Second Chances

Chapter 2

When her five visitors were seated in the living room after many apologies for how messy the place was, Ayame shouted in a voice that would have put a drill sergeant to shame.

"Oy! You runts better get your butts in here! Now!"

There was a thundering of feet and a few slamming doors, then six boys, aged from seventeen to four, were standing in the room. Itsuki's eyes went wide. One boy looked exactly like Ayame, except he didn't wear glasses.

"These are my brothers. Nao, Jiro, Masayuki, Sojiro, Kenji and Ken. Masayuki is my-"

"Twin."

Mutsuki and Itsuki had spoken the word at the same time, their eyes horrified. She was a twin too?

"Well…"

Ayame looked over to a framed picture with three children in it, and then turned her attention back to her introductions.

"Anyway, he's my twin. We're both seventeen. Jiro is fifteen, Ken is fourteen, Sojiro is eleven, and Nao is four. He's our half brother. Boys, these are Itsuki and Mutsuki Tachibana and their little sister Chitose."

"Good to meet you."

She looked over to the Amakura sisters and smiled, waving for her brothers to go back to whatever they were doing. When all that was left were Ayame and her five visitors, Chitose spoke up.

"Who are these people in the picture? I can't see very well…"

The little girl lifted the picture carefully, squinting in an attempt to see clearly.

"It's me, Masayuki and my sister Yoneyu. We were about seven in that picture, Yoneyu was nine."

"Where is Yoneyu now?"

Ayame touched her side, her fingers gripping her loose-fitting shirt, her face blank. Mio and Mayu looked at each other, then their friend as she looked down at her feet, then took a few steps into the kitchen.

"I'm cooking lunch right now. You are welcome to stay. There isn't much, but there is enough for everybody."

Mio followed Ayame into the kitchen, leaving her twin with the three Tachibanas. She saw Ayame pour more rice into a pot and give it a stir, her face pointed carefully away from her. She heard Ayame sniff, but couldn't see if she was crying.

"She doesn't know, Ayame."

"I know."

Ayame's voice seemed to catch in her throat, and she turned away to cut up some onions, trying to cover her lapse in control with the noise of the knife thunking into the cutting board.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah. Hey, tell everybody that it's beans and rice with onions for lunch. I'll splurge and make something really nice for dinner. You all can stay the night. Masayuki can give Mutsuki and Itsuki some of his clothes…"

Mio put a hand on Ayame's shoulder, brushing her russet hair back from her face. She knew this went deeper than the mention of her sister.

"Ayame… When did you go the doctor last?"

Ayame sighed and put down the knife. Her hands were shaking as she tipped the sliced onions into the pot, half of the bitter vegetables sliding onto the stovetop.

"Damn it."

"Ayame," she grabbed her friend's wrist and spun her to face her. "forget the onions for a minute! When did you go see the doctor?"

Ayame sighed and pulled her arm away from Mio's hand, dropping onto the floor and pulling her knees up to her chin.

"Yesterday. He said that there… really wasn't much to do but take my medicines and… wait. Try to keep my living space sanitary… Ha, like I could do that with five brothers…"

Mio had to chuckle at that. Ayame did have a point there. Her laughter was cut off abruptly when Ayame hiccupped and tears rolled from behind her glasses.

"What will they do without me, Mio? Masayuki and I are hardly able to pay the rent on this place; Jiro won't be able to work for another year… I can't pay for the doctor… After Dad and Yukako died, we've been together. We won't be able to keep all of them together. If Yoneyu were still alive…"

She sighed and looked up when she heard the sound of a child crying.

"That'll be Nao. I'm sorry, but I need to go get him and put him down for his nap. He's had lunch already. Will you and Mayu watch the food?"

"Sure…"

She watched as Ayame walked out of the kitchen and into another room to take the boy to his room. When she was gone, she called Mayu into the kitchen.

"What's the matter Mio? You're pale."

"It's Ayame. We knew it was coming, but…"

Mayu's face fell and she looked up at the ceiling that hid their friend. Her eyebrows came together and she let out a slow breath.

"She seemed so cheerful. So normal."

"She is normal. She just… She's just sick. They can barely pay the rent, much less medical bills. She's already living on borrowed time."

"We'll think of some way to help her. We always have in the past."

"She's too proud to accept money from us."

"We'll find something."

Mutsuki watched as Chitose seated herself comfortably on the floor, picking up a bright ball and bouncing it, counting how many times she could bounce and catch it. To his surprise, his twin stood and headed toward the stairs after Ayame ascended.

"Where are you going?"

