Bloodbath
Chapter 12
Kurama stood outside, near the cliff where Zoe had plummetted off of. He stared straight ahead, a vacant expression on his face. Miss Shirakawa quietly came up beside him, she too staring ahead.
"Do you have any regrets?" She asked.
"Regrets are for people who judge right and wrong," he said monotonely.
His assistant sighed, then left the man alone. Kurama's eyes had never left the view of the ocean before him.
Meanwhile
Tommy knocked on Takuya's front door. The brunette had said something about needing Tommy to help him with something. What it could be, he had no idea.
Takuya opened the door a moment later. "Good, you're here. Come on in."
Tommy stepped inside, then began to follow Takuya into the living room. "So what is that you needed help w-"
"Surprise!"
The boy stopped in his tracks, his little dog bumping into him. Tommy's eyes were wide with shock.
"What's going on?"
"What do you think? It's you're birthday," Takuya said happily.
Tommy entered the room. Including Takuya there was Kouji, Zoe, Courtney, and two other guys that Tommy had never met before. His heart stopped momentarily when he noticed the blond. He was still in shock from what he had seen, and felt as though he was in denial of the whole thing. How could the innocent girl he had met be the same ruthless woman who had dismembered that other girl? It couldn't be true. Nothing made sense, but he decided not to say anything about the ordeal.
"How did you know it was my birthday?" He asked, puzzled.
"The woman at the bakery told me," Kouji said.
The boy was still confused however. "But why did you do all of this for me?"
"Well, you're alright, kid. We like hanging around with you, even if we've only known you for a few days now," Takuya said with a laugh.
"Surprise!" Zoe walked up to Tommy and held out a present.
"Not yet, Zoe." Takuya put his arm around her. "Presents are for later."
Tommy smiled. "Thanks guys."
"Here, let me introduce you to these two," Takuya said. "The guy who looks like he could be Kouji's twin is.........Kouji's twin!"
Kouji rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're an idiot."
"Am not! Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted, this Kouichi, obviously Kouji's brother."
Kouichi smiled. He looked exactly like Kouji, only his black hair was much shorter and he was not wearing a bandana. "Nice to meet you."
"And the big guy with a candy bar glued to his hand is J.P.", Takuya told him.
"Ha ha," J.P. mocked. He was tall and thickly built. "Don't mind Takuya. He was dropped on his head as a kid."
"Damn, you guys are mean to me."
For the next few hours they played a few games, watched a movie, had cake, and finally opened presents.
"Wow, this is the best day I've had in a long time," Tommy remarked.
"Well, turning fourteen only happens once," Kouichi said.
"It's not just that." Tommy looked down. "I actually feel as though you guys care if I'm around."
Takuya smiled. "Of course we do."
"I'll be right back," Tommy said, abruptly standing up. "Bathroom."
He quickly made his way to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. For some reason he had broken out into a cold sweat. He didn't know if it was because he was around Zoe, or if maybe it was his memories coming back to haunt him. Having his birthday celebrated with his friends reminded him of the ones he used to celebrate with his mother.
"Tommy, I'd like you to meet someone," his mother called out to him.
Twelve year-old Tommy stepped out of his bedroom and came downstairs. His mother was waiting for him in the living room and, to his surprise, stood next to a tall man in his mid-thirties. The man had neatly combed dark brown hair, and wore a blue suit, as if he had just come from a meeting.
"Tommy, I'd like you to meet Kiyoto Tanaka," Mrs. Himi said. Although it had been nearly five years since her husband had died in a car accident, she had never gone back to her maiden name.
"Hello," Tommy said.
Kiyoto smiled. "It's nice to meet you."
Tommy looked at his mother. "I don't mean to be rude, but who is he?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Tanaka was recently transferred to my work, and I was asked to show him the building. We became friends shortly after," Mrs. Himi told him.
Tommy was a little surprised. His mother had casually dated from time to time, but usually the the relationships did not last for more than a few weeks. He wondered if this man would be different. The thought of his mother with someone else didn't thrill him, but at least she dated well-educated men, though.
