Shido was sitting low in his chair. He was busy pulling at a loose white thread on his sleeve. He kept his head down, trying to look like he didn't care, but his fingers were shaking.
Near the window, Hori held her phone to her ear. "Yes... I will be late," she whispered. Her voice was soft. "Something happened. I am sorry."
Only Shiyi was watching. She sat very still, her dark eyes moving from Kento to Mr. Kamitani. She could feel the air getting thick and uncomfortable.
"Kento?" Mr. Kamitani called out.
Kento jumped slightly. He had been lost in his own head. "Yes?"
"Why are you spacing out?" Mr. Kamitani asked. He looked annoyed now. "I asked you a question."
Kento looked at the floor, then at Kashima's pale face. "I... I don't think I can go, Dad. My friends are here. I can't just leave them."
The kitchen went dead quiet. Kashima's head slowly turned toward Kento. Tamiko stopped her phone. Hori clicked her phone shut with a small snap. Even Shido stopped pulling the thread.
Mr. Kamitani's face turned a dull red. "Kento! How can you think about your friends right now? This is a serious matter! A girl is dead!"
He stopped. He saw the children jump at his loud voice. He realized he had said something wrong. He closed his eyes and took a slow breath.
"I am sorry," he said, his voice softer now.
"Friends are important. But right now, going to the Amamiya house and sharing their sadness is more important. It is what a man does." He looked at the others. "Actually... you are all welcome to come. It might be good for Kento and Shido to have you there."
Shido groaned. He leaned back until his chair creaked. "What would we even do at a house like that? I hate funerals. I can't look at sad, horrible things, Dad. It's too much—"
He was going to say something rude, but he stopped. He saw Tamiko looking at him. Her eyes were sharp and angry. She was biting her lip, looking at him like he was a monster.
Shido's voice died in his throat. He looked away, feeling ashamed. "Sorry. I didn't mean that."
Kashima stood up. His chair scraped loudly against the floor. Screeeak. "I am sorry, Mr. Kamitani," he said. His voice was thin and hollow. "I... I cannot go. I am not comfortable in places like that."
But then, Tamiko spoke. Her voice was small, but it filled the room. "I will go. I want to go to the Amamiya house and share their pain. Even if I don't know who they are."
Shido looked at her, shocked. "Tamiko, you don't have to. You'll just cry."
Tamiko looked at him. A single tear sat on her eyelash. "Life is like a flower, Shido. One morning it is beautiful, and the next it is gone. We should be there for people while we can. It is the only thing that matters."
Mr. Kamitani turned to Shido. He looked at him with a playful, casual grin. "If Tamiko is going, you surely cannot let her go alone, right? You're the one who called her a delicate flower."
Shido rubbed the back of his neck. He looked at Tamiko, who was staring at the floor, her shoulders still trembling. His face softened. 'I hate funerals,' he thought. 'But I hate seeing her sad even more.' "Fine, fine!" Shido groaned, but he stepped closer to Tamiko so their sleeves touched. "I'll go. I'm basically her bodyguard. I'll make sure she doesn't trip over her own feet while she's crying."
Tamiko didn't look up, but a tiny smile pulled at her lips. She felt a little safer with Shido's loud voice nearby.
Mr. Kamitani looked at Shiyi. "What about you? You coming to help me keep these boys in line?"
Shiyi shrugged, trying to look cool. "Someone has to make sure Shido doesn't say something stupid to the priest."
"That's my girl!" Mr. Kamitani laughed. He turned to Kento. "Last chance, Kento. Ready?"
Kashima stepped forward, his fingers gripping Kento's sleeve. His face was pale. "Mr. Kamitani... wait. I need to talk to Kamitani. It's important. Please let him stay."
Mr. Kamitani looked at the two boys. He saw the sweat on Kashima's forehead. He sighed and patted Kento's head like he was still six years old. "Alright, alright. Stay here and handle your 'important' business. Just think of a good excuse for your mother tomorrow, or she'll have my head!"
"I'll tell her you forgot me at the gas station," Kento teased.
"You brat!" Mr. Kamitani chuckled. He waved his hand and led the group out. Shido walked with a giant, grumpy frown, his hands deep in his pockets, while Tamiko and Shiyi followed quietly.
Kento pushed the door shut behind them.
CLICK.
The house was suddenly very quiet. The ticking of the clock on the wall sounded like a heartbeat. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Hori stood in the middle of the hallway. She blinked, looking at the door. "Wait a minute,"
she said, her voice rising. "Mr. Kamitani didn't mention me. He didn't even ask if I was coming!"
She paused, then her face lit up. She did a little happy spin. "Does that mean he thinks I'm special? Mr. Kamitani would have known that I didn't want to go. So he didn't ask me to make me feel embarrassed."
Kento rolled his eyes, leaning his back against the door. "Or maybe you're just so unimportant he forgot you were even in the kitchen."
"Definitely unimportant," Kashima added, his voice finally losing some of its shake. "You're like the background character in a movie, Hori."
"HEY!" Hori screamed, her face turning red. "I am the main character of this kitchen! You two are just mean!"
Kento let out a deep breath, the laughter dying in his throat. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting his head rest against the hard wood of the door. "Kashima," he said softly. "Thanks."
Kento opened his eyes and looked at his friend. Kashima was watching him closely. "Why did you stay, Kamitani ? You could have gone."
Kento started walking slowly down the hallway, his hands behind his head. The golden sun through the windows moved across his hair. He gave a small, flirty laugh.
"How could I leave? I have two guests. I couldn't just chase Hori out of my house, could I? That's not how a prince acts."
Hori watched him, her eyes wide. She didn't yell this time. She could tell his laugh was a lie.
Kashima stopped walking. "You didn't notice it," Kashima said. His voice was steady now, but heavy. "But I've spent enough time with you and Kirishima to know when you're hiding something."
Kento stopped. He didn't turn around.
"You didn't stay because of us," Kashima continued. "Something stopped you from walking out that door. I think... you were stopping yourself."
Hori stepped closer, her voice a whisper. "Is that true, Kento?"
Kashima walked up to him. "Tell us. What is it? Why couldn't you go see her?"
Kento moved to the living room entrance. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and looked down at the floor. The shadows were long and dark. 'Asuka,' he thought. The name felt like a bruise in his mind.
"I knew her," Kento said. His voice was beautiful and sad, like a song playing far away. "Asuka and I... we grew up together. We used to catch dragonflies in the summer until our fingers were stained orange. She was only one year older than me. I never called her 'Elder Sister.' I always just called her Asuka."
Hori and Kashima stayed silent. They could almost see the memory of the children playing in the sun.
"When Dad said she was dead," Kento whispered, "I felt like the world just... broke. It's not fair. Life shouldn't just end at 3:00 AM on a cold road."
He looked up, his eyes bright with a strange, painful fire. "I don't like it, Kashima. I hate seeing people suffer. I hate the thought of people dying alone in the dark, scared and cold."
He gripped his own arm, his voice trembling now. "I want people to have a proper death. A peaceful end. Not a lonely one. Not a scary one like hers. I couldn't go to that house today... because I wasn't ready to see that her end wasn't peaceful."
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