As Saeko and Sota stepped off the plane back in Japan, a strange unease settled in his stomach. He quickly recognized the familiar feeling. The judgment of others. Subtle signs; people recognizing him, then silently, disapprovingly, keeping their distance.
He turned his head to the side, glancing at Saeko. She walked beside him, completely unaware, a warm smile on her face.
I don't want her to be judged just for being seen with me.
Saeko suddenly shot him a sharp look. "What are you doing?" she asked.
Sota barely noticed at first. His body had reacted on instinct. He had pulled his hand away from hers.
„It might be better if people don't see you with me," he muttered. "I don't want you to face their judgment."
She stopped in her tracks, looking at him firmly. "Sota Yamada. This is not your decision to make. I am proud to be your girlfriend."
She reached for his hand again, intertwining their fingers.
Sota couldn't help but smile. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, making her tough demeanor crack. A girlish delight spread across her face.
"Shall we call a taxi?" he asked.
"No need." She grinned.
He raised an eyebrow at her confident response.
"I arranged a ride for us," she said, pointing ahead. Sota stopped mid-step, stunned.
Standing in front of them was Kaito, holding a huge sign that read: "Welcome back from prison, Granny." Beside him stood Tatsuya, hands in his pockets, and Yasushi, eagerly scanning the crowd.
Yasushi was the first to spot them. His face lit up in pure astonishment, quickly followed by Tatsuya and Kaito, who dropped the sign in shock.
Saeko let go of Sota's hand. "Alright, now you can let go for a bit," she teased, a satisfied smile on her lips.
Sota winked at her before launching himself at the guys. Like a bunch of overexcited schoolboys, they wrapped each other in a chaotic embrace, eventually tumbling to the ground in the sheer force of their reunion.
Passersby gave them judgmental glances, stepping around the scene.
But Saeko just watched them with a proud smile.
Gosh… how awful this world would be if I had never met each of them?
The celebration was inevitable. In honor of the good old days, they chose the pub of Yumeko's mother as the venue.
Yasushi hesitated at the idea but joined anyway. He knew Yumeko was supposed to be busy elsewhere.
"Anyways, what took you so long to persuade him to come back?" Kaito looked at Saeko. "I expected you to have more influence over him."
"There was no need for persuasion. We just stayed a bit longer to treat it as a holiday, just the two of us. And…"
"And on our way back, we made a small detour to Paris."
"Ah, the city of love. That's just cheesy, you know…" Kaito complained.
"And the city where your dad lives, if I remember correctly," Yasushi added.
"Yeah," Sota smiled.
"And how did it go?"
"Well, it seems I managed to mend my relationship with at least one of my parents," Sota said with a smile, his hand unconsciously caressing Saeko's hair beside him as the memory surfaced.
When he opened the door they both recognized each other, no words needed at first. The old man, his father, had burst into tears, unable to hold back the years of regret.
"I'm sorry," he had said, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry for not being there for you."
Sota had bowed deeply, humbled by the moment, and whispered the words he had been holding in for so long. "I'm sorry it took me so long to understand."
The image of that moment stayed with him.
"Good," Tatsuya said with a smile, snapping Sota back to the present.
"But, that's enough of us. What happened to you while I was away?" he asked, eyeing the others.
Just then, as if on cue, Yumeko appeared in the doorway.
Only Yasushi noticed her. The others looked right through her, as if they didn't even recognize her.
Yasushi met her eyes with a mixture of awe and guilt, like someone caught red-handed. It wasn't as if he had intended to keep it a secret, but he wasn't ready to see Yumeko admiring Sota all over again.
Things had been going well between them lately. But now that Sota was back… would she still be satisfied with just him? It had been easier to feel like he was enough when Sota wasn't around.
"What's going on here?" she asked, glancing around, then she noticed Sota.
"Who are you…" Tatsuya started.
"Saori?" Kaito squinted at her.