"I have to go into work tonight to cover for a sick co-worker. But I picked you up some take-out for dinner."
"Okay." Although it was orignally her day off, Tommy was old enough to understand that she was only doing it for his best interest. "What time will you be home?"
"I won't be back until almost five in the morning," she said, clearly not happy about having to work. "But that just means I won't have to work tomorrow."
She pulled him aslde for a moment. "Will you excuse me for a moment, Kiyoto?"
"Sure thing." The man sat down on the couch and began to flip through a magazine.
"Tommy, I know you don't know him that well, but I've asked him if he would just be able to stop by tonight to check on you. I understand that you know how to take pretty good care of yourself, but I don't like the idea of leaving you home alone at night."
Tommy thought for a moment. "Okay. It's a little weird since I just met him, but alright. I'll let him in later when he stops by."
Mrs. Himi gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I have to leave in twenty minutes, but I'll call you later to see how things are going."
That night his mother left for work and Kiyoto showed up at around nine o'clock. He had two cups of ice cream with him.
"I figured this would be my pathetic attempt to help break the ice," Kiyoto quipped.
"Hey, anything for ice cream." Tommy let him in.
For most of the night, they stayed up eating ice cream and pizza. They watched horror movies that Mrs. Himi would never had let her son watch. To his amazement, Kiyoto was very good at video games and had brought along one of his favorite shooting games. Tommy was surprised at how much fun he had with this man.
Over the next few months, his mother and Kiyoto saw each other on a regular basis and Tommy became more accustomed to him. They married six months later. Although he missed his dad, Tommy was beginning to see Kiyoto as a father figure. That was until Kiyoto began to show his true colors....
"Tommy, could you please come here?"
The boy ran downstairs to meet his step-father in the kitchen. His mother was stuck at work again and wouldn't be home for at least four more hours.
"What's this?" Kiyoto asked angrily.
Tommy blinked. "What's what?"
"This!" Kiyoto pointed to the sink.
"You mean the dirty pans?" Tommy asked, raising a brow. "What's the big deal? I was going to clean them in a little bit."
"No, you're going to clean this now!" He clamped his hand down on Tommy's shoulder.
"Ow! What are you doing?" Tommy tried to escape from the painful grasp.
Kiyoto held tight, bringing his face close to Tommy's. "Look here. I might not have been able to do anything while your mother and I were dating. But now that we're married, I'm taking control."
Tommy jerked his face away. There seemed to be a hint of whisky on Kiyoto's breath. Since when did he drink?
"Alright, alright. I'll clean it up if you're gonna get all bent outta shape about," Tommy said. His emotions were a mixture of annoyance and fear.
Kiyoto slammed him against the wall. "Don't be a smart-ass. Just do as you're told."
He released the shaken-up boy and watched as he scrubbed at the pans. All the while he was taking swigs from a small glass bottle. When Tommy was done, he inspected them.
"Good. Good. Fine........Wait. What's this?"
"What?"
"This!" He brought the pan to Tommy's face, showing him a speck of caked-on grime.
"Okay, I missed a spot. Sorry," he said, angry. "This is ridiculous, though. It's just a stupid pan."
Before he knew it, the pan came flying across his face, sending him crashing to the floor. Blood began to pour from his bruising nose.
"Watch what you fucking say to me, kid. I don't appreciate you being a brat." Kiyoto threw a towel into the wimpering boy's face. "Go clean yourself up. Then get out of my sight."
As Tommy held the towel to his face, Kiyoto came up to him one last time. "I wouldn't say any of this to your mother, though. You wouldn't want anything to happen to her, would you?"
Tommy shook his head.
"Good." Kiyoto walked out of the room, the bottle still in his grip.
When Tommy's mother came home, she asked what had happened to him. He replied that he had tripped over something and slammed his face into the counter. That was only the beginning of the lies and cover-ups.
and so concludes chapter 12. flashbacks are of great importance in this story and will happen more frequently as more people's pasts are revealed. stay tuned for chapter 13. laterz :]
