DISCLAIMER: Ya know already...
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Hinata and Gaara left in mid-October.
It was hard to say goodbye. Albeit temporarily. Miyuki handled it pretty well. She cried, of course. Both her and Hinata did. Even Sasuke was a little choked up. Regardless, Sasuke thought Miyuki might breakdown in the airport. Thankfully she did not. Sasuke supposed the weeks of preparing her for Hinata's departure helped a lot.
However, as days went by, Hinata's physical absence started weighing not just on Miyuki, but with Sasuke as well. When something bad happened (like nightmares or just a plain bad day), Miyuki would demand to see Hinata. But because of the time difference between Japan and South Africa (and shitty internet connection), Sasuke would not be able to contact Hinata. This would lead to a tantrum, of course. That would then lead to Sasuke missing his girlfriend even more.
On a Saturday, the fifth day that Hinata was gone, Miyuki had stormed off to her room after Sasuke told her that they wouldn't be able to call Hinata because her and Gaara were off to see some sharks in the sea.
"I'm in a bad mood!" she exclaimed, pouting and stomping up the stairs. "I want to be alone!"
"Okay." Sasuke called back.
He felt proud of himself for letting her express her emotions without his own emotions getting in the way. He did not want her to grow up repressed, after all. Sighing, he went to his office to catch up on some paperwork. Before Miyuki got over her bad mood and sought him out to demand that she needed ice cream because she was "emotionally exhausted". He had no idea where she learned that from.
Probably from Hanabi. She called Sasuke the other day saying, 'Why are you keeping Miyuki-chan from us? Just because my sister is not here doesn't mean we don't want Miyuki-chan around. We expect to see her tomorrow for dinner. You're invited as well, I guess. Be there or Nee-chan will hear about it.' She had hung up without giving Sasuke a chance to even say 'Hello?' And so Sasuke and Miyuki went to the Hyuugas yesterday for dinner. He was told that it would be a weekly thing from now on.
Sasuke's eyes strayed on the clock on his table and startled. He had been working for over an hour and Miyuki had not sought him out yet. He stretched his body before getting up. Is she still upset? Maybe I can coax her with ice cream as snack, Sasuke thought as he climbed the stairs to check up on her.
He knocked on the slightly ajar door. When there was no response, he pushed it open and peered inside. Sasuke could not find her at first – she was not on her bed or the bathroom. He found her curled up in her tent, fast asleep. He was about to cover her with a blanket when he noticed the photograph clutched in her hand. It was a photograph of her mother's high school I.D. Sasuke frowned as he wondered where Miyuki got it. He then noticed a manila envelope on the floor.
Sasuke knew exactly what it was. A few days after Miyuki's discharge from the hospital, Hinata brought that file. She had hoped that Sasuke changed his mind. Because he did not want to go through the same argument all over again (and they just made up, after all), Sasuke accepted it without another word. He did, however, throw that file in his closet. And forgot all about it until now.
Apparently, Miyuki found it.
Sasuke heard a whimper.
"Mama…" Miyuki's hand was outstretched forward, grasping at the thin air desperately. "Mama…"
He glanced at the photograph that fell out of her hand. He picked it up and returned it to her grasp. Miyuki immediately quietened down, embraced the photograph, and went back to sleep. Sasuke stared at her peaceful face for a while.
The Sasuke of months ago would have ripped that file to pieces the moment he had it in his possession. And yet he did not. Instead, he stored it somewhere that is easily accessible. He settled down the floor next to the tent and sighed. What the hell, he thought as he reached for the file. He was done psychoanalyzing his reasons.
Her name was Kobayashi Tsukina. She was born and raised near a coastal town in Ishinomaki. Her parents divorced when she was a kid. Mrs. Kobayashi apparently ran off with another man. She was left in her father's care. And it was a strained relationship. Mr. Kobayashi worked all day and drank all night. He died of suicide on Tsukina's last year of high school. Tsukina was left all alone to deal with her father's debts. Their house and all their possessions (which was not much, to begin with) were all taken. She lived with her mother and her new family for the remainder of the school year. A day after graduation, she left for Tokyo. She worked odd jobs to continue paying for her father's debt. An incident at one of her part-time jobs made her lose all the money she had and was forced to work for an escort club.
