Takashi stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

  His damp hair clung messily to his face as he rubbed it dry with another towel.

  “I feel much better now.” he said, sounding lighter, relieved.

  He paused when he noticed Kenta still sitting on the sofa, his posture stiff, eyes fixed on him as if he’d been waiting the entire time.

  “What’s with that expression?” Takashi asked, lowering the towel slightly as he looked at him.

  “What actually happened last night?” Kenta snapped, as if he’d been holding it in for hours.

  “Tell me everything.”

  Takashi sighed softly.

  “I’ll tell you on the way to the hospital. Now go take a shower, you look like a mess.”

  He walked past him and opened the closet.

  “Take one of my shirts.”

  “I look like a mess?”

  Kenta snatched the shirt from Takashi’s hand.

  “And whose fault is that?”

  As he opened the bathroom door, he added,

  “You’ll tell me everything, from the beginning to the end, Takashi Mori."

  He paused for a second, glancing back.

  “I look like a mess…meanwhile, you’re the one who looks better.”

  He muttered the last words as he disappeared into the bathroom.

  Takashi smiled faintly.

  Every time Kenta called him Takashi Mori, he knew exactly what it meant.

  That had always been Kenta’s way of showing his anger ever since their high school days.

  The smell of sanitizer and medication hit his nostrils the moment he stepped into the hospital.

  It was unpleasant.

  Takashi had hated hospitals since childhood, since the days his mother had been sick.

  He hated the feeling of being trapped.

  “Good morning, Mr. Mori.”

  The nurse’s voice approaching him startled him slightly.

  “Please, come with me.”

  She gestured down the hallway, a stack of papers held tightly in her hands.

  A moment later, she stopped in front of a door and opened it wide.

  “Wait here.” she said kindly.

  “I’ll call the doctor. She’ll be with you shortly.”

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  After she closed the door behind her,

  Takashi sat down on the hospital bed.

  The last time he had come for a checkup, it had been the nurse who treated his wound.

  Now she had gone to call Dr. Akiyama.

  He wasn’t surprised at all.

  In fact, he had expected it, especially after everything that had happened the night before.

  His eyes widened at the sound of the door opening.

  He straightened his posture, waiting for her to come in.

  “Good morning, Mr. Mori.”

  A familiar voice filled the room.

  “How are you feeling today?”

  Her posture was professional, her expression calm, not a single hint revealing her thoughts.

  “Good morning.”

  Takashi lifted his head, meeting her eyes directly.

  “I’m feeling much better. Thank you for helping me last night.”

  “Helping people is my job, Mr. Mori.”

  Her response was cold as ice.

  “Take off your shirt.”

  She approached the desk and opened her medical kit.

  Takashi began unbuttoning his shirt. An awkward silence filled the room. When he finished, he placed it neatly on the bed beside him.

  Dr. Akiyama pulled a chair closer and sat down in front of him, carefully unwrapping the bandages around his waist.

  She came to see me on purpose, he thought.

  Why would she bother if she didn’t have something to say?

  That thought gave him the confidence to speak.

  He had been hoping to see her at the hospital this morning.

  She was close to Sota…

  and he had so many questions about him.

  “How do you and Sota know each other… if I may ask?”

  He finally let the words slip from his mouth.

  The question came out of nowhere... too direct, too sudden...

  and he only realized it after he had already said it.

  She hesitated for a moment.

  She didn’t lift her head, busy cleaning his wound, her expression unreadable.

  “I lived in Shirogawa with my parents ” she finally said.

  Her voice was calm, but there was hesitation beneath it.

  “We were neighbors. Sota’s mother and mine were very close back then… so Sota and I played together almost every day when we were children.”

  “Mr. Mori.”

  She lifted her head and looked at Takashi.

  “I’m not hating you.” she said quietly. “I just want you to understand something…”

  She paused.

  “Sota suffered a lot.”

  Her gaze dropped back to his wound as she continued working.

  “I’m not the one who should tell you his whole story.”

  For a moment, only the sound of her movements filled the room.

  “When Sota was seven years old, his family disappeared from Shirogawa.” she continued.

  “Everyone thought his father had run away with them because of his debts. He was a gambler and an alcoholic… a man who dragged Sota and his mother into his mess."

  “After that, the years passed… and I never saw Sota again.”

  She paused for a moment.

  “Later, I came back to town to finish medical school. I almost forgot about him.”

  Her voice softened slightly.

  “Until one summer break, when I visited Shirogawa again.”

  She swallowed.

  “I saw him with a group of gang members.

  I wouldn’t have recognized him at all if my mother hadn’t told me it was Sota.”

  She stopped speaking and reached for the fresh bandages, then sat back down beside him.

  Takashi remained silent, waiting for her to continue.

  He needed to know more.

  “Then one night, while I was doing my internship at the hospital…” she continued with a painful sigh.

  “He was brought in, beaten almost to death.”

  She paused for a moment.

  “On his hospital records, the name was Takashi Mori.”

  She lifted her eyes briefly.

  “But I knew it was Sota.”

  Her fingers tightened slightly around the bandage.

  “It was suspicious… but I didn’t say anything.”

  Her voice lowered.

  “The man who brought him in was genuinely worried about him.”

  Takashi’s eyes widened at the mention of his name.

  What’s going on…?

  His thoughts spun wildly, but he didn’t say anything, waiting for her to continue.

  And she did.

  “The man who brought him in was your father, Hiroto Mori.”

  Her voice was steady, but heavy with meaning.

  “He used your name in the hospital records to protect Sota.”

  She finished wrapping the bandages and stood up from the chair.

  “You’re all done, Mr. Mori. You can put your shirt back on.”

  Takashi was too stunned to speak.

  It was written clearly across his face.

  She turned her back to him, placing the medical supplies into the case. Her movements were firm, controlled.

  “I think I’ve said enough for you to understand.” she continued quietly.

  “Your father cared deeply about Sota. That’s why he chose to help you.”

  She paused for a moment.

  “But you’re not like your father.”

  Her words cut deeper than he expected.

  “I can see it in your eyes.” she said, without turning around.

  “I only hope you won’t do anything that makes him suffer more than he already has.”

  “I’m not planning to do anything that would put him in danger, Dr. Akiyama.” Takashi said, defending himself.

  “I know I’m not my father. I don’t know Sota well enough to care about him the way he did.”

  He paused, choosing his words carefully.

  “But I didn’t force him to do anything. It was his decision to help me.”

  His voice grew firmer.

  “You know I can’t let this chance slip through my fingers.”

  He lifted his gaze to meet hers.

  “I promise you again… I won’t let anything happen to him.

  She remained silent after his words.

  “Thank you for your time, Dr. Akiyama.”

  Takashi was already walking toward the door, ready to leave.

  “Mr. Mori.”

  Her voice stopped him.

  He turned back slightly.

  “You can always count on my help... whenever you need it.”

  Her words struck him deeper than he expected.

  “Thank you.” he said quietly. “I’ll remember that.”

  He closed the door behind him.

  Her words echoed in his mind, not as comfort,

  but as the signal of something beginning.

  The beginning of a war.

  The cold air hit him the moment he stepped outside, sharp, but refreshing after the warmth inside.

  Kenta was leaning against one of the parked cars, smoking.

  “What happened?” he asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  He flicked the cigarette away and crushed it under his shoe before stepping closer.

  “I’ll tell you everything on the way home.” Takashi said quietly.

  “This is getting deeper than I thought.”