BTW: If anyone knows the names or Matt's parents can they please tell me? If not I'll make them up but I thought I should ask just in case anyone knew.
Learning from Mistakes
T.K. could hear his parents arguing in the background while he sat in the living room, their voices carrying in from the kitchen. His mom was blaming Matt's disappearance on his dad and his dad was trying to defend himself without a lot of luck. No surprise there. T.K. had tried to tell his mother that he didn't think that it was Dad's fault but she hadn't wanted to listen. She needed someone to blame and his dad was her target of choice. Slumping low in his seat T.K. just wanted to yell at the both of them but that wasn't going to solve anything. That wasn't going to bring his brother back from where ever he'd gone. Something bad must have happened to his brother, for him to leave without telling him where he was going. Throughout everything that had happened in their family he'd always been able to count on his brother and Matt had to know what it would do to him not to know where he was. In other words the reason was a really big one. Getting to his feet T.K. wandered out of the room, aiming to get away from is parents as he walked down the hallway and turned into his brother's room. It was completely empty and Dad had said that whatever Matt hadn't taken with him had either been packed up or thrown into the garbage. T.K. didn't have to be told to know that his dad would have retrieved a lot of those items to be stored away till Matt came back. If Matt came back. Walking in T.K. sat down on the bare mattress and looked around the room, thinking how empty and bare it seemed. So lifeless without Matt in it.
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"T.K.?" Came his mother's voice minutes later and T.K. looked over to see his mother in the doorway, a strained look on her face as she walked into the room.
"Are we going?" T.K. asked as he got to his feet, wondering where his dad was and if he'd left without saying good bye too. Whenever his parents had argued in the past his mom had always looked like this and his dad had always left to walk it off. Personally he couldn't see the benefits in either case.
"In a bit. Are you sure no one knows where Matt might have gone?" She asked, absently chewing on the bottom of her lip. She was scared and worried and didn't know what to do. All she wanted to do was curl up and cry but that wouldn't get her anywhere. Besides, she had to think of T.K. right now.
"No one seems to know anything, mom. I called ever single friend I know and asked them to ask around with anyone they might know. So far no one knows anything and Izzy said he was fine the last time he saw Matt and odds are Izzy was the last to see him the night he left." T.K. Said with a helpless shrug, trying to be strong for his mom's sake. "Where's dad?"
"He's in the kitchen talking to a friend of his on the police force. Since Matt took his motorcycle your dad thought maybe he could be traced that way. It's the least he can do since this is likely all his fault."
"Quit blaming him, mom. You're just doing it because you need someone to blame and there's no one else." T.K. Said softly as he came over to set his hands on his mother's shoulders. "You know that Matt was cool about this girlfriend of Dad's moving in, he even said so. I don't know what drove Matt to leave but it's wrong to blame dad when there's no proof to say that dad had anything to do with this. Matt wouldn't want you to either."
)
"Izumi said that he can keep an eye out for the plates turning up in any report but that since the bike is Matt's there's really no excuse for wasting police hours looking for him." Came his father's voice and T.K. And his mom turned to look at him, T.K, thinking that his father looked like he'd aged twenty years since the last time he'd seen him.
"Maybe we should file a missing person's report." T.K.'s mom suggested, trying to ignore how haggard and worn out her ex looked. How much older he looked since she'd finished taking out all her fears and worries on him the way T.K. Had said she had.
"I can't see much point in it. Even if we did find him that's not going to make him want to come back here. We can't force him to, there wouldn't be a point in trying. He'll be eighteen soon enough and he's got enough money saved away to last a little while."
"He's not stupid, he likely left here with some sort of plan. He's likely staying with someone he trusts and that he'll...someone he trusts." T.K. Said slowly as an idea began to form in his head. An idea of someone he'd forgotten to call but should have been on the top of his list. Someone who Matt would always turn to and counted on more then anyone else including Sora and Tai. "Rika."
)
"Who?" T.K.'s mom asked eagerly, looking at her son questioningly. Finally a possible lead, something to go on. Thank God.
"Rika? Rika Nonaka? Rumiko's girl?" T.K.'s dad asked before T.K. could answer his mother. His son had had too many girl fans and friends over the years to remember but Rika was a name that always conjured up his son's oldest and most long term friend. "You think he might have called her?"
