A/N: This one is a little longer, but I felt it made sense for it to be this long, considering I'm doing this under an "Every Story is Someone's First" Vibe.
"'Twas the Year Before, On Christmas"
Act 1-Blue Christmas
Chapter 4
Tatsumi Textiles
"Kanji! Where have you been?!" Tatsumi Keiko said to her son.
"Out…" He muttered, not looking at her.
"Kanji…have you been fighting again?"
"Didn't start it…" He muttered.
She grabbed his face and turned it. She clenched her jaw. "Kanji…"
His right eye was black and swollen. "I said I didn't start it, ya old bat!"
"Kanji! What have I told you about talking to me like that?!"
"Sorry…" He muttered…though his tone was more contrite.
"I'm sorry, Detective Dojima…" Keiko said to the Detective who brought her son home. "Did he cause trouble at the Station?"
"Yelled at me a few times…I think he was upset about what happened…" Dojima Ryotaro said, bemused.
"…Yeah…your pal Imura haulin' my ass in again without knowin' the facts…"
"Kanji…I'll deal with you in a moment…so keep silent…" Keiko said.
Kanji sighed.
"Is he right about Imura…? This IS the fifth arrest by him of my son that's had to be cancelled."
"Deputy Chief Itomori won't restrict Imura because Chief Watanabe won't sign off on it…And Ken feels terrible…But what can we do if the concept of IA are a couple of cops who breeze in from Tokyo every so often…?"
"One of these days Imura's going to make a big mistake and Kanji will be caught up in it and then…"
"Don't worry…as long as Kanji isn't about to go off the rails then he's fine…he…just needs to watch the attitude." Then Dojima said, "I have to be going now, dropping Kanji off was on my way home…Merry Christmas…"
"Merry Christmas, cop…" Kanji muttered.
Dojima looked perturbed. But then he nodded and left.
"Kanji!" Keiko said.
"Look, Dude may be a nice guy, but he's a frickin' badge and you know how all cops protect their own…"
"Kanji…in the time I've known Detective Dojima, he's been honest as the day is long. He and Deputy Chief Itomori can't do anything about Imura if the circumstances are debatable."
"It wasn't debatable, MA! I was walkin' home from Junes…mindin' my own business when that Cycle gang… The 'Spider Riders' show up and decide to be the latest guy to take down Tatsumi Kanji. I tell them to go fu…ind another patsy, 'cause I wasn't gonna fight any guys that were so clever they had to steal a TV show title. The leader gets off his bike an' starts hittin' me. He does it three times…and everyone sees it…but since they're scared of the bikers…they say I started it…even though he was the one who pissed me off. I fought back…The other bikers don't lay a finger on me until it was a large group and I got an elbow in my eye. But then Imura and other cops show up. Dude doesn't even take the bikers into custody. Says I started the thing …an' like I said…the witnesses are too scared to contradict him…The bikers go free…even though the uniformed cops are acting like Imura's lost his mind…But then I get busted…because I was looking for Biker ass to kick…"
"Kanji…"
"His words…not mine, Ma…"
"Kanji…I know you meant well fighting off those first set of bikers…but you keep getting into…"
Kanji looked hurt and horrified. "What? You actually think I did start it?!"
"Kanji…you've always been honest…so I believe you…but…"
"But…I can't believe this…those guys came after me…I was mindin' my own business and these pansies came after me. Normally I would have just kicked their asses right then and there, but I knew you were expectin' me home and so did what you asked…the 'diplomatic' approach…and they thought I was scared shitless and wanted to fight me…Didn't start it…but had no choice."
"But Kanji…you now have a reputation…what would your father say?"
At that point…Kanji smoldered and just said huskily. "Wouldn't know, Ma? He ain't gonna answer that question…"
Then Kanji walked off.
Keiko sighed. "He misses his father every day…"
Kanji went into his room and shut the door. He was upset…bad enough the Christmas gift he got his Ma was ruined by the punks, but Imura and even his MA didn't believe it wasn't his fault.
His Pa would have…His Pa would have made sure that Kanji was listened to. Even would have set that Punk-ass Imura straight.
But his Pa had died. Kanji was young when it happened and he felt guilty that he didn't get to say good bye.
Kanji had sat down and looked at the item he had started to knit before he had thought of the idea of getting something better for his Ma. To make up for hm causin' her trouble.
Instead he got in worse trouble.
He looked at what he had…He didn't think it was gonna be enough to knit for her. Maybe if he'd been smart he would have stayed home and finished it.
He was watching the TV while he attempted to do more, even if it was fruitless. The International News was talking about some punk kid who was planning to use sai to knock over banks and was fighting with cops and got one hurt…or some bullshit like that.
"Punk…I may be pissed at cops, but at least I know fightin' 'em is a losin' battle…" Kanji muttered.
