All day, Ashil had heard the happy voices of passers-by reaching his bedroom where his window was open. Unable to see his friends, because they were celebrating children's day with their families, Ashil found himself alone in the silence of his studio. Two years ago, he was celebrating this day with his father. In Japan, they celebrated it differently. When it was May 5th, Ashil and his father hung carp-shaped papers, pulled out their «May doll» and ate his favorite Japanese pastries. When he was younger, he took iris baths and spent his day outside, if the weather allowed him. When the age came when he could drink, Ashil and his father met at dusk to drink a glass of iris sake while remembering the past.

The fresh air of the night revived Ashil, erasing the nostalgia of loneliness and memories. Unable to close his eyes after concentrating on his lessons since nightfall to escape boredom, he had said to himself that a little nocturnal walk would do him the greatest good. He didn't know how long he had been walking. Maybe one or two hours. He didn't know where he was, anyway far from his home.

His hands in the pockets of his denim jacket, his eyes lowered on his feet, a thunderous voice shouting his name made him suddenly look up. In front of him, a half-bent man was running toward him. Ashil had just enough time to stretch out his arms that the person fell into them. Slightly flexing his legs to find himself at the level of the person, Ashil put a hand on the chin of the man, lifting the face of the latter to see who it was. When Ashil recognized the face, his eyes widened with surprise. He ran a delicate hand over the man's face to clear the sweat-stained hair and placed his hand against the latter's warm cheek.

"Oahn, are you okay?" He asked him in a soft and concerned voice.

"Seriously, Oahn! Can't you behave yourself?" The voice of another boy complained loudly.

Ashil looked away from Oahn to look at a slender boy, about his size, who was walking quickly toward them.

"I'm really sorry. He drank more than he should have," the boy excused himself with a pinched smile. "Come on Oahn, let's go home," he said by trying to remove him from Ashil's arms.

Oahn, half slumped on Ashil, tightened his grip, hugging Ashil hard against him.

"No, I don't want to! I don't want to!" Oahn protested like a three-year-old child.

If Ashil would have thought that his walk would have turned into such an ambiguous situation, he would never have come out of his room.

"Oahn?" Ashil called him with his soft voice.

"No," he said categorically by locking his arms in Ashil's back.

Ashil sighed knowing that he will not be able to make Oahn let go of him and so stared at Oahn's friend.

"I think we don't have much choice..." Ashil chuckled nervously.

"You're sure you can take care of him?"

Ashil looked at Oahn for a second before laying his gaze back on the boy in front of him.

"He will be safer with me," Ashil assured in a bitter voice.

"And how can you be so sure?" The boy asked him, his pride cut to the quick. "And first of all, who are you? How do you know Oahn?" The boy got mad.

"Unlike you two, I'm not drunk. If something were to happen to him in my company, I would have a chance to save him, so if he stays with you, who knows what can happen. And I'm his tutor."

"Tu... tutor?" The boy stammered.

Ashil's gaze became darker as his grip grew firmer around Oahn's waist, seeing the boy's indecision to leave him in the charge of his friend.

"Well... fine, okay," the boy conceded. "Bring him home safely. You're responsible for him. I trust you. If something happens to him you're dead!" The boy said, leaving Oahn and Ashil, waving to the latter.

Ashil was surprised at the change of situation. He could be anyone. He could have lied to this boy, and the latter left him the responsibility of his friend without knowing more about him? Did Oahn's friends really care about him, even just a little?

Ashil looked down at Oahn and straightened him up. He grabbed him by the waist before swinging one of his arms around his shoulders. «Why did he put himself in such a state?» Ashil said to himself.

A dead weight glued to his body, Ashil resumed his walk. After several meters, Ashil stopped abruptly, an important interrogation preventing him from continuing his mission: he didn't know where Oahn's house was!

Ashil sighed in annoyance, looked around, and saw crates piled against a concrete wall. He brought Oahn up to them, sat him down awkwardly on them and held him back from tumbling by holding him by the shoulder with one hand. Ashil thought for a moment before having an idea. He began to search Oahn for his cell phone. He ended up finding it in a front pocket of his pants. Somehow, Ashil took out the phone with a moving Oahn commenting that he tickled him. Ashil rolled his eyes and said between his teeth:

"Frankly, what am I going to do with you? First you make me give you lessons for an assignment that you know how to do on your own and now I have to babysit you..."

