Chapter 19

When they finally reached Taro in their human form, he was already silent. Hayata walked slowly as to not disturb him. The others stood a few feet back, to give them some semblance of privacy. He crouched behind his otouto and put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Zoffy nii-san has gone back?" Taro suddenly asked.

"Yes. You okay?" He asked sympathetically.

"I will be." He sounded hoarse and Hayata winced in pity. He rubbed his younger brother's back and smiled sadly when he felt Taro leant to his touch.

"What are you going to do with her remain?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know if she have any family. She never told me." His brother sounded lost. Hayata gripped his shoulder's tightly to show him his support.

"Don't worry. We will ask GUYS to try and find her family." Taro looked unsure for a while, prompted him to ask.

"What is it, Taro? Or do you want me to call you Raito?" He asked belatedly. He forgot that maybe his brother wanted to keep that name to honor the young lady.

"I'm not Raito. It's her fiancé name. Just call me Taro, or Kotaro if you want."

"Very well, Kotaro. What do you want to ask?"

"Do you think that if GUYS can't find her family, then maybe…" Kotaro stuttered. Hayata smiled.

"You can speak freely, otouto. It's just me. I won't judge you." Hayata reassured him.

"I know." Kotaro gave a tight smile. "It's just that…do you think I can help to find her final resting place?"

"Of course, otouto. It's your right. Come. Let's get her out of here." Hayata coaxed his brother. Kotaro reluctantly agreed. He got up and carried her body bridal style.

He kept his head down as he passed the others. He didn't even raised his head to watch where he's going, allowing Hayata's hand on his arm to guide him. He walked on autopilot, didn't even realized that he's arrived at the GUYS Headquarters or when someone took Narumi's body from him. He lied down and closed his eyes when Hayata and Hokuto asked him to sleep.

"How is he?" Dan asked both of them when they entered the main office. Hayata sighed wearily while Hokuto flopped down on his seat, too tired to care about decorum.

"He's in shock. Let him rest for now." Hayata said.

"Where did you put her?" Hokuto suddenly asked, turning towards Goh.

"In a spare room. Don't worry. They told me that they are going to take care of the body."

"Umm, sirs?" They turned around and saw Teppei stood behind them awkwardly. They frowned and gave their attention to him.

"Yes, Teppei?" Dan asked curiously.

"Sorry to interrupt but I have the information about Kousuke Narumi."

"Who?"

"Umm, the body that you brought just now?"

"Oh." The cloud of confusion dissipated from their faces. "Sorry Teppei. What about it?"

"Her family had been notified. They will claim the body first thing in the morning."

"Thank you for your help, Teppei."

"Yes sir. Sirs?" They blinked when they saw Teppei hesitated. "Is Ultraman Taro okay?"

They clamped their mouth shut, unknown how to answer that. Eventually, Hayata said. "Only time will tell."

Nodding, Teppei scurried away. Dan crossed his hands in front of his chest and looked at Hayata.

"Who's going to tell Taro about it?" He questioned. Hayata looked at each and every one of them.

"Someone who had experience the same loss as he is."

Simultaneously, everyone turned to Goh. They knew about the loss of his human lover to Alien Nackle when he was still a member of MAT. Goh looked pained for a second. He closed his eyes and sighed wearily.

"Fine, fine. I will tell him tomorrow. Anything else?" He asked sarcastically.

"That's all. Get some rest everyone." He nodded and proceeded to his room. He lied on his bed and put his hand on his forehead.

"I just hope that Taro will not be too affected from this." He sighed.

Kotaro didn't remembered falling asleep. He only remembered waking up, opening his eyes to scattered shadows and quiet. His eyes hurt for reasons above and beyond the overhead light that stabbing into them. His throat was dry and his body felt heavy and dead. For one blessed, blessed moment, however, he didn't remembered why he was here. He didn't remembered what had came before or what must soon came after.

Then he realized that his Jack nii-san was sitting beside him. He felt his fingers stroking gently through his hair and Kotaro remembered everything.

"I know." Goh said quietly as Kotaro let out a shuddering, broken sigh. "I know it hurt." He was quiet for a long few moments. Kotaro let his heavy eyes fell closed again and tried to lose himself once more in the feeling of this simple affection. All of his earlier pain, hurt and agony was diminishing little by little. To have his brother here, to have one of his family beside him…it was comforting, and he needed it. If only his parents were here…

"Sometimes, it's better to let it all out then bottle it up inside. Better to explode now than unleash your rage on innocent people." Kotaro blinked at his brother's wisdom. He turned his head to the side and kept quiet.

"You forget, otouto that I already experienced the same loss as you. My girlfriend had been killed by Alien Nackle. I know perfectly well what you are going through. At first, you will feel like the world is closing up on you. But gradually it will get better. I will not say that the feeling will disappear. But in time you can look back at the memory you made with her without the feeling of crushing pain. What you need right now is time."

Kotaro only shrugged non-commitedly. Goh stifled the sigh that almost got out of his mouth.

"Taro…"

Suddenly a knock sounded from the door. Goh made an irritated voice at the back of his throat. He gave one last pat to Taro's head.

"Wait here."

Kotaro ignored him and turned his back from his brother. He lied on his side, facing the wall. He heard murmured voices from the outside. Not too long after, a click sounded. A padded foot sounded before the bed dipped down. His brother sighed before raising his head to put on his lap.

"The funeral of Kousuke Narumi is today." He jerked when he heard the news.

"Oh?" Goh waited patiently for Kotaro to process the information. He watched in pity when his little brother tried to speak but nothing came out.

"Do you want to go?" He asked softly. Kotaro averted his eyes.

"I…I don't…"

"You don't have to attend if you don't want. The least you can do to repay her is watch the procession from afar. We will all be with you along the way." Goh smooth his brother's hair. Kotaro lowered his head while nodding weakly.

"Can you give me a minute?" He asked with a shaking voice. Goh nodded and raised himself from the bed. He looked in pain towards his trembling little brother before he got out of the room.

"How is he?" Hokuto suddenly appeared in front of his face. He looked behind him to see Hayata and Dan walking towards him.

"He's quiet and not speaking much. I can't say about his mental condition. It's too early to determine that." Goh sighed and shook his head. His hands itched to just grab his otouto and flew back towards their home, leaving it all behind and erasing all of the painful memories. He knew his brothers were feeling the same.

"I hope he will get better soon." Hokuto crossed his hands in front of his chest in worry.

"He will." Everyone looked towards Dan. "After all, he's Taro."