Picking Up The Pieces

By: Angela Timchuk and Karen McVicker

(A.K.A. Makino & deDanaan)

Chapter Three

Loss

 

Yuuki had not been idle while Tsukushi slept. She'd gotten a hold of Kazuya and his wife and filled them in on what had happened. They had asked if there was anything they could do and she'd asked them to track down Susumu so he could break the news to Tsukushi's parents because she had no idea herself where her friend's parents were living now. Kazuya had been happy to help out and Yuuki had been grateful as it gave her time to do other things.

She sat on the bed facing Tsukushi and placed a hand in hers before speaking. She had a hard time looking in her friend's eyes because of what was mirrored there. "Tsukushi, what more can I do? Tell me how to help." She asked softly.

"I don't know, Yuuki. I'm numb all over……this is surreal." Tsukushi answered--her voice was quiet, her face pale.

Yuuki placed her other hand on top of Tsukushi's. She didn't know what else to do. "Can I get you anything? Something to drink?"

Makino looked into her friend's eyes. "I need a change of clothes…" she was quiet for so long, Yuuki was sure her friend had nothing else to say--but then, unexpectedly, Tsukushi added, "I can't go to see his mother like this." Her voice began to break as she came to a realization. "Oh, God! How am going to tell her, Yuuki? How do I tell her that her only son is gone? Whatever am I going to say?" Tears welled up in her eyes again as she slid from the bed into a heap on the floor.

"Tsukushi." Yuuki slumped down to the floor and again embraced her friend. "I'm so sorry."

The two women held each other for a while. Yuuki began to stroke Tsukushi's hair. "I'll have to get your brush too. We need to brush your hair." It was almost as if they were children again.

Tsukushi looked up from the spot on the carpet her eyes were fixed upon. "Thank-you, Yuuki. Thanks for being here with me."

"You are welcome…" she replied, wishing yesterday's events had never come to pass.

**********

"Come on, pick up the phone." Akira was getting impatient. It had been three rings already.

"Hai." A sleepy voice responded on the other end.

"Gomen, did I wake you?" Akira looked down at his Rolex. It was 9:00am. He was standing at the wall of windows in his penthouse apartment, looking down at the cool and bright Tokyo morning unfolding beneath him.

"Umm…no, we're just getting up." Came the reply.

"Can I chat with your husband for a sec?"

"Sure…" He heard the phone being handed over.

"Yeah?" A new voice queried.

"Why are you still in bed?" Akira let out a slight giggle. This was so typical of him.

"Oi! We all had a late night."

"I know. I was just trying to lighten things up a bit. Did you tell Shigeru yet?"

"Yeah, that's why we're so tired. We sat up half the night talking. She's really upset at what's happened. Any news?" The man leaned over and brushed the hair back off his wife's face as she lay next to him, intent on the conversation, her eyes serious.

"What can I tell you, Rui, I don't know yet. Soujirou was trying to get a hold of Tsukasa, but he's not answering. I think he's trying to get Yuuki now….."

**********

Yuuki was in the guest room--she had snuck out after Makino had fallen back into an exhausted sleep and left her in Doumyouji's care again. She was going to help her friend, that was without question, but she had really needed to freshen up first because she was so tired she could hardly function. She had just gotten out of the shower when she heard her phone ringing. She dashed over to the nightstand to get it while struggling to wrap herself in a towel. As she flipped open the cell phone she realized she'd grabbed a hand towel. "Great, like this will help." She thought to herself as she answered

"Moshi moshi!"

By the time she was finished with the call, the carpet beneath where she stood was saturated from all the water that had dripped off her in the absence of a robe or decent towel. She put her phone away and quickly dressed. When she had filled him in on what was new, Nishikado had offered to take her to Tsukushi's place to retrieve a few personal effects. She was grateful for his assistance. Neglecting to dry it first, she tied her medium-length hair back in a ponytail and rushed down to the front door to find Nishikado waiting for her in his car.

The drive over to Tsukushi and Yuusuke's place had been a relatively quiet one. Neither really knew what to say and Yuuki's mind was a mess trying to remember everything she needed to get. They pulled up in front of a quaint building and Nishikado parked the car. They got out and walked up a short pathway to stand in front of two highly polished glass doors. Yuuki didn't see the look of mild surprise on Nishikado's face as they walked through the rich marbled lobby to the elevator.

The doors closed behind them as Yuuki pressed the button that would lead them to the fourth floor. After the doors opened to let them out, they walked past a few doorways before Yuuki finally stopped. The number on the door read 406. A little plaque under the number signified it was the Takahiro residence.

"Nishikado." Yuuki looked over at him with concern on her face. "This is weird, coming here now. You know?"

He nodded, he knew just how she felt. "I know, but you have to be strong for Makino's sake. She needs you to be. God only knows how she's holding together." And with saying that, he reached over, put his hand atop her head, and smiled his little smile. "You can do this, Yuuki-chan. I know you can."

