A Friend For Daddy
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
When Yamazaki Sosuke was 18, he returned to his hometown of Sano to help his father with his business. With his dreams of swimming professionally over, Sosuke really didn't have anything else to do. So he started helping his father, giving it his all if only because he was grateful to his father for always supporting him and he found, he was good at it. Good with the business of managing a fishing fleets, selling the fish caught both nationally and internationally. He even start taking classes part-time at the local university to get the theory behind the practice of business down too.
It made sense, he had always been a theoretical swimmer, not just somebody who went with his gut. So it was only natural that even in business he would also employ theory and not just go with his instincts. But in going to the university he also discover interesting and innovative uses for fish derivatives. He started working with some of the researchers to commercialise their projects and before he knew it, Yamazaki Fishing was breaking new grounds and sailing new waters. But his father found it too much and quickly retired, handing the reins over to Sosuke, confident that Sosuke would steer the company well.
As Sosuke concentrated on his business, Rin concentrated on his swimming. Training under the best coaches to try and make his Olympic dream a reality. They tried to stay in touch. Send letters, meet-up for drinks whenever they could but their lives were so different and so busy that it was only inevitable that they drifted apart and kept drifting until one day Sosuke realised that he had no idea where Rin was or what he was doing and that the number he had for Rin was no longer valid. For Sosuke, that moment felt as painful as when he realised his body was done and he could no longer achieve his dream of swimming internationally. But life moves on and so did Sosuke.
"That's just stupid!" Rin heard his manager bark into her phone, "Rin's not doing anything like that! It could be dangerous!" there was a pause, "I don't care if his daughter will be there and a camera crew! It's creepy! I have never been a supporter of these dinners with celebrities or celebrity auctions or junk like that," another pause, "There are lots of dying kids!" a short pause before, "I am not heartless! Don't…"
"Oi, Yanagi," Rin interrupted, coming-up the hall to meet her, "What's this about a dying kid?"
"I'll get back to you," Yanagi told whoever she was talking to before hanging-up, "That was a friend. He's a documentary producer. He's making a documentary on the life of this businessman."
"Who?" wondered Rin.
"Yama- something or other," she said dismissively, "You know I am bad with names! He's supposed to be pretty famous in the business world but I have never heard of him."
"I guess he doesn't sponsor swimmers," Rin joked.
"Apparently he does but kids and teenagers mostly," Yanagi replied, "Especially those living in poverty or whose parents are just too poor to afford training and equipment," Japan did have something like 16% poverty rate and Rin knew full well that not every kid who wanted to swim lived in a family who could afford to let them, "Anyway, he has a daughter. She's adopted. Story goes he found her in a garbage dump."
"Wait, what!" cried Rin, "Seriously?"
"As far as I know. I mean, I don't know all the details but he adopted her. She's 8 I think and has some incurable and fatal disease. You know, the usual sob story," she said flippantly.
"Seriously, your level of not caring disturbs me," commented Rin.
Yanagi rolled her eyes and continued, "Anyway apparently her last wish is for her daddy to have friends and maybe even find someone to love."
"Yama- something or other person doesn't have friends?" asked Rin.
"Again, I didn't really pay attention but I gather that everybody in his life currently is associated with his business. I guess the little girl does not approve of this and so when the documentary crew approached them to make a documentary about their life, especially film the girls last years, she suggested that they make it about her quest to find a friend for her dad. I am guessing her father is indulging her because she's dying. He's probably a total loner who doesn't like people."
"So why did they ask me?" wondered Rin.
"Apparently her father took her to watch you in the Olympics last year and he cheered for you a lot. So she thinks he likes you and so thought maybe if you meet, you might become friends," replied Yanagi.
"That's it?" asked Rin, perhaps a little disappointed, although he wasn't sure why.
"That's what I was told," replied Yanagi with a shrug.
"I'll do it," Rin told her.
"What! Why?"
"It sounds interesting. Besides, it looks like it won't be much more than a dinner or something," said Rin.
Yanagi sighed, "Fine! I'll get the details."
Sosuke's day started early. Very early as he still made a point of jogging down to the harbour every morning, weather permitting, to check on his fishing fleet. The fleet wasn't always there, since it did spend days at a time out at sea. But still, even if he was just looking at an empty harbour, Sosuke wanted to jog by and look in. After, his morning jog, he put in some weight training at his in-house gym before having breakfast. Keeping his body in-shape being his only hobby and vanity, indeed some may say a mild narcissism was his only vice. Sosuke didn't try to pretend he was doing it only for healthy reasons. He knew he wasn't.
