Note: I do not own Date a Live and its characters.
WARNING: This chapter will contain violence. Please read with caution.
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The 30th II: Eden of Ornaments
Act 2: Fragile Heart Finale
Chapter 7 - Natsumi's Family
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…
"You can't trust anyone."
…
"Not even… her."
The face of a certain blue-haired girl the same age as her appears in Natsumi's mind.
"She's just like everyone else."
…
"Family, huh?"
…
"Like I'd ever have anything like that anymore…"
Growl…
"Crap… I'm… starving…"
Natsumi felt her steps getting heavier… and weaker… she could barely take it anymore. Slowly but surely, she dropped on the ground with only a sliver of consciousness left. However, the girl could still make out the sound of footsteps approaching her.
…
"Ara, you really ran out here in that condition?"
Who…
"I heard my little sister ran after you when you went missing. Natsumi Kyouno, right?" the mysterious yet gentle voice asked as if to confirm something.
Natsumi barely caught sight of the voice's source—an astonishingly beautiful girl was in front of her. Her eyes, or rather her eye was tinted a nice red while the other was covered by her long bangs. Said hair was tied in long twin tails. Her gentle expression was that of concern for the green-haired girl. Somehow, she found her presence soothing. Natsumi thought she was trustworthy.
"Y-yes. I'm… Natsumi," she managed to mutter out.
"I see," the tall girl responded. "Come with me." she said as she helped Natsumi up and essentially carried her to a nearby café.
~~~~~~~~
"Ara, you have quite the appetite don't you?" the girl, who introduced herself as Kurumi said while Natsumi was gulping down another slice of cake.
She turned to face another person who was also sitting at the table with them. He was wearing work attire and could be deduced as an employee here."Sorry for troubling you, Shinji-san." Kurumi said apologetically.
Shinji waved his hands in front of him as if dismissing her apology. "N-no, no it's fine. But is it true?" He changed the subject. "Yoshino ran away from school?"
Kurumi, who was sipping her tea gracefully placed down her cup and wiped her face with a napkin before responding:
"Indeed. From what I have learned, she was looking for this girl," she gestured to Natsumi who was still eating. "I was a bit suspicious of Natsumi-san at first, but… her situation looks bad."
"It does look like that," Shinji said after observing Natsumi. "Anyway, what else did you want me for, Kurumi-san?"
"Oh, right. Shinji-san, you're still on break, right?"
"Yes. For the next…" he glances at his watch resting on his wrist. "20 minutes, I guess."
"Good. Do you mind if you look around for Yoshino a bit? Knowing her, she must have gotten lost and would likely run into trouble now," Kurumi said calmly but the concern can be seen in her eyes.
"I understand. I'll be back in a bit, Kurumi-san, Kyouno-san," Shinji said before leaving the café to search for a lost Yoshino.
~~~~~~~~
"So? What now?" an impatient voice sounded. Kurumi turned her head to the source of the voice, which was Natsumi with a clean plate in front of her. Well, clean as in there's at least no slices of cake left, but you can see a lot of crumbs lying around.
"Are you referring to another slice of cake or something else?" Kurumi jokingly asked with a smug face, making Natsumi pout a little.
"If you have nothing else to tell me, I'll take my leave," she stood up. "Thanks for the meal."
"Ara, where do you think you're going?" Kurumi asked.
"... away," Natsumi replied.
"And where might away be?" Kurumi asked sternly.
Natsumi went silent. She planned to run—she already decided that. But it finally sank in. Just where does she plan to run to? Her reply was silent as she retreated to her seat again.
"So? You want me here for something, right? If you want money, I'll pay you later. I don't have anything on me right now."
Kurumi relaxed into her seat and went straight to the point. "What happened between you and Yoshino-chan, hm?"
Natsumi's expression grew sour. "None of your business," she said, not meeting Kurumi's crimson eyes.
"Yoshino-chan is my sister, blood-related or not," Kurumi clarified. "It is my responsibility to know what's troubling her."
Natsumi snapped.
"So what if you care?! So what if I tell you?!" she ranted, alerting the other customers in the café who looked at them with concern. "What are you gonna do? Hurt me because I may have hurt her feelings? I'm already suffering enough, thank you very much!"
