Journey toward Love
Chapter 5
Satoshi and I have been closer than ever. We're not dating, but we plan to… someday. The only problem we're having is Yusuke. I haven't been able to go to many places because of him… literally, he's everywhere. I've been staying with Satoshi's, but it's kinda risky to be alone with him, if you know what I mean. If I'm in a room and Satoshi comes in, I either leave or I try to get him to leave.
"Kyoko, why do you keep avoiding me?" I finally made him upset…
"I-I'm just not that comfortable being in a room alone with you…" I look down at my feet to hide my embarrassed face.
"Why? It's not like I'm gonna do anything to you…I'm not gonna be like Yusuke or any of the other perverts in the world." Yeah, that seems hard to believe. You were the one who tried to look up my sister's skirt and kissed me on your first day at Sakura.
"…just forget it…it's nothing…" he's such an idiot… I turned to the door and walked away. As I walked away, Satoshi grabbed my arm.
"Kyoko, what's been bugging you? I know there's something else on your mind." Damn you mind reader!
"…Yusuke…he could come any minute and either rape me again or kill me…I'm scared…" I began to shake at the thought of him. Satoshi hugged me and told me the one thing I needed to hear.
"Kyoko, I'll be there to protect you when he comes. You don't need to worry about him…" I looked up at him and saw him smiling. He knew I would believe him if he smiled at me with that grin. It's the one thing I love most about him. I got on my toes to make myself taller and kissed him. We were shortly interrupted by a knocking on the front door. Satoshi sighed and walked to the door. As he slowly opened the door to see who was knocking, an aura of rage began to surround him. He flung open the door and tackled the person on the other side. Scared and confused, I ran to the door way to stop Satoshi. As I looked at the person who Satoshi tackled, I froze from fear. The person whom Satoshi tackled was none other than Yusuke Arakawa. Satoshi continued to punch Yusuke in the face.
"You bastard! You killed Kyoko's mom and you rapped her!" Yusuke flinched at my name and grabbed Satoshi's fist before it came to his face again. He looked straight at me.
"…Kyoko…Maeda…" he got up and pushed Satoshi to the ground. I tried to run away, but my legs wouldn't move. I looked toward Satoshi in fear. To me, he broke his promise.
"Kyoko…" Yusuke continued his way toward me, but as I looked closer at his face, I noticed tears rolling down his cheeks. When he came face-to-face with me, he hugged me as hard as he could.
"Kyoko, I'm sorry… I never meant to hurt you or your mother. I loved you both…but…I … I'm sorry…" I was so confused I didn't know what to do. What to say. I just stood in shock. I silently signaled Satoshi for help. We walked Yusuke to the living room and began to question him.
After our game of '20 Questions' was over, we found out why Yusuke acted the way he did. Ever since the day he murdered my mom and rapped me, he's been searching for me to apologize. The reason he killed my mom was because 'he was possessed'. When he rapped me he was so upset with losing 'the love of his life', he lost control of himself. He's such a horrible liar.
"Kyoko, please forgive me. I really did love you and your mother with all my heart. You were like a daughter to me…" I grabbed Satoshi's hand, to make sure he was still by my side. I was still scared about being in the same room as Yusuke. Just seeing him made me think of that horrible day
"Kyoko, I really do love you…you're the only thing close to a daughter to me." He was telling the truth. To me, Yusuke was the only person, besides my mom, to treat me like an actual daughter. I wanted so badly to tell him I loved him like a father, but as I opened my mouth, my throat dried up. I squeezed Satoshi's hand harder to fight back my tears. I tried so hard to talk to Yusuke, but I couldn't. I whispered to Satoshi to have Yusuke leave. As quickly as he could, he escorted Yusuke out. After I heard the door close shut, I let out my tears of sorrow and frustration.
"You ok, Kyoko?" Satoshi asked as he knelt down in front of me.
"…I'm such a coward! I couldn't say a single word to him! I couldn't tell him anything! I chickened out at the sight of his face!" I let out all my frustration and shouted at the top of my lungs. Satoshi grabbed my hand and held on to it as gently as he could. He used his free hand to wipe the tears from my eyes.
"Kyoko, you're not a coward. Anyone would act like that if their mother's murder or their rapist came back in to their lives." I wanted to tell Satoshi that Yusuke was practically my father, but I was chocking on the words as I opened my mouth. I couldn't do anything else but hug Satoshi.
After almost 3 hours, I stopped crying and sat next to Satoshi on the couch, still holding his hand. I almost didn't notice he had fallen asleep until he rolled onto my lap. He looked so defenseless that I couldn't help but giggle. I sat on the couch, with Satoshi head on my lap, and messed with his hair. I wanted to stay like that forever, but he woke up shortly after I started messing with his hair. He sat up and apologized, I just sat there next to him a little upset. As he got up to go to his room I grabbed his arm and quickly thanked him for what he had done for me. He smiled, leaned into my face and kissed me. What happened next is almost a complete mystery to me. I only remember that kiss and then dozing off into a deep sleep.
"…Kyoko…?" a voice called me as I lay asleep. "Kyoko…." The voice called again. I opened my eyes and saw my mom. I shot up and wiped my eyes. I looked up and saw my mother smiling down at me. I jumped up at her and hugged her; I held onto her and began to cry.
"Mom, I can't believe it's actually you!" I was so excited to see my mom's face.
"Kyoko, what Yusuke told you was true. Everything that happened was by accident. He truly loves you and he never wanted to hurt you…please forgive him." I guess she couldn't tell that I already did forgive him.
"I do forgive him, mom…and I loved him, but…" she smiled and patted my head like she used to.
"…you've grown into a beautiful young lady, Kyoko…I'm proud of you and your sister…." I looked up at her and saw her disappear. After she left completely, I woke up. I realized it was all a dream. As I got out of bed I noticed a pink rose petal, from the pink roses I gave her right before she was murdered. I picked up the petal and held it in my hand.
"I promise, I'll make you proud of me, mom…"
