"So you guys got a new one?"
Yukiko smiles awkwardly, trying to hold her composure as Daidara stares down on her, with his arms crossed and his expression stern.
"Help me…." Yukiko mutters to Yosuke. As she looks over, she sees him smiling awkwardly and frozen in fear as well.
"And those two?" Daidara asks sternly, gesturing at Francis and Chie as he does.
The two are both looking at different sections of the shop, their backs turned to one another.
"It's complicated…." Yukiko says with fear, lips still drooping as she does.
"Right. Same as before." Daidara says before turning over.
Yukiko looks around the shop. She goes and tries to pick up a dagger. While she is able to carry it, discomfort pulls her eyes down and causes her mouth to frown.
"It is kinda heavy, plus stabbing stuff is kinda scary…" Yukiko says gloomily.
She puts the dagger back and looks around more.
As Yukiko looks around, Yosuke chooses another pair of daggers.
Eventually, Yukiko's eyes perk up. She goes and picks up a folding fan tipped with metal. She swings it a couple of times.
"The weight is right. And this is lady-like."
Yukiko turns to Francis.
"Francis-san, what do you think?"
"Francis-san?" Yukiko asks again as she receives no reply.
After a while, Chie walks next to Francis, who was eying the spear as she did.
"We came a long way, huh?" Chie asks weakly.
"Still can't afford the spear." Francis says humorously despite his fatigue.
Chie chuckles. She then perks up a little."It's been only two weeks. Give it some more time."
"Maybe I should trade in the sword for the spear." Francis continues with both humor and wear.
"Sounds like a good idea." Chie comments. "Spears do have better range."
"I was thinking of giving the spear to you." Francis says kindly.
Chie pauses. Worried, Francis looks over. Chie is also looking at Francis, her eyes wide.
"Why?" Chie asks, a form of discomfort in her voice. Chie's reply causes Francis to look away.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you with that comment." Francis apologizes.
"No. It's fine." Chie says kindly. Francis shifts his gaze, causing their gazes to match again.
As their eyes remain locked, Francis feels his hand getting close to Chie's. He freezes as Chie grabs his hand.
They stare at their hands, and then to one another. Seeing Chie smile weakly, Francis backs off.
Chie stares widely at Francis. As she does, Francis feels her gripping him tight.
"I am scared…" Francis whispers in English.
Chie turns away and lets go. As she walks away, she comes to a pause.
"Francis."
Francis crosses his arms hearing Chie call to him.
"Donto reto gou." Chie says calmly, with a hint of sadness in her voice.
Chie and Francis both turn around to check on the other two. To their surprise, Yukiko and Yosuke are nowhere to be found in the shop. Francis then turns outside, seeing the other two outside the shop.
Francis and Chie walk out the shop. Meanwhile, Yosuke and Yukiko are saying their farewells.
"Oh." Yukiko remarks in surprise seeing the duo exit the shop.
"Let's go, Yukiko." Chie says in a neutral tone.
"With me?" Yukiko asks in confusion.
"Let's go." Chie says before walking ahead of Yukiko. As Chie walks away, Yukiko looks at Francis.
"Goodbye, Francis-san." Yukiko says with a weak smile on her face.
Francis goes home that night. He and Nanako sit in the living room, waiting for Dojima to come back.
"Are you feeling better?" Nanako asks Francis as they sit in the living room.
"I am." Francis replies gently.
"You want more candy?" Nanako asks again with a gentle tone matching her face.
"Sure."
As Nanako goes to her bag, the door opens.
"Nanako, I'm home!" Dojima calls out.
The trio sits in the living room, with all of them seated on the floor.
"We can go somewhere tomorrow." Dojima explains calmly while seated.
"Junes!" Nanako shouts excitedly. As she does, she grins happily, prompting a weak smile on Francis too.
"We can. But since I have free time, maybe we can go somewhere further?" Dojima asks kindly.
"You mean we can go on a trip?!" Nanako asks with surprise. As she does, she stands up. Meanwhile, Francis finishes the candy Nanako gave him.
"I am just gonna throw the wrapper away." Francis says awkwardly before standing up.
"Sure. I am pretty sure anywhere we go will be jam packed though." Dojima says with fatigue as Francis throws the wrapper away.
"A trip! A trip! A trip!" Nanako goes off in excitement, ignoring Dojima's comment. As she speaks, she raises her hands, smiling brightly as she does.
"Oh ya, are you coming, Francis-san?" Nanako asks with excitement, the radiance in her eyes almost blinding.
Francis thinks for a bit as he comes back to the table. As he walks, he sees Nanako eying him with excitement.
Francis sighs.
"Sure. Don't see why not."
"Yay!" Nanako cheers excitedly.
At night, the trio begins planning their trip tomorrow.
The following day, they go on a long drive to other places around Inaba. The trio soon finds themselves stopped at a restaurant.
"We probably should have brought boxed lunches, huh?" Dojima grumbles while waiting for the food.
"I agree." Francis says weakly.
Hunger. One of mankind's worst enemies.
The inner voice says regally with humor.
As Francis grins, Nanako asks curiously. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing. Thinking of more bad jokes." Francis says weakly.
"Can you tell me?"
"Hm…" Francis thinks. "I was just thinking that hunger is one of mankind's worst enemies."
