It was now winter.

Isanari:"Fuutarou, you shouldn't say bad words."

Fuutarou:"But it's cool to."

Isanari:"Who the he-...Uh, who told you that!?"

Fuutarou:"I saw it on TV."

Isanari:"Da...Dang, I can't punch that, I watch TV too. But I can limit your intake! No more TV tonight!"

Fuutarou:"Ehhh!?"

In the other room, Kotoha was singing to Raiha but was having some trouble as she normally never did her hair apart from brushing it straight. Now that she wanted to give her a ponytail, but had major problems in getting it together.

Kotoha:"Hm, no, not like this...That doesn't work either...Haha, h-how did I get it to be at the top of her head."

Isanari:"Hey, I'm off to deliver something, make sure Fuutarou doesn't-What the hell happened here?"

Kotoha:"D-Do you like her ponytail?"

Isanari:"I'm...I'm just going to say yes...A-Anyway, I'm off."

Kotoha:"Take care, darling."

Isanari went to Mr. Arnadue's office. This was the man who approached Isanari and Kotoha while they were exploring possible homes. In the neighborhood, he was the main source of information, helping the mostly elderly residents with any business task they had. To Isanari, he was an odd man, having a seemingly foreign name despite looking Japanese. He had just assumed he had different heritage in him and he didn't want to pry. All he really cared about was his ability to stay in the place Isanari and Kotoha could call home.

Thanks to this mostly elderly location, Kotoha and Isanari were able to market their bread to a more sensitive crowd when they started their business, thus earning a lot of regulars. However, as more than half a decade passed, many of these elderly residents would begin to move out, either due to money complications, or simply other means. There were also the houses that would become vacant once the resident passed away. This led to the neighborhood slowly becoming less populated. While all this meant for the bakery was that they needed to adapt, seeing as they had modest success before this gradual change, Mr. Arnadue's business was slowly making less money. Some younger tenants would come and go, much faster than those before them. While Isanari would try to befriend them in the same way he did those elderly men, many would also believe he was not to be trusted, given his physique and hair color. But now, due to the neighborhood slowly losing tenants, Mr. Arnadue had given notice that a new landlord unit would come soon. Despite their modest success, Isanari and Kotoha had still not fully paid off their house. However, the man had promised them that the next unit would honor their current plan and that they had nothing to worry about.

…

Isanari:"Alright, that's the payment."

Arnadue:"Wonderful. I hear that boy of yours is already going to Elementary school?"

Isanari:"Heh, yeah. He's a good boy, if a little rebellious, but he's already making the effort. I'm sure he'll make it big one day."

Arnadue:"How nice."

Isanari:"Do you have a child?"

Arnadue:"...No, I don't. I'm simply in the life of business."

Isanari:"Hah, I get it. You should settle down one day."

Arnadue:"Oh, I plan to. Once I finish my job here, I'll be getting a nice bonus."

Isanari:"That's great. Anyway, I need to get going."

Arnadue:"Oh, that reminds me. I need you to sign some documents for the transfer process."

…

A couple weeks later, Isanari went back to the office to ask about the transfer only to find the office completely empty. Isanari thought they were simply on break that day. It wasn't until a week later when he finally saw the truth. One day, law enforcement was at his door.

"We have reason to believe that this neighborhood has been subject to a money laundering scheme."

Isanari:"I-I'm sorry?"

As the meeting between isanari and the men who had visited him progressed, Isanari came to know that not only them, but the rest of the neighborhood had been victims in this scam, resulting in many of the old tenants leaving due to their shady practices. It was only recently that they had messed up in covering their tracks, leading to this investigation. Kotoha simply looked on in disbelief, their lives were crumbling before their eyes.

Isanari:"T-That's why he left…But his name! We have his business car-""

"He used a fake name. Fake documents, down to his blood type. We assume this is the case for his associates as well."

Isanari:"...What about the new landlord!?"

"Doesn't exist. I'm sorry, Mr. Uesugi. While we can work something out in letting you stay here, every transaction you made for this place was invalid. The document you mentioned where you gave a loan is also part of this."

