Book I: Ushio's Story

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- The Presence of The Past -

December 3rd, 2023.

Dear diary, it's been a while. Not much has changed at home. I'm still trying to manage everything:

. Visiting hours - I still go and visit him … nearly every day.

. Auditions – This is the only reason I would've missed a visit in the past, that's changed as there's more reasons why I miss visiting him now; my parents aren't happy about it. This was supposed to be about auditions. I'm having hardly any luck. Am I even cut out for this? I don't know…

. The Drama Club - Is coming along quite well. Kaito and Ushio are working hard, surprising for Kaito. We've still got a couple of months before the founder's festival, I'm sure we'll be okay. Yet, I can't shake this feeling that something is going to go wrong sooner or later, probably because things have been so good – or because of guilt?

. Seeing my friends - I've made quite a few new friends lately, which is nice. I still can't shake the feeling of guilt though, because my attention has been taken away from him … We all became friends about three weeks ago. It feels like I'm finally fitting in, despite it being my senior year.
Speaking of friends, Kumiko's birthday is coming up soon; 10th. I suppose Juni and the others will have something planned for her. The two of them make a cute couple don't you think? They're both such caring people, I really hope it lasts. I've mentioned everyone else so I may as well throw Takeshi a bone. He's funny, I'll give him that.

Yet, with my parents still so distant, I don't know how much longer I can keep all of this up…

I'm sorry I that haven't wrote in here for a while. I'll try to do it more often. By the way, is it weird that I'm talking to you like this?

- Yumi.

Yumi placed her pen down as she brushed her violet hair behind her ears. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she glanced through her text messages. One was from Ushio, asking Yumi about the props they needed for the play. Below it was one from Kaito, merely replying with single letters to Yumi's paragraphs covering his duties in the drama club. Another was from Takeshi, attempting his usual mission to make Yumi laugh with incredibly bad jokes. Yumi smiled at the texts, it may not have been a big thing for anyone else but for Yumi it was. She was happy to have made friends like this; she had spent so long alone, spending her lunch breaks in the library trying to convince herself that she needed to study. Yumi read over her entry again 'It feels like I'm finally fitting in'. A knock came from her front door as her phone received a text message. It was from Takeshi 'Yoyo Miss Koharuyooo.. outside.' Takeshi wasn't one for accurate grammar when it came to composing his texts. Yumi laughed at her phone, she wouldn't tell him that though, she wouldn't want him to know he was funny now, would she?

Yumi opened the front door and was met with Takeshi's grin. "Yo, yo Koharuyooo!" He bellowed, echoing his text.

"It wasn't funny." Yumi sighed.

"If you say so." He scoffed. "Still, I'll make you laugh one of these days." He declared, placing his hand to his heart and bowing.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Who knows, anyways, happy Sunday!"

"I'm going to punch you if you continue like this." She threatened, raising her fist.

"And I believe you!" He laughed, waving his hands about. She smiled at him and shook her head. She turned away from the boy and locked the front door to her house. Turning back around, she joined Takeshi.

"Where's Kaito? Isn't he with you?" She asked as they began walking through her front garden.

"Ah, he's just round the corner, on the phone."

"I see." She replied. A few moments later the two of them came around the corner and met Kaito who was still speaking on the phone. They decided to hang back a few feet away, as to not disturb their friend.

"I know, I know." He said "Well, I'll only be a few hours; I haven't really seen them this week. I'll be home for seven, okay?" He looked behind him. "My friends are here now ... ... ... Alright, thanks a lot. I'll see you then." He hung up the phone. "Hey Yumi," He said as Yumi and Takeshi made their way over to him.

"Afternoon," Yumi responded.

"What's going on man?" Takeshi asked, pointing to Kaito's phone.

"Nothing, just home stuff."

"I get ya man." Takeshi smiled. Yumi could feel that something had bothered Kaito a bit, he seemed rather quiet. She attempted to move the topic along.

"Shall we get going?" She asked.

"Yeah, I need to stop by mine first though." Takeshi said.

"Didn't you two just come from there?"

