Author's Note: Hey, y'all! Its me again! Betcha thought you got rid of me, didn't ya? Well, TOO BAD! I'm up and ready to rumble!
Allright my Muses, come to me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sakaki, Kaorin, Kagura, cats or the police, though I guess I do own the original characters (Sakaki's family.) But y'all can use them if you want to. )
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Sakaki walked slowly down the sidewalk, kicking a rock and seeing how close she could get it to a crack. Kagura was walking beside her, rambling on as usual.
"Yeah, so I asked my dad for that awesome mountain bike yesterday, but he said he was only paying for half, ya know? So I think I'm gonna apply for a job at Mickey D's, to help pay for it… Oh look, a cat!"
Sakaki's head snapped up. A calico kitten was perched on the wall, staring down at her innocently. Calm down, Sakaki, calm down, it's just a kitten, she told herself. Just a kitten…
By now, Kagura had lost interest and started walking again. "Mickey D's pays nine hundred yen an hour, I'm figuring if I have to come up with 400,000 yen to buy my bike, I'll work from five to six on Mondays… Hey, Sakaki, what're ya doin'?"
Sakaki had stopped, staring at the cat. A piece of unfinished roll left over from lunch that she had kept for this very reason was clutched in her hand… She was closer… closer…
"ARGHH!" Kagura shouted, jumping in front of the kitten and waving her arms frantically, as if she were drowning. "Go away, cat! Don't bite Sakaki! Shoo! Shoo!"
A sweatdrop appeared on the back of Sakaki's head as the cat turned its cute little tail and jumped down.
"That showed 'em, didn't it?" asked Kagura triumphantly. "Anyway, I'll have to manage my time to fit in the new job…"
Sakaki sighed. Someday, she would pet a cat…
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Sakaki gently pushed open the door of her house, looking around. She could hear her mother and father in the kitchen, arguing as usual.
"Look, I know that you have to have your fun, but I just can't have you coming home at midnight, drunk and shouting—"
"Shouting? I didn't make a noise! Now, stop trying to tell me what to do, that's not what I married you for—"
"Married me for?" Her mother was outraged now. "Married me for? What did you marry me for? Because it sure wasn't love, I can tell you that much!"
There was a loud, slapping sound, then silence.
Sakaki slowly made her way upstairs, numb. On the outside, to everyone else, her father was a rich, successful man, slightly handsome, very professional, always doing the right thing. But at home, he was in and out of drunken rages, yelling at Sakaki, hitting her mother, ruling the household with an iron fist…
She heard his heavy footsteps climbing up the stairs and sat on her bed, wishing he didn't work a late shift on Tuesdays. His deep voice called out to her.
"Kayani! Kayani Minoku Sakaki! You come here!" She winced at the name 'Kayani.' Her door opened.
"Kayani." He spoke only her name, but she could read the layers of danger and menace applied to it. "Kayani, if you say one word, and I mean one word to the cops, I swear I will—"
"I won't, otu-san," she said in a bored voice. "You know I won't. I never have." She grimaced slightly, hoping he wouldn't remember the one time she had.
He did, and leaned close to her. She could smell the alcohol lingering on his breath. "You did once," he whispered. "You did once, and once a little snitch, always a little snitch."
Something snapped in Sakaki's mind. "A snitch?" she asked, voice trembling in fury. "I'm a little snitch? Then what are you? A bald-faced liar?"
He drew himself up. "You take that back right now, Kayani." His voice was dangerously calm. "You take that back right now."
"No! I won't!" she shouted. "That's what you are! A liar! Nothing but a liar! You lie every day, dressing up in fancy clothes, going out to be a businessman, you're lying! Everybody thinks you're a normal person. But you're not! You're a demon and a liar!"
Her father, who had been watching her silently, suddenly whipped out his hand and struck her on the cheek, hard.
There was silence.
Horrified, Sakaki reached her hand up to her cheek, feeling the unnatural warmth on the spot where he had hit.
