AN: I know some of you are wondering how much longer this story is going to take. Trust me, I want to reach the ending as much as you do! 😆 A good portion of it has been word vomited into a first draft, but parts of it are still missing, and I've been trying to make sure that I give the characters the ending that fits best and you readers the ending you deserve (after sticking around for this story far longer than I intended it to be). All that to say, I don't have an exact number yet, but probably about five-ish more chapters, including this one. Now, let's start part four: the conclusion to this story!

Part 4: Unpacked Feelings

Chapter 29: Divorce Counsel

Reiwa Era, 3rd Year (November 2021 CE)

The last half of the year had proven to be one of constant changes for the Nishikuni family—a time of creating routines only to later break them and forge new ones.

Sesshoumaru had created his routine for the girls and visiting Rin in the hospital. Once Rin came home, he integrated her into the girls' care while also keeping pace with her doctor and physical therapy appointments.

By the time Rin had recovered enough to walk without fear of falling, it was October. Touga and Izayoi organized a lovely reception for the two, and then the family sent the couple off on their honeymoon—which happened to coincide with Halloween in the holiday's birthplace (a fact Inukimi had overlooked when booking the affair) and which apparently gave the two a honeymoon to remember.

Touga and Izayoi had helped with childcare during that trip, taking turns with Inukimi and Jaken as well as the Higurashis, and used it as a bellwether for when Inuyasha and Kagome's little one would join them.

Their baby—a little girl the couple had decided to name Moroha—was due in March. What Rin and Sesshoumaru had done in the summer to prepare their home and family for the twins, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Izayoi were doing now to theirs. On top of all this, Rin felt compelled to give her sister the same support Kagome had given her—though with the added wisdom that came from being a mother of newborns—and was trying to plan a baby shower for her sister while adjusting to both motherhood and restrengthening her body.

When Sesshoumaru and Rin came home from their trip, they had to develop yet another routine—one in which Rin could function normally again (for the most part) and where Sesshoumaru could regularly go back to work for the Sanctuary. But now that he had a family, the long, daily commute was getting to be a bother, especially in this stage of the twins' lives, where changes happened on a dime.

And of course, the holiday season was a major time of year for the hospitality industry, and the Sanctuary was no different. Everyone wanted to host Christmas and New Year parties throughout December and January. Room reservations had been sold out for months in advance.

It was also going to be both young couples' first Christmas and New Year's together, as well as the babies' first Christmas, and they were trying to figure out how to split their time evenly between the Nishikuni and Higurashi family traditions around the holidays.

Touga was determined to find a way to help them. So one November afternoon, he approached Inukimi.

She was on her customary chaise, and he sat down by her knees, balancing on what little room was available. "Sesshoumaru needs your help," he began.

Inukimi's brows rose. "Odd. He has not asked me for such."

"Yes, well…I don't think he knows it yet."

"Oh?"

"You know how things get at the Sanctuary during this season. This time the last several years, we hardly ever saw Sesshoumaru here." The boy had elected to just live at the Sanctuary to save on commuting time, and he hadn't minded the solitude. "But that's not going to work this year. Not unless Rin goes to stay with him."

"But she won't leave her sister," Inukimi replied. The two were thick as thieves, and they were going all-in on preparing for Moroha's arrival.

"Right. Obviously, Inuyasha's not going to leave Kagome's side either, so we can't ask him to help out. If this was a normal season, I'd just take over for Sesshoumaru like I did when he was gone last year. But I can't take on the holiday season alone. And Izayoi's…better suited to staying here with Rin and Kagome to help them."

Inukimi's brows rose. "So you're asking me to step back into my managerial shoes, is that it? Aren't you afraid I'll tyrannize the staff?" she bit out, giving him a pointed glare.

Touga had been expecting that. She had held a grudge over his post-WWII coup for damn near seventy years, and he expected she'd hold it for seventy-times-seven more. Even so, he couldn't help but crack a grin—and a joke—at her. "Even you would be hard-pressed to run the Sanctuary into the ground in just two months."

Inukimi narrowed her eyes. "That is hardly the tone of a demon looking for a favor."

And yet she hadn't said "no" outright yet—which she had done every other time he asked back in the past.

So we're playing this game now, are we?

An old part of him perked up at the thought. He knew how to play these courtly games of give-and-take with her—and he knew how to win.

