Chapter 3: Can't See Through People

xXx

"Thanks for offering to run errands with me today, Shun!"

"Honestly, it sounded like neither you nor I had a choice..."

Runo unlocked her car and sat on the driver's seat while her raven-haired friend slowly occupied the front passenger seat. "I need to buy groceries for the diner and for personal consumption, then go to the local thrift store to drop off some donations, and lastly to the post office. Do you think you'll be okay with that?"

"I'm already in your car. Let's just go."

The bluenette started the engine and added, "What I meant was... Are you sure you'll have the stamina to carry things for me?"

"Yeah... whatever..."

While at a local grocery store, Runo was filling her shopping cart with plenty of groceries and other merchandise when she asked, "How long are you still on bereavement leave for?"

"It's complicated... I first requested bereavement leave, then I applied for regular family leave—"

"Do you get paid for any of that?"

"Runo, that's the least of my concerns right now. I know bereavement leave is fully paid, but family leave isn't. I'll call HR when I have time. Anyway, I'll use my PTO if need more time than what's allowed via family leave."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You do need to return to work at some point..."

"I know what I'm doing. Hopefully, I only need to go through this once."

At the checkout, the bluenette saw several shelves carrying various snacks. "Maybe I can get you something to eat to keep your mind off negative things."

"I appreciate your offer, but we're not kids anymore. Eating sweets won't solve life's problems."

"Well, I certainly hope you're actually eating healthy and on schedule, because Dan will never get off your case if he finds out." Upon mentioning the brunet's name, Runo froze briefly before running to the register to pay. "I can't believe he's still missing."

"It's definitely a bizarre case..."

After leaving the grocery store, the bluenette drove to a local thrift store and took out several canvas bags from the thrift store. "Can you believe that my mom had so many clothes in her closet that she doesn't wear anymore? I can't believe this is where she spent her money back that!"

"Well... The good news is that Julie probably spends money on new clothes every weekend, so your mom's shopping habits probably aren't as crazy."

"That's because Julie's current income is more than my mom's!"

"Same thing... The bad news is that I haven't even started cleaning out my mom's old clothes to donate or dispose of."

Runo handed her ID to the cashier before turning her head slowly toward Shun. "Your mom doesn't look like she spent a lot of money on material thing, but I don't think keeping everything at home is a good idea, either."

"I know, but at the same time, I don't want to clean anything out, either." He watched the cashier return while holding a printed document. "Why did you need to give your ID?"

"Apparently, I can get a tax deduction or something, even though these are technically my mom's old clothes. Speaking of taxes, I hope your mom's profiles with the IRS and social security are taken care of. Just trying to prevent identity theft here!"

"Yeah... I'm working on that too."

The pair's last stop was the post office, in which the bluenette needed to pick up an oversize package. "I can't believe the seller stupidly chose the regular postal service to deliver an oversized package."

"Why are you here again?"

"The mailman apparently tried to deliver this oversized package to the diner twice already, but all I saw was a sticky note that said something like 'sorry we missed you'. The diner's operating hours have always been posted on the front door. Why attempt to deliver when we're closed?!"

"Based on what you said, I honestly don't think the mailman even tried to deliver, because your parents' diner is open for more than half the day."

"Exactly!" Runo handed over her ID a second time and waited impatiently. "Are you still getting your mom's mail in your mailbox?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just want to make sure that everything that needs to be closed out has been closed out—credit cards, bank statements, recurring bills, and even advertisements... You probably need to present her death certificate and even documented proof that you're the appointed executor or administrator authorized to manage her mail."

"How do you know all this?!"

"You have no idea how many weird things I've heard from serving tables almost every day of the week."

Once the bluenette acquired the package, the pair was carrying the said package together to the back of her trunk when Shun asked, "How are you still this positive and thinking about my situation when Dan's situation is uncertain?"

Runo closed the trunk door but kept her hand on and maintained her leaning position. "There's nothing I can really do. With my work schedule, I can only let the police do their job. I choose to believe that Dan's still alive unless I hear otherwise. He might act like an idiot during daily life, but he has survival skills. This isn't his first excavation trip, after all."

"I couldn't have said it better myself."

Once the pair reclaimed their respective seats in the car, the bluenette then asked, "Did you end up scheduling an appointment with the psychologist that Marucho recommended?"

"That's none of your business!"

"And that sounds like a 'yes' to me."

"You don't know anything. I'll move on when I want to."

