Twenty-Six

Hiro-san ended up borrowing the bike like he had said that he would. He came by my place at around 05:00 am. Without waking Hikaru-nii up and locking up behind myself with my key, I followed Hiro-san out to the bike.

It was a rather cold morning and, while we were riding, especially, the only way that I could fight the chill was by hugging Hiro-san from behind. It was very comforting and I held on as tightly as I could have. In fact, just for those three hours of journey between Hikaru-nii and Aki-chan, with just the two of us, I felt at my most peaceful.

I had nothing to worry about except for holding on tight.

Do not let go.

We arrived at the old house that Kaori-nii’s mother and sister’s family stayed in a little before 08:00 am. Since it was early in the morning, the roads were open for us. We had covered good distance in short time.

I cannot say that I was entirely mentally prepared for what that meeting with Aki-chan would mean to me and