Chapter 17

The next day, Haruki didn't show up at school. Their class teacher announced to them that Haruki had successfully transferred to another school, shocking everyone in the class, especially Aimi. Haru and Tokaku didn't look too shocked by it. Kouko was worried that Haruki's abrupt transfer will impact her grades on the Science project, so she asked the class teacher, to which Isuke rolled her eyes.

During recess, when Isuke was having lunch with her girlfriend and Nio, they were approached by Tokaku and Haru.

"What do you guys want?" Nio asked menacingly.

"We'd like to have a word with Isuke," Tokaku said.

"Yeah, well, she's not interested," Nio said.

"It's about Haruki," Tokaku said.

"If it's about her transferring to a new school, I knew about it yesterday. I saw the documents she was carrying," Isuke said boredly. "So, I'm not interested."

"It's not about that… well, it's partly about that," Haru said. "We promise, we won't take up a lot of your time."

"Yeah, and then you can go back to sucking face with your new girl of the week," Tokaku deadpanned.

That got Isuke's blood boiling. "Anything you want to say, you can say it in front of them," Isuke spat.

"Very well," Tokaku began, but was stopped by her girlfriend.

"Tokaku, we have to speak to Isuke alone. The less people know, the better. Haruki will get into more trouble if people spread this around at school."

"Look, the trash and her have to go," Tokaku said, referring to Nio and Isuke's new girl.

Isuke whispered something into her girlfriend's ears and her girlfriend left the table with a pout. "Nio is staying. I trust her," Isuke said, to which Nio smiled appreciatively at her. Nio had won her trust by not blabbing to the whole school that Haruki had used her.

"Ok, fine," Tokaku said and both she and Haru sat down. "But let me be clear on one thing. Whatever is said here, stays here. If I found out that it had been spread, I'd know who to come after." Tokaku looked directly at Nio, not hiding the meaning behind her words.

"Alright, fair 'nough," Nio said with a salute of her hand.

"Isuke's getting bored, so make it quick."

Tokaku turned her attention to Isuke. "Haruki's not actually transferring school. She is dropping out of high school entirely. The documents she had of her transferring school is actually frauded by one of her clients so that it saved her the trouble of explaining it to the principal that she won't be able to attend high school for the rest of her life."

"What?!" Isuke exclaimed as soon as she digested what Tokaku had said.

"So, now, do we have your attention?"

"Wow, that sounds like the most exciting and scandalous thing I've ever heard in my entire school life," Nio said sarcastically. "I never knew that she had it in her to drop out of school, but it's not surprising, considering her background and what she is capable of doing."

When Isuke didn't respond, Nio said, "You're awfully quiet. Internally dancing with joy now that the leech is out of your life?

Isuke began to wonder if letting Nio stay behind is a bad idea. "Nio, do me a favour and zip that lips of yours, will you?" she said sweetly, before turning her attention to Tokaku. "Ok, so you came to me with that information. Am I supposed to care?"

"I know you won't," Tokaku said bluntly. "But, for her sake, please do."

"And why should I?" Isuke asked disinterestedly. "We're no longer together."

Tokaku stood up abruptly, angry that Isuke was nonchalant about this whole situation. Haru immediately stood up as well and placed a placating hand on her girlfriend's arm to calm her down. "Let me," she said softly to Tokaku.

"Isuke-san," Haru began.

"Call me Isuke-sama."

"Ok… Isuke-sama," Haru tried again. "I know that you and Haruki are no longer together, but we are hoping that you would talk to her out of dropping out of school."

"Look, you guys sound like a broken record right now. Isuke had told you that Isuke doesn't care."

"Hey, why don't we play a game?" Nio suddenly said with a devious smile.

"We have no time for games, trash!" Tokaku said angrily.

"No no… hear me out," Nio ignored Tokaku's anger and continued. "The game is called, 'let's hear it from Isuke about the real reason why they broke up, instead of pushing her to do something which is out of her league.' Let's be honest, asking Isuke to care for someone or something? Pffttt… that's mission impossible. So, let's play this game first, and then let's see if you guys can still convince her to care. What do you guys say?"

"No, we don't have ti-" Tokaku began, but was cut off by Nio, who actually didn't care what they all had to say.