I don't wanna know a guy like that, a stupid punk who would wanna hurt people. It takes an Idiot to wanna act all cool like that…I'd rather have a few Senpai I could have watchin' my back…
…
That is…if any Senpai would want to…Last thing I need is for them to say, "We ain't got use for you, Tatsumi…"
I know a few girls who've said that. What do I have ta do…have an exaggerated French accent? Buncha punk girls…
…
At least guys are more honest…
…
Like Dad…He was honest to me…If he knew I was messin' up, he'd tell me…no beatin' around the bush.
Kanji gave up on the knitting in disgust as it seemed to mock him by being reluctant on purpose and got in his bed.
Stupid punk-ass material… Didn't used to give me shit. I'd like to kick its ass, but I can't…because it doesn't have an ass…
…
I wish Dad was here…
…
I miss him…Not that I'd tell Ma that…But I miss him…
Kanji's eyes became heavy and he soon fell asleep.
Dojima Residence
"Well, I see you finally got that little sod Kanji home…" Yamata Elizabeth said to Ryotaro.
"He's not little and I was thinking of more graphic words than sod to describe him…" Dojima said. He kissed her cheek. "Thanks for looking after Nanako…"
"Yes…well we've had a fun time together, haven't we Nanako-chan?"
"Yes, Lizbeth…" Nanako said.
"Nanako-chan…I've told you…It's Elizabeth…Say it with me… "E-iiz-a-beth…"
"E-liz-a-beth…Lizbeth!" Nanako happily said.
Ryotaro laughed until he noticed Elizabeth's odd, bemused look. "Liz?"
"Sorry…Had a feeling of Déjà vu…You know, you cheeky girl…I bet you know how to really pronounce my name and you're having fun with me…"
Nanako giggled.
Ryotaro noticed she whispered the name "Shinobu" with a wistful sadness for a moment. "Nanako…I hate to ruin you and Elizabeth watching the Christmas special…but could you turn on the news…?"
Nanako, having the remote next to her on the coffee table, changed the channel.
"I don't know why you'd want to watch the news…Inaba hasn't been on Eye News since that Chicken laid an egg with three yolks…and that was 4 years ago…"
"You mean OTHER than the random report about the Amagi Inn…"
"...ive Adachi testified about the various pieces of evidence that tied the victim's death to the defendant. Testimony will resume after the New Year with Detective Adachi expected to be cross-examined."
"Dreadful case…" Elizabeth remarked.
"The defendant's gone out of his way to be a suspect…but I don't know…I still get the sense of sloppy police work…somewhere…"
"Your sixth sense…?" Elizabeth asked.
"'Detective's Intuition…'" Ryotaro clarified with a chuckle.
"In international News today, out of Salt Lake City, Utah… Several Teenagers were arrested in what appeared to be a conspiracy to commit robberies with Japanese weapons. The youths had gathered at a local martial arts studio where he supplied the weapons. Apparently when an arrested was attempted there was a shot fired and police had to subdue who they believe was the ringleader…We have just received word that he has been arraigned and will be tried as an adult as he has a juvenile record and has apparently escalated…however…police are not releasing the name at this time as there are several outstanding legal issues…"
"Which means that they don't want to get sued. What kind of punk would want to do that…?"
"Obviously some sad, pathetic berk who was trying to impress some girls…Japanese weapons…obviously he saw too many movies with martial arts and other rubbish along those lines."
"I would never allow a kid like that into my home…That would be trouble for Nanako…"
"But Dad…Are you sure he'd be a bad boy…?" Nanako asked.
Both adults looked at her. "Well, Nanako…A boy like that would not be a good person…He would be one of those punks I arrest."
"What if he was just a sad boy who wanted to be happy…What if he was in the wrong place at the wrong time…?"
"Like kanji?" Elizabeth whispered. Then her cell phone rang. "Who is this now?" She looked at it and frowned. "Why would Daniel be calling me?"
"Daniel?" Ryotaro asked with a bemused chuckle. "Some guy you have on the side?"
"Waldo…" She said.
"Oh…Say hello to him for me…" Ryotaro said. He hadn't spoken to Daniel in a few years.
"Yes…is there a spare room I can…"
"Upstairs…across from the bathroom…not using it for anything… probably never will…"
"Arigato…" Elizabeth said. She went upstairs and into the room. She was surprised by how spare it was. "Hello, Dan?" She said in English.
"Actually, Liz, it's Becky…" This was Daniel's wife Rebecca.
"Becky…why are you calling on Dan's phone…is there something wrong?" Daniel was an old friend of hers…ever since fate brought Elizabeth and the Waldos together.
"Not with Dan…But…well…It's Charles…" Rebecca said.
