Disclaimer: Blah...I don't own it.
A/N: Ha...so, you guys ready to kill me after that long break? Sorry, but I have the worst luck with my dumb computer! It broke again! So...we got a new one! Celebrate for that. Yeah, I am really sorry for taking such long breaks, but the end of the year is approaching so you gotta stay focused. But any ways, please accept my apologies and enjoy!
Chapter 9: My decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days, he had spent three days locked away in his room. Of course food was placed outside the door and rolls of toilet paper would be left as well, but he never actually left. His father didn't demand entrance, he spent the nights sleeping on the couch and the others never came to bother him. Well, too much that is.
JT sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at the floorboards, pondering his situation. It was morning of the fourth day and the others were worried. They had gone to so much trouble to bring him back but he resisted. Rachel and Lida hadn't come after him so he couldn't have been missed that much, could he?
Standing up the teen went to the door and unlocked it. Taking a quick peek out he saw there was no one and went down the stairs to the kitchen. There was some left over breakfast lying around, clearly it was Youji's turn to clean up that day.
Gathering up the plates the youth put them in the sink and turned the faucet on. While the water ran he wrapped an apron around his waist, not minding how girlie it seemed. He slowly added some soap into the water then began to wash all of the dishes. He smiled slightly. He had done this all the time before, when he was little he would stand on a stool beside one of his uncles and scrub till the whole set of dishes was clean, even if they hadn't been used.
As he stood with his mind wandering Omi walked into the kitchen, looking slightly pale and in pain. Rubbing his head he cracked one of his eyes open and was surprised to see his son standing at the sink, cleaning the dishes. Making a startled noise JT looked up at him and stopped his movement.
"..."
Scratching his head the older blonde made a noise of recognition. "Out and about at last?"
"It was getting cramped." The teen replied.
Nodding his head Omi went to his son and gave him the strongest hug he could ever receive.
"Oh, my son. I missed you so much."
Burying his head into his father's shoulder the small teen began to weep loudly. His father kept a firm hold on him as he gently stroked his hair, cooing sweetly to him. The water continued to run as the two kindred souls embraced in the kitchen, forgiving each other's faults.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the Koneko flower shop?"
The gaggle of schoolgirls walking the street stopped as they were addressed. Rachel looked at them with slightly red and tired eyes. They looked at each other and, taking pity on her, answered.
"The Koneko is just down the way, about three blocks down. We're going right by it if you'd like to walk with us."
The young girl smiled as bright as she could. "That would be wonderful, thank you so much."
As the girls walked the oldest, a senior presumably, took lead. "My names Kila, this is Mia and this here is Sara. We go to the Tokyo public high school. Where are you from?"
Rachel looked at them with her big eyes. "My name is Rachel and I'm from Hirosaki."
"Hirosaki?" Mia asked, getting a nod. "That's an awfully long way off, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to bring my friend back home."
The firmness in the girl's voice provoked Kila to smirk. "It sounds like this 'friend' is more than just a friend. It sounds like a love mission. And this friend works at the Koneko, huh?"
"Uh, yes."
"Hmm, funny, the only ones that work at the flower shop are those four old guys. Oh, and the one guys son. Is he the one you're looking for?"
Sara looked to the young visitor and saw the blush she carried on her cheeks. Smiling she decided not to press the matter and continued to walk on. After a brief silence they arrived at the corner where the Koneko sat, waiting for business.
"Here it is." Kila said. "Good luck getting in, it's always swamped with girls. Too bad we have exams this week, if we didn't we'd go in with you. Good luck."
Rachel looked at them with a somewhat pleading look.
Sara stood still, grabbing her friend's attention.
"Sara? Come on, we're going."
"I'll catch up with you later, Mia, I'm just going to make sure she's okay. I'll call you, okay?"
With a shrug the other two girls walked off. Sara looked to Rachel and smiled.
"Come on, I'll lead you, you'll need someone strong to get you through the crowd to the front."
"Thank you."
