"Here, take a look. These are my son and daughter. Cute, right?"
Amano leaned over and showed a photo to young Rinji.
He looked at the picture silently.
"...Uncle Amano, I rember your daughter should be eleven now, right?"
"Yep."
"But in this photo..."
The photo showed a girl around four years old and a baby.
"Ahaha, I don't have any recent pictures. This was taken before my wife and I divorced," Amano said, scratching his head with a laugh.
But the bitterness in his smile was obvious.
"Uncle Amano, if you miss them that much, why not go see them?"
"Sigh..."
He shook his head.
"I'm too ashad. I left them when they were still little. They probably hate now."
"Of course they do. Who wouldn't?"
"Can't you comfort a little?" Amano laughed bitterly.
"What's the point? The truth doesn't change," Rinji said with a smile. "Stop running. Go face them."
"...You're right."
Amano tucked the photo into his chest pocket.
"I only got divorced because I was fired and started arguing constantly with my wife. That led to all this. After I finish this business deal, I'll go apologize to them properly."
"That's the spirit," Rinji smiled.
"By the way, didn't you get dumped recently? My daughter is about your age. What do you think?"
"What do you an, 'what do I think'!? I'm still dealing with heartbreak! How can I just jump into another relationship!?"
"Didn't you just tell not to run away?"
"Shut up! I just... haven't sorted my feelings out yet..." young Rinji said, face flushed.
---
"In the end... I still ran away."
Smack!
As Rinji muttered to himself, two small hands gently slapped his cheeks, snapping him out of it.
"Mm..."
"Stop blaming yourself. You're still just a student. Why do you have to carry all the responsibility?" Hina muttered. "That look on your face—it's like a kitten curled up in the trash on a rainy day. It's painful to see."
"...Sorry."
"I told you, no need to apologize."
She sat back in her chair, sipping the juice that had just been served.
"I was just venting about how he wasn't there when we needed a father. I never blad anyone for Mom's passing. Maybe it was all fate."
"You have quite the calm mindset," Rinji said with a wry smile.
"By the way... what was that thing you ntioned earlier?" Hina asked. "Sothing about Nagi and inheriting company shares?"
"Oh right, where did I leave off? I rember now."
Rinji continued.
"I returned to Japan in the first half of this year. It took a few months to raise funds and revive Amano Pharmaceuticals, which had gone bankrupt. My friend's father and I each own 15% of the shares. You and your younger brother, Amano Nagi, together hold the remaining 70%. Split evenly, that ans each of you owns 35%."
"...I don't really understand what shares represent."
"It's your legal right within the company," Rinji explained. "Right now the company hasn't gone public and isn't generating profit, so the shares aren't worth much. But once operations stabilize... even a conservative estimate of your dividends would be in the hundreds of millions."
"...Hundreds of millions?"
"Yeah."
"In yen?"
"Yes."
"..."
"Don't faint just yet. It'll take a while before those dividends co in," Rinji said as Amano Hina leaned back, overwheld.
"It's just... soone suddenly tells that I—who was just worrying about next month's utility bills—am now receiving a windfall inheritance... Anyone would find that hard to process," Hina stamred. "This kind of thing only happens in manga."
"But it's true," Rinji replied. "Even though you're not getting money imdiately, if you need anything, I'll provide living expenses for you and your brother."
"Eh? That's..."
"Don't be shy. Given my relationship with your father, I can't just stand by and watch you two struggle," Rinji said. "Like I said, your father and I were close friends despite the age difference. It's perfectly fine for you to call uncle."
"...Let's not do the whole 'uncle' thing, okay?"
...
After finishing their outrageously expensive al, the two of them walked out of the restaurant side by side.
"Hina, take this card for now."
Rinji pulled out his wallet and handed her a black credit card.
"Use this for your daily living expenses. I'll also withdraw so cash for you in a bit."
"Wait, this is too sudden..."
"Think of it as a way to ease my guilt," Rinji said. "Even if you say none of this is my fault, there are still things I have to face."
"You've really got to stop making that face..."
After a mont's hesitation, Hina accepted the black card Rinji offered.
"Can you tell where you live?"
"Sendagaya, in Shibuya. The address is..."
"Mind giving your phone number? Or LINE is fine too."
"Sure."
Hina took out her phone, and Rinji scanned her LINE QR code. They were now friends.
"If anything cos up, don't hesitate to contact . Really—no need to hold back."
"Okay..."
Even now, Hina still felt like none of this was real.
A male high school student, only a year older than her, suddenly showed up and told her she was about to receive a massive inheritance. For soone who'd been scraping by at the bottom of Tokyo society for years, she had long given up on such dreams—until one of them beca real.
"Oh, and one more thing," Rinji said.
He pointed at Hina, then toward the sky.
"That ability of yours... I don't know the chanics, but don't use it for now. Wait until I figure out how it works and confirm it's safe. For now, just hold back a little."
"Okay, I understand."
Hina gave Rinji a slight bow.
"Thank you... truly. I'm really grateful for everything you've done."
"This isn't helping you. All of this was always ant to be yours."
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