[A/N: this is an obligatory warning there are mentions of rape sexual harassment and discussions about some very real world problems with that being said here is the chapter]
It was a sunny day on the outskirts of Tokyo. The small plot of land that Jack's House was built on was as quiet as ever. Nothing but the sounds of birds and tree leafs shaking on their branches could be heard. Creating a nice relaxing melody in the background.
Inside the house, the soft clinking of plates alongside a soft humming filled the air. Jack's mother, Diane and his Girlfriend Yuuri, stood in the kitchen as they washed the plates that they had breakfast in.
"I got to say I wasn't really big on the idea of living in a home that was so out of the way from everything, but this isn't so bad after all," Jane said, shaking the excess water off her hand and into the sink as she finished washing the last plate.
She placed it on the counter for Yuuri to dry before making her way to the couch and making herself comfortable as she stretched her arms back, placing them on the backrest. leaving Yuuri to finish putting away the clean plates. "What about you, Yuuri?"
"?"
Yuuri put the last plate away before turning around to look at Diana with a questioning look.
"You know… The location do you like it"
Yuuri silently grabbed the last plate. Using the towel to dry it before she answered
" ... You're not really asking about how I like the location, are you?"
Yuuri looked at Diana, who smiled before she grabbed a coffee pot, pouring both of them a cup. She walked around the kitchen counter and sat next to her on the sofa, handing her the mug as she did.
The two of them sat in comfortable silence, with Yuuri taking the corner of the couch and hugging one of the pillows as a couple of seconds passed. slowly enjoying their coffee before Yuuri spoke.
"I do love him, I'm not some teenage girl who doesn't understand her feelings."
"And he loves you too, you know that right?"
"...I do"
"So… you haven't talked about marriage"
"We did, he is waiting"
"For what?"
"Until he beats him…" Diane froze, she lowered her mug down to her lap grabbing it with both hands. Yuuri noticed her hands trembling slightly as she did. She had a sad look, one filled with regret as she absent-mindedly stared into the cup.
"Diana can I… ask you something?" Diane's eyes regained focus but she didn't look at Yuuri as she answered. Taking a small sip of her coffee as she did.
"Yeah.. ask away."
"Why do you think he wants to fight Yujiro?"
Diane stopped looking at her reflection in the mug, half turning her head to look at Yuuri.
"What did he tell you?"
Yuuri shuffled a pit, putting the pillow on her lap and the coffee mug held in both hands before speaking.
"He said it was like being just one step away from glory, something people strive all their life for yet he is always just one step away from it. So why shouldn't he take it…. But that's not the whole truth is it?"
Diane scoffed a small smile tugging at her lips "he is so full of it isn't he… no It's not the full truth"
Diane looked hesitant before she tightened her hold on the mug "did he tell you about how he was born?"
Yuuri shook her head "No I never really asked he avoided talking about how things were between you and Yujiro"
"Rape… Yujiro raped me" Diane had a look of disgust on her face as Yuuri's eyes widened not expecting the answer at all before she lowered her head.
"I'm sorr…"
"DON'T!" Diana interrupted her looking straight into her eyes before she turned her head away "...It was my fault I wasn't strong enough" Diane said downing the rest of her coffee in one gulp right after.
Yuuri was at a loss for words she tried to speak but it barely came out as a whisper "Diane….".
"When I got the news that I was pregnant… I was horrified. Horrified that I was now carrying the spawn of that demon in human skin. My first thought was I should get rid of it but then it hit me…. I can use it after all what could kill a demon other than one of its kind.." Diana smiled a self-depressed mocking smile. Her gaze was focused on the empty mug now placed on the table in front of her.
She didn't see Yuuri. She didn't see her clenched hand that nearly broke the mug she was holding. She didn't see the gaze of absolute fury she was directing at her. The mere thought of what she could have done to Jack…
"... all of that was nothing for when I first saw him in my arms.. I felt ashamed. How could a mother think of her child like that? how can I do that to my baby boy.. I may have failed as a warrior as a soldier. But I won't fail as a mother, my pride won't allow it.".
Diane glanced back at Yuuri who had calmed down. The fury from before was nowhere to be seen. Diane lifted her legs up hugging her to her chest.
"I was so happy seeing him grow up day by day, each stronger and smarter than the last.." she smiled, reminiscing.
"He wasn't like the other children. He was smarter, far smarter than he had any right to be and as time passed I realised he needed me less and less. My little bird was starting to spread his wings ready to fly.
So naturally, I started picking up new hobbies. before I just stuck to the little town we called home. I didn't pay much attention to the outside world and when I did.
