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A Father’s Love

Juzo Megure was a father to his men.

Sure, he had his flaws, but he cared for them nonetheless.

That’s why, when he found out that his subordinates were hiding something, he became worried. They always said they were fine, but Megure knew something was wrong. Just like how Takagi hid his problems back then.

When he talked to Nakamori at a bar one day, Nakamori revealed that he met Seiwa, the doctor who helped Takagi back then. Nakamori told him that Seiwa was hiding something. It made Megure curious.

Then, the answer came unexpectedly.

Nakamori told him everything about Seiwa. How he hid his true identity, how he was struggling with guilt over Elena Miyano’s death, and how he nearly killed himself after one Mary Akai – who was Elena’s older sister – pushed him to kill himself. Megure was horrified. He’d always known that Mary Akai was a bit unstable beneath her stoic façade, but he never thought that she was that crazy.

After Kai got discharged, Megure decided to invite him to a bar. There, talked about their emotional struggles while doing their jobs. It was an amicable chat, “Come to my house next week. Midori will be glad to have guests. It’s been a while,” he smiled at the doctor. Seiwa – no, Kai – was hesitant, but he nodded slowly.

One week later, Kai came to visit Megure where Midori Megure and her husband were waiting for him. Nakamori and Yuminaga were already there earlier. The secret keepers were also with Kai as Megure asked them to come as well.

It turned out that Yuminaga heard everything from Nakamori. Just like his fellow policemen, Yuminaga was deeply disturbed by Mary’s behavior. He sometimes caught Mary muttering about vengeance and how she would torture Sharon Vineyard. This earned her ‘the crazy blonde witch’ nickname from Yuminaga. Midori on the other hand once met Mary at the grocery store. When she mentioned Sharon Vineyard by accident, Mary giggled like crazy and told Midori that she would put Sharon into a long, torturous death and take out her organs to be displayed inside jars, just like the psychos in horror movies. Everyone shuddered when they heard that, “Zero… what kind of mother-in-law you have?” Matsuda groaned. Shiratori nearly puked on the spot, “Well, this is the old hag’s fault, mostly…” Hagi stuttered. No one liked Sharon Vineyard, and that’s not only for them but everyone else in the world.

To defuse the situation, Midori served tea and sweets to her guests. She also made hotpot and curry for dinner with tempura fritters. Her homemade ohagi took the spotlight as it was very tasty. Together, they had a nice conversation. Everyone sympathized with what Kai and the secret keepers had to go through. Out of curiosity, Yuminaga asked a question, “Sir, do you ever have a girlfriend?” “A girlfriend?” Kai raised his eyebrow. He glanced at his teacup, “Well… I never had a girlfriend or a boyfriend in that matter. I’m asexual.” Everyone blinked owlishly, “Oh…” “What I love the most… is archery and my foster children, that’s all,” “Well, that makes sense. We tried to take you to the matchmaking party, but you refused blatantly,” Hagi quipped. Jinpei suddenly grinned like Cheshire Cat, “Hohohoho… mind telling me how those three fell in love?” Komei and his partners didn’t like the sound of it, “Well, just a little, okay?” Kai smiled.

Nagano, 23 years ago…

Yui Uehara loved playing tag with Kansuke Yamato and Taka’aki Morofushi. Despite being six years younger than her playmates, she was surprisingly agile. She knew how to find the best hiding spots, places where the boys couldn’t find her.

Today was one of those days. They were playing tag again. Before the game began, Yui made one challenge, “If one of you manages to catch me, I’ll be your bride in the future!” None of the boys took that seriously. They thought that it was a joke. A simple silly promise. And Yui also didn’t mean any of it.

The tag game was intense. As usual, Yui was able to hide from the boys. This time, she hid inside a tree stump. However, the boys soon noticed that the tree stump was big enough for a child to fit in. They soon caught her. Yui giggled in delight as she was caught. After rolling in the dirt for a while, Yui extended her pinky finger, “Pinky promise!” “Huh?” the boys asked, “Pinky promise! Promise me that you’ll make me your bride when we’re adults!” “You’re still too young for that,” Kai interrupted. Yui simply puffed her cheeks and demanded a pinky promise once again. Reluctantly, the boys made the promise.

Eight years passed, and the trio was still tight-knitted. One day, while walking down the river, they saw a girl making a pinky promise with a boy. The promise was exactly like the one they made back then. It brought back sweet memories. Yui blushed as she glanced at Kansuke and Komei, “Do you still remember…” “About the pinky promise? Yes, yes. We still remember,” Kansuke cut off Yui’s sentence. Yui’s face turned redder, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” “What? No! In fact… we actually want to marry you once you are ready for it…” the boys were blushing mad. Yui in return got speechless for a moment before saying, “Actually… I still have my drawings of the wedding dress… I know it sounds silly…” “No! It’s not! In fact, we can help you to design your wedding dress…” Kai who eavesdropped behind a tree chuckled, “Took you long enough…”

“Awww… how cute!” Midori cooed, “So, all of it began with a pinky promise?” Sato was astonished, “If Yumi-san heard this, she won’t keep quiet for sure,” Naeko snickered, “Is she that bad?” Yui asked, “Oh… yes. She won’t stop teasing Shiratori-san about Kobayashi-sensei,” Naeko grinned, “Sounds so much like her…” Miwako sighed. “Well, at least she never suggests adult magazines to my little brother,” Date’s glare landed on Matsuda and Hagi, “Oh come on, squad leader… we just wanted to help him with preferences…” Hagi protested, “Preferences.” Shiratori snorted, “He was asking me for some brain bleach the whole day! When he told me about what you two recommended, I couldn’t believe my ears! He’s too innocent for that!” “Guys, guys… we’re guests here…” Takagi tried to pacify the situation. Megure elbowed Kai a little, “Let’s go somewhere else to talk,” he whispered.

Veranda, Megure residence

“It must’ve been really rough for you…” Megure sympathized. Kai sighed as he stared at the night sky, “Yeah… I already expected Mrs. Akai to blame me and beat me into a bloody pulp, but I would’ve never thought that she would go insane after her sister’s death. I feel really sorry for her family… They never deserved this,” Ginzo groaned as he covered his eyes, “Well, that old bitch Vermouth really screws everyone’s life, huh? No wonder she’s so hated, even by her comrades,” Kai chuckled a little, “Yeah, Even Gin said that Icarus had fallen when she got demoted,” “You are such a cunning snake, aren’t you? Date told us what did you do to ensure her downfall,” Yuminaga chuckled. Kai only smiled gently as he glanced at the youths who were chatting lively, “I already failed Elena-san, so I don’t want to fail this time. They are my family. They are the ones I can count on,” The youngsters laughed together as they had their dinner. Megure, Nakamori, Yuminaga, and Midori smiled at Kai’s words. A father’s love never knows any limitations.