HAhaHahahA. Someone drag me back to studying please.
With the number of ribs poking through her skin, Rae could play the xylophone with them if she had a pair of mallets available.
Money. Rae needed money. Money to buy food to fill up her empty stomach.
What was better than using her Siren abilities to earn money?
Singing? Nah, she had not touched on it ever since her father left and might cause someone's brain to explode accidentally instead.
Dancing? Dance to what exactly? She had no training, no ways to search up on music either.
Rae scrunched her face up in thought, finally settling on something she had never thought much about in the scope of her Siren abilities.
It was a instinct, a second nature for her to be able to read the emotions of another person fairly well. Especially in areas regarding romantic feelings.
Well, she wasn't sure why or how Sirens even developed this ability that had absolutely no connection to their speciality: singing (and luring men and women to their deaths).
Who cares. I'm hungry.
Rae busied herself with the plan to set up a 'Love Fortune Teller' in the streets of Edo.
The next night, a rather professional looking station was set up on the side of the street close to a busy commercial center. A portable small white table was covered with a checkered tablecloth to hide its real age, all the cracks and chips invisible under the bright streetlight. Rae herself disguised as a old, mysterious woman, ragged clothes and a hood created with cloth scraps shadowing her unwrinkled features. A hand drawn sign was placed on the table: Come and get your love troubles all untangled with just a session! $2 for each troubled customer. Anyone is welcome.
The first night there was an awkward one. People threw her curious and disbelieving glances as they passed by. Mothers tugged their children closer to them, whispering to them to stay away from the 'creepy old woman'. Rae sat as still as a rock, waiting until all the lights shining through windows of residences winked out. No one came to her station.
It was well past midnight, and Rae grudgingly trudged back to her house, carrying all her supplies. The house was dark and eerie, all the tenants in it asleep soundly. Even though she had not been expecting for it, Rae still had this tiny hope that maybe someone would notice that she had not returned. Especially when this was the first time Rae had ever stayed out so late.
A locked front door greeted Rae instead.
Sighing deeply, Rae removed the spare key from under the flowerpot by the door and tiptoed quietly to her room.
The next evening after school, Rae set up her station at the usual spot, hoping for at least one customer. None came.
And the next day, and the next after that.
Finally on the fifth day of waiting, a drunk man who looked to be in his late twenties stumbled onto her little station.
The drunk man was just glad to find someone to vent to about his terrible love life, and could not care less that he was talking to a complete stranger.
Rae received her first customer with warm hospitality, letting him drone on and on about his girlfriend he had apparently broken up and gotten back together for the 139th time.
"Waaht s-should I do...to get her n-back?" The man slurred, resting his head dejectedly on the table.
Rae smiled, and listed out specific steps for the man to follow, noting them down onto a small paper and passing it to the drunk man. The man took his time to scan through and process the instructions. He suddenly jumped up from his seat, cupping the piece of paper like it was gold that rained down upon him from the sky. His eyes were bright with anticipation as he profusely thanked Rae, slamming down a $10 note without even hesitating and staggered off into the distance as fast as he could.
2 days passed and the drunk man who was completely sober now came back to Rae's station, towing a nervous friend along. Apparently Rae's method worked wonders and the girlfriend was all head over heels again for him. So the man brought another friend of his who was neck-deep in romantic troubles, hoping that this remarkable 'old woman' would be able to solve his friend's love problems.
Thus, Rae dished out another of her advice, penning it down on paper and passing it to the friend.
It worked wonders for the friend too.
Each previous customer reccommended more of their friends to her station each night, and soon, Rae was known as the 'Mysterious Lady of the Night' whose solutions to any love problems created or restored relationships miraculously.
Rae's business was booming, and she already was gathering a small fortune of her own by the end of year.
Rae stored all the money in a small compartment in her bedside table, planning to save them up so she could leave this depressing house and rent a small room in another place when she hits 18.
Rae also started educating herself on the art of cooking, using her own money to buy all the ingredients needed.
She didn't forget to occasionally treat herself to some cakes and new clothes with her hard-earned money, and teared up when she first tasted the sweet, fluffy chocolate cake melting in her mouth, worrying a few of the customers at the shop.
She won't have to endure a growling stomach anymore.
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Ahouto was fired from his job, and being the breadwinner of the family, they were faced with a financial crisis of their own. The two demons had expensive tastes, from everything they wear to everything they eat were all the best of the best. At the rate that their savings were being gobbled up by those two, they would be bankrupt in a month.
