Disclaimer: How many times will you people torture me into admitting I
don't own Hana Yori Dango?!
Tsukushi- Chapter 2
"Stupid shoes!" Tsukushi screamed in aggravation as she plucked the getas off her feet and unceremoniously tossed the wooden sandals into the nearby koi pond with a loud plunk. The sandals bobbed up and down on the water before sinking into the bottom adding a sparkly object of interest to the fish swimming around it. The pale pink sakura flowers painted on the soles reflected a pink hue to the surface of the water. She angrily wiped the tears away from her face that she refused to let anyone witness. Silently, she fumed, holding in her anger that she was never allowed to show as a true proper lady. For once, just once, she wanted to show some rebellion, to show that she would never control her. Snapping the knotted obi free from her waist, she tossed the expensive silk cloth to the ground. The two flaps of her kimono fell open, revealing the t-shirt and shorts underneath. They definitely weren't the hadajuban her instructor had demanded she wear beneath the kimono. Now, in the middle of the afternoon, she resembled something of a crazed banshee, wildly thrashing about the gardens with the thin teal yukata billowing in the breeze behind her.
Susumu placed a hand on the dwarfing elderly woman standing by the window, listlessly staring outside. It almost scared him to see the woman he once looked up to as a giant as what she really was: an aging old woman. He had no smile on his face for the image in front of him, as he watched the child crying in the gardens.
Tama lifted a reassuring hand and placed it over her former charge's hand. "She's being suffocated. Look at her! She's the one weed that refuses to die amongst the flowers. That's what makes her who she is. She's trying to kill that very part of her."
Susumu nodded his head, seeing the pained expression in the face of his former mentor being reflected at him against the window. "Let me go talk to her." Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the daunting task of calming his little sister. It wasn't exactly simple to do since he hadn't exactly been around the house lately. The last few years hadn't exactly been easy on the both of them. A few months after his father and new mother had returned from their honeymoon, he found himself on the first plane out of Tokyo. The newfound bond he had found with his little sister was severed by the span of a few thousand miles between them.
Kana wanted him out before she returned and she got her wish. Within a week of their return, Susumu found himself packed and ready to attend St. Bernard's Academy in London. At first, he thought he would win in the end, with the childish idea of getting himself expelled and sent back home. He would have never thought that Kana had anticipated his route of action by having a few alternate schools lined up one after the other. Fifteen expulsions, in the last five years, had left him in his latest school. It wasn't even exactly an actual school, but more of a place for those labeled as delinquents. Their credo revolved around "Making Boys Into Men". Now he found himself in his last school, an all boys military academy in Germany, to rot. In a few months, he would be eighteen, an adult in the eyes of the law, and free from the shackles of his stepmother's watchful eye. The only reason he was allowed to step onto the property that was formerly his home was to celebrate his father's birthday. It was all for appearance sake that he received the curt note in the mail to report home for the next three days.
He looked out into the gardens in horror, seeing how his mother's gardens had been torn apart and redesigned by the landscape artist hired a few years back. He recalled the long winded argument with his father about having the roses his mother planted with her own hands ripped from the earth to be replaced by tulips, which his step-mother favored. His father acted as mediator between the two warring sides of his new wife and son, finally settling on letting Kana do as she pleased. She had played dirty pleading that she did not want to live in her house being overshadowed by the memory of a dead woman. Luckily enough, Tama had taken it upon herself to tell the gardener to uproot the roses and replant them on the plot right outside his window where Kana wouldn't notice.
"That woman has destroyed our home, Tama," Susumu sighed. "Things were fine before she came along."
Tama silently nodded her head in agreement. She seethed with anger every day as she walked through the halls of the house. At first it was small changes with the reorganizing of furniture. Piece by piece, articles around the house disappeared with something else in its place until the entire mansion was redecorated in the taste of the new mistress. "I ran this house for eight years before this woman came along. I was the one to take control over a grieving widow and a child that was too young for my liking to grow up without a mother. I thought I could handle anything, including the little terror you were as a child, but nothing prepared me for the likes of her. I'm the last of the original staff left who hasn't been frightened off by her."
Susumu bent down to kiss the old woman on the cheek. "You did a fine job raising me, Tama. You kept my mother's memory alive for me. Hell, you were like a mother to me. You'll always have a place in our home."
She affectionately wiped away the nonexistent dirt on his face, remembering the days when he would come traipsing into the parlor with caked-on mud all over every orifice of his body. "You were always a good boy."
He flashed her one of his devilish grins and redirected his attention towards the window. His light chuckle echoed in the room. "I think I better go rescue her before she decides to drown herself in the koi pond."
Tsukushi thrashed about on the grounds, picking up anything and everything within her grasp to throw into the horizon. She hated that overwhelming helplessness that surrounded her at all times, feeling as if someone was constantly watching her. Her mother.
At the tender age of ten, Tsukushi had grown up in the blink of an eye. It was becoming more and more common nowadays that compliments of feminine beauty were passed towards daughter rather than mother, which drove her mother to fake a smile and tug Tsukushi on their merry way. Beauty was something that Tsukushi could have cared less for. She always had an eye for simplicity rather than the ornate embellishments her mother reveled in. Most of her looks could be attributed to her father. Luckily, she has grown up being more like the man than expected, considering his absence in her life.
Her long chocolate hair fell down to her waist, which was usually tamed into two braids. Eyes rich like honey that could seduce you in its innocence, yet entrap you with the spirit that burned beneath. The normal child-like posture and clumsiness had faded away with age to be replaced by an eerie poise and elegance brought on by years of etiquette lessons. In terms of appearance, she rated above average in comparison to most girls, but it was the person inside the body that drew people to her like moths to a flame. She was generally mild-tempered, but when pushed to her limits, fought fiercely with a voracity that would scare anyone into place. Tsukushi was the type of person to love with all her heart, and to feel for life with every last fiber of her being. Her emotions and every thought were open to the world to take and to see. All in all, she had developed to the age where one was at the sad end of childhood and venturing into womanhood.
She paced wildly back and forth, trying to roll up the long sleeves of her kimono in order to kick at a rock beneath her foot. The small beads that hung from the combs used to sweep her hair up into an elegant bun tickled her neck much to her annoyance. Reaching for the finely crafted pearl combs, she ripped them out, emancipating her hair and letting it flow down in wavy curls. They fell to the ground with a dull thud as she lifted her foot and stomped down on them, snapping them in twos. Quickly, she retracted her foot, feeling a small shattered fragment lodge itself in her foot. "Mother fu..."
"Tsk. Tsk. I would never have thought my Tsukushi would use such language."
Susumu's deep rumbling laughter filled her ears, bringing a true smile to her face. She grabbed at the hand and spun around to see a familiar face. "Susumu!" Without another word, she flung herself into his arms, knocking him to the ground, hugging his waist with a deathlike grip. "When did you get back?!"
He gently pried away her hands around his waist, and pushed himself up to sit on the grass. "I just got home twenty minutes ago. I was watching you put on quite a show from the window."
She jokingly punched him in the shoulder before crossing her arms and going into a sulking pout. "You should have called and told me you were coming today. I would have gone to the airport to pick you up. You big jerk!"
"And miss a welcoming like this? No way!" He propelled himself off the ground and ran his fingers through his hair, an old habit that didn't do much at the moment.
Tsukushi stood up, and watched where his hands went on his head. "Oh my god! What did they do to your hair?" She jumped up and pulled his head down to inspect the damage. Instead of finding the luscious locks of hair that once adorned his head, all she found was bleach blind dyed spiky hairs in the form of a crew cut. "I can't believe you let them take your hair."
His hands quickly lowered to his sides, and he fell into the regulatory position. In mock salute, his body stiffened as his right hand flew to his forehead. "Regulation hair requirements, ma'am!"
Her lips formed into a frown. "They finally got you, didn't they? Is it as bad as they say it is?"
Susumu ignored the worry in her tone. He shrugged for her benefit, thinking it would be wise not to tell her about the true horrors of military school. Images of running the obstacle courses at three in the morning in pouring rain and snow while a drill sergeant threatened to sodomize you in your sleep if you slacked off were better left unsaid. "I can handle it. Hey, I'm only there for two more months until graduation."
"I was worried," she drifted off. Her tiny, delicate hand reached for his, squeezing it, questioning the truthfulness of his words. "I only got one letter from you since you started there. Usually, you send me one every two weeks. I didn't even know if you got mine."
He put his arm out, drawing her to his side and sighed. "Your letters were what kept me going. It was nice to brag to the guys that I had a pretty girl waiting for me at home."
She giggled into her sleeve, falling into hysterics on the ground. "I hate it when you talk like that. You sound so lecherous! If you weren't my brother, I would say you sounded like a pedophile in love with a ten year old."
"What the?! Where did you learn words like that? Now I'm wondering who the hell has corrupted my baby sister."
She placated him by patting him on the chest. "Let's just say, I read a lot."
"One day, I'm going to find every last trashy romance novel you hide in your room and have a bon fire out here in the yard."
"Blasphemous! You wouldn't! My precious books," she wailed. She peered through the corner of her eye to see whether or not he had taken the bait, but to her disappointment, he remained steadfast. "Fine. I won't share my newfound knowledge with you anymore. How long will you be staying with us?' she asked, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes that he might be staying for an extended time.
"I only got leave for three days. Then I'll be packed up and shipped off to Germany until graduation," he sighed. He dug his hands in his pockets staring up into the pristine cerulean sky.
"Hey, at least you finally bulked up over there. I barely recognized you underneath all that muscle. I must say, now I understand what the other girls at school mean when they tell me how hot you are."
"Your friends think I'm hot?"
"Yeah. You have quite the reputation. Everybody loves the bad ass."
"They can talk about me as much as they want, but if anyone ever tries anything on you, you'll tell me, right?"
"Uh huh," she emphatically nodded, a little perturbed by his overprotective nature. "I have no idea what you said to those boys at school, but not one of them has ever tried to pull a prank on me ever again. I still don't understand why they were always teasing me? Tama said that boys do that when they like a girl. I find it hard to believe that half of the male student population liked me."
Susumu clenched his fists at his sides, remembering the little talk he had with the boys down at his little sister's school. He suppressed the grin, recalling how most of them almost peed in their pants at the death threats he made against their lives if they so much as breathed a word to his sister. He still couldn't believe how naïve she was to her own appearance. Every once in a while, he would spot the stares they got when they went out, coming from young boys to old men. In turn, he would only hold her hand tighter, guarding her from the wolves waiting to pounce on her. Tsukushi was a triple threat in the highest sense, coming from money, good looks, and innocence like a newborn lamb.
"So, what's the deal with the new look?" He arched an eyebrow, studying her disheveled appearance. "Is this what they call the 'heroin chic' look?" He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and proceeded to wipe off the tears on her face. "I like the t-shirt and jeans look much better. What the hell has she done to you this time?"
She swatted his hand away, slipping the robe off of her shoulders onto the ground. Delicately, she attempted to salvage the fine Japanese silk garb and fold it neatly and tucking it beneath her arm. Fingers were raised in the air checking off the days. "Today is Monday, so that would make it 'Introduction to the Art of Chaji'. Tuesdays is modern dance followed by ballet. Wednesday is languages. Thursday is etiquette. Friday is vocal lessons. Saturday is the spa day filled with shopping, hair, socializing with prehistoric old women for brunch, and basically sitting on my ass all day around other girls my age talking about which fellow socialite they plan on nabbing on the arranged marriage market. Sunday is my free day to catch up on schoolwork, but it doesn't matter much since Mama pays the school to just let me pass through grades. I think that about sums it up."
"Whoa! I thought I had a pretty brutal schedule back when I was here under Tama. Did something happen during your lesson?"
She switched her weight from one foot to the other trying to avoid answering him. She mumbled her reply. "IspilledtheteainNaru'slap."
"Huh?"
She lifted her head, agitated at having to repeat herself. "I spilled tea in Naru's lap!"
"That had to hurt."
"It only got worse when she jumped up and I panicked to find something to clean her off. In the process, I dropped the chawan on the ground and it broke in two. Mama and otou-san are going to kill me! That tea bowl was in you family for the last five generations," she wailed, bursting into another fit of sobs.
Susumu panicked, not knowing how to quite repair the damage done. He soothingly rubbed her back, trying to ease all the racked sobs out of her. "Don't worry," he whispered. Then he remembered something from a few years back when he went through the same training since it was considered useful when entertaining business clients. "I'll tell you a little secret that I never told anyone. Not even Tama knows about this," he whispered.
"What?"
"Back when I was forced to go through the same lessons, I was playing around and I dropped the matcha on the ground when I was carrying the water in. No one ever noticed, but if you look real closely, there's a fine line where a chunk cracked off."
"How did you avoid getting caught?"
"I'll show you." He grabbed her hand and led her back towards the small building to their right, where the teahouse was located.
--------------------------------------
"See! It looks as good as new. Well, as good as new as a hundred year old bowl can get." He gently placed the bowl onto the table inspecting his handiwork. "No one will notice a thing."
"Are you sure this will work?" Tsukushi skeptically asked, poking at the repaired artifact.
"Don't ever doubt the power of super glue."
She fell backwards onto the ground and stretched her arms out. A small expanse of the smooth, flat skin of her abdomen peeked out from under her t- shirt. Her light-hearted laughter filled the chashistsu, giving it a much different vibe away from the seriousness that generally went on during lessons. "I'm glad that you're home."