Ashil turned the phone around so it be right side up and made appeared the lock screen. He pressed the button where there was written «emergency call» and the number keypad appeared in front of his eyes. If his intuition was correct, then Ashil had a chance to bring Oahn home. He pressed on the number 1 and the phone lit brightly, marking that there was an ongoing call. Relieved, Ashil brought the phone to his ear. So like that, Oahn was the kind of person to save someone's number to call in case of an emergency! He was very different from the words people around him could say.

After three rings, a sleepy but alarmed voice answered Ashil:

'Oahn? What's wrong?'

'Uh... it's not Oahn. Hello, my name is Hinata Ashil and I'm with Oahn, who, I must say, is not in very good condition.'

'What happened?' The person on the other side of the phone asked, worried.

'Don't worry,' Ashil said quickly, "he's just drunk.'

The person sighed with relief and asked him:

'Why did you call me then?'

'To ask for your address. See, I don't know Oahn personally, so I don't know where he lives.'

'How can I trust you? How can I know that you're not a bad person trying to enter our house?'

'You can't. That's why I'm going to ask you to trust me.'

The person thought for a moment before asking for his phone number. Ashil gave it to them with no resistance and finished the call. A few seconds later, Ashil received a message from an unknown number with an address. He smiled at the sight of the numbers and letters and put the two phones in his trouser pockets. He leaned forward slightly, placed one of Oahn's arms around his shoulders and gently lifted him by placing his other arm around his waist. As soon as Oahn was up, he shook violently and vomited all he had drunk tonight. Disgusted, Ashil looked away.

"You deserve that I let you die in this alley," Ashil whispered, glancing at Oahn to see if he had finished vomiting.

"Sorry," Oahn apologized in a small voice, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his top.

"You'll thank me later. Right now, let me take you home."

"Hum."

Ashil adjusted Oahn against him and he went in the opposite direction of his walk. After several minutes strolling through the narrow streets of the neighborhood, Ashil and Oahn finally arrived on the main street. Ashil complained inwardly, wondering why Oahn and his friend were so deep in the neighborhood. If they would have been a few blocks down the main street, Oahn would probably be home already under the warm blankets of his bed and the peaceful night that Ashil was still enjoying a few minutes earlier would have remained as it was.

By the side of the road, Ashil looked up and down the street, looking for a taxi. His messiah arrived a few seconds later. He raised his hand to stop it. The driver activated the turn signal and stopped at their level. Ashil opened the back door with difficulty and installed Oahn. Letting Ashil take control of the situation, Oahn had no resistance. Ashil's face was so close to Oahn's that he felt his warm breath against his skin. Ashil removed his arms from around Oahn and began to examine the boy's face. Eyes closed, Oahn had a thin, well-drawn face. He had the double eyelid, common to Westerners, high cheekbones, a high and thin nose, a mouth with full lips. He had the perfect face. It was so perfect that his skin seemed firm and elastic. Lost in his contemplation, Ashil had the mad desire to touch his lips. His hand rising in the air, commanded by the voice of his heart, stopped abruptly in his action, the voice of reason awakening Ashil from his hypnosis.

Ashil stepped away from Oahn, almost banging his head against the cant rail of the car. He closed the door and walked around the taxi to get to the other side. Ashil rushed into the vehicle and announced the address to the driver.

The look on the outside, the street became dark behind the tinted glass window. The light from the streetlamps sometimes meeting Ashil's eyes, dazzled him. The weak sound of the radio sometimes reached Ashil's ears, informing him of the latest news of the day or the latest music. The ride took longer than expected, which allowed him to lock himself in his bubble. Ashil told himself that he had been living a direct adventure for days. Two years ago, he never imagined that he would end up tutoring someone who didn't need it or sat in the backseat of a taxi alongside his sleepy and drunk student. Although Ashil had installed Oahn on the right seat against the door, the latter had moved, being again against Ashil. The proximity of Oahn's body tensed all the nerves and muscles of Ashil. He had never been so close to anyone. Not in such an intimate moment. Even though Ashil was focused on the landscape that went by before his eyes, all his senses were awake for Oahn. His sense of smell, his hearing, his touch were turned towards this boy. Sometimes he glanced at him to see if he was still conscious. The regular movement of his ribcage confirmed him every time that Oahn wasn't dead.

