Grandfather
Koushiro had found a picture of Yoshie's family when he was searching the closet for a hard-drive. His mother was a little girl wearing a yukata and was accompanied by a taller boy and two adults that must've been her parents. The woman was incredibly beautiful, resembling Yoshie a lot. The man had a severe look, as if he was not able to feel joy. Koushiro asked Yoshie about that photo and noticed how the woman frowned. She didn't seem to want to talk about her family and quickly said that her parents were dead and that she had lost contact with her brother. The boy felt very sorry for his mother and concluded that it was painful for her to talk about them.
One day, on the subway platform, Koushiro saw the man from the picture. He looked the same, but older. It could be someone similar, but the boy couldn't ignore it. He followed the man until a restaurant. Nervous, he decided that he had to ask whether he was his grandfather or not. What if he was? Did he fake his death for some reason? His mother had the right to know that he was alive!
The encounter didn't go as Koushiro had anticipated. As soon as the boy introduced himself, the man glared at him with deep contempt.
"You are the orphan. So Yoshie keeps playing house with the likes of you?" He said. Koushiro froze at the statement.
"She's my mother." The boy replied, still in shock.
"Don't you insult my bloodline, boy!" The man roared angrily. "It comes back since the Edo period! My silly daughter took pity on some orphan and stained our bloodline, which was unacceptable! I forbade her to do that! I told her she would be dead to me if she brought such shame to our family! She did it anyway. I don't want to hear of her anymore."
Koushiro was on the verge of crying. How could that man be so cruel? How could he be his mother's father?
"My mother is a wonderful person! And she loves me. She really does love me and I love her! You didn't have the right to do that to her! She didn't deserve that!"
The man glanced at Koushiro with ferocity and hatred.
"Who do you think you are to tell me anything? You are an orphan! You are a sad child who doesn't even have a past to honor! You live at my daughter's expense and dare to call her your mother! You are nothing, boy! You don't belong anywhere! You are not entitled to anything! A lowlife like you shouldn't be allowed to direct me a word! You should disappear. There's no place in the world for you and the only thing you can possibly give to my daughter is disgrace!"
The man left without taking a second look at the boy. If he had done that, he'd have seen many tears falling from that shaking face. Koushiro didn't want to tell anyone what had happened. But it was impossible even for him to hide the shattered pieces of his heart. Those closest to him, like Taichi, would ask what was wrong. But Koushiro refused to answer. It was too painful for him.