Tuesday morning, August 24? – The Park across from the Furukawa Bakery (Alternate Universe 1)
The light baubles had reached the intensity of a full white-out blizzard and the four men couldn't even see each other any more when the countdown reached zero. Up until now, they could feel nothing unusual. There were only the bizarre light spheres whirling around them that they could only see through the visors.
But all of that changed in an instant. For the eternity of a single moment, the four men all had the sensation that they had just been dumped into freezing cold water. Then there was a blast of light… no not a blast of light after all. Unlike the darkness of the early morning where they had just come from, the park was now well lit in the light of day.
"Hey, my clothes aren't wet but I still feel cold." Takeo complained.
"Me too." Kenta added.
"We're all cold." Isamu agreed. The look of the sky and the crispness of the air felt wrong, "I don't think it's August here. It feels like…"
"Spring." was all Hiroki said, but when the others followed his finger that pointed to the line of distant trees they could all see what he meant. The sakura were in full bloom and the pink and white petals were in the wind everywhere.
"Dammit!" Isamu cursed.
"What's wrong boss?" Kenta asked.
"We're not dressed for spring. We're all gonna die from exposure if we don't get warmed up soon… And don't call me Boss!" Isamu answered.
"What do we do?" Takeo didn't sound his usual brash self in this unusual circumstance.
"Well, there's no helping it. There were three other things we were supposed to do first, but we need to get warmed up so let's head for the Furukawa Bakery."
The familiar bell over the door rang out but it wasn't Yukine-sama or Akio-san's voice that called out to them.
"Good morning!" Nagisa called out when she heard the bell ring. But she swallowed a little fear when the four strange men came into the shop.
"Ah, Nagisa-san! It's good to see you again." Kenta said before he remembered that this Nagisa had probably never met him.
"Again?" Nagisa squeaked. All four of the men looked rough and two of them had very scary faces.
"You probably don't remember. It's no big deal. Could you call Akio-san for us?" Kenta was, if nothing else, fast on his feet. In his time as a gang member, he had committed a fair share of swindles as well as getting into fights. It was a reputation he was no longer proud of, but those same skills might be able to help them here.
"Sure." Nagisa actually felt better that this man knew her father's name and wanted to speak to him instead of these four rough looking men surrounding and talking to her. She turned and yelled into the back of the bakery, "Dad! There are some men here that want to see you."
"What's going on out here?" Akio demanded as he came around the corner with his baseball bat in his hand and a bent cigarette in his mouth. "You boys trying to make trouble for my daughter?"
"Akio-san! What is with all this blustering?" Kenta laughed as if Akio was an old friend and was just joking with him. "Did you forget that today is your day for the Community Labor Pool?"
"Huh?" Akio was terribly confused. He didn't recognize any of the men in his shop but they weren't acting particularly dangerous. In fact, they seemed to be ready to get to work… but on what?
"The contract pays for all of our services except the deductible which must be paid in cash." Kenta explained as if he had run through this spiel a hundred times, "The services include labor but not materials. You should have prepared a list of things for us to do."
"Uh… that sounds like a really good deal as long as the deductible isn't too much, but I don't remember any of this." Akio said suspiciously.
"Akio-san, how can you say that? We talked about it at that community baseball game." Kenta said as innocently as a child.
"That explains it." Nagisa was shaking her head, "If Dad's playing baseball he doesn't remember anything else.
"Uh yeah… that's kinda true I guess." Akio put his bat down and asked, "So, what kind of things can you do and how much is the deductible?"
"Ah well… the deductible is nine thousand yen." Kenta's friendly smile didn't change, but mentally he and the other three men were all cheering this success, "We can do roofing, electrical, ceilings, walls, floors, appliances, plumbing, and of course… moving heavy objects."
Takeo groaned because Kenta gestured to him when he mentioned moving heavy objects.
"Nine thousand? Is that all?" Akio sounded stunned.
"Yep." Kenta said with a satisfied smile, "I told you before that this was a good deal."
"It is… a very good deal. Can you install a new window?" Akio asked while considering the offer. Although, he was not considering whether he would take the deal any more. He was now trying to figure out what things he might be able to get done in the time he had these guys.
"Absolutely!" Kenta chuckled to make the request sound laughably easy for them.
