Part 4: Youji Isshiki

Unfortunately, an unwelcome pest just had to come in at this time and dampen the bright mood. In no time at all, Futaba ran upstairs without a word - this man's presence alone sparked such a fear in her which would never disappear. That damned Isshiki-san has to rear his face at my establishment? I can't fault Futaba for running away from this parasite - I don't want him anywhere near her.

"Hmph, your rust bucket that you call a restaurant is still standing I see."

"The shop's closing soon so if you're not here to order anything, you can get out and leave!"

"Is that the way you treat all of your customers? How rude." …I can't even do more than find out what he's doing back here after so long.

"Why are you here?"

"Just to see how you and that little rat are doing."

"..." Youji isn't someone that I want Ren to know. This man saw Futaba as nothing more than a piggy bank, only ever caring for the money he got from his guardianship status. Ren's sometimes a bit of a nuisance and he needs an attitude adjustment but he's a good kid with a kind heart. Besides, I'm far more concerned of what his parents would do if he ended up mixed into this mess.

"Ren, head upstairs. You don't need to hear this conversation."

"So that's the new brat?"

"..." Good Ren. Don't let this rattle you. I stood and watched as Ren excused himself to go and stay with Futaba for a little bit.

"He's none of your business."

"I see your day care has increased to two brats - not that the quality of it has gone up. One's nothing more than the bastard spawn of a criminal whilst the other is a criminal himself." Has this man really come to my establishment only to try and rile me up?

"So you come to my establishment to harass me… Before I throw you out, explain to me why you have the audacity to show your face once more?"

"You know the reason Sakura. I believe I've been more than welcoming of what you've done for that girl and I've given you notice enough of what I want."

"And you know my response to that already. Get out!"

"How uncivilised. All I've come to simply request is that you relinquish your rights as a guardian over to me and to hand Futaba over to her family where she belongs."

"So you can abuse her all over again?! To hell with that!"

"What abuse? She had stuff to eat and a place to stay. How does that come off as abuse?"

"No girl should have to ever go through what she did - I did some investigations of my own into it. Giving her rations of dog food, leaving her in filthy clothes and providing nothing to sleep with besides a thin blanket and you expect me to send her back to that? What lunatic would ever accept your proposal?!"

"And what the hell have you done that's so special for her?"

"Your point?"

"From what I gathered, the spawn's health hasn't improved since you took her off our hands. You keep on holding onto the naive belief that you're doing that hack Wakaba a favour looking after her brat."

"You're referring to your own sister as a hack? If anyone's the hack, it's you for weaving this tale of lies that you're a good carer!"

"What have you been giving her? Coffee and curry only I assume?"

"..."

"That rat's spent almost all of her time each day messing around with those blasted computers right?"

"..."

"What about other expenses?"

"She's able to choose the clothes she wants to wear and pays for the computer items she purchases."

"With what funds? It's not only you who does the digging."

"What are you implying, Isshiki-san?"

"This turd of a restaurant is so obviously in the red that it's a wonder the lights are even on. The only conclusion I can find is that you're pouring Wakaba's money into this establishment and neglecting to provide the rat yourself."

"No. The stipend I receive for looking after Futaba goes to her expenses only. I hold all of the receipts as proof of the profits/losses that are made day by day with the bank so that's a weak angle to try and threaten me with. Besides, you continue to besmirch your sister even as you shamelessly used her money to fund the lifestyle that you and that horrid wife of yours has?"

"Maybe you're right on that…but what will child protective services say about what you've done?"

"Hrgh…"

"They'll ask you why she hasn't gone to school for such an extended period of time and talk about the number of lessons she has been denied by you not putting your foot down and making her receive the core education she needs. Then they'll ask about her lack of activity outside of the shack you call home and the state of her diet. Not to mention, the extreme lack of social interaction that she's supposed to have for a rodent her age."

"..."

"And most of all, the fact that you're happy to not only let a CRIMINAL delinquent get friendly with her but leave her unsupervised with him getting up to who knows what trouble. Your incompetence will do you no favours so I suggest you bow out now or I'll take this further."

"If it comes to the courts, I won't back down against you or the rest of that corrupt family." If this man truly believes a threat like this means anything, he's barking up the wrong tree.

