Chapter 8: "Old Habits…", Part I
The crowd around her kept recording. Maybe to post on their walls, the shameless idiots, Akira said to himself, tempted to repeat it out loud.
Ryuji had pushed his way through the mass of students, looking around at the crowd of teenage paparazzi forming around Shiho's shattered frame. "What the hell is wrong with these guys?" Ryuji cried in aimless distress. "I swear, I'm gonna knock some effin' phones onto the ground and smash them in a minute!" He then saw Akira, kneeling by Shiho. "Holy shit, what happened to your face?"
Akira grimaced. "Long story."
Ryuji kneeled next to Akira. "Damnit; I don't understand this at all…" he said, shaking his head.
Akira took another look at the mangled Shiho. Still alive. Barely, he lamented. His eyes then turned to a square-shaped lump under her sweater. He carefully pushed back the unsullied arm to reveal a strap holding her phone. No doubt it's there for practice. He then remembered the despair Shiho had in her eyes while staring at her phone in the hallway.
He looked at Ryuji. "Just cover me. Make sure nobody sees what I'm about to grab."
"What, why-"
"Just trust me," Akira replied hastily, his speech slurring momentarily. Ryuji then shrugged and covered Akira's right. "I'm just going to look like I'm taking her pulse." With his two main fingers extended, he placed them on her wrist. Faint. Then he reached out to her neck, being careful to block people's view of her. "Still faint; I feel bad for this, but at least I know you're alright." With his free hand, he grabbed her phone from the holster and pushed back down jerkily her sleeve. Putting the phone in his pocket, he then looked around.
"You see Mishima around?" Akira slurred.
"Mishima? Now that I think about it…But why-"
"I have questions," Akira replied curtly, remembering Mishima's crushing shame. "Just….help me find him." His words started to blend in more. "Anddon'tlethim….leave school. No matter what."
"Wait, dude, you think he has something to do with this?"
Akira nodded.
"He was acting suspiciously today. Fine, I'll look. What makes you think he's going to be here?"
Mishima's tears gave Akira reassurance. "A hunch," Akira replied.
The EMTs arrived, gently placing Shiho on a canvas stretcher. Ann appeared, pushing everyone in her way to meet Shiho eye to eye.
"Shiho….why?" she cried.
She groaned, uttering "Kamoshida" before staring into the distance with bleary eyes.
"Are you coming?" one of the EMTs asked Ann.
"….I'll go!" Ann replied readily.
"Wait," the other EMT interjected. "That kid's facial wound looks like it needs attention."
"We can leave that to 'the Plague' in Yongen. Another shutdown's on the radio, and now we have two injured that are on the way we need to corral. Tell the nurse he's from Shujin, and she'll handle it. Let's handle the girl and get someone to watch over her at the hospital."
"Are you sure about that? That lady chewed me out the last time I asked her to handle a redirect."
"Does it look like we have a choice?" The first EMT turned back to Ann. "Hurry up, miss." Ann the rushed into the ambulance.
As the ambulance left, Akira was drawn once again to the phone. Perhaps...very unlikely but…
With his now inexplicably dead hand, he turned on the phone. To his surprise, there wasn't a lock screen. Should I? he pondered. He went to the messaging app. He saw the most recent message. With a photo attached.
Thumb wavering slightly, he pressed it open, shielding the phone screen. Though, he regretted it after. To say it portrayed Shiho in an uncompromising situation would have been an understatement. And that set Akira aflame. And from "K" no less. THAT SON OF A BITCH…..to think he'd be that brazen. Or dyumb…wait I meant dumb….His mind turned hazy as he placed Shiho's phone in his pocket.
Mishima then timidly appeared from his hiding spot in the crowd to watch the ambulance drive off. From Akira's view, Mishima seemed lost in a trance. For Mishima, he was stuck over what was worse: his brush with mortality or what he did to make him consider sharing Shiho's fate. He decided to choose a simple solution: to not decide and run away from the crowd.
