285 [YamaShi] Risou no Musuko SP Part 4
BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, SORRY.
Woah~ this place sure is dusty. /shot
Okay, I think it's been two years? since this fic's last update, and anything I say would just really sound like excuses, so I'll just say one sentence: LIFE AS A MEDICAL STUDENT SUCKS. I made the next two parts. But I think I still have to write about two more after that (but I just want to finish the story, kay. T-T)
Anyway, I hope readers of this fic are still there~ hope you remember this cause I barely can. /shot and hope you enjoy… I hope it turned out okay. And it seems continuous to the last one. ^^; And part 5 I hope seems continuous with this one. /shot
Title: Risou no Musuko SP
Author: macymacymacy
Pairing: YamaShi and others.
Genre: Family, Friendship, Romance
Rating: G
AN:
- unbeta'ed
-i did try to stick with the drama's canon as much as possible.
-italics and gray font means a flashback while just italics means the words are said in English.
-this is much shorter than the first 2 parts but that's because there's no other convenient way to divide this. I've written these parts as a oneshot so basically everything is written scene after scene and I'm having a hard time trying to separate them into parts. :))
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3
Previously on RnM SP:
"I wonder how Daichi and the others are." Umi pondered loudly.
"I'm sure they're fine." Minoru assured her.
-
"Everything's gonna be fine. Tomorrow will be the rehearsal for J-Kai so Kanon-san would be there as we'll be working as fellow hosts. Kobayashi-kun offered to come. He said he wasn't sure what Kanon-san would do so…" Mirai trailed off. "I don't know if it's a good thing for Kobayashi-kun to be there but honestly, I also feel a bit worried about working with her. If Kobayashi-kun would come, do you mind coming as well? I'd feel more at ease…" She confessed.
-
"Er, sorry… I was just taking a stroll around the house and I saw… uhm, I was just curious." He said, putting down the brush by Sage's stable.
"You were grooming her." Suzuka said, looking blank.
"Er, yes. Sorry." Kobayashi said.
"She's not very friendly with strangers… how did you..?"
Suzuka blinked and then nodded.
"Do you want to ride her?" She suddenly asked.
-
"Fuji-san just left. He said he'll be returning to Australia now. He--"
"Mirai's dad?" Mifune asked, surprised.
-
Hyouzoka tsked impatiently and pointed at the man. Daichi followed where she was pointing and then frowned. Hyouzoka knew then that she wasn't overthinking things.
"...Do you think?" Suzuki asked her.
"It's likely." She said.
-
"There was a paparazzo." Hyouzoka said. "At least we think so," She added hastily, seeing the look on Mifune's face. "He seems to be trying to get a photo of you and Mirai."
Mifune scowled.
-
"About you and Kouji." Kanon started saying, looking at the floor. "Please, can you just tell me the truth?" She asked in a small voice.
-
"Kobayashi-kun has been courting my cousin for a while now. That's also why Kobayashi-kun went all the way from Japan to Australia. He also wanted to meet our grandfather. His and our grandfather knew each other, and my grandfather approves of Kobayashi-kun."
Mirai was gaping, unbelieving. "Suzu-chan, what--"
-
As the two boys exited, the man hiding behind the closet took one last photo.
(AN: Gosh, you guys have hate me, leaving it at that cliffy. /shot)
------
"Kanon!" Kobayashi grabbed onto Kanon's wrist.
Kanon stopped but didn't turn to him.
"I'm tired." She snapped. "I'm going home." She yanked her hand away and started running away.
"What happened?" Daichi asked as he reached his friend. He was surprised to see anger in his friend's face.
"Where did Suzuka go?" He suddenly asked.
"Probably to the van. Sagara-san said it's better to leave now." Daichi said cautiously.
Kobayashi just nodded and started for the exit, walking very fast. Daichi followed him sure he was missing something.
-
The first thing that Daichi saw as they reached the parking lot was Suzuka's and Mirai's backs. Looking more closely, he realized that the cousins seems to be arguing. Well, disagreeing might be more accurate.
Daichi was surprised when Kobayashi ran after them. Very confused and worried, Daichi tried to catch up.
Daichi was very much taken aback when Kobayashi harshly tugged Suzuka's arm back once he'd neared them.
"What did you do that for?!" It was the first time for Daichi to see Kobayashi very much worked up like that. He was glaring at Suzuka. Mirai seems just as surprised as he is, but Suzuka had glared coldly back at Kobayashi.
"I just told her your story." She said calmly.
"But Suzu, that's what I've been trying to say. We were trying to tell her the truth." Mirai explained patiently.
"You shouldn't have meddled!" Kobayashi bursts out.
"What happened?"
All four of them looked to the direction where the voice came from to see Mifune coming out from the van.
"Uh, senpai. Well…" Daichi started but trailed off and looked at the other three, very much at a lost.
"We didn't see the paparazzo." Mirai told her brother simply.
Mifune raised a brow but just nodded and said, "We should probably go now."