"No, no. I stopped over at Kaito's last night." He said patting his friend on his back. Kaito didn't respond, he was simply stood there, staring off into space. "Cheer up man." He said as Kaito looked up.

"Sure." Kaito muttered, forcing a smile.

"Is Juni already at Kumiko's then?" She asked.

"Yeah, along with Ushio," Takeshi said. He looked at his wrist watch. "Come on, let's get going."

"Sounds good." Yumi replied as the three began walking along the road to Takeshi's house.

A short while later, they came to Takeshi's house. He lived on the outer part of, what his friends called, 'the rough' side of town. Ushio and Kumiko also lived past there while Yumi lived in an area just before it. Nevertheless, it had been quiet lately as not a lot of trouble had occurred. They made their way through Takeshi's overgrown garden. "Want us to wait out here?" Kaito asked.

"Nah, it's cool, I might be a couple of minutes so just wait in the living room." He replied. The two nodded as he opened the front door and made his way inside, Yumi and Kaito followed behind. They walked into the living room and saw a woman sat on the sofa with a tall blonde man sat next to her. He didn't look Japanese, if anything he looked English. "Mom," Takeshi began as he saw the two of them sat on the sofa "Who is this?"

"Oh, Takeshi ..." His mother uttered. She was a pretty woman, with long dark hair and blue eyes. The man sat next to her had the same coloured eyes as Takeshi; green. Yumi and Kaito gave each other a look; they could sense that tensions were high. "This ... This is ..." The woman couldn't find her words.

"Takeshi." The man said, "I- I'm your father." Takeshi's face went white as his mother turned her head away, she couldn't face her son.

"What?" Takeshi managed to say.

"I'm your father, Marcus." He said, his eyes held a distant, almost sad gaze.

"I ... I don't have a dad." Takeshi uttered. "He ran out when I was little." Takeshi's face began to blend into a reddish colour, he was fuming.

"I know son. I- I've never been able to te-" The man began, before he was cut off.

"Fifteen, fifteen years!" Takeshi shouted. "Fifteen years you've been gone! I don't have a dad you ... you bum! You drug addict!" He yelled. The man's eyes fell to the floor as Takeshi's mother spoke.

"Please Takeshi, just calm dow-"

"No mom! How could you let this guy in the house! What are you doing?!" He shouted as the side of his clenched fist slammed against the wall. Yumi grabbed Kaito's arm, squeezing it tight. Kaito looked at her, nodding.

"Clearly this is a sensitive top-" Kaito began.

"Everyone shut up!" Takeshi yelled. He ran up the stairs as they all heard the loud slam of Takeshi's bedroom door. The four of them went silent.

"I think we should probably go." Yumi sighed as she released Kaito's arm. Takeshi's mother nodded, apologising. The two of them made their way out the house and onto the street. "Do you think its okay to leave Takeshi here?" Yumi asked, looking to Kaito.

"There's nothing we can do Yumi, besides I doubt he'll be up for going to Kumiko's now." Kaito sighed.

"Was that really his dad?" Yumi asked, looking back over to the house. Kaito let out a sigh.

"I dunno," he began. "I mean, it would explain his hair colour ... Not to make this sound any less serious. Still, they looked kind of similar." Kaito replied.

"I never knew Takeshi's father had walked out on him."

"He doesn't like to talk about it …" The two of them fell into silence, both equally uncomfortable as they thought over the prior situation. Yumi gave an uneasy smile.

"Should we just go to Kumiko's now?" She asked him, breaking the quiet atmosphere. Kaito nodded in reply. The two slowly strolled down the road, only looking back after hearing the sound of shouting in the distance.

A little while later, Yumi and Kaito arrived outside Kumiko's house. "This is the right address, yeah?" Kaito asked.

"It should be, at least it says so in Ushio's text." Yumi replied. "Have you never been here before?"

"No, have you?"

"Nope." Yumi stated. With a shrug, Kaito knocked on the door. It swung open as a bright, red headed-boy stood inside.

"Greetings," He said, a smile was planted across his face.