"So am I, kid," he nodded lying down besides her. He nudged her shoulder grinning. "I only wish I didn't have to come home to that whining bitch every time. I still don't see what my father sees in her. All she's ever done is bring this place to ruins. She hasn't done one good thing for this house."
She pursed her lips, hating the hostility within their family unit. "You shouldn't talk about Mama like that. No matter what, I love her. She may act vain and selfish sometimes, but she still is my mother. I believe she makes otou-san happy in her own way.
He paused for a moment, taking into consideration of his choice of words. "I'm sorry."
Oh yeah. She must be one good fuck.
Plucking a small box out of his pocket, he flipped a cigarette out of the pack and slipped it between his lips. The addicting smoke filled his expanding lungs with the long drag he took from it, dulling his senses.
"Those will kill you, ya know," she dryly stated. Her fingers played with the hem of her shirt tugging at the loose piece of thread that refused to go away. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that every eight second, another person dies from lung cancer?"
"Uh huh."
"Are you going to put that out?"
"Nope."
"Give me that!" She snatched the lit stick and tossed it out the window. "Those are really disgusting."
"Tsukushi!" a high-pitched scream resonated through the tiny walls.
"Fuck! She's coming! I gotta go before she spots me. She doesn't know I'm back yet!" He popped his head up to see his ever-fashionable stepmother approaching the front entrance.
"She's going to kill me if she sees me like this!" Tsukushi panicked. She grabbed for her kimono, slipping it on and frantically trying to tie the obi.
Susumu quickly grabbed his silver lighter and smashed it into the rail at the foot of the sliding door, jamming the heavy wooden door to slide open. "Come over here!" he hissed, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him. "Calm down! Turn around!" His large hands wrapped around her slim waist forcefully, tugging at the kimono and tying the obi into a perfect butterfly fold. With a few seconds to spare, he slapped her on the back, winked, and jumped out of the window leading to the back of the teahouse.
"Tsukushi! Open the door! I know you're in there!"
Tsukushi scrambled to tie up her hair, grabbing a pair of chopsticks of the table and twisting her long locks into a bun. "I'm coming!" She bent down on the ground and snatched up the lighter, tossing it behind her shoulder and out the window.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry," she hissed to her brother squatting outside the window. Glancing behind her, she saw her brother scampering across the lawn, gripping his head where the lighter had probably hit him. She flung open the door, and put on her best smile. "Is there something you need, Mama?"
Kana furrowed her eyebrows distinctly recalling hearing two voices in the room before. However, she pushed those thoughts aside for the real reason she had come to check up on her daughter. "I got a very angry call today from Mizuno Naru's mother. There was something about a ruined kimono and hot tea."
Tsukushi bowed her head down in shame, knowing that a long-winded lecture was about to come. "I'm sorry. It was an accident."
The older woman rubbed her temples in frustration. "Sometimes, I just don't understand you. I don't know what to do with you anymore. Why can't you just be like the other girls? I worked so hard to get this," She waved her arms around pointing at their surroundings.
"I'm sorry."
She turned around to walk out the door, having the apologies fall on deaf ears. "Clean up in here. Your father will be home soon for dinner and I still have to find out where that delinquent stepbrother of yours went."
"What can I do to not make you mad at me? What is it that you want from me? I've always done what you wanted. I just don't fit here. What can I do to make you happy?"
It was the question she had been anticipating all along. It was an invitation for her to strike her down. "Stop being such a fuck up."
Tsukushi clenched her fists, holding back the sting in her words. She had learnt long ago that showing any sign of weakness in front of her mother could prove to be a fatal mistake. Her mother wasn't the kind of woman to take a simple apology as good word on anything. She wanted to see results. Quietly, she began to wipe down the table and put away the family heirlooms used for the ceremony earlier. Resolutely, she held her head up high and walked out, locking the doors behind her. She glanced around, seeing that her brother had probably already escaped the compound for a three-day leave of random debauchery. He would be home by tomorrow for the party, with some super model type on his arm. She thought back to the days when she could have been enough as his date, spending all his adoration and time on her, but it was a foolish and childish want. She would have to deal with her problems on her own. Big brother wouldn't always be there to save her.
I can't be anything, but me.
--------------Three years later----------
"Susumu!"
"Hey! How's my baby sister?!" Susumu lilted backwards, slightly losing his footing, but gracefully caught his sister in his arms. He pulled away to take a better look at the young woman in front of him, whistling. "You cleaned up real nice."
She smiled from ear to ear. "I didn't think you would come! You should come around and visit more often."
"Why would I miss your birthday?" His deep laugh resonated in the room; the kind that sent most of the young women and a few older ones looking in his direction. "I only saw you last week. I live only about a half hour drive from the manor. You know you can stop by anytime."
She skeptically folded her arms and glared at him. "That was what you said last time, and when I stopped by, you seemed a little busy. Having your little sister show up while you were in the middle of THAT has to kill the mood."
"Just remember to call before you show up, okay." He turned to his side, showing acknowledgement to the man beside him. "Oh, yeah. Junpei, this is my little sister, Tsukushi. Tsukushi, this is Junpei."
"Hey," the older boy greeted flashing her a to-die-for smile. "So, you're the birthday girl everyone is talking about." He bowed and kissed the back of her hand. "It's hard to miss the most beautiful girl in the room."
Tsukushi furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out what exactly it was that was so familiar about Junpei. "Nice to meet you. Have I seen you somewhere before?"
He shrugged his shoulders and continued sipping on his glass of champagne. "I don't know, I'm all over the place nowadays. Hey," he nudged Susumu's arm. "I think you should go rescue Shizuka from some of your dad's business associates. They seem to be getting a little too friendly with her."
"Sorry, Kushi. I'll be back in a bit. I've got to go rescue my girlfriend before I end up leaving alone tonight," he joked. "Save me a dance." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before running off after the girl across the room.
Tsukushi snuck a glance at the woman her brother had recently become so enthralled with. It brought a smile to her face to see him for once taking a girl seriously. She had seen a long string of girls come and go without a second thought. It seemed that Shizuka might have broken his one-month girlfriend streak.
"So, how old are you, anyway?"
"13," she petulantly replied, not liking the look he was giving her. "And you are?"
"21, but wishing I were 13 again," he sighed.
"You're a sweet talker. A little on the pedophilic side, but I guess your pretty face makes up for it."
"You hurt me!" He clutched his hand over his chest in agony. "How about you give this poor guy here a little thrill and have this dance?"
"Why not?" she laughed. "It's not like anyone else has asked me." She took his offered hand and was lead onto the dance floor, where a slow waltz drifted through the air, in between the sounds of overflowing glasses of champagne and mindless chatter.
Junpei looked down at the girl who barely reached his shoulder. He stiffly smiled for the camera as the photographer walked by, instructing them to smile for the camera. Like a trained dog, Tsukushi didn't need to hesitate to know what to do with herself. She shifted her body to the left, tilted her head up at an angle, and smiled. Then, they continued on their way, swaying around the dance floor in the midst of the few dozen other dancing couples.
"So, how does it feel like to be the guest of honor of all this?" His head tilted to the side pointing out the dozen ice sculptures, the mountainous pile of gifts ranging from cars to as far as a small beach house in the South Pacific.
"Bored," she snorted in a very unladylike fashion.
His steps faltered for a moment, being caught of guard with her response. "I would hardly qualify that as a legitimate response. For a girl who has everything, what is there not to like?"
Her eyes danced across the room inspecting all the exorbitance. "Well, for starters, let's take a look at the people invited to my birthday party. I probably know maybe ten out of the three hundred guests here. That mountainous pile of gifts over there is merely a very shrewdly veiled gesture to bribe Shinimori-san into going into business with the sender. None of it is for me, not that I would want those things in the first place. The ones he keeps seals the deal, the ones that go means some poor schmuck is gonna lose big. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that all those guys my age circling like a pack of wolves around us, are just waiting for a chance that my brother lets his guard down to get the chance to try to grope me. Finally, this ends with every girl from school here hating me for taking away all their hot prospects. I think that about settles it. This birthday sucks. Now will you please tell me where I've seen you before or do I have to beat it out of you, since you refuse to tell me the damn answer?"
"Think billboard downtown. I'm the guy second to the left in the D&G ad."
"Oh, you're that model. All the girls have been chattering incessantly about knowing you from somewhere." She peered to her left seeing the very group of girls she mentioned shooting her venomous glares across the dance floor. Tsukushi heaved a heavy sigh, and returned her gaze to her partner. "You just made me the talk of the school on Monday, Junpei."
"Glad I could be of any service. How about I give them a little something more to talk about." He bent his head down and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "A little gift of envy for the birthday girl," he teased. He looked up and smiled the smile that made him infamous, causing a few of the nearby ladies watching their interaction swoon. He raised an eyebrow at the man quickly approaching them with some intense interest in Tsukushi. "I think I'm in for some competition," he whispered into her ear.
"Thomas!" Tsukushi squealed, running and jumping into the blonde man's arms.
"Happy birthday, Tsukushi." He picked Tsukushi up off the floor, holding her tightly, and swinging her around him, enjoying the peals of laughter bubbling up from her. "Sorry, I was a bit late. I had some trouble with the security getting onto the property."
"Did you forget your invitation?" she laughed. She kissed him on the cheek, and proceeded to drag him towards Junpei, whom she had abandoned on the dance floor. "Thomas, I want you to meet Junpei. Junpei, this is Thomas."
"Nice to meet you," Junpei replied shaking the offered hand.
"You too." He whipped his head from side to side. "Is Susumu here already?'
"Yeah," Tsukushi laughed. She waggled her finger in the air before pinpointing her brother's exact location, which was to the right of the dance floor. At the moment he seemed to be very occupied with a certain woman wearing a flowing lavender gown.
"I should have known that wherever Shizuka is, Susumu is sure to follow."
"Uh huh. He's got it bad this time." Tsukushi smiled brightly, feeling overjoyed for her brother's obvious attachment to the young woman. "So, what have you been up to Thomas?"
"Nothing much," he shrugged. "I've been working in the studio every once in awhile. For the time being, I'm working as a DJ at a few of the clubs downtown. You should come down and see me sometime."
"I would, but Susumu refuses to let me go with him. He said a girl like me shouldn't hang around such establishments promoting promiscuity and debauchery." She began giggling as she finished her impersonation of her brother's overbearing tone that he took when he lectured her on something or another. "Maybe I'll talk him into taking me one time as a birthday present. I've never been to a real dance club before."
"It'll be fun, kid. Uh, I think I should be going that way. I see your mom coming this way, and if I recall, I didn't make too good of a first impression the first time I met her. See ya." Taking a quick backwards glance, he smiled apologetically for his hasty retreat.
Junpei looked around in confusion, clearly not understanding why Thomas would make such a fast get away. He looked towards the direction Tsukushi was transfixed. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing really out of the ordinary about the women. She looked like the rest of them at the uptight party. "Who's that?"
"Mama." Tsukushi quietly greeted the woman ignoring the small disapproving look in her mother's eyes. "Is there something you need?" She kept her eyes locked towards the ground and anything else that could distract her from looking at the fake plastered smile her mother was wearing at the moment.
"Don't be rude, dear," an overly sweet voice reproached. "Why don't you introduce me to your friend here?" A polished red fingernail reached out and trailed down the front of Junpei's tux.
Junpei looked from mother to daughter taking in the apparent discomfort in the air coming from both himself and Tsukushi. Trying his best to stay calm, he reminded himself of the warnings Susumu had pointedly made clear before they arrived. He gently lifted her finger from his person, and raised the hand to his lips caressing the soft skin with a kiss. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinimori-san."
Tsukushi knocked herself out of her daze, and quickly straightened her back recalling all of the etiquette lessons drilled into her. She intercepted their latched hands. "Mama, this is Junpei, one of Susumu's friends," she weakly spoke up, hating herself for letting her voice fall into an indiscernible whisper.
Kana's gracious smile became wry. "Oh, really. I didn't even realize your brother had invited his friends to this family gathering. I must remind him next time to tell me in advance if he brings extra guests." She raised her hand to her mouth covering a faked laugh. "Well, the more the merrier, I say. Please, call me Kana. No need to be so formal."
He nodded his head, and stepped aside to hook his arm with Tsukushi's. "If you wish, Kana."
Her eyes narrowed, staring at him with some hidden desire or something faintly lascivious. "The ladies have been absolutely abuzz with word that you came. It's not every day that we get one of top models in the industry in our presence. She presumptuously once again touched his arm, feeling the ripple of muscle beneath the fabric. "My goodness, you certainly are fit. I must admit every time I've seen your pictures, I've always wondered if you would be as virile in person. I'm happy to say you are exactly as I've imagined."
Once again, he shied away from her touch and tightened his hold on Tsukushi. "Thank you for the... compliment, but we really must excuse ourselves. Tsukushi promised me one more dance."
"Of course. She is after all the birthday girl." She tucked a stray hair that had fallen in Tsukushi's face, laying her cold hands upon her warm face. Her attention was fleeting and soon redirected at Junpei. "It's sweet of you to dance with the child. How about later, you save me a dance? You shouldn't leave before you dance with a real woman."
"I'll save you a spot on my dance card." He politely bowed and steered them away from the woman who he guaranteed was checking out his ass from behind.