"Hai." Mirai said and looked apologetically at Kobayashi.
Kobayashi frowned but nodded anyway, not looking at Suzuka. Suzuka just quietly walked to the van. Mirai reluctantly followed her with her brother in tow.
Kobayashi just stood there for a few seconds before Daichi finally tapped him on the back and gently pushed him to the van.
"Come on."
-
It was a quiet ride to Mirai's. Everyone could feel the tension between Kobayashi and Suzuka who unfortunately were seated across each other.
Daichi had an idea of what must have happened, but frankly he didn't really know how to help, or at least what to say to ease the tension. All he could do was give Mirai (who was looking very worried besides him) a somewhat reassuring smile.
The young actress returned a small smile which more than anything relaxed Daichi. At least, he thought, the paparazzo didn't seem to have taken any pictures of Mirai and Mifune.
When they reached home, Suzuka immediately excused herself and disappeared inside the house. Kobayashi too, had went straight to their room.
Mirai had heaved an audible sigh once the two was gone.
"Don't worry." Daichi had said at once. "I'll try and talk to him later. I think he wants to be alone right now." He told her.
Mirai smiled gratefully at him. "I'll do the same to Suzuka."
"Okaeri." Mirai's dad had came to the living room to welcome them.
"Tadaima." Mirai said, while Daichi and the others all bowed in greeting.
"Ojama shimasu." Mifune said.
Fuji-san smiled in welcome. "I'm so glad you could come, Kengo-san."
"Hai. Thank you for having me." Mifune replied formally.
Fuji-san smiled and then said at large, "Come on in, you lot. Dinner's ready."
-
Dinner with the gang was the usual noisy affair. But even so, the air that night was still very different. There was definitely tension around the table.
Suzuka was very quiet--even much so than before, and doesn't look at anybody as she ate. The air around was a lot colder than usual, and honestly speaking, Habu thought she looked quite scary. Kobayashi, on the other hand, didn't show up. Wanikawa had said their friend had insisted he wasn't hungry.
Fuji-san asked everyone what happened during the day and there was a tense silence wherein everyone looked at Suzuka. It was just for a few seconds and then suddenly, everyone bursts into their stories while feigning a tone of excitement.
Fuji-san probably realized something happened so after dinner, he invited everyone to watch a movie. Suzuka had declined at once, and surprisingly, Habu also excused himself; although frankly speaking no one would have noticed either way.
They watched an old Japanese movie. Fuji-san said it was his and Mirai's favorite. Hyouzoka didn't know the movie as it was old and so did his other friends, but Mifune-senpai seemed to recognize it.
Daichi took a glance at Mirai and saw that her eyes were fixed on the television. He could somehow tell though that her mind wasn't on the movie. She looked worried still.
Daichi had to smile at that. Mirai was just amazingly no different from her character Seira. She's very polite-- very much like a princess, very gentle, very kind, and she worries about the people around her more than she worries about herself.
-
Kobayashi heaved a sigh. He really was at a lost of what to do. He had tried calling Kanon but she wasn't answering. He had sent many mails to her now but there was no reply. He had thought of calling his mom to ask her to tell him what to do or just help him, but he didn't know how she would react, and to be honest, he is scared.
Kobayashi let out another sigh and stood up from the bed, deciding to call it a night. He was exhausted and he just wants to sleep and stop thinking. He almost had a heart attack when he turned and came face to face with Habu.
"Habu-san!" Kobayashi, his face pale, said as he clutched at his heart.
Habu pouted. "That's really getting old. Why do you guys always pretend you can't see me? I've been here for about ten minutes now."
"Er, Habu-san… we're not making fun of you or anything. But I just really didn't notice you there…" Kobayashi tried to say.
"It gets lonely, you know…" Habu said, still looking glum.
"Ano… maybe it's because I was thinking of something…" Kobayashi said.
Habu sighed, "I guess so."
"What are you doing here, anyway? Where are the others?" Kobayashi asked, trying to change the subject.
"I brought you these." Habu-san said, handing Kobayashi an apple and an orange. "You must be hungry."
"A-arigatou." Kobayashi said in surprise.
"Everyone's watching a movie downstairs. Don't you wanna go?" Habu asked.
"Uhmm, well…" Kobayashi trailed off.
"Let's go." Habu said and started pulling Kobayashi out the room.
"But-"
"Mirai-chan's cousin isn't there." Habu said nonchalantly. Actually, Habu didn't really know what happened, but it was obvious Kobayashi and Suzuka had some sort of disagreement.
Both didn't say anything anymore, but Kobayashi finally let himself be dragged downstairs.
-
The movie was already halfway through when Habu and Kobayashi showed up. Truthfully, Kobayashi felt a little embarrassed, especially to Mirai, because after everything she has done for him (letting them stay in her house, listening to his problems, even pretending to be his girlfriend), he still fought with her cousin who was obviously very important to Mirai. He had let Mirai be in a difficult position.
