Part 1

"So we won't be able to practice anymore? Not even if we say it's for the kids?" Kaoru pleaded.

Sentaro gave a hearty laugh, "Bon, it would be even worse if it were under the pretense of falsehood." Kaoru pouted. "You can still come by. You can meet them and we can all hang out." Sentaro ruffled Kaoru's hair. All these years and he hasn't grown out of that childishness when it came to losing his best friend to someone else.

"Will Rii-chan come too?" Kaoru smiled at the memories of his first love. It's been 9 years since they fell out of touch, 1 since they all reunited. Despite everything (or the lack there of) that happened, a soft spot was forever sealed in his heart.

"Unfortunately, since her promotion, she'll be busy this coming summer break with organizing the school trip for the entire grade level she teaches. She nervous about it actually, but I told her she should probably split up the work amongst her fellow teachers."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. It's easier when you have more help."

"Yeah," Sentaro sat across from Kaoru at the table. They sat in silence for a while and Kaoru noted how tired his friend looked. "Honestly, it will be nice when the volunteers come."

"Do you know how many you'll get?"

Sentaro shook his head. "We'll find out when they decide what programs they want to volunteer with. It's kind of hard because of the language barrier. I think only one or two people speak Japanese, so I know we'll at least get one of them." Kaoru watched as Sentaro fiddled with his collar, a nervous habit that he had picked up. Kaoru decided not to ask him about it.

"Thank you for the tea. I have to be getting back. I'll have less than 24 hours to travel back to Tokyo and rest up before my rounds begin."

Sentaro stood and gathered Kaoru's bag. "Thank you so much for coming all this way to visit. It must be really hard with your schedule. Not to mention the cost…"

"Don't worry about that. It's worth everything to be able to play with you again, to see you happy… are you happy?"

Sentaro pulled at his collar. "Of course I am…"

"But your family…"

"Bon, not now please."

Kaoru looked down at his feet. He loved that he was finally reunited with Sentaro, but it killed him that he barely spoke with his family. He remembered such fond memories of them all together laughing. Even with Sachiko's amazing recovery after the accident… Kaoru even went to personally check her and her motor skills were great. All her brain functions were normal, except for some scars; you wouldn't have been able to tell she had an operation. But the accident had hurt Sentaro to the core and the shame he felt never went away, it didn't seem to wane in the 9 years since running from home. If he could only-

"Bon!"

"Oh sorry…I was lost in thought…"

"You need to hurry or you'll miss your bus to the ferry…"

Soft shuffling footsteps caused them to officially end their goodbye, "Brother Sen…"

"Ah! What's wrong?" The little girl fiddled with the blanket she carried avoiding eye contact. "Do you want me to hold you for a bit? Did the older boys tease you again?" She kept looking down but held her arms up. Sentaro picked her up and draped the blanket over her head. "It's okay, it's okay…" Sentaro looked up to see Kaoru standing at the doorway, waving goodbye. Kaoru mouthed the words "See you soon" and slipped out the door into the evening light.