"What took you so long?" Iwao cried as Ryo, Yukie, and Ten arrived home, exhausted from their ordeal and arriving two hours late.
"We…" Ryo said, but Ten told Iwao what had happened.
"Why did you think it was a great idea to have Shun in this country?" Iwao snarled, as Ten went into the master bedroom so he could take a shower.
"Dad, Shun never met those people. That thing doesn't happen in our neighborhood," Ryo cried.
"Whatever," Iwao said, crossing his arms.
"Where is Shun?"
"Up in his room. He won't get out of bed unless I tell him to do something," Iwao cried, using his hands to point upstairs.
"Then, what did he do today?" Yukie asked.
"I had him warm up some leftovers for breakfast and lunch."
"What did you have?" Yukie asked.
"The fish and those bento boxes." He didn't need to say that Yukie had made them in the morning.
Ryo said, "Dad, I don't mean to be critical, but…" Iwao gave an icy glare. "Don't you think you need to be doing those things for Shun?"
Iwao crossed his arms and asked, "Why? I'm the elder after all and it's hard for me to walk around…"
Yukie cried, "Iwao-sama, he's really hurting inside!"
"He wasn't saying anything to me about it!" he cried in frustration.
"When I saw him this morning, he told me that he couldn't sleep well! Who knows what nightmares he's going to have?" she cried.
"He did look tired, with rings around his eyes," Iwao said. "He told me he went back to bed after you went to the city but had a nightmare and woke up shortly afterwards." Ryo and Yukie looked crestfallen and for a moment processed the disturbing revelations in silence.
"Did anyone call?" Yukie asked, trying to change the subject.
"There was one. An American girl," Iwao answered. "I had Shun take the phone and translate for me."
"Was she giving him homework?" Ryo asked.
"She wanted to come over around noon. I knew that she had to be at school this time, so I asked Shun why she was able to." Yukie and Ryo waited for Iwao to finish his sentence. Iwao smiled, as something from Shun had rubbed off on him. "Shun looked really happy, until he had to tell me why she wasn't at school. " Then Iwao's face fell. "She was suspended from school for fighting. She was the one who punched the person who showed Shun the video. I told him I couldn't have such a person over here. He had to tell her that she couldn't come. He probably told her we were busy. After he hanged up he didn't say a word to me and just went back to bed."
"Was she that 'Melinda' girl?" Ryo asked.
"That… was her name," Iwao answered. "Why are Americans violent like that?" he asked.
"But she was fighting because someone hurt Shun!" Yukie cried.
Ryo sighed, "It would have meant a lot for him to see her. She's one of his best friends."
"Why are you letting Shun associate with someone who can be violent like that?" Iwao cried.
"When Shun told me about Melinda, he said that she was very kind to him." With his arms outstretched, Ryo cried, "People aren't perfect, Dad, but can't we let Shun make decisions on who his friends are?" With his hands back down, he said, "We can't shield him forever. And by having him tell her she's not invited, he might have harmed his friendship with her!"
"And what good does letting go do? He got beat up after you let him have the night out!" Iwao cried. "We want him to grow up safe and get a fulfilling life!" Both of Shun's parents fell silent, with their heads lowered.
Shun Kodori remained slumped in his bed, staring at the ceiling with circles under his eyes.
Without warning, the ring of the telephone on his desk broke the silence. Shun turned away, trying to cover his ears. The ringing stopped, and he sighed in relief, now staring at the wall. He had neither a frown nor a smile.
A few tumps on the stairs echoed, and Ryo popped open Shun's bedroom door.
"The phone's for you," Ryo said.
"Moshi-moshi," Shun said softly as he picked up the receiver.
"Hey, It's Tim," a deep voice in English said.
"Tim?" he cried, his voice sounding excited.
"We just wanted to say that we miss you." A beat, and then he could hear something that made it obvious the phone was being passed around.
A female voice said, "We were thinking about you today and Tim had this idea that we should give you a call."
"Thank you, Mina.."
"Look, man, we really want to see you again." It was Phil. "We'll tell everybody not talk about what happened with you!"
"Chin up, please. This is tearing me inside," another male voice said. It was Ken.
"I really want you to come back. I'll tell you about starting that Gay Straight-Alliance, okay?" a female voice said. It was Chelsea.
"Look, we'll get you something special when you come back," said yet another male voice. Shun recognized that it was Jacob.
Then a soft female voice in Japanese said, "Shun-kun…"
"N-Natsuko-san?"
"Are you returning to school tomorrow?" Shun paused uneasily, gathering his thoughts.
"Maybe…"
"Please come back to school. We don't want to see you in this state, all alone." Shun listened some more, an uneasy look on my face.
"I… I'll see if I can come back tomorrow," Shun declared. Natsuko said goodbye, and the line went dead. The phone was placed back in the receiver, and Shun sank back into his bed, staring at the ceiling. He blinked once and then his eyes closed. Ryo, crestfallen, turned away and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Around 5PM, after his shift at the coffee shop ended, Kouya changed back into his street clothes, including the motorcycle jacket-it was getting a bit chilly-and headed outside to place a phone call. He listened for a moment, and then…
"Grandpa Kodori? Oh, sorry, Kodori-sama. Yes, my name is Kouya Aotsuki. I am Shun's friend. May I see him tonight?" Kouya stayed on the line, silently counting numbers. "You wish for him to be alone? Okay. Just let him know I was checking up on him, okay?"