But when Mirai saw him, she had given him a very bright smile. She was really happy he had joined them. Kobayashi suddenly wanted to cry. He didn't even notice he was biting his thumb again until Hyouzoka swat his hand away.
---
Mirai felt tired just then. But it wasn't really in the physical level. Her body felt definitely okay, she wasn't the least sleepy or sore anywhere. But still, there's this incessant feeling like she hadn't rest for a whole week or something.
After the movie had finished and everyone of her friends returned to their rooms, she had set off to find Suzuka. She had went to their room, to the library, to the stable, and even tried the kitchen but she still hasn't found her.
Feeling defeated, Mirai started ascending the stairs. When she reached the landing, she stopped. After deliberating for a moment, she decided to check the library one last time before going back to her room. She took the stairs to the left and started climbing.
It was quiet when she passed through the guest rooms. Mirai thought her friends were probably all asleep already. Without really thinking, she went to the smaller guest room, where her brother is staying for tonight, and opened the door. The room was empty, though.
Confused, Mirai closed the door once more, wondering where her brother could be. She was still distracted when she entered their library.
"Mirai?"
Mirai blinked. "Niichan! So you were here…"
Mifune's lips quirk upwards. "You were looking for me?"
"I went to check on you, but you weren't in your room. I was actually looking for Suzuka here but, well… It seems she's not here, huh?" Mirai said, frowning a little.
Mifune looked at his sister for a few seconds, choosing his words carefully.
"What really happened earlier? Why did Kobayashi and your cousin fought?" He asked.
Mirai heaved a sigh, feeling her exhaustion once more. "I'm not sure how it actually happened." She said.
Mifune went to the sofa and sat, and silently gestured for Mirai to do the same. Mirai obliged quietly and started telling her brother everything.
-
Fuji Naohito woke up with a start as he felt his head fall. He felt disorganized and for a few seconds, he only stared at the view before him.
He slowly registered that he was in his office. Blinking, he groggily looked at his wall clock and realized it was already late. Hastily, he started arranging the things on his table. He grabbed the opened book in front of him and stopped as he saw the page he had been reading. It was a page about the different kinds of Alzheimer's disease. He remembered he had been trying to look up for anything that can at least slow the progress of the disease.
His eyes landed on a sentence at the bottom of the page.
There are very few qualitative differences between Alzheimer's disease alcohol dementia and it is therefore difficult to distinguish between the two.
He furrowed his eyebrows and took a pen and a piece of paper from his drawer, writing two words: "alcohol dementia."
He should start researching about that as well.
Sighing a little tiredly, he closed the book and returned to arranging the stuffs cluttered on his table. He took the documents he was working on earlier, and placed it inside his briefcase along with his organizer. Then he stood up and took other medical books he had borrowed from their library. When his table was cleared, he realized there was another book that had been covered by his other stuffs. It was an old, small book with green cover.
He smiled a little. This book was a book about psychological complexes. He had bought this book when he was still young. He had wanted to pursue a career in the medical field before. He'd been particularly interested in psychology and neurology. He'd bought the book just out of curiosity, and as he read it, he had been satirically reminded of him; the bit about Parent-Child relationship, specifically.
He realized some of the things he does that other people doesn't really do. He realized he was overly-dependent of her mother, and her mother was the same to him. He suddenly felt caged, and frustrated. He wanted with all his might to be free of his mother's clutches because for the first time, he felt like he wasn't in control of his own life.
He ended up not pursuing his dream, because he realized it was actually his mother's dream for him. He'd instead tried film-making. He'd met new people, made new friends. He then met Umi, and he had fallen in love.
Their affair, now that he thought about it, had had a very quick progress. They had dated just for about a year, and he had proposed. He knew his rebelliousness must have played a part on this. He had been a little compelling to Umi and he hadn't realized she had chosen him over her own son. And then they had Mirai, and he was very happy even when his parents disapprove of their family.
But it was short-lived. And now, he had seem to made the same mistakes his mother had done to him, to Mirai. It was a different situation, but he had been verprotective of his daughter for long, and he had tried to control her life as much as his mother did to him.
Naohito sighed in self- depreciation. He sat back down his chair, feeling very exhausted. He opened the green book and started leafing through the pages.
He caught the words, 'Mother complex,' and stopped. He read a few lines and frowned. The words in the book was exactly how his mom was. But now, she wasn't giving any attention to him, but to Suzuka. He shook his head in regret. His stubbornness might not have only damaged Mirai, but also Suzuka.
But then again, Mirai wasn't completely dependent of him. She had always been frank with him whenever she disagrees with something he said. She wasn't really a daddy's girl, not in the psychological and medical terms anyway. She must have only been yearning for her mother's love. They had separated when she was very young. And Suzuka… Suzuka might be the same to an extent.
He shook his head once more and stood up. He was thinking too much. He collected the book and turned to go, intending to return them to their library.
