I have exciting news: I'm WORKING! I've been flat out for the past three weeks.
More importantly I wanted to say thank you to everyone who had favourited, followed and reviewed Medica Materia. It was a journey despite it being only 3 chapters and I'm so happy you guys liked it. I wanted to again say sorry that your visit to Ryuusenka Apothecary has come to an end. I can only comfort you in saying that traces of Medica Materia will continue to run deep in the background of A Touch of Saffron.
Anyway, enough about that and lets get on with the story!
Chapter 43 - Memories Become Stories
"The hospital is this way" said Ayame-chan, pointing down the street.
Isami was surprised that they'd asked him to accompany them. He had thought that Fratello and Ayame-chan were going on a date. Just the two of them, right? It was such a lovely sunny morning and the trees lining the streets were bursting with golden hues, it would make a fine and romantic day. Well, here he was eagerly trailing after his brother and his brother's girlfriend on the way to Karakura General Hospital as he continually took happy-snaps and selfies on his phone, showcasing the beautiful Autumnal seasons so that he could send it to his own amore, Bianca. It was great to go out somewhere on the weekend!
There was nothing like making a day out around town and breathing in the crisp and fresh air, watching the rest of the world blissfully go about their day with not a drop of worry on their shoulders. Isami sometimes wished his high-school life was this simple all the time. He didn't like to deal with cazzate if he could help it.
"Oh! This tree is gorgeous" Isami whispered.
He spun on his heels and squatted slightly, angling his phone camera just right to catch the rays of the sun casting golden dappling light through the armber leaves. Si! No filters needed!He will post this and make it his laptop wallpaper when he got back. He straightened his legs and admired his Instagram skills.
"Isami-kun! We're about to cross the street!" laughed Ayame-chan way up ahead.
"A-Ah! Right! Coming!" he hurried along, his feet crunching and kicking up the leaves.
Everything back at Tootsuki was dragging everybody down. It's been months and months now. At least the Rebel Alliance were doing a few productive things here and there to fight for their cause. Basically, annoy the Azami Administration to insanity without getting expelled. Luckily, the Nakiri cousins were on their side to tell them about all the loopholes in the school policies they could squeeze through since they had a much better understanding of how the institutional and business side of Tootsuki worked. Isshiki-senpai was leading the charge against dethroning Azami with Fratello, Yukihira-kun and Nakiri-san while the rest of the Polar Star Dormitory residents, Ikumi-san, Hojou-san, Arato-san, Nakiri Alice, Kurokiba-kun, himself and even Sadatsuka-san challenged the weaker members of Azami's underlings into shokugekis, fighting over stakes for clubrooms, RS and information to add to their growing arsenal. So far so good, right?
'How long is it going to take? What more can we do?'
Having thought that, he found it unnerving that some of the Ex-Elite Ten members, aside from Kinokuni-senpai and Terunori-senpai, just let Azami waltz in like that. They neither hated him, nor loved him. They neither resisted him nor supported in. They just simply did what they were told. They also couldn't be bothered to fight back. They just… accepted their fate. They became Central to avoid making their life any harder. Perhaps it was because most were third-years and they would eventually graduate, so they didn't believe they had any responsibility to their underclassman once they dusted their hands of Tootsuki.
Isami felt like he wanted to shake them into action!
'Non, non. This is the weekend and we're having a break! No more thinking about Tootsuki!'
The three of them were visiting Ayame-chan's grandfather who was recently admitted for stroke. Isami had never met anyone who had a stroke before so he was a bit nervous about what to expect. When questioning the pair this morning on how he should behave around her grandfather, Ayame-chan said her grand-father might have difficulty understanding some things, so advised both Isami and Takumi to speak slowly and use simple terms. She also said he might have difficulty with verbal communication too, like trouble finding the right words and so advised them to just be patients. Almost like an afterthought, Ayame-chan also informed him that her grandfather had dementia, so if he said anything related to the WWII, USA, foreigners, or anything that hinted over-the-top nationalistic pride, don't take it to heart. Otherwise he was a good chat. Isami and Takumi both had their share of prejudice when they first came to Japan. They found that the older generation didn't take a liking to what they were often referred to as hāfu.
'or Half-blood…'
Isami never recalled being treated subpar to people of full Japanese heritage, but the two brothers did find themselves unfortunately being stereotyped by the very few Japanese people who didn't know better. At first it was harmless and Isami casted it as people making a harmless joke, but then the more discriminating aspects got on his nerves but he just brushed it off. Other times, he couldn't brush it off and just bottled it up. However, Fratello was more prone to angry outbursts if he thought people stepped over the line. It very rarely happened, but it still happened.
One particular memory was visiting an okonomiyaki house years ago where one of the regular customers accused them of not knowing and never being able to appreciate the Japanese culture, simply because they were half-Japanese, therefore… would never be one of them… Whatever the hell that meant... Either way, the two brothers were absolutely incensed and were goaded into having an okonomiyaki cooking battle to put that bigot back into his place and show them that they had the capacity to appreciate Japanese culture or any other culture for that matter! The whole point was that they put effort into understanding Pappas's heritage, who was born and raised in Japan. Besides, it wasn't anybody else's business if they appreciated culture or not!
Thinking about it now still made him a bit sad.
"Non! Non! No more negative thoughts!"
It was a losing battle…
"I wonder if he remembers that I cooked for him the first time we met" said Takumi.
The sound of Fratello's voice barely broke him away from the vicious cycle he fell in. Isami tried to step back into his positive mood, but it had been increasingly hard to do so. He tried forcing a smile to see if it would trigger the positivity to come back. For good measure, he tuned his ears to the conversation to keep his mind from wandering into a dark place.
"He thinks I'm my mum and still calls me by my mum's name. What do you think?" Ayame-chan rolled her eyes and a smile crept onto her lips.
