Chapter Twenty :: The Morning of the Funeral

Start of Part III

Ten Days Later

Kuon lay on his side of the bed motionless for the ninth day in a row, he wasn't hearing the sound around him, he wasn't seeing his wife crouch down gently and sweep the strands of hair away from his eyes, he didn't even care that she was treating him as if he were a child. All these things were consequential to his life and the choices he had made. Just like the choice to ask his rival to kill his son.

After the police had heard of it they told Kuon that there was nothing that he had done that they could send him to prison for, he hadn't made the decision for the death as much as he was led to believe that. Calling him up before killing his son was a method most gang members used anyway to get their laughs out of the abused.

"You have to get out of bed today," Kyoko told him as she held his hand and yet he failed to hear her, she frowned trying to think of the best thing that she could do. She was in a lot of pain herself that such a thing were to happen to her family but she had to use her acting to hide most of her grief so that she could prop Kuon up both metaphorically and literally.

Kuon closed his eyes and shook his head once in a slow mechanical manner.

"For today you do Kuon," Kyoko replied to this, "I'll let you sleep for a month, or a year, you just need to get up today."

"Why?" Kuon asked her his voice not having any sign of interest or curiosity mixed in with it, just a simple word.

"Today we have to bury I—our son," she choked tears coming to her eyes, every time she was about to say Ichirou's name it was as if she couldn't. All that came out were tears and it wasn't that she didn't love her son's name, it was that she loved saying it too much that now, without anyone to reply to her, she felt unworthy of saying it.

"Ichirou," Kuon cried mournfully, "His name..."

"I don't want to say it," Kyoko told him, "Not until it's time."

"Ichirou! His name was Ichirou! Ichirou Rick Hizuri!" Kuon yelled unable to understand why Kyoko just couldn't say it, he was the one who shouldn't be able to say it but that wasn't the way that the world was cooperating with him. Was it that he couldn't feel the full intensity of guilt for the actions he had caused to happen whilst Kyoko could? "Ichirou!"

"Ichirou..." Kyoko repeated, tears elegantly pouring down her cheeks yet her voice remained pure, "My baby. My oldest son. His name was Ichirou Rick Hizuri"

There was silence in the room and then Kuon rose and left to go to the bathroom which was joint onto their room. He left without words and then a knock sounded at the door to the bedroom. Kyoko wiped away quickly at the tears and then went to answer the door where she found Ryuu there.

"Mom," Ryuu whispered, "We're going to all go and say goodbye to nii-san today aren't we?"

Kyoko nodded as she crouched down with him, "Yes sweetie,"

"Good. One last time to be together the four of us," Ryuu said as Kyoko hugged him tightly. "Mommy?"

"I love you baby, I love you. I wish I had corn to give you but...he's gone too. He must have protected big brother's emotions and his heart when he went through what he went through. He'll be safe with him," Kyoko whispered

"But mom..." Ryuu said nervously, "Didn't you get all of nii-san's clothes back when you got his body back?" he saw Kyoko's open mouth, "Ryan told me," he quickly said as she shook her head disapprovingly. "We got nii-san's wallet and phone and keys backs, but we didn't get Corn. Why wouldn't they send back Corn?"

"For one thing Corn's just a stone to most people, they don't understand the magic and memories that stones can have, but for another...Ryan didn't tell you that did he? You heard daddy and I talking. I think it's a little strange you using Ryan as an excuse all the time, he's dead Ryuu like your brother. These are just figments of your imagination."

"I'm not crazy!" Ryuu protested, "I'm not!"

"Honey," Kyoko said delicately, "It's nothing to be ashamed of since you're seven years old. I'd just prefer it if you didn't concentrate on dead people, concentrate on the fairies okay Ryuu?" she asked him softly.

"I haven't seen Ichirou's ghost yet," Ryuu told her stubbornly, "I think that big brother's lost his way home...either that or he's not dead yet."

Kyoko looked at him her tears arising again, "Ryuu..." she whispered, "These things aren't real. Ghosts don't continue to live on."

"I don't think he's dead..." Ryuu said before looking away wishing he was holding Rook his Tanuki. "Really mom...I don't..."

"Honey," Kyoko sighed and looked him straight in the eyes, "Ichirou is dead. We can pretend that we don't want it to be so, none of us do, but he's gone and ghosts aren't real."

"Bu-" Ryuu tried to speak out as Kyoko shook her head.

"No more talk of ghosts now Ryuu, not now not ever, you promise?"

"Alright," Ryuu said but that only meant not talking to her he'd continue to talk to Ryan, "I promise," he said bitterly before walking off to go play with Nana.