Kurumi sat down and took another sip from her cup, keeping her amused expression as the girl in front of her ranted on. She was not fazed at all by Natsumi's sudden outburst.
"She really chose a feisty one, hm…" Kurumi muttered to herself before facing the Natsumi and said. "Yoshino-chan went through great lengths to try and make friends, you know?"
Natsumi looked over at Kurumi who didn't budge at all from her yelling earlier with wide eyes. The latter simply chuckled and continued on with her story.
"She's suffering as much as you."
"H-huh?"
Kurumi placed down her cup and gestured over to the seat Natsumi was sitting in earlier. The girl reluctantly agreed and sat back down which—at the same time—calmed the other customers who eyed them earlier.
"She lost her family—all of them," Kurumi said with a slight frown.
"All of them?" Natsumi looked at Kurumi with a startled look.
"I think she should tell you the rest herself," Kurumi continued. "But, whatever you're going through with yours, Yoshino might be having it just as bad, if not, worse."
Hearing her drop the honorific for Yoshino's name told Natsumi that she was being serious. She looked down and wondered just how much the girl who desperately wanted to be friends with her suffered. Sure, Natsumi still has her family, no matter how bad they are. There's still a possibility for things on her side to change.
However, Yoshino lost her family entirely. No matter how bad or good they were, she couldn't be with them anymore. Even with a new family, someone of her age can't simply move on and forget. No matter how much she desires, her parents aren't coming back.
She suffered all of these with a smile.
Just the thought of all that display of a cheerful girl from a rich family being a front for her emotional struggles made Natsumi rethink her actions.
"Ara, I see you've come to a decision," Kurumi said after seeing Natsumi's pondering.
Natsumi showed her a pout for a moment but composed herself. She showed a confident smile and with a gentle voice she said, "Yeah. I did."
When the door to the café opened to reveal a blue-haired girl that was just as young as her, who was accompanied by a relieved Shinji Takamiya, Yoshino was the one who spoke up first, much to Natsumi's confusion.
However, after all that consoling from Kurumi Tokisaki, she knew what she had to do.
~~~~~~~~
As they walked home together, Natsumi opened up to Yoshino. She told the girl all her concerns, and her current situation, while trying her best not to bring out bad memories for Yoshino.
Kurumi was walking with them, although behind them from a large distance. She looked at the two with an amused expression. Seeing Yoshino wearing a genuine smile for once, and Natsumi being more trustful of them, put a smile on her face as well.
She noticed Yoshino dropping something on the ground, but before she alerted the girl of her blunder, Natsumi spoke out to Yoshino first before making her way to her place.
"Go ahead, my place isn't too far from here. See you tomorrow!" the green-haired girl said as she skipped towards her house.
Yoshino went to pick up whatever she dropped and prepared to leave, until she heard a scream come from Natsumi's direction.
Natsumi, with newfound confidence, walked into her house where her mother was probably waiting.
She looked inside, but found an empty living room. Confused, she wandered through the house and looked through the rooms.
She came across the faint sound of crying in a room from the corner of the house. Naturally, she recognized this as the room her mom uses.
Curious, she subconsciously gets closer to the room, her footsteps echoing through the hall, probably enough for her mother—or whoever the hell was crying in there—to hear.
As her fingers nearly touched the door handle, it suddenly burst open with a woman with green hair, a bright red covering her face as she held an empty bottle in her left hand. She was crying, but was also clearly drunk.
Natsumi was startled for a second before getting fearful when her drunk mother swung the bottle in her direction, but completely missed the girl due to her short figure. She silently thanked the height she always dreaded and retreated to the other side of the hall.
Natsumi breathed a sigh of relief before letting out a scream when the glass bottle came crashing down in front of her which was presumably thrown by her mother.
This, in turn made her wary but quickly lost that feeling when her mother's figure stopped for a moment before promptly dropping to the ground, which Natsumi somehow caught just before she fell headfirst on the ground where the broken glass was scattered.
Relieved that the figure in her hands was still breathing, Natsumi carried her now-asleep mother to the nearby couch. As she settled her down and wrapped a blanket around the unconscious woman, Natsumi suddenly heard loud banging coming from the front door.
Thinking that she must have disturbed the neighbors with all the commotion earlier, she rushed to the front door with an apologetic expression, an action that was really out of character for her.