"Damnit," Akira said, getting more incoherent with each letter. "I…need to…"
Ryuji rushed to keep Akira from falling over. "Damnit, hold on! I'll drag you to the nurse myself!" he then said. "I was about to corner Mishima myself too…"
As Ryuji dragged Akira, who was leaning on his shoulders, Kobayakawa hobbled past into the crowd. "Everyone, return to your classes at once! Teachers, do not let anyone leave early!"
Akira began to fade in and out…
Akira then woke up, face planted on a cool, clothed surface that reeked of oak and vanilla.
A voice chimed across from him. "Asleep again? And here I thought I taught you better table manners."
Akira raised his head. Indeed, he was at a dining table, in his old kitchen, the sun flooding in. He sniffed the air; even that old-time saline spritz was in the air. Indeed, he was home. Sitting across from him, a weary-sounding woman, wearing a beige business suit under a kitchen apron, stared at the kitchen set on the table.
She continued to complain while brushing her bowl-cut hair. "I can't say I'm the best at this housemaid thing, but at the very least, your ungrateful sister and my schlub of a husband should be prompt."
Akira stood quiet, staring out at the windows to see the sea behind her the same way one meets an old friend. He conveniently ignored the fact that he wasn't in his uniform anymore.
The woman stopped staring at the china set laid out and looked at Akira. "What are you staring at?"
Akira felt the nagging sense something was awry. He wished it would go away. Maybe…I'm just tired. Just imagining that school, that's all. God, I guess I can have a weird dream occasionally, eh? "I guess I'm just tired? Am I just not sleeping enough? I don't know." Akira said, smiling slightly as the sun embraced him with open arms.
"Tch," the woman replied. "Poor sleep schedule. That's another penalty." She reached under the flatly pressed dining cloth, then stopped mid-arm. Pulling back, and defying reality as Akira knew it, the woman now had a snub-nosed revolver in her hand. She pulled the trigger next to her head nonchalantly. "I can only fail so much, son." Her voice crackled. "Why am I such a failure?"
Akira was frozen. "Uhh..where did the gun come from?"
"You know, I know about how you lied to that girl." She spun the chamber and held a gun to her head. "That's another failure in your upbringing. My failure." Another click. She then investigated the chamber. "Not a malfunction. The barrel's empty. Must be lucky."
"Mom…just put it down. Please."
She groaned. "Oh, and your sister's expulsion. From Gekkoukan no less. I failed in teaching her manners there too." Click. "Oh, what am I going to do?"
He couldn't move for her weapon, no matter how much he wished he could. "You can start by putting…the gun down." His lower lip quivered. "Please."
"Oh and how you let your sister down like that….that's worth four penalties there." And then, four clicks in succession. She then eyed the gun incredulously. "You pick terrible guns. You should ask some of your silly friends where they get their guns at."
Akira continued to sit in his chair, his face making contortions. "Silly friends?" he replied, flustered. "Who the hell would ask their friends for loaded weapons?"
His "mom" glared across the table. "Well, excuse me. I'm just giving maternal advice." She then laid her utensil down by the plate. "Besides, guns can be used for multiple things."
Akira sunk in his chair. "Pardon me…I'm just preoccupied right now. A girl...she….I saw her….well"
She smiled weakly, only to then slink into a gloom, staring at the speckling revolver. "Well, I suppose you've learned some etiquette." She then glossed her eyes back again to Akira. "Thanks for reminding me about the girl, by the way." She then stood onto the chair. "Forgive me, my memory is not the best these days." She stared up. "But either way, there's one simple solution to your problem."
He stared up to find a scarf tied up in a noose. "Where...did that…come from," he said, his face now ghastly.
His "mom," staring at her solution for the longest time, deviated for the smallest moment. "I don't know; all I know that's the simplest solution for me, after all. For shame, that is."
"I….I….."
Suddenly, Akira noticed the smell of engine oil to his left. Seated right next to him was a long-brown haired pony-tailed, young woman wearing a mesh cap, hunching over the table. She turned to look at Akira's nonplussed face, and to display the stitches on her neck. "You're just as dramatic as her. Always seeing the worst in things. I'll say this though,"-she pulled a gun that looked very similar to Ryuji's from behind her jeans-"you should consider an upgrade. Asking around wouldn't hurt."