But to play the game required charm—something he had tried not to use on Inukimi since...well, since he left her.

And for the first time since then, he was tempted.

He had always missed their easygoing banter. No matter how their relationship had ended, Touga still recalled how their beginning had been so full of chemistry. He had thought that chemistry died when he mated Izayoi, for he had never felt the urge to charm her again.

But then, she had been callous for so long, turning him off, and he hadn't known her true feelings until this year. And somehow, that made all the difference.

But the Inukimi of the last few months was not the same one who had shared his home this last century and a half. The way she had fought for and defended not only Rin but Inuyasha and Kagome as well during the battle against Naraku had reopened his heart in a way he didn't think it ever could again.

And then to realize that she too had been sitting at his bedside for all three days as he recovered—just as she had always done, even when he lay on death's door after saving Izayoi and even though he no longer publicly acknowledged her as his wife—gutted him.

The last few months had been so busy between Sesshoumaru's and Inuyasha's families that he hadn't had a chance yet to ask Bokusenou how best the three of them might go forward with their couples' therapy. He hadn't even talked with Izayoi and Inukimi yet about the prospect of a session together.

But he felt he was going to need one, because something in his heart had shifted lately. And that shift became the catalyst for his side of their chemical equation.

So Touga gave in.

He took her hand and bent down, placing a courtly kiss upon her knuckles. When he looked up, he gave her his best rakish smile—the same one he had given her so many centuries ago as a ragged general looking for a wife. "You're the only one I can trust to bring order to such chaos."

Inukimi's lips twisted, and she tried to pluck her hand out of his, but he managed to grasp her fingers and pry them open, slipping his own between hers. Her frown deepened. "And now you try to use my feelings against me?" she asked. "You've all but guaranteed my refusal."

Touga's lips puckered in confusion and disappointment. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Her counter was supposed to be both insulting and yet suggestive. That was how they clicked.

It wasn't supposed to be so raw. So real.

He let go of her hand. "I apologize. That was not my intention."

How did he rectify this? After the awkwardness of the summer, he had finally started feeling comfortable around both her and Izayoi again. He wanted to go back to that. So he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "What if we used that opportunity to talk?"

"About what?"

"About…us."

Inukimi pulled her hand back, almost in a self-protective way. "What about us?"

"How you, me, and Izayoi move forward from here."

Inukimi peered at him. "Together?"

Touga averted his gaze. "However we can work things out."

Inukimi considered. "Will she be joining in on this conversation?"

"That was the idea. I'd hoped to use Bokusenou as a mediator of sorts."

"Bokusenou?" Inukimi echoed.

"I understand he's spoken to the three of us. Separately. He…seems to have a picture of what's going on. And I thought that could help."

He knew she hated having others privy to her business, but she had been the one to confide in Bokusenou last summer.

"When? You just indicated that the season would be busy."

Touga nodded, thinking through everything. But a tactician's mind is always drawing together possibilities, even unconsciously. "We could do it the day after New Year's. Most everyone will be leaving by then. And if you agreed to help out, we could use that excuse to let the boys and girls go back to Tokyo then to spend the holiday with the Higurashis. That way, we wouldn't risk them…overhearing anything."

Inukimi was silent for several seconds. "And Izayoi would agree to this?"

"Yes, I think so." She wanted this dilemma resolved more than anything.

Inukimi sighed. "Very well. I suppose I could step in for the time being—for Sesshoumaru's sake, of course. The boy deserves some time with his family after everything he's been through this past year."

Touga grinned. "Wonderful. Thank you, Inukimi. You don't know how much I appreciate it."

"I only hope I don't live to regret it," Inukimi grumbled.

Touga didn't want to make any promises. But for now he had some hope.

After all, the new year is a perfect time for new beginnings.

Reiwa Era, 4th Year (January 2022 CE)

Christmas had been a dream. The Nishikuni family spent it together at the snow-dusted Sanctuary. Rin got to enjoy the rustic winter views. Sesshoumaru was able to work while being with his family. The grandparents got to spoil the twins rotten with gifts galore and watch them roll around in the snow. (They were indeed part dog demon, Touga was pleased to see.) And Inuyasha got a break from catering to his pregnant wife's every whim, since she had an entire resort staff to answer her beck and call.

But now the new year was upon them, and Touga's planned meeting between him and his wives had come.