"Back to the topic of bereavement leave, family leave, and PTO again? You might as well schedule more appointments to see her with all the free time that we have. But in all honesty..." She turned on the engine, drove out of the parking lot, and waited at the closet intersection for the red light to change colors. "We're all stuck in a phase of uncertainty right now because of Dan, and you're probably having the worst experience because of other negative events that happened specifically to you recently. None of us want to see you on top of another roof again."

"Tell me something I don't know." Shun opened his window slightly and stared outside. Is there anything else I can do right now besides hating myself?

-x-x-x-x-x-

"...Sounds like you two had a very productive day."

"Productive for Runo, maybe. But I got nothing out of it."

Alice continued writing in her notepad after listening to Shun talk about running errands with his bluenette friend yesterday. "I could go on forever listing all the health benefits of social Interaction, but I won't. Runo sounds like a very attentive listener."

"She listens, alright. But she also has a lot to say, often quite straightforwardly. She's not wrong about me still having a mess at home. I tell myself that I need to clean everything, but I never actually get anything done."

"I remember you mentioned that last time. 'Cleaning' encompasses several different tasks. You have to decide what can stay at home, needs to be put in a storage unit, should be thrown away altogether, and so on... Have you come up with a plan on how to take care of your mother's belonging yet?"

"I still don't even know where to start. The moment I pick up one thing to move it somewhere else, I find something else that belonged to my mom and start thinking about what to do with that. In the end, everything stayed in place." The only cleaning I did was toss all her stuff in the trash, which Alice doesn't need to know about... yet.

"Alright... No problem at all. There's nothing wrong with keeping your mother's belongings in place until you have a plan for everything." The redhead then crossed her legs and gently tapped her notepad with her pen. "How about you tell me more about Runo?"

"According to Dan—she's focused, furious, and hot-tempered... I don't talk to her as often now, but she always brings this 'elder sister' energy to my immediate friend circle whenever she speaks. I know it scared some people back in school, but hopefully they got over it by now."

"Based on what you just told me about yesterday, it sounds like you and Runo had a lot to talk about."

"Which actually surprised me, because I thought running errands with her would be boring. It was either that, or I stayed home and continued staring at my mom's stuff. Even though she's my friend, she's also Dan's girlfriend, so I don't want to bother her too much."

"Afraid that you might cross the line?"

"What?! I would never."

"So would you like to talk about the other person that you 'lost' instead?"

"Excuse me?"

"I completely understand how you feel about Runo, but I also want some insight into another issue that you haven't mentioned at all. Remember during our initial meeting when you said that you didn't just lose your mother? It sounded like you wanted to mention someone or something else, but then you stopped talking because your water glass was empty."

"Oh... that." Alice somehow managed to ask about the one thing that I really don't want to talk about. "Now that I think about it, the loss that you're asking about ended up being a win for me."

"Is this person also a female individual?"

"Why does that even matter?"

"Because you made the decision to seek therapy with me, and I want both of us to make good use of this appointment time as much as possible. Speaking of time..." On the tea table was a large water pitcher, which Alice used to refill Shun's water glass. "This will definitely save us time from walking back and forth to the kitchenette. Everything we talk about here is completely confidential."

"But I'm not obligated to tell you anything that I'm not comfortable talking about."

"Because this female individual was a significant other or something similar?"

"Alice. Just stop."

"If you think that 'losing' this individual was a gain for you, then how about you tell me how you now compared to back then?"

The raven-haired patient drank half his glass and sighed. "I guess I can only blame myself for not being able to see through certain people... And I guess I'm still bitter because she was my first girlfriend, from my final year of high school."

"Oh... Now I understand... How would you describe your mother's attitude toward this?"

"She wasn't strict to the point of enforcing a no-dating ban, but she also told me that academics came first. I remember making this stupid, impulsive promise that I'll develop a new drug to cure her cancer. What was I even thinking?"

"That's not stupid at all. You were much younger back then and likely made that promise because you cherish being with your mother. Technically, any promise is possible if given enough time and resources to fulfill. Have you made progress on that?"

"Somewhat... I'm a part-time teaching assistant and research assistant at the university I graduated from, but our results are a long way from ever entering the drug market."

"Ah... you know your stuff."

"I guess. Throughout high school, I was an active member of STEM-FX, which I was motivated to join due to my mom's health."

"STEM-FX... That's 'Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Future Experts', right? I donate to the local chapter occasionally!"

"You do? Why? I mean... Were you a member during your high school years?"