"I'm sorry about that," Tsukushi mumbled apologetically. "She's a bit forward when she meets people."
"It's okay. Now I know why Susumu gave me 'the talk' before we got here."
They walked arm in arm across the ballroom making sure to keep some distance between them and her mother. Seeing Thomas, Shizuka, and Susumu talking quietly in the corner, they decided to join up with the rest of the group.
"I see Mrs. Robinson has put the moves on you," Thomas chuckled.
"She felt you up, didn't she?" Shizuka took another sip from her champagne glass, giggling at her friend's expense.
"I swear, I can't bring any of my friends home when she's around," Susumu whined. He detached Junpei from Tsukushi and draped an arm over her shoulder. "I see you two guys have already met?" he asked looking from Junpei to Thomas.
"Yeah, we've met. I guess now Junpei can join the MTTFU club."
"MTTFU?"
"Mother's trying to fuck us," Susumu laughed. "You don't even know how many times I've come home to be cornered by some of the women here. It's even funnier when they introduce themselves under the pretense of trying to hook me up with their daughters. When I didn't take that bait, they practically threw themselves at me. I guess to them, it's either mother or daughter to reel in the big money."
Shizuka playfully slapped him in the chest, "I hope you never accepted any of their offers."
"I was young and stupid at the time."
"I think I'm too disgusted to continue being in the presence of this conversation," Tsukushi moaned.
"Sorry." Susumu grinned stupidly. "We'll lower the rating of this conversation."
Tsukushi giggled into her hand, watching them continue their banter, trying to find 'creative' ways to discuss their sexploits. It was even funnier when Shizuka brought up the fact that she now had a purse full of offers from some of the businessmen at the party.
It was slightly sad to think that a thirteen year old could only find enjoyment with an older crowd. Although they accepted her fine into the inner circle as Susumu's little sister, a part of her yearned for some sense of normalcy. As her eyes drifted around the room, she noticed people from her school, and realized that there was not one person in the room that she could call a friend. She knew better than to try to catch up on lost time now, considering the looks she was getting from them.
A tap on her shoulder alerted her to a newcomer's presence. She spun around, feeling the end of her gown sweep at her feet with a whoosh sound.
"Hi," a boy with sandy brown hair waved. His eyes leered at her chest, completely ignoring the face that belonged to the body. "I was wondering if you wanted to dance with me, Makino-san?" Even with all the refinement and money that went with the poor thirteen year old in front of her, his hormonal urges were blatant in the way his eyes roamed her figure. He smiled cockily at her, waiting for her acceptance.
"Beat it, kid." Susumu pushed Tsukushi behind him, and stared down at the boy, sizing him up. A scowl formed on his face in disapproval. "I've got the next dance with her. And for next time, if I ever catch you looking at anything other than my sister's face with that look in your eyes, you won't have any legs to dance with." He wagged a finger and pointed him back in the direction of the huddled mass of boys all watching in great interest at the guy who dared approach the girl while in the presence of her brother.
The poor humiliated boy walked away speechless, and walked away a bit pale faced. However, his mind was eased of the threat when another pretty young girl walked by.
All except Tsukushi burst out laughing, watching the boy walk away.
"Don't worry. At some point they do grow up and notice that we have faces," Shizuka reassured Tsukushi. "Actually I remember the first time I met your brother, he couldn't seem to stop staring at my breasts either. Forget what I said. All men are hopeless."
"Hey!" Susumu protested. "I love you for your beautiful soul, which is in your heart, which just so happens to be in your chest area. It's not my fault if I can't stop staring there and thinking about what a beautiful person you are on the inside."
"Sure," she dryly replied.
"I can't take much more of this. I can't dodge them every time. The last one thought that it would be proper to hold my ass the entire time we were dancing."
"Who did it?! I'll kill the little mother..."
"Language!"
--------------------------------------
Tsukushi stood beside her mother, politely bidding farewell to the last of the guests as her mother made small talk at the other end of the procession of exiting guests. Shizuka had left long ago with Thomas offering her a ride home, and she briefly recalled Junpei leaving with a date he had picked up during the night. She cracked her neck to the side, trying to loosen her tense shoulders, and promptly regained her posture when the next batch of guests came to wish her a happy birthday. When Tama ushered the last person out, Tsukushi wearily slipped out of her heels, rubbing her sore feet.
"I think that was the last guest," Tama sighed. She motioned for the maids to begin the clean up process, ordering them left and right to their designated areas.
"Thank god," Tsukushi cheerfully yelled. "I think I'm going to need to ice my jaw later from all that smiling." Her hand cupped her chin, massaging the tender bones and muscles. "Have you seen Susumu?"
"No, young miss. I doubt he would leave without a goodbye."
"Yeah," she concurred. "I'll be back in a bit. Did my mother retire for the night already?"
"I recall her saying something about getting her beauty sleep. She left with her personal maid already. She should be locked away in her room already."
"Good. Remember to tell the cleaning crew not to start without us!" she yelled as she ascended up the staircase.
Her bare feet pounded against the marble tiles as she ran up and down the hallways of the large mansion in search of her brother. After a few directions from the maids that had seen him pass by, she found herself stopping in front of her father's study. Her hand reached up to knock on the door but a loud shout stopped her from proceeding.
"I'm not going to go into the business with you! How many times do we have to go over this? I don't want anything to do with it. It's not what I want to do." Susumu yelled. He pounded his fist on the large mahogany desk, sending the papers on the desktop blowing to the ground.
"This is not a matter of what you want to do. As my only son, it's your duty to take over the company. I can't believe how ungrateful you can be after all I've given you! Who paid for the Aston Martin, the Porsche, and the Jaguar? This company paid for the clothes on your back and the apartment you live in. I doubt you pretty little girlfriend would still want you if you didn't have all of it."
"Yeah, you've given me all this stuff, but at what price?" he snorted. His arms crossed against his chest like a petulant child. "It's all just a pay off. You didn't get shoved into that fucking military academy. You didn't get shipped away just so that your father wouldn't have to deal with you. You didn't get pushed aside for some bitch! Why would I want to work for something that took away my childhood."
"Don't forget that you are never too old to be brought over my knee," his father sternly warned, lowering his voice. "This is all I'm ever going to ask of you. What are you planning to do with your life? We sent you to one of the best universities in America and you come back a drop out. Even worse, you drag that gaijin home with you."
"Don't talk about my friends like that. Don't talk about Thomas like that. His family took me in when you kicked me out."
"Yes, now I'm starting to regret ever letting you continue to fraternize with that boy. They coddled you over there. I cut you off to teach you a lesson to survive on your own not to have you attach yourself to some family taking you in like a charity case. They probably wouldn't have let you stay longer, considering what happened between you and the girl. It was a good thing I stepped in before you ruined both your lives. You're just lucky that I stepped in before her parents did."
Susumu's face turned red venting out all his frustration and anger. Of all the things his father could bring up, it was her. "Leave her out of this," he growled. "Don't even fucking think about bringing her into this. I loved her, and she wanted to be with me."
"She was engaged to another long before you came along. Do you really think someone of her stature and class would willingly walk away from her family? Do you seriously think they would let you take her away? All you managed to do was put a stain on her reputation. Her family would have made that bastard child's life hell. It was only after she came to her senses did the poor girl dispose of the problem."
"That problem was my child!"
"Stop being such an idiot. The world doesn't work that way for people like us."
The tears flowed freely down his chest, as he remembered her ashen face as she stood on the doorstep. The faint glimmer of the light cast a silhouette of her face beneath the darkness. She stood there like stone, not crying one tear, perhaps finding she had no tears left to cry. Her hand was clutched over her flat stomach out of habit, as if the child that once resided in her womb would still be there. All he could do was stand dumbly in front of her, not quite hearing her words about the decision she took upon herself to make. She proceeded to list the reasons of why it was for the best as if the repetition of them would give them some reason, but in actuality it was to quell her doubts. There was nothing much he could do. With her apology to him and the return of his now shattered heart, he watched her walk away and return home. From then on, he never saw her again. It was like she had disappeared off the face of the earth.
It wasn't until about a year ago, that he had allowed himself to open up to another woman. Shizuka was young, naïve and looked at him with nothing more or less than admiration. She was able to fill part of that gap in his heart, but never enough to heal it entirely. He loved her, and he would never deny it. However, he would never tell her his love for her would never compare to her.
"That's why I hate this life! All that matters to you is your damn company! What about your fucking family?! I would never have abandoned my child. I would have shown that baby what a real family is, not this piece of shit we have!"
The man behind the desk leaned over his desk, watching his strong son cry the tears of a broken man. "Your mother wanted you to take over the company. We built this all up for you. You know after she died, all I had left was to finish her dream, which was to build this empire for you," his voice quavered at the mention of his dead wife. "I never intentionally tried to replace your mother, but you must understand that a man has needs. Everything in this house was just so empty when she left us. Just understand that Kana fills my days with a bit less loneliness. I may not love her like your mother, but she makes living each day less difficult. I lost the one woman I'll ever truly love with all my heart, but you couldn't expect me to live the rest of my life mourning my loss."
For the first time, Susumu looked into his father's weary eyes and saw a bit of himself in the man he called father. "Why do you need me now?"
He folded his hands on the desk, and took a deep breath. "I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it was necessary. I know you were in the plans of building that little nightclub of yours, but family must take precedence. It seems the last few ventures we've invested in haven't shown the ROI that we expected. There have also been some internal problems of pilferage and a few shady deals made. The government is down our necks to clean house in the finance departments. I need someone to oversee some of the damage control."
"How bad is the damage exactly?"
"After paying off the fines, and trying to recoup our losses we're looking a heavy loss. We'll probably barely have enough to cover another year."
"If we're in so deep, then why the party? Why the show that we're still rich?"
"We have to keep up appearances. I've already penned the plans for a few deals tonight. I need you to just come back for a year at most. Then you can go and do whatever you want."
"Fine."
Tsukushi pressed her back against the wall hoping that they did not hear her gasp at the revelation. She knew for a fact that her mother had no clue as to how much debt they were in. If she knew that the fortune she thought she had secured years ago was now dwindling to nothingness, she would be singing a very different tune. Taking a deep breath, she realized that the conversation had come to an end. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She walked in with her head held up high, pretending that she knew nothing. The tension in the air still hung thickly like a suffocating blanket. "I just came to say goodnight, otou-san," she smiled.
The elderly gentleman smiled, and got up from his seat to give a peck on his adopted daughter's cheek. All the fierceness in him drained away at the sight of the burgeoning young woman in front of him. Over the years, he had kept his promise to accept the little girl as his own child. Like everyone else, he was unable to resist her charms, not even realizing that the small fondness for her turned into a fatherly love. "I hope you enjoyed your birthday, Tsukushi-chan."
"I did," she enthusiastically nodded. "Everything was beautiful."
He stepped away from her, and pulled out a key from his pocket to unlock the drawer to his desk. "I almost forgot to give you your birthday present."
"Oh no," she protested. "The party and the dress was enough."
"Just humor me for a moment," he chuckled, pulling out a flat package. He slipped the box into her hands and waited for her to open it.
Out of curiosity, she unwrapped the strange package tied up in a plain brown paper. The string and the paper fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Her eyes widened when she looked at the leather bound novel in her hands. The pages were yellowed with age, but well preserved enough to still remain intact to its binding. She carefully opened it up shocked to see the date on inside. "It's a first edition," she gasped.
His smile widened, seeing her reaction to his little gift. "I remember you telling me how much you're in your Dickens phase. This is just a little lesson for you to remember that with great expectations, there is always a price to be paid. All you can do is not lose yourself to in them. Do what is right and you can do no wrong." He patted her gently on the shoulder, and trudged towards the door. "Goodnight."
"Wait!" Tsukushi yelled running and jumping into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, practically hanging herself on him. "Thank you so much," she whispered into his ear.
He smiled and detached her from his neck patting her on the head. "Every year, you become more and more beautiful. I've loved watching you grow up over the years. I can't believe how fast time has passed." With those words said, he excused himself.
She clutched the book to her chest, and turned around to face her brother grinning wildly. "I can't believe it."
"Neither can I," Susumu grunted. "Now I don't know if I should give you my gift. How can I match up to that gift?" He sighed and dug his hands in his pockets. "Now I don't know if I should give it to you now."
"Aw. Come one, Susumu. You always give your gift last. You know it's always my favorite."
"Fine," He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and tossed it across the room.
She caught the box in her one free hand, and placed the treasured book onto the desk. "Jewelry?"
"You won't know unless you open it."
Slowly, she tugged the lid open with a loud cracking sound. She stared down at the small silver ring with a small blue stone encased in the setting. She fingered the small ring, slipping it onto her ring finger, but finding that it was a few sizes too large for her slender fingers.
"There's a chain in the box, too. I knew it was too big, so I got you a chain to hang it from. Let me help you. Hold back your hair."
She did as she was told and watched him clasp the chain around her neck. The ring fell just above her chest. The blue stone glimmered in the dim lighting. She furrowed her eyebrows as she played with the ring between her fingertips. Realization struck her, as she remembered where she had seen the article before. "I can't take this."
"Why?"
She turned around, looking at him questioningly, wondering if he was thinking clearly when he gave away this prized possession. "It was your mother's ring."
