"You're a strange one. Go home already."

I nodded and began turning away. I noticed the front door of the house open before I could fully turn away, causing me to pause. A young girl with orange hair was peeking out from behind it. Rikiya hurried towards her. I forced myself to turn away and got in the taxi, giving him directions to my home.

His situation was so much worse than I ever expected. Helping him today probably barely did anything for him. I wanted to help him and his siblings get out of poverty...but that seemed hard when I wasn't exactly made of money myself. I'd have to be careful with my spending after today. But if it could help him, I wanted to give him all the money I had. Catching a glimpse of one of his siblings just solidified that desire.

Everyone could see I was feeling off the following days. I wasn't sure if I could confide in Anzai who kept asking what was wrong since Rikiya had only decided to tell me. I felt burdened with Rikiya's secret on my back but it was a burden I wanted to carry. When it was time to pay my employees, I counted out more for Rikiya like I promised.

"Atsutane," I said, handing him a check.

He put his hand up to refuse. "Thanks for always trying to pay me, but I'm alright. Keep it for the bar and yourself," he smiled.

I nodded. When he had refused the first paychecks I tried to give him, he had to admit his family was rich so he was doing alright himself. I still wanted to compensate him for all his hard work, but he kept refusing. Only rarely would he take the check.

"Shukishi," I said next. He took it happily. "Anzai."

"Thank you," he said while taking his.

"Rikiya," I said last. Each check was encased in an envelope. Rikiya ripped his open to check the amount.

He pulled up a seat at the bar as the others left except for me and Anzai. I scooted Atsutane's envelope across the counter towards him. Rikiya hesitated before snatching it up, ripping it open, and checking the amount.

"You really did add more to mine," he said. "And I assume his check is mine as well now?"

"I left the name blank just in case."

Rikiya nodded thoughtfully. "This will get them off my back for a moment. But I still need to feed my siblings."

I hesitated. I should give him more then, huh? I'll need to grab another check and–

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. I'm just saying it's impossible to help me. I admire your efforts in trying to help, but don't push yourself."

Anzai was quiet during that exchange but finally decided to speak. "...did something happen?"

"Oh, you didn't tell him?" Rikiya looked surprised.

"It's personal, right?" I answered.

"Well good job on that too. I didn't know you kept secrets from him. Makes me wonder what else you could be hiding from him?" He grinned devilishly.

"...how much is your debt?"

"More than you could guess."

"...I'll save up. I'll use my savings to pay it off. I want to give you breathing room."

Rikiya's eyes widened. "You're really too much. Do you even know how long you'd need to save for? The rate will just rise more over the years."

"Then we can talk to them! We can say we're both paying it off so if they just let you have some room to breathe–"

"They won't! They're scumbags that get off on scamming people! And they're not just satisfied with money, they like to humiliate me and make me do all kinds of things to help pay off the debt! Don't get involved with them, Narihira! They'll eat you alive!"

I winced. "What do they make you do?"

He glared. "Don't ask. I didn't want to talk about this with you again. I'm going home."

I watched him go, the worry in my chest growing bigger and more uncomfortable. What did they make him do? He was not alright. He'd never be alright. I wanted to help him get out of that situation already. What about his siblings? They weren't hurting them too, right? I couldn't stand the thought of it... Those despicable people...loan sharks... I feel disgusted.

Anzai grabbed my shoulder. His expression looked serious. "Tell me what's going on. You two talked about it in front of me, I have a right to know the full story. I have a right to know what's been eating at you for days."

I knew I shouldn't betray Rikiya's trust and tell him...but I couldn't handle this alone anymore. I didn't know how Rikiya had been doing it all these years by himself. I broke down and leaned against Anzai's chest.

"It's bad..." I said. "It's really bad..."

He wrapped his arms around me. "Start from the beginning."

We eventually moved to a sofa to sit more comfortably. I told him everything about how I found Rikiya begging in the subway and all that he told me at the restaurant. I told him all about how I felt about it and the strong desire to help him and his siblings but also feeling so hopeless. I was hoping he'd give me a solution like he always does, since he always has the right words to say. But he was quiet for a long time after I finished speaking. Right... There's no clear solution to this problem...

"...it's hard to know what to say after a story like that," he finally said.

"I know... I was quiet at first too... Is there really no solution to solve this quickly?"

"Quickly? Most likely not. You mentioned he's kept borrowing money? Of course it'd be wise to never do that again. All you can do is keep paying them. If you were to try to get police involved, they have official documents that the client signed so there's not much the police can do. If you try to take it to court, most lawyers will avoid your case like the plague. It's tough, but Rikiya got himself in that mess and he's really the only one who can get himself out of it."