"The deal Haruki made with Sumireko is that she would make Isuke fall in love with her and when she does, Haruki will break her heart and humiliate her in public like how Isuke had humiliated Sumireko before. All that for two million yen! For some reason, Isuke found out about it, and this is the real reason why they broke up. So, there you have it, folks. Haruki's just using the rich for money, just like every poor people, ever. I'm surprised that she hadn't told you guys about the real story, but I'm not that surprised. It's a natural instinct to cover up your deepest, darkest, dirty secret, isn't it? Yup, you can finally see your friend's true colours, now huh? She leeches onto rich friends and suck'em dry. She would do anything for money because she's a lying, back-"

"That's enough, Nio," Isuke said, her voice uncharacteristically calm. "You've got your point across."

"How did Isuke find out about it?" Tokaku asked.

"Look, does it matter?" Isuke lashed out angrily. "It's a good thing that I did before the queen bitch's plan take effect."

"It matters because I think there are holes in Nio's story," Tokaku said objectively. "I'm not trying to side Haruki here, but even I think that if this is really Sumireko's plan, do you think she would let you find out that easily? She's a mastermind, she wouldn't let anything slip by. I'm thinking that she's the one who let you find out, but what's her reason behind it."

Isuke was surprised at Tokaku's sharpness. Tokaku was right. There were a few things Isuke didn't tell Nio, not because she didn't want to, but because she didn't want to admit that Haruki is not one hundred percent guilty. She didn't want to face the facts that Haruki had attempted to break the deal off with Sumireko, and that had angered the heiress, which led to her change of plans. She didn't want to accept that the reason why Haruki had broke the deal off is because she loves her.

"Oh, I thought you've told me everything, Isuke," Nio said, disappointment evident in her voice. "Are there some things you have left out on purpose?"

"It doesn't matter, alright?" Isuke reiterated, her voice tight as she balled her hands into a fist.

"I'm sorry for what she had done to you, Isuke-sama," Haru said when she noticed Isuke's balled up fists. "And I agree that it doesn't matter how or why you found out, but Nio is wrong about Haruki. I know her the longest than all of you and I can tell you with all my heart that she's not that kind of person. You know she has financial problems, but she'd never asked a single cent from me or Tokaku. We would've helped her if she asked, but she'd rather do all these illegal things to pay her own debts. She called me last night to tell me that she'd chosen to drop out. Tokaku and I went to her house to knock some sense into her head. She still didn't want to tell us the reason why, until Tokaku had to force it out of her. She… she…"

Haru couldn't continue anymore as she started to tear up, so Tokaku took over. "Isuke, after hearing your side of the story, did you ever give Haruki a chance to explain why she had to take Sumireko's deal? I'm not saying what she did to you was right. But there's always two sides to every coin."

"Again, does it matter if I gave her a chance to explain? The deal is made and done," Isuke said spitefully as she began to grow impatient. "Look, are you here to gloss over my issues and make Haruki a hero? Because if you are, then fuck you. I'm done.

"No, that's not what I'm trying to do. I may not fully understand how you feel right now, but I empathize with you," Tokaku said kindly, surprising both Isuke and Nio.

"Yeah well, Isuke doesn't need your pity."

"It's not sympathy. It's empathy. Know the difference and apply it sometime in your life," Tokaku said.

"Alright, first you tried to gloss over my issues, and now you're insulting me. Not very wise of you if you're trying to convince me to talk to Haruki. My patience is waning, Azuma," Isuke said dangerously.

"My bad," Tokaku said, lifting both of her hands up to calm the angry Isuke down. "I promise you, I'm not glossing over your issues. I'm just asking you whether you gave Haruki a chance to explain herself or not, because I don't want to assume. It's alright if you're not telling. I can only tell you what I know about her side of the story, and the reason why she decided to drop out. Her father owed some loan sharks a lot of money before he bailed on them. The loan sharks couldn't track him down, so they tracked his family down. They found his family and now Haruki has to bear this burden."

Tokaku took a deep breath, before continuing, "Well, she told us that she had paid some of her debts to the loan sharks from the deal she made with Sumireko, which I assumed is that deal about you but she still owes them a large sum. She wouldn't tell me how much when I asked because she's stubborn and wouldn't let us help her. Because helping her is us pitying her and she doesn't need our pity, just like you," Tokaku finished with an eyeroll.

Isuke wasn't even paying attention to Tokaku's insult and eyeroll by now, because what Tokaku had told her is news to her. She had known all along that Haruki has never ending bills and debts to pay, but she never knew the depth of Haruki's problem. She never knew that she is owing the loan sharks now. How could she have not known? And why had Haruki never shared this burden with her? We're not that kind of friends suddenly echoed in her mind. A weak excuse that Haruki gave, but was it because of this phrase that Haruki chose not to share her burden with her?