He offered a small smile, and kissed her on the forehead. "I want you to have it. You're my family. My mother left it to me to give to the girl I fell in love with one day. There are only two women alive that I love more than my own life. You're all I've got now. I want you to have it. I won't even take no for an answer," he laughed. Susumu brushed past her, and opened the door to the study gesturing her to leave first. "I think we should go and get the real party started. Can't keep everyone waiting."
Tsukushi closed her mouth, realizing that he would not let her argue any more with him. "Let's go."
They walked hand in hand down the stairs towards the grand ballroom where a large group had gathered. The lights were dimmed, and a small cart rolled out with a cake lit up with thirteen candles.
"Happy Birthday!"
Tsukushi ran the rest of the way down dragging Susumu with her. He barely made it down alive when she jumped the last few steps, causing him to trip and fall down along with her. He watched her childish glee as she blew out the candles and the lights were turned back on revealing all the help in the house clapping.
"Let's have the real party now!" Tsukushi cheered pulling her brother onto the dance floor.
In the late hours of the night, they held their own party. The false pretenses of formality and seriousness were lost to sheer joy of celebrating. The doors of the hall were shut to stop any noise from escaping, and the staff was treated to the one large party of the year at their employer's expense. They drowned themselves in the leftover food and champagne from earlier, enjoying each other's company while the uptight orchestral music was exchanged for a CD player hooked up to the sound system. For one night of the entire year, they let go and had fun.
Tsukushi laughed until her sides ached, running back and forth the dance floor in her long gown letting her feet slide across the waxed floor. She watched in sheer delight as Susumu dragged Tama out there and began to dance around her, trapping her with his so called 'sexy' moves. She was no longer the young mistress of the house and he wasn't the young master. As they had done so every year on her birthday, they were just Tsukushi and Susumu.
------------------One year later-----------------------
"I'm so sorry for your loss," another faceless nameless person inaudibly whispered.
The words were empty. At first, they politely smiled, nodded their heads, and shook their hands. However, after three days of going through the same motions, any sense of polite etiquette had been drained out of them. They all said the same things over and over offering some kind of sympathy for their loss, but not quite grasping the severity of the emotions they felt. It was even worse when they walked down the procession and whispered amongst themselves about the tragedy of it all.
For the second time, Kana was a widow. For the second time, Tsukushi lost a father. For the second time, Susumu buried another parent.
"I think you need to sit down at take a rest, little one," Tama chided Tsukushi. She looked on in disapproval at the way the girl's face had considerably thinned and the dark circles that began to form under her eyes. She gently nudged the girl to follow her out of the house to get some fresh air outside.
Tsukushi numbly followed after she gently squeezed her brother's hand, telling him she would be going out for a bit. Her feet moved like dead weights, trudging along without any real bounce anymore. As she walked through the familiar halls of her own home, her body involuntarily shivered, sensing the lingering effects of death in the air. She ignored the pointed stares in her direction, those watchful eyes that looked through her with only pity.
When they reached outside, Tama grabbed an extra coat and an umbrella. They walked outside to see the beginning drops of rain begin to fall. The older woman draped the random coat she had taken from inside over the young girl's shoulders, seeing them slump under the weight. It was a few sizes too big for her, looking more like a cloak.
"Will you come visit me, Tama?" she asked in a small voice like a lost child.
"Of course, I will."
"That's good. I'll miss not seeing you every day. I'll miss everyone I think." She stared off into the gardens, lost in her own dazed state. "It's funny how I sometimes wished I could leave this place. Now that I'll never see it again, I can't help but miss it. Life's kind of funny like that. It's like how you wake up one morning like all the rest expecting to start the day as you do every day. You get your uniform out, get ready for school, and go downstairs where Michiko would have breakfast ready. Before I would leave the house, she would sneak me a few extra cookies into my lunch box, scolding me that it would be the last time she gave me extra sweets even though she's done that since the day I came here. Then one call to the office can change everything."
She sighed recalling the terrible events that occurred a few weeks ago when she had been called out of her history class. There was that moment of relief she felt at having been released from the lecture for a break. When she got to the office, something was wrong though. They called her into the principal's office, except he wasn't there. Susumu was, with this blank, lost expression on his face. Tama stood by his side with a dull look in her eyes.
"I'm scared," she broke down crying. Hot tears fell down her cheeks mixing with the cold rainwater pelting her. She buried her face into Tama's shoulder with her body convulsing in wracked sobs. She cried all the pain, fear, and anguish she wanted to let out, but was too afraid to show in front of her brother. For him, she put on a brave face, not wanting to burden him with anymore than he was left to handle.
------------------------------------
Susumu watched the fat balding man in the black Armani business suit walk inside after shaking his hands. He took a deep, calming breath and weakly smiled at Shizuka, who was already inside, milling about and talking to their guests. He mouthed a word of thanks for her offering to come help orchestrate all the guests during the wake. Sighing in relief that no more guests seemed to be arriving, he scanned the room, checking to see where his dear stepmother was.
Kana was beside herself with grief. To those on the outside, she was the grief stricken widow plagued by the fact that her poor husband had left her alone in this world. The pity increased only more when they whispered around her about the two strikes against her. To be made a widow twice in one lifetime was rather rare. Some questioned whether it was some strange curse upon her to have her spouse die. Others snuck in the fact that it was a little too coincidental that with her bad luck she was left penniless twice. Kana broke down in tears once more, wiping away the bothersome salty droplets with her pure white handkerchief. For once again, Kana was out one husband and without someone to provide for her.
He shook his head, sneering in disgust at his stepmother's theatrics. He knew for a fact, that she was putting up an act. The day they had heard the news and rushed to the hospital, she was ranting like a lunatic, cursing his father for leaving her. It was also the same day that news went out that their company had gone belly up. When his father's dream died, so did he. The man's weak heart and constitution was no match for the shock.
Things were really fucked up and they were only getting worse with each passing day after his father's demise. The government rushed through the doors of all their operations in a raid to find all the evidence pointing to a few year's worth of tax fraud, embezzlement, and illegal business practices. The scandal was the talk of the town, but most likely would be forgotten when the next big shit hit the gossip mill. It was enough to put away a few of their top executives to serve some jail time. The biggest joke of all was how his father hadn't even realized the depth of employee disloyalty and betrayal. They all said, "How could the president of the company not know they were stealing from him left and right?" They were all living it up with their Swiss bank accounts on his father's dollar, and he was the fool doling out the access and funds to do so. Their stock fell drastically, making the shares they held worthless. The oil refineries located somewhere out in a few oceans away had dried up long ago. They was nothing left to drill at the moment, and the expenses to keep those men out there searching proved wasteful and futile. The accountants who had been handling the family's finances apparently had been playing with the numbers, forcing their family to pay back years of back taxes. This lead to the repossession of assets and freezing of their accounts. It would take a few months before that mess was sorted out.
All in all, everything was gone. Whatever was left was given to his father's favorite charities as his last act of goodwill, while his wife was left with a paltry sum of a half a million dollars and ownership of a rather pricey penthouse apartment he kept across town. Shinimori Koishijiro would be remembered as a fool with too much money and too little business sense. He would serve as an example in future business schools around the world of the perils of big business at the hands of one small man. To his son and daughter, he was a man that had too much faith in humanity.
One lesson could be learned form him. Trust is a dangerous weapon when entrusted to the wrong people.
With all the materialistic loss going around, Susumu luckily escaped unscathed and with little damage done to his own savings. He was left with a small inheritance from his father, but the bulk of his fortune came in the form of the trust fund his mother set up for him as a child. At the age of 18, he was able to access an allotted amount of money per year. When he reached had his twenty-first birthday, he was granted full access as a legal adult. It was more than enough for him to get by on.
He couldn't take much more of the falsity of the people around him. He just walked away in the middle of whoever's speech of condolences in search of Tsukushi. His heart ached for some sense of comfort from the only person other than Tama he could really call family. His steps came to a halt as he walked into the scene of the sought-after girl crying in the arms of their nanny. Deciding to take care of her himself, he tapped Tama on the shoulder who gladly shifted the girl onto him, while pulling her out of the rain.
"It's okay to cry," he shushed Tsukushi, trying to comfort him the best way he could. "I was beginning to worry why you haven't cried once."
"I... didn't...want...worry...you..." she stuttered in between hiccups.
He patted her back, trying to coax her out of her fit of coughs. "It's my job. I'm your brother. I'm supposed to take care of you."
She pulled her face away from his shirt, and looked up at him through the tears in her eyes. "How can you, when I won't be allowed to see you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Mama has forbid me to see you after the funeral. She thinks you're a bad influence."
"What?!" His eyes flashed red as he redirected his gaze indoors at the woman. "I'm a bad influence? When was the last time she looked in the mirror?" He quickly reached one conclusion to solve her worries. "How about you come live with me?"
The idea frightened her a bit. On one hand, she wanted nothing more than to go live with her brother. At the same time, she was bound to her sense of loyalty to her mother. No matter what had happened in the past, the present, or would happen, she held the resolute decision to remain by her mother's side. "I can't. I can't leave Mama alone. She can't live without me to take care of her now."
He sighed, knowing that in a way, she was right. He had no right whatsoever to take a daughter form the mother. As a non-blood relative, he had no real legal basis to take her in without her mother's consent. "I understand. Just remember that nothing could stop me from seeing my baby sister. Promise me that the second things get uncomfortable, you'll come to me, okay? No matter what, promise me you'll come to me."
"I will."
-----------------------------
Author's Note: Lookie! I finally came up with a new chapter. I blame it on March madness. It's like college has this evil plot to screw with me by putting all the deadlines for financial aid, midterms, papers, and volunteering in one month before spring break, the bastards. Now as I sit here procrastinating from studying for my business ethics midterm I'll respond to a few reviews from Last Resort.
XxSwtDreamerxX: Sorry, but I had to put Last Resort on a break. I was drowning in angst. Thanks for reading, and don't worry I plan to probably get a new chapter by June. I'm writing a few scenes here and there when the mood strikes.
Lian: Yeah, I've been messing around with way too many characters for my own good. Actually I really like Rui in this story. He's stupid, but I have my reasons for his stupidity. All them have problems that stem from something earlier in their lives, so it's understandable if they are emotionally dysfunctional. Oh, Rui, my boy I have a few huge twists up my sleeve for you. I just can't help but maniacally laugh out loud when an ingenious plot twist comes around. But seriously, I never thought people would really be that annoyed by Rui and Shizuka in this story. They're good people in my book. Maybe a bit misguided, but still they're good people. Everyone deserves some small ounce of happiness. It's been so long since you updated Struggle. My advice is that if you really feel you can continue it at the same standard that you deem good then you should continue. I write these fics for myself mainly. If I don't like it, I don't write it. Once the love for a story is gone, you've pretty much dug a grave for it. Trying to pull it back out is painful. Plus, I'm one of those people who prefers to read other people's stuff than write my own. I can spend hours with a chapter on Word opened up, but end up reading some other fanfics the entire time.
Star_gal: I have developed some sick attachment to Akira. I seriously need someone to fight me back with a stick to keep me from writing some more Akira x Tsukushi scenes. Their scenes just come so easily considering how happy the guy is. We all need our own Akira to get through the day. Right now I know exactly what will happen with the pairings. For the first time, I actually wrote it down on a piece of paper outlining it. So, it's pretty much set in stone. And for once, there will be a definite ending and you'll know who ends up with who. No weird open endings where people will harass me about who they ended up with. As to what they are my lips are sealed.
Cuppajava: I loved the way you referred to Yuuki and Thomas' relationship as an "unholy alliance". I was laughing for quite a bit since I never thought of it that way. Every time I think of them now I imagine them in some dark room with a single lamp huddled over some master plan to seduce Jiro and Sakurako. Those two have some ways to go.
Just a teen: Thanks for the long reviews. I always do love long reviews. It's good feedback to see how I'm doing. I'm not a big fan of any pairing in particular when it comes to fanfics, but they're usually some kind of "RxTxT triangular oh god why doesn't he/she love me and not them blah blah blah" story. I'm generally an angst-addict, but it's nice that Return to Me is a bit less with the horrifying tragic characters; although, I do have a big fat needle full of angst to inject into that sucker. I'm glad you liked the TxT scenes in the last chapter. I always find putting those two together in a scene without having them want to kill each other difficult. She's stubborn and so is he. That just makes all the work harder to make one them bend a bit.
Toinks: Whoa! You got me so hyped up over Echoes of the Past. I just wonder how she conceived Tsukasa now. I keep thinking that it might have to do with the miracle of science. That last chapter just threw me off. I couldn't stop laughing at the poor gay man forced marry a woman. It's scary how intuitive you are about my plotlines sometimes. It scares me when you slightly hint at what I have planned with just a guess. Well, it keeps me thinking of new ways to utterly shock and horrify my readers.
To everyone else, thanks for the reviews. I actually do sit down and read them.
Final thanks to Cuppajava and Elsa for being my betas. You bear with me through all the typos, wayward grammar, and disappearing for weeks.
Okay, I've talked long enough. For those wondering, here is the rundown on fic status. Next Introspection chapter will be up by the end of this week probably. Next Return to Me is almost done. Secrets is on its way, too. Once Upon a Dream has been deleted and a lengthy epilogue will put in its place. I have spring break the first week of April, so that leaves me two full weeks of pure adulterated writing time. April=many, many updates.