Normally, she wouldn't bother with something like a noise complaint. In fact, she was always a quiet girl and only her mother could make such a ruckus, so she would let her handle the neighbors.
On days when her mother can't deal with such, Natsumi simply hides in a corner where no one from outside can see her even if they bother to look through the window. She stays there until the person gives up and goes away, believing there was no one in the house and the noise was likely something else.
But here she was, running to the front door to deal with whoever was knocking profusely. Her mother was unconscious, so she couldn't leave that to her.
Is Yoshino rubbing off on me?
She thought, and was contemplating to turn back and hide as usual, but it was already too late, and her hand was twisting the doorknob and pulling the door open…
THUD!
"Natsumi-chan!" a blue-haired girl stormed in and ran into the girl whose name she just yelled, knocking both of them down onto the cold, hard floor. "Are you hurt? What happened? Why were you screaming?"
The barrage of questions annoyed Natsumi a little, but this was Yoshino. She just made friends with the girl and of course she would be this concerned if something were to happen.
Natsumi forgot for a moment that Yoshino walked her home and was likely still nearby during all that commotion. Her sudden shout must've been heard. Still, it was a nice feeling to know how much Yoshino cares for her. Heck, she might still do this even if she was a complete stranger. Natsumi just had the feeling that Yoshino was that kind of person. Probably. This green-haired high school girl may be a little biased.
"I'm fine," Natsumi managed to mutter out, which made the bluenette sigh in relief. "Now will you please get off from on top of me?" She followed and turned away, a faint red resting on her cheeks.
"Oh–" Yoshino immediately stood up and comically backed away until she hit a wall. For a second, Natsumi could make out a slight blush on Yoshino's face. Though, she ignored it and chuckled lightly at the girl's antics.
"Ara, I didn't know you swung that way, Natsumi-chan~" a familiar voice resounded just outside the still-open door.
Kurumi appeared promptly. She got here a bit later than Yoshino, but she looked a bit exhausted. Maybe rich girls don't run often? Natsumi pondered.
"Everything's fine," Natsumi ignored her tease and reassured them. She took a glance at the wasted woman on the couch and corrected herself. "Mostly."
Kurumi took the moment to cautiously walk towards the older-looking Natsumi lying on the couch. To her relief, she was still breathing and likely just asleep. In truth, seeing the figure on the couch made Kurumi think that Natsumi discovered some dead body in the house and yelled out fear. Looking back, the crimson-eyed girl thought that scene would look a bit cliché.
"She looks out cold," Kurumi observed. "What happened?" she followed, looking at the broken glass on the floor that Natsumi was carefully sweeping away.
"Mom was crying in her room when I got here," she said. "Drunk." she added.
"And the screaming?"
"Oh, that was me. She probably heard me coming and opened the door and started swinging the bottle around. I probably looked like some intruder because she was being so violent about it." Natsumi explained, while sweeping the last remains of the broken glass into a corner. "You can probably tell what happened next."
Nataumi finished explaining (and sweeping) and turned to face a worried Yoshino. She got the hint and smiled while reassuring her that she's fine and unhurt. Yoshino smiled back and nodded.
"But, this joint is a mess," Natsumi looked around the house. A lot of things were knocked over and you can see dust flying about. "You two can head home while I clean this up. I'm used to mom's drunk tendencies and having to clean up afterwards."
"Are you sure you can handle all of these?" Kurumi looked around. The house was indeed a mess. She wondered how Natsumi was able to survive at home all this time. Perhaps she was right to run away?
"Yeah," Natsumi replied. She then turned to see Natsumi with a cute pout. "Don't push yourself!" was written all over her face and Natsumi got the hint. "You could stay and help if you want." Yoshino brightened. Natsumi found her friend adorable whenever she's like this.
"We don't mind. I'll text mother and father that we're coming home late, Yoshino-chan."
"Yes!"
~~~~~~~~
Groan…
The sight of a green haired girl younger than the drowsy woman was in front of her.
"I've called Shinji-san over to bring the food."
"Right. Yoshino, you can go help Kurumi-senpai with the food. I'll stay with mom."
"Yes!"
The faint of sound of sizzling in the distance was accompanied by the many voices around the woman.
It smells like homemade food.
But, who was cooking?
Suddenly, everything started to come back to the her.