It was only after his own breakfast that he woke his daughter-up. "Are you looking forward to this weekend?" asked Karin, usually called Rinrin, of her father as Sosuke made her breakfast.
"What's happening this weekend?" Sosuke wondered.
"Daddy! It's your birthday this sunday! Remember? Also Takao-chan setup dinner for us with the surprise guest," she reminded him, "Aren't you excited?"
"I would be more excited if it was just us," replied Sosuke, "Or at least if I knew who was crashing our little party. Besides," he put her plate of food in front of her, "Haven't you finished trying to set me up?"
"I am not trying to set you up!" Rinrin told him, "I am just introducing you to potential friends. If one of them becomes something more that'll be nice but I just want daddy to have lots and lots of friends who love him as much as I do!"
"I have friends," protested Sosuke, smiling softly.
"Name one who doesn't work for you or isn't a client or a business partner," Rinrin challenged.
Sosuke opened his mouth to answer but closed it again and sighed in defeat. It was sadly true. He had lost touch with everybody not connected with his work. His last girlfriend broke-up with him a year ago, shortly after they found an inoperable aneurysm in Rinrin's brain that basically meant that Rinrin could either live a long time or die any minute. His girlfriend didn't want to deal with falling more in love with a ticking time bomb of a child and didn't think she could be there for Sosuke once the bomb went off. So she left him, left them. Sosuke hadn't bother trying to date again. Perhaps because he saw her point and thought it unfair to drag anyone else into the slow moving tragedy that was his life.
Probably why he wasn't making much of an effort to actually make friends with the people Rinrin kept finding for them to have dinner with. But he indulged her and besides, he liked the idea of a documentary about his life going on the air. If only because he liked the idea of Rin seeing it and, well, Sosuke liked to think that Rin thought of him from time to time. Just like Sosuke thought of Rin but while Sosuke just had to visit Wikipedia to learn if anything significant happened with Rin, Rin wouldn't have a clue about Sosuke. But perhaps Rin never thought of him and even if he did, didn't really care about what Sosuke was upto. The thought saddened Sosuke so he put it out of his mind.
Besides, Sosuke did decide not to try and get back in touch with Rin. If only because he didn't think they would be any better keeping in touch then before. Afterall, they were both still very busy with their own, very different lives. Maybe once Rin announced his retirement Sosuke would try and get back in touch with him. With any luck, he would be able to introduce Karin to Rin and finally admit to Karin that Rin wasn't just a swimmer Sosuke liked to watch and cheer for but a dear childhood friend who Sosuke still loved and would always love. He would finally tell her that he called her Rinrin because it had been Rin's nickname and indeed, named her Karin because it would give him an excuse to call her Rinrin without calling her Rin outright.
"I am a terrible person," Sosuke thought to himself.
"Well I think daddy will like who we are going to have dinner with on sunday," said Rinrin.
"Do I get any hints?" wondered Sosuke.
Rinrin thought about it, "No," she decided, "I might say the wrong thing and then daddy's surprise will be ruined!"
Sosuke laughed indulgently, "Alright, I'll look forward to it."
"So where are we doing this?" wondered Rin, piling into a fancy car from a car service.
"Argento ASO in Ginza," replied Yanagi.
"That's pretty fancy!" commented Rin. He had never eaten there but, due to his interest in food, often read reviews of restaurant in and around Tokyo just for fun.
"It's apparently his birthday and the little girl likes Italian. They are rich so they can afford it," replied Yanagi.
"Right," replied Rin, "Did you find out his name yet? I feel like I know everything about him but his name!"
"Ah right, I have it here somewhere," Yanagi started going through her mail on her phone, "That's odd… we somehow managed to arrange this whole thing without once mentioning the name of the person or his daughter," replied Yanagi sheepishly.
"What! How?" wondered Rin.
"Well my first email to my friend just said 'Rin will do it' and then he replied back 'Great!' and then included the date, time and place and… that's it," she said, "I guess since he mentioned the name on the phone, he didn't think to repeat it and I just didn't ask."
Rin was not impressed but, "I suppose we'll introduce ourselves anyway," he said, no harm was done and it wasn't as if Rin didn't know Yanagi's disdain for this.
She was a no nonsense manager who was cold and calculating. She didn't think this would get Rin much publicity and thus, as far as she was concerned, wasn't worth wasting time on. Rin liked her well enough but he did wish she would understand that not everything he did was motivated by money or publicity. Rin was genuinely curious about this man and his daughter whom he supposedly rescued from a garbage dump.
