You, My Love
Chapter 1 - A Burst of Anger
The girl's brown eyes scanned the test paper. With a
nervously shaking hand, she brushed away a strand of reddish
brown hair. Her lips emitted a groan. "I'm never going to be
able to show this to her..."
Hanako stood outside her school, the sky gradually
beginning to cloud over, matching her dispair. Ever since her
father took off, her mother had sunk into a deep depression,
lashing out at anything that came close to her. Hanako had
tried continually to pull her out of it, however each time her
mother would snap at her for being annoying or aggrivating. And
every time she took a test, her scores worsened. Hanako let the
paper slip from her fingers in the wind, watching it flutter off
into the street. She shouldered her school bag and set off
towards home.
'My life is going to pieces,' Hanako had thought that
morning, when her mother didn't even come out of the bedroom to
eat breakfast. They lived in a small apartment, making barely
enough money to provide three small meals at the table each day.
Her father had left the two for one reason: his work. He had
become so obsessed, so controlled over making money that
eventually it took over his life and emotions. Hanako felt
bitter every time she thought about him. Yet her mother was
leaving her in a sense also, and there was nothing she could do
about it. Except...
No, Hanako decided, she could not leave her home. That
would just be running away from her problems.
Her life away from home was no party either; as she had
no friends at school and all of the teachers appeared to hate
her because she was one of the lower-class children at the
school. She was in her final year of high school, and soon it
would be over with.
Just wait a few more months, she told herself, lowering
her eyes as some laughing friends walked by her on the sidewalk.
Hanako paused outside the apartment door, her hand set
on the doorknob. She wondered if her mother would be in a
better mood this afternoon. She slowly twisted the doorknob and
walked in, setting her bookbag down on the couch silently.
Her mother wandered out from the back, looking like a
thin ghost. Her brownish hair was done up in a messy bun, her
eyes tired and red. She wore a simple dress and smiled slightly
when she saw her daughter. "How was school?"
Hanako let out a sigh of relief at her mother's smile,
"It was all right.."
"Did you bring home your test?"
"Ah... well, I .." Hanako faltered, avoiding her
mother's eyes.
"Don't lie to me, Hanako." Her mother said sternly.
"Did you get it or not? You know this is one of your most
important tests."
"I got a 28 on it, so I threw it away." Hanako
whispered, her voice choking in her throat.
Her mother flopped down on the couch, staring bleakly
into her hands. "Hanako.. you know how much I want you to do
good in school. Why aren't you studying?"
"I am!" Hanako protested, tears partially filling her
eyes; her mother looked so frail because of days not eating.
"I'm trying my hardest, don't you see?"
"A twenty-eight is not what I see as 'your hardest'."
Her mother shook her head. "Do you realise what these past
weeks have been like for me? Pure horror, Hanako. Your father
left us, my child is failing in her last year of school, and I
am dying. We have no more money."
"Mom," Hanako murmured. "Don't worry. Everything will
fit together eventually.."
Her mother looked at her, anger flashing up in her eyes.
"That is your father's exact words. And now you are repeating
them! Nothing will fit together, ever..."
Hanako looked taken aback, "But you don't understand-"
Her mother stood up taking Hanako's wrist and pulling
her forcefully up as well. "I don't think -you- understand,
Hanako. All your life you have had it the easy way, we have
worked so hard for you to make sure you'll do good in this
world.."
Hanako tugged her wrist back, rubbing it gently. "Is
that what you believe?" She shook her head. "I don't think
anything came my way on a silver platter. Why don't you get
things straight and start living again?" She shouted angrily,
sick of her mother's constant grumbling about life.
Her words earned her a hard slap across the face,
leaving her cheek stinging painfully and slightly red. Hanako
looked at her mother with tears sharply welling up in her eyes
once more, seeing her angry but sobbing mother.
"I'm not going to take this anymore," Hanako muttered,
standing up abruptly and took off, grabbing her book bag in tow.
Her mother sat down on the couch once again, rubbing her
temples and letting tears streak her face.