"She said she got a job offer, so that's why she had to drop out of school in order to work," Haru said once she had calmed down. "She wouldn't tell us what that job is, but from how she said it, it must be very dangerous or maybe even suicidal because even the highest paying legal job in this country would not help her pay back the loan sharks in such a short period of time."

"That's quite a sob story," Nio suddenly said, her tone sarcastic. "So enlighten us, how should we be able to help her if she doesn't even want your help?"

"Because I think Isuke-sama is the only one who can get through to her," Haru explained as she started to dig for something in her bag. When she found it, she took the wrapped plastic bag out, careful not to drop the contents and handed it to Isuke. "She had fixed it and wanted me to return it to you. She wanted you to know that she bought it for you using her own money, not from what Sumireko paid her upfront," Haru said. "She said that it's very important for you to know this, otherwise she won't be able to go in peace. At first, I had only wanted to pass the message to you, not the necklace because I wanted her to return it to you herself. But she kept on saying that she might not even have the chance to see you again, so in the end I agreed."

"With that kind of message she told Haru to pass you, no doubt in mind that her job is suicidal," Tokaku supplied.

"So, you see, she would listen to you if you tell her not to drop out of school and let us help her pay her debts." Haru said. "Will you please talk to her, Isuke-sama?"

The school bell rang then, and that was the end of recess. Tokaku and Haru didn't get to hear Isuke's answer as she had left them, the carefully wrapped necklace in her shaky hand as she walked away.


Isuke was lying on the leather seat at the backseat of her limousine, deep in thoughts. School had ended a long time ago but she had instructed her chauffeur to leave the car and take a break first. Currently, she is at the school parking lot.

What Haru and Tokaku had told her during recess still echoed in her head. Haruki had paid the loan sharks by using Sumireko's upfront cash, but it's still not enough. It's still not enough because she had cancelled the deal with Sumireko. If she didn't cancel the deal and gone through with it, she would have settled her debts. But she chose not to. Why?

"Because she loves you, idiot. She had told you that, but you didn't believe her," Isuke thought. "And now she's gonna carry all the burden by herself. So stupid!"

"Oh, Haruki," Isuke sighed as she rolled her eyes at her stupidity and stubbornness.

"Haruki?" A voice below her said.

Shit. Her mind had been drifting off to a certain redhead while her latest fling was pleasuring her down there. Worse, she had forgotten about her latest fling.

"You're still thinking about her," her girlfriend whined as she slowly crawled up and lied on top of Isuke. "This isn't the first time. I can always feel that you're distant whenever we have sex. Is the sex with Haruki that good? Maybe I should go after her instead."

Isuke made a face and took a real good look at her girlfriend. She didn't have wild red hair. Her eyes weren't bright and full of joy, glinting with playfulness whenever she made a stupid joke. She didn't have that annoying lopsided grin and that unsophisticated charm. She is not Haruki.

Isuke had never had sex with Haruki and yet, this girl is comparing herself to Haruki.

"Get out," Isuke instructed coldly as she pushed the other girl away from her and adjusted her clothes.

"That was just a joke, baby. I'd never go after her. You know that, right?"

"We're done. It's over. Get outta my car."

"Wow, you really are as cold as people say," her girlfriend grumbled angrily as she adjusted her school uniform. "What we all predicted was right."

"Excuse me?" Isuke said, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Don't pretend like you never heard us talking when you were dating her. We all predicted that sooner or later, you'd break Haruki-san's heart. And guess what? It came true. Haruki-san could've any girl she wanted, her admirers are more than yours, and yet she chose to be with you, a cold-hearted playgirl," the girl said as she got out of the car and slammed the door.

Isuke just sat in her car in silence. What everyone thought about her is wrong. They didn't know the real story. But now, she is beginning to think that they may be right. If Isuke had given Haruki a chance to explain, then she would know the reason why Haruki did what she did. Then she could've helped her. Maybe, she was the one who broke her heart, after all.

In a sick, twisted, sort of way, Isuke somewhat admired Haruki for finally taking her advice and being selfish for once by taking Sumireko's deal and actually went through with the plan to use and betray her, albeit a failed plan. Nio was wrong about Haruki. She would do anything for her family, not for money. Her never ending commitments to her family is what drove her to be selfish in the end. It's just that Isuke got the short end of the stick. It's not difficult putting herself in Haruki's shoes as she had been in a similar situation as Haruki's before. But would she trick, lie and betray someone whom she considered a friend?

