Hide is still my sunshine after all this time. SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!

Kazumi

"Where's Juuzou-kun?" I asked. Shinohara-san glanced at me.

"Now that I think about it, I think he's at the zoo." Shinohara-san announced.

"The zoo?" I asked. The zoo?

"Yeah, he goes there sometimes." He said to me.

"...Oh." I said. Recently, I had been thinking more about him, for who knows what reason?

"Kazumi, if you want to go see him, just go," He smiled.

"Juuzou?" I asked, walking beside Shinohara. Juuzou was sitting there, smiling as always, petting a stray cat. Shinohara went on, and I walked behind him now.

"Oh, Juuzou. Hello," Shinohara-san called.

He was drawing.

"I like it," I said.

Juuzou looked up. "Shinohara-san! Kazu-chan!" And he smiled.

Sitting down next to him, I said, "How is everything?"

He replied with a smile that made me smile too.

As we walked away, I noticed he switched sides, standing next to Shinohara. And then I noticed the boy and the father a distance away standing like them.

Father and son.

"Kazu-chan, where's your daddy?" Juuzou asked.

"I don't know. I live alone. I'm 18," I said.

"So you don't really have parents?" He asked.

"...Well, no. I just haven't found my father yet," I replied.

"You're lucky," He whispered. "You had a father and a mother for so many years."

"...You have...Shinohara-san..." I said.

"...He's not my real dad. He's just my partner!" He giggled.

"So, what was it like, being raised by a ghoul for so many years?" I inquired.

"...I...don't know...it wasn't fun like it was now." He said.

"Well, you're not a ghoul. So...they must have done things. Did they experiment on you?"

"No."

"Did they attempt to kill you?"

"No."

"...Did they hurt you?"

"...N...no..."

"Why did they hurt you?" I whispered.

"I don't know."

"Well, you're here with us now."

"...Yeah," He thought about it.

I blushed for no reason at all, or of that I knew. "Do you want to do something else?" I asked.

"...I don't want to," He answered with a dulled tone. "Can't you just stay here? With me or something? I don't want to do anything."

"O-okay...?" I blushed even harder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," He said. Leaning his head on my shoulder, he closed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" I remarked quietly.

No response.

"What are you doing?" I repeated.

No response this time either.

So I just let him rest his head on my arm like an idiot for about a half an hour. I didn't want to get up in fear of him raging against me. Or just because I felt like it was unjust to just get up and leave.

Smiling sadly, I said, "When I was a little girl, my oto-san used to call me his princess."

"Truth be told, I thought I actually was a princess. I loved the color pink. I did. I drew every single day, and I absolutely loved it. Because they told me I drew really well," I continued. "My mother often took me to the park because I loved walking across the bridge there, looking at the animals that swam in the pond, eating snacks that she bought me at the bakery. I also had a really big obsession with lollipops. I loved them. A lot. They were my favorite candy and still is my favorite candy.

"I entered an art competition when I was 12 and got fourth place. It was my first comp and I just about sobbed my eyes out. Somewhere in my mind, I knew that I'd get better though. The year after, I entered another one when I got over my fuss about the first one and then I got second place before I knew it. I could've had the best day of my life, but I want to save those days for when I fall in love and see my dad again. You know, get married. That kind of stuff. And when I get to Special Class," I joked.

"You really like lollipops? That much?" Juuzou pitched in my speech to him.

"Yes. I love all kinds of lollipops. It's really weird," I answered.

"Oh." He had a huge smile appearing on his face.

Wrapping his arms around me, he said goodbye and left my office room.

"Kazumi, what are you doing?" Taiki said behind me.

"Get back to work!"

Sucky chapter while waiting for a long time? I'm really sorry. Bigger things will happen soon. Thanks for reading and reviewing and whatever you do!