A/N: Nope, this story is like far from finishing. I've finished writing it though, just lazy to upload it.
Chapter 12- Dad?
'Otou-chan, okaa-chan…' The two people at the door stared, surprise at the 5 teenagers at the door. The sky was already darkening, making everything look a little unreal.
'Jin? What on Earth do you think you are doing, huh? Where have you been?' Jin looked down, but Sendo and Fujima looked indignantly at Jin's mother.
'Hi, come on in,' his dad said in a friendly manner, earning an irritated glance from his wife.
'Arigatou uncle. I'm Kenji Fujima. This is Kaede Rukawa and Akira Sendo,' Fujima said, introducing all of them except Aya. Mr. Jin nodded, smiling at all of them welcomingly, obviously waiting for Aya to be introduced. In Aya's heart, she felt a little pain. A little flare which came and left. Her own father didn't even recognize her. She felt a little sad, but then again, she felt happy that she was in front of the man who bore her. Her real father.
'Father… this is Aya,' Jin said, a little hesitantly, looking at his father hopefully. Jin's mom noticed that all of them were looking at him in a weird hopeful way, especially the girl. She could see something in the girl's eyes besides the hope. Something she could barely explain. It was as if the girl was very deeply hurt, yet at the same time, she was happy, very happy.
Sendo looked at Jin's dad hoping that the name would ring a bell. He chanced a look at Aya, and he saw, besides her deep hope, he could see a little sadness, and Sendo thought that was because her dad didn't recognize her. Aya caught him looking at her and she gave him a small smile.
Jin's dad looked at all of them wonderingly. Every one of them was looking at him in a kind of hopeful way. Even the girl was staring at him… she looked a little familiar, like… his cousin… his cousin? Wasn't his cousin married to a guy named Fujima? He looked at the boy with brown hair and deep blue eyes carefully… his name was Kenji Fujima right? Fujima stared at him back… and all at once it struck him.
'Aya? Jin, is it her?' he asked, hardly daring to believe his eyes. He had always hoped that one day he would be able to meet his daughter, and here she was, right before his eyes. He saw Jin's mouth turn up into a smile, it was a very beautiful sight, as his son hadn't been smiling a lot since the call which his cousin gave him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw all of them heave a sigh of relieve.
'Who?' Mrs. Jin asked. Jin just nodded, smiling at his father, ignoring his mother. Jin's dad turned towards Aya and saw a fierce joy in her eyes. She was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. She raked her fine black hair back and smiled. A tear glistened from Jin's dad's eyes. He felt all the old guilt wash over him again. How he had just left her and his cousin there… but then, at that time he could do nothing, and anyway, it was Fujima herself who asked him to go.
'Who?' Jin's mother asked, her patience wearing out. Unfortunately for her, Mr. Jin was already walking towards Aya, his tears falling more consistently now. He kept muttering words that Mrs. Jin couldn't hear.
'I'm so sorry Aya,' he said, and then he kept repeating the word sorry like a chant, as if the chant could take away his guilt. He hugged Aya tightly, still repeating the word 'sorry'. Aya hugged him back, and buried her head onto his shoulder.
'It's okay… otou-chan,' she said a little hesitantly, her voice was muffled. She felt weird calling him father, but at the same time, she felt happy, at least she now knew who her father was.
'It doesn't matter, at least I can meet you at last,' she continued. She too had tears in her eyes.
'Jin's mother looked at them disbelievingly. At last she understood. She took a real long time to actually grasp the situation. When she did, she gave them a look of horror for at least one full minute before she blew up, rushing towards them. Unfortunately, she was held back… by Jin. Jin had anticipated this and held on to his mother, saying…
'Okaa-chan, she is his daughter, give him some freedom.'
'Who do think you are? Just who do you think you are? You on Earth gave you the permission to bring that girl to this house? That filthy…'
'Okaa-chan! That is too much,' Jin said, nearly shouting, taking his mother, and even himself by surprise.
'Oh! So now you've learnt to shout at me. For goodness sakes! Who do you think you are?' She shouted back.
'He's your son, HIS son, as well as her brother. He has a right in this, as both your sons and Aya's brother,' Fujima said firmly. Mrs. Jin looked behind Jin where the three other boys stood.