"Who else would he call? He always calls her when he's got a problem and wants a second opinion. He's always saying that she's one of the few people in the world cursed to think just like he does." T.K. said with a smile slowly appearing on his face then faded just as quickly. "And I have absolutely no idea what her number is."
"I think I still have her mother's number." His dad said and was gone from the room with his son and his ex at his heels. Hurrying into his bedroom he practically ripped out one of his drawers and flipping through it came to the N's and scrolled down until he found the number. He could only pray that this was an up to date number since he hadn't talked to Rumiko in years. Reaching for the phone he stopped then held it out to T.K.. "If she knows something and it was something I did...she might tell you the truth."
Taking the phone with a nod T.K. watched his dad dial, listening to it ring before the voice of an older woman came on. "Uhm hello. Is Rika there, please?"
"Hold on one minute, I'll get her." Rika's grandmother said as she set the phone down, wondering why Rika's friend hadn't called Rika on the girl's line. Calling for Rika to come to the kitchen the girl soon appeared with a questioning look on her face since it wasn't dinner time yet. "There's someone on the phone to speak to you."
"Thanks grandma." Rika said as she took the phone, wondering who would be calling her on the home phone. "Hello? This is Rika."
"Rika? I don't know if you remember me so well since it's been a couple of years but this is T.K., Matt's brother." T.K. said hesitantly, his parents nervously hovering over him which made him that much more nervous.
"T.K.? Oh ya, hey. How's it going?" Rika said in surprise though she had a feeling she already knew the reason for the call. Smart kid to clue in to call her.
)
"I've been better. Look I don't mean to worry you or anything but something happen to Matt and he's kinda disappeared on all of us. I won't ask you to tell me where he is if you know but could you just tell me that he's okay and why he left? Was it something one of us did?" T.K. asked, hoping that she knew something and would trust him enough to give him a little information. His instincts were screaming that she knew plenty and he had learned long ago to trust those instincts. When you had parents who were involved in the media industry your instincts and hunches were bound to be more accurate then most.
"He's okay and you and your parents didn't do anything if that's what you're wondering. Matt figured your mom would be on your dad with the guilt trip no matter what he could have said in a note." Rika said as she pulled up a chair to sit down on.
"Well he was right. So why did he go? Did he get into trouble or something? Does he need money or anything because I can send stuff to you and you could send it to him if you won't give me his address." T.K. wanted to know, willing to do anything to help his big bro. Matt would do the same for him, no questions asked.
"I kinda can't tell you about that but I can tell you that he's not in trouble with the law, owing money to anyone or anything like that." Rika said with a laugh, knowing that as an aspiring writer T.K.'s ideas of what could have happened were bound to be many and far more exciting and dangerous then the truth. "And I do stress that he's not mad at you, your dad or your mom. Oh and you can pass on to Sora that she's dumped in case she hasn't realized that."
"But why would he dump Sora? He loves Sora." T.K. wanted to know, smart enough to click into the idea that this might be a clue. Had something happened between Matt and Sora? Had they had a fight? Sora hadn't said anything but maybe she hadn't thought it was as big a deal as Matt had.
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"I don't think she'll be all choked up at the news. Anyway I've got homework to do and other stuff. Anything else I can do for you?" Rika wanted to know, her eyes having caught sight of Matt who'd come into the kitchen to get some juice.
"No, thanks. That's it. Just tell him mom and dad are worried so call or something okay?" T.K. said with a small smile, remembering something Matt had said once. He'd said that he and Rika had decided that if their parents ever married someone they didn't liked they'd run off and live together by themselves. That Rika and him were two sides of the same coin and that no one understood them better so who better to live with. Matt was with Rika, he'd bet his life savings on it.
"Will do." Rika agreed with a nod, thinking it must be nice to have a little brother like T.K.. The kid was smart, obviously cared and wanted to help enough not to try to push things. The world was still going to hell but at least there were a few good people in the world to make the time until then a little bit better. "Talk to you later, kid."
"Bye." T.K. Agreed then hung up, seeing his parents looking at him expectantly. He was pretty sure he knew where his brother was but he couldn't tell them that. He couldn't tell them anything until Matt was ready to tell them himself. "He did talk to Rika and he's fine where he is. He told her that it was nothing we did that made him go away and he's not in serious trouble."
"Do you think she knows where he is?" T.K.'s mom wanted to know, resting her hand on her son's shoulder.