What was I supposed to think? You always said we're not that kind of friends!

So, was she at fault, then? Was this what drove Haruki to decide to betray her?

Before she knew it, her eyes began to water and she started to cry in despair. The last time she had wept in such despair was when she was told that her brother had died. She could feel her heart constricting in pain over and over again the harder she cried. Why was she so stupid to let Haruki into her heart? She cursed herself for being so naïve to share so much about herself to her. To everyone else, this was the shortest relationship she had ever been in. To everyone else, her relationship with Haruki happened out of the blue. The comment section under that viral video in Instagram told her as much. But, she feels like what she had with Haruki, starting with their friendship to becoming lovers is the most meaningful and intense relationship she had ever been in. Is this what being broken-hearted feels like? If it is, she swore to never fall in love ever again.

She had been doing so well, forgetting about the redhead by having meaningless sex to get over her heartbreak and depression, but one look at Haruki yesterday and finding out that she is transferring school had almost broken her resolve. If she had to be honest with herself, Haruki transferring to another school had affected her. Then Tokaku and Haru came and told her about the truth and Haruki's problem. She had been telling them and herself that she doesn't care, but when has she ever been honest with her true feelings?

She was still crying when her phone rang. It was her papa calling her. She picked up the phone and hid her hoarse voice as best as she could. "Hello?"

"Hey, princess. Come back for dinner tonight. We have good news to share with you."

"Ok," she replied curtly before hanging up the phone. She wondered what the good news could be. She couldn't even remember the last time she had dinner with her parents. If she had not been so heartbroken, she would try to reject her papa for dinner. She has no problem with her papa, it's her mama that she has a problem with. She still remembers how he had slapped her that night, and how he never really talked to her after that incident. Her papa had to become a middle person to both of them after that incident. After all the shit she had been through, at least her parents have some good news for her. She hoped there is no hidden agenda behind the good news.


"Is she coming home for dinner?" Eisuke asked his husband in a stoic voice as soon as he saw him putting down the phone.

"Well, that went easier than I thought," Isuke's papa said. "She said yes."

"That's great," Eisuke said with a small smile.

"Try not be so stoic later, yeah, honey?" he gave Eisuke a kiss on the cheek before disappearing into the kitchen. "And let me do all the talking first later to ease her into the atmosphere. I mean, it has been a while since the three of us have dinner together. She must feel as awkward as you."

When Isuke arrived home, her parents was already at home waiting for her. She hadn't come home to a house that's not empty in years.

"Ah, Isuke. There you are!" her papa greeted her with a big bear hug, before releasing her and taking a proper look at her. "It's been a long time since we properly take a good look at you. How have you been doing?"

"I'm doing fine," Isuke said flatly as she tried to struggle away from her papa's grip.

Her papa smiled. "Come. I had set up the dinner table. Let's go help ourselves."

When Isuke went into the dining room, she saw that her parents had really put in a very big effort for the dinner. There were western food and seafood and a bottle of champagne on the table. Whatever they wanted to tell her must be very good news, like closing a billion dollar business deal. She took a seat at the dining table, and her parents told her to start digging in.

"Aren't you curious about what our good news is?" her papa asked.

"Not really," Isuke said nonchalantly. "'Cause it's always about business with you."

Her papa smiled. "Yes, it's always business, my dear. But this time, this is the biggest business of all. And it's a start of something new for us. Are you ready to hear it?"

"Yes, yes, I'm dying from the anticipation," Isuke said drily as she played around with a piece of meat with her fork. She didn't have much of an appetite ever since the drama with Haruki and Sumireko, on top of the new information that Tokaku told her. Regardless, she forced a spoonful of spaghetti into her mouth and chewed slowly.

Her papa chuckled, before continuing, "Isuke, we have sold our business for a very large sum of money so that we can retire and spend more time with you."

Isuke choked on the spaghetti she was chewing and she had to drink a glass full of water.

"My dear, be careful!" her papa said and quickly walked over to Isuke to pat her back.

"I-I think I must have heard wrongly, because you said you sold your business?" she said once she had stopped coughing.

"You didn't hear wrong. We did sell it." her mama confirmed. "That's why we had been so busy these past few years flying here and there to settle everything with our clients and business partners. We wanted to make sure everything is done before selling it off."