*** *** ***
Hanako shivered inside her jacket; waiting on the train
platform was not the warmest thing to do. She had been trying
to erase the earlier events from her mind, and that was going
along fine, with all the other unpleasant events that happened
before her arrival to the train platform. She had to hitchhike
to the station: The first car's driver was a man who tried to
come onto her; the second was a drug-smuggler who tried to get
her to try some of his own home-grown stuff; and the third was a
nice woman who drove on the wrong side of the road half the time
of the trip. The three drivers had left her more shaken up.
She ran a slender hand through her hair, taking a deep
breath as she stared at the train ticket, heading for Saffron
City. The sleek black train pulled up after a while, presenting
Hanako with the fork in the road: Stay or go? Hanako handed the
ticket to the train master as she boarded.
The ride was short, partly because Hanako fell asleep
while watching the grassy plains and trees roll by. She didn't
know what to do with her life. She wanted to do something to
show her mother she wasn't as weak and powerless as she probably
thought Hanako was. Something risky and daring... something to
prove a point to her entire family and world.
The reddish-brown haired girl awoke with a start as the
train lurched to a gentle stop. A voice rang loudly over the
loudspeaker: "Now arriving in Saffron City." Hanako looked out
the window at the train terminal where thousands of people stood
and waited for their friends or loved ones to arrive. She fixed
her hair a bit, worried about her appearance, and smoothed out
her coat. She grabbed her green school bag and left the train,
stepping out onto the slick sidewalk. Hanako frowned. It was
raining...
She looked around after ducking into a nearby shop,
staring out the window at the people walking by. What was she
to do now? Where was she going to stay? Questions with no
logical answers flooded her head. Hanako shook her head and
picked out an umbrella, bought it, and went outside after
opening it.
Hanako walked along for a few minutes before coming
along a pile of trash that had spilled out of it's bag in an
alley. A wet but readable flyer hit her feet, and she looked at
it, annoyed, but picked it off her leg and read it.
The text read:
"Confidential! For subscribers only! Do you want to
join the best gang ever? Do something exciting, thrilling,
invigorating? Go to this location to join up with Roketto-dan!
See sights and visit places you have never seen or been too.
You will feel so much freer and alive!"
Hanako stared at it thoughtfully, then murmured, "What
have I got to lose?"
Chapter 1 - A Burst of Anger
The girl's brown eyes scanned the test paper. With a
nervously shaking hand, she brushed away a strand of reddish
brown hair. Her lips emitted a groan. "I'm never going to be
able to show this to her..."
Hanako stood outside her school, the sky gradually
beginning to cloud over, matching her dispair. Ever since her
father took off, her mother had sunk into a deep depression,
lashing out at anything that came close to her. Hanako had
tried continually to pull her out of it, however each time her
mother would snap at her for being annoying or aggrivating. And
every time she took a test, her scores worsened. Hanako let the
paper slip from her fingers in the wind, watching it flutter off
into the street. She shouldered her school bag and set off
towards home.
'My life is going to pieces,' Hanako had thought that
morning, when her mother didn't even come out of the bedroom to
eat breakfast. They lived in a small apartment, making barely
enough money to provide three small meals at the table each day.
Her father had left the two for one reason: his work. He had
become so obsessed, so controlled over making money that
eventually it took over his life and emotions. Hanako felt
bitter every time she thought about him. Yet her mother was
leaving her in a sense also, and there was nothing she could do
about it. Except...
No, Hanako decided, she could not leave her home. That
would just be running away from her problems.
Her life away from home was no party either; as she had
no friends at school and all of the teachers appeared to hate
her because she was one of the lower-class children at the
school. She was in her final year of high school, and soon it
would be over with.
Just wait a few more months, she told herself, lowering
her eyes as some laughing friends walked by her on the sidewalk.
Hanako paused outside the apartment door, her hand set
on the doorknob. She wondered if her mother would be in a
better mood this afternoon. She slowly twisted the doorknob and
walked in, setting her bookbag down on the couch silently.
Her mother wandered out from the back, looking like a
thin ghost. Her brownish hair was done up in a messy bun, her
eyes tired and red. She wore a simple dress and smiled slightly
when she saw her daughter. "How was school?"
Hanako let out a sigh of relief at her mother's smile,
"It was all right.."
"Did you bring home your test?"
"Ah... well, I .." Hanako faltered, avoiding her
mother's eyes.