Meanwhile

Leon took a deep breath in as he walked by the cafe. He wasn't working today, not when the person he had felt destined to be with was now dead. He didn't believe it either, they would often use tricks and techniques to get people to give up on the lost. However, what did manage to make him less curious were the DNA reports all stating that these were Ichirou's body parts.

He closed his eyes and groaned as a plane flew overhead. Seeing the person he was meeting he gave a half hearted smile and found her to fling her arms around him.

Arielle had cut her hair short so that it hung by her chin, most of it was died black except for a few strands of her natural red color. She wore a gothic lolita outfit that wouldn't appear out of place at one's funerals with its black and white colors. Colors meant for mourning for both Ichirou's Eastern and Western sides.

"Arielle, your hair," Leon said as Arielle nodded.

"I donated," she informed him, "Before dying it, I donated my red hair to be made into a wig. If I had the fan base that Ichirou had I could have auctioned it off and done some work towards helping homosexuality become a more open fact in the community."

"It's alright," Leon said before Arielle stared down.

"Did Ichirou ever tell you about his partaking in a male orgy...at least that's what I believed it was at the time. I didn't want to alert anyone until Ichirou told me himself, but by the time I really knew...he was gone," she sighed and looked at Leon who was staring at her confused. "Akira raped Ichirou.." she said as if he already knew, "or got someone else to do it."

"Akira is Seiji Fuwa," Leon told her as Arielle nodded in agreement, "Well was..." he said, as soon as he, Leon had come clean to Aki about what he knew, and Shou had seemed to say that he wanted his son out of the place, Akira was as good as gone.

"Yeah, can't believe I used to be in love with him," Arielle sighed before putting one hand through Leon's longer, lighter hair, "Can't believe how much your hair's grown in a month though, it seems that you really do like sitting in that hair salon chair."

"Oh...and black isn't a better color?" Leon raised his eyes. He was currently wearing his only black on black suit, something he had bought himself for the occasion.

"I'm in mourning," Arielle said sounding much more offended than she was, "Ichirou was my best friend since I was twelve years old. I wonder how he would have appeared in this world as a seventeen year old."

"He'll be seventeen...he'll actually be one hundred I gather before he's truly forgotten," Leon sighed as Arielle shook her head.

"He'll always be sixteen to me," she said before crying more.

Leon looked at her before taking a deep breath in, "I'll share a secret with you...you know how I'm good at digging up dirt on people. Hizuri Kyoko's pregnant."

"At her age?" Arielle gasped as Leon sighed

"She's only thirty nine," he told her with a shake of her head as Arielle shrugged. Looks like Ichirou's replacement was coming sooner than they thought.

Meanwhile

Justin passed by Zack who was sitting on the floor in the corner of the private plane, running his finger up and down his shoe lace. He seemed to be sitting there without hope as if waiting for something or waiting for nothing. "Hey?" Justin said looking at him, he tapped him on the shoulder, "Do your shoe up" he said as Zack nodded and did it up. Justin sighed as he stood next to where the American-Japanese teenager was. "Zack, when we get to America again you are..." he looked at Felicity, "To keep calling us mother and father you understand?"

"Of course father," Zack said looking up at his dad obediently.

Felicity looked at Justin before staring down, she had found out once that she and Justin were at risk of not having any children. What with Justin's busy lifestyle and their ages not being of the same generation, it just wasn't in the cards for them to have a baby of their own. Therefore, after getting to know how good of a person Ichirou was for those weeks they had had him and tortured him, she had come to feel something for him too, come to want him. She had come to Justin the previous night and asked him because of these emotions she was gathering for Zack if they might raise the teenager as their own son. Forge everything they needed for him and take care of him just as if she had given birth to him herself.

"Your mother has requested for you to be enrolled in an elite high school in New York," Justin told Zack who gazed at him confused, "You are to impress your teachers and the other students, allow them to know that the Warren family is of a greatness that they will not achieve."

"I...I will do so father," Zack said, "I will make you proud."

"I want you to call me father always Zack," he said before looking down, "Soon you'll find your memories of the happy times the three of us have had together will come back to you as if they never left."

"I look forward to that father," Zack replied with a small smile.

"Smile stronger son," Justin said putting a hand on Zack's head, fortunately his hair would grow back on both sides otherwise the position as a son wouldn't be suitable for him anymore. "Be proud to be who you are. Who are you?"

"I am your son father. I am Zack Warren," he gave a big smile, a natural Hizuri one and Justin gestured for him to stand up. Felicity rushed over and wrapped her arms around Zack.

"That's my boy," she laughed happily and guiltlessly, "That's my boy."

I'm not sure whether to actually show the funeral or not, but time will rush by in only a handful of chapters soon so be prepared.