The two couples went job-hunting, but to no avail.
Rae would sometimes see her mother sit in the kitchen, her gaunt face buried in her arms, a mirror image to all those years ago.
She would rather have her mother ignoring her and be happy.
Rae started leaving half what she earns from her love advice business every week on the kitchen table during wee hours of the morning.
Rae knew the couple were all bewildered yet grateful for the extra funds that appeared every week, judging by how her mother's face was much brighter.
She thought her mother would never find out who was this Santa who left presents when it wasn't even Christmas, but she found a note with her mother's handwriting in place of where she always put the money.
Thank you.
A small ray of hope shined through the chink of her hardened walls, fissures expanding ouwards.
Inexplicable joy radiated from Rae's smile.
A chance has presented itself.
An image of her mother, smiling down at her with the same expression she gave to Chiaki years ago filled up her mind. Mother wants little Rae back again.
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Mother nodded in greeting at Rae.
Mummy nodded at me! Mummy doesn't hate Rae anymore!
Rae beamed at the woman standing in the kitchen, whom had arms wrapped around the demon spawns. Mother refused to further interact with her 'long-lost' child, and turned away.
Nevertheless, Rae was over the moon with that small nod of her mother's.
Let time take its course, and Mummy will accept me again, I'm sure.
A flower of happiness bloomed in her chest.
I won't be alone again.
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But her dreams turned delusional; a vain hope, as she realised it was never in her reach from the beginning.
It was all a daydream.
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Rae reeled back in shock as the posh servant standing in front of her told Rae of her fate.
She was sold. For 3 million dollars.
Why?
Rae turned to her mother.
The woman smiled at her. S-M-I-L-E-D.
"Mummy. Why?" Confused and betrayed.
"Mummy? What is this child saying? Isn't she your relative's child? Why is she calling you her mother?" Ahouto had never heard nor seen a conversation ever take place between the two. The sudden revelation of the two's relationship was surprisingly difficult for his mind to process.
"We needed the money. You are willing to help your mother to get out of this predicament, right?" The stupid, fake smile was pasted seamlessly onto her face.
Mother? Hahahaha! She calls herself my mother after 10 years of denying my existence.
Rae laughed till she bent over, clutching at her stomach.
The posh servant still stood at the door with a polite mask on, acting as if he had seen nothing and heard nothing. The well-polished Mercedes car parked behind him gleamed in the sunlight.
Mother is smiling at me.
Rae cracked up at the thought. Her mother was smiling at her, but her mother was not smiling at her at the same time.
This is not the smile I wanted to see.
Rae straightened suddenly, the sound of her laughter dying out. Her mother's smile slipped a little from her face in bafflement, but it was back in full force again in a milisecond.
Mummy never loved me.
Mummy never stopped hating me.
Tricked into the thought of being forgiven and loved, but reality tears apart the illusion cruelly.
The hope and happiness from that nod her mother had given her days ago collasped in on itself, breaking down into a powerful blackhole. The blackhole sucked everything into its depthless tunnel, bringing down her walls she had erected over the years. Her heart, her love, her joy, her sadness, her anger, followed soon after. The blackhole greedily gobbled everything inside of her up, leaving her with nothing.
Mother and Ahouto looked on silently as the little light that had made its way into Rae's eyes the past few days slowly leeched out.
What was staring back at them was not Rae anymore; just a broken, empty vessel.
"Miss Rae, please come with me. No belongings are needed at all, everything is provided for you at the Aikake estate."
Dull green eyes shifted to the bowing form of the servant.
"You can take the rest of my money in the drawer. Enjoy your riches." Rae emotionlessly said, her eyes never leaving the outstretched hand of the servant.
She had no one to live for, she had nothing to live for.
Rae placed her hand into the posh servant's, mindlessly following the man to the expensive car.
The sound of a slap was heard as Rae and the servant turned their back on them, and Ahouto's rage filled voice echoed in the small doorway. "YOU DIRTY SLUT! Why did you lie to me?!"
Seems that the idiot finally understood it.
Rae leaned back into the black leather seat, never turning back once to look at her one and only kin.
She had a mother for 15 years.
From now on, she no longer had one.
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A painful tug in her heart, as Rae came to conciousness.
A wide back with sparkling rainbow hair swam into focus.
WOOOO Gintoki mah main man arrives!
That was not the full story of Rae's past :D But more shall be revealed much, much later in this jumbled mess of a fanfic. Getting right back into the action next chapter!
BOOM BITCH GET OUT THE WAY~