Jitsu -A different story-

"And what about you? Are you married, Kurono-san?" Several minutes had passed before the atmosphere was the same again, and Shizune wanted to continue the talk while she asked more questions.

"No, I've been single practically all my life." With some embarrassment, Kurono answered while he scratched his head and tried to look away from Shizune.

"Hmm... That's really weird, I could have sworn someone had already caught you, hehe."

"I'm not really good at it, I've had bad experiences, haha..." The conversation was heading toward a topic that was somewhat uncomfortable for Kurono, and Shizune realized that so then abruptly changed it.

"So, have you always lived in the city, Kurono-san?" It was the first thing that came to Shizune's mind to save the situation, but later she would realize that maybe she was just making things worse.

"That's right, ever since I can remember. I spent my childhood in an orphanage after my parents died in an accident when I was a child... I had no other family besides them, so that was the only option I had, so the years passed until I was able to become independent and… Here I am now, haha." It was obvious that Kurono said that to open up a bit more with Shizune, and he also wanted to tell her a bit about his life, but once he heard her words, it seemed like he hadn't expressed himself properly.

"Kurono-san..." A look of complete concern, as well as some guilt, was on Shizune's face, she didn't expect that the cheerful Kurono she had shared her time with would have that kind of past. She didn't know what to say exactly, she felt bad for having made her remember all that, but she only needed to listen to that voice that managed to calm her down as well as understand the situation better.

"You don't need to feel that way, Shizune-san. I indeed went through all that, but not everything was sad, I was really happy during my childhood, despite the lack of my parents, I had many friends and the orphanage managers took good care of me to the point that I thought in them as my family, I even keep in touch with them and I go to visit them from time to time." Kurono had been sincere, it was true that that was a painful memory for him, but after so many years, he had learned not to suffer for that, and just focus on the positive things in life.

Shizune had remained silent as she listened to everything Kurono said, she still felt somewhat bad about herself, but she really understood what he wanted to convey to her and she wanted to express her own thoughts.

"You're right, Kurono-san, I'm sorry to show you that expression before, it's obvious that we have to focus on the present, you managed to overcome all that and now you are who you are right now."

"I could say the same about you."

"About me?"

"Yes, you have your daughter and I am sure you worked hard to always be with her, she even got engaged and now she is expecting a child, believe it or not, you had a lot to do with the happiness she must feel at this moment, and you must feel the same way." Kurono's words didn't seem like something incredible, but to Shizune, they really meant a lot.

The exchange of words was accompanied by various emotions that remained within them, they had opened up to the person who was right in front of each other, and although they had not known each other for long, in truth they had said things that they did not share with anyone else. Time had passed and they were aware of that, the sun was hiding little by little giving rise to sunset, but between them, a feeling made that moment really special.

…

"Looks like it's getting dark."

"Eh? Oh no, my daughter will be upset, after what happened she forbade me to be out so late." Shizune's voice sounded a bit uneasy, she knew that Rena was serious on those kinds of occasions, so she couldn't take her words lightly.

"That means that she cares a lot about you. If that's the case, I'll make sure to accompany you so you're safe."

"I really don't want to be a bother, Kurono-san."

"I would feel safer that way, so I insist." Realizing that she couldn't do anything about it, Shizune accepted Kurono's good intention while a small smile appeared on her face since she didn't really mind the idea, but before they got going, she remembered an idea she had earlier and was quick to comment on it to Kurono.

"Kurono-san."

"Yes?" The curious face appeared on Kurono as Shizune suddenly caught his attention.

"I wanted to ask you if you would like to go to dinner at the apartment where I live. I thought it would be a good way to thank you for everything you did for me, and my daughter had told me that she would also like to thank you." An expectant look appeared on the Shizune's face, she had said that hoping that Kurono would accept her kindness, and she wouldn't know what to do if he rejected her, but that was unnecessary when she heard the following.

"May I? It would really be a pleasure to taste your food, Shizune-san." Kurono hadn't taken long to say those words since he really liked the idea, he didn't have any plan and the only thing he would do would be to have a lonely dinner with the wall of his house as its only company while watching cat videos on his cell phone, so he didn't have to think long to make up his mind.

"Then come on, I'll make sure to prepare you a meal delicious enough for your taste!" The enthusiasm that arose from Shizune couldn't be ignored by Kurono as a small laugh came out of him and he looked carefully at the smile on Shizune's face.

…

…

"Now that I think about it, I could have come here to see you one more time, I really forgot, haha..." That was what Kurono said once he realized that he already knew the address of the place where Shizune was living.

"It's true... Although I had also forgotten it." Both Shizune and Kurono were right in front of the apartment door, the night had finally covered the outside and there was no problem on their way back, Shizune was about to open the door, but it was too late when it opened and then the figure of a girl who had an imaginary demon mask appeared while looking at her dear mother.

"What do you have to say in your defense?"

"I... Enjoyed my walk."

"And how far did your walk go for you to arrive at this hour...?" Rena had called Shizune's cell phone several times but it was useless when she found it in her room. She was already worrying and had managed to slip away from her husband to go out looking for her, so seeing Shizune at that moment was a great relief as well as a few incredible desires to reprimand her, but Rena had to stop the instant she saw the person behind her mother.

"He…?"

"Ah, yes. Let me introduce you. Rena, this is Kurono-san, I don't know if you remember that I told you about him."

"Nice to meet you, Rena-san." The silence that appeared in the place was quite characteristic, the girl who before was about to yell at her mother about the outside dangers had remained completely still while looking at the huge man in front of her. She realized that perhaps she was being rude, so she cleared her strange ideas and began to speak.

"I say the same, Kurono-san. I'm Yoshida Rena, no, I'm sorry, I'm still getting used to it, my name is Tanaka Rena... Were you the person who helped my mom at that time?"

"Well, you could say so."

"So that's right, thank you very much, Kurono-san! You don't know how grateful I am, I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if you weren't there at that time!" Rena's vigorous apology surprised both Kurono and Shizune, but after a few words to defuse the situation, the relaxed atmosphere returned to the hallway.

"If he's here, that means you invited him to dinner, right, Mom?"

"That's how it is, is Akio at home?"

"He just came in a few minutes ago, I hit him with a bottle of shampoo and he's still on the floor in the room right now."

"Sigh... So it happened again, if that's the case, I'd appreciate it if you could help me prepare dinner, obviously, there's a guest tonight."

"Don't worry, you can count on me. You should wait in the living room in the meantime and make yourself comfortable, Kurono-san." That was what Rena said once both she and her mother had decided on their plan to follow.

"Then I'll take your word for it, though if there's anything I can help with, don't hesitate to ask me." Hearing the words that everything would be fine, Kurono watched as the mother and daughter duo walked enthusiastically toward the kitchen.

The place gave off quite a nice feeling, Kurono had already moved enough to find the living room, and he was about to take a seat on one of the sofas, but before that, his attention was caught by the figure of the stocky boy who just appeared coming down the stairs, and this one also did the same thing as he rushed towards Kurono at full speed and made a huge bow while his voice could be heard all over the place.

"Good evening, Kurosawa-san!" The forceful voice that had come out of Akio in addition to his characteristic figure was enough for Kurono to not last more than his thoughts and said a few simple words after that.

"It's good to see you, Akio-kun."