Ōta Makino eventually shows up, in the dwindling hours of the afternoon, looking prim and proper and professional and exactly like what a person who had just spent several hours in an interrogation room being prim and proper and professional would look like. She makes a beeline for them, and they all stand up. "You must be Inori's parents and Kokonoe-san? It is a pleasure to meet you in person, and I trust Kaiyō gave you an overview of the situation." She turns to Kuroji and Harutsugu. "You have a very remarkable child, you must be very proud of him."

"—we are," says Harutsugu, looking surprised.

"He did not give an inch to the interrogators and merely repeated that he would wait for his lawyer every time they tried to goad him, from what I understand. He was perfectly collected and... I must say, I have met forty-year-olds who are more easily swayed or, well," a small bitter smile, "bullied by authority than he is. I would say he is approximately the ideal client, here."

Kuroharu do look like they're swelling with pride, at that, but Tōkan is just grinning widely. "No one gets Inori-kun to do anything he does not want to do," he says, with deep, deep fondnes.

She looks at him, then, and says, "And you must be a remarkable young man, for him to love you so. I'm afraid I had some preconceptions about you in advance, which have been thoroughly dispelled by now, and I must apologise for them."

"Ōta-san, I wouldn't dream of holding it against you for a second. Kokonoe Tochima is my father, I'm an alpha from Kokonoe High, you are completely correct to be wary of me and I can only respect you for it."

"Tōkan-kun has been nothing but a blessing in our lives," Kuroji says. "He and Inori-kun... are very good for each other, and I am proud to call him family."

"Kuroji, you're going to make me blush."

Makino and Kaiyō exchange the type of looks that only people who have been together for decades can exchange, then she says, "Well, you are free to go see him, now. He will need to remain here overnight, and Kaiyō will stay here on retainer for him should anything come up. I got all of your numbers from Inori-san and have messaged you our contact information, and we will message you or call you for anything important. Nothing is likely to happen, though, you should rest easy. Now if you'll excuse me, I should return to the office." She embraces her husband for a moment and then departs.

Harutsugu talks to the person manning the reception, and soon enough the three of them are sitting at a table with Inori, there. Tōkan kissed him as soon as he saw him, and after some flailing and blushing Inori yielded and kissed him back, and now he's just holding Inori's hand and looking at him with an adoring gaze on his face.

Inori is trying not to let that distract him.

"Are you alright, Inori-kun?" asks Harutsugu.

"Fine. Was a waste of time."

"How did it go with Ōta-san?"

"Okay. I dunno, they just kept asking slimy questions trying to get me to say stuff I don't mean like I'm some five-year-old they can trick."

"What did they want to know?" wonders Kuroji.

"They had this whole list of, like... times I kicked someone's ass. And were asking about 'em as if I'd remember them all." Shrug. "And they kept being like, trying to make me say I started it, or I couldn't be sure the alphas were a danger. Fucking pissed me off."

"Ōta-san said you were the perfect client and that she'd met 40-year-olds less capable of holding their own than you were."

He shrugs again. "I'm the strongest," he says, but even under the mask the faint pink is visible.

"They said you'll need to stay here overnight."

"I'll stay here with you 🥺," says Harutsugu, eyes watering. "I won't leave my baby alone here."

"...why? You're just gonna sleep badly outside."

"I want to be here for you if you need anything."

"...'kay."

They stay there a while longer, catching up or just chatting, which of course Inori does not love, but this is going to be a very long while anyway, so he might as well get used to the tedium now.

Eventually they have to go, though, and Harutsugu once again gets all teary-eyed when he has to say bye to Kuroji. "I'll call you if anything happens," he says. "I'll miss you, I love you very much."