I covered my face with my hands, silently screaming inside my head. How was I supposed to sleep now?! Why was his voice so deep when he said my nickname?! Please, whatever gods might be out there, please let me sleep tonight...

The next morning, I felt a bit tired but realized I had slept a little better than before. Maybe a god had answered my prayer. Anzai asked about how I slept and I admitted that it was better. He seemed relieved as he nodded.

I was slowly getting used to the roommate life and managed to get more and more sleep every night. I still wondered when Atsutane might be ready to leave and when Anzai's apartment would be fixed. It seemed to be taking an awfully long time for the latter...

That was when Atsutane's butler entered the bar just before closing. It was just the three of us roommates when he walked through the door. He was a well-dressed old man with white hair and he spoke very politely and kindly.

"Master Hori, please return home. The Master and Missus are very worried about where you've been staying each night."

"...where I stay is my business," Atsutane answered quietly.

"Of course. At least reassure them that you're alright."

"I don't want to talk to them until they drop the marriage talks already..."

"Master Hori... They only want you to get married so you can lead a happy life..."

"I'm already leading a happy life. I don't need marriage to be happy. I can be happy by myself. Or just with my friends. Do I really have to keep repeating that to them when they don't even listen?"

The butler was quiet. I felt the urge to step in. I knew it was completely not my place or business, but I wanted to help a suffering friend if I could. I wish I could change his parents in the process but that might be impossible... I could at least try, right?

"Until his parents decide they want to listen and understand what he has to say, Atsutane will be staying with me for days, months, years, however long it takes," I said. "Relay that message to them, alright?"

The butler stared at me wide-eyed. Atsutane beamed.

"Exactly! If my parents care about me like you claim they do, they'll listen and understand how I want to live my life. I'm not going home."

"...Very well." The old butler bowed. "I will relay your messages and feelings. Have a good night."

With that, he left. Atsutane leaned against the counter to smile at me.

"Thanks! I'm really glad to have a friend on my side."

I smiled too. "Of course. I want you to be happy and not have to deal with things like this your whole life."

"...the leak can't take years..."

I turned my head to Anzai who just muttered something. He met my eyes and cleared his throat.

"I hope your parents become more understanding with time," he said. "I hope you all can have a good talk about how you're feeling."

In the days that followed, we didn't see the butler waiting outside the bar anymore. Then the day came when Atsutane's parents decided to pay a visit to the bar after hours. It was just us roommates once again as the two others had gone home. I had to unlock the front door when they came knocking.

"Welcome, um, Mr. and Mrs. Hori..." I clammed up when I saw his parents. They looked so regal with their expensive looking attire, hair, makeup, and wrinkles in all the right places to accentuate their features.

They scrutinized my bar with their eyes before finally looking at their son. "We're here to talk," his mom said. "Because apparently we haven't talked enough."

"I thought you came here to listen," Atsutane answered, looking upset.

"We did. But once you listen again to our points, we hope you will make the right decision."

Atsutane clenched his fists. This situation is insane... I thought.

"Um!" I quickly said. "Please take a seat! Our sofas are quite comfortable!" I gestured and the parents followed. Atsutane soon sat with them, a noticeable distance between them.

I wanted to say something else to fill the silence, but Anzai put his hand on my shoulder. I had to step back and let them work things out. Anzai stood by me as we watched the dysfunctional family.

"Atsutane Hori," his mom finally said. "There are many lovely ladies waiting to speak with you and talk about marriage. I'm sure you'll find the one among them."

"I don't want to get married..." Atsutane said.

"You need to. You don't want to be alone your whole life, do you? You need someone by your side until the end of your days. A marriage partner is perfect."

"I don't need to get married... I'm fine by myself."

"We don't want you to be by yourself. What happens when we're gone? The company will suffer without heirs and you'll be all alone? That doesn't sound like a happy life."

"I don't want a life like yours. It's not for me. I know I didn't turn out like you wanted, but this is how I am. I can't get married or have children."

"That's impossible. That's not the right way to live."

"Maybe by your standards, but I have different ones. The world is evolving from when you grew up, you know. None of us need to get married just because society expects it from us. We can live how we want to."

"Our elders are right though. The traditional way is sometimes the best way."

"I know... I respect my elders of course...as does every Japanese person. Yet we should re-evaluate the traditional way to see if it really is something that works for every unique person. I know it doesn't work for everyone."