"But… why?" Isuke asked, confused. "You guys love your business more than anything in the world."

"No, that's where you're wrong, Isuke," her mama said. "We don't love our business more than anything in the world. It's just a job to provide for you. We love you more than anything. But we realized we showed our love to you the wrong way."

"Mama, what are you saying?" Isuke asked as she began to choke up.

Seeing his daughter's reaction, Eisuke couldn't continue, so his husband took over.

"Isuke, we know that you have been very unhappy for these past few years. We know what you heard that night and we know how you interpreted it. We want you to know that we love you very much and that's the first and foremost reason why we adopted you. We should've taken Reiji in too, but we didn't and we can't change the past anymore. What we can do now, is to change our future. Isuke… my dear daughter… we don't care if you don't take over our company. Your happiness and your health are the most important to us. So… can you forgive us?"

"Papa…" Isuke said as she began to tear up. Her papa bent down and kissed her forehead before hugging her. Her mama joined in and did the same, and before long, the three of them were laughing and crying at the same time.

"Oh and one more thing. We have made arrangements to bring Reiji home to stay with us. We have looked into renovating a room especially for him," Eisuke said. "We are also looking into hiring a professional caretaker who is specialised in taking care of autistic adults."

"Mama, really?"

"Yes, really. We love both of you very much. Even though we had just taken Reiji in very recently, we have always treated him as our own," Eisuke said.

"So what will you guys be doing now that you are no longer working?" Isuke suddenly asked. "What if we become broke?"

"We won't become broke," her papa chuckled. "We are actually looking into starting a small café business. We are still sourcing for a good location to build the café. We have also made some property investments throughout the years, and we still have income from rental collection. So we won't be broke. Don't worry."

"And, now that we have more time on our hands, we can spend it with you on your studies and homework," her mama said intentionally. "Don't think we don't know that you're falling behind, Isuke. Your principal has been calling us to come in for a counselling session but we don't have the time. We know you're just rebelling against us, so we will give you another semester to improve your studies, otherwise, me or papa will have to tutor you. Or, we'll have to hire a private tutor for you. "

Isuke rolled her eyes as her parents laughed. "But you know that I never wanted you to sell your business," Isuke said when she had stopped laughing. "That's not the reason why I rebelled."

"Yeah, we know," Eisuke said. "We've been teenagers before, Isuke, and we know why you rebelled. We're not only doing this for you, but we're also doing this for Reiji and ourselves."

"For yourselves?" Isuke asked, not understanding.

"Yes," her mama affirmed. "Well, you see, Isuke. Even parents made mistakes, and sometimes, it's their children who had unknowingly given them the guidance that they need. Isuke," her mama cupped Isuke's face in her hands and took a long real look at her. "Adopting you is the best decision I had ever made and I had never once regretted it. And now, I want to top that best decision I made all those years ago by doing this. The only thing I've regretted is not adopting your little brother and not being a very good mama to you. It's something I have to change, and that's why I'm doing this. And also," he averted his eyes as if in shame, before looking at her again. "I shouldn't have slapped you all those years ago."

"Mama," Isuke said as her eyes began to water again. Without saying another word, she hugged Eisuke tightly and cried freely into his body, just like what she had done when she was young whenever she fell down and got hurt; or when she found out that her little brother had died.

Her papa looked on with a warm smile on his face. It had been a dream of his to see her daughter and her husband finally talked to each other and put their past behind. After a while, Isuke let go of her mama and smiled a real, genuine at him. Her papa suddenly made a stupid dad joke and the three of them laughed again. It had been a while since laughter filled the house. She hadn't felt like this in such a big empty house in such a long time, but now, the difference is that her home felt warmer and smaller now. She had missed this. Despite all the rebellion, she still loves her parents very much. Isuke felt like a part of the burden had been lifted from her chest. All these anger and resentment she had been holding onto for years was finally gone, the moment she chose to forgive her parents. It felt liberating, like she can finally breathe.

"So, will you tell us what's bothering you?" her papa suddenly asked out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" Isuke asked.

"Come on, we may not have been in your life for these past few years, but we still know you very well. You're still our little princess, even though you're a teenaged rebel now," her papa chuckled ruefully. "Your voice was hoarse when you picked up my call. Your eyes were red when you came back. You had been crying. Tell us what's wrong."

"Yeah did someone hurt you at school?" her mama asked.

