you for a little while longer. Unfortunately, I'll have to crowd among the muscular men again," she stuck her tongue out frowningly, remembering their tall stature and broad shoulders. "The guards are so scary!"

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"And yes," Sakura stepped closer to Ryou, "Hayashi-kun, I apologize, again."

The guards finally came to the call. Without burdening the women to stop talking, they stood aimlessly behind them. Ryou and Glenn led the girls off one last time, and said goodbye, wishing each other good luck. How could it be otherwise, for luck was required on both sides, there was no way without it. Accepting the warm words, the guys left the territory of the luxurious restaurant, inside which they had a chance to enter and meet many influential in different spheres of business. Ryou knew that he really didn't want to deal with business at all, preferring a risk-free, smooth, straightforward life.

Walking through the small and idle park across the road from the street, Ryou noticed on his phone how the clock was half past the hour and the main shuttle buses were no longer running in town. The park's narrow road was lit by lamps and streetlights. The dark color of life that covered the night roads reflected the moon reigning in the starry sky in the windows.

"I'll call for two," Glenn said, poking his phone for an available cab. Ryou only nodded and let the unobtrusive breeze pass over his tired ears from the ringing of people's noises.

Ryou's hair managed to fall unerringly back into a routine, covering his forehead with the long ends of his dark, thick hair. After a few seconds, Glenn said with a stammer that he would be right back, and retreated to the edge of the path. Noticing walking alone, Ryou turned away and noticed Glenn leaning over the grass with painful steps and grabbing the branches of a tree with his hand. An abundance of blood spurted out of his mouth, which he had been struggling to cover with his other hand for those few seconds, and he quickly moved the bloody hand away, causing the drops to fall directly onto the road. Ryou rushed over to him, and lowering his head, touched his back. He heard his friend's heavy and ragged breathing. From the corner, noticing his still shaking frowning face in pain, Ryou crouched down.

"What's wrong?"

"A little... tired."

"That doesn't make you harp blood! Glenn-kun?" caught Ryou's breath immediately, as the dark-eyed man turned to him with a blushing and bloated face, and his gloomy eyes floated as if his eyes were double or even triple. In disbelief, Ryou put his arm around Glenn's shoulders and gently lifted his aching legs.

"I'm all right."

"Be quiet. Otherwise I'll hit you."

As he walked, Glenn pulled a small jar of pills from his inside pocket and took a dry sip of one white pill.

A few minutes later, outside, the boys waited for a cab to arrive, and Ryou , shoving Glenn into the back seat, got out of the car himself and asked the driver to take him straight home, giving him his apartment number.

"I hope you can make it on your own," he worried for Glenn, talking through the window. "You should cool off and lie down. I don't know how bad you're feeling, Glenn-kun, but bringing yourself to this condition is a disaster. I hope you'll listen to me."

"Thank you," Glenn retorted in a hoarse voice, smiling sloppily. His eyes filled with sorrow, realizing that Ryou had seen the scene. "No one must know. Please, Ryou-kun," he mouthed toward the end, and silently received a brief nod. The lifelessness on his face subsided slightly, and Glenn rejoiced. "That's your promise. We need to keep going forward despite everything," he said.

As the cab drove away, trailing inseparable shadows behind it, the dark-eyed man's troubled eyes kept coming into Ryou's head, again and again, until he gritted his teeth. The boy was burning with his hopelessness. He wondered if there was anything he could do to help his friend besides the actions that had taken place. Soon, there was only one silence outside.