"It's me," she said with a snort. They seemed confused, as if they couldn't quite put their finger on what was different.
But she knew all too well. They had never seen her without makeup and skirts before. They hadn't even recognized her without her usual effort to perfect her appearance.
And there was Yasushi. The one who could look at her with admiration no matter what she wore. With him, she felt appreciated, even without any fuss or finery, just as she was.
"Well, Sota is back," Kaito announced the obvious, then quickly added, "For good."
"Good," Yumeko replied and, without hesitation, walked straight toward Sota.
Yasushi's stomach tightened. Will I always be the second after Sota?
But then, just as she reached him, Yumeko's expression darkened.
"I would have hated seeing Yasushi miserable because of you screwing up your life," she said coldly. "So do us all a favour; be a good boy and make him worry less. He deserves better than what he's been given."
The room fell silent.
Then, as if flipping a switch, Yumeko turned toward Yasushi, and her entire face softened. A warm, radiant smile spread across her lips.
"Why didn't you tell me you were here? I missed you," she sighed, pulling him into a long kiss.
Everyone gaped, only Sota chuckled, as if he had expected this all along.
"I'm sorry," Yasushi muttered.
"Ah, I have some ideas how to make up for it," she whispered.
"Wait, what?" Kaito gaped.
"Are you a couple now?" Tatsuya asked.
"Are you wearing trousers?" Kaito reacted even more dramatically.
The others shot him a look.
"What? I've never seen her in trousers!" he defended himself.
"Well, get used to it, because you will," she smiled.
The others still looked confused. She turned toward them and bowed slightly.
"I'm sorry, everyone, for all the trouble I've caused." Looking into Saeko's eyes too. "I know this might sound stupid, but… I don't think I was ever in love with Sota."
A murmur ran through the group.
"At first, he seemed like an exciting challenge. I got caught up in his thrilling world, but that was just a fleeting obsession," she admitted.
Saeko furrowed her brow. Just like Satoshi said. But unlike Yumeko, Saeko's feelings had always run deep.
"The one I had been in love… was Yasushi."
Sota smirked with a knowing smile. "It was high time you realized it."
"What are you talking about? I only remember her constantly bothering Sota and confessing her love over and over," Kaito interjected.
"No," Sota corrected. "She wasn't chasing me. She was using me. She needed Yasushi's attention. And he was always there for her, every single time I pushed her away, comforting her, taking care of her."
Was it that obvious? Yasushi gaped. How could I have been so blind? He should have seen it. Looking back, it had always been so easy to placate Yumeko. Except for that one time, when he had sided with Saeko instead. She hadn't taken that well. Even back then… was it my feeling that truly mattered to her?
"I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it," Yumeko said, turning toward Yasushi.
He gave her an admiring smile.
Yumeko sighed, then straightened. "Just so everyone knows; Yasushi and I are together now. And that means you can't keep taking advantage of him, expecting him to drop everything and cater to your whims."
Silence.
Then…
Tatsuya gaped. "Wait. Don't tell me that weekend getaway, when we had to drag Yasushi back… the two of you were already together?"
The deep red flush on Yumeko's face said everything.
"Wow," Sota exhaled. "I guess a lot happened while I was gone."
"You bet," Kaito smirked.
Sota rubbed his temples. "Okay, what else did I miss?"
Tatsuya and Kaito spoke at the same time.
"Tatsuya started his solo career," Kaito said.
"Kaito is going to be a father," Tatsuya said.
They both blinked at each other in surprise.
"Wait, are you actually maturing?" Tatsuya asked, looking at Kaito with something close to sentimentality. "I never thought you'd put me before yourself."
"Oh, don't get me wrong," Kaito grinned. "I was hoping my news would be the big shocker, so I wanted to save it for the final blow. But hey, I'm not too mad about sharing the spotlight."
Sota still sat there, mouth open, struggling to process it all.
In the background, Saeko chuckled softly.
"Oh man… Tell me everything."