Three favorites? Not bad at all! As a reward, you guys get...a new chapter! So let's get on with it. I'll save the notes for the end of the chapter as a footnote.
Chapter 1 : If I Saw You in Heaven
March 10, 2000
The funeral was a blur. He remembered little details however.
The wake where family and friends went on and on how "We're so sorry for your loss".
The wails and sobs of Kari as he held her firmly and gently, as his promise to his mother to always protect Kari.
His grandmother squeezing his hand gently and comfortingly when she heard him emit the one strangled sob he wasn't able to subdue as his mother's body was cremated. He could only imagine how hurt his grandmother was, facing the death of her oldest daughter. All thanks to that terrible illness known as leukemia.
The moment after the ashes and bones were picked up, when he caught a glimpse of Sora Takenouchi, her black simple dress, her maroon eyes spilling with tears as she looked at him, her mother and father looking saddened as well behind her.
Tai stood, seemingly emotionless, no tears in his eyes as Sora hugged him, weeping for him and for her. "Tai, I'm so sorry…." Sora moaned through her sobs.
After the funeral, Tai and Kari's aunts and grandparents stayed in the Kamiya residence for a bit. It was clear that they were trying their best to bring some normalcy into Tai and Kari's lives. If that was even possible in the first place. Ayame was able to fix a quick and actually tasty dinner for all the family . But it just didn't feel right. Tai didn't even remember how the dish tasted. Ayame was a better cook than her older sister. But it didn't feel right. If it was possible, Tai would have taken any concoction of his mother's, no matter how odd or mysterious, over his aunt's cooking, no true offense to his Aunt Ayame of course. Because that would mean his mother would be alive.
The first day after Yuko's death didn't even feel like she was actually dead. Tai had even believed that his grandfather telling him through his tears that his mother had died was part of a nightmare. The kind of nightmare where once you wake up and see the clock telling you it wasn't time yet, you relax eventually and drift back to sleep into the darkness of your room, knowing your loved one was still alive. As soon as he and Kari saw his mother's peaceful tranquil face in that box and Kari began sobbing like something was ripped out of her physically, he knew it was a pure lie.
When night came, it finally hit Tai how much it hurt. It angered him. He didn't know how he got this angry but it all started when his grandma was putting Kari to bed and he and his aunts and grandpa were watching an old western movie. Or more accurately, letting the TV on as they stood blankly, trying to process the entire day of burying their loved one. Somewhere between the iconic scene of the shootout between the hero and bad guy and the scene where the hero talked to his girlfriend, Tai glared and declared out loud to no one particular in mind :
"I hate her so much."
Natsuki, Ayame and their father, surprised at Tai's sudden statement, turned to face Tai who was glaring into the television.
"Now, son, it's only a movie." His grandfather began, hoping to calm his grandson.
"Not her!" Tai snapped.
"Don't you talk to your grandfather like that, young man!" Ayame frowned, a stern edge in her voice over Tai's dark tone towards his grandfather. Natsuki, on the other hand, softly asked Tai, holding his hand, "Well, if it's not the character in the movie who is it?"
"Mom." Tai said, darkly, trying to stop the angry tears from forming in his eyes. Ayame's facial expression softened, understanding Tai's grief while his grandfather looked downwards, downcast at the mention of his deceased daughter.
"Tai, that's not true." Natsuki shook her head, a firm but gentle tone in her voice in the hopes to calm her nephew down.
"It is true, Aunt Natsuki." Tai argued, feeling tears of anger and sadness trickle in his eyes as he began to rant, and he wouldn't stop, "She knew she was sick. She damn knew it! We weren't poor! She could have gotten help….but instead she made a fool out of all of us! Me, Kari, you all, the Takenouchis, everyone! She's a damn fat liar!"
Ayame gasped, "Excuse me?!" A deep scowl etched into her face as she began scolding, "Taichi, do you even understand the words coming out of your mouth? That's no way to speak about anyone like that, especially not your own mother!"
"Then why did she do this to us?!" Tai snapped, the tears falling from his eyes. "She should have known better."
"And you, young man, should know better than to act so impertinent to your own deceased mother." Ayame stated, crossing her arms.
