(Disclaimer: Ikigami manga belongs solely to Mase Motoro, but Sasuke Mura and the other unknown characters I am writing about belong to me. The story is just based on the plot line of the manga. If this disclaimer is wrong, then please do not sue me.)
Chapter 2: Just Like Family
Sasuke, in a rose pattern skirt and violet top with her long, black hair let loose, made her way downstairs. She stopped in her tracks when she heard Mrs. Ohtori yelling. Sasuke peeked into the kitchen and saw Mrs. Ohtori yelling at Yoshiro, age twenty-two, and Tamaki, age sixteen, with them kneeling on the floor. She was waving what looked like a magazine in front of them.
"What is this? Why do you have this in your room, Yoshiro?" demanded Mrs. Ohtori as she pointed at the magazine. Yoshiro looked down nervously and said, "I think the title and the picture speaks for itself." Mrs. Ohtori clenched the magazine in her hand.
"What is a twenty-two-year old man doing with porn under his bed?" screamed Mrs. Ohtori. Yoshiro laughed uneasily. Mrs. Ohtori then turned her glare to Tamaki, who had an indifferent look in his eyes.
"Don't try to act innocent, Tamaki. I found five magazines under your bed and one in your sock drawer," roared Mrs. Ohtori. Tamaki shrugged and said, "Don't all boys my age have that stuff?" Mrs. Ohtori practically had flames around her as she glared down at her two sons.
Sasuke knocked on the wall of the kitchen lightly getting their attention. Sasuke had a small blush on her cheek as she asked, "Are Yoshiro and Tamaki in trouble?" Mrs. Ohtori nodded and held the magazine in front of Sasuke causing the two boys to gasp.
"Just look at this rubbish. These two boys are keeping these kinds of things in their room," said Mrs. Ohtori as she held the magazine. Sasuke stared at the cover of a completely nude woman and looked at Yoshiro and Tamaki.
"You guys read this?" asked Sasuke confusingly. Yoshiro and Tamaki sprang up bright red.
"I'll get rid of it immediately."
"I'll burn them."
Yoshiro and Tamaki yanked the magazine from their mother's hand and screamed, at the same time, "Just don't look at it!" Mrs. Ohtori smiled in approval, while Sasuke was still confused.
Mrs. Ohtori held a wastebasket to the boys and said, "Clean out your rooms and then you two can go to the mall with Sasuke." Yoshiro and Tamaki looked down in defeat as they accepted the wastebasket.
When the two boys were upstairs, Mrs. Ohtori looked at Sasuke and said, "I'm so glad to have you here." Sasuke giggled. Mrs. Ohtori suddenly remembered something and picked up an envelope from the table.
"This was delivered this morning," said Mrs. Ohtori as she handed Sasuke the envelope. Sasuke took the envelope and burst into a bright smile when she saw that it was from "Lily." Sasuke opened the envelope immediately and smiled when she saw the $1,000 in cash and a single letter. Sasuke opened the letter and read it.
Reach for your dreams and never lose yourself.
Lily
Sasuke smiled warmly and hugged the letter to her chest. Lily was an unknown mailer to Sasuke. Sasuke began to get letters from Lily every Friday when her parents died and it always had words of encouragement and $1,000. Sasuke could care less about the money, but she always looked forward to the encouraging words of Lily because they kept her going.
Mrs. Ohtori noticed Sasuke's smile and asked, "Is it that Lily person again?" Sasuke nodded. Mrs. Ohtori sighed.
"That person has been writing letters to you for thirteen years now. I would expect him to show himself to you by now," said Mrs. Ohtori. Sasuke giggled and asked, "What make you think Lily is a guy?"
"I don't expect a girl to write to you every Friday, unless she was a lesbian," reasoned Mrs. Ohtori. Sasuke giggled at Mrs. Ohtori's comment.
Sasuke looked down at the letter with a warm smile.
I really want to meet you.
Yoshiro and Tamaki soon came down from their rooms with a wastebasket filled with magazines that should not be named. They handed it to their mother and asked, "Can we go now?" Mrs. Ohtori nodded and said, "Be back soon for dinner." They nodded and went to Sasuke leading her out of the house.
