"Brother-in-law!"
"Namiru? Sorry, I was working just now and couldn't spare any attention. You called so many times. Is something urgent?" Uchiha Senmon's gentle, refined voice came through the phone.
"Brother-in-law, I'm in Obama City. Where are you now?" Sakaki Namiru asked, her voice trembling as she held back the emotions surging inside her.
"Hmm... I haven't finished my work yet, and now I have to head somewhere else. You and Naruto are in Obama City for the Mermaid Festival, right? Sorry I can't make time to go with you. Make sure you have enough fun for me, too."
"I'm sorry, brother-in-law. I've been so selfish..."
Sakaki Namiru could not help choking up a little, guilt coloring her voice.
She did not know how to begin telling her brother-in-law. Should she say that she finally understood his difficulties?
Her brother-in-law actually worked like an unsung hero, carrying out top-secret work combating monsters and strange phenomena at the Metropolitan Police Department. Yet she had kept pestering him without appreciating it, sulking and acting petulant because he usually paid her little attention and did not answer her calls.
Thinking about it now, she had been so immature!
After all, work involving the supernatural like his might well have had a higher security classification than military operations. It was only natural that he was run off his feet every day. How could he possibly spare time to accompany her everywhere?
Uchiha Senmon sounded somewhat puzzled. "Namiru, your voice... has someone upset you? Do you need your brother-in-law to stand up for you?"
"No..."
An impulse welled up inside Sakaki Namiru. She wanted to say more, to pour out every feeling in her heart regardless of the consequences, but before she could react, Grace snatched her phone away.
"Superintendent Uchiha, it's me, Grace."
Grace