Oh your back, so I guess you didn't hate it. Thank you.
Standard disclaimers apply.
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Chapter 2
Asato had asked me once to marry him. I asked him what he understood about being married.
"Its when a man and a woman won't ever leave each other... that you'll live together happily ever after."
I explained as best as I could that nuns do not marry. Nuns are already married to God and the church.
"You can never marry?"
"It's forbidden."
"Forbidden." He says the word with such finality it scares me. There is darkness in his eyes I have never seen before. If I didn't know how gentle he really is at heart, I would have been scared of him too.
"Asato?" I call softly.
He turns his eyes to me again, the darkness is gone, replaced with deep sadness.
"Why did you ask me that?" I try to smile as I ask.
He is silent for a moment. He looks away from me, wrestling with how he should answer.
My smile fades as I patiently wait for him to answer. It takes a while for him to find his voice. "They told me I couldn't stay here forever and that I would have to leave. They told me I wouldn't be able to stay with you." He takes a deep breath. His tears are threatening to flow, but he keeps them at bay.
I take him in a hug. "Forever is a long time." I try to find the words to reassure him. "Even I can't stay here forever."
I feel the tears falling now rather than seeing them. He is hiding his face in my embrace. He is fighting just to keep his voice steady. "I-I have... nowhere to go without you... the others... all hate me."
"Oh my poor Asato!" I hold him as close as I can.
He's shaking so much.
I rub him back. "Don't you remember the doctor? He was kind to you right? And he kept his promise to come back. I am sure as long as there are people like him in the world you will never be alone."
He takes some comfort in my words, poor little boy. His trying to stop crying.
"Yes, the doctor is different from all the others."
-----------------
I knew he could not stay with me forever, that he would have to leave, this was after all no place for a man.
In time he turns into a man as all little boys must do and he leaves. We all knew he would. I had hoped he would have a future outside these walls.
The news reaches me months after the incident that Asato killed a man. I could not believe it. I did not want to believe it.
I tried to confirm the story but, no one could tell me what really happened. No one seemed to care enough.
There was just the general knowledge that Tsuzuki Asato was locked away and nothing else mattered. "Good riddance" was what they all seemed to say. "Forget about him."
It was like he was buried before he was dead. Buried by being forgotten.
Yet how could I forget?
----------
The last I heard about Asato was from Doctor Muraki.
He told me Asato had gone to a place where no one could reach him anymore.
I cried I told him I couldn't believe that Asato had killed a man. I couldn't believe he was gone.
"You remember you told me he was like Moses?"
"Yes I remember." I remember like it was yesterday.
"Even Moses killed a man." His tone was gentle as he said this but the words cut deep.
I am blank for a moment as I remember that part of the story. A part I would gloss over when Asato was listening.
"Yes, he did."
That was the last time the doctor came.
Standard disclaimers apply.
-------------
Chapter 2
Asato had asked me once to marry him. I asked him what he understood about being married.
"Its when a man and a woman won't ever leave each other... that you'll live together happily ever after."
I explained as best as I could that nuns do not marry. Nuns are already married to God and the church.
"You can never marry?"
"It's forbidden."
"Forbidden." He says the word with such finality it scares me. There is darkness in his eyes I have never seen before. If I didn't know how gentle he really is at heart, I would have been scared of him too.
"Asato?" I call softly.
He turns his eyes to me again, the darkness is gone, replaced with deep sadness.
"Why did you ask me that?" I try to smile as I ask.
He is silent for a moment. He looks away from me, wrestling with how he should answer.
My smile fades as I patiently wait for him to answer. It takes a while for him to find his voice. "They told me I couldn't stay here forever and that I would have to leave. They told me I wouldn't be able to stay with you." He takes a deep breath. His tears are threatening to flow, but he keeps them at bay.
I take him in a hug. "Forever is a long time." I try to find the words to reassure him. "Even I can't stay here forever."
I feel the tears falling now rather than seeing them. He is hiding his face in my embrace. He is fighting just to keep his voice steady. "I-I have... nowhere to go without you... the others... all hate me."
"Oh my poor Asato!" I hold him as close as I can.
He's shaking so much.
I rub him back. "Don't you remember the doctor? He was kind to you right? And he kept his promise to come back. I am sure as long as there are people like him in the world you will never be alone."
He takes some comfort in my words, poor little boy. His trying to stop crying.
"Yes, the doctor is different from all the others."
-----------------
I knew he could not stay with me forever, that he would have to leave, this was after all no place for a man.
In time he turns into a man as all little boys must do and he leaves. We all knew he would. I had hoped he would have a future outside these walls.
The news reaches me months after the incident that Asato killed a man. I could not believe it. I did not want to believe it.
I tried to confirm the story but, no one could tell me what really happened. No one seemed to care enough.
There was just the general knowledge that Tsuzuki Asato was locked away and nothing else mattered. "Good riddance" was what they all seemed to say. "Forget about him."
It was like he was buried before he was dead. Buried by being forgotten.
Yet how could I forget?
----------
The last I heard about Asato was from Doctor Muraki.
He told me Asato had gone to a place where no one could reach him anymore.
I cried I told him I couldn't believe that Asato had killed a man. I couldn't believe he was gone.
"You remember you told me he was like Moses?"
"Yes I remember." I remember like it was yesterday.
"Even Moses killed a man." His tone was gentle as he said this but the words cut deep.
I am blank for a moment as I remember that part of the story. A part I would gloss over when Asato was listening.
"Yes, he did."
That was the last time the doctor came.