Yuuki turned the key in the lock and flinched at the clicking noise it made. Was Nishikado right? Could she really handle being here?

**********

At the Doumyouji estate, Tsukasa once again sat by Makino's bedside. She was tossing and turning but she stayed asleep. Maybe he should go see Tama and get a tranquilizer from the old woman. "She must have something that'll bring her peace." He muttered to himself. He heard a voice from the other side of the door.

"Doumyouji-sama, you have company."

"Who is it?" He asked gruffly.

"Ano…the Hanazawa Family." The servant answered uncomfortably.

"See them to the study. I'll be right there." Doumyouji gazed at the door until the sound of footsteps had faded. He leaned over Makino and brushed the hair back from her brow, hesitating as he realized he'd almost bent to kiss her forehead. "I won't be long."

"Yuusuke." The word softly escaped her lips as she turned over in her sleep. Doumyouji frowned. There was nothing he could do, even in sleep her heart was broken just like his own. He stood up and slipped out of the room. In the hallway he instructed a maid who was walking past him with her arms full of sheets to stand outside the room.

"If you hear anything, you come get me right away. I'll be in the study and shouldn't be long but, just in case." Even as he walked towards the study, he was frequently looking back over his shoulder.

**********

Yuuki opened the door and led the way into the apartment. Soujirou stepped over the threshold behind her and took in the décor. It sure was quite the step up for Makino, he thought, as he remembered some of the places she'd lived in when they were still at Eitoku.

"I'll be right back, I just have to get a few things from the bedroom." Yuuki was seemingly shaken as she walked down the hall. Soujirou was uncomfortable to be left standing in the middle of the entranceway, so he nonchalantly stepped down into a neat sitting room to better scope the place out. Beautiful wrought-iron candelabras holding white tapers were strategically placed in the corner of the room, right next to sliding glass doors leading out to a balcony. He stepped to the glass doors and looked out on the view for a moment before turning back to concentrate on the room. Matching picture frames adorned the walls proudly displaying their contents. Soujirou stepped up to examine them more carefully.

"So, you're the man who won and broke her heart." He murmured as he picked up a picture from one of the end tables that was set on either side of the dark leather sofa. The man staring back at him with dark, smiling eyes and rakish grin was quite handsome. Even Soujirou had to concede that as he set the picture down again.

At every turn Soujirou was in awe to find more pictures of the couple with family and friends. There was one of Makino and her fiancé with Yuuki and another man. He lingered before that picture for a few seconds, wondering in the back of his mind who the other man was. He had moved on now to picture in which they were both dressed in formal wear. He picked it up to get a better look at it. God, but didn't Makino look radiant and happy. Yuusuke had his arms wrapped around Tsukushi and she was leaning back against him with a smile on her face.

"They really loved each other." Soujirou turned to face Yuuki. She took the picture out of his hand and looked down at it. The image made her smile, even as the tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. She remembered when that photo had been taken--it was at Kazuya's wedding last spring.

"I can see what you mean." His eyes swept around the room at all the evidence in support of her statement. "When were they getting married?"

"In April." Yuuki replied as she returned the frame in her hand to its place on the table.

"I'm just about ready to go, but I'm having trouble finding her address book. Can you help me look for it?" He nodded, looking about the room while she went into the kitchen to see if it was there. He found it on a shelf, but it was what he saw sitting next to the book that made him stop and stare. She still has that? He wondered to himself.

"I think I've found it!" He called to her. She came out of the kitchen and took it from him.

"Yes, that's it. Great, let's go!" She walked over to the suitcase to pick it up, but Soujirou reached down and grabbed it first. He waited as she locked the door and they went back to the car.

"So what have you been doing with yourself all these years?" Soujirou asked, making conversation as they wove their way across town through the traffic.

"You'll have to settle for the abridged version." She told him. She wasn't really in the mood to talk. "I'm an administrative assistant at a firm that specializes in corporate law."

"That's pretty impressive." And he was impressed. That's not how he had pictured things in his mind's-eye. "And Makino, what does she do?"

"She's a legal aide. She works for one of the senior partners at the same firm I do."

"And what about Takahiro-san, what did he do?"

"He was a pediatrician at a clinic that specialized in childhood diseases. They met in the university library, of all places, if you can believe it. God, he just loved kids and he always wanted to help everyone……." She trailed off as she recalled Tsukushi excitedly telling her she was getting married and couldn't she just picture how great a dad Yuusuke was going to be to their children.

Soujirou decided to change the subject. "What about you? Is there anyone special in your life?" he asked, his curiosity about the unknown man in the picture prompting the question.

"Not at the moment," she answered quietly, not bothering to elaborate further. They rode in silence the rest of the way to the mansion.