Right, she was drinking. Probably crying. She just received news that her husband passed away in an accident. After that, she went into a state of depression and drinked an entire bottle away.
But if her husband was gone, who was taking care of her right now?
Then, the image in front of her started to become clearer…
Her.
This pathetic image that was apparently her daughter.
It was her fault.
…
… …
… … …
"Mom, you're awake!" Natsumi cheerfully said. "Are you okay? You looked pretty bad."
"You…" the woman said weakly. Then, her expression became wrapped in anger. "You!" She stood up.
"Mo– ack!" Natsumi was pushed and fell to the ground.
"He's gone! He worked his ass off — for you! You!" Natsumi's mother snapped.
Such commotion could be heard from the kitchen. Yoshino and Kurumi rushed over to find Natsumi's mother scolding a fearful Natsumi. The woman noticed the tall girl with long, black twintails.
"Who are you?! Her entourage?! This has nothing to do with you!" Natsumi's mother yelled, then turned back to her daughter.
Kurumi understood that other family matters had nothing to do with her. But, she wanted to interfere too. She held a worried Yoshino back and told her to stand back for now.
Natsumi's mother, however, was relentless.
"Who… who–"
"My husband! Your dad, but he doesn't deserve to be! Not for someone like you!"
"Dad is… gone?" Natsumi questioned with wide eyes.
"He is! And now, we have no source of money! So you — work in his place! Do anything, it's your fault he overworked himself and caught himself in an accident! Sell your body — I don't care! As long as it's a high-paying job to replace my husband's, do it! Why am I stuck with ugly child like you?!" she ranted, making Natsumi grit her teeth.
"Why would I…" Natsumi started, anger clear in her voice, making her mother take a few steps back. "Why would I… work for the sake of someone as ugly as you?!" Natsumi followed.
That was it.
The final line — one that Natsumi didn't dare to cross until now.
She always felt the need to talk back, but she didn't dare to actually do so, every single time.
But this time, her 'mother' wanted her daughter to do anything to replace his father, all to fix this damned family.
Natsumi had enough of it all.
"Why you… bitch!" the woman lunged and knocked Natsumi to the ground.
Natsumi felt hands around her neck, closing in.
The hands were getting stronger, and Natsumi's breath was getting smaller… she was dying.
Kurumi was the first to step in, "That's enough–"
"Natsumi!"
Yoshino.
Natsumi could see a figure with sky-blue hair tackle her mother, releasing her hold from her neck, but Natsumi was already losing consciousness, her body was too fragile.
Why did I have to stay in such… an abusive family?
Was my heart… that weak…?
All I wanted was… was…
Her vision was getting cloudy. She could barely hear the sounds of Yoshino calling her name, and the sound of a kettle boiling in the distance, but she didn't care, she was sleepy, and slowly… her eyes closed.
…
… …
… … …
~~~~~~~~
Beep… beep…
"Where… am I…?"
Beep… beep…
"My head hurts…"
Natsumi held her head in pain as she tries to clear her blurry vision. And as she did, she noticed a figure fast asleep on the edge of her… bed?
But I don't sleep in a bed…?
This is not my house… it's… oh.
Memories of what happened quickly flashed through Natsumi's mind. It didn't really help her headache, though. It probably made it worse.
Natsumi recalled being in her house. Her mind said that it happened recently, but her body felt that it occurred long ago. She remembered Yoshino, Kurumi, and…
Oh, right.
Her mother's harsh words echoed through her mind, sending another wave of pain in her head. Natsumi's not-too-subtle movement awakened the figure that was still asleep in front of her.
Y… Yoshin—
"Natsumi!" the girl suddenly got up and threw her arms around the still-tired girl on the hospital bed. She was about to complain, but held the thought after seeing tears stream down the bluenette's face.
"I was… I was so worried! You passed out… and then… and then—"
"Shhh… it's fine, I'm okay," Natsumi reassured the girl while patting her head like an older sister. Such action made Yoshino calm down a little. "B-but I've probably only been asleep for a few hours, so I think you're overreacting a l—" her words stopped when Yoshino pulled from the hug and stared at her with worried eyes.
Such eyes startled Natsumi a little, as they were filled with genuine concern. However, she felt a little shy at the girl who was staring… a little too much.