He had arrived at Bokusenou's clearing early to set up a tent pavilion around the site for Izayoi's benefit to keep her out of the cold. It had been tricky working Bokusenou into the arrangement so that he might see inside the tent and speak with them; the old magnolia had to suffer being wrapped in ropes for the time being.

While Touga was working, Izayoi came by on a separate UTV. Touga had to do a double-take when she stepped off and glided across the snow to him in a traditional, layered ensemble. Had she dressed up for the occasion? But why? Granted, he was in traditional wear too, but that was in part because of the new year and in part because that's what he still found most comfortable.

"My love, you're quite early," he said, approaching her.

"I needed time to prepare. Bring this table to the tent, will you?" she asked—rather distantly in his opinion—while pointing to a low table in the bed of the UTV. He did as she asked though and placed the squat table on a rug inside. A brazier was lit nearby—easier than bringing a generator and heat lamp and honestly, he rather liked the ambiance. It set him back in the mind of his old war counsel days.

And this was going to be a war—of emotions, if nothing more; of that, there was no doubt.

When Izayoi began laying out wares and utensils for a tea ceremony, it felt even more like they had regressed back to the feudal era.

"What's all this, dearest?" he asked.

Izayoi flicked her eyes to him. "Diplomacy, Touga. In the way that I know how to conduct it."

Touga nodded. Something had come over Izayoi. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but she seemed to need this protocol in order to proceed, so he did not hinder her as she set her pot of water over the brazier to boil and laid out all her accoutrements.

When Touga was done with his own preparations, he sat next to her, opposite the opening where Bokusenou stood. Currently, the tree had not revealed his face. He claimed to be resting for "the ordeal" ahead.

Finally, Izayoi had everything prepared, and they waited.

Right on time, Inukimi parted the curtains, letting a blast of frigid air inside.

Before Touga could speak, Izayoi stood and said, "Welcome, Inukimi. Thank you for coming today. Please, sit." She gestured to the spot opposite her. Inukimi looked over the tent and then settled herself. When Izayoi resumed her seat, she immediately flowed into the tea ceremony. No one spoke. Touga wasn't certain what to do. Everything felt so very…stilted. As if they were using formality to set up walls around the three of them in preparation for the battering to come.

Wake up, Bokusenou….

It was only after Izayoi had poured tea for the three of them and set down the teapot that Bokusenou's face appeared.

"You've all done well to come here," the tree began in his raspy voice. "This discussion is, frankly, a long time coming. So, let's not waste anymore time beating around the bush. Touga, seven centuries ago, you asked Inukimi-dono for a divorce because you mated Izayoi-dono. Inukimi-dono, you refused your husband's request because you loved him and still do—and now you have reason to believe he still returns those feelings, given the events of last spring. And Izayoi-dono, you were hurt not only by the aforementioned events but also the fact that Touga lied about his marital status with Inukimi. You have given him an ultimatum: either he devotes himself entirely to you, or he will be left wanting for his mate. Do I have the gist of this debacle right?"

Touga just barely kept his mouth from falling open. He shouldn't have been so gobsmacked; he knew Bokusenou did not pull his punches. It was what made him such a great friend—and counselor. But he hadn't quite expected that sort of beginning to such a serious discussion.

Inukimi huffed a laugh. "Indeed, Bokusenou, you certainly do not mince words." She took a sip of tea—which surprised Touga. Inukimi wasn't always consistent in which human practices she followed.

"Very well then. First, we should establish what we hope to get out of this conversation," Bokusenou continued. "Each of you will have your chance to speak. Let us start with Inukimi-dono. What is your ideal resolution to this situation?"

Inukimi stared into her teacup, rapping her claws against it. Touga's heart beat faster in anticipation.

Finally, Inukimi looked up at Izayoi and said, "I believe the easiest compromise to this dilemma is the very one you suggested all those years ago: to share our mutual husband. I admit, my pride was too wounded to consider such a thing at the time, but I have had centuries to accept it. Of course, now that the shoe is on the other foot, perhaps you can appreciate my…reluctance to enter into such an arrangement back then."

Izayoi gripped her teacup, her knuckles turning white. But in a neutral tone, she replied, "That offer expired seven hundred years ago."

Inukimi continued on as if she hadn't spoken, giving Touga a side-eye. "Of course, it does seem rather unfair that the man who betrayed both of us comes out on top in this arrangement, with two wives to fulfill his every desire." She gave an exaggerated sigh. "But such has been the privilege males have enjoyed since time immemorial. Some things we cannot change."