"That's good." Akio was already putting the list of things he wanted done together in his mind as he described some of the issues, "I've been wanting to replace the bathroom window with one that is frosted and has better insulation…"
While Kenta was closing the deal with Akio, Isamu was looking around the familiar bakery. Everything looked normal as far as he could tell. It didn't have the frilly little changes that Yukine had made, but then, she might not work here in this universe. Then his eyes found a calendar and he did a double-take. Of course it confirmed what they already knew from the sakura trees – that the season wasn't the same as the world they had left from, but the year… The wall calendar was on April of 2006. 2006! That was four years ago!
"Uh… is this calendar right?" Isamu asked Nagisa while he gestured at the calendar – but he didn't point to any specific day.
"Yeah," Nagisa said after she walked over to the calendar, "I got up extra early to see the full moon this morning. It was so pretty over the trees."
"Oh yeah? I shoulda looked up and seen it myself." Isamu smiled back at Nagisa, then he looked back at the calendar to see what day the full moon was on. So today is the thirteenth of April, 2006. Kotomi-chan will want to know about that. Huh… I wonder if that changes anything on our to-do list? We'll play Kenta's game for now, but at least two of us need to get out of here for a while and try to get the info we're supposed to be here for. But I suppose… that can wait until it warms up a bit. Turning away from the calendar, Isamu followed the others as Akio continued to explain all of the work he needed done.
.
It had been a busy morning and the four men had been a blur of activity. They had already fixed a couple of electrical outlets, moved two of the large ovens in the bakery, and they were waiting on Akio to get back from the hardware store to finish the repairs on the washing machine and get to work on a roof repair. Isamu was finished rewiring the light fixture in Nagisa's room when she came in to let him know that lunch was ready.
"I made some sandwiches if you're hungry." Nagisa offered.
"Ah, thanks Nagisa-san." Isamu decided that this might be a good time to get some questions answered. "You went to Hikarizaka, right?"
"Yes, but I didn't finish." Nagisa sounded a little embarrassed to admit that.
"Because of your health?" Isamu asked.
"Yeah… how did you know about my health problems?" Nagisa asked.
"Oh..." Isamu realized his gaffe and tried to come up with a plausible reason that wouldn't sound too creepy. "I have a friend that has a little sister that went to Hikarizaka. A lot of people were pretty sad when you got sick, you know."
"Really?" Nagisa sounded surprised, "Who was the sister? Did I know her?"
"Her name is Suno… I mean, Miyazawa Yukine. You probably didn't know her though. She wasn't in your year, but she had friends that were."
"Oh." Nagisa sounded disappointed and admitted, "I didn't really know anyone that wasn't in my year. I barely knew the people in my own class."
"That's okay. I didn't know everyone in my high school class either." Isamu chuckled. Of course in my case, it's because I never went to school. "I'll just put this ladder away and wash up, then I'll be there for the sandwiches."
"Oh… okay." Nagisa left to go tell the frightening gorilla-like man that was working in the bathroom, that it was time for lunch. She had saved the scariest for last in the hopes that dealing with the other three would give her the courage to approach the scariest one. But it wasn't working. She stopped moving a meter from the bathroom door and the struggle to move any further forward was about to make her cry.
"Nagisa-san." Kenta's voice said her name from just behind her.
"Eep!" Nagisa covered her mouth after her frightened squeak.
"You're scared of Hiroki-san aren't you?" Kenta asked quietly.
"Yes." Nagisa admitted guiltily. She turned and looked up at Kenta-san. He was almost twenty centimeters taller than her and looked rough, but he didn't look anywhere near as scary as the man working in the bathroom.
"Let me tell you a secret about Hiroki-san." Kenta smiled reassuringly, "Think of a toy store with some hand made teddy bears. All of the teddy bears are made with kindness, care, and love. But one of them… well, lets just say some mistakes were made when they were making his face. He's still the kind, caring, and loving teddy bear that all the other ones are, but none of the kids want him because his face is scary."
"That's so sad!" Nagisa was about to cry again, but for a different reason this time.
"That's Hiroki-san." Kenta frowned, "He has a heart of gold. He would rescue you from flood waters or even a burning building if you were in trouble. But not many people like him… because his face is so scary."
