"I GET IT, BUT I PROMISED IT TO HER ALREADY!" Hiroshi groaned out loud in annoyance, as he is trying his best to get Nata off him, with Julia and Olivia helping.

  "BUT YOU WERE GONE LAST NIGHT AS WELL!" Nata cried out in anguish, as she is holding onto him with her all.

  "I KNOW! IF YOU LET ME GO, YOU CAN HAVE FREE ACCESS TO MY BEDROOM TONIGHT!" Hiroshi finally gave in, to which Nata was happy with, letting go, leading to her being pulled alongside Julia and Olivia onto the ground.

  Taking a breather, and seeing the mess left of the girls, he gave a gentle apology, and leaving them to argue, as he had promised date to go to, so straightening his clothes, hair and making sure there was enough time to arrive at the movie theater, he was off.

  Edith was relaxing in front of the movie theater, checking her phone time to time as the promised meeting time has gone over about five minutes.

  Before she could start to get troubled on what was going on, she noticed Hiroshi finally arriving with light jog, and as he got close, took a moment to catch his breath.

  "I guess some trouble at home?" Edith asked in curiosity, to which Hiroshi responded "You could say that." as he straightened up, as they shared a smile.

  With moment of awkward silence between the two, they couldn't help but blush from the moment. "so... I guess it has been a while." Hiroshi commented, hoping to ease the mood.

  "A month... busy one for that." Edith added, to which Hiroshi nodded to.

  "...so, we should head inside. Doors should be opening soon." Hiroshi mention, to which they decided to move in.

  They have been in the theater couple times before, but atmosphere felt more heated than usual.

  They got their Tickets checked, Hiroshi got them drinks, while Edith happily took large popcorn bucket, before heading to seek seats.

  As they awaited for the movie to start, Hiroshi couldn't help but get that old cold sweat again.

  'So... this is it.' He thought to himself, as he tried to keep himself calm as eventually the stage lights slowly faded, setting the mood as the adverts would roll, and movie to follow. 'I finally went on a second date.'

  Minutes went by, enjoying the entertainment while both giving glances against each other time to time.

  To see how they were, and Edith couldn't help but notice Hiroshi's guard being up, with barely reacting to any of the scenes even when fully focusing on the film, so taking the chance, she moved her hand on top of his that was relaxing on the armrest.

  Hiroshi got jolted lightly by the surprise feeling, but he gave a quick look at Edith, who noticed his confusion so in amusement, gave him a warm smile of confidence before focusing on the movie.

  It took couple seconds for Hiroshi to realize what she was implying, but as he got it, he couldn't help but grin in return.

  "Thanks" He silently whispered, as the hold gave him feeling of safety, allowing his guard to drop low.

  Couple minutes later, Edith could notice and hear Hiroshi reacting in honest, allowing her to see him full of life.

  With it, their focus was fully on the movie, and before they knew it, couple hours have flown by, backs aching, legs shaking and feeling sleepy as lights came back on, and crowd slowly left the theater.

  As they were met by orange sky, and as Hiroshi slowly increasing his guard while considering the next move, he was quickly jolted into action as Edith, gently holding his hand, deciding to take the lead.

  "Woah, where are we going?" Hiroshi asked in a hurry, to which Edith answered "To a calmer spot."

  Hiroshi was left in partial confusion, as his steps fell in line following her, as they walked through the streets of the city.

  Winding down the streets, to part of the city that Hiroshi didn't recognize, making sure roads were empty when crossing and keeping eye to surroundings, before shortly, smell of salty waters started to appear, as buildings got slowly shorter, but wider.

  And before long, they arrived by the shores. some part is dedicated to docks and huge ports, but it was clear Edith knew the right spot, as after a while, they arrived at a public dock and beach.

  Wood creaking gently under them, as waves crashed onto nearby sandy beaches, and sun in the horizon, melting to the seas.

  "Let's watch the sunset." Edith recommended, which took Hiroshi by light surprise, but he was more than happy to.

  Walking further onto the dock, the steps became partly unsteady, but both kept their balances at check, before finally arriving at the edge.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Meter above the sea level, they took a seat on the edge, as their gazes were locked onto the sun.

  Both of their moods becoming more somber, as all distractions slowly got washed away.

  "So... A month, huh?" Hiroshi muttered, as his mind wandered on what has happened so far. "It has felt a lot longer than that."

  "It sure has." Edith replied, as she calmly checked on the waves, splashing against the wooden masts underneath them. "You know, I nearly gave up on you."

  Hearing those words, it nearly made Hiroshi's heart skip a beat.

  "But this date was a good refresher... Reminded me of why I got interested in you in the first place."

  "What was it?" Hiroshi decided to ask, not wanting to make presumptions on her part.

  "Your tenacity." Edith replied, and as silence drowned the moment, she couldn't help but laugh at her own words. "I guess that sounds absurd, but I am not kidding."

  She calmly turned to look at Hiroshi, as he couldn't help but stare back.

  "The way you carry yourself. I wasn't sure what it was fully on our first date, But throught these weeks, it's tenacity that carries you. Even when death is looming, you still hold firm. A rare quality in anyone."

