It was currently 5:10 AM in the morning. I had just woken up from a very good night's sleep. I spent yesterday Sunday hanging out with my friends in a friend's house. It was so fun we got lost in time and played for about 4 hours from 3:00 PM till 8:15 PM.

Alright, I should snap out of my thoughts and prepare for school. I stepped out of my bed and began folding the mess I made while sleeping. I guess Tsubasa was right about me being a very messy sleeper. As I finished making my bed, I went ahead to the kitchen and grabbed some ingredients from the cupboards in the kitchen. I was gonna make some Omurice since I had been craving it for weeks but didn't have the ingredients and motivation to cook I t. I was too busy studying for the midterms so that might explain the lack of motivation.

As I was in the middle of cooking, I was disturbed by a sudden ringing sound coming from the table across from me. I picked up my phone to see who had called so early in the morning considering people usually haven't woken up at this time or was too busy preparing breakfast, The person who called me this early to my surprise, was my one and only father.

Since my father works as a butler, he never really comes home so we often talk on the phone whenever I finished school or when it's late at night, of course, we made sure to contact each other at an appropriate time where it wouldn't disturb either of us when we had work or school assignments.

Honestly, I wish we could spend more time together as father and son. Don't get me wrong though, my father is a very good parent paying for all my education and needs while simultaneously working with barely any spare time. I respect him a lot as not everyone could raise a child while working for about 10+ hours every day. It's just, I wish his boss would give him a break for once since it's been years since we physically met each other.

Putting my thoughts aside, he usually never calls me this early in the morning. Was it an emergency? Did something happen to him...?

Alright, I need to stop having these negative thoughts and answer his call. I've left him hanging for a minute, I don't intend to take any more precious work time from him.

I pressed the green round icon with a white silhouette of a phone and put the phone on speaker since no one was around me.

"Hello, Father?"

The caller was silent for a few seconds but then, a voice I did not recognize started to speak.

"Is this Matsuo Eiichiro I'm speaking to?" An unfamiliar voice entered my ears which seems to be the voice of a woman.

I was really confused as to why another person had my dad's phone and was calling me through his phone. Did he get in trouble? Did he perhaps found a new lady to call his wife and attempted to surprise me? I mean I wouldn't be any if he were to find a new woman I'm glad for him but damn couldn't he have told me the news properly?

Alright, I'm probably overthinking it. I should question who the person behind the phone is. My father might have gotten in an accident or something serious had happened to him.

"Who is this? And why do you have my father's phone with you?" I questioned the person using my father's phone. I was on guard since I didn't know if the person behind the phone was a threat or a good person.

"Please rest assured that we didn't do anything to your father. We only called to give you information that might save you and your family's life." The woman replied.

"What do you mean by saving me and my family's life. Are you implying that something might happen to us in the near future?" I asked a bit anxiously.

"Well let's just say there's a future possibility that someone might put a bounty on you and your dad due to something your dad did." The woman explained.

Something my dad did...? What the hell did that old geezer do to suddenly risk him and his family's life. Did he commit a crime or something?

"Something my dad did? What did my dad do to suddenly anger someone to the point that someone wants him and his family dead?"

I was starting to panic a bit cause out of all the scenarios I imagined would happen today, suddenly being hunted by someone certainly wasn't one of them.

"Well rest assured, your dad is being targeted not because he did something terrible." She replied to my question which didn't make me any calmer.

I mean how would you feel if you woke up one day thinking it's going to be a good day and suddenly you got informed that someone is literally hunting you and your family. Must not be nice, must it?

Sigh...

Well, there's no use of me panicking right now. It's not like me complaining will change anything.

"Can I at least know the reason why we're suddenly being targeted? "

"To sum it up, your father went against his employer's orders. Your father basically reported and exposed some things his employer has done which are considered to be illegal by Japanese law. So he reported the crimes his employer committed to us and in exchange for getting information from him, we the government have decided to offer governmental protection to him and his loved ones considering his employer has a massive influence over Japan and might target you and your father once he finds out what your father did."

"Wow..." I couldn't help but utter those words. I mean what else would you say when you've suddenly been put into a situation like this.

"Anyways, now that I've explained the situation, I want you to start packing your clothes, essentials, and belongings as a private government car will be coming to pick you up at around 7:00 PM." The woman suddenly informed me.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH! That soon?! I mean I get that my life is in danger but I have to run away that soon? I mean It's not like I have a choice to decline but I do have a life here. I mean how are my friends gonna react to my sudden disappearance from school? Surely they would start to question me leaving without a trace. And they might even start to misunderstand things about our relationships and hate me since I left without saying goodbye. I know I have to leave soon but I have a life here too and I don't want people I care about to get hurt because I suddenly disappeared without reason." I complained a bit too much.

Although it's not like my complaints were unreasonable. I wanted to at least say goodbye to my friends as they mean a lot to me. And I didn't wang them to think they didn't mean much to me since I was gonna suddenly leave them after hanging out with them yesterday.