-
Mifune studied Mirai as she finished her story. She really looked worried and she was playing with her fingers.
"That's… a little complicated." He said honestly.
Mirai smiled a little. "It really is. I don't really know why Suzu did that."
"She was probably just trying to help." Mifune said.
"Yeah, I guess so." Mirai said, nodding a little distractedly.
"Oh," She then suddenly said. "I remembered there's an album of your pictures here that mom kept. I'll show you." She stood up and went to one of the shelves.
Mifune watched her. He knew she was changing the subject but he welcomes this. He didn't really have anything more to say to her about the other issue.
She came back bringing with her two albums.
Mirai sat back besides him started on the first album. It was baby pictures of Mifune with their mom. Mifune looked through all of the pictures, not really knowing how to feel. He was thankful of Mirai chattering away because he really couldn't say anything at the moment. He looked and looked at all the pictures from when he was just months old until he was about nine years old, just before their mother disappeared. His aunt must have kept sending his mother his pictures throughout the year.
There was a heavy feeling in his chest, but it didn't really feel unpleasant.
Mirai had then started on the next album. This time, it was full of pictures of their mom of her life with Mirai. Mifune just listened to Mirai as she recounted the stories each picture held. He felt that even just a little, somehow, he was able to share part of her mother's life.
The last picture was of their mother, an eight years old Mirai and her father.
They were both quiet as Mirai closed the album. After a few seconds, she looked at him expectantly.
He just smiled at her and said in a very soft voice. "Thank you."
Mirai shook her head and wrapped one arm around Mifune's waist, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Mom…" Mifune started, trying not to feel awkward. "Kanbe-sensei told me the doctors are starting mom's treatment."
"That's great!" Mirai said, though she still didn't let go of her brother. "I hope mom gets well soon."
"Un." Mifune said. "The pictures and home videos your dad brought helped a lot, they said."
Mirai had pulled away at this. "Dad brought pictures and home videos to mom?" She asked, taken aback.
"Yes." Mifune answered. "Kanbe-sensei said he visited her the other day."
Mirai still looked surprised but readily accepted this. "Dad must be worried." She said softly. "I think he's blaming himself for what happened to mom."
She trailed off. And Mifune didn't break the silence.
"Sometimes I also think it's my fault… that mom left… you." She said in barely a whisper, not looking at Mifune. "I wasn't sure what you would do when I looked for you. I was actually scared that you would get angry… But I think I made the right decision."
"I'm really glad I found you." She told her brother, giving him a smile.
"I'm glad you did, too." He just said.
Outside the library, leaning by the door, Naohito felt as if his heart was being squeezed.
"I am to blame, Mirai…" He whispered to no one.
Quietly, he stepped away from the room. He didn't want to disturb the siblings. They had so much to catch up to each other, their whole lives, practically.
Still carrying the books, he walked back to his room. But when he'd reached the hallway to the right wing, he had noticed something. The door to his parent's room was slightly ajar.
Curiously, he entered the room. The light was turned on, and on his parent's bed was Suzuka, sleeping, with her hand clutching at a piece of paper.
Naohito placed the books gently on the table and quietly approached his niece.
He was about to wake her up when he noticed what exactly it was that Suzuka was holding. It was a picture. At first Naohito thought it was just a picture of the girl herself, but when he looked closer he realized it was not. It was a picture of Suzuka's mom; her real mother.
Unbidden, memories of that fateful day came rushing back to him. That day he saw her, Aimi-nee, lying on the bathroom's floor, covered in blood. Naohito automatically shook his head. He did not want to remember.
He wanted to recall only those good times with her; only the happy Aimi-nee.
Naohito looked at his niece once more and thought for the first time how Suzuka's name suits her. "Suzuka" literally means "bellflower" and said flower, from what Mirai had told him during her flower lessons when she was younger, symbolizes "unchanging love." And Suzuka looks so much like her mother.
He sighed as he looked at the photo once more. He arranged it so that it would seem that he had not seen it, and started gently waking Suzuka up.
As Suzuka stirred, Naohito wondered where Suzuka could have gotten the photo. He didn't think it would be from his parents. Suzuka probably saw it in one of their old albums. She had probably always wanted to know her parents.
---
Umi felt very tired as they entered their hotel room for the night. The tour had been wonderful, and she had really enjoyed herself. She had even not thought of Daiki for about half the day. She felt that this tour really is a big help to him.
She opened the lights and started for the bed, wanting more than anything to start sleeping.
Minoru had went straight to the bathroom and changed to comfortable clothes. After that, he flopped down the other bed and opened the TV he browse through the channels until he found a Japanese channel.
The news was on and what they saw made their exhaustion vanished on the spot.
"Minoru-san…" Umi started, but Minoru had replied at once.
"Yes… I think we should go back…" He just said.
On the television was a picture of Mirai with Kobayashi, and below it was the caption, 'Umi-chan engaged to Kobayashi corporation's heir.'