"But you can't ignore all the benefits marriage will have, financially and emotionally! I say having someone by your side will have many more benefits than not. Think about it a bit more."

"No, mom! I've already thought about it! I've thought about why I'm so different from my peers and just managed to come to terms with it! I don't need marriage, a family, anything! Because I will never love someone romantically! That's just the way I turned out to be, whether you like it or not!"

"Don't raise your voice at your mother," his dad chimed in finally. His voice was deeper than I expected.

His mom raised her hand to wave her husband off. "So you will still refuse no matter what I say. We will be stuck in this endless battle."

"I don't want to be stuck! You're keeping us stuck because you're so stubborn! Can't you just understand me, or at least put effort into trying to? I feel like you don't care about me one bit! You want me to be something I can never be! You don't care about how I turn out as long as I follow everything you want me to do! But I can't be miserable all my life! So please just leave me alone, abandon me, remove me from the family, because I will never be what you want! I don't want to be your child anymore!"

A deafening silence fell over the bar. Atsutane looked on the verge of tears. I felt awkward standing there and watching such a raw moment occur. I wanted to run away and give them space. When I slightly turned away, it was towards Anzai and he put his arm around me as if to comfort me. I lingered a hair's breadth away from his chest as I felt his warmth around me.

"Atsutane... I... I can't talk to you anymore right now." His mom stood up and hurried to the door. As she passed by, I could see tears welling up in her eyes. Her husband slowly followed her outside, not saying a word.

Atsutane put his face in his hands and began crying. I left Anzai to hug him and try to comfort him. He sniffled and sobbed and tried to speak.

"They...They don't love me... They'll never love me as I am... I knew that... I should've known that at least... I know I don't need any romantic partners, but I at least wanted my parents to love me..."

All I could do was rub his back and let him cry. I couldn't find any words to say. I wish I could say something to fix the situation. But I knew I couldn't. So I could at least stand by his side and let him feel his emotions.

He was quiet the rest of the night and slept as soon as we got home. I sighed as I sat in the kitchen with Anzai.

"I feel so bad..." I said.

"He's really struggling right now."

"I know... I want to be able to fix it... But I don't know how..."

"It's best to let them resolve it. I feel that this talk tonight was good for them."

"Really? Even though they basically admitted they don't love Atsutane like they should?"

"I don't think they particularly admitted that. I believe they really do love him. They just don't know how to show it. Of course I could be wrong. That's just what I thought I saw."

His mom was crying... If she didn't feel anything for him, why would she cry? Maybe Anzai was onto something. I really hoped this would all work out... If not, they'd be estranged forever at this rate... It would be sad if there was an opportunity to repair their relationship and make it stronger but they never decided to take it.

Atsutane was reasonably quiet and depressed in the days that followed. I could only stay by his side and talk for the both of us, hoping I could somehow lift his spirits. He took some time off work since he was in no condition to entertain others with fun stories. The day he decided to come back, he had brightened a bit and I felt happy for him. But then that night, his parents came back.

"I don't want to talk to them..." He said as he hurried to the back door to escape.

I looked at Anzai for what to do. The front door was locked so of course they couldn't just barge in. His mom was earnestly knocking and waiting for me to open it. Atsutane was already unlocking the back door. Anzai looked between them. Then he stepped forward to the front door.

"Atsutane, hear them out," he said as he unlocked the door.

"Anzai?! Why do I have to hear them out? You heard what they said the last time they were here!"

"I know, I heard. But they came back for a reason. I think you shouldn't let this chance go."

When he opened the door, the parents ran in. His mom was already in tears.

"Atsutane...my son... I'm sorry, I'm letting my emotions get the best of me..."

Atsutane slowly approached. "Mom...?"

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "My son... When you were born, it was the best thing that happened to me. When I first held you in my arms, I knew you were the most important and precious thing on this planet and that I had to give you the best life possible. So your father and I have done our best to give you the world. That's all we want for you, the world. I promise that we love you so dearly that you can't even fathom it..."

"Mom..." He was crying too now. They took each other's hands.

"We're just worried that you'll be left all alone in this world when we're gone and I hated the idea of it... If I could live forever or at least as long as you do, then I would. I never want to leave you alone."

"I don't want you to go away either..."

"Yet it's reality and I can't help thinking about it. Please let us love you as our child as long as we live. We won't talk about marriage, we'll respect your wishes, so please don't say you don't want to be our child anymore..."