"So he's forgotten about me all together?" asked Takumi.
"Probably. But maybe your soup was so delicious that Ojii-san might have some recollection about you" she replied.
Takumi quirked the corner of his lips and pulled Ayame-chan around the waist closer to his side. She laughed and rested her head on is shoulders as they continued to plod along, their boots crunching against the bronze and red leaves which blanketed the pavement. Isami smiled and took an inconspicuous snap of the romantic pair with the brilliant Autumnal backdrop. Si! He would send this to them! Maybe he'd even put it on his Instagram too, but knowing his Fratello, he'd tell Isami to take it down in case Ayame-chan didn't consent to it… Nah, everybody liked to be on Instagram, so that shouldn't be a problem. A gust of wind picked up and Isami pulled his scarf tighter around his neck. Brrrr. Autumn sure was colder in Japan than it was back in Italia.
"Oh! Remember that Otou-san is meeting us there in about half an hour too" piped up Ayame-chan.
"Your father and grandfather are going to call me a CIA spy again…" groaned Takumi-kun.
"Otou-san likes you! Honest! He just shows it by… by…" Ayame faltered at the end and avoided eye contact once Takumi gave her a knowing look "Okay, he hates everybody. You could be Gandhi or the Dalai Lama and he'd still hate you" Ayame-chan conceded.
"How is that meant to make me feel better?" asked Takumi, gently poking her in the side.
"Okay, then. Ojii-san calls his own son an idiot and a disgrace to the country for running off to England and joining the Scotland Yard back when he was younger. Count yourself lucky" said Ayame-chan.
Takumi's face was like a magic show. It had the capability from going absolutely smitten into abject fear in a matter of nanoseconds. He could be super-motivated and pumped up and then escalate to revulsion at the sound of Yukihira-kun's voice. With Ayame-chan it was no different. He groaned and threw his head back while Ayame-chan laughed merrily at her boyfriend's predicament. Wow, Isami could never get enough of the CIA spy story! Bless Ayame-chan's grandfather. Every meeting with him sounded so interesting and hilarious. It made his stomach hurt from thinking about it because his abdominal muscles remembered the massive workout it got from laughing at Takumi's face.
"I've heard all sorts of stories of your Father, Ayame-chan" said Isami as he fell into step on her other side. "Is he as intimidating and scary as Fratello says?"
"That and more" she groaned and then her smile returned.
Isami didn't know why he expected Ayame-chan to defend her father. She was smiling over the fact that her father was a work-o-holic, ball-breaking, scary-as-satan high ranking police officer who threatened Takumi as her boyfriend on the first meeting as if it was just a normal personality trait. It was slightly disconcerting. Of course the Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was no laughing matter and only an idiota would think nothing of it. Fratello said it was like staring into the face of a blood-thirsty samurai who wouldn't hesitate to skewer his guts and stick his freshly decapitated head on a pike outside the family home and sip tea while watching the crows peck at the dead eyes.
Additionally, he carried a special family heirloom, a katana blade as a service weapon everywhere he went. On duty, off duty, holidays, drug raid, court-cases, parent-teacher-interviews, family birthday parties, absolutely everywhere and there was nothing anybody could do about it. That couldn't be completely true, right?
"Surely there's a warm side to him, Ayame-chan. Any stories about how kind and caring he could be?" asked Isami.
"…"
'Oh, she's got to be kidding… not one?'
There were two sides to every person and Superintendent General Kanda couldn't be any different, right? He had allowed his daughter's first relationship to go on virtually unimpeded. Aside from threats and all around being The Superintendent Genreal. Takumi came and went to their house whenever he pleased. Cooked dinner with Ayame-chan, studied subjects they had in common together, lounged around and watched movies together, had after-school dates, went to get halal-snack packs together (he wouldn't mind third-wheeling that), and even had visited her grand-father with her father some time ago.
Also, Ayame-chan's father had allowed him to practice cooking at their place during the Elite Ten Re-Shuffle Competition knowing that they were a pesky Mimasaka Subaru would invite himself to spying around the Kanda Territory. Who would want that trouble on their shoulders? Takumi had mentioned that the Superintendent General was quite displeased with the whole idea. He suspected Takumi was trying to use a mild term. But again, he had never done anything to stop Takumi from coming over.
If Ayame-chan's father is as hellish as what Takumi said, then why would he put up with it all? And why hadn't he tried to chase Takumi off already?
'It's one of those mysteries I'll never understand… and Takumi too'
"Ummm…" Ayame-chan tapped her finger on her lips.
"Are you going to tell Isami the story about the dog?" asked Takumi, giving Ayame-chan a worried look.
What story about the dog? What's there to be worried about? It was going to be a heart-warming story, right?
"It's the only story…" Ayame-chan laughed nervously.
Takumi nodded slowly and deliberately, and maintained his pace. Fratello looked off to the side,
"A few years ago. Otou-san's cousin from his mum's side had this big dog. His cousin's family is a farmingfamily, by the way. They live in the country. The family's intention was to train him to become a working dog. Otou-san also took part in training the dog. Anyway, he got along with the dog really well which everybody thought was weird since Otou-san sends vibes. Vibes Takumi-kun is very familiar with"
She turned to smile at him cheekily.
"Homicidal vibes" said Takumi.
Ayame-chan smacked him on the arm and he just pursed his lips together in jest.
"Please go on, Ayame-chan" said Isami. Stories with animals involved were always good!
"It was the only animal he didn't hate to be honest, and the dog loved Otou-san a lot too. Whenever we visited, Otou-san wouldalways give it a scratch right behind the ears before he would greet anyone else. The dog was stuck by Otou-san's side every day and Otou-san was totally fine with that. We joked that the dog's true master was Otou-san, who only visited three times a year" Ayame-chan chuckled. "The dog was really smart and was full of energy. Otou-san and the dog had this… connection… you know?"