Taking a fleeting glance up at the sign above the store decorated with a cat holding a flower Rachel became determined to find JT and bring him back with her to Hirosaki.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JT slid on his work apron and tied it around his waist. Around him his Uncles smiled fondly at him. He walked slowly, reaffirming his surroundings, going straight to the small table he had previously worked at.
As he sat down his father brought over a large bushel of flowers and set them down with a sheet of paper.
"Here are the orders and the addresses. Make the arrangements then deliver them, all right?"
"Yes, dad."
Gently ruffling the boy's hair Omi walked off to move a few pots, before they were knocked over by the crowd. The teen watched him leave and frowned slightly. Setting to work he tried to set aside his feelings of oppressing sadness and concentrate. Every once in a while one of his uncles would gently nudge him or pat his head and he would look up and smile, reminded that he was loved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young blonde waved to his father, telling him he was off to deliver the orders. He grabbed the helmet sitting on the counter beside the register and began to waltz out of the busy store when he stopped dead in his tracks.
Standing in the door was a pair of forest green eyes and black hair that all belonged to the one and only Rachel.
With shock the helmet promptly fell from the boy's hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel stood rigid as she was confronted by the one she sought. She faintly heard the clatter of something falling, but didn't care enough to find out what it was. For a moment she simply stared, a blank look across her features. But then she flung herself at the boy, startling Sara and the teen himself.
"JT! I found you! Thank god!"
All of the commotion in the store seemed to stop as the girl began to cry. JT let his arm crawl around her waist as he still stared at the spot she had been in. When his mind finally caught up he blushed deeply and looked down. He didn't know whether to smile or cry or run away.
"Great, just when things were getting simple. Now what?" He thought to himself.
"JT? Who is this girl?"
The young blonde turned to see his father and three uncles looking at him with concern and great interest. Well, mostly interest, Uncle Aya looked ready to kill. He stuttered.
"Uh, this is, well, uh, this is, this is Rachel, she and I are, well, we're, she gave me a place to stay when I left and, well..."
"You people drove him away."
JT went rod straight as the girl under his arm spoke out. Surely his guardians would not take too kindly to that one.
"Excuse me?" Youji asked with venom.
"You drove him away." The girl responded firmly. "If you had treated him better he wouldn't have run. Then you kidnapped him, I'm here to bring him back."
As the four assassins looked beyond pissed the young boy began to pray to god that no blood would be spilled that day.
"Excuse me, young lady, but you have no claim over MY son, so if you would kindly remove your hands..."
Omi went over to his child and pried him away from the female, ushering him to his fellow coworkers. Rachel looked at him with danger in her eyes as she tried to keep a hold, but the man's strength was too much.
"I demand that you set him free!"
"Set him free?! He isn't a prisoner, he's my only child!"
"Uhm, dad..." The boy tried to interject.
"You neglected him and made him feel unloved, that is a prison!"
"Listen, girlie, you have no place here and I suggest you leave now before I'm forced to call the police."
"Dad...!"
"You couldn't do anything to me."
"I could press charges."
"Dad!!"
With an aggravated look on his face Tsukiyono senior turned "What!?"
"Uhm, maybe we should talk downstairs. People are staring."
Taking it into stride the father gathered his wits and nodded. Leading the way he lead the two children down to the basement and sat them down on the couch.
"Now, I'm usually not one to curse, but what the hell is going on?!"
"JT is coming back with me."
Sending a glare to the girl Omi grunted. Shaking his hands frantically JT spoke up.
"Its like I said dad, Rachel gave me a place to stay when I left, we kind of got attached to one another. Then you kind of...kidnapped me."
"We had to!"
"I know, I know but, well, I guess I really liked being with her."
A silence settled in then. The teen looked at his father expectantly, but nothing came, he just looked sad. Rachel seemed as anxious as he was, but remained quiet. For a minute the boy thought his father was preparing to kill them both, but was surprised when he saw a tear slide down the man's face.
"You're grown now, JT, and as much as I want to deny it, you can make decisions for yourself now. Although I don't think you're old enough to leave home, especially not after just leaving a mental hospital, it is your life. You can chose where you will live. But as your father I'm only giving you until the end of the night."