Tsukushi- Chapter 2
"Stupid shoes!" Tsukushi screamed in aggravation as she plucked the getas off her feet and unceremoniously tossed the wooden sandals into the nearby koi pond with a loud plunk. The sandals bobbed up and down on the water before sinking into the bottom adding a sparkly object of interest to the fish swimming around it. The pale pink sakura flowers painted on the soles reflected a pink hue to the surface of the water. She angrily wiped the tears away from her face that she refused to let anyone witness. Silently, she fumed, holding in her anger that she was never allowed to show as a true proper lady. For once, just once, she wanted to show some rebellion, to show that she would never control her. Snapping the knotted obi free from her waist, she tossed the expensive silk cloth to the ground. The two flaps of her kimono fell open, revealing the t-shirt and shorts underneath. They definitely weren't the hadajuban her instructor had demanded she wear beneath the kimono. Now, in the middle of the afternoon, she resembled something of a crazed banshee, wildly thrashing about the gardens with the thin teal yukata billowing in the breeze behind her.
Susumu placed a hand on the dwarfing elderly woman standing by the window, listlessly staring outside. It almost scared him to see the woman he once looked up to as a giant as what she really was: an aging old woman. He had no smile on his face for the image in front of him, as he watched the child crying in the gardens.
Tama lifted a reassuring hand and placed it over her former charge's hand. "She's being suffocated. Look at her! She's the one weed that refuses to die amongst the flowers. That's what makes her who she is. She's trying to kill that very part of her."
Susumu nodded his head, seeing the pained expression in the face of his former mentor being reflected at him against the window. "Let me go talk to her." Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for the daunting task of calming his little sister. It wasn't exactly simple to do since he hadn't exactly been around the house lately. The last few years hadn't exactly been easy on the both of them. A few months after his father and new mother had returned from their honeymoon, he found himself on the first plane out of Tokyo. The newfound bond he had found with his little sister was severed by the span of a few thousand miles between them.
Kana wanted him out before she returned and she got her wish. Within a week of their return, Susumu found himself packed and ready to attend St. Bernard's Academy in London. At first, he thought he would win in the end, with the childish idea of getting himself expelled and sent back home. He would have never thought that Kana had anticipated his route of action by having a few alternate schools lined up one after the other. Fifteen expulsions, in the last five years, had left him in his latest school. It wasn't even exactly an actual school, but more of a place for those labeled as delinquents. Their credo revolved around "Making Boys Into Men". Now he found himself in his last school, an all boys military academy in Germany, to rot. In a few months, he would be eighteen, an adult in the eyes of the law, and free from the shackles of his stepmother's watchful eye. The only reason he was allowed to step onto the property that was formerly his home was to celebrate his father's birthday. It was all for appearance sake that he received the curt note in the mail to report home for the next three days.
He looked out into the gardens in horror, seeing how his mother's gardens had been torn apart and redesigned by the landscape artist hired a few years back. He recalled the long winded argument with his father about having the roses his mother planted with her own hands ripped from the earth to be replaced by tulips, which his step-mother favored. His father acted as mediator between the two warring sides of his new wife and son, finally settling on letting Kana do as she pleased. She had played dirty pleading that she did not want to live in her house being overshadowed by the memory of a dead woman. Luckily enough, Tama had taken it upon herself to tell the gardener to uproot the roses and replant them on the plot right outside his window where Kana wouldn't notice.
"That woman has destroyed our home, Tama," Susumu sighed. "Things were fine before she came along."
Tama silently nodded her head in agreement. She seethed with anger every day as she walked through the halls of the house. At first it was small changes with the reorganizing of furniture. Piece by piece, articles around the house disappeared with something else in its place until the entire mansion was redecorated in the taste of the new mistress. "I ran this house for eight years before this woman came along. I was the one to take control over a grieving widow and a child that was too young for my liking to grow up without a mother. I thought I could handle anything, including the little terror you were as a child, but nothing prepared me for the likes of her. I'm the last of the original staff left who hasn't been frightened off by her."
Susumu bent down to kiss the old woman on the cheek. "You did a fine job raising me, Tama. You kept my mother's memory alive for me. Hell, you were like a mother to me. You'll always have a place in our home."
She affectionately wiped away the nonexistent dirt on his face, remembering the days when he would come traipsing into the parlor with caked-on mud all over every orifice of his body. "You were always a good boy."
He flashed her one of his devilish grins and redirected his attention towards the window. His light chuckle echoed in the room. "I think I better go rescue her before she decides to drown herself in the koi pond."
Tsukushi thrashed about on the grounds, picking up anything and everything within her grasp to throw into the horizon. She hated that overwhelming helplessness that surrounded her at all times, feeling as if someone was constantly watching her. Her mother.
At the tender age of ten, Tsukushi had grown up in the blink of an eye. It was becoming more and more common nowadays that compliments of feminine beauty were passed towards daughter rather than mother, which drove her mother to fake a smile and tug Tsukushi on their merry way. Beauty was something that Tsukushi could have cared less for. She always had an eye for simplicity rather than the ornate embellishments her mother reveled in. Most of her looks could be attributed to her father. Luckily, she has grown up being more like the man than expected, considering his absence in her life.
Her long chocolate hair fell down to her waist, which was usually tamed into two braids. Eyes rich like honey that could seduce you in its innocence, yet entrap you with the spirit that burned beneath. The normal child-like posture and clumsiness had faded away with age to be replaced by an eerie poise and elegance brought on by years of etiquette lessons. In terms of appearance, she rated above average in comparison to most girls, but it was the person inside the body that drew people to her like moths to a flame. She was generally mild-tempered, but when pushed to her limits, fought fiercely with a voracity that would scare anyone into place. Tsukushi was the type of person to love with all her heart, and to feel for life with every last fiber of her being. Her emotions and every thought were open to the world to take and to see. All in all, she had developed to the age where one was at the sad end of childhood and venturing into womanhood.
She paced wildly back and forth, trying to roll up the long sleeves of her kimono in order to kick at a rock beneath her foot. The small beads that hung from the combs used to sweep her hair up into an elegant bun tickled her neck much to her annoyance. Reaching for the finely crafted pearl combs, she ripped them out, emancipating her hair and letting it flow down in wavy curls. They fell to the ground with a dull thud as she lifted her foot and stomped down on them, snapping them in twos. Quickly, she retracted her foot, feeling a small shattered fragment lodge itself in her foot. "Mother fu..."
"Tsk. Tsk. I would never have thought my Tsukushi would use such language."
Susumu's deep rumbling laughter filled her ears, bringing a true smile to her face. She grabbed at the hand and spun around to see a familiar face. "Susumu!" Without another word, she flung herself into his arms, knocking him to the ground, hugging his waist with a deathlike grip. "When did you get back?!"
He gently pried away her hands around his waist, and pushed himself up to sit on the grass. "I just got home twenty minutes ago. I was watching you put on quite a show from the window."
She jokingly punched him in the shoulder before crossing her arms and going into a sulking pout. "You should have called and told me you were coming today. I would have gone to the airport to pick you up. You big jerk!"
"And miss a welcoming like this? No way!" He propelled himself off the ground and ran his fingers through his hair, an old habit that didn't do much at the moment.
Tsukushi stood up, and watched where his hands went on his head. "Oh my god! What did they do to your hair?" She jumped up and pulled his head down to inspect the damage. Instead of finding the luscious locks of hair that once adorned his head, all she found was bleach blind dyed spiky hairs in the form of a crew cut. "I can't believe you let them take your hair."
His hands quickly lowered to his sides, and he fell into the regulatory position. In mock salute, his body stiffened as his right hand flew to his forehead. "Regulation hair requirements, ma'am!"
Her lips formed into a frown. "They finally got you, didn't they? Is it as bad as they say it is?"
Susumu ignored the worry in her tone. He shrugged for her benefit, thinking it would be wise not to tell her about the true horrors of military school. Images of running the obstacle courses at three in the morning in pouring rain and snow while a drill sergeant threatened to sodomize you in your sleep if you slacked off were better left unsaid. "I can handle it. Hey, I'm only there for two more months until graduation."
"I was worried," she drifted off. Her tiny, delicate hand reached for his, squeezing it, questioning the truthfulness of his words. "I only got one letter from you since you started there. Usually, you send me one every two weeks. I didn't even know if you got mine."
He put his arm out, drawing her to his side and sighed. "Your letters were what kept me going. It was nice to brag to the guys that I had a pretty girl waiting for me at home."
She giggled into her sleeve, falling into hysterics on the ground. "I hate it when you talk like that. You sound so lecherous! If you weren't my brother, I would say you sounded like a pedophile in love with a ten year old."
"What the?! Where did you learn words like that? Now I'm wondering who the hell has corrupted my baby sister."
She placated him by patting him on the chest. "Let's just say, I read a lot."
"One day, I'm going to find every last trashy romance novel you hide in your room and have a bon fire out here in the yard."
"Blasphemous! You wouldn't! My precious books," she wailed. She peered through the corner of her eye to see whether or not he had taken the bait, but to her disappointment, he remained steadfast. "Fine. I won't share my newfound knowledge with you anymore. How long will you be staying with us?' she asked, with a glimmer of hope in her eyes that he might be staying for an extended time.
"I only got leave for three days. Then I'll be packed up and shipped off to Germany until graduation," he sighed. He dug his hands in his pockets staring up into the pristine cerulean sky.
"Hey, at least you finally bulked up over there. I barely recognized you underneath all that muscle. I must say, now I understand what the other girls at school mean when they tell me how hot you are."
"Your friends think I'm hot?"
"Yeah. You have quite the reputation. Everybody loves the bad ass."
"They can talk about me as much as they want, but if anyone ever tries anything on you, you'll tell me, right?"
"Uh huh," she emphatically nodded, a little perturbed by his overprotective nature. "I have no idea what you said to those boys at school, but not one of them has ever tried to pull a prank on me ever again. I still don't understand why they were always teasing me? Tama said that boys do that when they like a girl. I find it hard to believe that half of the male student population liked me."
Susumu clenched his fists at his sides, remembering the little talk he had with the boys down at his little sister's school. He suppressed the grin, recalling how most of them almost peed in their pants at the death threats he made against their lives if they so much as breathed a word to his sister. He still couldn't believe how naïve she was to her own appearance. Every once in a while, he would spot the stares they got when they went out, coming from young boys to old men. In turn, he would only hold her hand tighter, guarding her from the wolves waiting to pounce on her. Tsukushi was a triple threat in the highest sense, coming from money, good looks, and innocence like a newborn lamb.
"So, what's the deal with the new look?" He arched an eyebrow, studying her disheveled appearance. "Is this what they call the 'heroin chic' look?" He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and proceeded to wipe off the tears on her face. "I like the t-shirt and jeans look much better. What the hell has she done to you this time?"
She swatted his hand away, slipping the robe off of her shoulders onto the ground. Delicately, she attempted to salvage the fine Japanese silk garb and fold it neatly and tucking it beneath her arm. Fingers were raised in the air checking off the days. "Today is Monday, so that would make it 'Introduction to the Art of Chaji'. Tuesdays is modern dance followed by ballet. Wednesday is languages. Thursday is etiquette. Friday is vocal lessons. Saturday is the spa day filled with shopping, hair, socializing with prehistoric old women for brunch, and basically sitting on my ass all day around other girls my age talking about which fellow socialite they plan on nabbing on the arranged marriage market. Sunday is my free day to catch up on schoolwork, but it doesn't matter much since Mama pays the school to just let me pass through grades. I think that about sums it up."
"Whoa! I thought I had a pretty brutal schedule back when I was here under Tama. Did something happen during your lesson?"
She switched her weight from one foot to the other trying to avoid answering him. She mumbled her reply. "IspilledtheteainNaru'slap."
"Huh?"
She lifted her head, agitated at having to repeat herself. "I spilled tea in Naru's lap!"
"That had to hurt."
"It only got worse when she jumped up and I panicked to find something to clean her off. In the process, I dropped the chawan on the ground and it broke in two. Mama and otou-san are going to kill me! That tea bowl was in you family for the last five generations," she wailed, bursting into another fit of sobs.
Susumu panicked, not knowing how to quite repair the damage done. He soothingly rubbed her back, trying to ease all the racked sobs out of her. "Don't worry," he whispered. Then he remembered something from a few years back when he went through the same training since it was considered useful when entertaining business clients. "I'll tell you a little secret that I never told anyone. Not even Tama knows about this," he whispered.
"What?"
"Back when I was forced to go through the same lessons, I was playing around and I dropped the matcha on the ground when I was carrying the water in. No one ever noticed, but if you look real closely, there's a fine line where a chunk cracked off."
"How did you avoid getting caught?"
"I'll show you." He grabbed her hand and led her back towards the small building to their right, where the teahouse was located.
--------------------------------------
"See! It looks as good as new. Well, as good as new as a hundred year old bowl can get." He gently placed the bowl onto the table inspecting his handiwork. "No one will notice a thing."
"Are you sure this will work?" Tsukushi skeptically asked, poking at the repaired artifact.
"Don't ever doubt the power of super glue."
She fell backwards onto the ground and stretched her arms out. A small expanse of the smooth, flat skin of her abdomen peeked out from under her t- shirt. Her light-hearted laughter filled the chashistsu, giving it a much different vibe away from the seriousness that generally went on during lessons. "I'm glad that you're home."