-
TBC
aaaaaaand another cliffy. /shot
Woah~ this place sure is dusty. /shot
Okay, I think it's been two years? since this fic's last update, and anything I say would just really sound like excuses, so I'll just say one sentence: LIFE AS A MEDICAL STUDENT SUCKS. I made the next two parts. But I think I still have to write about two more after that (but I just want to finish the story, kay. T-T)
Anyway, I hope readers of this fic are still there~ hope you remember this cause I barely can. /shot and hope you enjoy… I hope it turned out okay. And it seems continuous to the last one. ^^; And part 5 I hope seems continuous with this one. /shot
Title: Risou no Musuko SP
Author: macymacymacy
Pairing: YamaShi and others.
Genre: Family, Friendship, Romance
Rating: G
AN:
- unbeta'ed
-i did try to stick with the drama's canon as much as possible.
-italics and gray font means a flashback while just italics means the words are said in English.
-this is much shorter than the first 2 parts but that's because there's no other convenient way to divide this. I've written these parts as a oneshot so basically everything is written scene after scene and I'm having a hard time trying to separate them into parts. :))
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3
Previously on RnM SP:
"I wonder how Daichi and the others are." Umi pondered loudly.
"I'm sure they're fine." Minoru assured her.
-
"Everything's gonna be fine. Tomorrow will be the rehearsal for J-Kai so Kanon-san would be there as we'll be working as fellow hosts. Kobayashi-kun offered to come. He said he wasn't sure what Kanon-san would do so…" Mirai trailed off. "I don't know if it's a good thing for Kobayashi-kun to be there but honestly, I also feel a bit worried about working with her. If Kobayashi-kun would come, do you mind coming as well? I'd feel more at ease…" She confessed.
-
"Er, sorry… I was just taking a stroll around the house and I saw… uhm, I was just curious." He said, putting down the brush by Sage's stable.
"You were grooming her." Suzuka said, looking blank.
"Er, yes. Sorry." Kobayashi said.
"She's not very friendly with strangers… how did you..?"
Suzuka blinked and then nodded.
"Do you want to ride her?" She suddenly asked.
-
"Fuji-san just left. He said he'll be returning to Australia now. He--"
"Mirai's dad?" Mifune asked, surprised.
-
Hyouzoka tsked impatiently and pointed at the man. Daichi followed where she was pointing and then frowned. Hyouzoka knew then that she wasn't overthinking things.
"...Do you think?" Suzuki asked her.
"It's likely." She said.
-
"There was a paparazzo." Hyouzoka said. "At least we think so," She added hastily, seeing the look on Mifune's face. "He seems to be trying to get a photo of you and Mirai."
Mifune scowled.
-
"About you and Kouji." Kanon started saying, looking at the floor. "Please, can you just tell me the truth?" She asked in a small voice.
-
"Kobayashi-kun has been courting my cousin for a while now. That's also why Kobayashi-kun went all the way from Japan to Australia. He also wanted to meet our grandfather. His and our grandfather knew each other, and my grandfather approves of Kobayashi-kun."
Mirai was gaping, unbelieving. "Suzu-chan, what--"
-
As the two boys exited, the man hiding behind the closet took one last photo.
(AN: Gosh, you guys have hate me, leaving it at that cliffy. /shot)
------
"Kanon!" Kobayashi grabbed onto Kanon's wrist.
Kanon stopped but didn't turn to him.
"I'm tired." She snapped. "I'm going home." She yanked her hand away and started running away.
"What happened?" Daichi asked as he reached his friend. He was surprised to see anger in his friend's face.
"Where did Suzuka go?" He suddenly asked.
"Probably to the van. Sagara-san said it's better to leave now." Daichi said cautiously.
Kobayashi just nodded and started for the exit, walking very fast. Daichi followed him sure he was missing something.
-
The first thing that Daichi saw as they reached the parking lot was Suzuka's and Mirai's backs. Looking more closely, he realized that the cousins seems to be arguing. Well, disagreeing might be more accurate.
Daichi was surprised when Kobayashi ran after them. Very confused and worried, Daichi tried to catch up.
Daichi was very much taken aback when Kobayashi harshly tugged Suzuka's arm back once he'd neared them.
"What did you do that for?!" It was the first time for Daichi to see Kobayashi very much worked up like that. He was glaring at Suzuka. Mirai seems just as surprised as he is, but Suzuka had glared coldly back at Kobayashi.
"I just told her your story." She said calmly.
"But Suzu, that's what I've been trying to say. We were trying to tell her the truth." Mirai explained patiently.
"You shouldn't have meddled!" Kobayashi bursts out.
"What happened?"
All four of them looked to the direction where the voice came from to see Mifune coming out from the van.
"Uh, senpai. Well…" Daichi started but trailed off and looked at the other three, very much at a lost.
"We didn't see the paparazzo." Mirai told her brother simply.
Mifune raised a brow but just nodded and said, "We should probably go now."
