Chapter One
Five Years Later…
It
was now only a day away from Takeru's birthday. He would be turning eight years
old. " Matt!!! Where are you?" the little boy yelled as he went from room to
room. " C'mon this isn't funny." Soon he came to the attic door. Takeru stopped
as he placed his hand on the door handle for he was still creped out about it.
Finally he flung open the door and screamed his brother's name one more time.
When he opened his eyes he was face to face with his older brother, who was now
holding his head.
"
What?? What do you want?" he asked a bit annoyed.
Takeru
smiled and laughed. " Mom wanted to see you downstairs and told me to get you."
Yamato,
or Matt, nodded and walked downstairs to the kitchen to see his mom. " You
wanted to see me?" he asked.
His
mother turned around and smiled. " Yes dear. I'm sure you remember that your
brother's birthday is tomorrow. I expect you to be home," she said with a hint
of a warning in her voice.
The
12 year old laughing and smiled. " I always am aren't I? I didn't expect this
year to be any different."
Aieka
smiled at her son as she turned to face him. " I knew you'd remember. I keep
forgetting how responsible you really are. I guess I should start remembering."
Matt
laughed to himself as he walked out of the room. Ever since his little brother
was born he had taken on a lot of responsibility so he could be a good older
brother. They never really fought and argued like most brothers but actually
got along. T.K. (Takeru) even looked up to him and for this he was happy
because it told him that he was doing a good job as an older brother.
That
night T.K. could barely contain his happiness. His birthday was really tomorrow
and he couldn't wait. He knew his mom and dad had something special planned but
he just couldn't figure out what it was. That night when he went to bed his
eyes just wouldn't stay shut. T.K. knew that there was always a chance of his
mom or dad slipping in something to surprise him.
At
around 10:00pm Matt slowly opened the door to his brother's room as to not wake
him but to his surprise he was already awake. " T.K. what are you doing still
up?" he asked sitting down on the bed next to his brother.
T.K.
looked up at his brother tiredly. " I can't fall asleep," he told him. " I'm
too looking forward to tomorrow and what's going to happen."
At
this Yamato smiled and stood up pulling the covers over his brother. " Well, if
you don't go to sleep, you'll be too tired to do anything tomorrow and then
where will we be? We'd have to cancel everything that's planned…"
The
little boys eyes opened wide and he immediately closed them again. " I wouldn't
want that to happen. Goodnight Matt. I love you."
"
I love you too. G'night," his older brother replied before leaving the room.
Almost right after he left little Takeru fell asleep.
The
next morning T.K. woke up bright and early. When he did his smile grew wide at
the sight around him. Light and dark green balloons were tied to the bedposts
and a Happy Birthday banner hanging on the wall in front of him.
He
quickly got dressed into a pair of khaki colored shorts and a green long sleeve
shirt under his dark green vest and ran into the bathroom to brush his hair and
teeth. When he was finished he ran downstairs to find both his parents and his brother
already up.
"
Happy birthday honey," his mother said sweetly. Takeru smiled happily as he ran
up and hugged his mom and dad and then turned to his brother.
Yamato
smiled down at him and ruffled his hair. " Happy birthday squirt." Having
learned to expect the name his brother gave him Takeru jumped up and hugged his
brother as Yomato hugged him back. Finally he released the young boy and set
him back down on the kitchen floor.
After
that the day went on as perfectly as everyone had hoped. They went out for
breakfast and then went to the town country fair together. At times they had
split up, such as going on rides but T.K. was always with Matt and loved every
bit of it. They spent most of the afternoon there, smiling and enjoying their
time together.
At
around 6:00 the Ishida's were back home again. Matt was with T.K. in the living
room playing video games as to keep his brother busy while his parents finished
up something in the kitchen. Suddenly they heard their mother calling for them.
The
boys got up and walked into the kitchen but little Takeru stopped at the door
to happy to move any further. In front of him were his two parents, his
brother, and a huge cake decorated with green frosting along the edges and a
message reading: Happy Birthday Takeru in the middle. " I…I don't know what to
say! Thank you sooooooooo so so so so much!!" he said happily as he ran up to
his family.
"
Well, c'mon squirt, make a wish," Matt said bending down to T.K.'s height.
T.K.
smiled at his brother and then looked at the six candles in the middle of the
cake. " I wish…I wish that me, my mom, my dad, and my brother, could be
together forever because I love them so much," he thought. Then He opened his
eyes and blew out the candles, every one of them.