"So am I, kid," he nodded lying down besides her. He nudged her shoulder grinning. "I only wish I didn't have to come home to that whining bitch every time. I still don't see what my father sees in her. All she's ever done is bring this place to ruins. She hasn't done one good thing for this house."
She pursed her lips, hating the hostility within their family unit. "You shouldn't talk about Mama like that. No matter what, I love her. She may act vain and selfish sometimes, but she still is my mother. I believe she makes otou-san happy in her own way.
He paused for a moment, taking into consideration of his choice of words. "I'm sorry."
Oh yeah. She must be one good fuck.
Plucking a small box out of his pocket, he flipped a cigarette out of the pack and slipped it between his lips. The addicting smoke filled his expanding lungs with the long drag he took from it, dulling his senses.
"Those will kill you, ya know," she dryly stated. Her fingers played with the hem of her shirt tugging at the loose piece of thread that refused to go away. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that every eight second, another person dies from lung cancer?"
"Uh huh."
"Are you going to put that out?"
"Nope."
"Give me that!" She snatched the lit stick and tossed it out the window. "Those are really disgusting."
"Tsukushi!" a high-pitched scream resonated through the tiny walls.
"Fuck! She's coming! I gotta go before she spots me. She doesn't know I'm back yet!" He popped his head up to see his ever-fashionable stepmother approaching the front entrance.
"She's going to kill me if she sees me like this!" Tsukushi panicked. She grabbed for her kimono, slipping it on and frantically trying to tie the obi.
Susumu quickly grabbed his silver lighter and smashed it into the rail at the foot of the sliding door, jamming the heavy wooden door to slide open. "Come over here!" he hissed, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him. "Calm down! Turn around!" His large hands wrapped around her slim waist forcefully, tugging at the kimono and tying the obi into a perfect butterfly fold. With a few seconds to spare, he slapped her on the back, winked, and jumped out of the window leading to the back of the teahouse.
"Tsukushi! Open the door! I know you're in there!"
Tsukushi scrambled to tie up her hair, grabbing a pair of chopsticks of the table and twisting her long locks into a bun. "I'm coming!" She bent down on the ground and snatched up the lighter, tossing it behind her shoulder and out the window.
"Ouch!"
"Sorry," she hissed to her brother squatting outside the window. Glancing behind her, she saw her brother scampering across the lawn, gripping his head where the lighter had probably hit him. She flung open the door, and put on her best smile. "Is there something you need, Mama?"
Kana furrowed her eyebrows distinctly recalling hearing two voices in the room before. However, she pushed those thoughts aside for the real reason she had come to check up on her daughter. "I got a very angry call today from Mizuno Naru's mother. There was something about a ruined kimono and hot tea."
Tsukushi bowed her head down in shame, knowing that a long-winded lecture was about to come. "I'm sorry. It was an accident."
The older woman rubbed her temples in frustration. "Sometimes, I just don't understand you. I don't know what to do with you anymore. Why can't you just be like the other girls? I worked so hard to get this," She waved her arms around pointing at their surroundings.
"I'm sorry."
She turned around to walk out the door, having the apologies fall on deaf ears. "Clean up in here. Your father will be home soon for dinner and I still have to find out where that delinquent stepbrother of yours went."
"What can I do to not make you mad at me? What is it that you want from me? I've always done what you wanted. I just don't fit here. What can I do to make you happy?"
It was the question she had been anticipating all along. It was an invitation for her to strike her down. "Stop being such a fuck up."
Tsukushi clenched her fists, holding back the sting in her words. She had learnt long ago that showing any sign of weakness in front of her mother could prove to be a fatal mistake. Her mother wasn't the kind of woman to take a simple apology as good word on anything. She wanted to see results. Quietly, she began to wipe down the table and put away the family heirlooms used for the ceremony earlier. Resolutely, she held her head up high and walked out, locking the doors behind her. She glanced around, seeing that her brother had probably already escaped the compound for a three-day leave of random debauchery. He would be home by tomorrow for the party, with some super model type on his arm. She thought back to the days when she could have been enough as his date, spending all his adoration and time on her, but it was a foolish and childish want. She would have to deal with her problems on her own. Big brother wouldn't always be there to save her.
I can't be anything, but me.
--------------Three years later----------
"Susumu!"
"Hey! How's my baby sister?!" Susumu lilted backwards, slightly losing his footing, but gracefully caught his sister in his arms. He pulled away to take a better look at the young woman in front of him, whistling. "You cleaned up real nice."
She smiled from ear to ear. "I didn't think you would come! You should come around and visit more often."
"Why would I miss your birthday?" His deep laugh resonated in the room; the kind that sent most of the young women and a few older ones looking in his direction. "I only saw you last week. I live only about a half hour drive from the manor. You know you can stop by anytime."
She skeptically folded her arms and glared at him. "That was what you said last time, and when I stopped by, you seemed a little busy. Having your little sister show up while you were in the middle of THAT has to kill the mood."
"Just remember to call before you show up, okay." He turned to his side, showing acknowledgement to the man beside him. "Oh, yeah. Junpei, this is my little sister, Tsukushi. Tsukushi, this is Junpei."
"Hey," the older boy greeted flashing her a to-die-for smile. "So, you're the birthday girl everyone is talking about." He bowed and kissed the back of her hand. "It's hard to miss the most beautiful girl in the room."
Tsukushi furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out what exactly it was that was so familiar about Junpei. "Nice to meet you. Have I seen you somewhere before?"
He shrugged his shoulders and continued sipping on his glass of champagne. "I don't know, I'm all over the place nowadays. Hey," he nudged Susumu's arm. "I think you should go rescue Shizuka from some of your dad's business associates. They seem to be getting a little too friendly with her."
"Sorry, Kushi. I'll be back in a bit. I've got to go rescue my girlfriend before I end up leaving alone tonight," he joked. "Save me a dance." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before running off after the girl across the room.
Tsukushi snuck a glance at the woman her brother had recently become so enthralled with. It brought a smile to her face to see him for once taking a girl seriously. She had seen a long string of girls come and go without a second thought. It seemed that Shizuka might have broken his one-month girlfriend streak.
"So, how old are you, anyway?"
"13," she petulantly replied, not liking the look he was giving her. "And you are?"
"21, but wishing I were 13 again," he sighed.
"You're a sweet talker. A little on the pedophilic side, but I guess your pretty face makes up for it."
"You hurt me!" He clutched his hand over his chest in agony. "How about you give this poor guy here a little thrill and have this dance?"
"Why not?" she laughed. "It's not like anyone else has asked me." She took his offered hand and was lead onto the dance floor, where a slow waltz drifted through the air, in between the sounds of overflowing glasses of champagne and mindless chatter.
Junpei looked down at the girl who barely reached his shoulder. He stiffly smiled for the camera as the photographer walked by, instructing them to smile for the camera. Like a trained dog, Tsukushi didn't need to hesitate to know what to do with herself. She shifted her body to the left, tilted her head up at an angle, and smiled. Then, they continued on their way, swaying around the dance floor in the midst of the few dozen other dancing couples.
"So, how does it feel like to be the guest of honor of all this?" His head tilted to the side pointing out the dozen ice sculptures, the mountainous pile of gifts ranging from cars to as far as a small beach house in the South Pacific.
"Bored," she snorted in a very unladylike fashion.
His steps faltered for a moment, being caught of guard with her response. "I would hardly qualify that as a legitimate response. For a girl who has everything, what is there not to like?"
Her eyes danced across the room inspecting all the exorbitance. "Well, for starters, let's take a look at the people invited to my birthday party. I probably know maybe ten out of the three hundred guests here. That mountainous pile of gifts over there is merely a very shrewdly veiled gesture to bribe Shinimori-san into going into business with the sender. None of it is for me, not that I would want those things in the first place. The ones he keeps seals the deal, the ones that go means some poor schmuck is gonna lose big. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that all those guys my age circling like a pack of wolves around us, are just waiting for a chance that my brother lets his guard down to get the chance to try to grope me. Finally, this ends with every girl from school here hating me for taking away all their hot prospects. I think that about settles it. This birthday sucks. Now will you please tell me where I've seen you before or do I have to beat it out of you, since you refuse to tell me the damn answer?"
"Think billboard downtown. I'm the guy second to the left in the D&G ad."
"Oh, you're that model. All the girls have been chattering incessantly about knowing you from somewhere." She peered to her left seeing the very group of girls she mentioned shooting her venomous glares across the dance floor. Tsukushi heaved a heavy sigh, and returned her gaze to her partner. "You just made me the talk of the school on Monday, Junpei."
"Glad I could be of any service. How about I give them a little something more to talk about." He bent his head down and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. "A little gift of envy for the birthday girl," he teased. He looked up and smiled the smile that made him infamous, causing a few of the nearby ladies watching their interaction swoon. He raised an eyebrow at the man quickly approaching them with some intense interest in Tsukushi. "I think I'm in for some competition," he whispered into her ear.
"Thomas!" Tsukushi squealed, running and jumping into the blonde man's arms.
"Happy birthday, Tsukushi." He picked Tsukushi up off the floor, holding her tightly, and swinging her around him, enjoying the peals of laughter bubbling up from her. "Sorry, I was a bit late. I had some trouble with the security getting onto the property."
"Did you forget your invitation?" she laughed. She kissed him on the cheek, and proceeded to drag him towards Junpei, whom she had abandoned on the dance floor. "Thomas, I want you to meet Junpei. Junpei, this is Thomas."
"Nice to meet you," Junpei replied shaking the offered hand.
"You too." He whipped his head from side to side. "Is Susumu here already?'
"Yeah," Tsukushi laughed. She waggled her finger in the air before pinpointing her brother's exact location, which was to the right of the dance floor. At the moment he seemed to be very occupied with a certain woman wearing a flowing lavender gown.
"I should have known that wherever Shizuka is, Susumu is sure to follow."
"Uh huh. He's got it bad this time." Tsukushi smiled brightly, feeling overjoyed for her brother's obvious attachment to the young woman. "So, what have you been up to Thomas?"
"Nothing much," he shrugged. "I've been working in the studio every once in awhile. For the time being, I'm working as a DJ at a few of the clubs downtown. You should come down and see me sometime."
"I would, but Susumu refuses to let me go with him. He said a girl like me shouldn't hang around such establishments promoting promiscuity and debauchery." She began giggling as she finished her impersonation of her brother's overbearing tone that he took when he lectured her on something or another. "Maybe I'll talk him into taking me one time as a birthday present. I've never been to a real dance club before."
"It'll be fun, kid. Uh, I think I should be going that way. I see your mom coming this way, and if I recall, I didn't make too good of a first impression the first time I met her. See ya." Taking a quick backwards glance, he smiled apologetically for his hasty retreat.
Junpei looked around in confusion, clearly not understanding why Thomas would make such a fast get away. He looked towards the direction Tsukushi was transfixed. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing really out of the ordinary about the women. She looked like the rest of them at the uptight party. "Who's that?"
"Mama." Tsukushi quietly greeted the woman ignoring the small disapproving look in her mother's eyes. "Is there something you need?" She kept her eyes locked towards the ground and anything else that could distract her from looking at the fake plastered smile her mother was wearing at the moment.
"Don't be rude, dear," an overly sweet voice reproached. "Why don't you introduce me to your friend here?" A polished red fingernail reached out and trailed down the front of Junpei's tux.
Junpei looked from mother to daughter taking in the apparent discomfort in the air coming from both himself and Tsukushi. Trying his best to stay calm, he reminded himself of the warnings Susumu had pointedly made clear before they arrived. He gently lifted her finger from his person, and raised the hand to his lips caressing the soft skin with a kiss. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinimori-san."
Tsukushi knocked herself out of her daze, and quickly straightened her back recalling all of the etiquette lessons drilled into her. She intercepted their latched hands. "Mama, this is Junpei, one of Susumu's friends," she weakly spoke up, hating herself for letting her voice fall into an indiscernible whisper.
Kana's gracious smile became wry. "Oh, really. I didn't even realize your brother had invited his friends to this family gathering. I must remind him next time to tell me in advance if he brings extra guests." She raised her hand to her mouth covering a faked laugh. "Well, the more the merrier, I say. Please, call me Kana. No need to be so formal."
He nodded his head, and stepped aside to hook his arm with Tsukushi's. "If you wish, Kana."
Her eyes narrowed, staring at him with some hidden desire or something faintly lascivious. "The ladies have been absolutely abuzz with word that you came. It's not every day that we get one of top models in the industry in our presence. She presumptuously once again touched his arm, feeling the ripple of muscle beneath the fabric. "My goodness, you certainly are fit. I must admit every time I've seen your pictures, I've always wondered if you would be as virile in person. I'm happy to say you are exactly as I've imagined."
Once again, he shied away from her touch and tightened his hold on Tsukushi. "Thank you for the... compliment, but we really must excuse ourselves. Tsukushi promised me one more dance."
"Of course. She is after all the birthday girl." She tucked a stray hair that had fallen in Tsukushi's face, laying her cold hands upon her warm face. Her attention was fleeting and soon redirected at Junpei. "It's sweet of you to dance with the child. How about later, you save me a dance? You shouldn't leave before you dance with a real woman."
"I'll save you a spot on my dance card." He politely bowed and steered them away from the woman who he guaranteed was checking out his ass from behind.
