Notes: Meh, after my bit about Shizuru a couple of chapters ago, less hits appeared on the third chapter. I swear I have damn good reasons. Oh well. Again, these chapters will likely be edited someday, until then, please tolerate my grammatical errors.
The next day I went to visit my mother. There was one thing constant in my life, and she was it. Even if she wasn't the way I wish she could be, my mother would always be with me.
I greeted the secretary at the entrance. The old woman recognized me since I visited so often. "Missed you last week," she said and smiled.
"School event," I lied and waved to her. She handed me the sign in sheet and gave me a name tag. An orderly came by and escorted me to my mother. She shared a room with another patient who occasionally saw ghosts. I didn't really think that one was particularly crazy, but apparently, her parents thought so.
My mother was scrunched up in the corner again. She couldn't actually walk. Seven years in a coma caused the muscles to break down from lack of use, and she was too crazy to enter any type of physical therapy program. Instead, the orderlies told me that she often crawled out of bed with her arms to hide in any dark spot available in the room. If the lights were on, she'd scramble for the spot between the bed and the ground. I sighed when I first saw it. My mother used to be a powerful lawyer, to see her in this state saddened me to no end. I still loved her. When I was young, I idolized her. Once I'm capable, I'd bring her home to take care of her, but for now, she was stuck in this shithole.
She sat still with her back against the wall. Her eyes transfixed on an invisible object in front of her. "No" she would mumble, "Please stop." In fear, she'd shake her head in helplessness.
"Mama, it's ok. It's just me," I pleaded. "There is no one there." For a moment, her eyes would see me as if she knew me, but the moment passed quickly. Once more she found something behind my head that scared her, and she started screaming. The orderlies were forced to come around and subdue her while she flailed her arms to resist.
They injected a sedative into her system. She quickly calmed down and fell asleep. After, they carefully placed her onto her small bed. Tears dropped from my eyes as I slowly patted her hair while she slept. I talked to her. She was the only family I had. I told her about Mai, my nightly activities and how much I missed her.
In her slumber she had already heard the story of the Himes. She heard my version of it more than once. I'd tell her anything to get her to wake up from her nightmare. I needed her.
It was raining when I got back outside that day. I covered my head with my thin jacket while running towards the bus stop. At that moment I ran into him. A man in his mid-forties wearing a black business suit looked down on me and nodded his head in a greeting. He smiled and gestured for me to get on the bus first after it pulled into the station. I froze, this man, I knew him. He broke into my house. He raped my mother. He didn't recognize me.
I tried not to scowl or stab him right there. My blood boiled with hatred, but I just calmly got onto the bus. He looked so happy, so normal. From experience, I knew that the normal ones were the dangerous ones. People never suspected them; they only noticed those who stood out. Now he was sitting three rows ahead of me, happily waiting for his stop. What right did he have to be happy after taking everything from me?
I followed him home. It was a nice two story house with a quaint little front yard. Two children came running out to greet him. "Welcome home daddy," they shouted with glee. I could see his wife working in the back through the front door. She was probably making dinner.
My hands tightened into fists. That son of a bitch was here living a life in luxury, where my mother was stuck in a hell hole living in an unending nightmare. His children had two loving parents. I got stuck in an orphanage. The workers there weren't bad per se, but probably too experienced. They classified us into two groups, the wounded or the broken. I was broken and no one wanted to adopt a broken child. There was no such thing as justice.
I waited until midnight before sneaking in. Breaking into the cheap lock was simple. Locks only kept out gentlemen. The living room was charming. A few pictures of the family were displayed by the door. I sneered at it. He had everything, a nice house, a great family and what appeared to be a stable job if his business suit was any indication of his status. All in all, I just wanted to kill him.
Sneaking up to the main bedroom was easy. The stairs didn't creak much, which meant his wife must have kept the house clean. I peeked inside to see the couple sound asleep. Looking down on him now, he seemed far less frightening than I remembered.
It suddenly struck me. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this man wasn't one of the men who broke into my house. Maybe this was a case of mistaken identity. After all, I was young and afraid. Maybe I was just projecting my anger on some unsuspecting guy who didn't deserve what I was about to do. I panicked and stepped back. I had to find proof that this was him.
Quickly and silently I began shuffling through their things. Her jewelry box had some nice trinkets, but I wasn't about to rob some random woman. A few large bills were hidden in a mystery novel by the bedside. There was nothing in the bedroom.
I paused; there was very little chance of finding proof that he was guilty of hurting my mother let alone anything else. Still, if I was to hide anything about a crime, and I was a businessman, I'd probably hide it in my office. I just hoped this man had an office room in this rather spacious house.
It was there right beside his bedroom. It was neat and orderly, there was no way anything was here. A few files were placed on the desk. I turned on the desk lamp and skimmed over them. Most of them were too complicated for me to understand. A few contracts and other signed documents appeared in the files. A few of them had floor plans for a local office building. So this guy was a businessman who dealt with what appeared to be realty.
Shuffling in the hallway told me it was time to go. I quickly shut off the lights and hid behind the door. As soon as the noise stopped, I left the house. Looking back once more, I doubted that he was the man of my memories and moved on.
Home was empty. It was hard to tell where Mai and Mikoto went, but I didn't bother to find out. What they did was their own business. I collapsed on the nearest bed and promptly fell asleep.
Returning to school was less than exciting. Mikoto attended as she always did, but refused to talk to me. She was probably still angry about me hurting Mai. Well, I was angry with myself too, but didn't feel like apologizing. She shouldn't have tried to pull off that interference crap. There was nothing wrong with my lifestyle.
Classes were boring as usual. We took a test. One I didn't quite plan for, but probably passed. During the break, I leaned on my arm and stared at the sky. There were many clouds, but no rain. Somehow the lack of rain made it feel gloomier. The third class started when our teacher walked in with his briefcase. We were in for another wonderful lesson in math. To my vast surprise, Fumi appeared by the door before the lesson could begin. She briefly conversed with the teacher before he motioned for me to come to them.
I knew I didn't do anything wrong in school that day. Even with my many absences, I was doing well enough to graduate. This had to be about something else. Fumi beckoned me to leave the room and closed the door behind her. Her face was grim, even that fake smile she always had was gone.
She looked me straight in the eyes and said, "We just received a call from the hospital."
I panicked. Fuck! My mother, she was in trouble. Something had happened. Dear God let it be anything, but my mother. I was about to take off when she grabbed my arm.
"Yuuki-san," she said firmly. It grounded me to my position. It caused me to think. This was not a good time to panic.
"What's going on?" I demanded. I was still in a frenzy, but couldn't go anywhere. Fumi Himeno did not look it, but she was strong.
"Yuuki-san, your mother was found dead in her room this morning. I'm sorry."
Life sucks, live with it.
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