Consealed

Chapter 2.3 - My Hero

Tsuya's pov

"Tsuya! Welcome home son!" he stands up and walks towards me and gives me a big hug. "Nice suit buddy. It seems like it was yesterday when I still wrapped that old red scarf around your neck." He smiles at me. "Say... I thought you were into guys only?" He looks at me with a bit of suspicion and a grin. "E-eh!?" I shook up. "Why did you bring Kaneko-chan over?" he asks me more serious. "It's a long story. Where is she though?" I ask him. "She's sleeping in the guest room. She was really worn out when she arrived here. I cooked for her, and we talked a little, but not much more than that." Dad looks towards the guest room. "Tsuya?" he suddenly called my name. I hum in response. "You haven't been taking care of yourself properly, look at how skinny you are!" He looks at me with his concerned parent face. "Yeah... I'm sorry dad." I say. Dad put me down on the couch and went to the kitchen. "I don't want to hear apologies I want to see results, because you barely look like the boy, I sent on his journey back in the day!" He's probably making his hot chocolate. "I know dad, work has been really busy lately." I sigh. "No excuses, you come first, work comes later." I hear him turn on the stove to warm the milk. "I'm an adult now dad, I'm capable of taking care of myself. I'm not a baby anymore." I say, though it gives me a good feeling that he's still willing to take care of me. "No matter how much you'll grow or how popular you will get, you'll always stay my son and I'll take care of you even if I have to travel to the other side of the world for you." I hear him pour the milk into the glasses and adds some chocolate chips in the milk to melt. He comes back into the room and puts some tiny marshmallows on top of the hot chocolate. He sits down next to me. "Something is bothering you right?" he suddenly said without looking up from his hot chocolate. "Why do you ask that?" I look up at him confused. "You look different from before, are you feeling alright son?" he asks me. "Yes, I guess so..." I answer him. I haven't been thinking about myself in a while. Am I doing alright? I shouldn't complain because I have everything all young performers dream off. It's not fair for me to judge my perfect life as it is now. "Do you still enjoy making music?" he asks me without looking up again. "Of course, music is my passion." I tell him convincing. "Good, don't ever let someone take that away from you." Dad said with a faint smile and looks back up to me. I don't think dad is feeling so well either. The way he acts, and his sudden questions and weird responses make me worry about him. He did everything for me and is still willing to do so. Why am I acting so stupid? I barely pay him a visit and now I just dropped a random girl at his doorstep followed by a tired, skinny afterimage of what his son was before. "I'm sorry dad." I apologize yet again. "What are you sorry for?" he seems confused. "I'm putting you through all this trouble..." I look him in the eyes. "Tsuya what are you talking about? You must have a good reason for bringing Kaneko-chan over. I'll hear you out eventually." He says being the greatest dad as always. "I just keep on going giving you all kinds of trouble and I hate that I keep bothering you like this!" I shook from my own reaction. I put down my hot chocolate on the table. "What are you talking about? You're not bothering me I love having you over back home from time to time dear. You're just doing your own thing and slowly letting go of your roots here. You're starting your own life out there doing the thing you love most, and I can't be prouder of you." He moved to sit closer to me. "I met Kaneko-san at a meet and greet after Yakahama-san's show ended. She whispered in my ear her life was at danger so... I think I did the right thing by taking her to a safe place, but Urugami-san wasn't that happy about it. In fact, he wasn't happy at all. He got so frustrated that it scared me. He went on saying things that I'm ruining my career and putting him in trouble because of it." I speak my heart out. "That's a weird thing to say as a manager." Dad murmured. "Because I couldn't take her along with me, I decided to send her your way. I would already visit you today, so I thought if she would arrive earlier, I could catch up to her later. I'm sorry I didn't inform you on any of this, I was in a hurry to get to a business party, but that's no excuse." Dad put his hand on mine, it's warm and loving. "It's fine, you did what you had to do as the beautiful person you are, stop blaming yourself for your kind heart." I calmed down a little. "Come on drink some of your hot chocolate, it's a waste if it would turn cold." We both drink from our hot chocolate with marshmallows and dad put his arm around me. Dad turns on the tv and we watch some movies together. Eventually we both go to bed.