"Ah!" Nagisa realized that she too had done the same thing as the children that wouldn't love the scary looking bear. She rushed into the bathroom and threw her arms around a very surprised Hiroki. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for being afraid of you! You don't have to be an unloved teddy bear!"
"Huh?" Hiroki was stunned. Even in his universe, Nagisa-san had never shown him this much affection or attention. She was nice and polite, but… never anything like this. He looked up and saw Kenta in the hallway with a shocked expression. For a moment he thought Kenta might be playing some kind of joke on him, but the sincerity in Nagisa's apology rang too true to be any kind of a joke. The brief anger quickly became curiosity, then wonder. Finally, he settled on just trying to acknowledge Nagisa's feelings.
"Hey, Nagisa-san… it's all right. I'm used to people being afraid of me." Hiroki tried to console the distraught girl.
"Oh no!" Nagisa broke down into tears when she heard his attempt to make her feel better, "What Kenta-san said is true! You are the poor unloved teddy bear and… I was the same as everyone else!"
Hiroki was glaring at Kenta now. He didn't know what Kenta said, but he was certain it was that idiot's fault now. He wanted nothing more than to stomp over there and beat the fool with his monkey wrench… but Nagisa was still holding onto him… and she was now even more distraught than before. Not being any good with words, he picked Nagisa up and held her like a child against his chest and shoulder with one hand and gently patted the back of her head with his other hand. He had seen seen Yukine, Kyou, and Kotomi do this when their children were upset and it worked for them. But Nagisa-san is an adult so something like this shouldn't… She stopped crying!
Kenta was as stunned as Hiroki. He had only intended to make a little joke at his friend's expense but Nagisa had taken him far too seriously. Her reaction had been completely out of character for the Nagisa that they knew. But she's not the Nagisa we know. She never finished high school. She never met… Ryou-san. In this universe, she is more alone and more childlike than the Nagisa-san we are used to. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the presence of someone standing next to him. Looking over, he saw Isamu's angry eyes.
"I don't know what's going on here, but why do I have the feeling that it's your fault? Isamu grumbled to Kenta.
.
Thursday afternoon, April 13, 2006 – The road to the Ichinose House (Alternate Universe 1)
Takeo and Kenta stayed to tackle the roofing job so Isamu and Hiroki were able to break away for a while as soon as the washing machine was fixed and the bathroom window was mounted. With tool boxes in hand, the two men were walking up the road toward the Ichinose house to make their first stop.
"You talk with Nagisa-san?" Hiroki said quietly.
"Yeah. Dead end there." Isamu answered the scary looking but soft spoken guy, "In this world she quit school after she got sick in her senior year and she doesn't know any of the others."
"That's too bad. Nagisa-san is a nice girl." Hiroki grumbled.
"Well, she's learning how to be a baker from her dad now. That's not such a bad thing, right?"
"Umph." Hiroki grunted but Isamu couldn't tell if he was agreeing or not. All of the former gang members liked Nagisa and Ryou, but that had mostly been because they were the good friends of Yukine-sama. Sure, Nagisa and the Furukawa family had always been nice to them ever since the incident at the Okazaki house, but there had never been a lot of singular interaction with Nagisa alone by any of the gang members turned construction workers. The way this universe's Nagisa had warmed up to Hiroki had made an impact on him. It had gone beyond the tearful apology in the bathroom. She made sure his drink was refilled and sat next to him while they ate. When she found out that he would be leaving for a while with Isamu, she made some additional sandwiches and gave them to him so he would have a snack if he needed one. Hiroki was pretty sure that Isamu picked him to join him on their reconnaissance walk to get him away from Nagisa for a while. He was still thinking about Nagisa when his thoughts were interrupted by Isamu's remark.
"Whoa… this is different." Isamu had stopped when he rounded the corner and saw the Ichinose residence. It was boarded up but not in the way a house is prepared for an oncoming storm. It looked like it had been sealed for a very long time. "Let's see… if it's April of 2006 then Kotomi-chan would be going to school in America… but this…"
"It looks abandoned." Hiroki said. He noticed that the paint was chipped and flaking away, some of the boards over the windows were split, and the roof seemed to sag in the middle. Nothing looked damaged, but there were signs of rot, decay, and neglect.