I saw it. I saw how the soldiers coming back from Vietnam were treated like the scum of the earth being called baby killers and junkies. All of a sudden I was back to that dark ceil they kept me in when I failed. If these soldiers were called all that then what was I… the woman who failed, the woman who did far worse in the name of her country, the woman that if it weren't for being Raped she would be rotting in some dark place.
After 12 years the past I thought I left behind came back. I thought I overcame it. But in the end, I was just distracted from it."
Yuuri leaned in as she was listening to all her anger gone now she couldn't bring herself to be mad. Not anymore.
"It wasn't all that bad at first. I was able to hide it but slowly it got worse to the point Jack started coming back to a drunk mess instead of a warm meal. I was falling apart and he didn't know why. but he was smart and he found out why eventually and he forced me to start therapy.
A 12-year-old boy had to talk his mother into therapy and there he found out the full story. In the 3 years it took for me to get better he had to grow up even faster than he was before. By the end of it, he was a man. He grew up so fast but so did his anger at what happened to me.
In the end, I did the one thing I had said I wouldn't do. I pushed him right into that basterds arm. I failed… again.." Diana felt a hand on her shoulders looking up to see Yuuri smiling at her now moved so she sat right next to her.
"No you didn't fail I would say you did the opposite.."
Diane opened her mouth to speak but Yuuri hushed her before she started talking.
"Miss Diane Japan may look beautiful as for all its culture and the fantastical elements of it make it look like a dazzling light. I would know it's after all what my parents raised me by. They wanted the perfect daughter that would grow up to be the perfect wife and mother and it was what I wanted too.
But behind all that Is a bitter truth, a truth that claimed many lives and I was almost one of them…"
"We grow up being told not to stand out. to be just like the others. After all, the nail that stands out among the rest gets hit on its head" Yuuri smiled remembering the old saying.
"But I wasn't so lucky as I grew up to stand out among the crowd in a more literal sense" she chuckled at her own Joke referring to her height.
"So naturally I was picked out from school to work. my good looks that kept me popular in school and mostly away from the bullying duo to my height. Was more of a curse when I tried to get a job. To blend in to be like the rest.
All I accomplished was drawing the eyes of my seniors. I was a rare item to them, a commodity more than anything. What started out as looks went on to be more aggressive as they couldn't get what they wanted. They couldn't take it by force. My height wasn't just for show, after all I was far stronger than they could handle.
So they tried to pressure me in other ways at work. And since your seniors are always right all I could do was look elsewhere for work. Only for it to repeat all over again.
I was stuck. I couldn't stay at a job long enough to even save money to get out of the country. My parents were dead and I had no one and nothing but my ideals, the very things that made me who I'm. I couldn't be myself and I couldn't blend in with the crowd so all that was left was to be hammered down until I broke….
Until I met Jack, a guy who was true to himself to a fault, he did what he wanted no matter what others felt or thought about it.
At first, I thought he was just another foreigner who wanted to have a taste" Diane frowned, causing Yuuri to chuckle at her before she continued.
"Oh trust me I know now that if that was what he wanted he would have just told me.
But I wasn't convinced until 4 months of us being together that I finally realised that he wasn't just looking for a piece at that point it was taking far too much effort. He was with me for, Well for me." Yuuri had a sparkle in her eyes as a full smile showing her pearly white teeth blooming on her face.
"So Miss Diane, don't tell me you failed because Jack is not a failure. He is the shining light in both of our lives so no Diane you didn't fail you raised a wonderful man that I couldn't dream of living without".
Diane smiled as she took Yuuri by surprise, hugging her as she froze, not expecting it at all.
"You should start calling me mom from now on because I'm definitely making Jack marry you now"
Yuuri took a couple of seconds to snap out of it before she hugged Diane back and stayed like that for a second before they let go both smiling "of course mom"
"GIRLS I'M HOME" at that moment came the sound of Jack as he strolled through the living room with a big smile on his face.
"There you are. you're not having a sit down without me are you?" Jack said seeing them sitting on the couch before he noticed how both of them were smiling at him.
"Why are you two smiling like that…" Jack gave them a suspicious look before his eyes widened.
"Wait you weren't showing her my baby pictures were you?"
At that, both of them burst out laughing as Diane had to wipe a tear that fell from her eye "oh please I showed her that a long time ago"
"HOW!? I got rid of them"
Diane smirked at that "oh please did you really think I wouldn't make copies and hide them"
"Oh why you…" Jack charged them before taking the two of them into a bear hug lifting them both off the couch.
"I missed you guys so much and I even have an awesome story to tell you"
The two of them glanced at each other and smiled before Yuuri replied "I'm sure you do"
