Blood Ties
By Alecto Perdita
Rating: G
Based on the flavors provided by the 52 flavours community on LiveJournal
Posted: September 16, 2008
Email: alecto . perdita (at) gmail . com
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. All situations, opinions and characters not belonging to Kazuki Takahashi are the intellectual property of Alecto Perdita.
- Freedom 90 -
25. less remain in one place
Honda had heard somewhere that world ends with the smallest of a bang (or something like that). And he supposed if he had listened very hard that day at about 6:25pm, he would have heard that bang.
He had seen the lights coming up the street, but the presence of police was fairly common in this area of the city. There was always neighbor complaints or couples that fought each other too hard every week or so. As he neared his apartment building, he could see ambulances parked out front too.
Something big went down.
He spotted Jounouchi standing with his father nearby. At least he now knew Tanaka hadn't fallen out of the window in a drunken stupor or something.
"Hey, what's going on?" He asked.
His friend jumped. "Honda, where were you?!"
"I had detention remember."
"Honda..." Jounouchi's gaze kept darting back and forth to the ambulance at the edge of his vision.
"Hiro-chan!"
Honda winced immediately at the sound of the nickname. He hated it when his sister called them that.
"Don't call me that, Miyuki." He snapped and saw a brief expression of amusement flash across Jounouchi's face. He was soon enveloped by his older sister's arm and fighting the blush that crept across his face.
"Oh god, thank god you're okay, Hiro-chan!"
"And why wouldn't I be?"
He watched as Jounouchi's eyes kept going back to the covered stretcher now being loaded into the ambulance. When he looked at his sister, he finally noticed that her eyes were red from crying. He was beginning to get the feeling that something had gone wrong.
"So who kicked the bucket? Was it the old grandma from the fourth floor?" He managed to ask, despite the lump of anxiety developing in his throat.
The Jounouchis looked at each other, but wouldn't say anything. Miyuki released Honda and looked him in the eye.
"It's mom and dad."
Honda wished he could honestly say that it came as a surprise to him, but he came to suspect this would happen more and more as the years passed.
"So they finally OD'ed on something." He muttered.
"Worse, they blew their brains out." Jounouchi was immediately shut up by the glare from Miyuki.
"A gun?" Honda finally felt a numbness beginning to overtake his fingers, spreading its tendrils over the rest of his body. "You're kidding."
"It's true, Hiro-chan. Your neighbors said they heard Okaa-san and Otou-san arguing and then there were several gunshots." Miyuki said quietly.
His gaze was now also focused on the second stretcher being loaded into the second ambulance. Was that one his father? Or his mother? Did it even matter now that they were both...dead? He couldn't make out much with the sheets covering both of the bodies. At least there wasn't any blood in sight.
He wished he could say he cared more. He cared...somewhat. But it felt like he should care more. These were his parents after all, if only in the sense of blood relations.
"Honda, you okay?" Jounouchi waved a hand in front of his face.
He blinked.
"The authorities are coming your way." The blonde said.
The somewhat diminutive woman that approached him wasn't quite what he expected to be a cop.
"Honda Hiroto?" She asked in a somewhat nasally voice. "I'm Morimoto Keiko from Child Guidance Service, is there any other family you can stay with while we review your case?"
Honda liked that she at least got straight to her point.
Miyuki stepped in between them. "I'm his next of kin, so he'll be staying with me."
The older woman looked down her nose at his sister. "And you are?"
"Honda Miyuki, his older sister. I keep residence elsewhere in Domino City."
Morimoto opened up the file in her hand and made a few notes. He tried to read what she was writing. But when she noticed what he was doing, she snapped the folder shut with a glare. "Very well, your little brother may reside with you in the meanwhile. His custody will be up for formal review once the pending criminal investigation is over."
"I intend to be his legal guardian." Miyuki snapped.
"This is a catfight I don't wanna see." Jounouchi muttered and Honda was inclined to agree.
Morimoto Keiko then walked away with a bit of a waddle so that even the boys couldn't help but snicker. He wished he could say that was the last he would ever see of Morimoto Keiko.
--
Sorry for the delay. Spore has completely eaten most of my life at this point. This story will most likely be revised soon.