"Junichiro my man!" Kaito laughed walking in and giving Juni a special hand shake, consisting of a high five and a fist bump.

"You guys aren't gonna let that thing go are you?" Yumi asked in a harsh tone. Juni laughed at her words.

"Hey Yumi, how are you?" Juni asked.

"I'm fine." She nodded, smiling at him.

"Come on in, Ushio and Kumi are in the kitchen."

"You're calling her Kumi?" Kaito asked, stepping inside the house with a grin.

"I call her a lot of things. Kumiko, Kumi, Ko-ko and of course, your infamous Kumi-Chan." Juni said, rolling his eyes.

"What can I say, I'm great with nicknames." Kaito laughed, Slipping off his shoes.

"Oh yeah, because Juni and Keshi were so hard to come up with" Yumi remarked also taking her shoes off. Kaito placed his finger to his lips and hushed his friend.

"Speaking of," Juni began. "Where is Keshi?" He asked, looking past the two of them and out onto the road. Yumi and Kaito looked to each other. Kaito gave a sigh.

"Something happened," Kaito said. "We'll tell you in a bit."

"Is he okay?" Juni wondered.

"Let's just head inside first," Kaito replied, looking into Kumiko's living room. Juni looked to Yumi, she smiled as he nodded. The three of them walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Ushio smiled at Kaito when he entered the room.

"Something smells good." He said, seeing Ushio and Kumiko stood at the counter, preparing a meal.

"Thank you," Kumiko smiled. "Hey Yumi." She said, seeing the girl walk through from the living room.

"What are you cooking?" Yumi asked.

"Tortellini," Kumiko said smiling as Ushio giggled. Juni smiled as he looked to his friends.

"She's fallen in love with it since we had it the other week." Juni laughed. Kumiko nodded, confirming Juni's words.

"Is Takeshi not here?" Ushio asked, looking through the archway into the empty living room.

"About that," Kaito began, he looked towards Juni. "Keshi's dad came back."

"Wait, really?" Juni asked, shocked.

"Is that bad?" Ushio wondered, addressing Juni's face. Juni looked to Kaito, as if asking permission to continue. Kaito gestured for him to speak.

"His dad walked out on him when he was little," Juni began. "He left him, his brother and their mom alone." Juni began. "He- …" Juni stopped. Looking over the three girls, he spoke. "Promise you won't say anything?" He asked, they all nodded. Kaito let out a sigh.

"We may as well tell them," he stated. "Keshi made a big deal of out it anyway. I'm sure it'll come out sooner or later." Juni was unsure, yet, he nodded.

"Takeshi's dad, he was a drug addict; he left his family when Keshi was only two or three years old. He got sent to prison for a while as well, I think."

"He has a brother?" Kumiko asked. Juni nodded.

"His name is Takato." Kaito said. "Anyway, that's all that Keshi's ever told us about it." He concluded. Juni let out a sigh. Kaito looked to Ushio who was wiping her eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I think so," she nodded. "I just feel so sorry for Takeshi." She said; teary eyed. Kumiko placed her hand on Ushio's shoulder and smiled in support.

"So what happened today?" Kumiko asked.

"They started arguing; Takeshi began to get really angry and lashed out so we left." Yumi said in a dull voice.

"Anyway, there's nothing we can do about it," Kaito said. "Its Keshi's problem to deal with."

"Kaito," Ushio began. "We're his friends, there has to be something we can do for him."

"I think so too," Kumiko stated.

"Me too," Juni added. Kaito let out a sigh. He looked at the faces of his four friends, each looking to him for approval on the matter; he had no idea why.

"Okay …" He mumbled.

"Good," Yumi said. "Why don't we all go out this week coming?" She suggested.

"And do what?" Kaito asked.

"Shopping? Maybe go to the arcade? I don't know just anything to take his mind of it all." She replied.

"That sounds like a good idea." Ushio said, Kumiko and Juni also approved.

"Then it's settled." Yumi said.

"Are we going to watch this movie or not?" Kaito sighed.