"Yeah I do. They're not called man's best friend for nothing" Isami nodded and smiled.
"There's this place Otou-san and the dog hung out every evening before it got too dark. It's by the small river that passed through the forest behind the farm. It flows from East to West, so it catches the sunset well. I've been there before. It's beautiful. It was the dog's favourite place. It would always bark at Otou-san after dinner, like, toget his attention and lead him across the farm and into the forest where the river was. Otou-san went every time to everyone's surprise. Okaa-san is said it was because he was eager to escape his cousin and his family before they started breaking out the rice wine. The dog used to swim and frolic in the waters, having an awesome time while Otou-san practiced his Kenjutsu and Kendou on the river's shore"
"Oh that sounds nice" said Isami. He could imagine the dog having the time of its life while its surrogate Master watched on.
Ayame continued, kicking up the leaves as she walked. "The dog was part inu shiba and part wolf"
"Part inu shiba and wolf? Oh! That's cool!" gasped Isami.
"Not so cool… that was the problem" said Ayame-chan.
"Oh… how so?"
"One day the dog attacked the neighbouring farm's dog out of nowhere and almost killed it. We didn't know why. It could've been a territorial thing, it could've been an alpha thing, he could've been defending himself. It doesn't matter. But the dog wasn't a hundred percent domesticated like ordinary family dogs. Despite spending years training it as a working dog, you can't train-out the genes that were still dominated by wolf, as you know"
"Yeah…"
"The neighbours were very upset, as they should be. They threatened to shoot the dog if they ever saw it. The council got involved and said the family had to put down their dog and they had a limited number of weeks to do it. The council said it's in the local district's best interest to prevent repeated incidences…"
Isami's stomach dropped.
"Your father swept in and saved the dog, right?" Isami forced the hope to rise.
"Not exactly… Otou-san offered to shoot the dog himself if the family didn't want to take it to the vet"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"WH-WHAT?!"
Isami was horrified and Ayame-chan and Takumi's grim faces didn't help.
"But… why?"
"His cousin asked the very same question. But Otou-san never gave an answer. His cousin's family finally said yes to his offer because they didn't have to take their dog to the vet to get it done. The last time I saw the dog, he was running off into the forest in the direction of the river with Otou-san following behind with his service revolver in hand."
Finally, it clicked for Isami.
Ayame-chan's father thought the dog could at least be by the shore of the river after the customary enjoyable swim on its last day on Earth. Its last memory would be of the sound of the flowing waters, chirping of birds and crickets, the smell of the fresh forest air, the view of the red and pink dipping sun below the trees, his fur dripping wet from playing in his favourite river. Its last memory would be being by its Master's side. The person it loved the most.
That had to been the reason why he wanted to do it himself.
Isami gulped. "Did… Did…"
"Yes. Right at the back of the head while facing the sunset. Otou-san said it was painless"
Ayame decided to be graphic and stepped forward. She leaned up curled her arm around Isami's head. She prodded her gloved finger into the dip between the base of his skull where his neck began. His hand flew up to touch the chilled spot and he shivered violently. He was dumped with dread as he took an involuntary step back.
Was it just him or did the world suddenly looked so bleak and grey all of a sudden? The harsh glare of the morning sun didn't do much for the eyes. The autumn leaves lost their majestic lustre and the traffic was much too loud and obnoxious. The fumes from the car exhaust made him want to cough and cover his nose. The streets now seemed crowded and bustling, moving too quickly and pushing past each other without care or consideration.
"Your father… k-killed the dog, his dog… the only animal he ever liked…?"
"Yep. It was the district law. If you refuse to arrange it yourself, like taking them to a vet to do it compassionately, then they call in animal control to do it for you. The dog never took well to strangers. It would've fought back and make it all the worse. Its last feelings would be scared, frightened and threatened. Thinking about why it was being taken away. So, what Otou-san did was… for lack of a better term… I think it's called mercy killing" said Ayame-chan in a really sad tone.
"But it's not the dog's fault! He was behaving exactly what he's wolf genes instinct was telling him to do!" cried out Isami.
He ran in front and blocked Takumi and Ayame-chan in their path, remnants of leaves kicking up in his wake. Fratello's blue eyes widened in confusion and Ayame-chan gasped. Isami probably looked ridiculous right now, huffing and puffing with cherry-red cheeks, his scarf unravelling and about to fall to the ground.
"The law doesn't see it that way" said Ayame-chan. "If there was no other way and if it was your dog, would you let a total stranger do the honours for you?"
Isami faltered. Would he? He… wouldn't have the heart to do such a thing. An eye-for-an-eye wasn't the way to go. He'd probably drive his precious dog out into the wilderness, hundreds of miles from any human settlement and free it. Let it be what he was put on Earth by Dio to do. Be a canine, be a wolf, be a dog, whatever it was the dog wanted to be... should be… Even going to a vet to do it 'compassionately' wasn't an option for him. Cold. Clinical. Sterile. Scared. Stranger with a mask bending over. Gloved fingers holding a needle. The Master holding their paws fighting back tears. Dogs were smart and were in tune to what went on around them, especially the people they lived their whole lives with. People said dogs have a sixth sense and knew when something was terribly wrong. The dog would know he was about to be killed with a lethal injection. Dogs would feel the difference between a visit to the vet for euthanasia, and a visit for a monthly vaccination.
"How… How did your f-father… f-feel…" asked Isami.
"He didn't look it. But the family knew he was devastated. Explains why I was never allowed to have a pet, actually"
Isami released a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Suddenly something warm enveloped him. He gasped and realised the tickling scent of berry perfume belonged to Ayame-chan. She was hugging him tightly while Fratello watched on. An intense look of understanding passed through his eyes. Isami swallowed his tears and refused to let them fall. This was going to be a good day and he didn't want to ruin it by getting all worked up and emotional right now, but damnit it was so hard!
