Whatever happened next went by like blurred fog, his mind left silent and quiet while everything else passed through like rapid shadows. The guards that took him with, the disapproval of his bosses. Something must've been said and expected from him, but he went with it and agreed without so much as processing the words. All he knew was that the years of studying and proving himself he required to reach the top had collapsed.

But then he was pulled past his boss, past the disdain of his coworkers and the silent judgement of the guards, and put into a chair in front of a large desk. Behind it sat a man he didn't recognise, dressed in a fitted suit and clean shaven. The man didn't speak, instead gauging him slowly and meticulously, with a gaze that radiated quiet anger.

「I am going to give you one chance to explain why you were in that room with my son, Tanaka.」The very way his name was spoken made him shudder, especially now he knew it was Yukimura-sama himself who said it.

「I,-」His gaze darted across the room trying to find something that his mind could hold on to. There was nothing familiar, and instead he saw the man lean in over the desk.

「Continue.」

Kazuo closed his eyes and bowed as deep as he could while sitting, afraid and trying to figure out his own mind.

「I heard someone cry, and… I wanted to see if he was okay. I didn't mean to,- he gave me the book so I read it. I'm so sorry.」

He felt his voice about to break from his panicked breaths, realising that this was worse than getting fired – the thought of prison became a terrifying possibility. He kept his head down, not wanting to see that fate reflected in Yukimura-sama's expression.

「He gave you a book? What book?」

「The tales,- tale of Akio.」Kazuo stammered, never looking up – if he had, he may have seen the frown on Yukimura-sama's face falter slightly.

「Why did you not go to anyone else?」

「I don't know… I was confused. I didn't know what to do.」Admitting that got him on the verge of tears, realising that he'd been an idiot; careless both with how people perceived him, and his future. But crying wouldn't make anything better, so he tried his very best to remain stoic, hanging on to his last sliver of dignity.

A knock on the door of the office startled both men.

「Yes?」Yukimura-sama asked loud enough to be heard through the door. Meanwhile Kazuo gripped his knees and kept his head down, fully expecting police to take him away. But instead the door opened and the butler's voice answered.

「Yukimura-sama, he's asking for you again. He is not in a good mood, Matsumoto got bitten.」The butler bowed so far he was at a right angle, knowing he wasn't bringing any good news. It caused Yukimura-sama to sigh deeply, the initial anger fading now he realised what he would have to deal with. He stood up, and gave a glance sideways at Kazuo who was still looking down.

「Come with me, I want to get this sorted.」

Kazuo immediately followed the command, getting up and trailing behind. He didn't know what was going on, and what he was getting into, but at that point could only do as he was told.

He was silent, trailing behind the butler and Yukimura-sama, while a security guard kept in pace behind him in turn. In truth he had no clue what was going on, and why he wasn't in the back of a police car yet, but he figured that he'd best take any moment of freedom as a gift. He didn't know what the punishment was, or if at this point the law even applied – perhaps he would be taken out back and shot, for all he knew.

Instead he was confronted with voices, and the distinct sound of angry screaming. When the group turned the corner into the hallway – Kazuo with some trepidation – it became clear that the noise came from one room in particular. Several people had gathered outside: a few women in uniform that appeared rather shook and two security guards of whom one was clutching his wrist. The hurt security guard was attended to by one of the women with a first aid kit. As they got closer, Kazuo saw distinct teeth marks embedded in the skin of the guard.

Inside the room there appeared to be no less chaos; agitated screaming and banging made it sound like there was a wild animal captured inside. One of the maids went so far as to put her back against the door to keep it shut.

It was only when Yukimura-sama appeared that everyone seemed to find a point in the chaos to focus on.

「Miyazaki-san, could you please bring Matsumoto-san to the kitchen to tend to him?」One of the maids bowed, then moved over to the hurt guard.「We will discuss your compensation later.」

This time Matsumoto bowed that he understood, willingly leaving the scene in a brisk pace. Before they had even turned the corner, Yukimura-sama had already stepped towards the door. It appeared that the angered child behind it hadn't lost any of his energy, and the banging noises continued throughout the exchange.

「Hibiki, I will come in now.」With two stern knocks as a warning, Yukimura-sama nodded at the maid who had kept the door shut. He quickly slipped inside, leaving everyone else outside in silence waiting for the outcome of this intervention. This included a rather confused and shocked Kazuo, still flanked by two guards that appeared rather unfazed by the situation.

For several minutes the raging continued, and the sound of objects being hit combined with screams repeatedly rang through the door. It was followed by calm and patient speech, that was muffled too much to overhear. Eventually the frequency of the anger died down, and then the loudness and aggression seemed to get less as well. Until finally it remained quiet for several minutes.

A soft knock on the door appeared to signal that it was safe, as all the personnel gathered seemed to instantly get less tense. Once more the maid opened the door, just far enough to speak to Yukimura-sama in hushed words. She nodded, and then turned to Kazuo.

「Yukimura-sama wants you to come in, but you must be very quiet, and please do not get too close. Do not make eye contact, this is very important.」Surprised, and increasingly worried by the rules that sounded like he was about to enter a lion's cage, Kazuo nodded that he understood – even if he really didn't at all get what this was about.