"You boys lookin fer somethin?" an old woman stopped working in her garden to ask the two workers that had stopped in the street in front of her house.
"Uh, yes ma'am." Isamu said with his most disarming smile, "We were looking for the Ichinose's or the Okazaki's?"
"I dun know no Okazaki's." the old woman said while scratching her head. Then she pointed at the boarded up house and told them, "That there is tha Ichinose house, but yer 'bout ten years too late if ya want ta see the Ichinose's. That poor family all died ina plane crash a long time ago."
"The whole family?" Isamu asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I used to watch their little girl for 'em when they went off on their lecturin trips, but they took her with 'em that time since it was her birthday. And that was the last time I seed any of 'em."
"I see. Well, thank you ma'am. I guess we just had some bad information." Isamu thought about pulling out the map, but he had a good idea how to get to the next destination from here.
"That can happen I spose. You boys have a good day." the old woman sounded polite but she watched them to see what they were up to, and if they would really be on their way.
Her fears were allayed when they both shrugged and turned for the next stop on their list. Their quick pace was because the Fujibayashi home was some distance from the Ichinose house by foot. But the speed of their departure relieved the old woman that had an odd feeling about those two from the first moment she saw them. She watched until they were out of sight and then – they were out of mind as well. Less than a minute later she was back to her gardening and had forgotten all about the two workers.
.
There was no-one at the Fujibayashi residence either, but at least the place looked lived in. They rang the bell and knocked several times but decided not to look in any windows in case the Fujibayashis had any nosy neighbors like the old woman that lived near the Ichinose's house.
The two nondescript workers walked silently down the road. They both knew that this world was not their own and nothing here would affect the people in their own world, but to find out that Kotomi-chan was dead here… was a bit of a blow. They were now heading for the Okazaki house which was on the way back to the bakery when Hiroki stopped in front of a sporting goods store.
"Tired?" Isamu asked his comrade. They had been walking for a while now and the tool box was getting pretty heavy.
"No. But… it's gonna be pretty cold tonight, ain't it?" Hiroki asked.
"Yeah. True that." Isamu agreed. He hadn't thought about the evening much, but it would be unlikely that they would be able to stay at the Furukawa Bakery into the night. Instead of asking Hiroki what was on his mind, Isamu turned and looked at the advertisements that were plastered in the window of the store. He soon found the one he figured Hiroki was looking at: an advertisement for a six-pack of compact emergency survival blankets for only eighteen hundred yen. Since he had the money from Akio-san, he decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to get something here.
"Welcome!" a familiar sounding voice called out from the back of the store.
Hiroki and Isamu looked at each other in surprise. Then they both hurried to the back of the store to find the girl behind the voice. When they got there, they found a girl with long lavender hair hanging packets of screws on display pegs.
"You boys look like you've seen a ghost." Kyou laughed at their stunned expressions.
"Oh, sorry." Isamu tried to recover himself, "I just didn't expect to see you here."
"Me?" Kyou now took a harder look at the two customers, "Do we know each other?"
Crap! I did it again… "I know someone who went to school with you." Isamu tried to cover himself.
"That is a really lame pickup line." Kyou said disdainfully. "Just so you know, I do not date customers or co-workers."
"But… it wasn't a pick-up line. I really do know who you are." Isamu pleaded. He had finally found someone that could answer some questions and she was already dismissing him.
"You don't think we know who you are?" Hiroki didn't like her attitude. Kyou was always a firecracker and unpredictable. Most of the time he liked that about her but they just didn't have the time to wade through her personality quirks now.
"Nope. You're just two losers trying to hit on a store employee." Kyou's attitude was souring quickly.
"Fujibayashi Kyou." Hiroki's voice said evenly. He had a good mind for memorizing facts if not for figuring people out. He decided that it was time to use that talent.
"How do… how do you know my name?" Kyou knew that her name tag didn't have her full name and wondered where he had seen it.
"Older sister of Ryou-san. The two of you are fraternal twins." Hiroki pressed on.
"Hey now… leave my sister out of this!" Kyou's anger was starting to spike again when she thought of what these two rough looking guys might have in mind for her and her beloved sister.