The taxi took a sharp turn and Ashil felt Oahn's head gently resting on his shoulder. This gesture electrified him from head to toe. All his muscles tensed, making Ashil straight as a ramrod. Ashil turned his gaze toward Oahn and lost himself again in the contemplation of his face. Ashil didn't know why, but this boy was able to calm his heart. Little by little, he felt the air return to his lungs and his limbs relax. Ashil found himself even wanting to run his hand through Oahn's hair. He had to bite hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from doing it. Ashil didn't know why his body and mind were so chaotic when he was near Oahn. Sometimes he wanted to hit him so hard that he didn't see his little patronizing and superior look make up his face anymore, and sometimes he just wanted to wrap his arms around him, looking at him tenderly, vowing to always protect him.

"Analyzing me, huh?" Oahn said in a low voice.

Oahn's voice made Ashil jump and he looked away from his face.

"I'm not."

"Isn't it what people who study psychology do? Isn't it why they decide to go in psychology?"

"You know very well that it's not for these reasons that I decided to study psychology."

"So why are you studying it?"

"To know the human mind."

"Isn't it the same thing?" Oahn asked, looking into Ashil's eyes.

Ashil smiled slightly and replied:

"Nobody needs to study psychology to analyze someone. Everyone does it every day. Students in psychology are not exceptions and most don't study this subject to analyze people. Many study it to help those people."

"You'll see, you too, you will end up analyzing me," Oahn just added, a faint smirk on his lips and closing his eyes.

«I hope it will never happen», Ashil said to himself.

After a half-hour drive, the taxi finally stopped. Ashil opened the window, letting the fresh air rush inside the car and looked around. The darkness didn't allow him to see more than two meters. The street was particularly quiet and was plunged into darkness. The only source of light was a few meters away, illuminating a junction.

Ashil gently shook Oahn by the shoulders.

"Oahn, you're home," he told him to wake up with his soft voice.

Oahn replied with a weak «hum». Ashil realized that Oahn wouldn't deign to make a single movement, so he pushed him slightly away from him, opened the door and went outside. Putting a hand on the roof of the taxi, Ashil was facing a huge portal. Ashil couldn't let out a «wow» of surprise or admiration that the wicket on his left opened in a clanking noise. He saw a silhouette coming out of the property and heading towards the passenger's front door. The figure bowed for a few seconds, then stood up.

"The fare is paid, you can take him out," the voice he heard several minutes ago on the phone said.

Ashil didn't need to be persuaded and pulled Oahn out of the taxi. As before, he supported him with one arm around his waist and one of his hands passed one of the boy's arms around his shoulders. The taxi didn't wait any longer that it left without the silhouette and Ashil could say something.

"Follow me," the voice intimated him.

Following the silhouette, Ashil passed the gate, being careful not to hit Oahn. Ashil found himself in a big illuminated courtyard. The driveway was made of white rectangular stones. On either side of it was grass. On the left side, a big tree stood proudly under the moonlight, at its foot was installed a small two-seater bench in wood. On the right, a Japanese garden with a small pond overhung by a red bridge gave charm to the outside.

In the light, the silhouette turned into a girl with long hair. Her step was hurried but light. Not once did she turn to look at Ashil. Arrived at the entrance, the girl opened a big black door, with a golden knocker on it. Ashil entered the huge home, while holding Oahn as he could. In the entrance where people were taking off their shoes and hanging their coats and other accessories, Ashil took off his shoes. He adjusted Oahn and continued to follow the girl. The big entrance was all white, from the ceiling to the floor, only the furniture and paintings brought color to the room. In the latter were three doors. One on the left, one in front of Ashil and another on the right. Ashil with Oahn and the girl borrowed the one on the right. Ashil left the cold, hospital-like atmosphere of the entrance to end up in a huge room with tall, slender, vaulted windows. He walked down the few steps to where there were black leather sofas, a glass coffee table and a plasma screen. The living room was huge and had no real demarcation. On his right, there was a piece of wall made of dark paneling with in the middle a huge double-wing door in lighter wood, surely oak. On the left, in front of this door, were two glass doors hiding the kitchen. In front of the tall windows was a large staircase. Behind it, hidden by the darkness, opened another room that Ashil could not discover.