Meanwhile, Ryoma and Aramaki are already seated side by side inside Takeda Barber, each draped beneath a barber cape as another kind of preparation quietly gets underway before training camp.
Ryoma sits in the chair nearest the window, his mother standing behind him with comb and scissors moving in the familiar rhythm she has repeated since he was a child.
Beside them, Aramaki receives the same treatment from his wife, Kaori, who trims his hair with the relaxed confidence of someone who has long since accepted that cutting her husband's hair is simply another part of married life.
Not far away, Nanako sits cross-legged on the floor, entirely absorbed in a drama of her own creation. Surrounded by dolls, stuffed animals, and plastic figurines, she assigns each one a role with complete authority.
"No," she declares to a plush rabbit. "You can't arrest the dragon yet."
She immediately picks up the dragon.
"But I didn't do anything."
"You looked suspicious."
"That isn't illegal."