"I'm sorry about that," Tsukushi mumbled apologetically. "She's a bit forward when she meets people."
"It's okay. Now I know why Susumu gave me 'the talk' before we got here."
They walked arm in arm across the ballroom making sure to keep some distance between them and her mother. Seeing Thomas, Shizuka, and Susumu talking quietly in the corner, they decided to join up with the rest of the group.
"I see Mrs. Robinson has put the moves on you," Thomas chuckled.
"She felt you up, didn't she?" Shizuka took another sip from her champagne glass, giggling at her friend's expense.
"I swear, I can't bring any of my friends home when she's around," Susumu whined. He detached Junpei from Tsukushi and draped an arm over her shoulder. "I see you two guys have already met?" he asked looking from Junpei to Thomas.
"Yeah, we've met. I guess now Junpei can join the MTTFU club."
"MTTFU?"
"Mother's trying to fuck us," Susumu laughed. "You don't even know how many times I've come home to be cornered by some of the women here. It's even funnier when they introduce themselves under the pretense of trying to hook me up with their daughters. When I didn't take that bait, they practically threw themselves at me. I guess to them, it's either mother or daughter to reel in the big money."
Shizuka playfully slapped him in the chest, "I hope you never accepted any of their offers."
"I was young and stupid at the time."
"I think I'm too disgusted to continue being in the presence of this conversation," Tsukushi moaned.
"Sorry." Susumu grinned stupidly. "We'll lower the rating of this conversation."
Tsukushi giggled into her hand, watching them continue their banter, trying to find 'creative' ways to discuss their sexploits. It was even funnier when Shizuka brought up the fact that she now had a purse full of offers from some of the businessmen at the party.
It was slightly sad to think that a thirteen year old could only find enjoyment with an older crowd. Although they accepted her fine into the inner circle as Susumu's little sister, a part of her yearned for some sense of normalcy. As her eyes drifted around the room, she noticed people from her school, and realized that there was not one person in the room that she could call a friend. She knew better than to try to catch up on lost time now, considering the looks she was getting from them.
A tap on her shoulder alerted her to a newcomer's presence. She spun around, feeling the end of her gown sweep at her feet with a whoosh sound.
"Hi," a boy with sandy brown hair waved. His eyes leered at her chest, completely ignoring the face that belonged to the body. "I was wondering if you wanted to dance with me, Makino-san?" Even with all the refinement and money that went with the poor thirteen year old in front of her, his hormonal urges were blatant in the way his eyes roamed her figure. He smiled cockily at her, waiting for her acceptance.
"Beat it, kid." Susumu pushed Tsukushi behind him, and stared down at the boy, sizing him up. A scowl formed on his face in disapproval. "I've got the next dance with her. And for next time, if I ever catch you looking at anything other than my sister's face with that look in your eyes, you won't have any legs to dance with." He wagged a finger and pointed him back in the direction of the huddled mass of boys all watching in great interest at the guy who dared approach the girl while in the presence of her brother.
The poor humiliated boy walked away speechless, and walked away a bit pale faced. However, his mind was eased of the threat when another pretty young girl walked by.
All except Tsukushi burst out laughing, watching the boy walk away.
"Don't worry. At some point they do grow up and notice that we have faces," Shizuka reassured Tsukushi. "Actually I remember the first time I met your brother, he couldn't seem to stop staring at my breasts either. Forget what I said. All men are hopeless."
"Hey!" Susumu protested. "I love you for your beautiful soul, which is in your heart, which just so happens to be in your chest area. It's not my fault if I can't stop staring there and thinking about what a beautiful person you are on the inside."
"Sure," she dryly replied.
"I can't take much more of this. I can't dodge them every time. The last one thought that it would be proper to hold my ass the entire time we were dancing."
"Who did it?! I'll kill the little mother..."
"Language!"
--------------------------------------
Tsukushi stood beside her mother, politely bidding farewell to the last of the guests as her mother made small talk at the other end of the procession of exiting guests. Shizuka had left long ago with Thomas offering her a ride home, and she briefly recalled Junpei leaving with a date he had picked up during the night. She cracked her neck to the side, trying to loosen her tense shoulders, and promptly regained her posture when the next batch of guests came to wish her a happy birthday. When Tama ushered the last person out, Tsukushi wearily slipped out of her heels, rubbing her sore feet.
"I think that was the last guest," Tama sighed. She motioned for the maids to begin the clean up process, ordering them left and right to their designated areas.
"Thank god," Tsukushi cheerfully yelled. "I think I'm going to need to ice my jaw later from all that smiling." Her hand cupped her chin, massaging the tender bones and muscles. "Have you seen Susumu?"
"No, young miss. I doubt he would leave without a goodbye."
"Yeah," she concurred. "I'll be back in a bit. Did my mother retire for the night already?"
"I recall her saying something about getting her beauty sleep. She left with her personal maid already. She should be locked away in her room already."
"Good. Remember to tell the cleaning crew not to start without us!" she yelled as she ascended up the staircase.
Her bare feet pounded against the marble tiles as she ran up and down the hallways of the large mansion in search of her brother. After a few directions from the maids that had seen him pass by, she found herself stopping in front of her father's study. Her hand reached up to knock on the door but a loud shout stopped her from proceeding.
"I'm not going to go into the business with you! How many times do we have to go over this? I don't want anything to do with it. It's not what I want to do." Susumu yelled. He pounded his fist on the large mahogany desk, sending the papers on the desktop blowing to the ground.
"This is not a matter of what you want to do. As my only son, it's your duty to take over the company. I can't believe how ungrateful you can be after all I've given you! Who paid for the Aston Martin, the Porsche, and the Jaguar? This company paid for the clothes on your back and the apartment you live in. I doubt you pretty little girlfriend would still want you if you didn't have all of it."
"Yeah, you've given me all this stuff, but at what price?" he snorted. His arms crossed against his chest like a petulant child. "It's all just a pay off. You didn't get shoved into that fucking military academy. You didn't get shipped away just so that your father wouldn't have to deal with you. You didn't get pushed aside for some bitch! Why would I want to work for something that took away my childhood."
"Don't forget that you are never too old to be brought over my knee," his father sternly warned, lowering his voice. "This is all I'm ever going to ask of you. What are you planning to do with your life? We sent you to one of the best universities in America and you come back a drop out. Even worse, you drag that gaijin home with you."
"Don't talk about my friends like that. Don't talk about Thomas like that. His family took me in when you kicked me out."
"Yes, now I'm starting to regret ever letting you continue to fraternize with that boy. They coddled you over there. I cut you off to teach you a lesson to survive on your own not to have you attach yourself to some family taking you in like a charity case. They probably wouldn't have let you stay longer, considering what happened between you and the girl. It was a good thing I stepped in before you ruined both your lives. You're just lucky that I stepped in before her parents did."
Susumu's face turned red venting out all his frustration and anger. Of all the things his father could bring up, it was her. "Leave her out of this," he growled. "Don't even fucking think about bringing her into this. I loved her, and she wanted to be with me."
"She was engaged to another long before you came along. Do you really think someone of her stature and class would willingly walk away from her family? Do you seriously think they would let you take her away? All you managed to do was put a stain on her reputation. Her family would have made that bastard child's life hell. It was only after she came to her senses did the poor girl dispose of the problem."
"That problem was my child!"
"Stop being such an idiot. The world doesn't work that way for people like us."
The tears flowed freely down his chest, as he remembered her ashen face as she stood on the doorstep. The faint glimmer of the light cast a silhouette of her face beneath the darkness. She stood there like stone, not crying one tear, perhaps finding she had no tears left to cry. Her hand was clutched over her flat stomach out of habit, as if the child that once resided in her womb would still be there. All he could do was stand dumbly in front of her, not quite hearing her words about the decision she took upon herself to make. She proceeded to list the reasons of why it was for the best as if the repetition of them would give them some reason, but in actuality it was to quell her doubts. There was nothing much he could do. With her apology to him and the return of his now shattered heart, he watched her walk away and return home. From then on, he never saw her again. It was like she had disappeared off the face of the earth.
It wasn't until about a year ago, that he had allowed himself to open up to another woman. Shizuka was young, naïve and looked at him with nothing more or less than admiration. She was able to fill part of that gap in his heart, but never enough to heal it entirely. He loved her, and he would never deny it. However, he would never tell her his love for her would never compare to her.
"That's why I hate this life! All that matters to you is your damn company! What about your fucking family?! I would never have abandoned my child. I would have shown that baby what a real family is, not this piece of shit we have!"
The man behind the desk leaned over his desk, watching his strong son cry the tears of a broken man. "Your mother wanted you to take over the company. We built this all up for you. You know after she died, all I had left was to finish her dream, which was to build this empire for you," his voice quavered at the mention of his dead wife. "I never intentionally tried to replace your mother, but you must understand that a man has needs. Everything in this house was just so empty when she left us. Just understand that Kana fills my days with a bit less loneliness. I may not love her like your mother, but she makes living each day less difficult. I lost the one woman I'll ever truly love with all my heart, but you couldn't expect me to live the rest of my life mourning my loss."
For the first time, Susumu looked into his father's weary eyes and saw a bit of himself in the man he called father. "Why do you need me now?"
He folded his hands on the desk, and took a deep breath. "I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it was necessary. I know you were in the plans of building that little nightclub of yours, but family must take precedence. It seems the last few ventures we've invested in haven't shown the ROI that we expected. There have also been some internal problems of pilferage and a few shady deals made. The government is down our necks to clean house in the finance departments. I need someone to oversee some of the damage control."
"How bad is the damage exactly?"
"After paying off the fines, and trying to recoup our losses we're looking a heavy loss. We'll probably barely have enough to cover another year."
"If we're in so deep, then why the party? Why the show that we're still rich?"
"We have to keep up appearances. I've already penned the plans for a few deals tonight. I need you to just come back for a year at most. Then you can go and do whatever you want."
"Fine."
Tsukushi pressed her back against the wall hoping that they did not hear her gasp at the revelation. She knew for a fact that her mother had no clue as to how much debt they were in. If she knew that the fortune she thought she had secured years ago was now dwindling to nothingness, she would be singing a very different tune. Taking a deep breath, she realized that the conversation had come to an end. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door.
"Come in."
She walked in with her head held up high, pretending that she knew nothing. The tension in the air still hung thickly like a suffocating blanket. "I just came to say goodnight, otou-san," she smiled.
The elderly gentleman smiled, and got up from his seat to give a peck on his adopted daughter's cheek. All the fierceness in him drained away at the sight of the burgeoning young woman in front of him. Over the years, he had kept his promise to accept the little girl as his own child. Like everyone else, he was unable to resist her charms, not even realizing that the small fondness for her turned into a fatherly love. "I hope you enjoyed your birthday, Tsukushi-chan."
"I did," she enthusiastically nodded. "Everything was beautiful."
He stepped away from her, and pulled out a key from his pocket to unlock the drawer to his desk. "I almost forgot to give you your birthday present."
"Oh no," she protested. "The party and the dress was enough."
"Just humor me for a moment," he chuckled, pulling out a flat package. He slipped the box into her hands and waited for her to open it.
Out of curiosity, she unwrapped the strange package tied up in a plain brown paper. The string and the paper fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Her eyes widened when she looked at the leather bound novel in her hands. The pages were yellowed with age, but well preserved enough to still remain intact to its binding. She carefully opened it up shocked to see the date on inside. "It's a first edition," she gasped.
His smile widened, seeing her reaction to his little gift. "I remember you telling me how much you're in your Dickens phase. This is just a little lesson for you to remember that with great expectations, there is always a price to be paid. All you can do is not lose yourself to in them. Do what is right and you can do no wrong." He patted her gently on the shoulder, and trudged towards the door. "Goodnight."
"Wait!" Tsukushi yelled running and jumping into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, practically hanging herself on him. "Thank you so much," she whispered into his ear.
He smiled and detached her from his neck patting her on the head. "Every year, you become more and more beautiful. I've loved watching you grow up over the years. I can't believe how fast time has passed." With those words said, he excused himself.
She clutched the book to her chest, and turned around to face her brother grinning wildly. "I can't believe it."
"Neither can I," Susumu grunted. "Now I don't know if I should give you my gift. How can I match up to that gift?" He sighed and dug his hands in his pockets. "Now I don't know if I should give it to you now."
"Aw. Come one, Susumu. You always give your gift last. You know it's always my favorite."
"Fine," He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and tossed it across the room.
She caught the box in her one free hand, and placed the treasured book onto the desk. "Jewelry?"
"You won't know unless you open it."
Slowly, she tugged the lid open with a loud cracking sound. She stared down at the small silver ring with a small blue stone encased in the setting. She fingered the small ring, slipping it onto her ring finger, but finding that it was a few sizes too large for her slender fingers.
"There's a chain in the box, too. I knew it was too big, so I got you a chain to hang it from. Let me help you. Hold back your hair."
She did as she was told and watched him clasp the chain around her neck. The ring fell just above her chest. The blue stone glimmered in the dim lighting. She furrowed her eyebrows as she played with the ring between her fingertips. Realization struck her, as she remembered where she had seen the article before. "I can't take this."
"Why?"
She turned around, looking at him questioningly, wondering if he was thinking clearly when he gave away this prized possession. "It was your mother's ring."
