Contest #5 - Criminal - PG
I wrote this entry, decided it was too depressing and I hated it, wrote a separate entry which I hated for entirely different reasons, and returned to this one. As much as angsting is Not My Thing, I figured I was entitled to one or two angst pieces every once in a while.
So! Without further ado! I bring you AngstyDepressingCharacterDeathWoe!
Author: Mirax_Took_
Title: Criminal
Contest #: 5
Rating: PG
Pairing: None intended, could be read slight Haruhi/Takashi or Takashi/Mitsukuni.
Summary: Takashi was the epitome of filial devotion.
Takashi looked down at Mitsukuni. The skin around his eyes managed to express a crinkle of happiness, even though it was far too sunken and blackened to perform the physical action.
"Come, Mitsukuni," he said softly. "It is time to go home."
Mitsukuni smiled at him happily, his brown eyes dancing. "Okay!" He slipped his small hand into Takashi's larger one and Takashi led him out of the darkening park and down the street, making sure to keep him well back from the Hong-Kong traffic, roaring on even when nightfall threatened. Mitsukuni, seemingly oblivious to the danger of the road, skipped along happily with a stuffed bunny tucked beneath his arm.
Takashi slowed as he approached the house.
"Who's that?" Mitsukuni wondered, tugging on Takashi's sleeve. The man standing outside of the house shaded his eyes with one hand, staring in their direction. His spiky black hair was clearly visible in the weak light of the stoop.
"Go inside, Mitsukuni," Takashi said simply. "Say goodnight to Mother."
Mitsukuni ran off without another word, sparing only a brief, cursory glance for the family's formally-dressed visitor.
"You named your son after Mitsukuni-san?" was the first thing Satoshi said.
"Nice glasses," was the second.
Takashi self-consciously steadied the turtle-shell frames but otherwise ignored the man. He brushed past him and into the house, following his son. The dark hallway opened onto a brightly-lit kitchen.
"Takashi? Mitsukuni says we have a visitor..." The woman's voice trailed off as Satoshi stepped into the light from behind the towering figure of his older brother.
"Bedtime, Mitsukuni," Takashi said.
"But..." Mitsukuni caught his father's eyes and bowed his head. "Yes, sir." Takashi ruffled the boy's hair kindly and Mitsukuni rushed off into a narrow hallway, assumedly to his bedroom. The tall man followed, ducking to avoid the doorway. As soon as he was covered by the shadows of the darkened passage, he stopped to listen.
"I had to hire a private investigator to find him," Satoshi told the woman in the kitchen. "He looks..."
"I know."
"Why did you follow him, Haruhi?"
There was a slight whisper of cloth as she shrugged. "Someone had to take care of him."
"My brother's always been a masochist. I noticed his eyes. Has he been sleeping at all?"
"Not that I can tell." Takashi would have winced, knowing that this was a sore spot with Haruhi, but his weak, hunched shoulder refused to cooperate. "He only eats when I make him eat and he slaves away in that factory everyday... sometimes he stops talking for weeks at a time. It seems like the only thing he's living for now is Mitsukuni."
"Whose bright idea was that?" Satoshi demanded angrily. "Naming the kid after Mitsukuni-san?"
"Takashi's." Haruhi sounded neither upset nor resigned; she was simply stating facts. "I keep telling him that he needs to get back in contact with the mother, but... he's a stubborn masochist. I think she really loved him."
"Huh." There was the sound of squeaking tiles. Satoshi had pulled out a chair. "He looks... he doesn't look... God, I don't even know."
"He was with Honey-senpai every day in the hospital. After they revealed that they had no cure for the leukemia, he started sleeping there as well. I think that Takashi is just reliving the last week in his mind, over and over. It's not healthy, but I can't think of any way to change it."
There was silence for a minute and Takashi could hear Mitsukuni running water in the rented house's one bathroom, somewhere behind him.
"Father wants him to inherit," Satoshi finally said.
"He won't," Haruhi answered simply.
"I can see that. But it would be nice if he kept in touch, at very least. I know that Chika wants to talk to him." Takashi compulsively clenched his oil-stained fists.
"He won't," Haruhi repeated. "I told you. It was a fight just to make him let me stay. He won't go back until he's done punishing himself."
"That'll be never," Satoshi said bitterly.
"Daddy." And all of Takashi's attention immediately transferred to the small boy standing next to him. "I'm ready for bed."
Takashi smiled at the boy and his bunny, ruffled the blond hair again, and turned away from the kitchen.
What everyone else wanted didn't matter. He had only ever obeyed the whims of one person.
I hope you can forgive me when I finally join you.
