"MOM?" Otonashi cried out fearfully.

He burst into the room and saw his mom lying on the couch. His first emotion was relief because he could obviously that she wasn't dying. However, the bad news was that she seemed to be in even more pain than before. Despite this being the case everyday for a long time now, Otonashi never got used to it and still felt upset whenever he saw his mom like this.

When she saw her son enter the room, she didn't speak to him or even give him any form of greeting. Otonashi didn't blame her though, because he could tell that even the slightest movement caused his mom to endure severe pain. She slowly raised her trembling arm and pointed at a nearby whiskey bottle, signalling to Otonashi to hand it over to her.

"Come on, I can tell you've had too much for today" he said gently. His mom, Shizu, was too tired at this point to argue and simply sat there, trying to fall asleep. As Otonashi helped her get more comfortable, he remembered what his mom's face looked like in the past, before his dad died. She was a very beautiful woman and had an incredible smile too. Why wouldn't she, when she had everything going perfectly for her back then? She had two beautiful children and a loving husband. Now, Otonashi can't remember the last time his mom smiled and her beauty was hardly there anymore. She looked like a gaunt skeleton that hadn't ate in months and there were several unnatural flushes of red on her face and hands.

"H...how w...w..was w...work?" she asked.

"It was the same as always, Mom. You don't have to ask me if you don't want to. Just try to rest. You don't look so well today".

She nodded and Otonashi kissed her on the cheek, gently, before hurrying out of the room so that his mom couldn't see the tears in his eyes.

Otonashi spent the rest of the day in his room. He looked harder than ever before for a solution to get the Otonashi family out of this mess. Both his sister and mother deserved better than this, he thought. "It all just needs to start with helping mom with her drinking problem. Then after that, maybe she can get a job and together, we can get enough money to get out of this dump. Perhaps get Hatsune some new things like a phone or some new clothes afterwards", he thought.

When Otonashi decided to go on his laptop and look for local doctors, he could only find one: a Dr. Sato. This isn't the problem though. His website had a large number of positive reviews about him and coincidentally, he had a very successful alcoholism program too, boasting a large success rate at turning former alcoholics away from drinking permanently. The only problem was that, of course, it cost too much money. Even if Otonashi took on 3 other jobs, it would have taken years to raise enough money to enlist Shizu into the program. With nothing else to do, Otonashi went to sleep while dreaming about what his life would be like if he just had a little bit more money.

The next day, Otonashi was preparing to do the same things he always did each day. First he would say goodbye to his sister and mom before heading out to work, where nothing happened. Then he would come back from work, talk with his sister and mom for a little bit, and then go watch TV or play on his laptop before going to sleep. This process was then rinsed and repeated for the upcoming days. In fact, most of the day started out as Otonashi anticipated. It was only when the day was 5:00 pm when something different happened. Otonashi barely saw the truck coming straight towards a pedestrian. Suddenly his mind snapped out of its monotonous trance and kicked into high gear. He quickly grabbed the pedestrian and pushed him out of the way just in time. They both tumbled onto the opposite side of the road, where they quickly got up and walked onto the sidewalk.

"Wow that was close! I can't believe that almost happened. Thank you so much", said the pedestrian. He was a young man fairly close to Otonashi's age although that was where the similarities between them ended. Unlike Otonashi, he looked very well off, even in this economy, wearing an expensive suit, watch and shoes. He was very handsome although this was mostly because he took seemed to be able to afford the world's best stylists to look after his hair and face.

"Probably the son of some rich CEO", Otonashi thought enviously. However, he smiled and said, "No problem. Just promise me you'll pay more attention to the road next time."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I usually do but I was distracted with something". His expression then changed and he laughed.

"Oh I haven't even introduced myself, have I? My name is Yosai Harimoto" as he held out his hand.

Otonashi shook it and introduced himself as well. Then, Harimoto took out his wallet and removed about 45000 yen. Otonashi was astonished and said, "No, I can't take that. I was just doing my job."