His eyes glinted in a strange way. "I'll leave you here to think," he said coldly, and was gone.
She watched him leave. Her face felt numb, and she could taste metallic blood where her tooth had cut into her lip. She knew she should expect that after shouting like she did, but still… He was her father…
Her door opened once again, and it was her mother. Pale and small, her delicate features adorning her small face, she stood for a second, leaning heavily against the door, as if she could not support her own weight. Naoki Sakaki looked at her daughter, silent in shock, white in pain, her tongue red with blood, and sighed wearily. "Oh, honey…"
"I'm fine, oka-san," said Sakaki quickly, and pushed past her, stalking out the door. She ducked down the stairs, sneaking past the living room, in which her father was watching television. She threw open the door, the crisp wind whipping her hair into her face, her hand still tenderly touching her cheek.
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She was six. She could hear her mother and father arguing in their bedroom. She lay awake, unable to sleep, straining to hear them but only catching fragments.
"Hon, you know I—"
"…Yes, I do—"
"No, no, that's not what I—"
The argument escalated. Soon, her parents were shouting, angry at each other, so angry, so angry…
A scream.
Kayani slowly got up, and looked at Katani sleeping next to her. She grabbed the phone next to her and dialed the number her teachers told her to call when she was in trouble.
9...1...1…
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Sakaki stood outside the house that could not possibly be her home, away from the parents that could not possibly be her parents. Her heart was yearning for her to run, run, run away, away…
But with a pang of fear, she remembered what she had to do first…
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Kaorin walked into the classroom, clearly annoyed. She slammed her books down on the table, looking furious. Sakaki turned at the sound.
"What's wrong, Kaorin?" she asked.
Kaorin's mood quickly changed. "Oh, hello, Sakaki! Nothing really, it's just that my brother bugged me to death this morning." She smiled at Sakaki. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"…Nope," said Sakaki, staring out the window.
"Oh really?" Kaorin laughed, her hand behind her head. "Well, yeah… Sakaki? Sakaki?" Sakaki wasn't moving. "Sakaki?" A sweatdrop appeared on the back of her head.
Brothers or sisters… thought Sakaki.
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Sakaki sat in the backyard, staring at the gravestone in front of her. Katani Minoku Sakaki, 13 years old. May he rest in peace. Below it, in barely readable red crayon, someone had scribbled, Kayani and Katani. Best brothers and sisters ever. Sakaki smiled slightly through tears that had suddenly spouted.
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Kayani had arrived in school one Tuesday morning, pale and distant, 13 years old. Nao, her best friend, had walked up to her. "What's wrong, Kayani?"
Kayani could feel the tears in her eyes. Kayani and Katani. Her oka-san's pet name for them both. "Kayani and Katani!" she'd call. "Time for dinner!" Or, "C'mere, my dear little Kayani and Katani. Now, which one of you is which?
Kayani shook her head. "I'm Sakaki now," she whispered. And Sakaki she stayed.
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After she had cried a bit, she looked again at the hard gray stone. It seemed so… unfeeling for a person like Katani. He was so—so happy. He cheered his dear sister Kayani-chan up whenever she was down. On a sudden inspiration, she walked over to the other side of the yard. A bed of primroses lay there, facing up toward the sun with hope. She picked one, then walked back over and placed it on the dirt of the grave, remembering all the times when she had romped through the bed with him, when she was still Kayani and he was still Katani.
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She was in the flowers with Katani when the police came. First, she heard the sirens. She ran out with Katani onto the sidewalk to wave to the police officers, like she always did. But then they stopped by her house. They rushed in, their faces serious. Katani ran inside, but Kayani stayed put. She could hear otu-san shouting at the police officers and the police shouting back at him. She could hear Katani crying and her oka-san crying. And then all she could hear was otu-san, leaning in to her, shouting to her about the phone call she had made. And then the police dragged him away from her.
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And with a last glance back, she stood and walked out of the yard, away from her home, away from everything that she'd known and loved, to start something new. She'd leave everything behind, except a memory, a memory of her twin Katani.