"Hai." Mirai said and looked apologetically at Kobayashi.
Kobayashi frowned but nodded anyway, not looking at Suzuka. Suzuka just quietly walked to the van. Mirai reluctantly followed her with her brother in tow.
Kobayashi just stood there for a few seconds before Daichi finally tapped him on the back and gently pushed him to the van.
"Come on."
-
It was a quiet ride to Mirai's. Everyone could feel the tension between Kobayashi and Suzuka who unfortunately were seated across each other.
Daichi had an idea of what must have happened, but frankly he didn't really know how to help, or at least what to say to ease the tension. All he could do was give Mirai (who was looking very worried besides him) a somewhat reassuring smile.
The young actress returned a small smile which more than anything relaxed Daichi. At least, he thought, the paparazzo didn't seem to have taken any pictures of Mirai and Mifune.
When they reached home, Suzuka immediately excused herself and disappeared inside the house. Kobayashi too, had went straight to their room.
Mirai had heaved an audible sigh once the two was gone.
"Don't worry." Daichi had said at once. "I'll try and talk to him later. I think he wants to be alone right now." He told her.
Mirai smiled gratefully at him. "I'll do the same to Suzuka."
"Okaeri." Mirai's dad had came to the living room to welcome them.
"Tadaima." Mirai said, while Daichi and the others all bowed in greeting.
"Ojama shimasu." Mifune said.
Fuji-san smiled in welcome. "I'm so glad you could come, Kengo-san."
"Hai. Thank you for having me." Mifune replied formally.
Fuji-san smiled and then said at large, "Come on in, you lot. Dinner's ready."
-
Dinner with the gang was the usual noisy affair. But even so, the air that night was still very different. There was definitely tension around the table.
Suzuka was very quiet--even much so than before, and doesn't look at anybody as she ate. The air around was a lot colder than usual, and honestly speaking, Habu thought she looked quite scary. Kobayashi, on the other hand, didn't show up. Wanikawa had said their friend had insisted he wasn't hungry.
Fuji-san asked everyone what happened during the day and there was a tense silence wherein everyone looked at Suzuka. It was just for a few seconds and then suddenly, everyone bursts into their stories while feigning a tone of excitement.
Fuji-san probably realized something happened so after dinner, he invited everyone to watch a movie. Suzuka had declined at once, and surprisingly, Habu also excused himself; although frankly speaking no one would have noticed either way.
They watched an old Japanese movie. Fuji-san said it was his and Mirai's favorite. Hyouzoka didn't know the movie as it was old and so did his other friends, but Mifune-senpai seemed to recognize it.
Daichi took a glance at Mirai and saw that her eyes were fixed on the television. He could somehow tell though that her mind wasn't on the movie. She looked worried still.
Daichi had to smile at that. Mirai was just amazingly no different from her character Seira. She's very polite-- very much like a princess, very gentle, very kind, and she worries about the people around her more than she worries about herself.
-
Kobayashi heaved a sigh. He really was at a lost of what to do. He had tried calling Kanon but she wasn't answering. He had sent many mails to her now but there was no reply. He had thought of calling his mom to ask her to tell him what to do or just help him, but he didn't know how she would react, and to be honest, he is scared.
Kobayashi let out another sigh and stood up from the bed, deciding to call it a night. He was exhausted and he just wants to sleep and stop thinking. He almost had a heart attack when he turned and came face to face with Habu.
"Habu-san!" Kobayashi, his face pale, said as he clutched at his heart.
Habu pouted. "That's really getting old. Why do you guys always pretend you can't see me? I've been here for about ten minutes now."
"Er, Habu-san… we're not making fun of you or anything. But I just really didn't notice you there…" Kobayashi tried to say.
"It gets lonely, you know…" Habu said, still looking glum.
"Ano… maybe it's because I was thinking of something…" Kobayashi said.
Habu sighed, "I guess so."
"What are you doing here, anyway? Where are the others?" Kobayashi asked, trying to change the subject.
"I brought you these." Habu-san said, handing Kobayashi an apple and an orange. "You must be hungry."
"A-arigatou." Kobayashi said in surprise.
"Everyone's watching a movie downstairs. Don't you wanna go?" Habu asked.
"Uhmm, well…" Kobayashi trailed off.
"Let's go." Habu said and started pulling Kobayashi out the room.
"But-"
"Mirai-chan's cousin isn't there." Habu said nonchalantly. Actually, Habu didn't really know what happened, but it was obvious Kobayashi and Suzuka had some sort of disagreement.
Both didn't say anything anymore, but Kobayashi finally let himself be dragged downstairs.
-
The movie was already halfway through when Habu and Kobayashi showed up. Truthfully, Kobayashi felt a little embarrassed, especially to Mirai, because after everything she has done for him (letting them stay in her house, listening to his problems, even pretending to be his girlfriend), he still fought with her cousin who was obviously very important to Mirai. He had let Mirai be in a difficult position.