"You attended the Hikarizaka Private High School and you were a class representative all three years." Hiroki watched the anger on Kyou's face change back to shock.
"How do you know…" Kyou's eyes were open wide as she looked back and forth between the two guys in workman's clothes.
"Your dream was to be a Kindergarten teacher." Hiroki said cautiously. He didn't want her to go back to angry and decided to stop here.
"Ah!" Kyou reacted like she had been slapped in the face. How can they know that?
"What happened to your dream, Kyou-chan?" Isamu asked the stunned girl.
"You don't know… my situation is…" Kyou stuttered.
"Why are you working here? Why aren't you in school learning how to be a Kindergarten teacher like you always wanted?" Isamu speculated, "Did… your father object that strongly?"
"Who are you guys!" Kyou shouted at the two men. How can they know about the fight with my father? Surely they're not friends of his? What the hell is going on here?
"I wasn't lying, Kyou-san." Isamu said softly, "And, it truly wasn't a pick-up line. I know someone that went to school with you. She thought very highly of you back then. Both you… and your sister."
"Oh." Kyou then remembered that he had indeed told her the same story at the beginning. "I'm sorry… I guess I jumped to conclusions. It's just that… I get hit on a lot here."
"I can understand that." Isamu tried to smooth things over, "You are very pretty. I would think you'd get hit on a lot in just about any job."
"Except Kindergarten teacher." Hiroki suggested.
"Naw, I could still see all the little boys, and probably most of the little girls wanting Kyou-san to be their mommy." Isamu argued.
"Yeh, true dat." Hiroki agreed.
"Um… now it sounds like you're hitting on me." Kyou said with a twisted smile.
"Not a chance." Isamu replied, "Not that we don't think you're a nice person or anything. It's just that we will be… leaving town tonight and we'll probably never be back here again."
"Oh?" Kyou's curiosity was piqued, "Going overseas?"
"Uh… something like that." Isamu wanted to change the conversation and re-asked the question, "But, I really would like to know why you're not in school to become a Kindergarten teacher now. That was your dream, right?"
"Oh that…" Kyou's mood became more depressed when she heard the question again. But her mood turned to pride as she explained her current plan, "You were right. It was my dad. He won't pay for me to go to college just to be a Kindergarten teacher. So, I got a job and I'm putting myself through school part-time."
"Very cool." Isamu encouraged the purple eyed girl. Then he asked, "Okazaki Tomoya was in your class, and then in your sister's class wasn't he? Whatever happened to him?"
"Tomoya…" Kyou went back to looking wistful as she thought about that name. "Yeah, he was in my class in our second year. In his third year, he started going out with the student council president."
"Sakagami Tomoyo?" Isamu asked with a little surprise.
"Yeah… I think that was her name." Kyou would rather have forgotten that name but now, here was someone bringing it up again.
"Is he still going out with her? Do they… live around here?" Isamu asked hopefully.
"No," Kyou was now forced to remember the last insult, "After her graduation, he followed her up to Hokkaido where she is going to university."
"Oh… I see." Isamu had never been briefed that there was some kind of rivalry between Tomoyo and Kyou, but he was seeing it now. She had been very helpful to them, but answering the questions had left her looking somewhat crestfallen. Kyou-san, I wish I could tell you that - in my universe, you are way ahead of Tomoyo in that race.
"Yeah… so, is there anything else I can do for you?" Kyou said in her best customer service voice.
"Yeah… we need the six-pack of emergency blankets that are on sale." Isamu also tried to sound more business like.
"Gloves." Hiroki grunted.
"Yeah… two pairs of gloves." Isamu added.
"Four." Hiroki reminded Isamu.
"Oh yeah, four sets of gloves." Isamu corrected himself.
"Thermoses." Hiroki suggested.
"Eh?" Isamu was starting to wonder if Hiroki was playing with him.
"Cold tonight. Hot coffee will be good." Hiroki explained in his brief way.
"Yeah, I suppose it would keep us warm and alert. Fine!" Isamu was more upset with himself that he didn't think of that, than any frustration with Hiroki, but it didn't look that way. Turning back to Kyou he asked, "How much is a thermos?"