Akira pressed his fingers into his forehead. "This is…an 'interesting' conversation."
"Pfft. It's better than mulling over where or what Mom is going to do based on some hospital intercom," she replied, playing with the lever of the gun in her hands. "You know full well what happens when you mull too much."
"…I know," Akira replied feebly. "It just feels off though...going back…resorting back to this. I'm still holding out for a nobler way, deep down. To break old, destructive habits. For everyone's sake..."
"Oh, Brother….Robin Hood was a hoodlum, a radical at the time, and people still write him as a hero. You should know; we read about him quite a lot as a kid." She facepalmed. "So what, you'd prefer a slow, moderate way of going about this? There's a word for that. It's called laziness. If you prefer such a thing, you can dote over Baroness-von-Procedure behind you as she caresses your hand."
Akira turned her head to find "Prez" petting his neck while covering her face with a book titled "Black Widows for Dummies."
"Now, wouldn't you prefer just destroying someone's life? Retribution is such a fast, straightforward, and cathartic way of doing things."
"I tried that with Maehara, Minako,'" Akira said growling, only momentarily as "Makoto's" soft touch eased him. "Besides, I need something more fulfilling. Like…helping people, perhaps. Not...this."
"For the record, you just made him jitter around with your little toy prod, hoping he would go away," Minako said scowling. "He didn't, you know. You left him with some twisted hope." She then smiled mischievously, displaying her stapled neck. "You see, Renren, I would have gone and ripped his heart out. Destroy everything he lived for. You get where I'm going."
He returned her smile with a crossing of the arms. "You suggest I talk to cats."
'Minako' grunted. "I SUGGEST you don't meander about."
Akira then heard a chair tipping, and of a woman shuffling and grunting.
"Or THAT happens." She then grasped Akira's head, petting it slowly and keeping him from seeing what was happening. "You're a smart boy; you know what hearing that means." She held him closer. "You have to go back, you know? There's work to be done.
"I know…it's just…I just….Going back hurts. Losing people….I'm scared. It just feels guaranteed to happen if I decide on this path."
She then inched into his ear. "Then get to work. The Phantom of Tokyo is a lot better than the Phantom of Minomiya, if I say so myself. Better tools now as well. And right now, there's a monster in Tokyo that can use a Phantom haunting them."
Akira smiled guiltily. "I…suppose so."
"Good. Now…"
Akira heard a hammer click in.
"Your head hurts. This is to help you remember."
Akira felt his head concuss and explode from the inside. The last thing he felt was the heat from gunpowder, and fresh lead burn in his left lobe.
Akira woke to find himself under the sheets of an infirmary bed, his collar drenched in sweat. Looking around, he noticed the young sunset peeking through his curtain. He also felt that his scalp was tighter than usual. He touched around there, noticing the wet gauze wrapped around his head. He touched the damp areas and saw the crimson on his fingers. I didn't bleed that much, did I?
He looked over his bed. Somebody left his bag in there. He rushed to look inside the bag to find the cat not there. He then felt a warm, heavy presence between his legs. He pulled his sheets up to see two blue cat eyes piercing the darkness. "I'm curious who left the bag."
"Pretty sure it was your dominatrix," Morgana replied smugly with a Cheshire smile.
"Cute. Though I guess that makes sense." He then opened his phone. Apparently, someone left 3 messages in quick succession. From a number he couldn't recognize. "Weird." He then remembered what he had to do. "The answer is yes, by the way. To the Treasure part. We'll talk about Mementos later, but for now….THIS first."
"You're fast," Morgana replied. "Though I'm not surprised. That girl deserved better."
Akira raised an eyebrow. "Where's the regret all of the sudden? Sounded like your Treasure and this Mementos place were more important to you."
"They are," Morgana replied, scratching the back of his ear with his paw. "Doesn't mean I don't pity her. Plus…deal's a deal. You said yes, so I'll help you."