With nothing further the petite blonde left the room and went back to work, or to go sob in his room. Sitting still on the couch the teen wrapped his arms around him and thought. His father was giving him a choice; this was the first time in his life it had happened.
Rachel looked at her friend expectantly, but knew she could not rush a decision like this. So she sat back and sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun set quickly it seemed that day. Omi flipped the open sign over and turned. His son was standing behind him with his visitor. He smiled sadly and went to sit at the table his child worked at.
"I've made my choice." The teen announced.
All four men and the young girl perked up.
Looking at his worn sneakers JT tensed, this was perhaps the hardest thing he had ever had to do before. Taking in a deep breath he let it out and looked over to Rachel.
"Rachel, you know I like you, and I'm more than grateful to you for everything you've done for me..."
The girl smiled. But JT frowned.
"But my real home is here, with my family. I can't go back. I-I'm sorry..."
As Omi and his Uncle's rejoiced the boy focused on his companion, watching as her heart broke in her eyes.
"I see...that's good then..."
Walking slowly the dark hair girl went to the door and stepped out, acting like she was a zombie. Going after her the blonde teen panicked.
"Rachel! Wait."
The figure stopped and turned her head.
"They're my family, I can't leave them. I'm sorry."
A faint smile spread over red lips. "I'd rather you be happy and true to yourself then make a foolish mistake out of pity. Goodbye JT, it was nice knowing you..."
The girl walked slowly away then, her form disappearing into the sunset. Standing there watching the aqua eyed boy felt hot tears sting his eyes. Rubbing them away quickly he turned and ran right into his father. Looking up he sniffled.
"It's not the end, my son, even if it feels like it. Life goes on, it will go on. You will go on."
For the second time that day the boy released his sorrows as tears into his father's shoulder as the man gently rocked him back and forth, nurturing him with sweet words.
Maybe he was right...he would go on, it couldn't be the end. He wouldn't let it be.
~TBC
Ah, at last, I think just the epilogue now. Hope you enjoyed. And a question, should I write more with these guys or no? Leave your thoughts please!
A/N: Ha...so, you guys ready to kill me after that long break? Sorry, but I have the worst luck with my dumb computer! It broke again! So...we got a new one! Celebrate for that. Yeah, I am really sorry for taking such long breaks, but the end of the year is approaching so you gotta stay focused. But any ways, please accept my apologies and enjoy!
Chapter 9: My decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three days, he had spent three days locked away in his room. Of course food was placed outside the door and rolls of toilet paper would be left as well, but he never actually left. His father didn't demand entrance, he spent the nights sleeping on the couch and the others never came to bother him. Well, too much that is.
JT sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at the floorboards, pondering his situation. It was morning of the fourth day and the others were worried. They had gone to so much trouble to bring him back but he resisted. Rachel and Lida hadn't come after him so he couldn't have been missed that much, could he?
Standing up the teen went to the door and unlocked it. Taking a quick peek out he saw there was no one and went down the stairs to the kitchen. There was some left over breakfast lying around, clearly it was Youji's turn to clean up that day.
Gathering up the plates the youth put them in the sink and turned the faucet on. While the water ran he wrapped an apron around his waist, not minding how girlie it seemed. He slowly added some soap into the water then began to wash all of the dishes. He smiled slightly. He had done this all the time before, when he was little he would stand on a stool beside one of his uncles and scrub till the whole set of dishes was clean, even if they hadn't been used.
As he stood with his mind wandering Omi walked into the kitchen, looking slightly pale and in pain. Rubbing his head he cracked one of his eyes open and was surprised to see his son standing at the sink, cleaning the dishes. Making a startled noise JT looked up at him and stopped his movement.
"..."
Scratching his head the older blonde made a noise of recognition. "Out and about at last?"
"It was getting cramped." The teen replied.
Nodding his head Omi went to his son and gave him the strongest hug he could ever receive.
"Oh, my son. I missed you so much."
Burying his head into his father's shoulder the small teen began to weep loudly. His father kept a firm hold on him as he gently stroked his hair, cooing sweetly to him. The water continued to run as the two kindred souls embraced in the kitchen, forgiving each other's faults.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the Koneko flower shop?"
