That next morning, I was working in the grocery store. My boss let me have the afternoon off for my meeting with Mr. Edokawa. A little before I finished my morning shift, I recognized Mei and her mother.
"Mizuki!!" Mei cried upong seeing me, she let go of her mother's hand and ran towards me.
I caught her in a hug.
"Mei! How are you?" I asked. I hadn't seen her since I'd left my parent's house.
"I'm great! Look!" she turned around and pointed to her mother, who was now walking in our direction. "I'm shopping with mommy!!" I grinned.
I knew that although Mei's mother was often gone for work, Mei loved every bit of time she got to spend with her.
"Hello, Mizuki." Mei's mother said.
"Hello, Mrs. Ikeda. How are you?"
"Very well, thank you. What about you? I heard you've moved out of your house." she said.
"Oh, yes... I just finished High School and decided to move out." I explained vaguely.
"You know, Mei misses you a lot. Next week I have to travel again for work, do you think she could stay with you for a couple of weeks?" Mrs. Ikeda asked.
"I'm really sorry, Mrs. Ikeda, but I'm not sure I'll be here. There's a slight chance that I might be leaving." I explained. I didn't say I was sure not to be here, because I didn't know if Mr. Edokawa would let me stay.
"Oh, well that's a pity..." Mei's mother thought for a moment.
"I have some work to do this afternoon. If you have some time, Mei could stay with you..." she suggested. She then turned to Mei.
"I said I would go to work tongiht, but if I get it done now, it'll give you some time with Mizuki, and then the two of us can watch a movie tonight. Is that okay?" she asked her daughter.
"Okay!" Mei replied enthusiastically. Mei had told me that she and her mother had never watched an entire movie together, that her mother always had to leave to work in the middle of it.
"Does that work for you as well?" Mrs. Ikeda asked me.
"Sure, it's alright, but I also have a short meeting to go to... It won't take longer than an hour." I specified, "Do you think she can come with me?" I asked.
"Of course she can, as long as it doesn't bother you or anyone else." Mrs. Ikeda assured me.
"Alright." I smiled.
Mei said goodbye to her mother, and I finished the last ten minutes of my shift.
I had a bit of time left before I had to go meet Mr. Edokawa.
"DId you already eat, Mei?"
"No, and I so hungry!" she said.
"Okay, well I know a nice place to eat. Come on." I took hold of her hand as we walked along the streets to Genkei's noodle shop.

"Mizuki!! How are you?! It's been so long since I saw you!"
"Hello, Genkei!" I said cheerfully.
"Ah, and who's this young lady?" he asked Mei.
"I'm Mei Ikeda." she held her hand out confidently. Genkei took it, and Mei shook it.
"Nice to meet you Mei." he turned to me, "Is Ryo also coming? It's been a while since I last saw him."
I felt a little wave of sadness wash over me.
"Oh, no he's not coming today. I think he must be going through preparations to go to America. He'll be going back in less than a week." I explained. Genkei looked surprised at the news, but then nodded.
"Alright, well, I'll let you two choose what you want to eat." he said, and was off to welcome some new customers that walked in.

I felt bad that Ryo hadn't even come to visit Genkei. They were old friends, and Genkei didn't even know about the operations Ryo had gone through. He didn't suspect that so much had changed. I felt I owed Genkei an explanation for everything that's happened, and he was left out of. But I didn't want to burden him with this kind of news either.