Akira laughed bitterly, his lamentations growing further. "And to think we can see into his mind at the Castle…you think we could see worse the deeper we go into?"
"Most likely," Morgana replied bluntly.
Akira paused for a minute, preoccupied with the image of Shiho on the phone.
Morgana interjected. "I hope you're not getting second thoughts here. Last time I checked, you weren't the one abusing students."
He glared into Morgana's eyes, ready to throw him across the infirmary. "Of course not, you furry piece of shit."
Morgana whimpered. "…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"HUSH."
Morgana then balled itself into a defensive curl. "Testy. Though I suppose I should be relieved, seeing some fire in your eyes."
"Now let me think."
A minute later, Akira decided to text Ryuji:
AKIRA: Still around at school?
A few seconds later…
RYUJI: Damn right I am!
RYUJI: I wanted to stay but the damn nurse shooed me off, saying I need class!
RYUJI: Like my education is that important!
Riiiight.
AKIRA: Did Morgana tell you already his proposition?
RYUJI: Yeah…..I dunno. It's risky…
Akira looked at Morgana. "You told Ryuji about the risks?"
"Even that blockhead should be fully aware."
"You're considerate."
A minute later of thinking on Akira's part:
AKIRA: It's risky…and I wish we didn't have to do it, considering what that other place can do.
AKIRA: But I feel like doing something.
AKIRA: We won't go crazy with it.
AKIRA: Either way, whatever we're doing needs prep work.
A few minutes later:
RYUJI: Yeah but…..he might die, for god's sake!
Akira sighed.
AKIRA: Honestly….I don't give a shit.
AKIRA: I'm condemned regardless.
AKIRA: Now to start, I need to know where you got your "little toy" at.
RYUJI: In Shibuya. Place called "Unbreakable."
AKIRA: Excellent. You're coming.
RYUJI: I DIDN'T SAY THAT!
RYUJI: Dude!
Several seconds went by.
RYUJI: Damnit fine! You want to see him get what's coming, so do I.
RYUJI: But I swear, I'm gonna feel like shit after if something bad ends up happening.
AKIRA: We'll talk more by the station then.
"Told you it would be easy," he replied smugly. He then frowned, the gravity of being pulled further in coming back. "This whole thing, everything about stealing corrupted desires, ends with Kamoshida. I only can extend my vengeance to just a few people in my life."
Morgana's ears perked. "Why would you say that? Seems like you're wasting an awesome opportunity."
Akira began to move his legs out of the bed, albeit stiffly. "A general rule: you wave fire around all the time, someone may get unintentionally burnt."
Morgana shook his head. "You're weird, Frizzy Hair, speaking in metaphors."
"You'll understand one day, I hope," Akira replied. He motioned towards his bag. "You coming in, or am I going to shove you in?"
Morgana grumbled. "Bossy ass…" He then jumped into the bag.
"Let's get going," Akira then said, slipping on his shoes.
"Are you sure that nurse is going to let you out this early?" Morgana wondered.
"I'm leaving either way," Akira replied snappily.
He made it halfway to the door before the nurse there saw him. "Kurusu-kun, you should rest a bit more. There's no rush."
He turned around. "I'll do it at home. Excuse me." He quickened his pace out of the infirmary.
The nurse then blocked the door with her entire body. "I haven't even mentioned where you've been referred to yet for your follow-up at 19:30."
"'The Plague, no?'" he said irreverently.
She snorted. "You must get around. Yes, it's the Plague. Takemi Medical Clinic."
Akira smiled. "Can I go now?"
Her brows become furrowed. "I insist you don't."
Akira continued to smile as he pushed the nurse. "Thank you very much."
Making it into the hallway, he turned to the small hole in his bag, his pace doubling as he went forward. "Morgana, now that I think about it, you didn't tell me how got out my locker."
"A thief never reveals his methods," his bag piped arrogantly.
"…But?" he replied insistently.
A quick pause. "But….I'll show you this trick here later. What door do you need unlocked? I have a ton of lockpicks here. Normal doors and stupid locker rooms, tremble!"