"It's okay Isami-kun" said Ayame, releasing him gently and smiling up at him sadly. "You asked for a story that shows how warm, kind and caring Otou-san can be. I'm sorry that it wasn't going to be a light-hearted and joyful as you hoped, but that's the only one I know that shows that he… has a heart" she said.
Takumi stepped up and patted him on the arm. The three of them kept walking towards Karakura General Hospital.
"Ah… Kyoko, what brings you here?"
Takumi was right. Ayame-chan's grandfather looked like a wizard. He reclined in the hospital bed, with a newspaper spread out on the portably side table hanging over his bed.
His long face and hollowed cheeks made him worry that he wasn't eating enough. He had age spots, some raised, some just marks dotting all over his face, bald head and back of his arms. The little remains of his greying hair was tied off at the back of his head by some twine. His balding head was only covered by wisps of grey hair. His eyes struck him the most. They were a murky coal, the tell-tail signs of diminishing vision and old age, but they glared and scowled with annoyance with just as much power as a virile man could. That was until they landed on Ayame-chan behind his half-moon spectacles, that they softened. His wide forehead which was earlier furrowed in rows and rows of wrinkles as if he had been frowning his whole life, lightened up at the sight of his grand-daughter.
"It's me, Ayame" said Ayame-chan, smiling at him. She bent over and gave him a hug.
"Ah yes, yes of course. You're my grand-daughter" he said dismissively and returned her hug.
"You remember Takumi-kun, right? He made you vegetarian soup a couple of months ago at home. You really liked it" said Ayame. Takumi nervously stepped forward and bowed in greeting.
"Good afternoon, Zuttosuke-san" said Takumi.
"This gaijin made me soup and I liked it?" Ayame-chan's grandfather pointed a gnarly old finger at Fratello with utter disbelief, and didn't try to hide his disgust. His voice was croaking and sounded phlegmy.
Fratello frowned.
"Don't call him gaijin, Ojii-san. That's rude. His name is Takumi and he is my boyfriend. We've been together for almost four months now" Ayame-chan smiled widely and hooked her arms around Takumi's. Takumi nervously smiled back, keeping one eye on Ayame-chan's grandfather and the other on Ayame-chan.
"Hmmm… Whatever. If my idiot son hasn't killed, you yet for being a CIA spy. It must've been some damn good soup!" the grandfather cracked up laughing.
Oh, Isami was counting on him saying that! Ayame-chan's grand-father suddenly started coughing and hacking, his bed sheets unravelling around him. She and Takumi rushed to his side. He pushed away the rolling bedside table with the newspaper so the elderly man's knees didn't hit it as his body spasmed from the force, and Ayame-chan picked up a plastic tub full of gloopy water and pressed it to her grandfather's lips. Gloopy water?!
"Take small sips Ojii-sama. Swallow first before taking another sip"
"I know! I know!"
He bit at his grand-daughter. He grumbled and resisted at first, but he begrudgedly drank it. Isami's mouth felt icky from just watching him consume that weird water. Why wasn't it in a proper cup too? This looked like a jelly cup, but it wasn't really 'jelly' inside it. Clear, unset jelly?
"What is he drinking, Ayame-chan?" asked Isami, creeping a little closer, but not too close so that he didn't interfere.
"It's thickened water" she said. She handed Isami the cup to look for himself and he inspected the partially peeled away lid. It said 'mildly thick water' on the green peel-away lid. He could sort of smell without bringing his nose to the rim… it didn't smell pleasant. It couldn't taste pleasant either.
"Nasty stuff" Ayame-chan's grandfather continued to grumble. Isami didn't blame him.
"Why is he drinking it?" asked Takumi.
"Because the old bastard has trouble fucking swallowing"
Takumi accidentally banged his hip against the portable table and Isami jumped in the air and sloshed the thick liquid over his hands with a shrill yelp. He cursed his luck and quickly pulled a handkerchief from his pockets and cleaned himself up. He froze when a dark shadow blanketed him and he shrank back. The waft of subtle but powerful cologne graced his nose and the clunking of heavy set boots alerted him to a presence stepping up from his side like a storm. He looked up and his breath hitched.
"Otou-san!" gasped Ayame-chan.
The tall figure of the Superintendent General of TMPD stood next to the pull-around-curtains with his arms crossed over his broad chest. Isami instantly searched for the infamous katana blade to see if it was true and he wasn't disappointed. The gilt handle and sword guard glinted in the hospital lights from under his open trench coat, fastened to his hips. The tips of the scabbard peaked out from the hem of the coat and Isami was coloured impressed with a tad fright. It felt like this tall modern samurai had just came to life from a story, and to Isami's cold realisation, he actually did. A story about him mercy killing a dog.
"The fuck you looking at?"
"N-Nothing!" Isami jumped again at the growl.
He was on the receiving end of a contemptuous scowl and suspicious coal black eyes. Ayame-chan's father had very severe features. Sharp cheek bones, pointed chin and nose. Long hair like Ayame-chan's tied back tightly in a high pontytail, leaving only a dead-straight fringe and two long locks framing the sides of his face. He looked down his nose at him as if beneath him was exactly where Isami belonged. If what Ayame-chan said was true that he had a heart, then he hid it extremely well, even in front of his own daughter and ailing father.
"Otou-san, this is Isami, Takumi-kun's twin brother" Ayame-chan introduced.
"N-Nice to meet you sir!" Isami bowed low, fearing for his life already.
The man grunted, completely ignoring him.
"Old bastard can't swallow properly because of his stroke. Can't fucking drink normal water, tea, juice, or soup without fucking coughing because it's going down the wrong way. I just spoke to the speech pathologist. She recommended he drinks the disgusting thick stuff because it's safer, and remind him to take sips, since he can't remember on his own"
"Wh-why is the thickened w-water safer… sir" asked Takumi.
