Thank you for everything.

Soon enough, the driver of the bus came and started the engine. Hiroshi's friends gave him one job to do. That is, not to disturb Yuki during the bus trip. It was a tough battle for Hiroshi. As the bus was leaving the school campus, Hiroshi could see some of the students parents waving at them. The students were also waving back at them.

"Must be nice having parents like that. If only my dad was like this-"

Immediately, he felt an ache in his chest. The past that he was trying to run away from came back at him. He wasn't able to fully lock that up. Even though Yuki was talking with her classmates, she saw Hiroshi's condition. She knew something was wrong. She stopped talking and went to him. He was breathing heavily. Soon enough, others started to notice that too. Yuki went to him,

"What has happened, are you okay?"

He fell unconscious. The others saw this, and went to call the teacher in the bus. But if they did that, their trip would've been canceled. Yuki told them that he was just too tired and was sleeping. But she knew, something must've happened.

"If you don't mind, would you please give him and me some space alone?"

"If you want to be with him that badly, sure."

Hiroshi was sleeping on her lap. But he seemed distressed. Yuki held his hand tightly to calm him down...

While sleeping, Hiroshi saw a dream. In the dream, he saw her mother. He recognised her face clearly. He could also see her scars on the hand. He tried to reach out and hug her for one last time, but he couldn't. Something is stopping him from going there. It was like an invisible barrier. Being hopeless, he just tried to call her out and started screaming,

"Hey mom. Long time no see... how have you been. I hope you are okay. Its been like, 12 years or so? Maybe around that number..."

He looked up. She was looking at him and listening to him with a smile, like she always did when Hiroshi was young. Hiroshi would just go on talking nonsense all the time when he was a kid. But his mom would always listen to him with a smile, no matter how hard things got. She would never show disinterest in his speech. Remembering this, he started crying. He couldn't hold his tears. It was automatic. Tears were just dripping. He couldn't stop it. He developed his courage to say it out loud,

"Hey mom. I have never told you this. I was so little back then, back then..."

He couldn't say it out because of his tears. He tried to calm himself a bit. The wiped his tears and calm down a bit.

"I just wanted to say... I just wanted to say... thank you for all what you did for me. Thank you for protecting me. Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for feeding me. Thank you for trying to fulfil my requests that I made. Thank you... thank you... thank you for everything."

He tried to hold his tears this time, but he couldn't. He looked down and started crying again. Hiroshi didn't cry after his mom died. But he was a crybaby in front of his mom back when his mom was alive. Now, seeing his mom in front of him, he didn't hesitate to start crying. Because his mom would never complain.

He looked down and started crying. While crying, he said,

"And also... and also. I am sorry... I broke my promise, mom... I am sorry... I fell in love with someone."

He got no reply from his mom. He thought he had disappointed her. He looked up to see why she didn't answer him. Is she angry? Is she disappointed?

She was crying too. Upon hearing his son thanking her for all she did, she felt happy. She was out of words. But she said,

"Yuki is a good girl. Take care of her. And also, thank you for being my son. I am not disappointed, nor I am angry. I am glad. I wasn't the best mom, I wasn't a good mom either. I tired my best. I am sorry too. I am sorry that I couldn't give you a more happier childhood."

"No... you were a good mom. You were the best mom for me in the whole world."

Upon hearing those words, her face was filled with joy.

"Is that so... then I am glad... Oh, I forgot, I should give advise before I go. Hiroshi, eat well, sleep well, take care of your health, don't torture Yuki, give her the best life. Give her love... let's see, what else should I say? I am such a bad mom. I can't even give proper advice to my son. Sorry for that too. My time is running out. But before I go, you must do something that I wasn't able to do. You have to shut down the beast that is deep within you. That beast is almost inside the cage. You just have to lock it up. I think you can do it, right? No, I believe you can do it. I trust you. Thats because, you are my son."

Saying this, she disappeared. Well, she didn't disappear, but transformed into a key. Everything around him went dark. Only the key was there, shining on its own. He went and picked up the key. But then, he saw the cage that she was talking about. It was huge. So huge that it seemed to be infinite. And inside it was a giant furious beast. The door was closed. The only thing that is left to do was to lock it. It was such a big cage, but such a small lock was on the handle. He couldn't believe it. The handle was very far up too. So far that he couldn't reach it. He needed help. But who was there to help him. The beast also noticed Hiroshi outside the cage. Hiroshi was scared. But then, a hand came out of the ground from nowhere and picked him up to the lock. He then put the key inside and locked it up. After that, the woke up.

"... where am I? It was all a dream?"

He saw that he was crying from one eye. So it was a dream. He was lying on Yuki's lap, while Yuki was holding his hand. Yuki hugged him. He was confused.

"Don't ever do this to me. You know how scared I was when you fell unconscious? I thought... I though... what if..."

"There there. I am awake now. I am sorry for worrying you so much."

He started patting her head again. To which she consented happily.

"Was it a sad dream that you saw?"

"Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you about that dream. It was-, huh? I forgot about it. The dream was very important. I needed to tell you too."

He forgot what he dreamt of.

"No need to force yourself to remember. If you remember again normally, then tell me. We are almost at the train station too."

They reached the station. It was a good sleep for Hiroshi. But the boys were kinda jealous of him.

"Hiroshi, you are lucky. Having a lap pillow all the time with you..."

"What are you guys talking about?"

"I meant about Yuki. You were sleeping on her lap. So lucky..."

"It must be convenient having a lap pillow."

"Oh shut up.", said Hiroshi.

They just finished one of their journeys. Now all that's left is the train journey. And then they will be in Kyoto.