Akira quickly looked. It was late enough to where students weren't pouring into the hallways. Just a few lingering about. No doubt lesser than usual thanks to today's events. This door here.
Morgana looked out. "Chemistry lab?"
"I need to restock...if you know what I mean," Akira replied.
"This is demented. I would expect this amount of screwball planning from Ryuji."
He spoke directly into the bag. "Just shut up and trust me. I know what I am doing."
Morgana hissed as he put a crafted thin piece of sheet metal in his mouth. "Fine…"
"A most pitiful display today," Kobayakawa said in dismay to a crowded faculty room, Student Council included, as he sat down in a spare office chair that buckled under him when he sat. "I would have expected better management of the students from all of you."
Makoto and her band were off to the right, heads sunk down. For Makoto, as the sunset cast black bars over her face, the shame was more personal than obligatory.
"The lack of containment here will no doubt magnify the shame this incident has brought the school. Which is a tarnishing for all of us. I hope the disgust you feel will carry on forth in the future. Dismissed."
"Hold on a minute!" a nasal voice cried in the back. It was Kawakami with a finger raised and a surgical mask over her mouth. "What of the status of the other two?"
"What does it matter," Ushimaru muttered, drifting in and out of consciousness. "Kobayakawa has it covered."
"…Yeah, he had it covered," an unknown teacher uttered.
Kawakami's eyes scrunched. "Apologies, but was it documented that Shiho was 'troubled' in any way?"
The room turned silent.
"Any concerns?" she uttered again.
A brave soul decided to speak. "All of the students have been stressed lately," Kobayakawa noted. "Some people can just have sudden breaks. It's not unheard of."
"This is not just some mental shutdown, for God's sake!" Kawakami dismayed. "You're telling me that anyone in the room here, especially her coach, didn't notice ANYTHING?"
It was now Kamoshida's turn. "You can't ask us to view our students under a microscope. It's not practical." He then grinned, raising his back as he. "What, would you prefer if we personally go to our students after school and tuck them to sleep like you did? We all know how well that turned out."
"….The hell did you say!?" Kawakami gutturally yelled, being held back by a tanned, black-haired teacher.
That same teacher felt like contributing. "That's quite uncalled for, Kamoshida. You shouldn't go around making flippant comments freely."
"I-I'm sure he didn't mean that, Ms. Chuomo. I will talk to him alone. Nijima-san, I would also like for you to stay as well. Everyone else should adjourn for today."
Everyone else except Kamoshida, Kobayakawa, and Makoto did a middling bow before exiting.
The room empty, Kobayakawa spoke, now standing with his bulbous hands behind his bulbous back. "It has come to my attention that you have been associating with the transfer student quite a bit."
"…Yes, it seems I have. His record has caused me to watch him closely."
"You give that piece of trash too much of your attention," Kamoshida said with a slight twinge of scorn.
I'd feel like you would be sad in any scenario where you weren't the center of attention, Makoto said to herself.
"He'd probably sell you off to the Yakuza if you let him," Kamoshida added. "Young, fair, and high-achieving students don't benefit from associating themselves with students like him."
Kobayakawa began to sweat. "Kamoshida, please, there's no need to scare the lady. In fact, I don't blame her watching him closely given her family's history in the police service. Normally, I would advise any student to stay away from people like him. But, this incident with Suzui is forcing my hand."
"Your…hand?" Makoto wondered. "In what sense?"
"You reported that this Kurusu fellow barged onto the roof. Correct?"
"Correct," she replied.
"He barged, knowing fully well how unstable Shiho Suzui was?" Kobayakawa said emphatically.
"I…that's a loaded question," Makoto said. "I mean, sure it was risky, but well-in-"
"Risky? That's a bit of an understatement. You basically kept him from falling over along with Suzui, no? That is what you said, correct?"
"…Correct." I see where this is going….
"Reckless and stupid, if I say so myself. Disregarding the teachers to stay in class, and then this stunt!?"
Makoto wanted this to be fair. "Well, I can't say everyone else today was being appropriate regarding the first point."
