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Rindou sat in silence, eyes fixed on the glass of water in front of him as he waited for Achiko to finish changing.
"Do I look pretty?"
Achiko appeared, twirling slightly in a baby blue dress that complimented her pale skin.
Instead of answering, Rindou stood up, grabbed her sling bag, and handed it to her.
"Let's go."
Achiko looked down for a moment, her lips pressing into a thin line, but said nothing.
They left her house together, and Rindou drove, as usual. He couldn't bring himself to say no-especially not to a sick woman. He had made promises before, ones like, "If I have time, let's go out," and she held onto them.
Achiko wasn't naïve. She knew the man she loved wasn't the same anymore-his love wasn't like it used to be. He was a criminal, yes, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be with him, until her last breath.
Call it selfish, but could anyone really blame her? Rindou was the only one who could calm her down after those exhausting hospital sessions.
"We should go to the beach and have a little picnic," Achiko said with a soft smile. "It would be fun if Ran was here."
Rindou exhaled quietly, eyes on the road.
"He's busy..."
"I see."
"You okay with the beach? It's usually crowded." His voice was low, but thoughtful. Even after everything, he still remembered what she liked-and what she didn't.
"Hm, it's fine," she replied, watching the world pass by outside the car window. "I just hope you enjoy this little date... you'll be busy again tomorrow anyway."
Rindou glanced at her briefly, giving a small nod.
"Sure. Let's grab some food first."
While Achiko was picking, Rindou couldn't help but be pulled back into his thoughts-Sanzu's words echoed in his head.
How did he even know you were here when no one else did?
Rindou had stopped asking about Alex a long time ago. She never gave him answers anyway. But he knew one thing for sure-running into Sanzu wasn't a coincidence.
Everyone found out about your connection to the incident in France. Mikey was furious.
Rindou told them a lie-that you just happened to be working with Pierre. The others bought it, but not Ran. He knew Rindou too well.
"This is enough. We should pay," Achiko said, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Alright, let's go," he replied, taking the cart from her.
