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nEvening, around five PM.

nAfter being discharged from the hospital, Sakura ran into Kai and the two decided to catch up. Since Kai was the one who stopped her, he offered to treat Sakura to dinner.

nA high class sushi restaurant with private booths and sleek modern interior design.

nWhile the place was technically closed due to the string of strange events going around restaurants in Tokyo, Kai managed to pull some strings and get them in.

nPouring a glass of wine, he glanced over at Sakura and said, “Wine?”

nSakura rolled her eyes. “Offering wine to someone just discharged from the hospital? I see that you’re as thoughtless as ever.”

nKai paused and then let out a wry chuckle. “My apologies.” He set the glass down and then stared at Sakura.

nShe was the same as always- No. That wasn’t true. Kai could see that she was sharper now, not quite as bubbly as she used to be when they were younger. Even so, she was as beautiful as ever.

nSakura noticed him staring and smiled. “What? Regretting letting me go now?”

n“A bit.” Kai took a sip from his wine glass and said, “Mostly just regretting letting you reach that point though.”

nSakura’s smile faded and she let out a deep sigh. “You’re still blaming yourself for that, huh?”

n“If I knew more at the time-“

n“It’s fine.” Sakura waved her hand. “It was in the past. We were both young and you were just trying to help me find a good job.”

n“Still-“

n“I said it’s fine.”

nThat time, Kai let out a deep sigh. “…Alright.”

nAt that time, a man in a suit walked over, carrying a large silver platter with an array of sushi and sashimi. Nodding his head at Kai, he said, “It isn’t much, Sir, but I hope that this small display will do.”

nKai nodded. “That’s more than enough. And I apologize for the inconvenience.”

nThe man set down the platter on the table and said, “No, no. This is the least I can do for you, Sir. After all, you-” He paused, suddenly remembering the woman sitting across from Kai and then said, “That is to say, I owe you a great deal.” With that, he bowed and walked off to the back.

nSakura watched the man leave and then raised an eyebrow. “I see you’re still getting around… Did you finally become the first chairman of the Torabu clan?”

nKai frowned. “…I left that life behind.”

nSakura turned to look at him. “Hoh?” She laced her fingers on the table and leaned forward, a smile on her face. One that didn’t reach her eyes. “What happened to the hot-blooded young man that swore he would reach the top and then free me from the evil clutches of that dragon?”

n“…I thought you said it was in the past?”

n“Sorry, sorry.” Sakura waved her hand and then picked up a cut of tuna from the platter. Tossing it in her mouth, she chewed it a bit and said, “I’ve just been forced to do some reflecting recently on my life. Don’t mind me if I’m a bit bitter.”

nKai let out a wry smile.

nHe couldn’t really blame her. After he learned what had happened, he did barge into the Seiryuu Alliance headquarters and swear that oath… but then he never followed through. It took him way too long to climb the ranks in the Torabu clan and by the time he had the influence to do something, Sakura was already pregnant.

n“Enough about me though.” Sakura poured herself a glass of water from a pitcher nearby and said, “What about you? I seriously thought you were dead after you didn’t show up for the past… Oh, how long is it now? Fifteen years?”

n“It’s… complicated. A lot of bloodshed. Business.”

n“Mm.” Sakura plopped a straw into the glass and took a sip. “Seems like you’ve been busy then. Must have been tough leaving it behind.”

nKai bristled. “Look, if you want me to apologize-“

n“No, no.” Sakura waved her hand. “There’s nothing you need to apologize for. I’m just ranting as a bitter old woman.”

nKai frowned. “You aren’t that old yet, Sakura. Right now you’re just… What is it, twenty nine?”

n“Thirty on the new year. That’s pretty old for a woman, you know?”

nSilence.

nKai poured himself another glass of wine.

nSakura munched on another piece of tuna.

nAfter taking a sip from his wine, Kai said, “What were you doing in the hospital?”

n“Oh, nothing much. I just had cancer.”

nKai froze, holding his cup in mid-air. “You… What?”

nSakura rolled her eyes and played with the straw in her glass of water. “Relax. I *had* cancer. I’m free now. The doctors completely cleared me.”

n“That’s… That’s good.”

n“My turn then.” Sakura frowned and said, “What were *you* doing there?”

n“…I was going around to settle some debts. An acquaintance mentioned that you had been hospitalized and said I should see you as soon as I could or else I’d regret it. But I didn’t think that you also had…” He trailed off, clearly upset. “That bastard. If he told me sooner-“

n“It’s fine.” Sakura sighed. “Things turned out well for me and Rin.”

n“Rin?”

n“Mmhm. My sweet and naive daughter.”

nKai frowned.

nRin… Rin… The name was familiar for some reason, but he couldn’t quite place it.