"This is different," Kobayakawa interrupted. "His actions may have inadvertently contributed to a poor girl's attempt at suicide."
"One that might have worked, given that we've received reports that's she's suffered from internal bleeding and is currently in a coma," Kamoshida added.
"…That's…" …Nonsense. This is YOUR doing, where you like it or not. Not only for the jump but….
Makoto closed her eyes, sniffing slightly.
"I know, it's horrible," Kobayakawa replied. "Given his record, I will have no choice to bring this up as a disciplinary action at the next school board meeting. He will be notified tomorrow in person."
"Given his record, I wouldn't be surprised if he got expelled on the spot," Kamoshida said with a self-satisfied expression.
Makoto stood still, listening. Unfortunately, that…asshole is probably right. The school board is a fastidious bunch. I've seen it myself, being dragged to those meetings as part of Council duties.
"In the meantime, we would like to ask you to look into both the Kurusu and Suzui manner closely. We regret having to burden you, given that you are prepping for college applications, but rest assured we will reward you for the trouble." Kobayakawa then cleared his throat. "I understand you're applying to a lot of selective colleges."
"Very selective," Kamoshida piped.
Kobayakawa nodded. "Indeed. And expensive. How is your sister doing?"
She bit her tongue for the moment. "Fine." Ignoring her health, sleep schedule, stress….just "fine." There's no need to rub it in…
Kobayakawa then began to grin. "I suppose, given she is attempting to live up to the Nijima name. Helping us would only improve, maybe surpass the pedigree set before by your sister and father. I'm fairly confident my recommendation would help you along in your college and scholarship search."
Makoto looked at him incredulously. "You're fairly confident. I'm not sure if I need something like that."
His grin evaporated. "I'll let you think over. I would just suggest you do the most beneficial thing for you. For your sister." He then strained to hand over a note. "Feel free to contact us if Kurusu behaves suspiciously enough to warrant intervention before the faculty meeting. Your due diligence will help to the rule of law upheld there."
Makoto took the note to see two numbers, the upper one labeled "Executive" and the lower "K." "K's" number had made her do a double take, enough to ignore Kobayakawa's amusing choice for an alias. This number's….different than before. She then felt ashamed for knowing that. "I pray I will not have to do so with great urgency. Excuse me, I must return to my studies. Until tomorrow." She then bowed and made her way out of the faculty room.
Kobayakawa and Kamoshida, now alone, felt free enough to talk.
"Do you feel relaxed now?" Kobayakawa said. "Did Shiho Suzui provide you the outlet you needed?"
"…She did," Kamoshida replied. "I prefer not to go back to boys, to tell you the truth."
"What you prefer doesn't matter to me," Kobayakawa said coldly. "Keep your personal business to yourself."
"Fine," Kamoshida replied. "I won't disappoint you from here on. Though, I have my doubts about Nijima. What makes you think she'll help?"
"I believe her home situation will be enough motivation," Kobayakawa replied confidently. "She is a honor student, after all. In either case, we can always trump something up involving the boy. Would be easy, as you suggested before."
A loud thud reverberated from the hallway, then frantic pitter-patters. Kamoshida then walked out to find a hole in a plastered wall down the hallway the size of a small fist.
"What kind of gutter trash would deface property like that?" Kamoshida wondered.
She rushed into the bathroom as quick as she could. Makoto then turned on the faucet to temper her raging red hand. Hearing all that Kamoshida and Kobayakawa said "in secrecy," she figured the cold water rushing over her clenched fist would calm her down, if ever slightly. Yet she couldn't shake her malaise.
Of course, I don't accept this! she cried inside. Then why did I just listen to this…garbage!? The throbbing in her hand broke her concentration for a moment. Her phone then buzzed in her vest pocket. She then took it out. Sis messaging this early? Probably wondering why I haven't returned yet, no doubt. She opened the message:
Sis: Apologies, but another mental shutdown case.
Sis: I'll need to stay at the office again.
A minute later:
Sis: Please don't worry about me. I'll eat out."
Makoto knew at this point what she was going to say when the word "mental shutdown" came into the picture. Yet, today, it hit harder than usual.
