They left one by one.
"Arygato, Tono-sama, Arygato gozaimasu."
Those were the last words he remembered hearing from Kotoha.
"Arygato, Tono-sama, Arygato gozaimasu."
Hurridly, like she wanted to say more. She left. Taking the long journey back to Kyoto. But choked, on the verge of crying.
"Remember, if the gedoshou attack, I'll come flying. Also, you should fix your self-consciousness," said Mako.
"Ah. Ja ne."
Why didn't he say goodbye to Kotoha but to Mako. Not even Takeru knew why.
The days afterwards, at the Shiba mansion were empty. Takeru tried playing the guitar, like Jii, but to no avail. Then he tried learning soccer, the ball ended up destroying a bird's nest. Next came conversational English, but the only full phrase Takeru was able to remember was "Pass the water."
Takeru grew restless, there was nothing to train for, no one to train with. Takeru couldn't visit Genta or Mako, especially since the only phrase Takeru knew in French was "Where is the butter?" and Mako was reconnecting with her parents. Chiaki would attempt to beat Takeru at something, and Takeru wasn't ready for that yet. He thought about Ryunosuke's kabuki company. He remembered overhearing that he was going to be stopping in Kyoto. Takeru never went to Kyoto, practically anywhere, before the Gedoushu struck, due to the fact he was training, and he thought it might be relaxing.
"Kotoha lives in Kyoto," he thought.
He thought about the way Kotoha would play her flute when she thought everyone was asleep. He thought about her happiness when she saw the cake he decorated.
He wished he spent more time with her, for some reason. There was still this barrier between him and her due to her humility, that was beginning to finally break, but she left too soon for him to break through. For her to call him "Takeru." He called Ryunosuke and asked him when the date was and made plans to go to Kyoto. Hopefully, he would see her.