After finally slipping into clothes, Shujinkou returned outside. His thoughts were as erratic as a tsunami, but that was standard for him.

"…I'm scared, Monika. I'm scared that I'll somehow get worse, and I'm scared that I'll scare you guys off or that I'll have to forcibly isolate myself. I don't want to be alone with just my imagination again. I don't…"

"…"

"Please just stop it! I'm not my dad! My friends and I have never done anything to you! I'm sorry for what happened between him and your mother and I'm sorry for the way she treated you two but that has nothing to do with us! So please… Please just stop it…"

"…"

"Natsuki… Yuri… Monika… Sayori… Mali… Everyone… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

"…"

"Somebody… Anybody… Please save them…"

"…"

"Guess who?"

Sayori cheerfully covered Shujinkou's eyes from behind as usual and like always, Shujinkou gave any name but her own.

"…"

"Shiko?"

"…"

"This is the part where you say any name that comes to mind, and I say how could you possibly say that name because they're no one close to me."

"…"

Sayori's hands slowly fell back to her side. When she found him, Sayori assumed his eerie silence was due from mental exhaustion, but when she peeked over his shoulder, it soon became apparent that was not the case.

"Shiko?" She waved her hands before his face, but even that didn't yield a response. "Hey…"

"…"

What worried her the most was not his lack of response, but his eyes. They were sullen and hollow, a sight she had not seen since Hiroko's passing.

"Shiko, this isn't funny! Say something!"

"…"

"…Say something! …Please… Say something to me…"

"…!" Shujinkou had heard that plea before.

"…Sorry, Sayori… I just want to be alone from now on!"

"But Shiko… We're friends aren't we?"

"Just go away! I don't want friends anymore! I never should have been friends with you ever!"

Another unpleasant memory surfaced in his mind.

"Shiko…"

"…Sayori, I…" What could he possibly say that would assuage her worries? The only thing he could tell her was the truth.

He forced a smile on his face and scratched his right cheek. "Sorry, Sayori. I was thinking about some stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Sayori continued to stare into his eyes, seeing through his fictious grin.

"Just… Stuff. And… I kinda need- Do you think you could give me-?"

…I can't do it. This is already too similar to back then. No matter how I say it, it just wouldn't be right to ask her to leave.

"Neverm-"

"Okay." Sayori interrupted.

"Huh?"

"You want some alone time to clear your head. I get it. I just wanted to let you know that we were going to have a campfire soon and that you should join us."

Enjoying a campfire with friends. Shujinkou hadn't experienced something like that in a long time.

"You're coming, right?"

Shujinkou couldn't give her an answer. At least not an answer she would like, but that was about what Sayori expected.

"…I'll be around if you need to talk," Sayori cheerfully reminded him.

"Right…Thanks, Sayori." He continued with his façade until his desire was granted.

This is stupid. Why am I so upset? So no one told me that Dad was around, and they saw him. It's not like it's really any of my business.

Plus the whole thing with Natsuki's dad and me just waking up. I'm sure they were going to tell me eventually. They just didn't want to drop so much on me after waking up from a coma.

Shujinkou imagined slapping himself for that train of thought.

…Why am I acting like this…? I really could care less whether they told me or not, so why do I-?

He knew the answer already. It was clear as day.

Dad was around for who knows how long. Was he here when things happened? Did he know what was happening at all if he was here?

If he showed up after, then why didn't he at least show up to Mom? Why did she have to reach out to him? What did he say to her? What did he say to the others?

He recalled what Mali had said to him earlier. "Because you need to know this, Senpai. You need to know now of all times that your father was around. He was so close and yet… He never came to see you.

Isn't that interesting behavior from someone whose at least partially to blame for the recent suffering his own son went through? That his own son almost had to sacrifice his own life just for the small chance to save his friends."

My friends almost died that day. They were kidnapped and hurt and almost died. I was shot and sliced up by a sword and…

I can't blame Dad for what happened. It's not like he planned for any of that to happen and I know he blames me for Hiroko, but does he really hate me so much that he can't see me after everything that happened?

Suddenly, Shujinkou felt something warm run down his hand. To his utter shock, he had been clenching his fists hard enough to draw blood. "…What am I doing? I should be happy that everything's back to normal but-"

-what Mali said really bothered me. I… Didn't even think Dad would even know that any of this happened and… I just figured that, even after everything, that if I really needed him…

"…"

…I just want to talk to him.

"Shujinkou."

…! Someone had called for him. The stoic tone, the inflection that bore no sense of familiarity… It couldn't be, could it? But as he looked up, the truth was standing in front of him. "…Dad?"

Shujinkou rubbed his eyes in a clumsy fashion, stunned that his father was still standing before him no matter how much he repeated the act. The sheer incredulity was palpable.

"W-What are you doing here?"

Naturally, Jomei offered no response. His indifferent gaze that looked through him was still too much for the soul. It would have been enough to make him shut down had he not realized something important.

"Wait a minute… Did you break into here!?" Shujinkou exclaimed.

"Not exactly the time for a question like that, don't you think?" Jomei responded with slight annoyance in his tone.

"Kinda think it is, Dad… This is my friend's private property after all."

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek as his father stared at him. It was his childhood all over again. He once again wondered what miracle made his father so open to conversation the first time they reunited this year.

"Anyway… Why are you here, Dad?" Shujinkou asked again.

"…Someone I knew caused a ruckus down here," Jomei answered. "I came to see the results of his latest tantrum."

"Oh. …Just that?"

"What other reason would there be?"

To say his father's blunt answer stung would be an understatement. And yet, at the same time it was the only response that would ever come out of his mouth. It was a fact that he just had to accept.

