⇢ Chapter 22.

The day had arrive for Eri to leave and Shota was a complete mess, but kept it together. He helped Eri pack up her clothes and stuff she will need for school. "Make sure you behave and listen to what Rei and Enji says, okay?" Shota instructed Eri.

"I know, Daddy. And make sure you eat and take care of yourself. You hardly ate dinner last night." Eri lightly scolds.

"I will, sweetie. Let's hurry, the case workers should be coming soon." Shota says as he tries to reassure Eri, but it was killing him inside. He didn't want to let her leave. He was even thinking of packing everyone up and running away, but he knew it will only make things worse. They hear the door bell ring and Hizashi saying hello to the case worker. Shota felt his heart stop as he knew the moment he dreaded has arrived.

Shota tells Eri to finish up and heads down stairs, "hello Ms. Kaoruko, how are you?" Shota says to the dark blue hair women.

"Hello Shota, I'm so sorry about this. It was a complete shock when my supervisor told me the Judge's order. But I'm glad Eri won't be going to foster care." Kaoruko says.

"Yeah, me too..." Shota said sadly.

"Well, I'm glad you will be looking over her case." Hizashi says.

"Well, actually I'm not. My supervisor will. He should be here soon. But, I will be working with him and you guys shouldn't worry. He is very thorough and he has a keen eye to every little detail. I have strong faith everything will work out." Kaoruko says with a reassuring smile. Then they heard a knock on the door.

Hizashi opens up and sees a tall slim man with greenish hair with a yellowish streaks of hair and glasses. "Hello, I'm Mr. Mirai Sasaki, I will be handling Eri's case from here on out." The tall man says.

"Oh, you are Ms. Kaoruko supervisor. I'm Hizashi. Please come in," Hizashi said as he welcomes Mirai in.

"Hello, I'm Shota, and this is my son, Hitoshi," Shota says as he points to Hitoshi who is sitting at the table.

"Hello, can we sit and talk about what's going to happen next. Ms. Kaoruko, please go up and check on Eri, we need to be leaving soon." Mirai ordered, Kaoruko heads upstairs and Shota and Hizashi leads Mirai to the living room to sit and talk. "As you know, Eri will be living with Mr. Todoroki temporarily until the judge makes a final decision. I will be conducting home visit with you as well as Mr. Chaski. Eri will have her visits in my office where I will supervise. The court house was over booked and under staffed so the judge agreed to it as well as the lawyers. Your visit days are Tuesday's and Thursday's. I can not tell you when the visits are for Mr. Chaski, and he doesn't know when are the visits for you. I understand Mr. Hizashi you are a teacher at UA academy?" Mirai explained, looking over at the blonde-haired male.

"Yes, I am. I'm the English teacher and PE as well." Hizashi nods.

"We can schedule the visits after school hours if that works for you?" Mirai asked as he pulls out his file.

"I'm actually thinking of taking some leave time so I can-" Hizashi says only to be cut off by Shota.

"What? Why?" Shota questioned hastily.

"I need to be here for you, I'm worried about you! And besides, I have days saved up it won't be a problem." Hizashi explains.

"No! You have to work. And I'll be okay, I need to finish my book so that will keep me busy. We can't change our routine. Eri will be worried if she finds out you haven't went to work. I'll be okay." Shota says. Hizashi just sighs and agrees. "Please, Mr. Mirai, continue." Shota says.

"I have 1pm and any time after 3pm for the visits what time will work for you?" Mirai asked as he clicks his pen.

"4pm works for us. Since I get out at 2:45, so 4 will give us time to make it to your office." Hizashi says as Shota agrees.

"Can I come to the visits?" Hitoshi ask shyly. "

"I'm sure Eri will love that. But, I have to say you can not visit her while she is at Mr. Todoroki's residents. It is against the rules." Mirai warns Hitoshi.

"Oh, okay. I won't go to the house. But can I send her letters?" Hitoshi asked sadly.

Mirai saw the sadness in Hitoshi eyes and sighs. "When you visit, you can exchange letters. No visits, but letters are okay during visits in my office or others." Mirai emphasis the last part, giving a hint to Hitoshi. Others can give letters, but Hitoshi is only allowed during visits. Hitoshi just smiles and thanks Mirai. "So, Tuesday will be the first visit. I will see you then." Mirai says as he hears Eri and Kaoruko coming down the stairs. "Everything ready?" Mirai says to Kaoruko.

She just nods and looks over to Eri. "It's time to go sweetie." She says sweetly. Eri looks over to Hizashi and Hitoshi who is standing next to Mirai and looks over to Shota who isn't facing her, just sitting on the couch.

"We will see you soon, okay? Make sure you listen to Enji and be good in school." Hizashi says as he hugs Eri.

"Yeah, stinky monkey, make sure you behave. I told Shoto if you don't listen, no cake for you." Hitoshi says with a small laugh making Eri smile. They hug tightly and Eri whispers in Hitoshi ears 'please take care of daddy'. "I will, I promise." Hitoshi whispers back.

"Shota," Hizashi calls, making Shota get up.

"Daddy!" Eri yells as she hugs Shota tight. "I don't wanna go, Daddy! I don't wanna leave you! Please don't make me go?" Eri sobbed as she cried, holding onto Shota, not wanting to let him go. Shota held her tightly, burying his face into her hair as he couldn't form any words.

"Eri, sweetie, we have to go." Kaoruko says softly as she tries to gently remove Eri.

"No, I don't wanna go! No, no, no," Eri held onto Shota even tighter, thrashing in her hold.

"Shota, please let go of Eri," Hizashi begs as he tries to help Kaoruko. Shota simply held onto Eri, not wanting to let go. Eri just keeps repeating "No" and "I don't wanna go" over and over again. Hitoshi stood there, crying, not able to move as Hizashi tried to get Shota to let go with tears running down his face.

Mirai stands there, watching, knowing this is hard for them. Kaoruko finally manages to get Eri off and she starts screaming for Shota. "Daddy! Please, Daddy! I wanna stay with you, please!" Eri yells over and over. Shota cries harder, trying to get to Eri back only to be held back by Hizashi and Hitoshi.

"Kaoruko, get the car. I'll take it from here, and make sure you clean your face." Mirai says as he sees that even Kaoruko was crying. Mirai grabs Eri's hand and walks her out, still sobbing for her parents. "We will see you soon." Mirai says as he closes the door. The moment the door closed, he heard Shota shouting for Eri, wailing loudly.

As he walks out, Touya comes out of his apartment, confused. "Hey, what the hell are you doing to Eri?" Touya asked as he was about to grab Eri away from Mirai.

"Sir, please stand back. I'm with child protective services." Mirai says sternly making Touya freeze.

"Touya... Daddy... please watch him," Eri manages to says through her hysterical sobs.

"Don't worry, Kitty, I'll watch over them. I promise I'm gonna make this right." Touya says the last part quietly. Eri gets in the car, still crying and as they drive away. Touya could still hear Shota crying, yelling for Eri. "I promise, Kitty. I'm gonna make this right. Even if it kills me..." Touya mutters as he puts his head down, tears beginning to fall.

—————————————————————————————————————
I'm just gonna lay here and cry