Makoto then put her phone away.
She stared into the mirror. Facing herself, she hoped to see someone else other than what her superiors saw her as: a pawn, a siren, a bootlicker. But she saw nothing else. Only that: the younger Nijima.
In the shadow of people, some who she wished to be at eye level with (people like her Sis), and others (people like the Principal and Kobayakawa) she wished she could look upon and crush with her brown, leather boots.
And given how her sister's schedule was, maybe soon the last of the Nijimas, to be worked to death like good ol' Sis.
Or maybe…
The drips of water on her hand, oddly enough, brought her back.
Three years ago
The sky poured on Makoto's hand despite being under her umbrella. It was fitting, given what today was.
Today, she was expected to grieve once more. She had read about the typical Japanese funeral ceremony in middle school for social studies. She had already gotten past the first day; it was just her and Sis; there too were members of the police force, who gave more than the minimum expected of them for condolence money. Makoto, to this day, wasn't sure about whether Dad or Mom had parents or relatives still alive; their apparent absence fed into her belief that they died a long time ago or didn't bother. If only they told me, she lamented. She lamented about other things. To name a few: not being able to give him to give him a long enough ceremonial name; not being able to buy enough chrysanthemums to lay on his grave; and not being able to afford a better-decorated urn. But then, the responsibility of planning fell on Sae, so Makoto imagined she was worried about this stuff already.
The temple was gracious enough to accept them on such notice. A priest from out of town by the name of Ryuzaki had stepped in to handle the ceremony in place of the temple head. He, along with a few of the younger help, carried the closed casket out to the crematorium. He had handed the two sisters beads; his father was one of the rare ones holding on to the Old Beliefs, as Sae noted.
The priest and his helpers laid the body on the cremator rack. Makoto felt nothing as the cremator carted the body into the furnace. She had been numb now, saturated with sadness to the point that had no tears left to shed. And so, clad in black, she stared ahead as the furnace glowed hot red, stoic. Just as he would want it…
It was now time to pick out of the ashes the brittle bones to put into the urn. Makoto remembered, once again from her textbook, to order the bones from feet to head. She even combed through an anatomy textbook religiously to make sure.
As the two sisters picked the bones by themselves, Sae felt like speaking. "I never imagined I'd be doing this so early," she said weakly. "I had nightmares about this when he took the lead over the Shinjuku syndicate." She paused as Makoto continued to listen. "My head's a mess. It feels like….." Sae paused again, only for the bitter taste in her mouth to reappear. "…I warned him about this, though. For our sake. It all feels like…Dad was just born to destroy himself. It would explain why he chose death."
Makoto felt tempted to respond back, but she couldn't forgive herself if she didn't put Dad's remains in the urn correctly.
Sae's mouth started to get visibly stiff. "And now he has decided our fate by dying dishonorably."
Makoto was on the edge of weeping, scared of the world in store for her, and her sister, after they laid the ashes to rest in the cemetery.
Present Day
And, in a flash, that memory was gone from her head.
The future was uncertain.
An abyss as dark as the phone screen she stared at intently.
What was clear though was that the distaste she had about Kobayakawa was stronger than whatever fleeting fears she had.
A short moment of weakness she hoped wouldn't come back.
She took a deep breath. "I suppose I've underestimated how much my life has been laid out for me." Another look at her phone screen, smiling sadly. "I AM that predictable. I am my father's daughter, after all."
And to think...I was going to make him proud, by having something I did on my own.
I promised him after all.
Even if...it was after the fact, like the silly girl I am.
She still remembered the phone number.
She dialed it in. "Excuse me, is this Sojiro Sakura I'm speaking to?"
Notes: Definitely my most experimental chapter yet. This is turning into more of a divergence than I expected, and I hope people enjoy the direction I've been going.
To those that have commented, thank you for leaving your comments. To those that have fav/followed/archived, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.
The next part of the chapter is looking to be longer and should hopefully come next week (if I don't decide last minute to make major changes XD). I'll also be just scanning this chapter for small grammatical revisions.
Stay tuned…