After she stopped crying, Amana, who had stopped crying for about five minutes, had a complicated look on her face that was a mixture of apology and embarrassment.
　Although the corners of her lapis lazuli eyes were red, she seemed to have regained her composure to the extent that she could look at her actions objectively.

''I'm sorry for...........''
I don't care, I just need to wash it.

　Although there are tear marks on the chest of my work clothes, I can only fool myself into thinking it's sweat if it's mentioned.
　Even though I only lent my chest to him, it's a small price to pay if that's all it took to make him stop crying.

'So, Amana-chan. Why were you crying?
I...

　Maybe I shouldn't really step in, I don't know.
　But I don't intend to be so heartless as to be able to say 'yes goodbye' without knowing why I was crying.

　And when questioned, Amana-chan only shook her shoulders and looked down at her face, not trying to say anything.
　Well, it's not surprising.

'If you can't talk, that's fine. Shall I contact Amari for now?
'　No, no!　Don't tell mom!
What...?

　I thought it was a natural course of action, but the suggestion was returned with a clear refusal.
　The look in his eyes is a dark one that can be taken as both fear and sadness, and makes you feel a guilt that cannot be wiped away.

　What do you mean by that?
　From the side, Amana must have seen Amana as her favorite person in the world.
　How did that lead to this reaction?

　For a moment, the negative word 'abuse' crosses my mind, but I shake my head and deny it's impossible.
　I can't believe that Amana would be violent to her beloved daughter.

　In any case, are you saying that she had something to do with why Amana was crying?

　

''........Nothing, I'm not going to bring her back or anything like that. If Amana-chan is alone, Amana is probably desperately looking for her by now, and if I don't contact her, she'll keep worrying about me, right?
Yes.

　Anyway, all we know now is that Amana-chan doesn't want to return to Amanashi.
　Normally, it would be appropriate to take her back to her guardian, but by the looks of things, I don't think that's justified either.
　I told him carefully that it was only to let him know I was safe, and he backed off honestly.

　Once again, I call Amari on my phone.

'Hello, are you okay now?'
'Hayakawa-san!　Excuse me!　I'm on an urgent errand...

　After a few calls, she answered the phone.
　The sound of her voice that I heard was uncommonly frustrating.
　And when I heard that she was in the middle of an errand, I could tell that the situation was more serious than I thought.

"You're looking for Amana, right?　I saw him on a delivery, and he's with me now.
'Really?　Which way now!
'Ahhhh I'd love to teach you, but...'

　Glancing sideways at Amana-chan, she shook her head and said, ''No! He revealed his refusal aloud.

'It was like ... and he didn't want to go back.
I'm glad that Hayakawa-san was the one who found me. Thank you for protecting Tenna in spite of being on duty.
I can't afford to feel sorry for myself when my friends are crying in the street.

　They seemed to have heard her voice and she seemed to have calmed down for now.
　Well, although I was able to tell them that Amana is safe, what do we do after this?
　The Minami family doesn't want to go back home like before, so we can't go there....

The actuality of the situation is that it's not a good idea to have your daughter stay at Hayakawa-san's house until the heat of the moment has died down.
'What?　Are you sure?
''If it's a place I've stayed once, both Tianna and I would feel at ease...''
You're not going to rely on Watei-san and Mayumi-san?
''Well, well, the reason why Tenna is alone has to do with my parents too, and I'm not sure I can rely on them since they've gone home today...''

　I'm sorry to put a damper on the trust I've placed in them, but I thought those family-oriented people would not refuse Tenri's request, but the words that came back showed that this was not the case.
　

"Amana-chan, do you want to stay at my house for a while?
Well I can go to my brother's place...

　I asked Amana just to be sure, but she replied in a tone that said she didn't mind if I could leave Amari.
　What in the world would make her avoid the mother she was supposed to love so much?

　I couldn't help but think so, but I actually had only one thing in mind.

　That was the promise that Amanashi had told me when we first met, 'I don't want you to step in any further than necessary'.
　I couldn't believe that the true intention behind those words was irrelevant.

　But I'm only a stranger.
　I'm curious about it, but it's not a good thing to delve into for some strange reason.
　For now, I decided to stop thinking about it and give an acknowledgment reply to Amari's request.

'Alright.'
"Thank you.
'I'll take Amana-chan home and have Kuroon take a look at her, and then I'll go over there to get my stuff after work.
"Yes, I'm sorry for the pile up.
Don't worry about it because it's just the usual courtesy.

　If we have a policy in place, we act immediately.
　Since I can't bear to use the delivery truck for personal business, I'll put Amana in my car once I get back to the headquarters.
　I'll leave the car's air conditioning on as a measure against heat stroke.

　I briefly explained to Mao that Amana had run away from home and that I would be sending her home and asked her to review the delivery schedule.
　It was a form of getting acquainted with her at the mall that paid off.

　While she was working on the schedule, I sent Amana home.
　In fact, we didn't talk to each other at all during this time.
　I was hesitant to talk to Amana, who looked shocked to the point of tears, as she was hesitant to talk to me as usual, even though she had calmed down.

　She was also silent and just looked out the window as if she didn't want to interrupt me while I was driving.
　I arrived at home with that kind of air in my head, left Amana in charge of her, and went back to work.

　Although I'm still busy with the absenteeism that existed in the morning, what happened between Amana and Amari has been bothering me, and although I didn't make any mistakes, I've been lacking in concentration.

　
　===.


　10:30 PM.
　After finally finishing my work, I immediately head to the south house.
　I go to pick up Amana's things, but it's because I can't wait to question Amana after seeing the message sent by Kuroone-who seems to have heard what's going on.

　How nice it would have been to be able to flush out what the child said, how nice it would have been.
　But otherwise, she couldn't imagine that Amana-chan wandering around alone and crying.

　While suppressing my distraction, I arrived at the Mansion Every Smile and pressed the intercom of room 184.

"...Good evening, Hayakawa-san.
...Good evening.

　Shortly after, he opened the front door and exchanged greetings with Tenri, who came out.
　She was quite worried, but she looked exhausted and listless.

''Well, where's Tenna?''
I just checked with Blackburn and he's crying himself to sleep.

Oh.

　I'm lucky to have my sister there and pick up my overnight package.

　In fact, I was going to leave here until I saw that message.
　Even if I don't mention my promise not to get too deeply into the matter, it's unthinkable for me to interfere in a father-son quarrel.

　But.....

"Amari.
Yes?
What's this all about?
What...?

　Once he called out to her, he took out his phone and showed her the message sent by Kuroon.
　A moment later, Amari's eyes widened into a pair of lapis lazuli eyes and exclaimed.

　I've been hiding it from her for a long time, and I don't think that reaction is unreasonable.
　I still can't believe it either.
　I know how close those two are to each other, and I know how close their family is.

I know how close they are to each other, but I can't just ignore them. So I'm going to ask you straight to the point...

　He breaks his words once, takes a deep breath and then tells Amari the crux of the matter.













"──What do you mean by Amari not being a mother or a parent?
....

　─ Mom was not Amana's mom.

　That was what was written in the message from the black sound.