nSakura ate another piece of sushi and then said, “What about you? Surely a powerful and attractive man like you found a woman at some point.”

n“Mm. I did.”

n“Right. I knew that a straight-laced guy like you was still-” Sakura froze, staring at Kai with wide eyes. “Wait. What?”

nKai took a sip from his glass and said, “I did find another woman. I even have a daughter. But…” He let out a wry chuckle. “It seems like my bad luck with women never changed.”

nSakura frowned. “What does *that* mean? Calling me a bad luck charm?”

n“No. Just that the women I get involved with tend to have bad ends.”

nSakura paused and then glanced at Kai’s gray hairs. Then she remembered what he said earlier. “‘Also’. That’s what you said, right? That I also had cancer.”

nKai let out a long suffering sigh and ran his hand through his hair. “That’s right. The mother of my daughter died of cancer overseas and I recently had to reorganize my life to take care of my daughter.”

n“Mother of your daughter, huh? Sounds like you weren’t very involved in their lives.”

nHe let out an empty laugh. “I didn’t know. By the time I found out that she was in that situation, it was already her death bed. If I had known…” Kai ran his hand through his hair. “Not only that, but she didn’t blame me. You know?” He looked at Sakura and said, “It was as bad as with you. But she didn’t blame me. Not only that, but our daughter…” He chuckled. “Can you believe it? She thinks that I’m a good guy. That ‘mommy’ was so happy talking about me so she couldn’t wait to live with me too.”

nSakura was quiet. And then she said, “Sounds like a pair of angels.”

n“They are.”

nSilence again.

nThen Sakura laughed. “Well, this got pretty dark.”

n“My apologies.” Kai shook his head and said, “We’re supposed to be celebrating your discharge, aren’t we?”

n“And you should eat.” Sakura pulled out a plate and put some sushi pieces on it before sliding it over. “It’s a terrible thing to get sick when you’re the only one taking care of your child.”

nKai looked at Sakura and then nodded. “Thank you.”

nShe smiled and leaned back. “Now then. Since you’re out from under that Tiger, what are you doing now?”

nHe laughed. “If you can believe it, I’m just a stay-at-home father right now. Since Tsuki was born overseas, I have to finish up the appropriate paperwork. And… I want to do right by her to make up for the lost time.”

n“Mm. At least you’re being responsible now. I approve. Better than running away and leaving me behind again.”

n“…You really are bitter about that, aren’t you?”

nSakura narrowed her eyes. “I will *always* be bitter about that.”

nKai nervously adjusted his collar and then said, “Well… What about you? I presume… I *hope* you haven’t resorted back to those means.”

nSakura scoffed. “What do you take me for, an idiot? I’d rather die than sell my body again. I’m a freelance writer.”

nKai blinked. “A… writer? You? The girl that failed Japanese class and had to copy my notes to pass?”

nSakura crossed her arms. “What about you? Didn’t you fail math class and beg me to tutor you so that you wouldn’t get kicked out? Not only that, how shameless were you, asking your kouhai to carry you through your finals?”

n“Who else was I going to ask?!”

n“I don’t know. At least a classmate or a Senpai.”

n“You…!”

nThe pair of childhood friends bickered with each other for the rest of the evening. As a result…

n“Uncle?” An adorable twelve-year old with wavy brown hair and clear hazel eyes frowned, lowering a phone in her hands. “Daddy’s not answering.”

nTakashi Kimura patted the girl’s head and said, “It’ll be fine, Tsuki. I’m sure your father’s just busy. He said that he had to meet an old friend today.”

n“Oh.” The young girl seemed crestfallen.

nSeeing that caused Takashi’s heart to clench, remembering all the times that his daughter must have felt the same on his late nights working.

n“…Here. Why don’t we go ask your big sister Chihiro to see if she wants to play a game together?”

n“But she has school tomorrow, Uncle.”

n“Oh. That’s right…”

n“Hm.” Rin put down her phone. “That’s strange… Mom always answers when I call her.” She turned to look at the person escorting her home from the studio. “Miss Beta, do you think something happened?”

n“Negative, Miss Rin. Master has taken special care to heal-” Beta paused, eyes widening, and she quickly said, “T-That is to say that he has been carefully observing the situation. If a development occurred with your mother, he would tell you immediately.”

n“Ah, that’s true. Mister John did say that he would handle it…” Rin nodded, accepting the explanation without questioning.

nBeta resisted the urge to sigh in relief, glad that she managed to cover her blunder.

n“Anyway!” Rin smiled and turned to look at Beta. “How did you meet Mister John, Miss Beta? And are the overseas women as pretty as you? And why does Miss Alpha look so different from you when she’s your sister? Do you have different parents?”

nBeta froze, suddenly reeling from the barrage of questions. “T-That is…”

nRin stared up with sparkling eyes, waiting for a response.

n_________

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