"Sure. Everyone go and take a seat," Kumiko said. "The tortellini is done." She smiled. Yumi and Ushio went and took a seat on the sofa in Kumiko's living room. Kumiko began to dish out the pasta as Kaito and Juni also made their way into the living room.

"Hey," Juni said, grasping Kaito's shoulder as they made their way through the archway that divided the kitchen and the living room.

"What?" Kaito asked.

"Why are you so reluctant to help Keshi?" He questioned in a whisper. Kaito sighed.

"I don't want to make things worse for Keshi; I don't want him to mess it up." Kaito said.

"But how will our help make him mess it up?" Juni asked.

"I just don't want to say or do anything that'll make him … act out, you know what he's like."

"But how will tha-"

"Look, Juni. If I had this chance to get to know my dad, I'd take it. I don't want Keshi to mess up that chance." Kaito said aggressively.

"But it's completely different, Keshi's dad left, your dad d-" Juni stopped himself.

"I know ..." Kaito sighed. "Keshi needs to deal with this and make the decision himself. He has to do it on his own terms, I don't want to pressure him either way." Kaito said. Juni nodded at him.

"Are you two okay?" Ushio asked as she got up from placing the film's disk in the player.

"Yeah, fine." Kaito said as he walked over and took a seat, Ushio sat down next to him. Juni sighed as he felt something poking him in the back, he turned around. Kumiko's face was bowed low, she had just nudged her head into Juni's back.

"Are you okay?" She asked, holding three plates of pasta in her arms.

"Yeah, let me help you." He said, taking two plates from her.

"Thank you," Kumiko said as they smiled at each other.

"Kumiko ... What is that?" Yumi asked, pointing to a fat ball of fur on the floor.

"That's my cat, Bento" Kumiko laughed as she looked towards the sleeping cat.

"You called your cat Bento?" Kaito asked. Kumiko nodded. Kaito leant over to Yumi and whispered in her ear.

"At least I'm better at nicknames than her." He laughed. Yumi nodded. Kumiko brought the rest of the plates over as she shared out the food she had prepared amongst her friends. In the kitchen, on the counter, an extra plate sat there. It was completely empty.

December 5th, 2023.

Dear diary, didn't I say I'd write in here again soon? I keep my promises. We're all taking Takeshi out after school today. He doesn't seem as bad as he did on Sunday. I guess he's calmed down a bit, though he hasn't said anything about it at all. I feel so sorry for him; I really wish I could help him more. For some reason, Kaito has been acting really strange; I don't want to ask him about it since Juni said it wouldn't be a good idea.

On a lighter note, I made a call back for an audition; the only problem is I'm going to have to miss some drama club meetings. I hope Kaito and Ushio can handle it. I also hope the student council don't find out, it wouldn't look well if the club president missed a lot of meetings...

To tell you the truth, I can't stop thinking about Takeshi; he got so angry about it. You can't blame him though. I knew something was going to go wrong, maybe I'm psychic?

I'm still feeling this guilt inside me … No matter what I do, I feel as if I'm neglecting my situation at home, with my parents and him; Kazuki. My mother told me that I need to sort out my priorities. Perhaps she's right…

Honestly, it is kind of weird that I'm talking to you like this.

- Yumi

Yumi closed her diary and made her way down stairs to get her breakfast. Her parents had already left; either for work or … well, Yumi knew what else for. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, she checked it. She had a message from Takeshi. It was 8:00 am, it's way too early for him to be up, she thought. Opening the message, she began to read it. 'Hey Yumi. I just wanted to say thanks in advance for today, I kind of need a break. By the way, why did the chicken cross the road?... Because Kentucky was on its side. That was pretty bad right? Anyway, see you later.' Yumi smiled at the text, it looked like he really meant it, she thought as she examined his use of grammar. Yumi laughed at the joke; this one was actually quite amusing, considering how bad it was. She replied to him 'I laughed at that one.' A few moments later she got a reply. Looking at the text, she saw that there was only one thing in the message; a smiley face. Yumi placed the phone back into her pocket and made her way into the kitchen to prepare her breakfast.

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Thank you for reading!

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- Samuel ^_^