The gaggle of schoolgirls walking the street stopped as they were addressed. Rachel looked at them with slightly red and tired eyes. They looked at each other and, taking pity on her, answered.
"The Koneko is just down the way, about three blocks down. We're going right by it if you'd like to walk with us."
The young girl smiled as bright as she could. "That would be wonderful, thank you so much."
As the girls walked the oldest, a senior presumably, took lead. "My names Kila, this is Mia and this here is Sara. We go to the Tokyo public high school. Where are you from?"
Rachel looked at them with her big eyes. "My name is Rachel and I'm from Hirosaki."
"Hirosaki?" Mia asked, getting a nod. "That's an awfully long way off, what brings you here?"
"I'm here to bring my friend back home."
The firmness in the girl's voice provoked Kila to smirk. "It sounds like this 'friend' is more than just a friend. It sounds like a love mission. And this friend works at the Koneko, huh?"
"Uh, yes."
"Hmm, funny, the only ones that work at the flower shop are those four old guys. Oh, and the one guys son. Is he the one you're looking for?"
Sara looked to the young visitor and saw the blush she carried on her cheeks. Smiling she decided not to press the matter and continued to walk on. After a brief silence they arrived at the corner where the Koneko sat, waiting for business.
"Here it is." Kila said. "Good luck getting in, it's always swamped with girls. Too bad we have exams this week, if we didn't we'd go in with you. Good luck."
Rachel looked at them with a somewhat pleading look.
Sara stood still, grabbing her friend's attention.
"Sara? Come on, we're going."
"I'll catch up with you later, Mia, I'm just going to make sure she's okay. I'll call you, okay?"
With a shrug the other two girls walked off. Sara looked to Rachel and smiled.
"Come on, I'll lead you, you'll need someone strong to get you through the crowd to the front."
"Thank you."
Taking a fleeting glance up at the sign above the store decorated with a cat holding a flower Rachel became determined to find JT and bring him back with her to Hirosaki.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JT slid on his work apron and tied it around his waist. Around him his Uncles smiled fondly at him. He walked slowly, reaffirming his surroundings, going straight to the small table he had previously worked at.
As he sat down his father brought over a large bushel of flowers and set them down with a sheet of paper.
"Here are the orders and the addresses. Make the arrangements then deliver them, all right?"
"Yes, dad."
Gently ruffling the boy's hair Omi walked off to move a few pots, before they were knocked over by the crowd. The teen watched him leave and frowned slightly. Setting to work he tried to set aside his feelings of oppressing sadness and concentrate. Every once in a while one of his uncles would gently nudge him or pat his head and he would look up and smile, reminded that he was loved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The young blonde waved to his father, telling him he was off to deliver the orders. He grabbed the helmet sitting on the counter beside the register and began to waltz out of the busy store when he stopped dead in his tracks.
Standing in the door was a pair of forest green eyes and black hair that all belonged to the one and only Rachel.
With shock the helmet promptly fell from the boy's hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel stood rigid as she was confronted by the one she sought. She faintly heard the clatter of something falling, but didn't care enough to find out what it was. For a moment she simply stared, a blank look across her features. But then she flung herself at the boy, startling Sara and the teen himself.
"JT! I found you! Thank god!"
All of the commotion in the store seemed to stop as the girl began to cry. JT let his arm crawl around her waist as he still stared at the spot she had been in. When his mind finally caught up he blushed deeply and looked down. He didn't know whether to smile or cry or run away.
"Great, just when things were getting simple. Now what?" He thought to himself.
"JT? Who is this girl?"
The young blonde turned to see his father and three uncles looking at him with concern and great interest. Well, mostly interest, Uncle Aya looked ready to kill. He stuttered.
"Uh, this is, well, uh, this is, this is Rachel, she and I are, well, we're, she gave me a place to stay when I left and, well..."
"You people drove him away."
JT went rod straight as the girl under his arm spoke out. Surely his guardians would not take too kindly to that one.
"Excuse me?" Youji asked with venom.