Youji took his phone out and pressed a button. So that whole conversation just now was a setup?!

"Why are you being so stubborn about this Sakura? You let the brat come back to us and we're out of your lives for good. You won't ever need to worry about her ever again."

"Because Futaba has no one other than me in her corner right now. You're not even trying to convince me that you'll be a responsible guardian." I'd like to see you leave our lives once and for all Youji.

"Hmph. It's definitely not going to do you any favours in court that you made such defamatory statements referring to our family. Firstly, what has my wife ever done to receive such grievances from you? You've never actually met her for yourself so I consider that statement extremely offensive to me. Secondly, calling us corrupt? Aside from Wakaba, we've never broken a law in our lives and we don't intend to. That's pure and utter blasphemy!"

"And just how do you expect to use that as evidence against me? It's inadmissible as you recorded me without my consent."

"That's where you're wrong. Considering the trial concerns the guardianship of a minor, it would be permissible for use. It's thanks to the fact that you willingly let me in to your rust bucket that the nature of obtaining the recording is legal."

"…You're going this far just for money? Wakaba may have the heart and patience to tolerate all of you but I never will!"

"Why do you even care what happens to the brat?"

"I will protect Futaba with everything I have - this environment has been the best environment she's had since her hellish experience with the family who chose not to care for her and I won't let you take that away!" Even if Futaba chooses to resent me for shunning the rest of her family, it's a choice I will not fall back on.

"Tell you what. Seeing as you're oh so desperate to look after the pest, I'll let you keep her."

"You'll let me?"

"That is, if you pay me for my silence."

"You impudent thug!"

"You know, even though you disrespected my family and my wife, I'm actually feeling pretty nice today. How does half of what you receive each month to look after the brat sound?" The fury I had against this man was one I'd never had towards anyone in such a long time.

"I'd like a wire transfer each Friday by noon and if I find you're even a yen short, we'll be going to the courts and you'll be sorry."

"Is Remi putting you up to this?"

"And what if she is?" Thought so. He's trying far too hard to get a rise out of me - the only person who could push his buttons is that damn vixen.

"She was always a scheming woman but to think she's this desperate to send the failure of that family here…It's actually pathetic."

"Hmph. The ones who will be sorry will be you for continuing to make utter fools of yourself by disgracing the Isshiki name."

"...You'd better start saying your goodbyes from now."

"You'd better stop showing your face around my establishment!"

"Urgh…you've not seen the last of me."

"Yeah, whatever." The true rodent left my establishment and even now, the atmosphere lingered of his filthy presence. He seriously caught me off guard with that recording device. It's a bit embarrassing considering my past occupations. Speaking of which…what exactly is going on with Ren? I can't say for sure that I exactly trust his motives spending time with Futaba alone. He hasn't lied to me about what he's done with her - that I can say for certain. It just feels like there's more to his actions than he gives off and his flippant answers don't help his case. Was this kid really looking for trouble back then or was it just the wrong place, wrong time for him? Ren and Futaba came downstairs and stood in front of the counter now knowing that Youji had finally left. It brought back the warmth and homeliness to Cafe Leblanc once more.

"Sorry about that, you two. It ended up being a lot uglier than I wanted and took a lot longer as well. You guys were alright up there?"

"Yep. We played a few rounds of U*o today."

"And Futaba mercilessly destroyed me every time."

"It's only because you didn't take it seriously at first Ren."

"True. Next time, I'll have extra reinforcements at the ready." Reinforcements? What kind of U*o are you kids playing?

"So you kids had fun. I'm glad that you could keep yourselves occupied all this time."

"Yeah! Next time, the three of us can play another game such as Tycoon."

"Ooh, I love a good game of Tycoon. Don't feel too bad when I get the glory."

"Ha. You can talk a lot but can you back it up? I might be an older guy but I'll have you know that when it comes to Tycoon, I can throw down anytime. Let's get out of this guy's hair, Futaba. See you tomorrow, Ren."

"Okay! See you later Ren!" Futaba and I left the store to Ren knowing that he'd lock up and switch off the lights. As my house happened to be around the corner, it wouldn't be too bad if he forgot. Futaba happily walked along the backstreets - she was in really high spirits. In contrast to yesterday, she's practically glowing. Ren's a bit thick to not notice the effect he's had on her.