Nanako looks at Francis with confused eyes.
"It was funnier in my mind." Francis replies awkwardly.
"I tried studying magic recently." Francis says to the other two. "Maybe I can show you one day, Nanako-chan."
"Um." Nanako replies with excitement.
"Just promise not to laugh if it's not good." Francis says with humor.
"I won't!" Nanako replies kindly and with excitement.
Francis sighs.
"What's wrong?" Nanako asks curiously.
"It seems your humor is a bit too complicated for her, huh?" Dojima says humorously.
"In all fairness, I don't think I am that funny." Francis says in a defeated tone.
"Just practice more. I am sure you will get there." Dojima says with assurance.
The trio continues to make small talk. As they do, the food eventually comes.
"Where's the US?" Nanako asks curiously while they are eating.
"It's really far away from here." Francis replies after swallowing.
"Maybe we can go there one day?" Nanako asks with excitement.
"We might need you to be a tour guide." Dojima says to Francis.
"Let's just ask mum." Francis replies.
"Speaking of Anego, Nanako has never met her aunt, huh?" Dojima remarks.
"What's Oba-chan and Oji-chan like?" Nanako asks curiously.
Hearing her mention his parents, Francis looks at Dojima in surprise.
"Uh…" Dojima stammers awkwardly.
"She doesn't know?" Francis asks with concern.
"It was not an easy topic to bring up so I never told her." Dojima explains with tiredness in both tone and face.
"Did Nanako say something wrong?" Nanako asks apologetically.
"No, it's just…" Francis replies. He then ponders his words. "How should I say this?"
He looks to Dojima, asking as he does. "You mind if I tell her?"
"Tell Nanako what?" Nanako asks curiously.
Dojima sighs. He then says kindly. "Only if you are comfortable."
Francis looks at Nanako. He says the next sentence calmly. "My dad is dead."
As Nanako stares in surprise, Francis goes on in humor. "Huh, just thought of the sentence in English and it rhymes."
"What happened to Oji-chan?" Nanako asks sadly.
"He was… uh…" Francis looks to Dojima. "How should I explain this to a kid?"
"Allow me." Dojima says kindly while his face conveys sadness. "Bad people killed Francis' dad."
Nanako looks sad hearing about Francis' dad. She comments sadly. "Kinda like Mum…"
"You-" "Nanako!"
Nanako almost jumps hearing her father shout at her. Francis sees her in fear. He turns over to Dojima angrily.
As he is about to speak, he sees fear in Dojima's eyes as well.
Francis takes a deep breath. "Let's finish the food. Maybe we can go somewhere more comfortable."
The rest of the meal passed in silence. The trio decides to take a walk after they are done.
"Where should we go next?" Francis asks playfully as they walk. "Anywhere in mind, Nanako?"
As he looks at the Dojimas, he can see them standing quite a distance from one another. As they do so, their gazes avert.
Seeing the Dojimas reminds Francis of him and Chie. As he thinks about that, something clicks. Unable to find the right words, Francis remains silent for the rest of the walk.
"Sorry, dad." Nanako apologizes to Dojima while they are going back to the car.
Dojima looks at Nanako gently. As he does, he speaks. "It's okay."
The trio decides to drive around a bit more before going home.
"Today was fun!" Nanako says cheerfully at home. She then yawns, prompting the other two to put her to bed.
Dojima and Francis sit awkwardly at the dining table. While Francis faces Dojima, his uncle turns his own body away, his left shoulder facing Francis.
"You still bothered by what happened with Auntie?" Francis asks kindly.
Seeing Dojima's eyes widen, he continues. "It's fine. You don't have to tell me if you are not comfortable."
Dojima looks down, his face conveying trouble. He then looks up and keeps talking. "Tell me, how are you so comfortable with what happened with Brother?"
Francis looks up contemplatively and sighs. "It happened six years ago. I was a kid and I had time to heal. Not to mention, it's not like I was enjoying life after he was killed."
Francis pauses to take a breath.
"You still look too comfortable about it." Dojima complains, slight anger in his tone.
"I wasn't done talking." Francis says gently.
"Sorry." Dojima apologizes. "Keep going."
"Seeing me unhappy, Mum decided to go to Tokyo for me to heal. Well, I faced worse things than a dead father while I was there." Francis says calmly, his tone mixed with humor. "I guess, I just faced worse than my own father dying. Having years to heal helped too."
"Dojima-san, the murder of your wife doesn't need to be the end of everything." Francis says kindly. "Is what I would say. But if someone killed..."
Francis comes to a short pause before going on. "If someone killed my partner I would go nuts too."
As he says that, something comes to mind again. He focuses himself, bringing his attention to Dojima.
"Go nuts, huh?" Dojima says with sadness.
He then looks to Francis with kind eyes. "It's been a long day. Why don't you get some rest?"
"I am not tired." Francis replies with slight humor.
Dojima chuckles. "I need a rest. Don't stay up too late now."
After Dojima goes back to his room. Francis takes a look around to make sure no one is around.
"Probably safer to go to my room." Francis says to himself in English playfully.
In his room, Francis calls out in English.
"Izanagi."
No response.
"Inner voice?"
No response.
"Guess it's just me." Francis says and decides to compile his own thoughts.