"You drove him away." The girl responded firmly. "If you had treated him better he wouldn't have run. Then you kidnapped him, I'm here to bring him back."
As the four assassins looked beyond pissed the young boy began to pray to god that no blood would be spilled that day.
"Excuse me, young lady, but you have no claim over MY son, so if you would kindly remove your hands..."
Omi went over to his child and pried him away from the female, ushering him to his fellow coworkers. Rachel looked at him with danger in her eyes as she tried to keep a hold, but the man's strength was too much.
"I demand that you set him free!"
"Set him free?! He isn't a prisoner, he's my only child!"
"Uhm, dad..." The boy tried to interject.
"You neglected him and made him feel unloved, that is a prison!"
"Listen, girlie, you have no place here and I suggest you leave now before I'm forced to call the police."
"Dad...!"
"You couldn't do anything to me."
"I could press charges."
"Dad!!"
With an aggravated look on his face Tsukiyono senior turned "What!?"
"Uhm, maybe we should talk downstairs. People are staring."
Taking it into stride the father gathered his wits and nodded. Leading the way he lead the two children down to the basement and sat them down on the couch.
"Now, I'm usually not one to curse, but what the hell is going on?!"
"JT is coming back with me."
Sending a glare to the girl Omi grunted. Shaking his hands frantically JT spoke up.
"Its like I said dad, Rachel gave me a place to stay when I left, we kind of got attached to one another. Then you kind of...kidnapped me."
"We had to!"
"I know, I know but, well, I guess I really liked being with her."
A silence settled in then. The teen looked at his father expectantly, but nothing came, he just looked sad. Rachel seemed as anxious as he was, but remained quiet. For a minute the boy thought his father was preparing to kill them both, but was surprised when he saw a tear slide down the man's face.
"You're grown now, JT, and as much as I want to deny it, you can make decisions for yourself now. Although I don't think you're old enough to leave home, especially not after just leaving a mental hospital, it is your life. You can chose where you will live. But as your father I'm only giving you until the end of the night."
With nothing further the petite blonde left the room and went back to work, or to go sob in his room. Sitting still on the couch the teen wrapped his arms around him and thought. His father was giving him a choice; this was the first time in his life it had happened.
Rachel looked at her friend expectantly, but knew she could not rush a decision like this. So she sat back and sighed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun set quickly it seemed that day. Omi flipped the open sign over and turned. His son was standing behind him with his visitor. He smiled sadly and went to sit at the table his child worked at.
"I've made my choice." The teen announced.
All four men and the young girl perked up.
Looking at his worn sneakers JT tensed, this was perhaps the hardest thing he had ever had to do before. Taking in a deep breath he let it out and looked over to Rachel.
"Rachel, you know I like you, and I'm more than grateful to you for everything you've done for me..."
The girl smiled. But JT frowned.
"But my real home is here, with my family. I can't go back. I-I'm sorry..."
As Omi and his Uncle's rejoiced the boy focused on his companion, watching as her heart broke in her eyes.
"I see...that's good then..."
Walking slowly the dark hair girl went to the door and stepped out, acting like she was a zombie. Going after her the blonde teen panicked.
"Rachel! Wait."
The figure stopped and turned her head.
"They're my family, I can't leave them. I'm sorry."
A faint smile spread over red lips. "I'd rather you be happy and true to yourself then make a foolish mistake out of pity. Goodbye JT, it was nice knowing you..."
The girl walked slowly away then, her form disappearing into the sunset. Standing there watching the aqua eyed boy felt hot tears sting his eyes. Rubbing them away quickly he turned and ran right into his father. Looking up he sniffled.
"It's not the end, my son, even if it feels like it. Life goes on, it will go on. You will go on."
For the second time that day the boy released his sorrows as tears into his father's shoulder as the man gently rocked him back and forth, nurturing him with sweet words.
Maybe he was right...he would go on, it couldn't be the end. He wouldn't let it be.
~TBC
Ah, at last, I think just the epilogue now. Hope you enjoyed. And a question, should I write more with these guys or no? Leave your thoughts please!