'This is how you repay me, huh? I brought you up, fed you, and this is how you repay me? You not only bring the person I hate the most, but also a bunch of idiotically stupid boys to back her up? Only basketball people behave like that. You hear!! Only basketball people would go against they mother. They must be your basketball mates. THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME???' she screamed, totally losing control, expecting Jin to let her go, but he didn't. He flinched when she shouted, but he didn't let her go. Instead,
'This is how you repay otou-san? What had Aya ever done to you? Why do you hate her so much? Why can't you let father even have the pleasure of seeing his daughter? You aren't the only person in the world. He has others too.' Jin said in an even tone. There was no tremor in his voice. His mother stared at him, wondering what brought such a tremendous change to her son.
'She is not a legal child! She is not mine at all, and I refuse to accept a child that is against the laws,' she said, her voice trembling in anger.
'Rules and laws don't give people happiness. Most of the time they violate the very meaning of it. Are you happy seeing you husband suffer day by day? Aren't you happy to see the one you love have the pleasure of knowing his daughter? Are you that jealous that you won't let your husband know how it feels to know his daughter? It was not his plan. Nor was it Aya's. You can't blame any of them. If you want to blame anyone, blame Kenzen. Yet, blaming is just a show of how gutless you are. You can't even face the truth. Blaming is an act of running away from the cold, hard truth,' Sendo said softly. Jin's mother gave him a baleful look and averted her eyes to Rukawa, trying to hide the fact that she was now very confused, uncertain. What Sendo said had made a lot of sense, and it went deep into her heart, planting itself in there. But, she didn't want to show it, and tried to hide it, saying to Rukawa…
'Want to say something against me as well?' she asked him in a hard tone. Rukawa looked into her eyes, sensing her uncertainty. She stared into the raven black hair boy back, in his eyes, his blue eyes, the way he was staring at her, and she felt more uncomfortable than before.
'You don't know the meaning of love,' he said simply, turning towards Aya and her dad, who were staring at them. Aya looked very nervous.
'Now everyone is against me?' Jin's mother asked, in the verge of tears.
'You too!' she continued pointing an accusing finger at her husband.
'Aunty…'
'What makes you think you can actually talk to me? Who gave you the permission?' she asked Aya angrily.
'Stop it! I love you both okay! Why can't you accept her? Why must you … Try putting yourself in her place. A human is a human. There is no difference between you and her. Do you know how much suffering she's been through?' Jin's dad said. Jin's mom started, and a tear glistened down her eyes.
'Aunty, I'm sorry,' Aya said, feeling very sorry and sad when she saw Jin's mom crying.
'I really am. I don't mean to cause any disturbance in your life… but I do want to have a normal life, like all of them. It's is okay if you don't accept me as your daughter, but can't you accept me as your son's friend?' Aya asked softly, but not timidly. Mrs. Jin blinked, not at all expecting this. She had expected Aya to be offensive and proud for the fact that everyone was on her side. But she wasn't. Mrs. Jin could feel it. Feel the sincerity in her apology, and yet, she couldn't bring herself to answer.
'We'll leave them for a while,' Mr. Jin said, talking… hinting to his wife.
'Otou-chan, I don't want you to force her to accept me as her daughter. Love can't be forced out of someone. If that happens, it losses it's meaning. Genuine love can't be forced, and it is one of the best feeling one can ever get,' Aya said to her father, walking back to her 4 friends and standing right in the middle, flanked by Rukawa and Sendo, who were flanked by Fujima and Jin.
Jin's mom stared at her. Something about what she said touched her heart. As she stared at the 5 of them, all of a sudden, she felt… love in the room. A kind of love she had never in her life given or received, and that Aya girl was right. The love she felt pouring out of them was the best feeling she ever had. Aya's dad nodded and led his wife away from the living room where the 5 of them were. He had also felt it. The unity… the peace and wholesomeness, as if they all blended into a perfect being. He wanted to be there, in that circle where he could be accepted but he couldn't. The both of them turned to close the door, looking at them laughing and teasing.
'They are different,' she suddenly said. Mr. Jin looked at her
'Yeah, they are,' he agreed taking her hand. It was a long time since they had talked to each other that tenderly.
'You know that I didn't plan for this, but I do love her. Loving her does not mean that I love you less. Can't you accept her?' he asked softly.
'There's something in her, in all of them. Genuine love… I've never felt that…' she said thoughtfully. Then looking at her husband's hopeful eyes, she felt a love and passion for him that she had lost. Lost since the night Kenzen took Jin as prisoner. And now she knew what the boys meant. You can't love a person and yet want to take away his happiness. And looking at the worry lines she had helped cause on her husband's face, she regretted. She had always thought herself as a strong woman, yet after 2 years, she realized that she was weak all the while. She had lost. Lost to pride and jealousy.
A/N: Thanks everybody! I know it's like VERY cacat, but sorry lar… I might rewrite this story… might.
