Under the Sun

Chapter Nineteen

It was gone. The medicinal powder was missing! Rena searched her room, tore a part her dresser, sifted through a pile of dirty laundry, and after digging up a stack of forgotten knickknacks, she came to the same horrifying conclusion. If the powder was no longer in her possession, than it was in someone else's. Rena didn't have to think hard to decide who the thief was. About an hour after her initial panic ebbed, she checked in on Shin and discovered that he'd slipped away sometime in the middle of the night. Then she checked the storage room, which she had allocated to Hanabi for a night, but the Hyuga girl was nowhere to be found.

Rena broke the news to Seiichi when he joined her at the table for their morning meal. He took the whole thing rather calmly. Not even a fraction of concern was visible in his composed disposition. He sat at the table, back straight, feet crossed. His chopsticks dangled from his fingers. He set them down.

"What really gets me is that I was never told about this medicinal powder or that Shin had been asking for it."

He was still not alarmed by the fact that his father had run off, or that the Hyuga girl had gone with him. For some reason, Seiichi looked relieved, happy even.

Disappointed in his reaction, Rena said, "If you wanted to remain informed, you should have made an effort to stay in the loop."

"Alright, fine. Blame me if you want."

"Fine."

"Fine."

Rena squeezed a lemon over her cup of water. She stirred the sour juice with a spoon, then took a sip. The drink was cool and refreshing, with white, stringy pulp mixed into it. She wasn't really hungry but eating came naturally to her. It was something to do to avoid speaking. Her temper was on a short leash.

"Do you want me to get it back for you?"

Halfway to her mouth, Rena's hand stilled. A serving of rice fell from her chopsticks, back into her bowl.

"What?"

"Not listening? I asked if you want me to get it back? I can tell that your upset. I don't know why. It's much quieter with them both gone and you're free to do as you please." Seiichi paused. "Well?"

"Yes!" The answer came instantly but Rena couldn't make up her mind all at once. She shook her head. "No, never mind, forget it. They took it and it's gone."

She dropped her head and stared at her food. Looking at it closely, she noticed that her rice was brown around the edges and her meat, overcooked.

"So that's a no..."

She raised her head. Seiichi was waiting on her.

"It's a yes."

The moment she said this, Rena realized that they weren't actually discussing the medicinal powder. Seiichi was asking if she wanted him to do something much more dangerous. Without really thinking about it, she'd just given him permission to leave her in order to bring his father back. She wanted things to return to a state of normalcy. For her, that meant having both father and son by her side.

"You told me you weren't ever going back there, to your home. I'm sorry to ask this of you."

Seiichi leaned back in his seat, stuck his hands behind his head, and looked up at the ceiling. "I told you nothing," he said.

Rena could hear the resolution in his voice as he spoke. The decision he'd made was absolute. To resist asking him why he was willing to return to the Leaf would have insulted him. So she asked.

"What 's changed? Is it because that girl came here? She's important to you. You have history with her."

"Nothing's changed," Seiichi said. "It was always going to be like this. The past is the past, but this is the present. I told you before that this wouldn't last."