"You guys are too funny!" Kyou laughed some of her stress away at the little comedy show that these two had put on just for her. Turning back to Isamu with a barely suppressed giggle, she told him, "We have some really nice ones for eight thousand." Kyou could see from their expressions that they wouldn't be able to afford the best, so she added, "There are a number of different models down to seven hundred. But, I should warn you that the cheaper ones aren't very durable."
"Durable… they only have to last one night." Isamu mumbled as he considered his options.
One night? Why would someone need a thermos that lasts only one night? She thought about their other purchases and began to worry that they might be in some kind of suicide pact. With concern in her voice, she asked him again, "Is there anything else?"
"Well?" Isamu immediately turned to Hiroki and passed the question down to him.
"Um… newspaper." Hiroki said after a little thought.
"Local or national?" Kyou asked as nicely as she could, but that was another purchase that raised alarm bells for her. Do they want their bodies found with evidence about what day they died?
"Both, please." Isamu replied. He tried not to let it show but he could tell that there was a change in Kyou. He had an advantage on her that she wasn't aware of. He had known the Kyou from his universe for some time and he could tell when she was trying to hide something. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was certain she had suddenly become more cautious than she had been only a few moments ago.
"We… only have nine thousand to spend." Isamu admitted apologetically.
"Nine thousand!" Kyou balked. Well, that explains why they were getting only the cheap stuff, by their other comments about only needing to last one night… and never being back… "I uh… I can get you what you need for that much. But… can you tell me why it only has to last one night? I mean… what are you going to be doing that you won't need to use a thermos again after tonight?" To Kyou's complete surprise, the rough looking guy smiled and actually seemed relieved after hearing her question.
"Ah, Kyou-chan is worried about us. I am honored." Isamu made a slight bow which caused Kyou to blush. "Don't worry about us so much. We have a… ride that will be picking us up late tonight to take us home."
"Oh… okay." Kyou answered through her blush. His story satisfied her previous concerns, but there was something else. There's something strange about the way he calls me 'Kyou-chan' with such ease… such familiarity. It's as if he has known me for a long time, but I don't ever remember meeting either of these guys at all. Kyou smiled and told them, "I'll just round up the things you need then."
Kyou went about the store gathering up the things on their list, but she did so while listening in on their conversation. It wasn't that she didn't trust them, she was still worried about them despite the convincing answer that Isamu had given her. They talked about making one last stop and about finishing the work at the Furukawa Bakery. And, several times in their conversation they seemed to mention getting picked up in the park.
Why am I doing this? Why do I care? They're just strangers. Kyou struggled with herself. I'm not the kind of person that goes sticking my nose into other people's business am I? So what if their purchases are weird… and they seem to know me… and I don't know them… and they'll never be back after tonight… and they know a lot about my past… and even my dreams! "Arrrrgh!"
"Kyou-chan?" Isamu called out to where she was gathering the gloves. "Is there a problem?"
"Ah… uh, no! No problem." Kyou realized that she had vocalized her frustration and caused the two men some concern. "I just jammed my finger a little on the shelf. I guess I was a little clumsy."
The two men looked at each other and back at Kyou. Both of them had the same thought. Kyou-chan is a lot of things, but she is not clumsy. She is still suspicious. We need to get out of here.
.
A few minutes later the two men were walking down the street with their purchases and their tool boxes in the direction of the high school up on the hill. That wasn't their destination though. After a few blocks, they stopped and waited to see if there was any sign they were being followed.
"You think she was onto us?" Hiroki asked.
"For sure, she was suspicious about something." Isamu answered.
"It was just like The Boss told us, Kyou-chan is cunning and shrewd." Hiroki almost quoted the words that Tomoyo had used.
"She can tell just from your body language if you're lying so be very careful what you say around her." Isamu finished the briefing that Tomoyo had given them about the people they were likely to run into. None of the guys thought much of that briefing when she was giving it. After all, she was just talking about people they already knew anyway. But she had been right after all. Several times now, they had almost divulged secrets that could cause them serious problems because they had stepped into the trap of familiarity with people that reminded them of the ones they knew back in their own universe.
"All right, let's take a right here and head for the Okazaki house. I don't expect to see anything useful there since we already know Tomoya-kun is in Hokkaido now. But we can at least get that off the list." Isamu said as he headed down the intersecting street.
"Right boss." Hiroki answered as he followed Isamu.
