Problems occurred as Maki drove for hours. At the nearest pharmacy, she could not find the correct medication. On the next, it was the same. And the next, and the next. During sundown, Maki neared Shinjuku when her prayers were finally answered.

Back home, Yumi and her foster grandparents comforted a hyperventilating Haruto. Nisemono kept rubbing his back, “Don’t worry, sport… You just need to believe in her.”

“I believe in her too, Dad…! We’d never doubt Mommy!” Yumi shook her head, sitting in bed in front of Haruto.

Shōmei went inside the room, holding a cup, “Here… drink this. It will calm the nerves, dear….” Haruto held it with shaking hands, making it spill. He could not drink it properly, either, but he carried on. He gave it back to his foster mother. “Feeling better now…?” she asked.

“I… I don’t know….” the hyperventilating continued.

Suddenly, an idea popped inside Nisemono’s mind, stomping one foot down. He looked at Haruto, smiling with confidence, “You know what, Haruto?! Don’t believe in her. Believe in me!” he pointed to his chest with his thumb, “Believe in the Nisemono who believes Maki will come back for you!”

His statement confused all of them except Shōmei. “Isn’t that from a show we just watched?” her eyes drooped down. Nisemono tuned to her, “No! I mean… yeah… but still! You all get the point, right? She’ll definitely come back!”

At the pharmacy, Maki bought thrombolytics, beta-blockers, antiplatelet agents, and ACE inhibitors. The cashier was shocked by Maki’s explanation when he asked if she wanted medicine for an elderly member. For someone to suffer a heart at such a young age was unheard of for him.

As Maki began walking out of the pharmacy with the needed products in her handbag, a brutal scene happened outside. A truck crashed onto a bank on the other side of the street, killing a man and his Shiba Inu.

Coming out of the truck was another man, a complete drunkard of a man, holding an empty bottle. Everyone in the vicinity screamed and crouched as the man entered the pharmacy with a Glock. He threw his bottle near the owner, “Alright… NOBODY FUCKING MOVE…!!! You there…! Open the safe….” he pointed the gun at her.

The owner’s eyes squinted, “What are you talking about?! This is a drugstore–” A thunderous sound made the customers scream louder.

The man wobbled about, eyes drooping, “I DON’T GIVE A SHIT…!!! Just give the greens…. You there…! Open the register….” he pointed his gun at an employee who was shaking and tearing up. Police sirens were now heard from afar. The man turned around briefly, “FASTER!!!” he fired a warning shot. As more tears flowed out of the employee’s eyes, his fingers scurried about the cash drawer aimlessly. He was instructed to put it on the counter.

The man holstered the gun in his pocket and frantically put the money inside his jacket. As he did, Maki slowly moved toward him. The other customers tried to warn her, which caught the man’s attention to her. He pulled up his gun again, “HEY…!!! What did I just fucking say, bitch…?! Get back there….”

With a stern look, Maki put her hands up and crouched down. At the sliding glass door behind him, the man saw two men in blue drawing their weapons. The man could not aim if his life depended on it, and eventually, he was shot in the left hand. Maki went on with the opportunity to hit the man’s face with her handbag. He fell down, and Maki stood up. “EVERYONE, GET OUT!!!” she told the customers.

They ran outside as fast as they could, accompanied by the police. However, Maki heard a voice at the back. “MAMA!!! MAMA!!!” It was a six-year-old boy too scared to move. Her mother cried for his name endlessly to come where she was, but the child never inched closer. Maki ran to his aid.

She held his cheeks as the child looked at her, bawling, “It’s okay, it’s okay…. Listen to me…. Just hold me tight, alright? I’m a mother, too. C’mon–” the same booming sound occurred again. Copious blood splattered all over the boy’s face. He screamed and bawled even more as Maki fell over.

The man slowly walked closer, “You dumb bitch…. YOU THINK I WOULDN’T DO IT, HUH?!!!” Three more shots were fired; Maki’s hands coiled up and trembled. Suddenly, he was interrupted by the officers. He was shot at the waist, making him fall down as well. As authorities apprehended the man, others surrounded Maki.

Not long after, paramedics went inside the pharmacy.

Back home, Haruto constantly defeated his foster father in a game of Othello. Nisemono kept calling it “beginner’s luck.” After their fifteenth game, the sirens that dreaded Haruto’s mind as a teenager came back. Once again, his heart rate matched a rabbit’s. Haruto’s foster parents told him to stay inside. Yumi comforted her father to quell his hyperventilating.

This was the day Haruto stopped believing in luck.

Slowly walking to the front lawn with his daughter, Haruto saw Shōmei cry on a river on Nisemono. Haruto also witnessed the sheer distraught of his foster father. Close to him, Yumi sweated bullets.