He offered a small smile, and kissed her on the forehead. "I want you to have it. You're my family. My mother left it to me to give to the girl I fell in love with one day. There are only two women alive that I love more than my own life. You're all I've got now. I want you to have it. I won't even take no for an answer," he laughed. Susumu brushed past her, and opened the door to the study gesturing her to leave first. "I think we should go and get the real party started. Can't keep everyone waiting."
Tsukushi closed her mouth, realizing that he would not let her argue any more with him. "Let's go."
They walked hand in hand down the stairs towards the grand ballroom where a large group had gathered. The lights were dimmed, and a small cart rolled out with a cake lit up with thirteen candles.
"Happy Birthday!"
Tsukushi ran the rest of the way down dragging Susumu with her. He barely made it down alive when she jumped the last few steps, causing him to trip and fall down along with her. He watched her childish glee as she blew out the candles and the lights were turned back on revealing all the help in the house clapping.
"Let's have the real party now!" Tsukushi cheered pulling her brother onto the dance floor.
In the late hours of the night, they held their own party. The false pretenses of formality and seriousness were lost to sheer joy of celebrating. The doors of the hall were shut to stop any noise from escaping, and the staff was treated to the one large party of the year at their employer's expense. They drowned themselves in the leftover food and champagne from earlier, enjoying each other's company while the uptight orchestral music was exchanged for a CD player hooked up to the sound system. For one night of the entire year, they let go and had fun.
Tsukushi laughed until her sides ached, running back and forth the dance floor in her long gown letting her feet slide across the waxed floor. She watched in sheer delight as Susumu dragged Tama out there and began to dance around her, trapping her with his so called 'sexy' moves. She was no longer the young mistress of the house and he wasn't the young master. As they had done so every year on her birthday, they were just Tsukushi and Susumu.
------------------One year later-----------------------
"I'm so sorry for your loss," another faceless nameless person inaudibly whispered.
The words were empty. At first, they politely smiled, nodded their heads, and shook their hands. However, after three days of going through the same motions, any sense of polite etiquette had been drained out of them. They all said the same things over and over offering some kind of sympathy for their loss, but not quite grasping the severity of the emotions they felt. It was even worse when they walked down the procession and whispered amongst themselves about the tragedy of it all.
For the second time, Kana was a widow. For the second time, Tsukushi lost a father. For the second time, Susumu buried another parent.
"I think you need to sit down at take a rest, little one," Tama chided Tsukushi. She looked on in disapproval at the way the girl's face had considerably thinned and the dark circles that began to form under her eyes. She gently nudged the girl to follow her out of the house to get some fresh air outside.
Tsukushi numbly followed after she gently squeezed her brother's hand, telling him she would be going out for a bit. Her feet moved like dead weights, trudging along without any real bounce anymore. As she walked through the familiar halls of her own home, her body involuntarily shivered, sensing the lingering effects of death in the air. She ignored the pointed stares in her direction, those watchful eyes that looked through her with only pity.
When they reached outside, Tama grabbed an extra coat and an umbrella. They walked outside to see the beginning drops of rain begin to fall. The older woman draped the random coat she had taken from inside over the young girl's shoulders, seeing them slump under the weight. It was a few sizes too big for her, looking more like a cloak.
"Will you come visit me, Tama?" she asked in a small voice like a lost child.
"Of course, I will."
"That's good. I'll miss not seeing you every day. I'll miss everyone I think." She stared off into the gardens, lost in her own dazed state. "It's funny how I sometimes wished I could leave this place. Now that I'll never see it again, I can't help but miss it. Life's kind of funny like that. It's like how you wake up one morning like all the rest expecting to start the day as you do every day. You get your uniform out, get ready for school, and go downstairs where Michiko would have breakfast ready. Before I would leave the house, she would sneak me a few extra cookies into my lunch box, scolding me that it would be the last time she gave me extra sweets even though she's done that since the day I came here. Then one call to the office can change everything."
She sighed recalling the terrible events that occurred a few weeks ago when she had been called out of her history class. There was that moment of relief she felt at having been released from the lecture for a break. When she got to the office, something was wrong though. They called her into the principal's office, except he wasn't there. Susumu was, with this blank, lost expression on his face. Tama stood by his side with a dull look in her eyes.
"I'm scared," she broke down crying. Hot tears fell down her cheeks mixing with the cold rainwater pelting her. She buried her face into Tama's shoulder with her body convulsing in wracked sobs. She cried all the pain, fear, and anguish she wanted to let out, but was too afraid to show in front of her brother. For him, she put on a brave face, not wanting to burden him with anymore than he was left to handle.
------------------------------------
Susumu watched the fat balding man in the black Armani business suit walk inside after shaking his hands. He took a deep, calming breath and weakly smiled at Shizuka, who was already inside, milling about and talking to their guests. He mouthed a word of thanks for her offering to come help orchestrate all the guests during the wake. Sighing in relief that no more guests seemed to be arriving, he scanned the room, checking to see where his dear stepmother was.
Kana was beside herself with grief. To those on the outside, she was the grief stricken widow plagued by the fact that her poor husband had left her alone in this world. The pity increased only more when they whispered around her about the two strikes against her. To be made a widow twice in one lifetime was rather rare. Some questioned whether it was some strange curse upon her to have her spouse die. Others snuck in the fact that it was a little too coincidental that with her bad luck she was left penniless twice. Kana broke down in tears once more, wiping away the bothersome salty droplets with her pure white handkerchief. For once again, Kana was out one husband and without someone to provide for her.
He shook his head, sneering in disgust at his stepmother's theatrics. He knew for a fact, that she was putting up an act. The day they had heard the news and rushed to the hospital, she was ranting like a lunatic, cursing his father for leaving her. It was also the same day that news went out that their company had gone belly up. When his father's dream died, so did he. The man's weak heart and constitution was no match for the shock.
Things were really fucked up and they were only getting worse with each passing day after his father's demise. The government rushed through the doors of all their operations in a raid to find all the evidence pointing to a few year's worth of tax fraud, embezzlement, and illegal business practices. The scandal was the talk of the town, but most likely would be forgotten when the next big shit hit the gossip mill. It was enough to put away a few of their top executives to serve some jail time. The biggest joke of all was how his father hadn't even realized the depth of employee disloyalty and betrayal. They all said, "How could the president of the company not know they were stealing from him left and right?" They were all living it up with their Swiss bank accounts on his father's dollar, and he was the fool doling out the access and funds to do so. Their stock fell drastically, making the shares they held worthless. The oil refineries located somewhere out in a few oceans away had dried up long ago. They was nothing left to drill at the moment, and the expenses to keep those men out there searching proved wasteful and futile. The accountants who had been handling the family's finances apparently had been playing with the numbers, forcing their family to pay back years of back taxes. This lead to the repossession of assets and freezing of their accounts. It would take a few months before that mess was sorted out.
All in all, everything was gone. Whatever was left was given to his father's favorite charities as his last act of goodwill, while his wife was left with a paltry sum of a half a million dollars and ownership of a rather pricey penthouse apartment he kept across town. Shinimori Koishijiro would be remembered as a fool with too much money and too little business sense. He would serve as an example in future business schools around the world of the perils of big business at the hands of one small man. To his son and daughter, he was a man that had too much faith in humanity.
One lesson could be learned form him. Trust is a dangerous weapon when entrusted to the wrong people.
With all the materialistic loss going around, Susumu luckily escaped unscathed and with little damage done to his own savings. He was left with a small inheritance from his father, but the bulk of his fortune came in the form of the trust fund his mother set up for him as a child. At the age of 18, he was able to access an allotted amount of money per year. When he reached had his twenty-first birthday, he was granted full access as a legal adult. It was more than enough for him to get by on.
He couldn't take much more of the falsity of the people around him. He just walked away in the middle of whoever's speech of condolences in search of Tsukushi. His heart ached for some sense of comfort from the only person other than Tama he could really call family. His steps came to a halt as he walked into the scene of the sought-after girl crying in the arms of their nanny. Deciding to take care of her himself, he tapped Tama on the shoulder who gladly shifted the girl onto him, while pulling her out of the rain.
"It's okay to cry," he shushed Tsukushi, trying to comfort him the best way he could. "I was beginning to worry why you haven't cried once."
"I... didn't...want...worry...you..." she stuttered in between hiccups.
He patted her back, trying to coax her out of her fit of coughs. "It's my job. I'm your brother. I'm supposed to take care of you."
She pulled her face away from his shirt, and looked up at him through the tears in her eyes. "How can you, when I won't be allowed to see you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Mama has forbid me to see you after the funeral. She thinks you're a bad influence."
"What?!" His eyes flashed red as he redirected his gaze indoors at the woman. "I'm a bad influence? When was the last time she looked in the mirror?" He quickly reached one conclusion to solve her worries. "How about you come live with me?"
The idea frightened her a bit. On one hand, she wanted nothing more than to go live with her brother. At the same time, she was bound to her sense of loyalty to her mother. No matter what had happened in the past, the present, or would happen, she held the resolute decision to remain by her mother's side. "I can't. I can't leave Mama alone. She can't live without me to take care of her now."
He sighed, knowing that in a way, she was right. He had no right whatsoever to take a daughter form the mother. As a non-blood relative, he had no real legal basis to take her in without her mother's consent. "I understand. Just remember that nothing could stop me from seeing my baby sister. Promise me that the second things get uncomfortable, you'll come to me, okay? No matter what, promise me you'll come to me."
"I will."
-----------------------------
Author's Note: Lookie! I finally came up with a new chapter. I blame it on March madness. It's like college has this evil plot to screw with me by putting all the deadlines for financial aid, midterms, papers, and volunteering in one month before spring break, the bastards. Now as I sit here procrastinating from studying for my business ethics midterm I'll respond to a few reviews from Last Resort.
XxSwtDreamerxX: Sorry, but I had to put Last Resort on a break. I was drowning in angst. Thanks for reading, and don't worry I plan to probably get a new chapter by June. I'm writing a few scenes here and there when the mood strikes.
Lian: Yeah, I've been messing around with way too many characters for my own good. Actually I really like Rui in this story. He's stupid, but I have my reasons for his stupidity. All them have problems that stem from something earlier in their lives, so it's understandable if they are emotionally dysfunctional. Oh, Rui, my boy I have a few huge twists up my sleeve for you. I just can't help but maniacally laugh out loud when an ingenious plot twist comes around. But seriously, I never thought people would really be that annoyed by Rui and Shizuka in this story. They're good people in my book. Maybe a bit misguided, but still they're good people. Everyone deserves some small ounce of happiness. It's been so long since you updated Struggle. My advice is that if you really feel you can continue it at the same standard that you deem good then you should continue. I write these fics for myself mainly. If I don't like it, I don't write it. Once the love for a story is gone, you've pretty much dug a grave for it. Trying to pull it back out is painful. Plus, I'm one of those people who prefers to read other people's stuff than write my own. I can spend hours with a chapter on Word opened up, but end up reading some other fanfics the entire time.
Star_gal: I have developed some sick attachment to Akira. I seriously need someone to fight me back with a stick to keep me from writing some more Akira x Tsukushi scenes. Their scenes just come so easily considering how happy the guy is. We all need our own Akira to get through the day. Right now I know exactly what will happen with the pairings. For the first time, I actually wrote it down on a piece of paper outlining it. So, it's pretty much set in stone. And for once, there will be a definite ending and you'll know who ends up with who. No weird open endings where people will harass me about who they ended up with. As to what they are my lips are sealed.
Cuppajava: I loved the way you referred to Yuuki and Thomas' relationship as an "unholy alliance". I was laughing for quite a bit since I never thought of it that way. Every time I think of them now I imagine them in some dark room with a single lamp huddled over some master plan to seduce Jiro and Sakurako. Those two have some ways to go.
Just a teen: Thanks for the long reviews. I always do love long reviews. It's good feedback to see how I'm doing. I'm not a big fan of any pairing in particular when it comes to fanfics, but they're usually some kind of "RxTxT triangular oh god why doesn't he/she love me and not them blah blah blah" story. I'm generally an angst-addict, but it's nice that Return to Me is a bit less with the horrifying tragic characters; although, I do have a big fat needle full of angst to inject into that sucker. I'm glad you liked the TxT scenes in the last chapter. I always find putting those two together in a scene without having them want to kill each other difficult. She's stubborn and so is he. That just makes all the work harder to make one them bend a bit.
Toinks: Whoa! You got me so hyped up over Echoes of the Past. I just wonder how she conceived Tsukasa now. I keep thinking that it might have to do with the miracle of science. That last chapter just threw me off. I couldn't stop laughing at the poor gay man forced marry a woman. It's scary how intuitive you are about my plotlines sometimes. It scares me when you slightly hint at what I have planned with just a guess. Well, it keeps me thinking of new ways to utterly shock and horrify my readers.
To everyone else, thanks for the reviews. I actually do sit down and read them.
Final thanks to Cuppajava and Elsa for being my betas. You bear with me through all the typos, wayward grammar, and disappearing for weeks.
Okay, I've talked long enough. For those wondering, here is the rundown on fic status. Next Introspection chapter will be up by the end of this week probably. Next Return to Me is almost done. Secrets is on its way, too. Once Upon a Dream has been deleted and a lengthy epilogue will put in its place. I have spring break the first week of April, so that leaves me two full weeks of pure adulterated writing time. April=many, many updates.