I hung my head. No one could help him... No one knew how to help him... I wished a different solution would come to me magically. I wished all of this could magically get cleared up. But if I couldn't rely on magic, I'd just have to try to keep helping in my own way. I would help him pay those loan sharks back.

I looked back at Anzai. "Will...Will you..."

"Will I help?" He finished my sentence. He put his hand on my head. "Well, I can't ignore the situation now that I know of it. Let's do our best to help him together."

My spirits rose. I didn't have to be alone in this. Rikiya didn't have to be alone in this again. We could both try our best to help him as much as we could. That way maybe he could lead a little bit of a happier life. And I knew someday we'd pay off all his debt. I couldn't wait for that day.

Anzai and I officially offered our help to Rikiya. He looked surprised that we hadn't given up. When he reluctantly accepted our help as if to see if we really could make some kind of change, we offered him cash and decided to take him and his siblings out for meals occasionally.

Anzai looked around the dilapidated house that Rikiya reluctantly let us inside of. I felt sad seeing the state of the inside as well. Everything looked old, broken, and stained. I thought I saw a family of cockroaches crawl into a hole in the floor. His siblings sat on the living room floor in dirty looking clothing.

"It's laundry day," Rikiya suddenly said. "They're wearing old clothes while I wash their others. I take care of them better than this, alright?!"

"I know... You're a great older brother."

He huffed and turned away. I kneeled down by his siblings and tried to smile.

"Hello, what are your names? I'm Narihira."

"I'm Miiko," said the girl I caught a glimpse of before. "This is Rinji, and that's Sassa."

Rinji was a quiet boy who only nodded while avoiding my eyes. His hair was darker than the others. Next to him, Sassa was chewing on a doll made of fabric while she stared at me.

"Nawi?" She asked.

I beamed. "That's right, I'm Narihira, Nari for short, nice to meet you all! Would you guys like to go out and eat together? I want to treat you to a nice meal."

Miiko wrung her hands nervously. "Can...Can we afford that...?"

My heart hurt at hearing that. I stood up and took her hand. "Don't worry, I'm going to be your uncle from now on. I want to spoil my cute nieces and nephew!"

"Unwle?" Sassa asked as she clung onto my pants.

I nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, you can call me uncle!"

Rikiya suddenly punched my arm. "I walk away for one second and come back to hear this?! What are you telling them?!"

I rubbed my arm, still smiling. "I want to be their uncle from now on!"

"No way! I don't want to be related to you!"

"You're breaking my heart..."

"Good!"

"Rikiya," Anzai said as he entered the room. I didn't notice he had left. "I can compile a list of repairs and how much everything will be."

"Fine then. I doubt we could repair anything soon though."

"We'll help pay for it. Don't worry too much."

Rikiya frowned. "You guys are doing too much... Of course I'm going to worry about it..."

"Well, let's go eat!" I exclaimed. I took Sassa and Miiko's hands as I headed for the door.

Rikiya ran after me. "Wait! We need to change their clothes first!"

The kids ate well at the restaurant we went to. I sat happily watching them get their fill. Miiko seemed embarrassed when our eyes met and she slowed down on shoveling food in her mouth.

"Eat up!" I encouraged them. "I can order more too!"

Rikiya elbowed me. "Don't spoil them."

"Why not? You eat up too!"

"I hate you..."

Despite his words, he made sure everyone ate their fill and boxed up the leftovers for later. He took advantage of my help even if he felt reluctant about it. I should probably save mine for later too... I've been acting like I could pay for anything and everything, but I've been getting low on funds... I still had to save my budget for the bar as well and try not to dip into it.

When we parted ways after we ate, Rinji pointed at me.

"You're more like an aunt than an uncle."

Rikiya burst out laughing. I guess I looked too feminine to him to be called an uncle...

"You can call me whatever you want, so let's get along in the future," I beamed.

He went back to being quiet after that and Rikiya praised him for what he said to me. I was worried he wouldn't raise them right... I didn't want him to encourage him to be rude even if it was just to me... Not that I could say that though. I didn't want his siblings to hate me! I'd have to convert them into liking me instead!

Weeks passed like that and progress was slow, but Rikiya seemed to be feeling better. There was a brightness to him now. Whenever I saw him with his siblings, he smiled so much I was surprised he was even capable of that. I knew he truly loved them and would do anything for them. I had to help keep them safe alongside him.