Her words hit the mark, and guilt struck Touga's heart.

"Times have changed, though, and most men today are monogamous," Izayoi stressed.

"Indeed. But you cannot deny that the three of us are products of a bygone era; should we always be held to today's standards?"

"How can we evolve if we do not?" Izayoi rejoined.

"Some of us do not need to evolve," Inukimi replied.

"Those who perceive perfection in themselves are in fact the most flawed," Izayoi clapped back. Inukimi's brows furrowed, but before she could respond, Izayoi continued. "Even you have evolved, Inukimi, or we would not be sitting here having this discussion today. Once, you were incapable of love."

Now Inukimi's face darkened. "You presume much about me."

Izayoi bowed her head, backing off that track. "My apologies. I overstepped.

Bokusenou cleared his throat. "Well, alright then. Izayoi-dono, it appears that a polygamous relationship is not your ideal vision. Please, share your thoughts."

Izayoi didn't even hesitate. "I want Inukimi to give Touga the divorce he's always wanted."

"Is that what Touga wants? Or is that what you want?" Inukimi answered.

Both women turned to face him. For once, the dog demon general felt like turning tail and running.

"You heard the lady, Touga. What is your ideal resolution to this relationship? Be truthful," his so-called friend prompted.

His words stung. Why am I the only one he's telling to be truthful? But when Touga tried to speak, he realized why.

Ducking his head, he said, "I…I don't know."

His heart banged against his chest. He didn't want to look up to see either of his wives' expressions. No doubt Izayoi was feeling a tumult of confusion from him. But he finally plucked up the courage and looked.

Izayoi did appear confused—and hurt. Inukimi, on the other hand, regarded him with wariness.

"I just…want things to go back to the way they were," Touga added. "I don't want to fight with either of you anymore."

"But do you realize that you are, in essence, 'fighting' with each woman about a different issue?" Bokusenou asked.

Touga hesitated. "Aren't we talking about what happened last spring?"

"Only in Izayoi-dono's case," Bokusenou replied. "Your quarrel with Inukimi-dono began with your mating of Izayoi-dono, of course. So is your wish to go back to the aromantic but cooperative relationship you shared with Inukimi-dono prior to the spring or to return your relationship to the way it was before you met Izayoi-dono?"

Again, both women turned to stare him down, and Touga shrank back. "I…I don't know."

"Don't lie," Inukimi stated. "You're a male; you know you want us both."

"He's a mated male," Izayoi interjected. "He should only want me."

"'Should' being the key term there, Izayoi," Inukimi countered. "But the fact of the matter is that he doesn't."

"And what would you know of how he feels?" Izayoi demanded, pounding her chest repeatedly. "I'm the one connected to him through a mating bond! I'm the one who knows what he's feeling!"

Touga was so engrossed in the conversation—like watching a professional Chinese ping-pong match—that he didn't even register Inukimi's movement out of the corner of his eye. Her arms darted out over the corner of the table and grabbed onto the lapels of his hankimono. She dragged him over the edge—banging his knee and scraping the inside of his thigh, frighteningly close to his balls—and smashed their mouths together.

"Oh dear," Bokusenou sighed.

The kiss—the dominance in it—aroused him, and he bit down on her lip in response, swiping his tongue across it to lap up that fiery blood of hers.

And then, before he even had time to savor it, she threw him right back into his seat. A dark crimson drop beaded on her lip, and she touched it, staring at the mark it left upon her pale finger. Then, she held up the blood for Izayoi to see. "So tell me, Izayoi: How did he feel then?"

Touga's arousal petered out in an instant as he turned to look at Izayoi, whose wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare was one part shocked matron and one part crushed soul. Her hand crawled over to her heart and tightened over the fabric, as if she wanted to rip the organ out of her chest.

"Izayoi, I'm sorry—" he started.

"Don't," Izayoi interrupted, holding up a hand to him. "You had a relationship with her. You always said that some part of you would continue to love her. I accepted that. You can't help how you feel. But the issue here is that you wouldn't know to feel that if Inukimi didn't always insist on taking what she wanted, others' feelings be damned!"

Inukimi shrugged. "Just because you do not have the same confidence I do to take what you want does not mean you can blame me for it."