“Dad…. What’s happening?” she looked at Haruto. He did not respond but did look at Yumi back slowly. Haruto’s eyes were lit up beyond belief, frightening his daughter. Suddenly, he passed out face-first. “Dad…? Dad!” were the only words Haruto heard.

Slowly opening his eyes, Haruto felt movement all around. Instead of his car or Maki’s, it was one of the officers’. Haruto and his family were all taken to the hospital. Inside, Haruto walked behind his family as a nurse accompanied them. The information did not bear any hope.

Maki’s lungs were irreversibly torn up, with the right one being the most decimated. The medical staff was immediately given a do not resuscitate order. Maki’s last wishes were the only things left Haruto’s family had to look forward to.

Tearfully enraged, Haruto ran for the nurse, shoving away his family. He grabbed his clothing, “WHAT DO YOU FUCKING MEAN BY THAT?!!! AREN’T YOU DOCTORS?!!! WHY CAN’T YOU SAVE HER?!!!”

Nisemono stepped in, forcibly grabbing Haruto’s hands to let go of the nurse. Telling him to calm down was futile. Haruto did not end his raging tears until he realized he frightened his daughter. Shōmei held Yumi close as she began the waterworks, rubbing her back. Witnessing Yumi’s heartache, Haruto’s rage stopped.

Waiting outside, Haruto saw his daughter crying even more. His foster parents comforted her outside the hospital. Haruto was last to go inside. There, he sat on a chair in front of the hospital bed, hunching his back. An afternoon glow permeated the room, but Haruto would not dare look upon his wife’s beautiful complexion.

On an elevated bed, Maki slowly opened her eyes, “It’s not your fault…. I should have bought your pills earlier…. I should have known earlier… they were expired…. I’m so sorry, honey….” she smiled.

Haruto’s hands clenched together and quivered. “Don’t say that, Maki…. This isn’t about who’s fault it was. You didn’t deserve this… neither did Nisemono or Shōmei. And of course… Yumi didn’t deserve this…. And least of all….” he teared up again, standing up.

“I DIDN’T DESERVE THIS…!!! SO WHY DID IT HAVE TO HAPPEN…?!!!” Haruto sobbed, “Was I not a good boy enough…?” his teeth clenched.

Maki breathed faintly, still smiling, “I don’t have to tell you twice, Haruto…. You already know… that I never doubted you….”

The afternoon glow permeated the room further, showing her face clearer. Haruto could not handle it one bit, tears rolling down his cheeks more.

Haruto walked closer, pointing at his wife, “BUT YOU PROMISED…!!! YOU PROMISED I WOULDN’T REGRET IT…!!!” he began panting. Even with his yelling, Maki kept smiling at him.

Haruto walked even closer, falling to his knees. He grasped the hospital bed railings tightly, hunching his back further, “I’m regretting it all right now, Maki…. I don’t want regret….”

“I want you… back in my arms….” His tears flowed out more.

“Please….”

Still smiling intimately, Maki gestured her finger to make Haruto come closer. He complied.

She whispered, “You don’t have to…. You never needed to…. You never needed me to live a happy life…. Back then… I just saved you from misery…. You don’t have to regret… because I never regretted you….”

Haruto heard Maki take a deep breath as much as she could.

“Don’t… ever get lost… little… boy….” her arm flopped down, still smiling with eyes closed.

“Thank you… Haruto….”

The flatline made Haruto’s heartbeat match rabbit’s once more. “Maki…? Maki…? Maki…?!” he shook her about ten more times. “MAKI!!! MAKI!!! MAKI!!! MAKI!!! MAKI!!! MAKI!!! MAKI!!! MAKI!!!” he did it again twenty more times.

The medical stepped in to restrain Haruto, still crying out his wife’s name. Outside, Haruto’s foster parents cried, along with his daughter. He, however, did not.

Even at the wake and funeral, Haruto never shed tears as he sulked.

At the courtroom, a week after, was when the White Delinquent made a short comeback within Haruto. The convicted was the exact same man who took his parents away from him. Records have briefly noted that the middle-aged man had been imprisoned before. He also orphaned a security guard’s son.

The darkest thoughts within Haruto’s mind made him sprint toward his wife’s killer as if by instinct. The brutal onslaught occurred for ten seconds before authorities came in. As Haruto’s foster parents were horrified, his bawling daughter cheered him on, shouting “kill him” repeatedly. Haruto was not judged under the law, for the man survived.

Many days in, the brooding, irritable teenager came back within Haruto.