"Ah! I'm s-sorry. You probably don't know."
"Don't know… what?" Natsumi asked a little nervously.
"You… you've been asleep for two weeks…" Yoshino admitted, though a little sadly.
Eh?
"T-that long?"
"Yes. When you fell asleep in your house, Shinji-san suddenly burst through the door, along with Mio. We told them the situation and they called an ambulance."
"I… I see…"
Shinji… that boy from the café and… Mio?
The name felt a little familiar.
"Who's—"
The door suddenly opened to reveal a blue-haired boy and a girl following closely behind.
"Yoshino! How is she?" The sudden call from Shinji made Yoshino jump a little.
Natsumi felt another wave of pain in her head upon seeing the boy.
Memories of a boy. The same face, but not the same person.
While trying to sort out her thoughts, the girl following behind Shinji spoke.
"Shin… wait up!" she said, trying to catch her breath as she entered the room.
Do you want power?
Those sudden words entered Natsumi's thoughts at the sight of the girl. They felt familiar and yet, she can't recall anything related to those words. The girl also looked strangely familiar.
Natsumi, concluding that these were just side effects of a 2-week coma, finally spoke.
"Mind introducing me?" she said to no one in particular. Yoshino answered the question though.
"Ah! You've probably met Shinji-san, but this other person is Takamiya Mio. She's a friend."
"... I see."
Shinji walked towards Natsumi and took a good look at her, before speaking.
"Are you okay?"
"What do… you mean?" Natsumi questioned. There were… way too many things about her that wasn't okay, so she didn't really know which one he was referring to.
"Your mother… she was arrested. After what she did, well…" Shinji trailed off, not knowing if he wanted to touch on a sensitive topic.
Natsumi caught on to what he meant, and shook her head. "I'm fine," she said, but her fists clenched.
"... I see. That's good," Shinji said before standing up to leave the room. "Yoshino, look after her. My boss is calling. I'm going to call Kurumi over."
"Y-yes!"
Mio was the next to stand up and politely bowed.
"I shall take my leave as well. It was nice meeting you, Natsumi. Yoshino-chan, take care."
"See you again soon, Mio…" Yoshino waved her goodbye.
Natsumi stared at the ceiling above her. Her thoughts were blank. She paid little attention to Yoshino's concerned gaze. Every time she gave her a troubled expression, she'd just smile and shrug it off to reassure her that she's fine.
Yoshino didn't buy any of it, though.
Natsumi's thoughts went several directions, trying to process what happened with her and her mother. She was always a good child. At least, she tried to be.
She couldn't be normal, her life wouldn't allow that.
But why… why did she try so hard anyway?
All I wanted… was to be loved, after all.
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Next: Swordplay
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AN: Hello! It's been a while.
I apologize for the very, very late update. I can't make any promises, after all.
This chapter took… so many rewriting! I even had to change the outcome of the previous chapter. The ending could've gone different ways. I even considered Natsumi to develop amnesia and forget about her mother but… it just didn't work.
Natsumi's and Yoshino's arcs in the main story are technically complete. But their story — it's long from its conclusion. You'll soon know why (and how).
You might have noticed that my writing style and formatting are a little different. Right, so I'm now doing drafts on Google Docs, which unfortunately doesn't have anything that counts as line breaks in FFN, so we have improvised ones. They get exported into a document and uploaded into the story.
Now, you won't be getting any updates for a while.
Now don't panic! I am not abandoning this story. I'm simply rewriting this — all the way from Chapter 1 of The 30th I: Phantom of Infinity. Some scenarios will be changed, it will start to make more sense. The outcomes though, should be similar to what it used to be. So even if you don't read the rewrite, it will only be a little confusing.
Some major changes will be Shinji's former powers and how they work in The 30th I, and the removal of Yoshinon in The 30th II. There are reasons for these changes, but that would be a spoiler for what's really going down in the future.
The next arc is Tohka's, by the way.
On another note, Date a Live IV should be drawing close to Mukuro's arc soon. I'll probably have enough information to write her character here then, especially when her backstory is being animated.
Anyway, that's all for now. Please look forward to the rewrite. Again, you don't really need to read it (but I highly suggest you do, lol).
(Proofreading note: Well damn, I exceeded my usual word count, not counting this author note, lmao)
