The light in Takashi’s eyes was impossible to miss, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. His heart fluttered.

  “Can I see him now?” he asked, looking at Dr. Akiyama.

  She lowered her head with a soft smile, trying to hide the sparkle in her eyes.

  “Yes, Mr. Mori. I’ll take you to him.”

  Takashi was usually careful about his appearance, but today it seemed he had taken even more care than usual. He looked calmer… almost lighter.

  He quickly followed Dr. Akiyama as she started down the hallway.

  His heart was racing in his chest. For a moment, it felt as if everyone around him could see it and he didn’t even try to hide it.

  His palms were damp, and he wasn’t sure how he would react when he finally saw him.

  As Dr. Akiyama opened the door, Takashi’s eyes filled with tears when he saw Sota lying in the bed.

  He wasn’t sure why... whether it was relief, happiness, or the sight of Sota in that condition, but he couldn’t control his emotions.

  He took a deep breath, trying to hold the tears back before they could fall.

  Sota turned his head toward Takashi and Dr. Akiyama. Still numb from the medication, he managed to smile at them.

  His complexion was pale, his hair loose and untied. He tried to lift his head.

  Takashi rushed to the bedside.

  “Don’t move,” he said quickly.

  He slipped his hand gently beneath Sota’s head, leaning closer. In that moment, a powerful urge surged through him...to pull him into his arms, to hold him against his chest and cry, to let everything he had been holding inside finally surface.

  But he didn’t.

  He took a deep breath and carefully lowered Sota’s head back onto the pillow.

  “Don’t move. Save your strength,” he said softly, his voice cracking slightly.

  Sota smiled faintly.

  “I’m not that fragile… you know.”

  Takashi lowered his gaze, hiding his eyes from him. The silent tears refused to stop, no matter how hard he tried.

  “Can I adjust the bed so he can sit more comfortably?” he asked, turning to Dr. Akiyama.

  She looked overwhelmed by the scene in front of her.

  “Yes… you can,” she replied softly, her eyes shining with tears.

  “Let me help you.”

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  She stepped closer to the bed, trying to hide her expression as she searched for the controls beneath it.

  Carefully, they adjusted the bed until Sota was in a half-sitting position.

  “Does it hurt?” Takashi asked, the worry clear in his voice.

  “No. I’m all right,” Sota replied quietly, though his voice sounded tired.

  Takashi glanced at the needle in Sota’s hand and the IV stand beside the bed. Sota’s body looked weak and fragile and it hurt to see.

  He leaned closer and, without really thinking about it, began gently fixing Sota’s hair.

  “Do you have a hair tie, Dr. Akiyama?” he asked suddenly.

  She reached into her pocket, slightly surprised by the question.

  After a moment, she pulled out a hair tie and handed it to him.

  Takashi carefully gathered Sota’s hair and tied it back.

  “There,” he said softly, a small smile appearing on his face.

  “That’s much better.”

  He had fixed it exactly the way Sota liked to wear it.

  Dr. Akiyama lowered her head, looking down at the floor as she watched how gentle Takashi was with Sota.

  At that moment, someone knocked on the door.

  When it opened, Kenta stepped inside with a smile.

  “Can I come in?” he asked.

  “Come in, Kenta,” Takashi said, then glanced at Dr. Akiyama.

  “Is that okay?”

  She simply nodded with a small smile.

  “I won’t stay long,” Kenta said as he approached Sota’s bed.

  “I’m really happy to finally meet you.”

  Sota nodded faintly, returning the smile.

  “I’m sorry we’re meeting like this,” Kenta added lightly.

  “But Takashi never let me meet you sooner.”

  He shot Takashi a playful look.

  Sota was still too weak to speak, but he tried.

  “Don’t speak,” Kenta said gently.

  “I just came to see you… and to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

  Then he looked at Takashi.

  “And to steal Takashi for a moment before I go home.”

  Only then did Takashi realize he had been holding Sota’s hand the entire time.

  As he moved to follow Kenta outside, he gently released it.

  Then he suddenly remembered something.

  “Wait a minute.”

  He reached into his pocket and stepped back to the bed.

  Carefully, he took out the necklace and placed it around Sota’s neck.

  “There,” he said softly.

  Sota lifted his hand with great effort and took the pendant between his fingers, holding it as if it were a part of him.

  “Don’t ever take it off again,” Takashi said with a gentle smile.

  Sota smiled.

  Takashi started toward the door, then turned back to look at Dr. Akiyama.

  “You’ll stay with him?”

  She nodded.

  “Don’t worry,” she said gently.

  “I’ll stay with him until you come back.”

  Sota leaned his head back against the pillow, holding the pendant tightly in his hand.

  He closed his eyes, and the memory of the day Hiroto gave him the necklace filled his mind.

  He had never imagined that the man who would place it around his neck again would be Takashi, Hiroto’s son.

  Takashi, whom he had loved long before they met.

  He was seventeen when Hiroto suddenly disappeared from his life, leaving behind nothing but emptiness and the feeling that he was alone in the world again.

  In those last days, Hiroto had seemed worried.

  But Sota had been young then.

  He didn’t understand it.

  That day they were sitting together in the small room, just like they often did.

  Hiroto sat closer than usual.

  He looked restless, his head lowered.

  “Sota,” he said with a small smile.

  “I want to give you something.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace.

  “Come closer.”

  Sota moved toward him.

  Hiroto gently brushed Sota’s hair aside and placed the necklace around his neck.

  “There,” he said softly, sliding the pendant under Sota’s shirt.

  “No one can know this is from me.”

  When Hiroto lifted his head, Sota saw the sadness in his eyes.

  Sota gripped the pendant tightly as the memory continued, vivid in his mind while he lay in the hospital bed.

  “You know, Sota,” he remembered Hiroto saying quietly,

  “maybe I won’t be able to keep my promise.”

  Hiroto placed his hand over Sota’s chest, right where the pendant rested beneath his shirt.

  “Even if I’m not here with you… this way I’ll still be there. Close to your heart.”

  He fell silent for a moment, as if he wanted to say something more important.

  But instead, he said something Sota didn’t understand at the time.

  “When you’re old enough… and if you ever feel like you need a way out… remember this.”

  His hand pressed gently over the pendant.

  “When you open the lock… you can walk away through that door.”

  Sota’s eyes widened in the memory.

  Sota’s mind raced.

  What had Hiroto meant by those words?

  He lifted the pendant closer to his face.

  There was nothing unusual about it. He studied it carefully.

  There had to be a meaning behind Hiroto’s words. Now Sota was certain of it.

  He had never thought much about that day until now, when Takashi had placed the necklace around his neck again.

  For all these years he had worn it exactly as Hiroto had told him to. With the necklace, he had always felt as if Hiroto was still there, close to his heart.

  Sota examined the pendant again, but his vision was slightly blurred, probably from the medication.

  Dr. Akiyama approached the bed, curious.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked softly.

  “Do you need help?”

  She leaned closer.

  Sota handed her the pendant.

  “Do you see anything unusual, Yuna?” he asked quietly.

  “Is there any sign the locket can be opened?”

  She leaned in, studying the pendant carefully.

  Then, after a moment, her finger pressed against a tiny indentation.

  A faint click echoed between them.

  The pendant opened with a soft click.

  “Here,” Yuna said, placing it back into Sota’s hand.

  Sota’s eyes widened.

  There was something inside.

  Something small, wrapped in plastic.

  His fingers closed around the pendant instantly.

  He shut it again, unsure whether Yuna had noticed what was inside.