Sasuke frowned at the date she was hired. I was her first client, he thought in shock.
She quit her job at the escort club the day after. She then landed a job in a restaurant that Sasuke knew was owned by one of Itachi's friends. She and Itachi became close. Itachi paid all of Tsukina's father's debts before they flew to New York, where they lived and built a family before dying together months ago.
Sasuke sat there in a sort of daze for a long time, not quite knowing what to feel. This was a lot to process. He spent years hating that woman – Tsukina. Her name was Tsukina. Sasuke was ashamed to admit that he did not even know her real name. He knew her as Tsuki, the shy club escort. At that time, of course, he was far too wasted to know if all of that was an act or if she was genuinely shy.
"I don't even fucking remember if she was a virgin," he ranted to Naruto the next day. "I was so fucking wasted that night."
Naruto scoffed as he tossed the file on the table. "We were all wasted that night. Everyone panicked the next day because we couldn't find Gaara anywhere. Turned out he was so drunk he boarded the Shinkansen and ended up in Hokkaido," he sighed reminiscently. "Good times."
"Hn."
"So, what're you gonna do about it?" Naruto asked, simultaneously fiddling with the utensils and looking toward the kitchen to see if their order was on its way.
"About what?" Sasuke, on the other hand, was as relaxed as ever. He was leaning back on the chair while staring out the window.
"About Miyuki-chan's maternal grandmother."
Sasuke frowned. He was under the impression that Tsukina and her mother were not close. "What about her?"
"Well, would you let them meet? Or do you think they already met, and she doesn't really give a crap about her granddaughter?"
"No idea."
Naruto gasped suddenly. "Wait! What if she doesn't know?"
"Know what?"
"That her daughter is dead? No one from her side of family contacted you yet, right? What if they don't know?"
Sasuke was horrified. Not because Tsukina's family might not know. It was because it might be up to him to break the news to her family – people who were complete strangers and yet not really.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he muttered in panic. "What the fuck. How the fuck am I going to tell them?"
"Whoa, so they don't know?"
"I don't know!" Sasuke answered wildly.
"Okay," Naruto said calmly. He chewed on his fingernail thoughtfully. "Maybe it doesn't have to be you that tells them?"
"Who else is there?"
And so Sasuke instructed his personal assistant Juugo to look for Tsukina's mother. Juugo was able to acquire her address. She and her family were now living in Nagano. Sasuke had no idea if she knew about her daughter being dead. But seeing as it had been months already and no one had reached out to Sasuke to ask about why they had not been able to contact their daughter or her daughter's husband… Along with an address, Juugo also got their phone number. Sasuke considered calling, but thought it would be really insensitive to say, 'by the way, your daughter and her husband are dead, did you know?' on the phone.
Sasuke contacted Deidara – Itachi's neighbor and friend in New York – and asked about Tsukina's mother. Deidara had no idea either, did not even know Tsukina still had relatives.
That night, after Miyuki went to sleep, Sasuke voiced his concerns to Hinata. It felt amazing to be able to do so. He rarely let anyone know what troubled him. His friends could only guess and then offer words of encouragement. With Hinata, however, it was as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"I wish I can be there for you," Hinata said wistfully, looking straight at the camera with worried eyes.
Sasuke smiled at her. I wish I can hold you. "Just this is enough. Thank you."
Hinata was still apprehensive. "I can… maybe come home for a while?"
"You don't have to," he assured her, touched that she would drop everything for him. "I feel like I should be the one to do it. You know, talk to them… I owe it to her. To Tsukina."
Hinata smiled the smile that never failed to make Sasuke's heart skip a beat. "You're a good person, Sasuke."
And Sasuke… well, Sasuke absolutely and most certainly did not blush. No matter how many times Hinata would tease him about it over the next few days, Sasuke did not blush.
June 25, 2020 – I literally just finished this chapter minutes ago, so apologies for the mistakes. I wanted to wrap things up in this chapter, but I kinda don't want it to be so rushed. Even though it already feels like I'm rushing through it? I don't know, it's one o'clock in the morning. LOL.
Anyway, there's one or two chapters left. Big THANKS to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and enjoyed this story so far. And being so patient. You guys are the best.
Stay healthy. Stay safe. Wear your masks. Wash your hands.