"We have a private room ready, so please follow me," said the head waiter as he led Rin and Yanagi through the restaurant.
"Is the camera crew also in there?" asked Rin curiously.
"Crew? There is no crew," replied the waiter, "But I believe Takao-san has a handheld camera which he is using to film everything. Otherwise it is just Yamazaki-san and his daughter."
Rin's heart jumped, "Yamazaki?"
"Ah, yes," replied the waiter, slightly confused, "Ah we are here," he reached for the door but Rin beat him to it and threw it open.
The sudden movement startled the room's occupants and they all looked towards the door, "Sosuke!" cried Rin.
Sosuke was stunned but finally managed, "Rin…"
"Wait!" cried Rinrin who was sitting next to Sosuke, "You two know each other!" She grabbed Sosuke's face and turned it towards her, "You never told me daddy!" she pointed out sadly.
"Ah, sorry about that," replied Sosuke, it was easier to talk when he was focused on his daughter, "Rin is a childhood friend. He grew-up in our town but ah… hasn't been back for years and we haven't spoken in years either. So… umm..."
"Why not?" she wondered, "Don't you like each other anymore?"
Neither Rin nor Sosuke replied. If only because neither remembered the exact sequence of events that resulted in them stopping communicating. It just sort of happened. Rin remember going into full on training mode and not really talking to anyone, not even his mother or Gou, ahead of his first Olympics. He hadn't performed well, getting eliminated in the semi-finals. So he had come back from it even more focused and determine and even more neglectful of his relationships. He wasn't even sure what happened exactly but one day he had gone to call Sosuke and realised he no longer had Sosuke's details. He had tried to get it from Gou but Gou didn't have it either and before Rin could try more to get Sosuke's details, Rin had become busy again.
"I still like Rin," Sosuke finally said, his tone barely above a whisper.
"Me too," replied Rin.
It was about then that Takao and Yanagi decided to remind Sosuke and Rin that they were there and the evening started rolling forward. Perhaps more awkwardly than first envisioned.
Rin opted to return with Sosuke and Karin to their Tokyo apartment. Ditching both Yanagi and the documentary producer Takao after the restaurant with promises to Takao to give proper interviews and stuff later. But Karin was pretty beat and so was put to bed straight after they got to the apartment.
"I heard you found her in a garbage dump," Rin said bluntly, giving-up trying to find a good way to say it.
"True," replied Sosuke, "You probably don't remember her but Karin's mother was a classmate of ours in elementary school. She got into drugs and alcohol in high school and even beat-up a teacher. She was thrown out of school and from home. She started living on the streets and doing whatever she could to earn money. Mostly that meant selling her body," Sosuke explained. "Not entirely sure how she missed the fact she was pregnant but from what she told the police, when she went into labour she was thoroughly shocked. Not knowing what to do with Karin once she was born, she dumped her in a pile of garbage near the harbour. Luckily, I found Karin while jogging in the morning. Just a little longer and Karin would have died of hyperthermia."
"Sosuke…"
"She was too messed-up to know who Karin's father was and because of the drugs and alcohol she took while pregnant, Karin wasn't exactly considered an easy adoption case. I figured since I was the one who found her, she was my responsibility and adopted her. Best decision I ever made, even if my time with her isn't long."
"So the part about her being sick and dying is also true," said Rin.
"Yeah," replied Sosuke, "Sorry," he said, "I am always returning to your life when my own is in a not very happy place."
"But that's our fault isn't it," replied Rin, "Because we keep losing touch and so we can't be with each other when times are good," Rin pointed out. Sosuke didn't reply.
"Let's not!" Rin finally said, "Let's not lose touch this time," still Sosuke didn't reply. As if with his silence Sosuke was pointing out the futility of such a wish and that was kind of pissing Rin off. But, "Happy Birthday Sosuke," he said, after taking a deep breath to calm himself, "And as your birthday present, I promise to hangout with you more. Get to know Karin and really become part of your lives. So umm… be ready for that!" he said, putting on his best smile.
"Rinrin," replied Sosuke.
"Huh!" Rin was a bit put-off by Sosuke suddenly calling him by his much hated childhood nickname.
"I like to call Karin, Rinrin," Sosuke explained.
"You… are a terrible father," Rin declared.
"Oh shut-up!" protested Sosuke, "She likes it."
"Sure she does!"
Author's notes: I am sorry! I really wanted to do something for Sosuke's birthday and this is the happiest story I could manage! For some reason I just feel like writing angst for Sosuke T.T