"No, but I remember my university was a local supporting partner for the high schools nearby. Psychology falls under STEM, too. I admit—I used to attend some awards ceremonies as a guest speaker, and seeing all the high school students who've achieved so much made me envious. I wish my high school had a STEM-FX chapter..."

"Really...? I didn't see that coming. Even though I wanted to be on my mom's side, she told me to attend the competitions anyway, including the state-level competitions that required overnight stays in another city. Speaking of competitions... that's how my ex-girlfriend first approached me."

"Was she in STEM-FX too?"

"No, she was only in student government and the yearbook team, as far as I know. During the fall semester, my high school's STEM-FX chapter was slated to host a leadership event for the first time on a Saturday. I remember she approached me after school in the STEM-FX adviser's classroom and asked me several questions, including if she can take pictures. One thing led to another, and she ended up asking me out, yet I can't remember why I even agreed."

Now it was Alice's turn to sip her water, albeit very slowly. "It sounds like you weren't entirely sure about it."

"I wasn't. I had too much going on at home and with school. When you said that you—as a university student—were envious of high school students who were clearly younger than you, it reminded me of some fangirls from both my high school and other high schools. It's complicated. That's why I hesitated in starting a relationship, especially my first one." At this point, I'll end up telling Alice everything.

"Since you confirmed that you didn't answer her right away, did she continue asking you?"

"She probably did. I remember some things really well, but other things are blur to me now. You probably think I should've straight up said 'no' instead of initially dragging on. Look at what my hesitation got me now."

"Well... There's nothing wrong with females asking males if they're interested in starting a relationship. We are in the twenty-first century now, but I completely understand the stigma around this type of dynamic. Now I understand why you're bitter about her no longer being a part of your life, but I don't believe you mentioned the reason why, yet."

"Honestly, I never saw it coming, either. Just thinking about the last thing she said makes me—" Shun put his water glass down and suddenly pulled out his phone. "I don't know who this phone number belongs too."

"Actually, this is the fourth time that your phone vibrated. It might be important."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You were telling me so many things that I didn't want to interrupt your thoughts and emotions, you know. If it's something extremely important, then I sincerely apologize."

Even after he mentioned all that sensitive information earlier and raised his voice just now, the redhead's expression remained positive. I'm not going to say in front of her face that she's weird, but she has extremely professional control of her emotions. "I can try calling back—"

Suddenly, a melodic alarm went off in the room. "I'm so sorry, but it looks like our appointment is almost over. Unfortunately, I can't go overtime today."

"That's fine, but we literally ended in the middle of a topic that you were so eager to dive into. I might not say a word about this the next time we meet."

"That's fine too. Whether you think you're making huge improvements or taking one step at a time, having something to keep talking about is always an achievement for me."

"Now I'm definitely calling you 'weird'."

"Shun, I'm a licensed therapist. I've seen and been called worse. I'll walk you out."

Is there really no such thing as hurting a therapist's feelings? How did this conversation about Runo end up discussing someone that's selfish as hell? Thank goodness I didn't mention anything about Julie. After leaving the building, the raven-haired patient called the unknown number again. "Hi, you called me four times. I can't find any information about your phone number online, so who is this?"

"Am I speaking with Shun?" a courteous male voice asked.

"I asked, who is this?"

"My name is Klaus von Hertzon, and I'm a family lawyer. Your mother, Shiori Kazami—"

"I'm almost certain that she's never mentioned your name to me before."

"And I completely understand why she hasn't told you about me. I'm texting you a photo of my business card right now. Long story short—are you free sometime soon to visit my office and discuss an issue involving your father?"

The unexpected conversation left Shun in cognitive overload as his eyes widened in fury. Did he just say what I thought he just said?!

This update was waaaaaaaay overdue, but I still uploaded this chapter before 2024 ended in my local time zone! (I will probably get the review responses up later.) If I had to assign "arc" to this story (nothing is technically 100% exclusive of each other), then the "Mom Arc" is somewhat over but will always be a recurring issue/theme. The "Girlfriend Arc" is off to a slow start, and the "Dad Arc" barely just got mentioned. Unfortunately, the "Dan Arc" will be in the background for a while. (Just look at real life—some people do remain missing for a long time before they're rescued or recovered.) I've been waiting forever to write another Shun/Runo conversation since SOA08. (Don't worry—nothing is inappropriate, but expect some blood in the future.)

Anyway, happy new year to everyone! I really need to sleep. T^T (year-end housekeeping is the WORST)