To say that Yamada Ryosuke was anxious might be true this time. It had been two days after he told Shida Mirai about several truth of his identity. He had thought that Chinen Yuri would immediately tell her about the rest of his identity and she would then drill him with questions or even chase him out of the house. However, none of those happened. Instead, since two days ago Shida Mirai had been staying at Kawashima Umika’s house as they worked in their project or something like that.

He guessed that perhaps she would spend another day in her friend’s house, but surprisingly she appeared when he was eating dinner with her family. There was an unexplainable joy he felt seeing her return and sat with them, eating and chatting. Though her face showed fatigue, yet her smile remained gentle, and somehow that smile warmed his heart.

That night, he really could not bring himself to sleep. He was nervous, anticipating the probability of having talk with Shida Mirai if ever she came down to take midnight drink as usual.

To his delight, she did come down.

He was pretending as if he didn’t notice her presence though in fact he heard each step she took closer to him. She was walking to him, he was sure of that without even seeing. It was proven true as only a few seconds later, she calmly sat down on the spot where she usually sat. He stole a glance at her. She was holding a glass of water, her gaze was directed towards the sky.

He was pondering over what kind of topic he could use to open a talk, but she suddenly spoke.

“Is the sky in Hokkaido also looked this dark at night?”

He didn’t know whether she chose a random topic or that she was deliberately bringing it up, however he answered earnestly, “No. The sky is always bright with stars and the moon over there.”

“Why is that?” she still locked her gaze upward to the sky.

He stole a glance at her while answering, “Because this city is more polluted than my hometown. There are also many skyscrapers that blocked the view of the sky. With the pollution and overwhelming civilization, it’s hard to appreciate any beauty of the sky and nature in general.”

“You really love nature, don’t you, Yamada-kun?” She turned and they met eyes, the corner of curving up.

“Aa, you could say so.”

Her smile grew even brighter. He always thought that a girl is the most beautiful when they are smiling, yet he never expected that when Shida Mirai was truly smiling, she looked like she was shining. He felt enchanted. Also, the change of honorific she used to address him did not go unnoticed.

Subtly inhaling a breath, he returned to his senses, asking, “Tonight, you’re way friendlier to me, Shida-san.”

Her eyes slightly widened, clearly surprised hearing his words. Fiddling with the glass in her hands, she answered, “Perhaps because my opinion about you has improved a bit.”

“Oh?” His heart started to pick up.

She heaved a sigh before speaking in a rather nervous tone, “Honestly, I’ve been looking for information about you in internet.”

“Oh? Why didn’t you ask me instead?”

“Well, I couldn’t just a hundred percents believe in what you say, could I? I mean... you could have lied to me.”

He smiled helplessy. He understood her, so he didn’t probe further about her reason. With faster heart beatings, he asked, “Then what did you find about me?”

“Nothing much,” she shook his head, not looking at him. “It seems you don’t have any social network account, or if you do, you disguise your identity so well.”

“It’s the first one. I don’t have any account in social network service,” he immediately confirmed her suspicion.

“Is it because of your activity?” she asked.

He had to digest her words before asking back, “What activity?”

“I saw a picture in an article. It was when you gave speech in a local community in Hokkaido. The article said that you are an environmental activist and were leading a movement against a certain factory establishment.”

He recalled the event she talked about. It was two years ago. “Ah, yes, I did. What else?”

Her finding about his social activity wasn’t the one he was anxious about. That local news couldn’t be found in internet because the news agency relied heavily on printed papers, so the only way she could get it was probably from Chinen Yuri. If Chinen Yuri did tell her everything, perhaps she wouldn’t allow him to stay in her house any longer.

She shook her head, “That’s all.”

His brows knotted in wonder. So, Chinen Yuri did not reveal his identity? He smiled to himself. Perhaps, he had underestimated Chinen’s work ethic. He knew that one of Chinen’s company principles was not revealing any private information about their clients. He just did not expect that even when it was related to a friend, Chinen Yuri would still stick onto that principle.

“You know,” she suddenly broke the temporary silence. “I always think that people who devoted themselves for society’s welfare are admirable, and protecting nature is one of it.”

Since he had confirmed that his real identity wasn’t exposed yet, he felt like his heart was just freed from a heavy burden. Hearing such sentence from Mirai, he responded, “Are you saying that you admire me?”

Her head snapped as she sharply turned at him, eyes widened, “No! That’s not what I mean!”

He laughed briefly seeing her flustered face. She glared at him with all her might, and only after sensing her discomfort that he coughed up to stop his laughter.

“Sorry. It’s just...,” he paused, looking at her and offering a sincere smile. “You are one among a few people who think that way about me. I mean... about my choice of activity.”

She tilted her head slightly, rather confused, “You mean... more people were against it?”

“Well, at least my grandfather and his employees are.”

She seemed to think about something before carefully asking him, “You said that inheriting your grandfather’s business is against your principle. Is that related to this activity of yours?”

He nodded. “You guess right. His business is doing what I call as destroying nature. That’s why, even though I know that the employees rely on this business to live, I still find it hard to accept.”

“Your grandfather’s business... what is it actually?”

“Can I not answer that question?”

She seemed had expected his answer because she straightly continued with another question, “At least, tell me... if your grandfather knows that you are here, would my family be in trouble? Would he... harm my family?”

At this question, he seriously thought about the answer. He knew his grandfather had made deals with some yakuza’s group to ensure his business, in and outside the country. If his grandfather was desperate and chose to use these gangs to search for him... Shida family might be in trouble. How could he be so selfish for not considering this factor? However, now that Chinen Yuri already saw him... if Chinen Security Service was still the first choice of his grandfather’s just like years ago... probably he would not need to worry that his grandfather would contact the yakuza.

“Don’t worry, Shida-san,” he finally answered. “I won’t let this family be harmed.”

He saw doubt in her eyes, yet in the end she nodded.

**********

It was Sunday, and Mirai was walking leisurely behind the overenergetic Miyu. Behind her were her parents and Yamada Ryosuke. They were going to the city park to watch sakura petals, enjoying hanami. They laid two mats side by side at a corner of the park, below a sakura tree. Since they came early, they could get a nice spot.

“What is usually done in hanami?” Yamada Ryosuke suddenly asked.

“Eh? Yamada-kun hasn’t done a hanami before?” Miyu was the first to respond.

“Yeah, this is the first time. I didn’t have anyone to go hanami with,” he lightly replied, no sadness hinted in his voice as though he was fine with his lonely life.

“Nah, there isn’t any particular activity. You just enjoy your time with your family,” her mother answered.

“Right~!” Miyu chimed in. “I bring a ball to play catch-up. Let’s play with me, Yamada-kun~”

Even before he could reply, Miyu had dragged him with her. Her parents laughed, and she smiled.

“Umika-chan and her boyfriend, when will they come?” her father suddenly asked.

“In a while. They said they are already in the way here,” she answered while watching her sister playing with Yamada Ryosuke.

“Mirai-chan, your dad and mom want to go jogging. Is that okay?” her mother asked.

“Just go, I’ll wait for Umika here,” she smiled sincerely.

Once her parents left to the jogging