Ice Cream

Ryouta smiled weakly at the ghastly figure yelling at him. With patches of baldness on her head — mostly from ripping out her hair — to bony fingers and a hollowed face, she no longer resembled the sunshine she used to be for people she loved.

Ryouta walked into the room, heading to the seat next to Megumi's doctor while the doctor tried to compose the distressed patient, "Megumi, it's your nephew Ryouta. Do you remember when he visited you a few months ago? You had such a nice time talking to him, right?"

The shivering ghost growled deeply as Ryouta walked through the dark room to come closer to her. It was only when he sat next to the doctor facing Megumi when she was able to discern his features properly.

Her gaze softened and she slowly brought up her frail hand towards his face, "Oh... Oh my... Oh Ryo, you sweet little boy. What have I done... No. No no no. My sweet little Ryo. You're not the murderer. No, why did I call you that?"

"Auntie, it's alright. What happened back then... It was nobody's fault."

She blinked in confusion. "Fault? No you're wrong. It was someone's fault. Who was it? Whose fault was it!?"

The doctor intervened right at that moment. "Don't you want to know how your nephews are doing Megumi? I wonder where Ryuuji is today..." she quickly glanced at Ryouta, asking him indirectly.

Megumi, distracted by the topic of her nephews, looked around the room as if searching for someone.

"Ryuuuujiiii, where are youuuu??" she shouted gleefully. "Auntie will find you and Ryouta and win the game!"

She glanced back at Ryouta land exclaimed, "I found him! I found him! I found your brother! You're next Ryuuu!"

Ryouta looked down and clenched his fists. Memories of happy moments with his aunt flooded his mind as he tried to push the wave back helplessly like a fisherman's boat in a storm.

"I'm sorry Auntie, Ryuuji is not here today."

"Did you two fight?", asked Megumi softly.

Surprised, Ryouta looked up to see the resemblance of her former self back in her eyes. The loving aunt who always looked out for them. The one who could always see through Ryouta's shenanigans as a kid. The only adult he could trust back then. But it only lasted for a second.

Replaced by fear and shock, Megumi's eyes widened, "No no no. Don't tell me I did it again!! No, Ryo. My poor Ryu. My poor Taku. What did I do!? Noooooo" wailed the woman as she resorted to pulling her hair out from her head.

With an urgent look in her eyes, the doctor indicated Ryouta to leave as she tried to compose the sobbing woman. Quietly, Ryouta slipped away from the room, closing the door silently behind him. Even though the nephews had visited Megumi many times now, her aunt's behavior was still something that he and Ryuuji were not used to. Taking a deep breath in, he slowly exhaled as he couldn't help but miss his younger brother in that moment. They had always visited Megumi together. But this time, he had to deal with it by himself. He remembered the first time they both saw Megumi throwing a fit — screaming, crying and ripping her hair — and how scared Ryuuji was as Ryouta held him close, protecting his younger brother from a broken sister who blamed herself for her brother's death.

Ryouta shook off those memories as he promptly walked towards the lobby. He asked the front desk to tell the doctor he couldn't stay for long and to give him an update for Megumi's health over text. He knew the conversation with the doctor was not going to amount to much. There never had been much progress since she was admitted and to Ryouta, it was clear that today's visit also didn't show any signs of improvement in Megumi's mental health.

As he exited the building, he saw the ice cream store he always stopped by with Ryuuji after their visit. Sighing, he walked over to the store to honor the tradition by himself.

***

Ryuuji read Ryouta's text as the cone of ice cream in his hand suddenly felt heavier. He had forgotten about his visit to the hospital. He had a lot on his mind after all. It was still quite early in the morning when Futaba showed up to his room. When she knocked on his door, he opened it to see a serious and unkempt Futaba with bed hair curling out in every possible direction and dark circles under her eyes. It was clear that much like himself, the girl also didn't sleep very well at night.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Do you wanna come-"

"No, not right now. I wanna freshen up first. And I wanna talk about this outside. Not... Here. Let's go for a walk after both of us wash up?"

Ryuuji nodded grimly as Futaba nodded back and quietly left for her room. He was not used to seeing Futaba like this at all. He closed the door and grabbed his head in frustration.

'Ugh, you stupid stupid boy!' he scolded himself. Taking a deep breath, he said aloud to himself, "Ryuuji Ito, when you made the deal with Futaba, remember why you made it and for whom you made it. Ok?"

The silence in the room didn't help with his rhetoric but it was enough for Ryuuji to be ready for the conversation he was going to have soon with Futaba.

And now here they were grabbing ice-cream together before talking about the elephant in the room. The message from Ryouta really showed Ryuuji how much distracted he had gotten from his original goal. Sighing, he kept his phone away as Futaba returned to where he was sitting with a strawberry flavored cone in her hand.

As she sat down, she saw Ryuuji sighing and asked, "Uh... Everything alright?"

"Yes. Yeah. I just forgot about something and got a reminder about it."

"Anything important?" asked Futaba as she carefully twisted her ice-cream, making sure her it did not drip on the bench.

"No, it's fine. I'll not forget it next time."

Taking a deep breath, she looked into Ryuuji's eyes and with a firm gaze she began, "Alright Ryu, let's remake the conditions of our contract"

***

Ai had a headache. Other than the lack of sleep, the amount of thoughts in her head constantly firing made her ears ring and her forehead throb with sharp pain.

As she rolled the pill for her headache in her hand, she stared listlessly outside her window. The sun had woken up quite a bit ago unlike Ai and the sound of summer — kids shouting, birds chirping and the erratic yet melodic wind chime that hung from her balcony — made her feel lonely.

A knock on her door made her jump. The pill for her headache almost fell as she clumsily managed to keep it between her hands. Putting her glasses back on, she said, "Come in!"

