Falling Forwards

Ultimate Ending

After running into trouble with the board, Tora's life turns for the worse. First he' expected to run his father's "tasks" despite not being on speaking terms and second, try to keep his darkest secret hidden. Too bad Etsuko's not helping at all.

*Newly revised chapter*

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Tora remembered the days when he would always watch his shoes as he paced alongside his mother, who always wore her Louis Vuitton heals fit for a breadwinner. She would always gently scold him when he bumped into someone. Then his mother always told him to apologize to the passerby. That was the way life worked.

Somewhere along the rode, that faded into a far away memory that felt more like a drunken haze. Now here he was. Downtown, once again watching his shoes with every step while remembering such a stupid thing.

Tora rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets, attempting to beat the chill as his shoes tapped against the sidewalk. Surrounding people entered in and out of shops. Rushing traffic honked and church bells rang in the distance.

A couple days had already passed since Miyabigaoka started its winter break and this walk was all he wanted to do. The alone part was the best part of it. Since his third year began, Maki and a few others have been hanging around him more. They usually spent time studying for exams and preparing for upcoming entrance exams. This time he could mentally prepare to finish the work that needed finishing. He didn't need any useless help. Not a single Student Council member, not a woman, or family…no one. That's what Tora took away from all the advice his father provided in all his seventeen years.

Tora's eye narrowed at the thought. Just walk, he mused. Right now his father was the last thing that needed to be on his mind after what happened this morning.

"Tora!" it was a masculine voice.

His lungs hitched and his eyes scanned through the endless crowd around him, but no familiar faces lingered. A break would calm him down. There had to be a somewhere close by where he could warm up.

Down the road peaked a coffee shop among all the sky scrappers. Approaching the front door, through the glass was a short line and few people sitting down. He took a deep breath before entering.

Right away he was hit with the familiar warmth and scent of ground coffee. The door clicked behind him as he walked to the line, head held high. Everything looked normal with a modern, western ambiance. A fireside crackled alive along to soft music. This place could keep him here till close when he'd have to find some other place. A hotel seemed too risky because it'd force him to use credit. His dad would only find him faster. That confrontation could wait until tomorrow, his father needed more time to cool down.

Finally Tora turned his attention to the scurrying baristas. They all looked the same to him. Dark hair pulled into a ponytail, stiff frame, and an apron with the company name. He didn't know when it happened, but that had been happening more frequently. Women started looking the same, acting the same—and he was starting to see nothing special about any of them. Despite a few girls similar to Misaki Ayuzawa who was interesting, deep down no one had sense to their personalities. They were good for few things.

"I can take who ever is next over here," a cashier called out.

Tora came out of his thought and stepped in front of the register. He ordered a medium drink before adding, "and that'll be it."

The girl smiled, like she was probably trained to do, and told him his total than charged it on his card. "It'll be ready over there in a minute," she pointed towards the pickup sign.

He didn't thank her, but graciously took his credit card and waited.

Suddenly the door creaked, signaling another customer's arrival. Tora looked over his shoulder to see a middle aged man with a gray suit. Tora's mind instantly thought of his father.

"I've talked with the headmaster recently," his father leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk while lacing his fingers together. The gaudy, gold wedding ring illuminated its lasting presence on his hand.

Tora stared at his perfect image, everything from blond hair to a strong jaw line. Everything except for his father's thinning hair and the crease along his forehead.

His father's voice stayed completely calm. "You're little mishap will cost you, just so you're aware."

The air thickened around the two, neither letting their guard down. Not even a single sound emitted from all of the estate.

His father's eyes narrowed, "Remember what I told you at the beginning of the year."

Tora's jaw clenched, trying to hide the loath. "I know."

"One slip," his father's frown deepened, enunciating every syllable, "is all it takes."

Tora's face never lightened, but he nodded back to prove his understanding. He didn't think this would've been traced back to him, this wasn't even supposed to be happening.

While standing perfectly straight, waiting for his father to continue, the room faintly smelled of bleach from excessive cleaning. That was just like his father, everything needed to be perfect. Wasn't that how it always was?

"And I swear, Tora," his father continued, "if you do anything more to disgrace the Igarashi name—I'm not going to hesitate."

"I wasn't intending to," He barked more urgent than he wanted to be. "I was only—"

"I don't want to hear it."

Tora's eyes hardened. With each word, Tora felt the heat creep up the back of his neck. He tried to loosen his tight grip in a desperate attempt but his spine still tightened.

"Now, if you do anything…pull another stunt," his father paused, "make one step out of place in our name, I'm not going to hesitate to take away every privilege you were born with."

'That's it!' Tora wanted to yell.

"President Igarashi?"