The Superintendent General casually flitted his dark eyes towards his elder twin without moving his head. His lips remained tight as he silently appraised whether Fratello was good enough to deign an answer to his question.
"He can't close off the windpipe fast enough when swallowing normal water, tea and shit because the stroke fucked up his muscles used for swallowing. The thick stuff holds together better when he's drinking and minimises the chances of slipping down the wrong way, into his lungs and causing a fucking aspiration pneumonia and die or some shit. Otherwise he can still barely eat normal food. Looks like you get to live another day, you old bastard"
Ayame-chan's father flashed a feral smirk at the grandfather.
"I survived the bombing of Hiroshima, so you ain't getting rid of me so soon, Yuu" the grandfather smirked back.
"Pity"
"Otou-san, Ojii-san. Behave" Ayame-chan hissed menacingly.
This family dynamic was driving Isami up the wall. The way Fratello's teeth was on edge told him the same story. Isami flicked his eyes back and forth between the two father and son and found that the hair on the back of his arm and neck were prickling with electricity. It was the same electricity passing between the two older men as they glared at each other, both with evil and menacing smirks on their faces as the son wished the father dead, and the father refusing to die just piss his son off.
Ayame face-palmed.
"We weren't expecting you until afternoon, Otou-san"
"Called in for a drug-bust down the road. I had time"
"Liar"
"Hey, I'm not putting up with this Scotland Yard business talk from you, boy after showing your face to me after disappearing to England for ten years! Especially in the middle of the war. God bless Emperor Hirohito!" yelled Ayame-chan's grandfather, reclining back into the hospital bed as an angry vein pulse took over the Superintendent General's left temple, just above his eye.
"Here we go…" Takumi muttered under his breath.
"I was born after the war, old man" Ayame-chan's father said tonelessly, but unable to hide the seething.
"You giving me lip, boy?" growled the grand-father. He raised his hands up as if ready to cuff his son over the head.
"What else does it fucking look like?"
The oil tanker was set on fire. Ayame's father and her grandfather were instantly at each other's throats. While the father and son butted heads with flames of dancing around them and knocking each other's pegs down with mighty scathing words, Ayame and Takumi started to creep away, pulling Isami with them. However, his feet held fast as he watched with utter fascination how this family was pulling colourful threats and insults out of nowhere and at the same time, looking like they were having a long overdue banter at the local Izakaya. They were smiling as they verbally assaulted each other and it was disturbing.
"Are they always like this?" asked Isami. He begged that it wasn't.
"Pretty much" said Ayame-chan. Takumi nodded in agreement.
"What's going to happen when your grandfather gets released from hospital? Is he going to live with you?" asked Isami. Waves of worry and concern washed over him for both Ayame-chan and Fratello. The father and son pair could probably take the whole house down in one fell swoop by simply just 'greeting' each other in the living room.
"No, we're considering an old residents home again, but… I don't know if it will go well" said Ayame-chan.
Isami already knew that her grandfather had a team of full-time thick-skinned carers looking after him in his own home twenty-four seven, seven days a week, since both her parents weren't around enough to take care of him, and the rest of the family lived very far away. But being in a delicate and fragile state after being in hospital probably meant returning home with the carers wouldn't be as safe.
"Why not?"
"Ojii-san's been thrown out of three old residents' homes in the past"
"Thrown out?!" Isami gasped.
"For bad behaviour" sighed Ayame-chan. Takumi rubbed her shoulder. "They're the only times Otou-san couldn't be prouder to call him his father" Ayame rolled her eyes.
"Ayame"
The three teens turned around to see that the Superintendent General had finished verbally wrestling with his father, and the elder Kanda was sitting back comfortably with a self-satisfied grin on his aging wizard-face as if he had given his son a well-deserved arse-kicking. So weird. Isami would never get used to this…
"I'm heading back to work now"
"Okay then, don't work too hard, alright?" said Ayame, tilting her head to the side as she gave him a lop-sided smile.
He twitched the corner of his lips and lifted his arm, and gently squeezed her shoulder. As his eyes soften and his stern jaw relaxed as he touched his daughter's shoulders, Isami thought of the story with the dog. He thought of that same compassion from long ago and how it still existed in this man's chest, and was still very much alive. Alive for his daughter. Only he buried it deep behind a fortress. The Superintendent General nodded at Takumi and Takumi gulped stuttered a 'good-bye, sir' before the Superintendent General strode away, leaving the other patients, nurses and doctors warily eyeing him. The nurse hastily buzzed the large ward doors to open even before he made it half way out the ward. Isami's eyes also gravitated to him, it was like he sucked in his attention with his tall frame, the heavy-set boots, long flowing trench coat, sword strapped to his hip, long jet-black hair and steely eyes.
The three teens continued to spend some time chatting with each other and with Ayame-chan's grand-father when Takumi piped up.
"There's a vending machine downstairs. Does anyone want anything?" asked Takumi.
Ayame-chan nodded "Ojii-san, we're just going down to get something to drink. We could get you something too and ask the uhh… speech pathologist or nurse to thicken it for you?" Ayame-chan offered, rubbing her grandfather's arm.
"No, I'm alright. You kids have fun" he said, his tone growing listless.
"You coming Isami?" asked Takumi. Isami realised that he didn't follow the couple as they were starting to walk away.
"A-Actually, you guys go on. I-I'd like to keep your grand-father company, if that's okay" he said. He laughed almost in embarrassment, but didn't know what there was to be embarrassed about. So, he tried to cover it by scratching the back of his and faking a confident tone.
"Okay, no worries" Ayame-chan smiled.
The two teens headed off and Isami was finally alone with the most volatile elder he'd ever met.