"Calm down kiddo. Don't panic when I haven't explained the full details to you yet." She tried to reassure me.

The call paused for a while then she continued talking, "We specifically told you we would come to pick you up at 7:00 pm specifically because your father requested it. He just like you wanted your friends to you to give them a proper goodbye. We've contacted your school and have gained permission from your school to let you leave the school and the staff of the school will probably inform your friends and classmates on why you wouldn't come to the school anymore."

"Oh... That's reassuring I guess. I apologize for my immature behavior just now. It's not like me to usually lose my patience like this." I apologized sincerely

"Well it's not like you complaining is illogical. I mean anyone would freak out if they woke up and were suddenly awoken to news as big as this one. Your still a child after all, it wouldn't be strange for you to freak out." I felt the last statement was unnecessary but I'll ignore it for now.

"Keep in mind you have more than 12 hours before we pick you up. That should be enough time for you to bid your farewells to your friends and other loved ones. Also, don't forget to pack up your essentials since you'll be living in an isolated government-owned facility for quite a while." Wait... How long was I gonna be kept isolated for?

"If you don't mind me asking, how long does the government intend to hide me and my family for?"

"We will let you go once we've got enough evidence to corner your father's employer and arrest him for the crimes he's been suspected to be involved with. I'm not sure how long that would take but probably around months? Or maybe even years."

Well, I knew it was gonna be long but it's still quite surprising. I mean can you blame me for wondering? My own life was in danger here and I have to suddenly abandon my normal everyday life because of it.

"Anyways I will be ending the call here. I and a few other colleagues will explain the situation more clearly to you once you've arrived at this facility. Until then Eiichiro, just stay at home and don't go with any strangers since we don't have info if your father's employer has realized what your father did. Also, don't forget to pack everything you need as we won't turn back to your home once we've departed from it, understood?" She said as if she was ordering me like a soldier.

"Yes ma'am understood." I just replied nonchalantly.

"Good, I'll be hanging up now considering I have tasks to do. I hope you've understood the information I've relayed on to you and we'll pick you up at exactly 7:00 pm. I'll be ending the call now."

The sound that my phone made as we ended our call.

Sigh...

What a way to start the morning. First I get a call from who I thought was my dad this morning, turning out to be someone from the government. Then I find out I and my family were being targeted cause of something my dad did. And in a couple of hours, I'll have to leave everyone and everything behind for my own safety.

Well, I should prepare breakfast first, I should at least enjoy the few hours of normal life I had left.

-------------------

It was currently 7:00 am in the morning. Usually at this hour, I would've already worn my uniform, socks, and shoes, then get on my bicycle and bike to school usually arriving there after 20-30 minutes of cycling. But today was no normal day as my life was about to change in about 12 hours. I decided to send a text to my best friend to inform her why I wouldn't be at school today.

I pressed the messaging app and made my way to her contact.

[Good night Eiichiro and sweet dreams. (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃]

[Good morning Tsubasa! Sorry I

couldn't reply to your messages

yesterday. I was really sleepy

and tired from hanging out

yesterday ]

[Ah! It's okay Eiichiro! I figured

you would like some peace because of how tiring yesterday was. No need

to apologize really.]

[Oh by the way, the school will

probably inform everyone

about this, but I won't be

coming to school for today and

for a while due to reasons

I can't say.]

[Oh... Well that's too bad, I was

planning to play with you since

holidays are coming up soon.

Did something big perhaps

happen for you to suddenly

be absent from school?]

[I guess you could say that... I'm not really allowed to disclose much

info, but yeah I guess something big

did happen. Anyways, I think it

would be better if the school told

you about it instead of me anyways.]

[Well okay. I have to go now Eiichiro,

Sorry but I don't wanna be late for

School. Sorry, talk to you later!

(人 •͈ᴗ•͈)]

[Oh okay. Talk to you later!]

I exited the messaging app and turned off my phone. Well, that's one thing that's been taken care of. I should probably start packing my clothes and essentials. Well, this is gonna be one heck of a day, isn't it?

I went to my storage closet and grabbed one of the suitcases my dad used when we used to go on vacation. It was a bit heavy but I was able to drag it easily. I went to my room while dragging the suitcase with me. I put the suitcase on the floor as I unzipped the zippers on the suitcase.

Then I stood up and went to my wardrobe and grabbed all of my clothes. I started folding them neatly and put them in an orderly manner. I realized how many clothes I actually had and was shocked to find out some of them didn't even fit anymore.

Ugh there's so many clothes here I have to fold and some of them I can't even wear anymore. I guess this is what I get for being a lazy ass student who gets above-average grades but can't even learn to tidy his own clothes. Thoughts like these kept me occupied as in a few hours, my friends would probably show up at my house chaotically questioning what the school just informed them. It would be bothersome but you can't delay the inevitable.

Sigh...

