AN: Finally, a change in AN! … The translations for any Japanese words you may not understand are in this chapter, below. We hope you enjoyed it…! If you've come this far, then please R&R. (That was NOT an intentional rhyme…)
—we the authors
Chapter 4: Aftermath
Lee Jianliang made his way to the house built in an ancient Japanese fashion. The Makino house. A sense of peace came over him whenever he stepped past the gate of heavy wooden doors.
Ruki greeted him when he arrived. She led him out back, to the garden, not wanting her mother to suddenly burst in and make her ever annoying remarks about dates and the like.
"What happened to your ankle?" Lee asked after noticing that Ruki wasn't waring a cast.
The girl inspected the wrapped foot.
"Bad sprain," she said.
"Must've been some fall."
Ruki nodded. Silence fell over them.
"Hey, Jian?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I…" She struggled with the words and her pride.
Lee eyed her and smiled. He understood perfectly.
"It's okay, Ruki. I'm glad you're okay. I guess going to such a long play didn't help."
Ruki just shrugged; he couldn't tell if she was smiling or not. She could always count on Lee to know what she was thinking or feeling just by looking at her. She didn't know how he did it; she just knew he did know. It was a relief, since she wasn't the type to say everything about herself. She was reserved, and he knew to respect that; that was his gift, and Ruki was grateful he had it.
"Thanks," she said.
Not knowing what she thanked him for, Lee looked at her in confusion. Their eyes met, both pairs sparkling. And before they could tell themselves not to, their lips met in a short kiss.
Unbeknownst to them, Rumiko was watching from afar. She smiled and hid laughter, shaking her head as she turned away. 'Like mother, like daughter.'
After conversing for a while, Lee excused himself and left. Ruki accomodated herself on the futon in her room. She was on her side, thinking. It had taken an injury for Lee and herself to admit to eachother that they liked her. She had known, but had tried to push the feeling away, not wanting to ruin the friendship. Had he known, too? Had he noticed it in her? He was good with his gift, but was he really that good?
How she'd hurt her leg was a blur. She remembered having a huge headache and barely being able to see because of it. Then she fell and passed out. She woke up and there was a blonde man with her. What was his name again?
The girl's eyes widened slightly. She'd almost forgotten about that. How had she let herself forget him? Her mother hadn't mentioned him when they got home. Now that she thought about it, Rumiko hadn't mentioned him at all. She didn't even pay attention to him at the hospital. That just confirmed the girl's suspicions about the two. They had met. It was him. But, just to be sure…
The redhead got up and went to the kitchen, following the smell of what promised to be a delicious meal. Seiko was expertly chopping some vegetables when Ruki arrived and sat by the table.
"What did Lee-san want, Ruki?" she politely asked.
"He, uh… wanted to know how I was," answered the girl
"That's nice of him. Your mother's very happy for you, Ruki, and so am I. You seem so much happier now."
Ruki smiled.
"Thanks, Grandma."
For a moment, the knife hitting the wood and the boiling water were the only sounds that were heard.
"Grandma?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Do you… Um… Did… Did Mom ever know someone named Yamaki Mitsuo?"
Seiko's only slightly wrinkled forehead became more wrinkled when she frowned and looked up at her granddaughter after having stopped the cutting.
"Yes," she answered, eyes not leaving the girl. "Why do you ask?"
"Because… I think… Because I think he was the one who took me to the hospital yesterday."
Seiko frowned more deeply, her eyes filled with mixed emotions.
"What did Rumiko say? Did she see him?"
"That's why I'm asking. She saw him but didn't say anything. She just thanked him and that lady that was with him and left."
"He was with someone…" Seiko repeated to herself. "You should ask your mother, Ruki."
"No!" Ruki burst out. She didn't want to sound angry or mean, but she couldn't help it. "If she didn't say anything last night, then she won't now! I want to know. I know he's the same guy in the pictures because he looks just like him! The first time I asked Mom about the broken pictures she got angry and didn't want to talk about it. Then she gave me a really stupid answer she expected me to believe."
"What did she tell you?" Seiko calmly asked. She looked regal; she was standing up straight and her eyes looked almost fierce.
"She said that his parents 'chose someone for him.' Who'd believe—"
"That's the truth, Ruki. That's what happened. I don't know why you're so worked up about this. Your mother told you everything already."
"No she didn't!"
Seiko needed to say nothing. A simple glare was enough to make the young girl realize that her attitude was unacceptable if she wanted to talk about something, specially something like this. Ruki sighed and repeated herself:
"No she didn't. She didn't because I had more things to ask. The phone rang and I didn't get the chance to talk with her about it again. If I ask her now I know she won't tell me. So please, Grandma. Please tell me. If you don't… If you don't, then… then I'll have to ask him myself!"
"Makino Ruki, silence!" the older woman firmly demanded.
Ruki blinked and obeyed. She had never seen her grandmother this way. The situation really must have been much more complicated than she had thought.
"Ruki, what do you want to know about him? Why did you bring him up?" Seiko continued.
"I… I just wanted to know…" She looked up at her grandmother; the woman's eyes were now soft and kind, but still firm. "Grandma, he knew my age. How does he know that?"
The woman resumed her task of chopping the vegetables for the next meal. Still, her answer was gentle and sweet:
"Ask your mother. It's something you need to talk about with her."
The girl's eyes widened and her vision began to blur. Realization hit her and it felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her. She got up and tried to get to Rumiko as fast as she could with her injured leg. It didn't take long, but it seemed like it did to Ruki. She slid open the door to her mother's room and found the blonde sitting on her legs on the floor, looking through a fashion magazine.