"I had what I wanted!" Izayoi snapped, slamming a fist on the table. "I had a devoted mate who loved me, and now I have a mate whose heart is torn because you decided to open your mouth and tell him the words he's longed to hear for centuries!"

Inukimi pinned her with an unfathomable stare. "Yes. And you had everything I wanted too."

The conversation lapsed into silence once more until Bokusenou said, "It seems we need to ask some basic questions here. Touga, do you even want a divorce?"

Touga glanced between Izayoi and Inukimi. Why couldn't he answer instantly? Definitively?

"Shouldn't that be obvious?" he asked, and he wasn't sure if he was talking to Bokusenou or himself. "I mean…I've been asking for one for seven hundred years."

"Repeatedly?" Bokusenou pressed.

Touga's brows furrowed. "I…well…no, actually. Just…once. No, twice?" Certainly some fifty years after he took Izayoi as his mate. But since then…. Had it really only been a few months ago, after Izayoi made the demand of him?

"Mhmm," Bokusenou murmured, his ghostly hand coming out to scratch his chin. "Because from what I've gathered so far, Izayoi seems to be the one most interested in this divorce."

Touga and Inukimi both turned to stare at Izayoi, who flinched. "Well, shouldn't that be obvious? Touga mated me," she argued. "From what everyone has ever told me about demon mating customs, that means everything about him—his feelings, his attentions, his body—are all rightfully mine, because they have become a part of me."

"Yes, but this isn't exactly a demon mating, is it?" Inukimi countered. "It's half of one. So perhaps you are not as entitled as you thought."

"Oh, don't get started on this again!" Izayoi snapped.

"Ladies," Bokusenou interrupted, snapping a branch between them and drawing their focus. "Instead of supposing what your husband feels, perhaps you should ask him instead."

Izayoi looked from Bokusenou to Touga. "You've told me before that you will always love Inukimi—but you said it was different."

"I…it was—" Touga started.

"So does that mean it's not now? Why?" Izayoi demanded, hurt crossing her features.

Guilt stabbed him, so he glanced over at Inukimi, and the wary hope in her eyes had the opposite effect, soothing over the hurt.

"I…I don't know," he answered in a strangled voice, holding his head in his hands. He couldn't take this emotional boxing match. Everything used to be so clear-cut—so easy.

Gods damn it all, what is happening to me?

"It seems to me," Bokusenou began, "that Touga is the kind of demon who can only respond with affection—or, perhaps it is better to say, with like feelings—if another inspires it in him." Bokusenou didn't make this statement with any malice—simply as a fact.

Touga's head popped up as something in his mind seemed to slide into place. "What do you mean?" he asked the wise tree, his heart beating faster. Even though his mind already seemed to be accepting the observation as fact, it just sounded so negative in his ears—because that would make him some sort of…transactional creature, which was never what he had aspired to be.

But was it who he really was?

Certainly he had made transactions when necessary. He was a leader and a businessman, after all. But as a person?

He didn't want to examine that too closely. And yet, unbidden, memories started surfacing, resonating with his heart and Bokusenou's words, which still seemed to echo in the clearing.

"Let us take your relationship with Her Ladyship, for instance. You were able to make a contractual relationship work because you sensed a certain…I believe the term they use now is 'chemistry,' with her, isn't it?" Bokusenou asked.

Touga nodded.

"But when your feelings evolved, you sought the same in her. And when you didn't receive it, you drifted away."

Touga clenched his fists, but he couldn't deny it.

"And then, as I understand it, when you met Izayoi-dono, you told yourself that you should just leave her—but the fact that she had shown you such care and attention kept you in her orbit."

Touga slid a glance over at Inukimi to see how she was taking this information, but her face revealed nothing. "Yes…. And?" he prompted.

Bokusenou huffed as if it were obvious. "If Izayoi-dono had not shown such obvious interest, would you have felt compelled to stay?"

Touga hunched in on himself as he thought about it. If Izayoi had run from me as any mortal ought have, I would never have given her a second thought. But that is precisely why I love her. She approached me despite the fact that I was a demon. Before she ever saw me as a man, she saw me as a demon—and that didn't matter to her.

"Probably not…but…it's hard to imagine, because that's just the way Izayoi is. She never balked from me."

"Of course. But the point remains. Still, if you are not convinced, we need only look at your relationship with your sons."

Touga straightened in indignation. "What do you mean? I love them both!"