"Don't call me boss." Isamu said flatly.
Hiroki only grunted a noncommittal response.
.
Tuesday late afternoon, August 24 – The Park across from the Furukawa Bakery
"Yuki, listen to me." Tomoyo kept her voice under control while she tried to calm down her friend over the phone, "Just take a deep breath and tell me what happened."
"Thank you, senpai." Yuki's voice, on the other hand, sounded as if she was about to break down into tears. "My mother showed up here unexpectedly and… we had a fight."
"Are you okay?" Tomoyo asked. With the degree of skill that her tall protégé had mastered both volleyball and martial arts, there wasn't a lot of concern that Yuki was physically injured. However, every time the poor girl had to interact with her mother, it seemed like she had been emotionally and mentally tortured. In the beginning it seemed to take her weeks to recover from just a phone conversation. Yuki had become stronger over time, but Tomoyo still wished her young friend did not have to suffer that woman's evil when she was on her vacation.
"I'm not hurt." Yuki's voice sounded stronger to Tomoyo, "I just couldn't take it any more. She's been doing awful things…"
Tomoyo listened as her friend let it all out. All the pain, the anger that had built up over time. Her mother was an abusive person. She delighted in abusing the people around her. She had abused her own mother, her brother, her husband, and her daughter. To Yuki's knowledge, she never showed even the slightest sign of remorse. The words were condemning of her mother, but Tomoyo was able to pick up on the undercurrent of the message.
"Yuki, I am going to be unfair with you now." Tomoyo said.
"Senpai?" came back Yuki's startled response.
"I admit that I do not have the keen insight to read other people like Kyou, Tomoya, or even Youhei… but I have lived with you long enough that I can read you. I know what is really bothering you. Please do not be angry with me." Tomoyo said apologetically.
"Angry with you?" Yuki was afraid of what Tomoyo had figured out about her but confused as to why she should be angry with her senpai. "Why should I be angry with you?"
"To use what I know about you because of our closeness. It seems like that could be a betrayal… a breach of our friendship. I'm sorry…" Tomoyo started to apologize.
"No!" Yuki refused, "Don't you dare apologize for being close to me! Saying that we are close… that I am your friend! These are wonderful things that I could never hear enough. I love you senpai! You are the closest friend I have ever had. So tell me. Tell me what it is that is really bothering me. And then… if you know a way for me to fix it… tell me that too."
"Yuki… you are afraid." Tomoyo didn't want to say this any more than she wanted to have figured it out in the first place. It was something that Yuki probably should have figured out on her own, but… who could say if this wasn't right too. "You are afraid that you will become like your mother."
"Ah!" Yuki cried out. It was true. Her greatest fear had always been like a vice around her heart. The fear that she would, some day… become that which she most despised. After all, her mother had told her from an early age that some day… "She said that we were both alike and that some day, I would be just like her."
"A falsehood." Tomoyo countered.
"But… I am her daughter, so… she might be right!" Yuki cried in despair as she embraced the fears that had crippled her happiness all of her life.
Tomoyo looked at her phone but could not come up with a strong argument to counter Yuki. She wished she could be there to hold her friend in her moment of self loathing and sorrow, but she was far, far away. Her own desperation at not being able to help her friend was building when she heard a gentle voice call her name.
"Tomoyo-chan, may I speak to her for a moment?" Kotomi asked the platinum blond.
"Sure." Tomoyo looked up to see not only Kotomi, but also Tomoya and Kyou gathered around her.
"Yuki-chan, this is Kotomi-chan. Good morning." Kotomi said pleasantly.
"Um… good morning, Kotomi-chan." Yuki replied even though she knew it wasn't morning in either of the places where they were.
"Yuki-chan, if I understand the situation, you are concerned that you will become like your mother because you are her daughter. Is that correct?" Kotomi asked directly.
"Yes." Yuki wondered how Kotomi knew about all of this, but there was no point in denying it.
"I can completely disprove that hypotheses. Would you like to hear my argument?" Kotomi offered.
"Uh… yes!" Yuki's own fears were deep rooted so she wondered what kind of high tech mumbo jumbo Kotomi would use to rip out years of being told that her fate to be like her mother was inevitable.