As they walked, Sasuke held the note in her hand. Yoshiro noticed the note and asked, "Is that from Daddy Long legs?" Yoshiro always referred to Lily as Daddy Long Legs. Sasuke nodded.
Tamaki looked at her and said, "I guess that means you got more money." Sasuke nodded again. Tamaki smirked and asked, "Does that mean you are buying us all our stuff in the mall?" Sasuke looked at Tamaki disapprovingly causing him to chuckle.
Tamaki was Yoshiro's younger brother. He was three when Sasuke first moved in with them. He was young, but for some reason was always by Sasuke's side. He goes to school and works part time at a convenience store.
Yoshiro punched the side of Tamaki's arm and said, "Don't be like that. You know that Sasuke always sends that money to her account to share with the family." Yoshiro was the one who always stuck with Sasuke when he was nine before her parents died. When he heard she was going to be sent to an orphanage because she had no relatives, he begged his parents to take her in. He has always been a brother figure to her and Sasuke considers him as her savior too. He currently works in a computer company as a programmer and a game designer.
Tamaki gave out a groan as he rubbed his arm. He glared at Yoshiro and said, "It was just a joke." Yoshiro and Tamaki were glaring at each other causing Sasuke to giggle. Sasuke placed the note and cash in her pocket. She looked at Tamaki and Yoshiro and said, "I'm going to drop by the bank first, so go ahead of me." Tamaki shook his head and hugged her close in a playful matter.
"No way am I going to leave MY Sasuke," said Tamaki. Yoshiro growled and yanked Tamaki off of Sasuke.
"Don't cling to her brat," scolded Yoshiro. Tamaki laughed uneasily. Yoshiro looked at Sasuke and said, "Make it quick. We'll wait for you in the front of the mall." Sasuke nodded and watched them walk off.
When they were gone, she walked casually to the bank. The bank door swung open allowing her to walk in. Sasuke made her way to the desk, where a twenty-one-year-old man, who looked American because of his blonde hair and blues eyes, was sitting at.
"Good evening, Count-San," greeted Sasuke as she sat herself in a chair. The man looked at her with a bright smile and said, "Good evening to you too, Sasuke." The man was known as Allan Count, a foreigner from New York. He worked in the New York bank before, but was transferred to the Japan bank when he was twenty-one for financial reasons. He wasn't fluent in Japanese in that time and felt out of place in the bank, but when he met Sasuke that changed. Sasuke was surprisingly fluent in English and Japanese and taught him the simplest of words every time she had the time to visit the bank. Within a year, he was able to speak Japanese, but still called Sasuke by her first name regardless of her telling him to call her Mura-San repeatedly. He became her official bank depositor when he knew that she came every Friday.
Sasuke reminded Allan to call her by her last name, but Allan said, "We're friends, so let me call you by your first name always." Sasuke sighed knowing that she just couldn't win. She pulled out the cash from her pocket and handed it to Allan.
"Please deposit this," said Sasuke. Allan nodded as he took the cash from her hand. He looked at the amount and asked, "Where do you get this money?" Sasuke smiled and said, "A friend." Allan noticed the warmness of her smile and found himself smiling as well. He deposited the cash into her account and looked back at her.
"It's in," said Allan. Sasuke nodded and thanked him. She headed toward the door, but Allan called to her asking if she wanted to stay a bit longer. Sasuke shook her head and said, "I need to get to the mall and meet Yoshiro and Tamaki."
"Your brothers?" asked Allan. Sasuke smiled and said, "I wish." Sasuke walked out the door with Allan staring in her direction.
Sasuke ran to the mall and saw Yoshiro and Tamaki leaning against a pillar. Sasuke was about to call out to them, but paused when she saw a group of girls approaching them. One of the girls leaned toward Tamaki and asked, in a flirtatious way, "Do you two want to hang out with us?" Tamaki took one look at her with an impassive look.
"Beat it old hag," Tamaki said rudely. The girl growled, while her girl friends laughed. The girl maintained her composure and looked toward Yoshiro.
"So do you want to hang out with us?"