Rumiko turned her head in Ruki's direction and drew in a gasp. The rims of her daughter's eyes were pink and her cheeks were tearstained. The sight made her want to cry as well, but she fought the urge away as she stood.
"Ruki…"
"Why didn't you tell me?!!" the ten-year-old demanded.
"Tell you what?" Worry was etched in the concerned mother's face.
"You never told me who my father was!! This is the stupidest way to find out! I feel like an orphan!! I hate you!"
Rumiko shook her head.
"Ruki, I—"
"I hate you!!" Ruki repeated. She ran off, ignoring the pain and leaving the door open. Rumiko dashed after her. The last she saw of her daughter was the open door to the garden.
"Ruki, wait!!"
She ran too, for once not caring about sweating and ruining her perfectly blow dried hairstyle. She found the girl at the other side of the bridge that arched over the pond, hiding her face with her legs which she hugged and wouldn't let go. She was quivering. She was crying.
The blonde carefully made her way to the girl, sitting beside her when she crossed the bridge. She put her arm around the girl's shaking shoulders.
"Leave me alone!" came Ruki's muffled demand.
"Ruki…" Rumiko said as she rubbed the girl's back. "I'm so sorry. I should've told you."
"Shut up! It—It's too late for that now!"
Rumiko gently pulled her daughter's arms from her legs and turned the girl's face so they were looking at eachother.
"I just didn't know how to tell you."
Ruki sniffled and looked up at her mother's eyes.
"You could've just told me…"
She through herself into her mother's arms and hugged her and cried. She wasn't sure, but she thought Rumiko cried, too. But if the blonde did only one thing, it was stay silent and let her daughter express herself in whichever way she chose. She'd realized how special and unique Ruki was, and she was glad that it wasn't too late to start that beautiful and one of a kind mother-daughter relationship.
***
Ruki walked around the city that sunny afternoon. She was limping, yes, but she didn't care. She needed to think. She passed restaurants and the like, the smells drifting from them reminding her of the concoction her grandmother was working on at home. She wasn't looking forward when she walked, and apparently the same applied to the person Ruki bumped into.
"Sumimasen."
"Sorry."
The taller, older woman looked down at Ruki and gave her a small smile.
"Hey. You're Makino Ruki, aren't you?" she asked.
"Yeah," Ruki replied.
"How's your leg?"
Ruki looked more closely at the woman and finally recognized her.
"Ootori-san! Hi… Um… It's okay, I guess," she said. "Thanks."
"That's good to know. Sayonara! And be a bit more careful, all right?" Reika started to walk away.
"Sure… Hey, wait!"
The auburn haired woman faced the ten-year-old.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Uh… I… I wanted to thank Yamaki-san for yesterday," the girl continued.
"I'll tell him for you."
"No." She looked a bit more firm now. "I want to tell him myself."
'I must be insane. What was I thinking, asking to thank him myself?'
Ruki had insisted on not going inside Yamaki's appartment. It was bad enough that she felt uneasy because she knew; being there with her there too wouldn't help. Now all she had to do was form the right words to tell him. That is, if she told him.
'Let's see… "Thanks for everything, Dad." Ew. Geez, no. "Thanks for everything. Oh, and, I know. You don't need to say anything else." No. That wouldn't work at all. "Thanks for your—"'
"Walking this far already?"
The ten-year-old drew in a breath and turned around to face the tall blonde.
"Yes," she said to be polite. "…" No words would come out. She could notice tension in the air.
"Reika tells me you wanted to tell me something," he continued.
"Yes, I do want to tell you something," Ruki said. "Thank you for your help…" She finished in a low voice, "…Dad."
Yamaki lifted his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes as if squinting down at the girl.
"She told me," Ruki said before he could ask.
"So you're Rumiko's daughter…"
"Yes, I am."
A heavy silence hung in the air.
"I guess I'll just leave now," Ruki said and turned, taking a single step forward. "Sayonara."
"You don't really care, do you," Yamaki flatly asked.
Ruki didn't turn around.
"What do you mean?" she returned almost in the same tone of voice.
"It means nothing to you that you know who I am, doesn't it."
"How would you know. You've only known me for a day."
"I suppose you're right."
Another lapse of silence.
"Y'know… Just because I barely know you-" here she turned to face him, "-doesn't mean I don't want to or care about you." The words tumbled out of her mouth before she had a chance to think them over. But apparently those were the right words. They were about a yard apart. It hadn't really dawned on her who she was standing in front of. It was her father. Her father. Someone she thought she'd never meet, never see. Somehow, that filled her with a deep emotion, a deep respect, maybe even a longing to be there, to know him. To know him: her father. And giving in to that, she took a step forward and hugged him. She felt even more of that emotion when she felt him do the same.
"Daddy?" she whispered, eyes closed. "Thank you."
Translations:
You've been lovely readers so you get translations!
Moshi moshi—hello; used when you pick up the phone.
Sayonara—good-bye. (Like you didn't know that one).
Kawaii—cute. Another freebie.
Iie—no.
Ja or Ja ne—short ways to say good-bye.
Hai—you agree with a person with this. Sometimes it's just "yes".
"-sensei"—literally it means teacher, but it's used that way with not just teachers and doctors.
Dou itashimashite—your(you're?) welcome.
Sumimasen—excuse me or sorry, in this case. If it's wrong, blame Nelvana or Pioneer because I(GataFairy) heard that in a Cardcaptor Sakura episode!
Thanks for reading and please leave a review!