The Miracle of a Courageous Light.
A Long Term Promise.
It was past midnight before Taichi heard a small scrape, sounding like a key turning inside the door. He opened his eyes slowly and noted he was still in the living room. 'Ah Hika, you must've gone to bed'. He thought.
He went out of the family room just as Aiko opened the door to the Yagami apartment. The blood had gone from her clothes but her face looked so tired and so much different from the young bubbly waitress they had met that evening in the restaurant. She tried to give Taichi a calm and warming smile. Taichi nodded in her direction and lightly knocked on his sister's door. No reply.
"Hikari?" He whispered as he slowly pushed her door open. She was lying on her bed facing the ceiling. Her arm was hanging off the edge and inside was the letter from their parents. He bowed his head at this peaceful angel. He loved his sister and this evening had made him feel like he had let her down.
"You should wake her, Taichi. She needs to hear this." Aiko said. "Did you open the envelope?" Taichi nodded and pointed towards the family room. His world was slowly crashing down around him and he didn't know how to cope. He just knew he had to be strong, for his sister, for his family. For himself.
He cautiously walked into Hikari's bedroom and over to his little sister. He gave her a small shake.
"Hikari, Aiko is here. She needs to talk to us both." He whispered. "Hika?" He gave her another small shake just as he saw her eyes flutter open, closed then open again.
"Aiko is here?" She asked sleepily.
"Yes. Come on, we need to be strong, just for tonight. Just for a little while Hikari." He offered her his hand and together they walked into the family room.
Aiko was patiently waiting for them both. She had the letter addressed to her in her hand which was white from clutching it too tightly. She was shaking.
"Hikari, Taichi. What happened tonight is truly dreadful. I can assure you your parents have known about this for a long time. I'm going to do my very best to answer a few questions in a moment. Let me please just explain." Aiko paused, waiting for some response from either of the children sat in front of her. They both said nothing, they just starred, numb. "Your father, Iziko, and I have been friends for a long time. I've always confided in him that I have the ability to 'predict the future' even though it's not always clear. One evening, the evening I first met you mother, she asked if I could tell her future, well, your parent's future. Taichi was very small back then, I think he was still a baby, but your mother has always wanted a little girl you see." Taichi and Hikari both looked at each other and nodded. Aiko continued. "When they found out they would have a little girl and win the lottery they were so happy. But I got a frightening vision that the two would be...murdered on the day they won." Aiko said the last words with pain. She was expecting shouting and screaming from the two
Yagami's sitting in front of her. What surprised her most was Hikari's calm and patient voice.
"We don't blame you Aiko. I'm honoured that you told our parents the truth." Hikari said, not looking up to meet the young woman's eyes.
"We're not angry at you Aiko. Whoever did this to our parents had no right but you gave them the time they needed to prepare us for it." Taichi nodded as he spoke the words.
"I was expecting more than that I suppose. I really thought you guys would hate me. I'm so sorry for your loss; I can't help feeling part of the blame."
"Do we have a plan for tomorrow?" Taichi asked, looking up at Aiko. She looked right back and saw those eyes Iziko had described so many times. Such beautiful, deep eyes. Even at this point in time they still had some hope, some love and laughter inside them. 'So much emotion for one young boy.' Aiko thought.
"Well legally, you and your sister are not old enough for the lottery, so I'll be claiming it and putting it into your bank.
Your parents have left the details here." Aiko said. She wanted to answer everything as honestly as she could, without hurting the children too much.
"What about the apartment Aiko? Taichi and I can't afford to live here alone." Hikari whispered.
"Technically, Hika, you can. But you won't be living here. Your mother and father have been working hard all week looking for a school to put you in. They found one; it's an international mixed boarding school for orphans. That doesn't mean all the kids there don't have parents, some of the parents are suffering from illnesses which mean they can't look after their children anymore. You'll be given residence there after the summer. You'll graduate at eighteen. I'm sure then that you'll still have enough money between the two of you to be able to buy your own place back here in Japan, if you want to."
"Back here? Where is this school?" Taichi asked raising an eyebrow. He wasn't sure if he was ready to leave this place just yet even after everything that had happened.
"It's in Europe. I've heard a lot of good things about it." Aiko nodded. "I think its best we try and get a little sleep now, it's late and we have a lot to do. I know it's going to be hard. The funeral is in eight days. You have ten days left to live in this apartment; you'll then be staying with the authorities for the rest of the summer. They're worried that the assassin that killed your parents may come after you. But don't worry; they have no plans with you." Taichi and Hikari looked at Aiko, horrified and gasped. Hikari shook her head and went off to her bedroom. Taichi shortly followed.