"There is something wrong with Miss Ayame. I want to help, if I can."

He walked up the stairs silently, pausing in front of doors that stood ajar, listening for Ayame's voice. As he passed a blue and green door, he heard a soft voice singing.

"Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
never to part,
baby of mine."

Itsuki bumped the door open a little further and watched as Ayame walked around the room with her youngest brother in her arms. Her eyes were closed as she sang, and he could see little Nao's eyes slowly drifting shut as well.
"Little one when you play,
don't you mind what they say.
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,
never a tear,
baby of mine.
If they knew sweet little you
they'd end up loving you too.
All of those people who scold you
what they'd give just for the right to hold you.
From your head down to your toes,
you're not much, goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me,
sweet as can be,
baby of mine.

If they knew sweet little you,
they'd end up loving you too.
All those same people who scold you,
what they'd give just for the right to hold you.
From your head down to your toes
you're not much, goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me,
sweet as can be,
baby of mine.
Baby of mine"

The last few words were barely a whisper as she lowered her little brother into his crib, gently pulling a blanket over him and touching his cheek before turning. When she saw Itsuki standing there, she nearly screamed. But Itsuki was thinking fast and covered her mouth with his hand, whispering so he didn't wake the boy.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just saw that you looked troubled and wanted to know if I could help."

He let go and followed her out of the room and watched her gingerly close the door. She finally turned to him with a smile and touched his face.

"No. There's nothing anybody can do for me now. Come on, I'll get you and your brother some clothes. Chitose too."

When they entered another room, Itsuki almost laughed. The decorating of whoever lived in this room was different on the two sides. On one side, the walls were covered with pictures of men dressed in strange clothes and wearing heavy makeup. The dresser had a few figurines of the emperor and empress, and a few books. The other side was covered in mostly near-naked women and a few machines, while the dresser was an unidentifiable mess.

"This is my and Masayuki's room. Here…Ugh. Of course he hasn't cleaned this off."

She opened the messy dresser and fished around for clothes that would fit, but still look good. Finally she tossed him a pair of jeans and a grey shirt with a few shadows of words on it. Then she picked up another pair of jeans and a red shirt to carry down to Mutsuki.

"I'll let Chitose use some of Sojiro's stuff. I mean, he isn't much bigger than her."

As she left, she sighed and glanced at the room across from hers. That had once been Yoneyu's room… She walked into the room that Sojiro shared with Ken, groaning when she saw the mess of two boys that were forced to share a room.

"I'll really have to get after them to clean this place up."

She picked up a pair of jeans and a soft white tee-shirt, smiling as she came down the stairs in time to see Itsuki and Mutsuki in their new clothes.

"Oh, very good. I'll call the boys, and then we'll eat. Maybe we can go to the park later."

She handed Chitose the clothes before picking up the phone and dialing a number, telling whoever picked up to pass the word that lunch was ready.

When she saw Mio and Mayu, she shrugged.

"It's faster to have Masayuki tell them. He has a cell phone, so he can call me if he can't find somebody… What?"

Mio picked up her bowl and filled it, handing out the food to everybody, not meeting her friend's eyes. There was a loud beep, and Ayame's eyes widened for a moment. Then, without saying anything, she reached down and lifted her shirt enough to press a button to open a small metal box on her belt loop. With a smile at her brothers, she picked up a glass of water and tossed the pill from the box into her mouth and washed it down.

Mutsuki opened his mouth to ask what she was taking the pill for, but Jiro, the only other redhead, touched his arm and shook his head. However, nobody could silence Chitose fast enough.

"What was the pill for? Are you taking herbal remedies?"

Ayame sighed and began to clear away the dishes.

"I'm just not feeling well Chitose."

Chitose seemed to accept this answer and handed her bowl over. Ayame took it over to the sink and excused herself, saying she was tired. Mio followed her up to the room that Ayame shared with her twin, closing the door behind her.

"Ayame…"

"Will you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep?"

Mio smiled and Ayame shifted so her friend could lay next to her.

"What do you think, Ayame? Think those three could stay for a while? We'll find Itsuki and Mutsuki jobs soon, and they can help pay their part."

Ayame nodded and pulled her blanket up a little higher. Mio studied her friend's face carefully. It was obvious that Ayame had lost weight since they had last seen each other, and her color was a little off…

"You can stop looking me over, Nurse Mio. At least I'm not as bad as some people I've seen. They get black blotches on their skin, they lose a lot of their weight…"

Mio held her friend's hand while they fell asleep, to be discovered by Mayu an hour later.