The bartender set down the two mens' drinks, one beer and one glass of quite expensive red wine. Ryotaro Dojima took the beer and downed a good quarter of it in go while his new drinking buddy barely sipped from his glass.

"So, Igor-san, was it? That's a pretty expensive drink. What do you do?"

Igor set down his glass and folded his hands. "I am the proprietor of an establishment that allows those who have signed a contract to recover and regain their 'selves.' A place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter."

"Ah. I never was much of a nightclub guy myself." Dojima only understood just under half of what this Igor guy said, but it sure beat drinking alone. He decided not to ask about the nose. "Got any kids?"

"I do, as a matter of fact. Three of them are grown, and one is a... a teenager."

Dojima nodded. "Wow, big family. I have a daughter, she's seven, and I've been taking care of my nephew for my sister."

Igor hummed as he sipped his wine. "Excellent. Taking care of one's family is an act to be applauded."

That caused a twinge of guilt. "Well... I could be doing better at it. I always get the feeling that he's hiding something from me. I'm afraid he could be getting in with the wrong crowd..."

Igor let out a low chuckle. "I'm sure that your young nephew's affairs are nothing to worry over. If you were to try forming a bond with him, I am positive there will no longer be need to fear."

Dojima stared into his now empty beer glass. "Bonds, huh... Yeah, that's definitely what I could be doing better." He pushed his glass forward, wordlessly requesting another. "Hey Igor-san, your kids ever give you any trouble?"

Igor placed his glass alongside Dojima's. "Certainly. My two oldest, Margaret and Elizabeth, bully their younger brother Theodore mercilessly. Elizabeth particularly is fond of playing pranks on him. And the youngest, Marie, is going through a crisis of identity at the moment."

"Sounds like a phase. You know how teenagers are."

Igor chuckled again, for longer this time. "I do indeed, Dojima-san."

There was a pause while Dojima emptied his second beer, during which he noted Igor hadn't mentioned the kids having a mother. He wondered... "I'm sorry to pry, Igor-san, but... do these kids of yours have a mother?"

Igor shook his head. "I'm afraid there is only me, Dojima-san."

Dojima nodded slowly. "I see... I asked because I'm a single dad too. My wife Chisato... she passed away a few years ago, and I've been raising our daughter alone."

The long-nosed proprietor's smile flickered. "My condolences, my friend."

"Thank you. Can I ask... do you have any advice? You've raised three daughters..."

"I have only raised two. Marie, the youngest, was... adopted, only recently. However, I will tell you this..." Igor looked away from Dojima, towards the fishtank behind the bar. "The best thing you can do for your children is to aid them in becoming 'people'... people that can undertake their own journey. Do you understand?"

Dojima nodded, hesitating just a bit. "I think so. By 'journey', you mean to have a life of their own, right?"

Igor was pleased, though it was a subtle change. "There are many journeys to be taken, Dojima. Life is one of the greatest. But life contains journeys of its own."

Dojima took some time to digest Igor's counsel, listening to the sounds of the bar around them. It seemed obvious, but he hadn't seen it until now. If Nanako was going to go on a journey of her own, he needed to prepare her for it. He couldn't do that if he spent so little time at home, and so much of that time sleeping, drinking or watching television. Or going out to bars, for that matter. Yu was right. Igor was right.

"Dojima," Igor started, breaking the detective's introspection. "I know that you feel discouraged, but do not be unduly agitated. There is no shame to be had in realizing you have need of improvement. Improving one's self is integral to your own journey."

He needed a moment to take in what Igor told him. He found he felt energized, in a way. Like he could really get back to his life and make up for lost time with Nanako. With Yu, too. He was going to stop being left behind by his nephew and start being a real parent. "Thanks, Igor. I needed to hear that. Hey, you mentioned your youngest... Marie, right?"

Igor nodded wordlessly.

"Does she, by any chance, have green eyes, wear a blue and gold hat and carry a blue bag?"

"Why yes. So you've met her?"

Dojima scratched his cheek. "Once or twice. My nephew is friends with her. They both seem to be part of this group that hangs out after school doing who-knows-what."

"I see! Most interesting..." And he chuckled again.

The two single fathers drank well into the night, swapping stories about their respective children and laughing. Dojima found he liked Igor. Appearances, manner of speech and vocations aside, he was a wise and kind man and his kids, especially that Elizabeth, sounded like a real handful. He would learn that Elizabeth had already left on her own journey after falling in love with a young man who "sadly met his ultimate fate." (Didn't take a detective to know what that meant.) Curiously, it seemed the same thing happened to Theodore as well, though he did not leave like his sister had. Dojima, in turn, told Igor about his late wife and raising Nanako alone, about what surprising help Yu had been around the house. The two were like old friends by the end of the night.

Dojima glanced at the clock and realized if he didn't go home now he wouldn't wake up tomorrow until about two PM. Again. "Sorry Igor, but I've got to go. It's getting late."

Igor stood as well, much more steadily than Dojima had. "If fate decides it, we shall meet again, my dear friend. I must be returning as well. Problems could arise if I am absent from my station for too long..." The two left the bar, heading in opposite directions.

Dojima wasn't sure what force had possessed him to sit next to a guy that looked like a mad scientist with a perpetual grin, but he was glad he did. He felt a new resolve in himself.

And he stumbled towards home, still thinking over Igor's words and hoping he hadn't drank enough to forget them.

Yu was up before him, as expected, and when Dojima managed to find his way downstairs with a serious hangover, the kid already had water, coffee and a painkiller ready for him.

He sat at the table and took the offered remedies, gnawing on a bit of dry toast. "Hey, Yu." he called.

"Hm?" Yu turned towards him from the stove where he was cooking eggs. Was that a Junes apron? Was he working there now too? "Yes, Dojima-san?"

"You know that girl you're friends with? Marie?"

Yu smiled. "Yes. What about her?"

"I met her dad at the bar last night. Igor. Great guy."

Yu looked... surprised. "Ah, you... met Igor-san?"

"Yeah. I have to admit, I didn't really approve of that girl at first. Excuse me for saying it, but she looked kind of like... a rebel. But after meeting her father I've changed my mind. He told me she was adopted and I'm sure having a single dad is tough on her. Try to be a good friend for her, okay Yu?" Man, but Yu looked pale. Was he getting sick again?

"Y-yes sir. I had no intentions of changing that, Dojima-san. Please excuse me for a moment..."

Yu calmly placed the finished eggs on the table and made it all the way to his bedroom before freaking out as quietly as he could.