"Why aren't you going with the other youngsters, hmm?" the grandfather continued to stare out the window, never straying his eyes from the bronze scene down below.
"I-I thought I'd keep you company" said Isami, wringing his hands together. What had he gotten himself into?
"Hadn't seen my son in ten years" The grandfather murmured.
Isami's brows shot up into his hairline. What? That couldn't be right. Takumi, Ayame-chan and the Superintendent General only visited him a month and a half ago or something, they were talking about that vegetarian soup that Takumi made for him. So why did he think—
Oh.
This was another example of the signs of dementia Ayame-chan was talking about earlier. He thought this was the first time he'd seen his son in ten years! This was upsetting Isami more than he thought it would. Tears gently prickled the corner of his lashes but he held them at bay.
"Umm, Kanda-san hadn't been to England for a very long time. He visited you a month and a half ago with Ayame-chan. It was the same day my brother, Takumi, made Buddhist vegetarian soup for you?" Isami said hopefully as his sentence rose on a nervous infection, wondering if it would help make the elder gentleman's memory come back.
"Did he?" asked the grandfather, shifting his position on the bed trying to get comfortable again. Obviously, it didn't work. Annoyed confusion passed over his face briefly before it appeared like some other thought crossed his mind and he started roving his murky eyes over the other patients in the ward.
Isami's heart sank. His arms fell to his side and he clenched and unclenched his fingers. He diverted his eyes to the bedside table and took note of the glasses case, the newspaper Takumi had folded away, the box of tissues and a notepad and pen sitting there. Then he looked out the window where the bright Autumn day seemed to be mocking him in all its golden glory.
"What's eating you, sad sack?"
"Hmm?" Isami thought he was going to be ignored by Ayame-chan's grandfather for the rest of his time here.
"You look like you're shitting four carot diamonds there, lad" the grandfather snorted. For the first time that day, he was staring straight into Isami's own blue eyes and it was unnerving. Not disturbing because the eyes that stared back were barely seeing, but rather because he felt like his thoughts were being stripped bare under the intense scrutiny of eyes seventy years older than himself.
"O-Oh, nothing much. Just school and stuff I guess" said Isami.
"School, huh? Every man should go to school. Everyone should be lucky to go to school" said the grandfather in a gruff voice.
"Yeah…"
Isami didn't want to think about Tootsuki right now.
"Unless you think otherwise, gaijin?"
"Ah! N-No, I didn't mean to sound like that, it's just…" Isami debated on what he should do. He internally winced at being called gaijin. He could hedge his bet that Ayame-chan's grandfather would lose interest in why he suddenly became despondent, but that didn't look like it was happening.
"Well, right now my school is umm… not in a good place. Our director is changing so many of the policies to… suit his own needs, rather than the students' needs. I-It's wrong and so do a lot of students. It's jeopardised our learning. They're getting kicked out for disagreeing with our new director…"
Isami had no idea why he suddenly blurted it all out. Perhaps it's because he knew Ayame-chan's grandfather wouldn't care either way that he found comfort in just getting it off his chest to someone who had nothing to do with or had no knowledge of it.
"Is that right" he responded gruffly.
Isami released a deep sigh and forced a smile. He squared his shoulders and levelled his head, staring out the window again.
"My brother and all my friends are fighting back because we don't just give up. We don't just let things happen. We make a stand. We say 'no!' We have the guts to do what's right, even when everyone else chooses the easy way out" Isami's finger curled around his palm in a tight grip. "But is that enough for me to make change? I feel as if I'm just standing there… not moving while all my friends are moving forward" said Isami.
He thought about how Isshiki-senpai, Fratello, Yukihira-kun, Arato-san, heck even Ayame-chan was making good headways! They were working very hard to prove Azami murdered his wife to throw him off the Director's seat and sending him to rot in jail. What was he doing? He was 'supporting' the Rebel Alliance by challenging students who supported Central by bargaining information and clubroom assets. Trying to weaken their arsenal so that Azami's student resources would ever so slowly turn over to Polar Star Dorm, but was that all he could do in the remaining two years at Tootsuki? He wanted to take on the First Seater right this instance, but he feared he wasn't good enough. If Fratello himself thought, he would have a tough time with a shokegeki against the highest ranking Central member, then what hope did Isami have? He was at a road block as tall as Mount Vesuvius and he feared even his own twin wouldn't most frustrating part was he didn't know how to overcome it.
"Hmmph… You remind me of someone"
Isami looked towards the elderly man curiously. The grandfather's eyes took on a distant gaze as he turned his head away to stare at the wall in front of him. His tepid frown making him look even more wizardly. Isami's shifted in his spots, thoughts on Tootsuki disappearing as he wondered what person would stick to Ayame-chan's grandfather's memory so strongly that even dementia couldn't take away.
"Standing there like that, you remind me of the man that used to come to our house when I was young. My father used to say: "watch this man". So I did. Every time he came"
Isami's interest grew and he found himself stepping closer. Closer until he placed his hands on the bed-rail and leaned forward towards the grandfather. This man sounded so important, like he was an important figure in Ayame-chan's grandfather's life. Important enough for the grandfather's own father to command him to observe, to watch this man. This man whom Isami supposedly reminded him of. He wanted to know more.
"And never once did he do anything remarkable"
Isami could've been knocked down with a feather and trampled on by a clowder of cats in public. What was with Ayame-chan's family subverting all expectations? His self-esteem once again crashed into the abyss.
"And… And I remind you of him?"
The grandfather exhaled sharply from his nose and snorted, as if he was amused by Isami's question. He turned his eyes to the ceiling.