"What's happened?! Is he hurt?! Please, for God's sake, Becky…Tell me my Shinobu isn't dead!"
A sigh came from Rebecca…but the sound of it seemed to relieve Elizabeth. "No…he's alive…it's just…well...He's been arrested…"
"Arrested…for what…?"
"Charles was studying Martial Arts at this dojo downtown to build himself up physically and emotionally and he must have chosen the worst dojo ever, because he apparently had some sai…"
"HE'S THE ONE THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT ON THE BLOODY TELLY?!" Elizabeth shouted.
"I'm now deaf, thank you…So…You did see the report on CNN..." Rebecca said, sighing.
"Sod that, Becky! He's on Eye News…Minus his name…"
"Eye News?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes! It's Japan's answer to CNN or Fox/SKY as a 24-hour news Channel!"
Rebecca gasped. "Dear God…Daniel's gonna have even worse kittens…It's bad enough it went National…but International…? Dan's rep's gonna take a big hit…"
"Becky…I didn't think that's all you cared about…" She said, scolding her friend.
There was silence on the other end. Rebecca knew she'd been told off properly. "I'm sorry…we're…we're just upset with him. We love him…But …Well…Already we're being treated like the plague in the neighborhood…Dan's so upset…He's going to let Charles sit in jail…"
"WHY?!" Elizabeth asked. "Dan would deprive the lad of even Christmas?! Why?"
Rebecca paused. "Liz…remember when you once told me how the concept of 'face'…how a person's image generates respect and how a person insulted or dishonored can cause that respect to fade…even lead to derision…?"
Elizabeth paused. Daniel was a leading freelance criminal profiler…If one were to mock Daniel for not being able to see the warning signs in his own son…
"I…I understand…But I ask…Both you and Dan…Please don't hate the lad forever…he has had a hard life…"
Rebecca paused again. "As his biological mother, you're allowed to make those wishes…But Dan listening to them…"
Elizabeth clenched her jaw. "I understand…Please be well, from both me and Ryotaro…"
"Thank you…" Rebecca said. And then she ended the call, but Elizabeth could tell she was about to sob loudly.
"Bloody hell…" Elizabeth said. Her biological son was in trouble and she couldn't help him…She wanted to…but she had a practice and also helped out in the hospital ER. She had regular patients that had appointments and needs that she couldn't foist on another doctor…
Not for the first time, she wished she had never given up Charles for adoption…But when she was in Med school in London…she couldn't afford to be a single parent. So she gave up her little Thomas Shinobu Yamata…He was adopted…but she never knew who adopted him.
Irony struck when she was out of med school and a 3-year-old came in…dying from a bad mixture of medications. She recognized it was her son…He was Charles Waldo now…
But she could not let him die…She refused to let him die. She had thought he had a stroke…but soon things pointed to an aneurysm and she realized with horror that in trying to save her son's life…she was going to kill him.
So she took the shock paddles and shocked him when he had gone into cardiac arrest. Shocked him more than even an adult should take…
But when she prayed to God in front of his parents to save her son before the third, maximum shock…She knew he would be saved.
And so he was…She explained herself to his parents. Grateful that he was alive, they would forgive almost anything.
Bloody Hospital Administration…Saw things differently… She reflected.
The administration had thought that she had been negligent, both in disclosing her relationship to the patient and in diagnosing Charles.
She had tried to plead her case. When Logic failed she used a lashing British Tongue… (Where one really wouldn't want to be on the receiving side…) She blamed the administration for not have a competent chief resident available because he was doing the head nurse, who was supposed to be seeing the assistant head of Cardiology regularly. She badgered them about how she had been shouted down and had thought aneurysm initially, but then started treating for a stroke.
In the end, it was to no avail… Her license got pulled and she took 2 years to fight for it back. In the meantime…she had visitation to see her son…but she and his adoptive parents agreed he was too young to know he had two Mummies… so she was just a family friend.
She felt so guilty, though. Watching him move a little slower than the other kids. She knew it had been her fault. Mentally his development had been what it was before his visit to the ER…but physically…that did some damage. He lost some upper body strength, had tremors when he wrote… Life was hard for him.
But he always had a smile on his face…She hadn't seen him since he was 5 so she wondered what happened to him since then…
Especially now…
"Liz?" Ryotaro's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Yes, Ryo…" She said.
"You were shouting a couple of times…is everything all right?"
Her heart sank…she had fallen in love with Ryotaro…despite her first marriage to Morooka Kinshiro breaking down and her vow to never be with anyone ever again. But she hadn't told him yet of her relationship to Charles. She didn't know how…
She opened the door… "Liz…what's wrong?"
"I... believe Ryo, that we should not judge the lad on that news story TOO harshly…" She said.
He arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"That was Dan's wife Rebecca…seems their son Charles is the one on the news…"
Dojima took a moment to digest that. "He is? But Dan told me he was a good kid…Just had problems relating to people…what happened…?"
"I don't bloody know…Rebecca told me that Charles was trying to build himself through Martial Arts and may have just chosen the wrong bloody Dojo."
"Why would they call you, though?" Ryotaro asked.
Elizabeth sighed. She didn't want to answer this question, but that was one of the reasons she loved Ryotaro…because even if he interrogated his friends and loved ones…there was a subtle difference that allowed people to realize he cared because he was concerned. So she knew if she didn't give an answer he'd keep going. "He was a patient of mine whose life I saved when he was 3…but I nearly lost my license to some bloody hospital politics. I took two years fighting for that damned thing back and so…in order to fill my time between preparing my case and showing up for the required appearances with the State of Utah. I offered to take care of him for Dan and Rebecca as an informal Nanny. After all, saving his life left him slightly reduced in physical capacity and so…"
"Who better to determine the result of the damage than the person who caused the damage?" Ryotaro sighed. "I'm sure though there's more to it than that…"
She nodded. "He was always a sweet boy…that was another reason…his happiness then was infectious…"
"Just like Nanako…or Chisato…" He said trailing off.
"OI! I've treaded on wounded territory, haven't I? Well, cheer up, Ryo…It's Christmas…"
"What about Charles?" Ryotaro asked.
"I suspect they'll keep me apprised…As much as I want to…I can't drop everything for the next three weeks for anything outside the region…"
"Oh…I see…" Dojima said.
"I said outside the region…You and I still have things to do this evening…" She said with a smirk, even though she was blushing.
"Oh…" Ryotaro said, blushing as well…
"Besides…I think Rebecca told me everything in length because they didn't want me to be there…I guess they were afraid Dan's rep taking a hit would reflect negatively on me…"
"I should still call him…" Ryotaro said as they had gone back downstairs and sat on the couch.
"…Give Dan a few days…mostly he's a nice man, but there are times when you push his patience past the limits…you're just pouring salt."
"That would be a waste of salt…" Nanako said.
And then she was confused when both adults laughed.
But she didn't notice the troubled look in Elizabeth's eyes.
Later…
Ryotaro was watching Elizabeth sleep. The two of them had shared their gifts with each other. She had given him a charcoal-gray dress shirt to wear. He thought it would go with the red tie Chisato gave him on their first Christmas as a married couple.
He had given her a nice pair of earrings. He wanted to get her a silver necklace with a heart locket…but that was something more a boy gave a girl…And even though Elizabeth had done her best to make him feel like a boy again…He wanted to treat her as an adult.
After putting Nanako to bed, they put each other to bed and made love. It wasn't their first time together, by any stretch…but it sure felt like it.
Ryotaro sighed. He felt that something was being held back by Liz. After all, he joked about "Detective's Intuition" But that was really a half-joke. Anytime his instincts told him a suspect was lying or something was up… he was usually right.
And yet…His intuition couldn't make him find out who killed Chisato…
It has been what, two years, three? Ryotaro didn't know…The days kind of blended together so it could have been 50 that had passed for all he knew. But he wished he could find that perp who ran Chisato down…then ran away…
The anger of that person's cowardice gnawed at Ryotaro… He would find that man…
He realized he was losing control…and he didn't want to…
Though is this what Dan's feeling like right now…that something happened out of his control and has unmanned him…it sounded to me from what Liz said that Charles is going to have to stay in jail…I know Dan's got some money…but not…if what they said on the news was correct…$750,000 US… He's good for maybe a third of that if he scraped some stuff together…And maybe this is for Charles's protection too…If someone I cared about did that to me…I wouldn't want to face them either…for fear of getting angry and losing control.
…
Would I lose control with the perp who ran away from Chisato…?
…
Or even if someone were to take Liz or Nanako away…?
…
I certainly wish I would never have to face that…
…
Please Chisato…don't take my relationship with Liz as a sign I don't love you…
…
I miss you, Sato-chan…
In Nanako's room, she lay awake. Not to hear Santa Claus, who Sensei told her about…but her Dad. To see if he was crying like he did most other nights after Mom died.
Instead she heard the strange noises that both he and Lizbeth made. She asked her friends what they were. Ryo-kun said it sounded like they were rehearsing for a play, while Mai-chan said that it sounded like her parents when they have "six". Nanako was confused, because she didn't think people could have numbers like people could have couches from Junes.
…
I miss Mom…Why did she leave me behind? Was I a bad girl…? I couldn't go to heaven with her…? Nanako thought. Why doesn't Dad mention Mom? IS he sad too? Is he angry at her for leaving, too? Is he sad?
…
I like Lizbeth…but I want my Mom for Christmas…
…
Mom…
Sleep claimed both Dojimas.