Isuke hesitated. She was not sure if she wanted to talk about Haruki with her parents.

"You can tell us anything, you know that, right?" Eisuke said.

"Well… there's this girl, whom I like very much… but it doesn't matter anymore 'cause it's over," Isuke said with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

"Is it 'cause she doesn't reciprocate your feelings?" Eisuke asked.

Isuke shook her head as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "What does it matter even if she reciprocates my feelings 'cause she used me. I trusted her but she betrayed me. And the worst part of all is that… I can't bring myself to hate her. I still care about her, despite all that," Isuke broke down crying into her mama's arms. This is the first time she confessed her feelings about Haruki. She had known about how she felt for quite some time now, but she had never said it out loud before. "It's so stupid of me, huh? I should just completely forget about her but I can't and this feeling is consuming me."

"Ahhh… love is a complicated thing, Isuke. The only advice I can give you is follow your heart. If you really love this girl, and if she's still worth all this trouble for you…"

"Mama, is it wrong for me to still want to help her even after what she'd done to me?" Isuke lifted her head up from her mama's chest and asked. She had never felt so lost before.

"Isuke," Eisuke said. "There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to love. We can't give you the answer on what you should do, but we believe that deep down, you already have the answer. You just need a little courage to take action."

"Whatever you decide, we will always be here to support you," her papa chipped in.


The metallic weapon felt cold and foreign in Haruki's hand as she took it out from her backpack and wedged it between her pants, before covering it with her shirt. Looking down from the rooftop of the tallest building in the city she tried to enjoy the night view for the last time.

She checked the time on her phone. It was eleven o'clock at night. She had received a text from the thug that her target will be at the airport at dawn. She couldn't sleep after receiving the text, so she decided to head out earlier to get a breath of fresh air. She had been walking aimlessly in the streets and ended up here, trying to enjoy the night view.

But tonight, she couldn't enjoy it for obvious reasons. Another one of the reasons that was nagging at her is that it brings back her good memories of Isuke here. She really missed Isuke and wished that she is here with her, but she knew that would be impossible. Isuke would not want to have anything to do with her ever again.

She scrolled her phone and found Haru's number. She needed to talk to someone but instead of calling her, she sent her a message.

Haru had just gotten out of her bathroom when she heard her phone dinged with a message. She opened the message from Haruki and her face paled. She tried calling Haruki's number, but it went straight to voicemail. She kept on trying and trying but she couldn't get through. In the end, she called Tokaku.

"Tokaku!" Haruki literally yelled into the phone as soon as her girlfriend picked up. "Haruki just sent me a very disturbing text asking both of us to take care of her family if she is never coming back from her job. I tried calling her but it went straight to voicemail! I'm very worried now. What should we do?"

"Ok, first of all, I need you to calm down," Tokaku said calmly. "Did you try calling Fuyuka?"

"No! In her message, she told me don't even bother to try calling Fuyuka 'cause her sister never knew about her illegal business. No wonder she dragged us out of her house when we went to knock some sense into her head that day!"

"Ok, you keep calling Haruki, I'll call Isuke," Tokaku said. "I'll drag that stubborn bitch out of her house to go talk to Haruki if I have to."

Tokaku started punching Isuke's number on her phone. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long, as Isuke picked up her phone on the third ring.

"Wow… calling me at this hour? That's the first, Azuma," Isuke said as soon as she picked up her phone.

"Isuke, I don't have time for your bullshit right now," Tokaku said. "You're going to have to talk to Haruki whether you like it or not 'cause I'm gonna drag you out of your house if you said no."

"Alright, I'll talk to her first thing in the morning," Isuke agreed without any argument, surprising Tokaku.

"… ok, well, um… you need to talk to her right now. This can't wait 'til tomorrow morning 'cause she just sent a text to Haru… something like a suicide note, and her phone can't get through every time Haru tried calling her. You need to go to her house like right now."

Isuke immediately got up from her bed and started going through her wardrobe. "Ok, I'm on it."

"Good, I'm changing as we speak now, and will pick Haru up first. Meet you at Haruki's."


Phew... finally a new chapter! Sorry for the long wait. I kinda lost inspiration due to busy life but I got it back again! And I know it's quite rushed, but I don't wanna drag out Isuke's drama with her parents anymore and besides, her parents aren't evil. Like I've said before, they were just misguided on their love for their daughter. And also, Isuke deserved some sort of happiness after all the stuff she had been through.