The weight of the situation had finally hit Isanari. They had been swindled and were now left with little money, with a house that they didn't even own.

…

Kotoha:"Is...Is this my fault?"

Isanari:"Of course not! It's...It's mine!"

Kotoha:"...W-We shouldn't feel too down. There's nowhere to go up but up now, r-right?"

Despite her best efforts, Kotoha couldn't cheer up Isanari, who was now gritting his teeth in anger.

Isanari:"That bastard…"

Kotoha:"I-I know! We can sell the car to make some of the money back!"

Isanari:"But you need that, don't you!?"

Kotoha:"If we can get back on our feet, I'm willing to do anything!"

Isanari:"Don't say that!...I'm sorry...I'm sorry…It's my fault..."

Kotoha hugs Isanari.

Kotoha:"We promised each other that we would tackle everything together. No matter how down you are, I'll always be there."

Isanari began to cry. He wanted to make her happy at all costs.

…

The couple was driving to a location where they could negotiate a price for their car in a hurry. They decided to bring the kids for fear of them getting scared as it was the middle of the night. They finally stopped at a small apartment complex in front of a small river. Kotoha had to use extra protection due to her condition. Snow had begun to fall.

Isanari:"Hopefully they can give us a good price here."

Fuutarou:"I want to sleep!"

Fuutarou was complaining about having to go somewhere while Raiha began to cry due to the cold. Despite his best efforts, Isanari couldn't take it. He slammed on the brakes and turned around.

*Snap*

Isanari:"Will you two shut the hell up!?"

Fuutarou simply stared at him in fear while Raiha stopped crying.

Isanari:"A-Ah...Sorry…"

Kotoha grabbed Isanari's shoulder.

Kotoha:"Please..forgive your father. He's just grumpy right now."

Isanari:"C-Come on, you two stay here for now." [It's best if they don't see me get more angry.]

…

Isanari:"Damn it! The sign says it's open but they're not here! What kind of bastards…!?"

Kotoha:"We should have some paper in the car."

As soon as Kotoha finished, she noticed something weird.

Kotoha:"Isanari, the car is moving!"

Isanari:"What!? What about the brake!?"

The car was moving backwards, helped by the snow straight towards the river. Isanari began to run towards it, seeing the worried face of Fuutarou through the window.

Isanari:"Fuutarou! Take Raiha and jump out of the car!"

Frozen with fear, Fuutarou couldn't do anything as the car began to slide down straight into the river. Without a second thought, with no hesitation, Isanari took off his jacket and jumped straight after them.

Isanari:[I...I can't swim! But, that doesn't matter! Even if this kills me, I have to save them!]

Even though he was trying his hardest, the car was falling deeper into the abyss. He couldn't catch up. He was running out of breath, the cold water was getting to be too much for him.

Isanari:[Damn it! They're gonna die! Why can't I do anything right!?]

At that moment, a splash had been made right above him. Before Isanari could register it, the figure had already surpassed his current position.

Isanari:[What the hell are you doing!?]

…

Fuutarou was stuck in the car with Raiha going underwater. He was scared for his life and began to cry, but he held Raiha tightly in a vain attempt to protect her. But, he soon saw a figure swimming towards them, it went to a window close to them and destroyed it with one punch. Water bagan flooding in, but Fuutarou and Raiha were pulled out. Fuutarou looked up to see his mom struggling to swim. She was almost already out of breath, but she used the last of her air to pass it along to Raiha and Fuutarou to help them in this time. Kotoha, at this point, was forcing her mouth closed, she was in agony. But no matter what, she didn't stop, holding Fuutarou and Raiha as tightly as she could. Isanari had brought himself back up to breathe. He looked defeated. Before he could think anything else, Kotoha emerged with the two kids.

Isanari:"Y-You're alive!"

He pulled the three out of the river, and put his jacket over the two kids.

Isanari:"Kotoha, we need to get them to...Kotoha?"

Isanari turned to see Kotoha lying motionless on the floor.

Isanari:"Kotohaaa!"

End of Chapter 46