"Don't lie to me, Hanako." Her mother said sternly.
"Did you get it or not? You know this is one of your most
important tests."
"I got a 28 on it, so I threw it away." Hanako
whispered, her voice choking in her throat.
Her mother flopped down on the couch, staring bleakly
into her hands. "Hanako.. you know how much I want you to do
good in school. Why aren't you studying?"
"I am!" Hanako protested, tears partially filling her
eyes; her mother looked so frail because of days not eating.
"I'm trying my hardest, don't you see?"
"A twenty-eight is not what I see as 'your hardest'."
Her mother shook her head. "Do you realise what these past
weeks have been like for me? Pure horror, Hanako. Your father
left us, my child is failing in her last year of school, and I
am dying. We have no more money."
"Mom," Hanako murmured. "Don't worry. Everything will
fit together eventually.."
Her mother looked at her, anger flashing up in her eyes.
"That is your father's exact words. And now you are repeating
them! Nothing will fit together, ever..."
Hanako looked taken aback, "But you don't understand-"
Her mother stood up taking Hanako's wrist and pulling
her forcefully up as well. "I don't think -you- understand,
Hanako. All your life you have had it the easy way, we have
worked so hard for you to make sure you'll do good in this
world.."
Hanako tugged her wrist back, rubbing it gently. "Is
that what you believe?" She shook her head. "I don't think
anything came my way on a silver platter. Why don't you get
things straight and start living again?" She shouted angrily,
sick of her mother's constant grumbling about life.
Her words earned her a hard slap across the face,
leaving her cheek stinging painfully and slightly red. Hanako
looked at her mother with tears sharply welling up in her eyes
once more, seeing her angry but sobbing mother.
"I'm not going to take this anymore," Hanako muttered,
standing up abruptly and took off, grabbing her book bag in tow.
Her mother sat down on the couch once again, rubbing her
temples and letting tears streak her face.
*** *** ***
Hanako shivered inside her jacket; waiting on the train
platform was not the warmest thing to do. She had been trying
to erase the earlier events from her mind, and that was going
along fine, with all the other unpleasant events that happened
before her arrival to the train platform. She had to hitchhike
to the station: The first car's driver was a man who tried to
come onto her; the second was a drug-smuggler who tried to get
her to try some of his own home-grown stuff; and the third was a
nice woman who drove on the wrong side of the road half the time
of the trip. The three drivers had left her more shaken up.
She ran a slender hand through her hair, taking a deep
breath as she stared at the train ticket, heading for Saffron
City. The sleek black train pulled up after a while, presenting
Hanako with the fork in the road: Stay or go? Hanako handed the
ticket to the train master as she boarded.
The ride was short, partly because Hanako fell asleep
while watching the grassy plains and trees roll by. She didn't
know what to do with her life. She wanted to do something to
show her mother she wasn't as weak and powerless as she probably
thought Hanako was. Something risky and daring... something to
prove a point to her entire family and world.
The reddish-brown haired girl awoke with a start as the
train lurched to a gentle stop. A voice rang loudly over the
loudspeaker: "Now arriving in Saffron City." Hanako looked out
the window at the train terminal where thousands of people stood
and waited for their friends or loved ones to arrive. She fixed
her hair a bit, worried about her appearance, and smoothed out
her coat. She grabbed her green school bag and left the train,
stepping out onto the slick sidewalk. Hanako frowned. It was
raining...
She looked around after ducking into a nearby shop,
staring out the window at the people walking by. What was she
to do now? Where was she going to stay? Questions with no
logical answers flooded her head. Hanako shook her head and
picked out an umbrella, bought it, and went outside after
opening it.
Hanako walked along for a few minutes before coming
along a pile of trash that had spilled out of it's bag in an
alley. A wet but readable flyer hit her feet, and she looked at
it, annoyed, but picked it off her leg and read it.
The text read:
"Confidential! For subscribers only! Do you want to
join the best gang ever? Do something exciting, thrilling,
invigorating? Go to this location to join up with Roketto-dan!
See sights and visit places you have never seen or been too.
You will feel so much freer and alive!"
Hanako stared at it thoughtfully, then murmured, "What
have I got to lose?"