The little boy climbed into bed, pulling his stuffed rabbit behind him. Takashi helped him up.
Even death cannot shake my devotion, Mitsukuni.
So! Without further ado! I bring you AngstyDepressingCharacterDeathWoe!
Author: Mirax_Took_
Title: Criminal
Contest #: 5
Rating: PG
Pairing: None intended, could be read slight Haruhi/Takashi or Takashi/Mitsukuni.
Summary: Takashi was the epitome of filial devotion.
Takashi looked down at Mitsukuni. The skin around his eyes managed to express a crinkle of happiness, even though it was far too sunken and blackened to perform the physical action.
"Come, Mitsukuni," he said softly. "It is time to go home."
Mitsukuni smiled at him happily, his brown eyes dancing. "Okay!" He slipped his small hand into Takashi's larger one and Takashi led him out of the darkening park and down the street, making sure to keep him well back from the Hong-Kong traffic, roaring on even when nightfall threatened. Mitsukuni, seemingly oblivious to the danger of the road, skipped along happily with a stuffed bunny tucked beneath his arm.
Takashi slowed as he approached the house.
"Who's that?" Mitsukuni wondered, tugging on Takashi's sleeve. The man standing outside of the house shaded his eyes with one hand, staring in their direction. His spiky black hair was clearly visible in the weak light of the stoop.
"Go inside, Mitsukuni," Takashi said simply. "Say goodnight to Mother."
Mitsukuni ran off without another word, sparing only a brief, cursory glance for the family's formally-dressed visitor.
"You named your son after Mitsukuni-san?" was the first thing Satoshi said.
"Nice glasses," was the second.
Takashi self-consciously steadied the turtle-shell frames but otherwise ignored the man. He brushed past him and into the house, following his son. The dark hallway opened onto a brightly-lit kitchen.
"Takashi? Mitsukuni says we have a visitor..." The woman's voice trailed off as Satoshi stepped into the light from behind the towering figure of his older brother.
"Bedtime, Mitsukuni," Takashi said.
"But..." Mitsukuni caught his father's eyes and bowed his head. "Yes, sir." Takashi ruffled the boy's hair kindly and Mitsukuni rushed off into a narrow hallway, assumedly to his bedroom. The tall man followed, ducking to avoid the doorway. As soon as he was covered by the shadows of the darkened passage, he stopped to listen.
"I had to hire a private investigator to find him," Satoshi told the woman in the kitchen. "He looks..."
"I know."
"Why did you follow him, Haruhi?"
There was a slight whisper of cloth as she shrugged. "Someone had to take care of him."
"My brother's always been a masochist. I noticed his eyes. Has he been sleeping at all?"
"Not that I can tell." Takashi would have winced, knowing that this was a sore spot with Haruhi, but his weak, hunched shoulder refused to cooperate. "He only eats when I make him eat and he slaves away in that factory everyday... sometimes he stops talking for weeks at a time. It seems like the only thing he's living for now is Mitsukuni."
"Whose bright idea was that?" Satoshi demanded angrily. "Naming the kid after Mitsukuni-san?"
"Takashi's." Haruhi sounded neither upset nor resigned; she was simply stating facts. "I keep telling him that he needs to get back in contact with the mother, but... he's a stubborn masochist. I think she really loved him."
"Huh." There was the sound of squeaking tiles. Satoshi had pulled out a chair. "He looks... he doesn't look... God, I don't even know."
"He was with Honey-senpai every day in the hospital. After they revealed that they had no cure for the leukemia, he started sleeping there as well. I think that Takashi is just reliving the last week in his mind, over and over. It's not healthy, but I can't think of any way to change it."
There was silence for a minute and Takashi could hear Mitsukuni running water in the rented house's one bathroom, somewhere behind him.
"Father wants him to inherit," Satoshi finally said.
"He won't," Haruhi answered simply.
"I can see that. But it would be nice if he kept in touch, at very least. I know that Chika wants to talk to him." Takashi compulsively clenched his oil-stained fists.
"He won't," Haruhi repeated. "I told you. It was a fight just to make him let me stay. He won't go back until he's done punishing himself."
"That'll be never," Satoshi said bitterly.
"Daddy." And all of Takashi's attention immediately transferred to the small boy standing next to him. "I'm ready for bed."
Takashi smiled at the boy and his bunny, ruffled the blond hair again, and turned away from the kitchen.
What everyone else wanted didn't matter. He had only ever obeyed the whims of one person.
I hope you can forgive me when I finally join you.
The little boy climbed into bed, pulling his stuffed rabbit behind him. Takashi helped him up.
Even death cannot shake my devotion, Mitsukuni.