Let's just throw away these thoughts and let's finish packing up all the stuff I need for this long goose chase my family had been involved in. I just hope once this was over I could come back here and live my life as a normal student again.

-------------------

It's currently 4:17 PM in the late afternoon. I just woke up from a good afternoon nap. After I finished packing up all the stuff I needed, I ended up more tired than I thought I would be and ended up falling asleep. I didn't even get to eat lunch.

Well, I'm gonna be leaving in around 3 hours, I might as well order some foods online as I probably won't be eating any food like that for a long time.

I got up from my bed and wore some slippers. I grabbed the phone from the desk near my desk and what I saw on my screen wasn't even surprising honestly. I had 17 missed calls, 76 unread messages. Those missed calls and messages were most likely from my friends trying to question me on the situation I was in.

Apparently, after all of them had done their club activities, they would come to my house at around 4:30-4:45 PM. This was gonna be troublesome but it's not like I didn't expect something like this would happen.

I read some of the messages my friends had sent me. Most of them were questioning me about the information the school gave to them about me. Tsubasa in general was asking me in caps lock while also being worried about me. It was nice to know my friends actually cared about me but I felt kinda sad that I won't be able to see them for a long time.

While I was thinking of all this, I suddenly heard my doorbell being ranged which snapped me out of my thoughts instantly. I checked my phone and it was only 4:25 PM. I guess they came earlier than I expected.

I walked towards the door and saw through the window and to my surprise only one person stood there. A girl with hip-length light-blonde hair and blue eyes that could charm any man. It was my childhood friend, Nanase Tsubasa. She had a face of worry and confusion as she kept waiting in front of the door hoping for me to respond.

I didn't want to make her more worried than I've made her already. I gently open the door and saw a surprised face on her.

"Tsubas-" before I could finish calling her name she quickly hugged me the moment I opened the door.

I looked at her and I noticed she was shaking a lot while hugging me.

"T-thank God you're alright. I-i thought something might have h-happened to you after you didn't read or reply to my text messages." She said to me in a worried and shaken tone.

I patted her head and caressed her hair gently. "I'm sorry for not responding. I may have slept for too long. Sorry for worrying you Tsubasa." I tried comforting her.

She started to calm down and regain her composure. It was honestly saddening to see her worry this much about me. I knew whatever the school would announce to my friends would cause them to panic but it still hurt seeing Tsubasa like this.

"Y-you better explain everything! The senpais from your class wouldn't stop asking me what happened to you when I had no clue of what the school just told us."

"I will, I will don't worry. What did the school tell you though? I'm quite curious about what they said that could put you in this state." I asked curiously.

"Well, I heard from your friends in your class that you suddenly dropped out, and the only reason they didn't really give us any context on why you suddenly dropped out of school other than it being related to your family." She explained

She looked at me hesitantly then continued, "Since you were a student council member, some people started to spread rumors that maybe you did something against that broke the school rules and you were expelled by the school, but they didn't want the image of the student council to be tarnished so they made up an excuse for your expulsion. Obviously, I didn't believe any of those rumors but I at least needed to come see you to confirm the real reason you suddenly decided to leave the school."

Well, I'm not even surprised that rumors like those spread. Although I don't like to brag, I was one of the popular guys in my whole year and I would sometimes get jealous glares from other students. Those people might try to take advantage of the news they just received by slandering me behind my back for them to rise in the popularity rankings. I should probably clear up the situation first to Tsubasa before I start spacing out again.

"Well, what the school told you was true. I do have to drop out of school due to some family problems I'd like to keep private. There's also a chance I might have to move away to another place temporarily since the problems my family's facing hasn't been resolved." I told her a half-truth.

"WAIT YOUR MOVING?!" Oh did the school forgot to mention that?

"Unfortunately, yes. But it's not like we'll never see each other again. Once my family issues have been resolved, I'll probably come back here."

"H-how long will you be gone for?" She asked with a hint of concern in her tone.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone but at the longest, at the least, I would be gone for a few months. Though, there's a possibility we might not meet each other for a few years."

"YEARS?! YOUR JOKING RIGHT?!" She started to get worked up while questioning me.

"I really wish I was, but you know I wouldn't joke about something as serious as this," I replied somberly.

"B-but you can't! We promised we'd go to the same school once you and I graduate right?!"

"I'm sorry I truly am, but I can't do anything about the situation I'm in." I was starting to get a bit upset on thinking about how heartbroken Tsubasa must be right now.

"Still... Even if we're no longer near each other, we'll still be able to chat and call each other... Right?" I noticed she was holding back tears as she said those words.

"About that... There might be a chance I'll also have to cut communications from other people for a while. This includes you and my other friends too. So we might not be able to keep in touch for months and maybe even years."

"B-BUT WHY?! I MEAN IS IT THAT SERIOUS?! I-I JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS HAPPENING." No longer able to hold her tears, she hugged me tightly as she was crying. Tears started to soak my shirt at the place she was sobbing in.