His thoughts halted and he fixed his gaze behind the counter. A girl from his student council held his cup of coffee with confusion written all over her face. And just like all the other baristas working, she too had her dark hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Obviously not in the mood, Tora's face narrowed, glaring at her.

Her eyes widened, mouth agape.

Etsuko Sato. Second year, elected on the Council by her classmates and one of two students to get a full scholarship during her first year. Nothing special.

"Um, president," Etsuko's face flushed as her frown tugged down. "Um…" Suddenly her body shifted awkwardly until she realized a cup was still in her hands. Flushing even more, she pushed the drink towards him, "here!"

At any other time Tora might have smirked and made some remark, but not today. Not even looking at her, he grabbed the drink and completely ignored her presence. He didn't have time for stupidity.

Tora took a seat near the brick hearth where he could still watch the pedestrians outside. But with a glance down at the glass table, pictures of strangers grinned as they held their mugs high in the air.

The moment flooded his senses. The warm cup and the heat of the fire was enough to wrap him in false peace. He wasn't sure anymore when the last time he had time to himself like this was. There was always something in his way. Especially recently with his father always on his case.

Out in the crowd Tora noticed a pair of kids, a boy and a girl across the street peering inside an insurance building. They both fidgeted when the girl stood on the tiptoes of her red flats for a better view. Right then a man emerged from a swinging door and smiled as the kids rushed to his side. Slowly the family walked away, probably back home, somewhere safe.

People like that shined in normalcy. Maybe not only normalcy, but in luck, too. Those types of families who could walk hand-in-hand so easily seemed like a myth to him. Completely unrealistic among all the scandals.

A few minutes passed and Tora's hard expression remained unmoved while taking a sip every now and again. All the quietness allowed him to focus on what had happened a couple weeks before break started. Just faintly he remembered the thick scent of cigarettes and musty, cracked walls. Taking another sip a person's shadow inched over him making his stomach drop. Jaw clenching, he barked, "What?"

The person jumped back, "Sorry!" she exclaimed and then laughed at how stupid she had sounded. "Sorry, really," she repeated.

Tora rolled his eyes. Everyone these days were completely inept.

Finally Etsuko made her way in front of him trying to smile, but her face still looking flush. Maybe that's how she looked all the time, he just never noticed.

"President, would you like some company?"

He probably could've rolled his eyes again, but he kept to himself, ignoring her naïve eyes.

Etsuko probably took that as a yes, because the next thing he knew the chair next to him squeaked and she settled into it. She obviously couldn't take a hint.

Silence gravitated between the two while everyone else in the shop looked perfectly at ease. Abruptly he heard paper crinkling and finally shot her a stare.

With no care in the world including him, Etsuko opened what he assumed her lunch. But slowly she caught on to his stare, tilting her head in the slightest, "What?" She removed the bag completely from her bento. "It's my break."

Tora only continued to stare hoping maybe she'd still gain a clue as she took her first bite. A person could only be so stupid, right? Finally Tora rolled his eyes at her and took another sip of his own drink. He guessed she wasn't planning on moving any time soon, so this was his final queue to leave.

But just as he was going to sit up, Etsuko wiped her mouth and swallowed her food, "What made you come here?"

It suddenly seemed the whole room quieted down and Tora raised an eyebrow at her serious tone. "I wasn't aware I needed a reason to be here."

Etsuko glanced down at her chopsticks before shaking her head. "You just don't seem the type to be hanging around this part of town is all." She met his gaze.

Tora studied her eyes and body language.

Every muscle on her round face looked perfectly calm as if this happened often to her. She looked so damn naïve right then.

The pit of his stomach churned and his eyes sharpened at how stupid she was. How stupid everyone was. This was the feeling Tora felt about every woman who threw herself at him or he was set up for the sake of a good business relationship. Every one of them was incompetent. His own eyes hardened at how stupid she was. How stupid everyone was. Suddenly just underneath his skin, it stung with the feeling he got around every woman. They just had to be so incompetent.

Another moment of silence crept by when Tora finally smirked, pushing back the prickle beneath his fingertips. Standing up, he said, "Miss Sato, surely you're not telling me you've made a judgment of me without saying more than two words to me in the Council?"

It was her turn for a loss of words. She stared, "Well, not-"

"I was just leaving." Tora turned, leaving her and walking out the coffeehouse door not even tempted to glance behind him. Besides, he could already picture the expression she must have had on her face. Pure dumbstruck.

Outside, the chills returned immediately crawling up his spine. Not even his coffee cup was warm enough.

People passed him on the street with no acknowledgement.

Tora straightened his jacket and entered the crowd of all the strangers where he could be just another face. Faintly in the distance he swore he heard someone call out, "Prez!"

A/N I didn't change too much, but I think I took out some of the things that dragged down the original first chapter. Thanks to anyone for reading :)