'Those poor kids.' Aiko said to herself. Quietly she put the letter and documents back into the red envelope along with the winning lottery ticket and laid on the sofa. 'I don't want to leave those kids alone unless I absolutely have to.' That was her last thought before she closed her eyes and drifted into slumber.
Taichi was in his room stripping off his clothes. He walked over to the small basin in his room and splashed his hands and face with cold water. He took a long, hard look at himself in the mirror. Staring back at him was a young boy, scared and afraid.
"Come on Taichi. Let take this one step at a time." He said to himself before pulling away from the mirror and climbing into bed. It was going to be a long night.
Hikari clambered into bed. She was exhausted. Her whole body felt weak but she knew she had to stay strong, for her brother. She knew he would protect her but she couldn't help thinking that if she wasn't strong for him, he would break down. They needed to sort things out before they could sit down and break down. 'No matter what' Hikari thought. 'We're going to do this together, Taichi.' The rest of the night was a blur.
The morning couldn't come soon enough. Taichi was up and ready. He wanted to get these eight days over with and today was the first of them. He had a lot of calls to make to his family to let them know what had happened to the Yagami's. The calls took most of the morning and most of his energy but Taichi stayed strong. This was something he was going to have to come to terms with by himself and he was going to do everything it took out of him to try and make this week okay. It was going to be hard and he was scared but he wanted to show everyone that he could be strong. He didn't want to have to deal with all this pain for such a long time.
"Good morning Taichi." Aiko said once he'd finished making the calls. Not once did she interrupt him. She knew it was something he needed and wanted to do for himself. "Would you like me to make some breakfast?" Taichi looked up from the phone. He had made his last call and that was enough. He didn't want to spend much of today in this house. Hikari was dressed and ready for the day. She was constantly flicking through the television channels. There was that thinking expression on her face again. Taichi prayed in his heart that she was okay and this wasn't putting too much on here. He'd almost lost his sister once; he couldn't bear to loose her again. Not after what had happened last night.
"Actually, Aiko, do you mind if we go out for breakfast? There's a pancake house around the corner. Then we can start on these errands." Taichi picked up the red envelope that was lying on the table. Hikari switched off the television and turned towards Aiko.
"I think it'd be better if we got out of this place for the day." Hikari said. Aiko nodded and together they all left the family room to put on there shoes and take the walk around the corner for breakfast.
"I haven't had pancakes in so long. Taichi, I'm happy you suggested it." Hikari said, smiling. It wasn't her usual smile, but it was good enough for him. Taichi smiled back.
"I know me too. Blueberry, chocolate and butter for me this morning. What about you Aiko?" Aiko could tell the young boy was trying to just get on with things today. She admired the boy's emotional strength. He was still young. Of course, anyone at any age would be devastated to learn the death of his or her parents. Taichi was devastated but he was coping better than she could imagine.
"That sounds great!" Aiko smiled at the children and they smiled back.
Before long they were inside the pancake house munching on their favourites. It felt as though last night hadn't happened.
They were all talking happily and smiling and laughing and making jokes. Aiko was happy to see them like this. She knew they were in pain and this display of happiness was a shield to hide their pain from the rest of the world. After all, it was nobody else's business.
After breakfast Aiko made the call to the lottery company on her cell phone. They took down the details of the younger Yagami's bank account and told her that she needed to bring the winning ticket to the nearest shopping superstore. That superstore would act as a referee and give Aiko a letter confirming the winning numbers. They would then have to go to the post office to send off the lottery ticket, the confirmation letter and the details of the bank account the money was being paid into. Aiko had made it clear that she could not accept any cheque payments.
It took them forever finding a superstore that would act as a referee and by the time they had finally sent the letter off it was late in the afternoon.
"You kids ready for some dinner?" Aiko asked smiling. The children both nodded.
"How about Mister Moshi's?" The children's faces lit up at the sound of going to Mister Moshi's. They parents had never taken them because they didn't enjoy fast food and it was somewhere Taichi and Hikari had wanted to go in a long time. Before Aiko even got an answer the children were running off in the direction of the restaurant. "Hey! Wait up!" She called after them, laughing herself.
The meal was delicious and everyone enjoyed it. The atmosphere was similar to the one the three had in the pancake house earlier that day.
"Taichi, Hikari. I just want to say, you two really are amazing kids. I'm here for you, I promise. Anything you need, please don't hesitate to call me it's the least I can do." Aiko said as she finished off her last slice of pizza.
AN: This is the only time I am going to put this, but please review. I could really use the inspiration and the more reviews I recieve the more likely I am to review within the next few days. Thank you!