Harimoto was persistent and replied, "You did your job well. They must pay you peanuts for this job, right? I don't think that's fair considering you just saved my life. I would give you even more but this is all I have on me right now."

Otonashi was now conflicted with a dilemma. He had always been taught to be humble and never accept free gifts from others with the exception of family members. He had always followed this teaching up with no problem up until today. On the other hand, his family needed the money badly. He remembered how his sister came home sad and depressed yesterday because she got teased for her hand-me down phone. He remembered how his mom could barely even talk and couldn't even move at all. Remembering all this, he knew what he had to do.

Otonashi took out his hand and accepted the money.

"I promise I'll pay you back someday," he said.

The other man gave out a hearty chuckle. "No need. I don't want to sound braggy but I'm not exactly strapped for cash and I most likely will never be."

"I wish I could say the same", Otonashi couldn't help saying. He felt embarrassed right after saying that because it seemed like a very desperate call for help.

Harimoto, however, didn't seem troubled by it. "You know, if I get to know you a bit better, maybe I can get you to work with me. I make a lot of money doing what I do."

Otonashi was surprised since he thought Harimoto was just a student and that his money just came from his rich dad or mom.

"What exactly do you do for a living? I thought you were a student."

"Nah, I work in the banking industry", he said.

"Well, I don't have any training with banking", Otonashi replied. "I'm don't think I can work with you."

Harimoto smiled again, confidently. "Let's meet each other again. Maybe tomorrow after 6. At this same place. Trust me, once I get to know you better, I am sure you'll be qualified to work with me. There's really nothing to it."

He started walking away and Otonashi called out, still in disbelief, "How can you be so sure? I don't have any background with finance, banking or anything!" Harimoto's only response was to wave goodbye to Otonashi.

"What a strange guy," Otonashi thought. However, he was really glad he met him. He seemed like a generous person. Most people in his situation, wouldn't have just given him 45000 yen or even any money at all, much less offer Otonashi a job that was almost certain to pay more than three times as much money as Otonashi was making now.

Otonashi stayed working for a few more hours before heading home. As he was walking home, he passed by the same shop he saw every day. The shop sold clothes and they were of great quality although Otonashi could never afford it. He remembered the yen he received earlier and walked in. He was able to buy one new shirt for himself and one for Hatsune.

After Otonashi got home, he brought the bags with the new clothes in them and went to Hatsune.

"Wait, what's in the bag?" asked Hatsune.

"It's a surprise," Otonashi teased.

"Come on, tell me! Please?" she begged.

He slowly took out the new blouse he had just bought for Hatsune, who cried out in amazement.

"Wow, this is really pretty. I can't wait to put it on!" she said with her eyes sparkling with joy.

She was about to run upstairs to try it when she turned back, "Wait Yuzuru, how did you afford this?"

"I met a guy at work today. He gave me some money because I saved his life."

Hatsune wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"I always knew you were a hero!" she said.

"The best part is, he even offered me a job. If I play it right."

"And it will make more money than being a crossing guard, right?"

"Yep."

She hugged her brother even more tightly and he said, more to himself, "Things might finally be looking up for us."

Meanwhile, Yosai Harimoto was back at his house. Although the belongings in his house were expensive, the house itself wasn't that great. It had to be like this unfortunately. He had to be very careful with his purchases or things could get unravelled for him very quickly. He dialed a number and spoke on the phone with his friend and boss, Ryo Kumasaka to discuss what just happened today.

"Are you sure he will join us?" Kumasaka asked.

"Come on, you know me. Of course he will", replied Harimoto.

"I hope you're right."

Harimoto hung up and wondered to himself if he was being overly confident. He remembered seeing that man, Otonashi, having trouble accepting his money. That meant he would have a strong sense of morals and values. On the other hand, he did accept it in the end. He saw how impoverished and desperate Otonashi looked. It was easy to tell that he was having a lot of trouble at home when it came to money. And not just him, but his parents too. "Someone like that would definitely be willing to join our team", Harimoto concluded. "I will talk with him tomorrow and get to know him a little bit better. I should be able to determine if he is the right type by tomorrow, the day after at most."