He tried to slip into the room with as much grace and obedience that he could muster, while at the same time taking in what he saw. It was a plain room, excessively so, without decorations on the wall other than drawings. There was no furniture, only a bed. The mattress and blankets had been turned up and tossed across the room, together with several soft plushies and a few books. Amidst the carnage stood Yukimura-sama, his son, who Kazuo now knew was called Hibiki, held up in his arms. His gaze was fixated on a single spot, and he was breathing heavily and angrily, but clearly too exhausted to act on it. It was not at all like the boy Kazuo had read to, who had seemed only timid and scared. Truthfully, he didn't know why he was here, and for what reason he was shown this.

「Hibiki, this man says he read you a book?」Yukimura-sama asked quietly, and in response Hibiki's gaze very quickly moved over to Kazuo – the latter remembered not to look him in the eyes, and averted his own gaze to the floor. Hibiki gave a single nod, and then dug himself deeper into his father's chest.

「Did he scare you?」The boy shook his head, which caused Yukimura-sama to look up at Kazuo again trying to gauge his character in this new light.

「Did the guards scare you?」This time Hibiki nodded, and he let out several angry noises somewhere between a growl and gritting his teeth.

「But he was nice?」Hibiki's gaze flicked to Kazuo again, the anger fading in his expression, before giving another nod. It appeared he had enough of the questions, letting out a frustrated noise and burying his head in his father's shoulder.

「It's been a long day, let's get your bed fixed.」Yukimura-sama picked up one of the strewn about toys, handing it to Hibiki who grabbed it and clutched it.「Could you please take the mattress and put it back on? More than two people in the room scares him.」Yukimura-sama said while pointing out the mattress that laid in the corner, the top half bent over sadly like it had been neglected. Kazuo bowed at the question, if anything glad that he was no longer an awkward set piece in this uncomfortable situation. He picked up the mattress, and laid it on the bed, then took the pillow and the blanket figuring that he may as well finish the task.

Yukimura-sama gave him a nod, for as far as he could with Hibiki clinging to him. Kazuo stepped back again, avoiding the plushies until he was nearly at the other wall. He watched on while Yukimura-sama put Hibiki in bed – only for the boy to grab his blanket and pillow, and promptly crawl underneath the bed with them. With a sigh he saw Yukimura-sama kneel before the bed to look under it.

「Are you sure you don't want to sleep on top?」The man was answered by an angrily thrown plushie, and a low, guttural growl that seemed more fitting of a cornered animal than a child.

「Sleep well little one」His father responded, clearly no stranger to the behaviour. The growling stopped, the words having some effect; instead the boy crawled a bit further under the bed, finding a nook to sleep in.

Yukimura-sama stood up, and turned around to look at Kazuo without saying a word: both men well aware how odd the situation was, and neither needed any words to confirm that. Instead a silent point towards the door told Kazuo they were leaving the room.

He sat in the same chair he had been in before, but not a word had been shed since. In silence he watched as Yukimura-sama poured an amber coloured liquid in two glasses, downed one in its entirety, and then pushed the other one across the desk towards him. Knowing that he should accept the gesture, Kazuo picked up the glass and held it without drinking.

「You'll need it, Satou-san assured me that you will never work again in this industry.」

Kazuo took a moderate sip of the liquor in response, suppressing a cough as it burnt all the way down his throat. What else was he going to do? His life was in shambles as it was.

「But I'd like to offer you something, and I hope you can forgive my unorthodoxy, but you saw everything just now. My son has gone through eighteen nannies and teachers the past year, and we're running out of options.」

「You mean?」Kazuo asked rather shocked. In response Yukimura-sama poured himself another glass and downed it again before nodding, clearly aware of how mad he had to sound. 「But I am not a teacher… I don't know anything about pedagogy or psychology… I'm a software engineer.」Kazuo stammered.

「And he wasn't afraid of you. I have spent millions of yen on licensed nannies and teachers, psychologists even. It doesn't matter, he didn't like them, so nothing improved. I'm offering to train you, any salary you want – I'm not looking for you, I'm looking for someone. If it is a software engineer, then so be it.」

「I,-」Kazuo shook his head still in shock.「Now?」

「No, we're sending him to a facility for a few months, with a psychologist specialised in his sort of cases. In that time, we could sort you out. In all fairness, I don't think either of us has many options.」

Kazuo remained quiet for a little while, mulling over everything, but the conclusion wasn't positive.

「Is he like this often?」

Yukimura-sama gave him a sideways glance, before shaking his head.

「Some days are better than others. Today was a bad day.」

「I'm sorry.」Kazuo responded sincerely, giving a deep bow of his head.

Yukimura-sama let out a sharp, cynical chuckle that cut through his apology like a knife.

「Don't be sorry for me. Be sorry for him.」

Kazuo nodded again, but didn't respond – frankly he didn't know how to. As the moment faded into minutes, he quietly sipped on what was left of the alcohol.

「I can give it a try.」

For the first time that evening, he noticed a very faint but genuine smile pierce through on the face of his new boss.