"This one time, I was half your age, our house was overrun by yakuza… Dozens of them... My father was beaten, my mother was beaten, and this man, my father's friend, he was beaten. And I watched this man... Every time they hit him… he stood back up again. So, they hit him harder. Still he got back to his feet… They did it over and over and he still got up. I think because of this they stopped the beating. They let him live. 'Fudou no otoko'. I remember them saying. 'Standing man'... 'persistent man'… 'immovable man'..."
Isami just stood there in awe. His jaw slack and his blue eyes wide. He was overcome by so much emotion, it choked him.
"That's who you remind me of, lad"
'I wonder what they talked about…'
It had been an hour since they left the hospital.
Takumi's worry for Isami disappeared. It was a great lift off his shoulders because he'd been worried about his younger brother for weeks. Isami had been showing signs of endlessly mulling over insecurities and his tendencies to down-play his talents and skills increased. Here he was, happy as a clam and happier than anything he'd seen in weeks. When he and Ayame returned from the vending machine with various drinks in hand, they found Isami frozen in place by Zuttosuke-san's bedside, staring at the old man while he picked at his dentures with his long finger nail. Takumi had to pat Isami several times to snap him out of it and he had wondered if Ayame's grandfather had said something unpleasant to him. He still wondered about it.
Not only that, Zuttosuke-san had no idea that he and Ayame had just came and went in a span of twenty minutes. He asked them what they were doing here and complained to Ayame (or Kyoko in his case) that he was never told that they were visiting him today. Then he started brooding about how his dentures weren't fitting into his mouth anymore.
When it was time for Zuttosuke-san to take his shower, it was also time for the three of them to leave. Ayame had made sure to find the speech pathologist who was still in the ward doing rounds if it was alright to thicken some Calpis water for her grandfather to drink today. The speech pathologist was nice about it and told her they can use the thickening agent the hospital bought to thicken drinks for patients with swallowing impairments. At least now Ayame's grandfather would be less of a grouch towards the medical staff for the rest of the day with his thickened Calpis water, rather than thickened normal water.
So here they were hanging out at Meshina Ice cream parlourin Karakura honchou. It was the first place where Takumi met Ayame and her friends together and Takumi took a moment to reminisce about it. He draped his arm around the back of Ayame's chair as the three dug into their ice-cream. They were getting weird stares for eating ice-cream in the cold Autumn day, but Ayame insisted, so the two Italian brothers went with it.
That was when Isami was all smiles.
"You seem to be in a such a good mood Isami-kun. You're the first person I know who's cheerful after meeting Ojii-sama" smiled Ayame.
"Really? I had a good chat with him today. That's why I'm happy" laughed Isami, licking his ice-cream cone.
Takumi scrutinised his brother and there was not a drop of a lie or any attempt to cover one up, which was what he normally tried to do. Isami was genuinely happy which Takumi hadn't seen for several days. Takumi smiled in relief, seeing his brother's laughing and bright face as those familiar blue eyes took on this sheen of burning determination in them. He knew Isami had been worrying about Tootsuki for months. It was tough being part of the Rebel Alliance, but all of them pushed through and stuck together. Isami tried the hardest in their band, but he always came back to the apartment they shared, fully dejected at the end of the day. Takumi's heart would break seeing his brother continue to second-guess his talent and strength. And guess what? He always tried to cover it up with that fake smile of his, and casually brushing off any concerns directed his way, convinced that there were other things worth worrying about. He always said he was alright, when he wasn't. On most days, Takumi would've confronted Isami to have a brotherly talk about his insecurities and find ways to encourage him, cheer him up and basically support him in any way he could (or smack him out of it). It always worked. Other days when things were particularly dark, Takumi would give Isami some space before approaching him. They may be twins, but that didn't mean they were the same people.
Takumi was eternally grateful for whatever Zuttosuke-san said to make Isami's fears and anxiety disappear.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
"Hmm?" Isami pulled out his phone and slide the lock screen to read the new message flashing on his screen. "It's Yukihira-kun. He said he's at the gaming store and wondered if we're in the area and wanted to hang out"
Of all the places for Yukihira to be, it's not at an eatery? That was weird. Since when was Yukihira into video or computer games?
"Hmm, not interested" replied Takumi, as he continued to eat his ice-cream.
"But he's your friend" said Ayame, turning around to look at him.
"Yeah, but I'm with you and Isami today" he replied as if it was the most obvious thing.
Ayame chuckled and he leaned over to give her a peck on the temple. Isami shoved the remainder of the ice-cream cone in his mouth as he began to fast-type a response to Yukihira's text message.
"I just said he can come and join use instead since we're all having ice-cream together"
So much for twins being on the same wavelength…
Ding! Ding! Ding!
"Oh, he said he's coming" said Isami, showing everyone the text and making sure to stick it into Takumi's face.
Takumi groaned.
Soon Ayame was also helping herself to Takumi's serving of pistachio ice-cream and Takumi gladly let her have it. He wiped his fingers on the serviette and the three of them chatted together about some of the new recipes the Polar Star Dorm residents have been sharing with each other. Since Azami's curriculum didn't allow students to create their own recipes, Polar Star took it upon themselves to create it amongst themselves out of school hours and continued to practice them in the clubrooms they won from shokugekis.
"Yo! What's up guys!"
Yukihira finally made his appearance in all his red-headed glory. His cheeky grin blasted its own brand of sunshine that could currently rival Isami's wide smile. He was dressed in a simple t-shirt and cargo-pants and had a set of cheap headphones slung over his neck, the wire connected to the MP3 player in his pocket. Ayame waved at him excitedly and he saluted Isami, Ayame and Takumi back. He went to quickly order his two scoops in a cup and then he took a seat between Ayame and Isami It looked like he didn't think it was weird to eat ice-cream in Autumn either.
"So you guys are out on a family date?" he asked.
"We visited my grandfather in hospital today. We had some time left after so we thought we'd go get some ice-cream. What about you?" asked Ayame.