Yoshiro smirked at her and said, "I think my little brother already answered, so please leave now." The girl was burning with anger.
Sasuke shook her head at the scene and made her way to them.
"You shouldn't talk to girls like that," said Sasuke as she approached them. Yoshiro and Tamaki burst into a bright smile when they saw Sasuke.
"Sasuke," they cheered as they ran to hug her. Sasuke hugged them back and looked at the girls, who were staring at them in disbelief. Sasuke bowed to them.
"I'm very sorry for their rudeness, but if you want we can tag along with you," said Sasuke politely. The girl who asked the boys to join them examined Sasuke up and down. She crossed her arms at her and asked, "So who is your surgeon?" Sasuke blinked in confusion.
"A girl as pretty as you must have had surgery. Maybe you had a boob job," said the girl in a rude matter causing the girls with her to laugh. Yoshiro and Tamaki glared at the girl, which sent shivers down her spine.
Sasuke giggled and said, "Thanks for calling me pretty, but I assure you that all my looks are natural." Sasuke pointed at the girl and added, "But I can see that you had a nose job the way it is shaped and there are traces of stretch marks on your stomach, so you might have had liposuction or you were pregnant before, but a responsible girl like you wouldn't get knocked up at your age, which I guess is sixteen. Am I correct?" The girl was growing red, while the girls stared at her questioningly.
The girl turned away from Sasuke angrily and screamed, "Screw you!" She ran off with the girls running behind her.
Yoshiro and Tamaki laughed, while patting Sasuke's back.
"You sure showed her."
"Nothing can escape your eyes."
Sasuke smiled at the two boys and then walked into the mall with them. They explored each of the stores and bought a few things. Sasuke smiled as she shopped with them wishing that she could become their real sister.
Meanwhile, at the Ohtori household, Mrs. Ohtori was mixing up a salad. Mrs. Ohtori looked at the time and said, "They should be back soon, so better start cutting the beef." Mrs. Ohtori was about to get the beef from the fridge, but paused when she heard the doorbell. She looked at the time again wondering who was visiting at this time of night. She exited the kitchen and opened the front door only to see a man in a brown suit and folder in his hand. She could tell immediately that he was from the political office.
"Why is a person from the Government here?" asked Mrs. Ohtori with her hand on the door.
"You can tell?" asked the man mildly surprised. Mrs. Ohtori nodded and stated, "Only Government people can dress so blandly." The man gave a small smile and said, "Well, then I can make this short."
"My name is Riri Kinomoto," he said and pulled out a card from his folder. He held it to Mrs. Ohtori and said, "I am here to deliver an advance notice of death to the family of Yoshiro Ohtori." Mrs. Ohtori was stunned. Mrs. Ohtori shook her head.
"You must be mistaken. My son couldn't have gotten an Ikigami. It must be a mistake," said Mrs. Ohtori shaking. Riri pulled out a few documents from his folder and handed it to her along with the Ikigami.
"Read these and confirm that this is your son," he said in a low tone. Mrs. Ohtori took the documents and the card with a shaking hand. She looked over the information and felt the beating of her heart increase. All the information on Yoshiro was correct. Mrs. Ohtori threw the papers and the Ikigami on the ground and rushed into the house slamming the door behind her.
"That boy doesn't live here. You made a mistake!" she screamed. Riri picked up the papers and Ikigami and looked toward the closed door.
"I know this is hard for you, but you have to accept the facts. Even if you throw these, your son will still die. Spend the last twenty-four hours of his life together as a family," said Riri. Mrs. Ohtori opened the door slowly crying. Riri handed her the Ikigami again and said, "I'm sorry about your son, but this is for the good of the country. Please make his last moments a happy one." Riri's voice was filled with compassion, which made Mrs. Ohtori cry even more. She held the Ikigami as she cried and looked at Riri.
"I want to hate you, but you aren't the one who will kill my little boy," cried Mrs. Ohtori as she felt her knees go weak. Riri patted her shoulder softly and said, "Please enjoy life." He left her doorstep as she cried looking at the Ikigami, which showed the time of death of her son, Yoshiro Ohtori.