"I am aware. Yet you came to me in drunken tears raving about how horrible a father you were because—"

"I told you all that in confidence!" Touga interrupted, sneaking quick looks at both of his wives.

Bokusenou narrowed his eyes. "The mothers of your children are right here. I think they have every right to know how your eldest feels, especially if it affects your relationship with him."

Touga deflated, chastened. "I…suppose you have a point."

Bokusenou cleared his throat. "Yes, well. Sesshoumaru told you he had felt neglected for centuries. And that shocked you. Why?"

"Because…." He looked over and found Inukimi's stern gaze boring into him. He closed his eyes and sighed, knowing he was repeating words he had said to her not too long ago. "Because I didn't realize he cared."

"Precisely. And why did you start to feel that way? When did you start to pull back from your son?"

Touga swallowed, because this confession, if anything, hurt more than all the ones before. Everything else he could blame on himself leaving for Izayoi. But this? This started shamefully long before then.

"It was…shortly after his Rite." He opened his eyes and found Inukimi assessing him. Feeling the need to defend himself, he added, "Sesshoumaru came back a different person. He…he was no longer the affectionate boy I remembered. I tried to connect with him, but nothing seemed to work, and then…."

Then I pulled away.

The clearing was silent for several tense seconds before Inukimi said, "I would not expect you to understand the lengths one must go through during Akuru's Rite to distance oneself from the pain of loss."

Touga's brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Sesshoumaru knew you were going to leave us, Touga. So before you even pulled away from him, he had done the same to you."

Touga's eyes widened in horror. "What are you saying? That he saw me and Izayoi together?"

Inukimi nodded. Touga looked over at his mate then and found Izayoi's face stricken similarly to his. Touga knew she had never wanted to usurp Inukimi's position or cause Sesshoumaru pain with their mating. She cared about her stepson, even if Sesshoumaru kept the distance between them. So to hear that Sesshoumaru—as an angsty teenager—had gone through the pain of seeing his family break apart not just once but twice—or however many gods-damned timed Akuru had put him through it—would be tearing at her just as it was him.

"He saw you choose her—and then choose to sacrifice yourself for her and Inuyasha. He was trying to kill you off in his heart before you died."

Touga's hand went to his heart, which still beat reassuringly in his chest. "But…I'm still here."

Inukimi smirked. "By some little wrinkle of fate, no doubt. Sesshoumaru watched you die over and over and over again. And so when your time came around, I believe he attempted one last time to prevent it—albeit, not in a very obvious manner."

Touga frowned, running over his conversation with Sesshoumaru from that night after his fight with Ryuukotstusei. He didn't understand. Everything about that conversation seemed just as Inukimi had said: Sesshoumaru had cut Touga so cleanly out of his heart that he was coming for an inheritance he knew Touga would be leaving behind in mere hours. What had he done to prevent Touga dying? It was only because Riku—

Wait. How was it that Riku appeared in just the right place at just the right time? He was so vague about that.

"What did he do?" Izayoi asked.

"It was a gamble, certainly. A play of reverse psychology—which really isn't like our son. But looking at it in retrospect, perhaps that is why it worked," Inukimi mused. "He went to Kirinmaru to announce that he was due to ascend as Lord of the West, since you were facing imminent death. It seems Kirinmaru took it into his own head to prevent that from happening."

Touga couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean to tell me that you knew all this time that Sesshoumaru was the only reason I was still alive, and you didn't tell me?"

Inukimi gave him a side-eye. "Sesshoumaru does not like to boast about his good deeds."

Of course he didn't—because he would have always seen them as moments of weakness.

Just like Inukimi. Touga had never revealed to her that he knew she too had come to help him when he was at death's door, and to this day, it was a "secret" of which she had never spoken.

Bokusenou harrumphed. "Well, that certainly took a turn into unintended territory. But this is good. Even so, perhaps we should end here for today and pick this up another time."

Touga couldn't help feeling disappointed. He knew issues like these couldn't be solved in just one conversation, and yet….

I feel more lost than when we started.

Inukimi left, and Izayoi took the tea set back to her UTV. As Touga was picking up the table, Bokusenou said, "Touga. Before the four of us meet for next time, you should try to figure out what it is, exactly, that you want from this. I understand you're being pulled in two different directions, but you cannot straddle the fence any longer, or you're simply going to draw out everyone's pain."

Touga nodded numbly. But what am I supposed to do?