"I guess you now know why I tried my hardest not to deal with him. He always has a childish desire to make a grand show out of everything," Jomei continued.

While Shujinkou agreed with the last statement, his mind was in a flux from the first half. "Tried not to deal with him" sounded strange given the intimacy he shared with Akui's wife.

Really didn't need to be reminded of that either…

Shaking off that disturbing memory, Shujinkou noticed his father looked at him strangely. It was as if he was trying to comprehend something that eluded him.

"…Were you really the one responsible for Akui's fall?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Is it really true that you personally defeated Akui?"

"Uh… Well, I think so… I can't really remember much of that night, but everyone says that I did and what I do remember kind of supports it…"

Shujinkou knew what his father was thinking – "How did someone so inadequate stop someone like Akui?"

He would explain if he could, but the gaps in his memory prevented that.

"Hey, Dad… I heard you met with Mom while I was out."

"And?"

"W-What exactly did you tell her?"

"Did no one tell you anything?"

Jomei seemed a tad annoyed before just shrugging.

"I told her that as far as I know, Akui and Akuma are gone."

"Gone? Like missing or-?"

"I'm not sure. All I can do is speculate that them missing is likely not to their benefit."

Despite the torment the two put his friends through on Devil's Night, Shujinkou still felt a twinge of concern. Something was gnawing at the back of his head, giving him a strong, if not unfounded, sense that Jomei was correct.

If true – Shujinkou shuddered at the unknown possibility.

It was strange that he felt that way, but it was not nearly as strange as the way his father looked at him. Jomei seemed a bit more relaxed.

"Uh, Dad?"

"…I see you've finally reached the point of being completely alone with those girls," he finally said.

"Wait, What!? T-That's totally not what this is! It's not like that at all! It's just a study group thing."

"…They were previously entangled around you with you close to diving into one of their chests."

"You saw that too!?"

"The topic of sex has also been brought up."

"You heard that?!"

"And you were running around here naked."

"YOU SAW THAT!?"

Shujinkou clutched his chest, nearly hyperventilating from the back-to-back discoveries. "Is everyone just seeing everything from the shadows these days!?"

"And judging from the screams-"

"No! Please don't say anymore! I can't handle this recap…!"

Shujinkou breathed deeply and exhaled a groan.

I think I'm going into cardiac arrest…

"…You should take the lead."

"Huh? Take what now?"

"In situations like this, it's essential you take the lead," Jomei advised.

Shujinkou scratched his right cheek, perplexed by his father's sudden assertion. "I don't really know what you're talking about."

"You're staying in an isolated location with no supervision. At the very least, your club friends are confirmed to be infatuated with you and are likely tempted to make a move, especially after so much physical contact. It's why you should find a way to take the lead.."

Those last words hit in a way he did not expect – without delay, all the anxiety he felt- the pressure evaporated. Looking up at his father he responded with a flat, nearly inaudible, "…What?"

"In a scenario where you're outnumbered, you need to make sure you're the lead or else no matter how willing your partner is-"

Shujinkou tilted his head to the side, perplexed by what he was hearing.

"Dad, are you really…?"

"It's just some advice for the inevitable outcome of the situation you landed yourself in. It's not something that can easily be resisted at your age," Jomei explained.

"…" Shujinkou shook his head and calmly stated, "…Dad, I know you have an easy time around women, and I'm not judging anyone, but… Don't talk about my friends like all they're waiting for is just a chance to throw themselves at me."

"You still can't see it, can y-?"

"Stop. They're my friends, not just passing fancies I can just pick and choose from whenever I feel like it. Don't you ever narrow them down to just that again."

"…Fine. If that's what you want."

"…Dad, does it even bother you that someone you knew did what he did?" Shujinkou questioned.

"…"

Shujinkou shook his head, his gaze leaving his father for a moment..

"…You know, even though I can't remember the specifics, I remember running around like crazy trying to find Sayori and Natsuki. I was losing my mind trying everything I could to figure out what was happening and try to keep something bad from happening to anyone else.

But I couldn't and was left for dead. I was nearly dead in the water again because Nivia thought it was funny to mess with Yuri. And you know what I was thinking while I was bleeding out?

I thought I was going to lose people I cared about again and it was so close too. Monika was going to die by Nivia's hand when I went looking for them again.

At the hospital roof, she could have died again from just getting hurt again! Yuri could have died from her own knife! Natsuki could have fell to her death! Sayori could have had her brains blown out! And the only one who could do anything then was me – a completely dumb, timid guy that-! They would have been better off if Mali could do something, but her hands were tied, so they were stuck with me!

I was scared. I was scared that I was going to lose them and every time I begged them to just kill me instead, it just seemed to make things even worse! Akui said he was going to go after Mom and Granny Hisa too when the only thing I did was try to save my friends! Do you get how messed up that is!? I didn't even have anything to do with you guys but just because I'm your son, my friends had to go through all of that!

And…! And I know I can't blame you for something you didn't do but… How can you just come here and act like no one's bothered by any of that? How can you just come here to ask me whether or not I took care of a problem that's wasn't even mine?!"

All he wanted was an answer, but his father refused him even that.

"…I'm sorry, I shouldn't tell someone how to think or feel about anything. I just-"

-thought you would…

"…Never mind. It's not important. Sorry, you came out of the way for so little."

"…Is that really all you have to say?"

"Yeah, so… You don't have to force yourself to hang around me anymore. It's probably for the best – after everything that's happened, it probably be better if everyone didn't know you were here."

"Fair point. I'll take my leave."

"Okay."

Jomei started to walk away.

"…Actually, Dad…"

Jomei stopped in his tracks but continued to stare forward.

"…Just… Don't hurt Mom again. We both already put her through a lot."

"…"

"…"

"…Okay."