A concerned face appeared from her doorway as Ai's mother slowly opened the door. With a glass of water in her hand, she sat next to her daughter and placed the glass in Ai's slightly shaking hands. The daughter gave a small smile to her worried mother before taking the pill. As she handed the glass back, a familiar warmth embraced Ai as Azusa hugged her daughter and laid her cheek on the hurting girl's head.

Azusa had a faint idea of what Ai was going through. She had heard Shizu's outburst from downstairs as she was about to bring some snacks for them. When she heard Ai's door swing open, with a sudden burst of youth, she quietly darted back into the kitchen. Peeking quite nosily yet with discretion, she saw the timid girl's face full of tears and emotions as she put on her shoes to escape her own confession. That night Ai didn't join the family for dinner. But the mother knew better than to poke her nose into her daughter's story. She could only support, not solve. That was something Ai needed to do herself.

"Hey Ai?"

"Yes mom?"

"If you feel better after a bit, do you wanna go shopping and then have some ice-cream?"

"Mhmm" nodded the girl as she looked into eyes filled with love for her.

The headache wasn't as bad now.

***

"Here's your strawberry sorbet, miss" said Iori as she placed the bowl of beautiful pink sorbet freshly made from season's first batch of strawberries. Hinata smiled politely at Iori as the maid returned to lurk in the shadows of the mansion.

Hinata felt the smooth texture of the sorbet with a small dessert spoon and finally broke into the ball of sweetness as she took her first bite. As she was relishing the sweet treat, she suddenly realized a pair of eyes were on her. Daigo had a very amused look on his face as he stared at his daughter with his chin in his hands.

"Creep"

"Oh my, calling your own father a creep? How unlucky for me~"

"So?"

Daigo looked confused, "Hmm?"

"Why the sudden special sweet treat? There's definitely something you want."

"Come, now. Can I not treat my lovely daughter without wanting anything in return?"

Hinata sarcastically smiled, "Oh how lovely! The father who kicked her daughter out of her own house and country now suddenly feels guilty and wants to make up with sweet treats."

The ice cream suddenly tasted bittersweet. 

Daigo frowned and said, "Hina, you know why we decided to send you to Europe. There was no other sur-"

"That does not change the fact that you went against my wishes on how I want to live my life."

Daigo couldn't reply back. With a pained expression on his face, he asked with a quiet whisper, "Which parent in the world would ever agree to what you want, my dear?"

Silence filled the grand dining room.

Hinata was the first one to break it by placing her spoon back in the bowl of unfinished sorbet. She wiped her face and got up. Daigo could hear her coming closer to him but couldn't look up into the eyes of his daughter. He felt her hand come down on his shoulder firmly as she whispered in his ear, "Go to Europe and make up with mom. Then have another kid with her. Otherwise your precious Ichinose lineage will go to the grave with me."

She patted her father's shoulder as if she was the adult sharing wisdom with him before leaving the room. Daigo couldn't do anything but close his eyes and silently weep as he heard his daughters footsteps fade away. When he opened his eyes, he saw a handkerchief next to him.

"Thank you Himawari"

"Of course, sir"

He heard a quiet snap and could barely make out the shuffling of feet as other staff members of his household exited the room. Followed by silence, he asked, without looking back at Himawari, "Tell me Hima, do you think I should do as she says? Go back to Kurumi and apologize for asking her to shoulder a burden that we should have shared as parents? She... I did ask her to come back as well. She- She refused. She said she found more comfort there."

Daigo looked at the the vastness of the room he was in. The dining room extended in perfect symmetry, the long table gleaming beneath a ceiling too ornate to ignore. He sat at its head, his place set, while the rest remained untouched — chairs perfectly aligned, waiting for a presence that never arrived. The chandelier cast a steady light that felt almost indifferent, revealing the distance between each seat, the absence settling into every corner. From where he sat, the room felt whole in a way that made his chest tighten, as if it had learned to exist without him, leaving him alone at the center of something that no longer needed him.

After a bit, Himawari quietly responded, "Mrs. Ichinose understands your duties as well sir. Nevertheless, a distance has been formed between you two because of Miss Hinata's... situation. Perhaps, closing that distance physically might help close it emotionally as well."

Daigo chuckled softly, feeling a bit more relaxed at hearing Himawari's measured response.

"You're a member of this family as well Himawari. Your opinion holds a lot of value to me. Thank you for sharing what you feel."

"It is an honor sir"

***

By the time Ryouta had reached his house, it was already dark. The trip to Dr. Shimura's hospital was not a quick one, especially for a teenager without any adult to drive him. As Ryouta open his front porch gate, he saw his younger brother sitting on the front steps of the main entrance of their house.

Ryuuji waved slowly. The dim light outside the front door revealed a guilty smile on Ryuuji's face face as Ryouta squinted at him, still unsure whether the kid had learnt his lesson or not. After a bit, the big brother sighed and walked past Ryuuji to open the door. Ryuuji watched him expectantly, like a dog waiting for permission to eat.

"Come on in. Let's talk."

With a mix of sheepish-ness and happiness of being accepted back into the the house, Ryuuji entered the house and sat down at the table where they would usually have dinner.

"I threw your portion of the food so you'll have to make your own dinner tonight."

"Yes of course. I should be punished that much at least for what I did."

Ryouta grunted at his response as he heated up his dinner in the microwave.

"So? Are you gonna tell me what pissed you off that much?"

"Ah... I can't really share that Ryo. I'm sorry. But I think you'll understand after what I'm about to share with you."

Ryouta took out his dinner out of the microwave and sat down on front of his brother.

"So? What is it?" he asked as he took a bite.

"Me and Futaba broke up"