At dinner, Nisemono broke the silence, “So, Haruto…! I wondered if you’d like to join us in the Tokyo Skytree! It was suggested by Yumi for years.” Haruto only responded with a slight nod, not smiling once.

Nisemono clapped his hands, “Great! Don’t forget to brush your teeth tomorrow, you little rascal…!” he rubbed Yumi’s head. “Hahahaha…! You’re the only one that does, Grandpa…!”

Haruto gazed upon his family briefly, baffled at how happy they were.

The next day at the Skytree, Haruto was pulled constantly by Yumi on his right hand, happily moving at every view she saw. Nisemono suggested they should all just go visit more tourist spots. Chinatown was next. Haruto would only eat one mooncake slowly as his family encouraged him. Next was the Meiji Castle, then the Gyoen National Garden, and finally, the Ueno Zoo. No matter what, Haruto never cracked a smile.

However, his foster parents noticed Haruto always followed Yumi behind wherever she went. Other times, Haruto would hug his daughter for a lengthy amount of time; she never minded. Yumi was happy.

Tokyo Disneyland was Nisemono’s last shot, moping to Shōmei on a bench how he failed to cheer Haruto up for even one second. Still following behind his joyful daughter, Haruto’s eyes were caught by peculiar merchandise in the gift shop. T-shirts and hats showed “The Fox and the Hound” characters. Speaking for the first time since their visits, Haruto asked the clerk for a cap showing an image of Todd in front.

Haruto sat by a bench, looking at Yumi playing around a fountain. He called for her attention, “Yumi… why are you happy right now?” She giggled, “Why shouldn’t I be happy? You should be too, Dad! Teacher always told me sadness is never good.”

Haruto sighed, “I’m not sad…. I’m just… feeling a bit off right now. Don’t you miss her…?”

Yumi walked closer, “Of course I do! But it’s no good, Dad! Being sad is always no good! Being sad is… is……” she ran to Haruto for a tight hug, sobbing. “I want to be happy, Dad! I don’t like sad things… it’s scary… and I don’t want sad or scary! Happy is all I want, right now!”

Yumi’s sorrow awoke something within Haruto. His happy-go-lucky glow came back once again, now with a touch of maturity. It dawned on him that the one bundle of happiness in his life was always with him. At the moment, the little boy had a duty to cheer up a troubled, vulnerable, lost little girl.

“I’ll make you happy, Yumi…. Until we go home….” Haruto held her shoulders. “Really…?” Yumi dried her eyes. Haruto replied with a nod, smiling.

Moving to the rollercoaster ride, Haruto fastened his daughter’s seatbelts. He did not care for the thrill, only for her smiles and laughter. Feeling like he could fly at any moment, Haruto closed his eyes, feeling a familiar warmth.

Back at the fountain, Haruto and Yumi splashed around the water like there was no tomorrow. Nisemono and Shōmei sat by the same bench, feeling very proud of themselves. After their session, the little boy and girl hugged each other tightly. This warmth that Haruto felt meant so much more than the whole world. And so, the world was not pleased for a second. In fact, it came with a vengeance.

“Urgh!” Haruto’s eyes lit up.

The world spat directly at his heart, accompanied by violent spasms.

March 21, 2035. Springtime. The day only gave Haruto a coincidence. The coincidence of being sent into the same exact room years before. Like Maki, there was no need for resuscitation. Though, unlike Maki, his family was all allowed inside. They did not come in with tears. They came in with even more smiles.

The little girl walked closer to the little boy.

“Yumi… looks like this is it… I’ll be with your mom, now….” Haruto declared faintly. Yumi nodded her head. “I know…. But I wanted to give this before you go….” she pulled up another daruma from a gift box.

“Happy birthday, Dad….” she smiled more.

Not a tear was shed among Haruto’s family.

Haruto turned his head, “Yumi…. Come closer…. I want to know that I’ve given up… but not on all of you. I’ve given up… on my life… on this earth….

“Thank you….” Haruto had no strength left to speak as Yumi laid close beside him.

“Mom…. Dad…. Maki…. I’m finally home….” his eyes closed.

But as this story went, the tale of the sorry child did not stop there.

Where countless other sorry people literally slaved away in chains, the Alaric Empire stood. Sitting by a wall, Haruto slowly opened his eyes, hearing cruel voices. “Maki…?”

“Agh!” he was greeted by another splash of water. However, it was not warm and welcoming. It was cold and biting. As Haruto coughed and wiped his face dry, he heard footsteps getting closer.

“GET YOUR ARSE OFF THERE, YOU LAZING GNAT!!! REPAY FOR OUR HIGHNESS WITH YOUR LABOUR… OR FACE DEATH!!!” a hulking, cruel man stood in front of the sorry child.