As
his mother was about to cut the cake there was knocking coming from the front
door. " I'll go see who it is," she said walking out of the kitchen. Her
husband followed and soon so did Yamato and Takeru. When she opened the door
she was surprised to see her brother in law standing outside. She smiled at him
and opened the door. " What a pleasant surprise," she said in a kind voice. "
What are you doing here?"
The
man laughed and smirked. " Well, I wanted to see my son on his birthday," he
stated with no tone of emotion.
Aieka's
eyes widened with his words and suddenly fainted. Shingo caught her hand stared
at his brother evilly. " Get out of our house," he said angrily. " What right
do you have coming in here and making such a bull shit comment?"
During
this time little Takeru was in shock as was his brother. All he could do was
stand there in horror, the words of his uncle playing like an endless video in
his mind. Soon he became frightened and began trembling.
Yamato
finally snapped out of his days and immediately noticed Takeru's fear and
trembling. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his dad looking at him and
them up, meaning to take his brother upstairs. " T.K…it's alright. Everything's
just fine. Don't worry about Uncle; I'm sure he was only fooling."
T.K.
looked up at Matt in uncertainty. " Are you sure?"
Matt
smiled calmly and nodded. " Of course I'm sure, and when am I wrong? C'mon,
let's go upstairs." He then took his little brother's hand and led him up to
his room. " I'm sure you've had a very exhausting day. You should get some
rest. I'll be in my room of you need me okay?"
"
Okay," T.K. replied. " And Matt? Just to tell you, I had a great time today,
and I'm really glad you're my big brother." Matt looked back at him from the
corner of his eye and smiled to himself just before he left.
At
first the arguing and yelling wasn't that loud but when Mrs. Ishida woke up it
became worse. Soon curses were being thrown around and they could be heard
clearly. The little boy became very frightened so he collected up his teddy
bear and crept out of his room, down the hall, and into Matt's room.
Hearing
T.K. enter the room Matt lifted up the covers and let T.K. lay down. He put his
arm around T.K.'s shoulder and hugged him, pulling him closer to him. " Matt,
what's going on? Why did uncle call me his son? And why is everyone so mad at
each other? Did I do something wrong?" he asked thinking that maybe he was the
one who caused this.
After
hearing the last question Matt looked directly into his brother's eyes. "
Takeru Ishida why would you think that? You had absolutely nothing to do with
what's happening now okay?"
Realizing
that his brother was serious he nodded. Soon enough he became very tired and
feel asleep along with Matt a few minutes later.
At
around 1:00am Takeru woke up very thirsty and craving for a drink. He could
still hear the adults screaming but thought that they wouldn't mind if he just
got a quick drink. Making sure not to wake Matt, he got up and quietly walked
downstairs to the kitchen. He reached his destination without a problem but as
he was carrying the glass back upstairs he was caught.
Suddenly
his uncle ran up to him and grasped his arm. Takeru winced from the tightness
of his hold but didn't say anything. " He IS my son and I'm taking him back
home where he belongs!!"
Aieka
had tears running down her face but now stood up in an angry rage. " Let go of
my son right now!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Upstairs
Matt was woken by his mothers screaming. When he realized T.K. wasn't there he
knew he was downstairs. Matt quickly got up and ran downstairs only to be
shocked at the scene before him. His mother both crying and furious, his dad
just furious, his brother crying and trying to get loose, and his uncle holding
onto Takeru with a deathly grasp and not letting go.
Finally
Shingo's brother released Takeru. As soon as he did the little boy ran to his
brother crying and held onto him for dear life. Matt held him tightly and
stared at both his parents and his uncle. Suddenly, his uncle threw four passes
at them. " Just wait, I'm going to prove it, and best of all, it'll be public.
I'll see you tomorrow, on the Maury Show." With that being said, he left.
As
soon as he left Mrs. Ishida broke down in tears. Her husband held her close
trying to comfort her. He looked up at his eldest son. "Go on, you and your
brother go on upstairs. We have a stressful day ahead of us, so try to get some
rest."
Matt
carefully lifted T.K. up and carried him up to his own room, knowing that T.K.
wouldn't want to be alone tonight. T.K.'s crying continued until finally he had
cried himself to sleep. As Matt was about to fall asleep he hugged his little
brother and kissed his forehead. " I love you."
Downstairs Mrs. Ishida had finally regained her composure. "That bastard. Ya, you'll see me all right, one last time before I sure your sorry ass. Then we'll see who's made a fool on public tv."