But when Mirai saw him, she had given him a very bright smile. She was really happy he had joined them. Kobayashi suddenly wanted to cry. He didn't even notice he was biting his thumb again until Hyouzoka swat his hand away.
---
Mirai felt tired just then. But it wasn't really in the physical level. Her body felt definitely okay, she wasn't the least sleepy or sore anywhere. But still, there's this incessant feeling like she hadn't rest for a whole week or something.
After the movie had finished and everyone of her friends returned to their rooms, she had set off to find Suzuka. She had went to their room, to the library, to the stable, and even tried the kitchen but she still hasn't found her.
Feeling defeated, Mirai started ascending the stairs. When she reached the landing, she stopped. After deliberating for a moment, she decided to check the library one last time before going back to her room. She took the stairs to the left and started climbing.
It was quiet when she passed through the guest rooms. Mirai thought her friends were probably all asleep already. Without really thinking, she went to the smaller guest room, where her brother is staying for tonight, and opened the door. The room was empty, though.
Confused, Mirai closed the door once more, wondering where her brother could be. She was still distracted when she entered their library.
"Mirai?"
Mirai blinked. "Niichan! So you were here…"
Mifune's lips quirk upwards. "You were looking for me?"
"I went to check on you, but you weren't in your room. I was actually looking for Suzuka here but, well… It seems she's not here, huh?" Mirai said, frowning a little.
Mifune looked at his sister for a few seconds, choosing his words carefully.
"What really happened earlier? Why did Kobayashi and your cousin fought?" He asked.
Mirai heaved a sigh, feeling her exhaustion once more. "I'm not sure how it actually happened." She said.
Mifune went to the sofa and sat, and silently gestured for Mirai to do the same. Mirai obliged quietly and started telling her brother everything.
-
Fuji Naohito woke up with a start as he felt his head fall. He felt disorganized and for a few seconds, he only stared at the view before him.
He slowly registered that he was in his office. Blinking, he groggily looked at his wall clock and realized it was already late. Hastily, he started arranging the things on his table. He grabbed the opened book in front of him and stopped as he saw the page he had been reading. It was a page about the different kinds of Alzheimer's disease. He remembered he had been trying to look up for anything that can at least slow the progress of the disease.
His eyes landed on a sentence at the bottom of the page.
There are very few qualitative differences between Alzheimer's disease alcohol dementia and it is therefore difficult to distinguish between the two.
He furrowed his eyebrows and took a pen and a piece of paper from his drawer, writing two words: "alcohol dementia."
He should start researching about that as well.
Sighing a little tiredly, he closed the book and returned to arranging the stuffs cluttered on his table. He took the documents he was working on earlier, and placed it inside his briefcase along with his organizer. Then he stood up and took other medical books he had borrowed from their library. When his table was cleared, he realized there was another book that had been covered by his other stuffs. It was an old, small book with green cover.
He smiled a little. This book was a book about psychological complexes. He had bought this book when he was still young. He had wanted to pursue a career in the medical field before. He'd been particularly interested in psychology and neurology. He'd bought the book just out of curiosity, and as he read it, he had been satirically reminded of him; the bit about Parent-Child relationship, specifically.
He realized some of the things he does that other people doesn't really do. He realized he was overly-dependent of her mother, and her mother was the same to him. He suddenly felt caged, and frustrated. He wanted with all his might to be free of his mother's clutches because for the first time, he felt like he wasn't in control of his own life.
He ended up not pursuing his dream, because he realized it was actually his mother's dream for him. He'd instead tried film-making. He'd met new people, made new friends. He then met Umi, and he had fallen in love.
Their affair, now that he thought about it, had had a very quick progress. They had dated just for about a year, and he had proposed. He knew his rebelliousness must have played a part on this. He had been a little compelling to Umi and he hadn't realized she had chosen him over her own son. And then they had Mirai, and he was very happy even when his parents disapprove of their family.
But it was short-lived. And now, he had seem to made the same mistakes his mother had done to him, to Mirai. It was a different situation, but he had been verprotective of his daughter for long, and he had tried to control her life as much as his mother did to him.
Naohito sighed in self- depreciation. He sat back down his chair, feeling very exhausted. He opened the green book and started leafing through the pages.
He caught the words, 'Mother complex,' and stopped. He read a few lines and frowned. The words in the book was exactly how his mom was. But now, she wasn't giving any attention to him, but to Suzuka. He shook his head in regret. His stubbornness might not have only damaged Mirai, but also Suzuka.
But then again, Mirai wasn't completely dependent of him. She had always been frank with him whenever she disagrees with something he said. She wasn't really a daddy's girl, not in the psychological and medical terms anyway. She must have only been yearning for her mother's love. They had separated when she was very young. And Suzuka… Suzuka might be the same to an extent.
He shook his head once more and stood up. He was thinking too much. He collected the book and turned to go, intending to return them to their library.
-
Mifune studied Mirai as she finished her story. She really looked worried and she was playing with her fingers.