  "I... don't know what to say. Thank you." Hiroshi replied, feeling flabbergasted by the complements, but also feeling she is giving him more credit than he should get, as he returned his gaze towards the sun, which Edith followed with.

  "No, thank you. Honestly, even with the chaos that has been going on, I wouldn't want it any other way... tho, a break is nice."

  "And that's a understatement." Hiroshi added, as both gave a light laugh.

  As the mood slowly waned from the high, Hiroshi's mind quickly got stuck in a subject, he wasn't exactly comfortable talking about.

  "Recently, with the caring of the fosters, and now discussion about returning home." Hiroshi went to explain, starting to feel the hesitation. "I... I feel... Scared."

  Edith calmly checked on his face, and could notice he was in full focus, and with light consideration, returned her gaze forwards. "Is it the family?"

  "No... Well, yes. But not as a whole. And not even the thing Sophie most likely told you... my warrant." Hiroshi said, as his gaze slowly lowered to the hypnotic waves.

  "It's... someone I knew... someone I tried to keep safe... but failed."

  As Hiroshi paused there, clearly not comfortable enough to speak up more than he already had, to which Edith gave a gentle sigh.

  "That's understandable. Failure is a painful experience. However, I know once we arrive there, I will make sure you won't regret it."

  Hiroshi considered her words, and felt unsure on it. "Promise?"

  "I promise" Edith said, as she pulled Hiroshi's gaze towards her.

  Their faces close, both filled with trepidation of what is to come in future, but as they kept still on the moment, there was feeling of trust leaning towards each other.

  The somber moment washing away outside world, as their focus was slowly put into each other, and as the moment was coming to a highlight.

  -Splash-

  Heavy splashing could be heard from the waters not too far away, quickly taking both's attention.

  "What is that?" Edith muttered out the question, as both tried their best to get a view of the thing.

  "It's... It's a seal?" Hiroshi considered, and as they kept looking, his deduction looked right, and for better or worse, as they could notice it was in distress as it was caught on large netting.

  As both got their focus shifted onto it, Edith was trying to think quick what to do. "It need's help. Wha-"

  Interrupting her thinking out loud, shoving his shirt on her, as he kicked his shoes off and dived into the water.

  Edith was left to process what was going on, before noticing his plan as well. "Don't go risking yourself!" shouting after him, but by now it was too late.

  Swimming against the waves was troublesome, but Hiroshi pushed through them, and as he got closer, he got to see what was going on in full, A teen were-seal has gotten themself caught in the net, and instincts having kicked in.

  "Calm down, I am here to help." Hiroshi shouted on top of the water, before diving closer trying not to get accidentally hit by their trashing, while he got the grip on the net.

  Inching closer, pulling back when flipper or head was coming towards him, before finally he got a proper grab on the net, and with it, tried to swim the seal up for air.

  However, as the seal felt the tugging, instincts drove it to swim other way, and thanks to being a better swimmer, Hiroshi got dragged alongside, towards deeper waters.

  'Crap! Please stop.' Hiroshi thought to himself, as he felt the pressure on his chest and the oxygen slowly running out, but before he did, the seal stopped to trash around again, leading his stomach to be hit.

  He nearly coughed up all the air he still had in his lungs, but through gritted teeth, he kept his mouth shut, as with all of his strenght, he started to pull on the opposite side, which to his relieve, disturbed the seal again, leading it to swim fast towards the surface.

  Hiroshi was slowly losing his consciousness, as the pressure change with his weakening breath finally caught up, causing him to puke out last of the oxygen.

  With rapid swimming, and instincts having blinded the seal's way, eventually they swam up to the surface, enough to leap out of the water, and getting close enough to nearby sandy beach.

  Hiroshi, losing his grip on the netting, tumbled across the sand, while the seal, with much better control on the ground, started to shake off the net, before finally setting itself free.

  Still driven by instinct with the trouble, it returned to the sea, while Edith in a hurry, carrying Hiroshi's shoes and shirt, hopped off the port onto the beach.

  dropping clothes nearby, she was quick to get into action. Checking for breathing.

  "Why must trouble always come." Edith sulked, as she closed his nose, and went to give air to the lungs.

  After couple tries, she checked again, and with worry rising, she moved to chest compressions. "Come. On. Just. Breath."

  A short while later, Hiroshi started to cough hard, as he slowly got onto his side, to which she assisted gently.

  "That... wasn't best idea." He commented, after having gotten time to catch his breath.

  "No, no it really wasn't" Edith replied, as she checked on the sun, which had already set during the trouble.

  He turned to see Edith, and after a moment of realizing what happened, they couldn't help but share a laugh

  'It sure lasted longer than I expected' Hiroshi thought, as he finally arrived at home that had already gone to rest.

  Doing a quick wash and getting dry clothes, he went to check his bedroom, only to be greeted by a concerned cloud on his bed.

  "Took you long enough." Nata said, as she has gotten grumpy on having to wait so long.

  "Do you have at least a shirt on?" Hiroshi quickly asked, not wanting into more trouble with the promise he made.

  "...Yes." Nata muttered, as she turned her gaze away.

  "Just put it on." Hiroshi said with annoyance, as he took out a shirt from his closet and threw it at her, and as she put it on, he went to get a good night's rest.