"It's not like she would care! She's probably with Dad laughing at us over how she lied to us and how she hurt all of us!" Tai exclaimed.
Before Ayame could scold Tai or Natsuki and/or Tai's grandfather could try to mollify the two hotheaded family members, Tai took a quick sprint upstairs to his mom's room and locked the door behind him, despite his aunts' protests. In a fit of desperation, he flung himself into his mother's bed, pounding his fists against the flowery yellow bed comforters that his mother loved so much.
"I hate her so much! I hate everything about her!" Tai yelled, the hot tears refusing to stop as he flung a pillow on the bed. As soon as he said that, he was struck with an indescribable feeling of grief, as he sank to his knees before slowly lying face down on the bed, clutching his mother's bed comforter, smelling the scent of his mother.
"Mama, I'm sorry…." Tai murmured, feeling overwhelming guilt by what he had said. There, Tai remained in his mother's room, crying silently over the injustice of his mother's death, left stranded in a world so cold. He wasn't sure if he had drifted to sleep as it felt like a blur but next thing he was fully conscious of, the birds tweeted into the window, as if mocking him, and the rays of the cruel sun peeked into the window.
Although the tears had stopped and Tai long stopped crying, his insides felt hollow, as if someone had cut him up and grabbed all his intestines and organs out of his body as he slept. He slowly walked downstairs to the dining room, his aunts Ayame and Natsuki making breakfast.
"Do you feel better?" Ayame asked, concern in her voice. Tai shook his head slowly. Ayame sighed sadly and gently took his head, "Taichi, dear, I'm sorry about the whole-"
"No, no. It's fine, really." Tai shook his head assuringly but deep down he wondered if he had died instead of his mother since he felt so dead.
"Have some breakfast, hun'. You shouldn't starve." Natsuki softly stated as she set a plate of scrambled eggs, a piece of ham, and a glass of orange juice on his side.
Grateful for his aunts' kindness, he took a nibble of the ham, even though in his grief it tasted nothing.
Deciding to bring up a subject in the hopes of making this day a bit easier, Tai asked, "Where's baba, jiji, and Kari?"
"They went to Kari's school so Kari can get a few days of absence. They'll do the same for you too, Tai. Don't worry. You don't have to go to school until later if you want to." Ayame tenderly said in the hopes to bring a glimmer of solace to Tai.
"Okay….thanks." Tai mumbled, unsure how to feel about that. What he was sure however was that even breakfast didn't feel right without his mother. It felt like something was waiting to happen. Like that science fiction movie he and his mother watched before she got sick. The one where those people are out in space, enjoying a nice meal and one of them starts convulsing and convulsing until he collapses face up to the ground and out of his blood-stained shirt and chest comes this squirming repulsive creature as blood flies everywhere. Even then, Tai wished that he was face-hugged and awaiting death by Chestburster instead of what was happening now. A Chestburster could easily be killed, in Tai's point of view, with his grandfather's experience in the war as a young lad and his aunt Ayame having once killed a rabid rat with a frying pan, no joke. But the death of his mother was not something to be overcome easily, or perhaps overcome at all.
"Is there anything I can get you two?" Toshiko asked the two children who were studying up for finals.
"We're good, Mama. Thanks." Sora nodded simply, knowing that Toshiko was also trying to lift Tai's spirits. Everyone had been doing it. Haruhiko, their friends' parents, teachers.
It had been one week since they buried Yuko, three days since Tai returned to school. To Tai's slight surprise, everyone in school treated him differently. Not in a bad way per say. Far from it. Teachers would give him sympathy and sad glances at him even when he would stare back in confusion at how soft they had gone. A few kids, older and younger, opened up to him about their own losses. One kid in the wrestling team, big, almost perpetually-grumpy Toru, had opened up to Tai during lunch how his father had died from an untreated aneurysm that hadn't been discovered until too late, in an awkward (for Tai at least) conversation that ended with Toru in tears and Tai staring concerned at this Goliath (in Tai's eyes at least).