"That's… a little complicated." He said honestly.
Mirai smiled a little. "It really is. I don't really know why Suzu did that."
"She was probably just trying to help." Mifune said.
"Yeah, I guess so." Mirai said, nodding a little distractedly.
"Oh," She then suddenly said. "I remembered there's an album of your pictures here that mom kept. I'll show you." She stood up and went to one of the shelves.
Mifune watched her. He knew she was changing the subject but he welcomes this. He didn't really have anything more to say to her about the other issue.
She came back bringing with her two albums.
Mirai sat back besides him started on the first album. It was baby pictures of Mifune with their mom. Mifune looked through all of the pictures, not really knowing how to feel. He was thankful of Mirai chattering away because he really couldn't say anything at the moment. He looked and looked at all the pictures from when he was just months old until he was about nine years old, just before their mother disappeared. His aunt must have kept sending his mother his pictures throughout the year.
There was a heavy feeling in his chest, but it didn't really feel unpleasant.
Mirai had then started on the next album. This time, it was full of pictures of their mom of her life with Mirai. Mifune just listened to Mirai as she recounted the stories each picture held. He felt that even just a little, somehow, he was able to share part of her mother's life.
The last picture was of their mother, an eight years old Mirai and her father.
They were both quiet as Mirai closed the album. After a few seconds, she looked at him expectantly.
He just smiled at her and said in a very soft voice. "Thank you."
Mirai shook her head and wrapped one arm around Mifune's waist, leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Mom…" Mifune started, trying not to feel awkward. "Kanbe-sensei told me the doctors are starting mom's treatment."
"That's great!" Mirai said, though she still didn't let go of her brother. "I hope mom gets well soon."
"Un." Mifune said. "The pictures and home videos your dad brought helped a lot, they said."
Mirai had pulled away at this. "Dad brought pictures and home videos to mom?" She asked, taken aback.
"Yes." Mifune answered. "Kanbe-sensei said he visited her the other day."
Mirai still looked surprised but readily accepted this. "Dad must be worried." She said softly. "I think he's blaming himself for what happened to mom."
She trailed off. And Mifune didn't break the silence.
"Sometimes I also think it's my fault… that mom left… you." She said in barely a whisper, not looking at Mifune. "I wasn't sure what you would do when I looked for you. I was actually scared that you would get angry… But I think I made the right decision."
"I'm really glad I found you." She told her brother, giving him a smile.
"I'm glad you did, too." He just said.
Outside the library, leaning by the door, Naohito felt as if his heart was being squeezed.
"I am to blame, Mirai…" He whispered to no one.
Quietly, he stepped away from the room. He didn't want to disturb the siblings. They had so much to catch up to each other, their whole lives, practically.
Still carrying the books, he walked back to his room. But when he'd reached the hallway to the right wing, he had noticed something. The door to his parent's room was slightly ajar.
Curiously, he entered the room. The light was turned on, and on his parent's bed was Suzuka, sleeping, with her hand clutching at a piece of paper.
Naohito placed the books gently on the table and quietly approached his niece.
He was about to wake her up when he noticed what exactly it was that Suzuka was holding. It was a picture. At first Naohito thought it was just a picture of the girl herself, but when he looked closer he realized it was not. It was a picture of Suzuka's mom; her real mother.
Unbidden, memories of that fateful day came rushing back to him. That day he saw her, Aimi-nee, lying on the bathroom's floor, covered in blood. Naohito automatically shook his head. He did not want to remember.
He wanted to recall only those good times with her; only the happy Aimi-nee.
Naohito looked at his niece once more and thought for the first time how Suzuka's name suits her. "Suzuka" literally means "bellflower" and said flower, from what Mirai had told him during her flower lessons when she was younger, symbolizes "unchanging love." And Suzuka looks so much like her mother.
He sighed as he looked at the photo once more. He arranged it so that it would seem that he had not seen it, and started gently waking Suzuka up.
As Suzuka stirred, Naohito wondered where Suzuka could have gotten the photo. He didn't think it would be from his parents. Suzuka probably saw it in one of their old albums. She had probably always wanted to know her parents.
---
Umi felt very tired as they entered their hotel room for the night. The tour had been wonderful, and she had really enjoyed herself. She had even not thought of Daiki for about half the day. She felt that this tour really is a big help to him.
She opened the lights and started for the bed, wanting more than anything to start sleeping.
Minoru had went straight to the bathroom and changed to comfortable clothes. After that, he flopped down the other bed and opened the TV he browse through the channels until he found a Japanese channel.
The news was on and what they saw made their exhaustion vanished on the spot.
"Minoru-san…" Umi started, but Minoru had replied at once.
"Yes… I think we should go back…" He just said.
On the television was a picture of Mirai with Kobayashi, and below it was the caption, 'Umi-chan engaged to Kobayashi corporation's heir.'
-
TBC
aaaaaaand another cliffy. /shot