Trails of intertwined stars: Chapter 30

~Chapter 7: A Boat Picnic~

Zero and Tokumei walked back to the Oiwa's home glumly that night, their outfits a mess. Zero grimaced looking at the mud stains on their son's old yukata, he wasn't lying if he said he felt bad. He neared the door of the home, prepared to explain for both him and Tokumei. He stopped suddenly, hearing an out of place voice.
"It was awful! She came home crying her eyes out!"
"Did Zero do something wrong?"
Zero and Tokumei quietly slunk away to hide away from the door, but still in earshot.
"He called my daughter a fat pig!"
Setsu stared at Ms Kadoya, slightly confused," A fat pig?"
"And he pulled out a knife, too! The horror!"
"I'd doubt he'd--"
"No! You need to hear it from him, himself! Now bring him here, immediately!"
Kiyomasa walked into the hallway," Seems he's not home yet."
"He's a delinquent, out and about this late! You two are at fault too! Better keep an eye on him!"
She stormed out, slamming the door, Setsu rolled her eyes slightly.
Zero ducked behind the wall, Ms Kadoya storming down the path. Setsu burst out of the door quickly, a light in hand.
"Take this, it's dark!"
"No, thank you!" Ms Kadoya scoffed, storming away, mumbling to herself.

Setsu scoffed, Kiyomasa watched the woman storm off from the doorway, with crossed arms and a smile.
"So what if he's a bit late," Setsu flared her nostrils, storming in the home.
"Don't get so riled up," Kiyomasa hummed.
"He is not a delinquent."
Zero miserably walked out into the path, his expression filled with guilt as Setsu went to close the door. Before the woman could, Kiyomasa gasped, noticing.
"Ah, he's home."
Setsu gasped, rushing out swiftly, running over to Zero.
"Zero!"
"Ms Oiwa..."
"Were you listening?" Setsu hummed, smiling warmly as she placed a hand around his back," Don't you worry."
Tokumei followed behind, smiling softly as Setsu pulled Zero in.
"You and Nobuko will make up in no time, there's no rush."
Kiyomasa smiled," Now, take a bath and have dinner."
Zero nodded, with a small grateful smile. Kiyomasa glanced down at the yukata, raising an eyebrow.
"Or is it dinner before the bath?"
"It hardly matters," Setsu frowned," But 'fat pig' is a bit harsh."
Both Kiyomasa and Tokumei burst into laughter.
Kiyomasa shut the door, wiping a tear away," That's for sure!"
"It's not that funny," Setsu scolded.

The next day, the sun was hot and seemed to push on forever. It was midday, the yukata's left outside to dry. Zero sat on the bed, looking at a response from Hikari, his sketchbook leaning on his legs, propped up. He sighed, passing the letter to Tokumei to read; since he seemed to appreciate hearing how Hikari spoke more fluently. Zero turned to look down at his lap, the drawings he'd done overnight of the mysterious girl on the page. It was the best replica he could do from memory, and he'd tried to capture the mystery that lingered with her, but that was hard to convey. Just who was she? Zero looked up at the clock, ticking on the wall of room. 3:05pm. Two hours until high tide. He glanced back down at the drawing, staring at the girl's face.