"Before I give you my argument, I would like to hear your description of your Obāsan. I have met her a few times, but I would like to confirm my analysis." Kotomi asked.
"Um… okay." If Yuki didn't know Kotomi, she would wonder about the use of the word analysis in that comment, but it was not unlike Kotomi to use technical words in interpersonal descriptions. "Obāsan is a kind and wonderful person. She is caring… and loving… and…"
"Very good, that was my impression as well." Kotomi instructed, "Now, with the thoughts of your Obāsan and your Okāsan in your mind. Tell me in what ways they are similar."
"Um… similar huh?" Yuki imagined them standing side by side, "They have the same eye color and they are the same height."
"Really?" I thought your mother was a bit taller." Kotomi queried.
"No, she was probably wearing heels when you saw her." Yuki replied.
"So then, how are they similar in personality and disposition?" Kotomi asked.
"Hah!" Yuki laughed, "They're not remotely the same. It's like they're from different planets."
"Here then is my counter to your hypotheses: you are as likely to become like your mother because you are her daughter, as your Okāsan was likely to become like your Obāsan because she was her daughter." Kotomi offered her evidence, then waited for the response.
Checkmate.
Like an eraser removing the ugly graffiti left on a blackboard, Yuki could feel years of amassed fear being wiped away. The fears that had been planted in her over the years had been deep rooted, but the love and respect she had for her Obāsan had been deeper still. Kotomi's argument was incontrovertible in her mind. Obāsan had always been with her in her heart as a defense against even her mother's cruelest attacks, but Kotomi had liberated the spirit of Obāsan from her role as a defending saint and given her new power as an avenging angel. Wherever the lingering oppression and fear hid and festered in her mind and soul, it was no match for Obāsan's love. Yuki blinked her eyes and noticed for the first time how amazingly colorful the world was.
"Yuki-chan? Are you still there?" Kotomi asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Yes… thank you very much, Kotomi-sama. May I speak to senpai again please?" Yuki asked almost reverently.
"Of course." Kotomi answered and passed the phone back to Tomoyo.
"Yuki?" Tomoyo asked when she got her phone back.
"Senpai, are we on speaker-phone?" Yuki thought to ask.
"No." Tomoyo answered after double checking the icon.
"Good… Kotomi-sama is scary." Yuki sighed. She was still amazed at the changes still going on inside her.
"Yes, I would have to agree." Tomoyo thought of the recent conversation when she discovered that Kotomi had sent four of her friends to another universe without even considering that she should provide them with a way to communicate back.
"But… I mean it in a good way." Yuki felt as if all the energy had been drained from her body and yet revitalized at the same time. "I think I'm going to rest for a while now. Thank you senpai. And please thank Kotomi-sama for me. I don't think I could ever thank her enough if I lived to be a thousand years old."
"Okay. I'll call you back later, okay?" Tomoyo asked.
"Yes… thank you senpai." Yuki replied before she ended her cell call.
Tomoya was about to ask how the kids were doing when their attention was drawn to one of the senior technicians running up to them.
"Kotomi-hakase!" the lab coated man called out, "We need you at the test site now!"
"Why? What's wrong?" Kotomi asked even as she was moving out from underneath the staging area's canopy.
"We're getting feedback on the test signal!" the tech told her.
"What's going on?" Tomoyo asked as she too got to her feet.
"Are all of the trucks still in position?" Kotomi asked the tech as she broke into a trot towards the test area.
"Yes, hakase."
"Charge all of the particle accelerators as quickly as possible. Let me know as soon as they are ready."
"What's going on?" Tomoyo demanded.
"I had arranged for a test signal to be sent every hour to record different energy values." Kotomi explained without slowing down, "Feedback could indicate that they are trying to come back early."
"So… they're in trouble?" Tomoyo feared the worst.
"There are many possibilities, but that is certainly one of them." Kotomi replied.
Dammit Kotomi! Why did I ever let all of you talk me into this madness? If anything happened to them, I… Tomoyo was extremely upset both with this ill conceived experiment and with herself. She would like to break all of those forsaken trucks with her bare hands and beat Kotomi's head until she couldn't remember how to build something like this again… but she would never do that. If anything happened to them, I'll probably leave this town for good. Who knows… maybe I'll leave anyway.