"Futaba, I'm sorry that I couldn't get rid of your uncle."

"There's no need to apologise. It's not exactly convenient like that…life, I mean?"

"You've got that right. Many adults, some around my age, believe that everything could just come by easily. It's good to stay positive but also stay realistic. Your mother would tell you the same."

"Yeah. She would."

"You're looking jubilant as ever. You enjoyed your little date with Ren?"

"D-D-D-Date?!"

"Ha-ha, I'm just teasing you."

"Sojiro, that's not funny! How did you even come to that conclusion?!"

"You and him were alone for a period of time right?"

"Yeah…"

"What do you get?"

"...oh. R-Ren and I…on a date…" Futaba went bright red once she thought about it but she still carried on walking with a stride in her steps.

"He didn't try anything funny did he?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all…"

"Good. About that treat I said I'd give you both."

"Yeah?"

"I don't really know what the things you kids like right now to eat. The Big Bang Bonanza's long gone by now, right? That would've been gracious for my pockets." At my half-hearted response, Futaba turned to look at me with slight contempt…similar to the first few times I saw her.

"Guess that's not an option. How's sushi sound instead?"

"Now you're talking!" Futaba beamed once more and I felt glad that I suggested this. Ren…well, I'm sure he won't mind where we're going and after yesterday, my punishment to him is not hearing his opinion on what he'd like for a treat. We went into the house, wiped our shoes on the mat and took off our shoes placing them in the shoe cupboard. Futaba went inside to the living room and sat on the sofa to watch some TV. I went into the kitchen, opened up the fridge and took out a burrito that I bought earlier. Putting it on a plate I took out of the cupboard, I heated it in the microwave for a few minutes and whilst it was going, I filled the kettle and started boiling the water.

"You want anything to drink?"

"Um…hot chocolate please!"

"Got it. Chocolate coming up." By the time the kettle finished, I'd decided I'd have the same drink. It's been a very long time since I had such a sugary drink but I figured why not try something different for a change. Placing extra cocoa in Futaba's cup just the way she liked it, I stirred in the water and added a touch of milk so she could drink it instantly - I prefer mine with just the cocoa and water. Bringing it inside, I took a seat on the solo chair and watched the TV for a bit too. Taking a sip of the chocolate, I actually felt relaxed knowing that I could have such a peaceful moment.

"Haven't had one of these in a while. Turns out it isn't as sickly as it could be."

"Sickly?! Hot chocolate's the best! How can you not like it?! Coffee and chocolate are both made from beans anyway!"

"Now don't you go lumping in coffee and chocolate like they're the same! Coffee beans are made with the respect they deserve from competent people whilst hot chocolate…those beans may as well have come from the gutter!"

We continued this pointless debate on which of the two drinks were better. Wakaba. You may not know this but thank you for being a part of my life and bringing joy into it. Your lovely little girl has the same tastes as you do. Once you're free, I'll be sure to help you and Futaba rekindle that bond you have. Before I knew it, it was now far later at night. The TV had turned itself off…I couldn't remember what was on I'm afraid due to my concentration in our friendly debate. Futaba headed upstairs to her room, presumably to get the things she needed before bathing. I'd chosen to sort myself early in the morning - dealing with Youji left me feeling extremely fatigued. Before I doze off, I'd better give Ren a phone call. It's thanks to him that Futaba was even able to smile after seeing Youji show up.

"Hey Sojiro."

"Thanks a lot today, Ren."

"It was nothing, Sojiro."

"No. It was far more than you'd ever know - thanks to you, Futaba wanted to work as hard as she could today. I've not seen that level of performance from Futaba in a very long time. Not only that, you managed to look after her whilst I spoke with that guy."

"He seems pretty troublesome."

"You're not wrong with that at all."

"..."

"There's no point in you worrying too much about it. I'll do everything I can to make sure that you guys are both safe. Your parents entrusted me with you and I don't break the promises I make Ren."

"I believe you Sojiro."

"...Thanks again, Ren. Goodnight."

"Night." I'm sure that Wakaba will laugh if I had to rely on someone else's kid to sort my messes out. I'll fight for Futaba with everything I have.