Even the local kids who had previously teased Tai and Sora in the ice cream shop left him alone, even giving his sympathies. After all, in their minds, it was one thing to tease a kid who picked his nose almost every time (Ibuki Hanae) or the girl who wore something baby pink everyday (Sakura Aino). It was another thing to tease a kid whose mother died. And that was one line they didn't want to cross.
However,the special treatment was not what perturbed Tai. It was something else that was clouding over in Tai's mind.
"Just remember. Give a shout to your father or me if you need anything." Toshiko stated, straightening her kimono as she went downstairs to begin teaching ikebana to the wide-eyed impressionable pupils determined to master this art.
"Got it, Mom." Sora nodded, watching as she left.
Tai glanced worriedly at the redheaded girl. This wouldn't be easy to say this but he needed to.
"Sora….my aunts and my grandparents were talking last night."
"About what?" Sora asked.
"...Well, my grandparents are too old to take care of Kari and me, fully...and my aunts have their own families…."
"Tai, where are you going with this?" Sora asked, anxiously.
"...they're suggesting that we move with our uncle Akihiro back in Edogawa."
Sora's pencil fell from her hands.
Tai stared at Sora, a look of remorse.
Sora's eyes watered.
"No! Oh, God, Tai, please…" Sora exclaimed, her maroon eyes releasing the tears.
"It's not like I want to leave, either." Tai stated. "They want me and Kari to leave on the last day of school. They say that it'll give me and Kari a fresh start. I tried to convince them but they kept saying that my uncle will be able to help us. He's rich and he's got a big home. He doesn't have any family that will 'distract' them."
"I guess it's true. With your aunts having their kids and your aunt Natsuki having a husband herself...but can't they make room for you?" Sora asked, looking for any solution that would make Tai and Kari stay here.
"But they live farther. Aunt Ayame lives in Tottori and Aunt Natsuki lives in Suginami. My grandparents say living with my uncle will make the move less painful because it'll be closer to our original home." Tai shook his head, sadly looking downward.
Tai braced himself waiting for a slap, a bonk, Sora yelling into his ear.
Instead, Sora flung herself to Tai and wept for her friend. Tai gently hugged her as she sobbed at the entire sorry situation.
"Sora, I'm so sorry…" Tai said, contrition in his tone as he glanced sorrowfully at the outside window watching Odaiba. He was going to miss Odaiba, not as much as he missed his mother, but definitely a lot.
This may be the saddest chapter I've written for this story yet. And most likely not just because I killed off Yuko. Regardless, I do have notes and references to point out.
The title of the chapter 'If I Saw You in Heaven' refers to part of the lyrics of 'Tears in Heaven', a song written by Eric Clapton as a response to the death of his child. The chapters for this story will have a theme of having references to lyrics from songs ranging from (mostly) 80's to 2000's in order to fit in with the timeframe of the story. So sorry, musical fans, but no references to musicals like Hamilton or Dear Evan Hansen or references to whoever is popular today due to coming out much later the the set timeframe of this story. Perhaps another time.
Funeral rites in Japan require one to pick up the bones of the deceased once you cremate them. Hence why Yuko's bones are mentioned.
Tai's mention to the film of an alien bursting out of someone's chest is a reference to the Aliens movie franchise, specifically the 1979 film Alien, where infamously unfortunate Gilbert Kane, played by the late Sir John Hurt, is killed after being face-hugged by the alien due to it ultimately developing the Chestburster inside him. This is also a slight nod to a humorous inside joke of mine where Tai and Kari get 'face-hugged' by Koromon in the Digimon movie and unlike Kane, suffered no ill effects.
March marks the end of the school year in Japan, in contrast to western cultures, at least in United States of America, where it's usually the beginning of summer where school ends.
Totorri may sound familiar to Digimon fans as it is where the character Meiko Mochizuki from the Tri films is originally from. It is farther from the Tokyo prefecture. Suginami is a city in Tokyo but it's farther from the Tokyo Bay, where Odaiba is at, in comparison to Edogawa, where its' closer.
This may come off as a surprise to you but I do not own the characters. I do however, own a Gatomon plush. I appreciate reviews so do write them if you have the time on what worked and what didn't. Thanks for reading and keep on waiting for the next chapter.