"If she does you wouldn't be able to get the information out of her with water torture." T.K.'s dad said with a shake of his head. "I may not have seen her in years but that little lady is hard to forget. She's meaner then a rattler and as loyal as can be. She'd cut off her arm for Matt and he'd do the same."
)
"Who was that on the phone?" Matt asked as he came over with a glass of orange juice in his hand.
"Your little brother actually." Rika said as she got out of her chair, not surprised to see the shock on his face. "Your brother isn't a straight A student for no reason, Matt. I think he made the connection but isn't going to tell anyone about it."
"No, he wouldn't." Matt agreed with a slight frown. But the knowing and not telling would eat at the always valiant and right doing T.K.. He knew he could trust his brother not to spill but his brother was going to feel guilty as hell about it.
"He asks that you call your mom and dad and let them know that you're okay. My guess is they're likely taking this badly and taking it out on each other and the kid." Rika said as she went over to the fridge to get a glass of juice for herself. "Just call them when you know they'd be at work and leave a message. That way you don't have to answer questions or talk to them period. It's what I do whenever I want to tell my mom something."
)
"Yeah, I guess that would be an okay idea." Matt said after chugging down the rest of his juice. "I don't want the kid taking heat for something I did and if I'm really firm on the whole it's not their fault my mom should back off on the whole out for my dad's blood thing."
"You'd think you're parents would have grown out of the whole spousal bashing deal. My parents can speak to each other civilly." Rika said with a shake of her head as she sipped her juice thoughtfully. "Then again my parents got married because of me and not out of love or anything. I guess there's more pain and ties to deal with when you actually wanted to get married and make it work."
"I've long given up trying to figure my parents out. It's too much of a headache." Matt said as he walked over to set his used glass into the sink. "They're both good people, they were a good couple who loved each other but couldn't make it work."
"Which just goes to prove my point that marriage is a useless and expensive trap meant to enslave women and force people to reproduce with the same person." Was Rika's firm opinion as she set her glass in with his, the two heading out of the kitchen so that they didn't get in Rika's grandmother's way. "There's nothing good to say about the business of marriage."
"All the presents you get as gifts?"
"Most of which you never want and are given to you by relatives who have either no taste or hate you and therefore want to saddle you with useless junk you have to keep because they'll somehow know if you don't." Rika said with a shrug as she turned into her room, Matt right behind her as the two sat down in beanbag chairs to continue the argument, just for the hell of it. They had nothing better to do after all and it was bound to get interesting.
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"The extra help raising the kids?" Matt suggested, settling in for what was sure to be an interesting debate even if he did have to be on the pro side. "After all if you're married the guy at least has to contribute somewhat to the expenses and lend an occasional hand. Guy's not tied down it's a lot easier for him to make like Tom and Cruise."
"True, not that the man who contributed sperm to cause my creation really contributed much of anything when he was married to my mother." Rika said, willing to concede his point. "I mean he spent more on a lawyer to get away from us then he contributed to bill paying."
She never calls him dad, Matt thought absently. Never father or pop or anything that signified he had in any way, shape or form been a father figure. "True in your case but while my parents were together they made the effort to share the tasks when they were around. Plus when you marry someone you've got a bitching partner at your disposal."
"Which leads to divorce," Rika pointed out dryly, thinking of all the arguing and fighting she'd seen adults do over the years. Especially with their spouses. "and the kids either being split up or stuck with one parent while never seeing the other. Like that's such a great idea. If it weren't for the need to repopulate I'd make it a law that you can't have kids till your thirty. At least that was you have some sense and if you've stayed together with one person then maybe you're up to taking care of something more complicated then a puppy."
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"Not necessarily, plus you want to be young enough to enjoy your kids. I mean just because our parents never could seem to put their careers aside for more then ten minutes doesn't mean the rest of the population is like that. You're just jaded."
"And you aren't?" Rika pointed out sweetly. Sure Matt was a little better then her about the whole idea of the world going to hell but not by a lot.
"True but I at least believe there are people out there who can and will make it work. Like my little brother for instance. he's smart, caring and an all around decent person. I can see him married happily with kids no problem. And even if his marriage did fall apart I know he'd be there for the kids, no question."
"True but he's been put through the divorce ringer before with your parents. You been through that I think you'd be a bit wiser when it came to your kids turn at bat." Rika pointed out as absently stretched out her arms a bit. "I mean that's the whole point right, to learn from the mistakes of other idiots so you don't screw up as badly as they did."