"I wanted to walk around town by myself to clear my head today and I stumbled on a video game store so thought I'd check it out. I needed to give the Rebel Alliance duties a bit of my break. I tried to convince Isshiki-senpai to come with me to get some fresh air too, but he didn't wanna. That guy just never rests. It's amazing" said Yukihira as he spooned some of his chocolate caramel and Nutty Surprise into his awaiting mouth.
"Things seem to be going well" said Ayame.
"Well enough" Yukihira smiled back.
"So what games were you checking out, Yukihira-kun?" asked Isami.
"This first-person shooter. It came out last month" Yukihira suddenly bounced up and down on his seat like a little kid and it amused Takumi.
"Oh yeah, I know that one. I've seen some trailers on the internet. It's pretty intense" commented Isami who was also a casual follower of Japanese gaming culture
"Yeah it was. Hey, there was this other new game that's being realised soon. It's based on a movie… Gah! Brain freeze! I can't remember what it's called"
Yukihira dropped his plastic spoon into his icre-cream cup. He scratched at his scalp and twisted his brow together as he tried to think hard about the game he was trying to tease out of his memory. Takumi watched the fuses blowing one by one in his head and he probably should put him out of his misery. Takumi decided to help-out so he didn't burst and artery by thinking too hard. Takumi racked his brain to figure out what game he was thinking of, but he too was stuck. He needed more clues than just 'based on a movie'.
"Can you describe it?" asked Takumi.
"It's based on that film everybody loves"
"Which film?"
"The one about the hair dresser and the space cowboy. The main guy, he's got a tin foil friend and a pedal bin. His father is a robot and he has a huge crush on his sister" said Yukihira.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"What… kind of movie is that?"asked Takumi.
Dio mio! The things that came out of Yukihira's brain. He was probably dropped on his head at birth.
"Ah! Lego!" Yukihira pointed to the sky as if he found the answer "They're all made of Lego!"
Takumi shook his head at the maverick chef with utter shame. He was sorry Ayame had to see this. Even more so that he had admitted a few moments ago that he was his friend. He turned to look at Ayame to see if she too had a confused look about her, but instead she looked pensive and in deep thought. She had that 'turtle-face' expression when she was also thinking very hard, like solving a hard calculus problem.
"Star Wars?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah. That's the one. Right" sighed Yukihira and he grinned at her.
Takumi could see him visibly relaxing as he was free from his torture of using his brain at maximum capacity. He didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed. Takumi tutted in his mind. Yukihira continued to guzzle his ice-cream, his brain freeze had obviously vanished.
"You get to kill all the bad guys, and you'll be able to blow up the big…"
Yukihira was stuck again and waved his hand in the air as he went all the way to square one and tried to figure out the name of the most iconic thing from the one of the most famous movie franchise of all time. Even Isami looked amazed that Yukihira was having another bout of losing his words.
"Death Star?" Ayame offered him again.
"Yep the Death Star thing. Then you can go live happily ever after on the planet of the teddy bears"
"They're called Ewoks. Ewoks" said Ayame, trying not to bust a gut laughing.
"Haha… yeah, my bad. It's been a while since I caught up with the latest games, movies and stuff" chuckled Yukihira.
Takumi could tell Ayame was about to say that Star Wars had been around for decades, but she stopped herself and just concentrated on trying to finish off Takumi's ice-cream.
"There's so many of these space movies like Star Wars out there. They're so popular and it's easy to see why. Who wouldn't want to go on a space adventure and discover galaxies, different solar systems, aliens and black holes?" said Yukihira, finishing off the chocolate-caramel flavour and began attacking the Nutty Surprise. "Oh, that reminds me. I've been wondering about this ever since I've heard of black holes and I think you're the best person to ask about it, since you're into science"
Yukihira turned his body more towards Ayame and she looked up at him curiously.
"Can you survive going in and out of a black hole?" he asked with genuine interest.
Ayame swallowed her mouthful of ice-cream and placed her spoon into the cup. She licked her lips and Takumi cursed the missed opportunity to kiss her sweet remnants of pistachio ice-cream form her delectable lips. She took a moment to think about her answer and Takumi tilted his head, watching the gears in her head click with silent adoration.
"You will surely die if you fall straight into the centre of a black hole. The tidal force, which is the same type of force that creates tides and tidal waves on Earth, will stretch your body as your feet fall to the centre of the black hole faster than your head does. Assuming you're falling feet first, that is."
Ayame lifted both hands in the air and pinched her fingers together. She dragged one hand down, symbolising the feet falling into the imaginary black hole in front of Yukihira, while the other hand in the hair stayed there as the head.
"Your body begins to stretch. It will stretch so significantly that ultimately you will snap into two pieces, as the tidal force exceeds the intermolecular forces of all the molecules that make up the flesh, blood and bones in your body. You will likely snap at the base of your spine… first!"
Ayame held up her finger emphasise her point.
"First? There's more?" Yukihira's face started to pale.
"Yep, as these two pieces of you keep falling into the centre of the black hole, those two pieces would snap into another pair, and then another pair. You'd be bifricating: one, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two and so on until you're this stream of atoms descending into the abyss. That's not even the worse thing that will happen!"
Ayame's excitement peaked and Takumi chuckled at her exuberance. He could never get enough of it.
"What…? It's not?"
"Nope! In the black hole, the fabric of space and time funnel. Down to a point. That point is called the singularity. So, as you fall to the centre, you occupy a narrower and narrower range of space-time"
Ayame gestured a funnelling motion with her hands and Yukihira gulped, but couldn't tear his attention away.
"And so as you get ripped apart from head to toe, you get extruded through the fabric of space like toothpaste through a tube"
"…"
"That's if you fall to the centre. But if you have a trajectory that does not go through the centre, then in principle, this won't have to happen to you"
Yukihira sighed in utter, utter relief.
"You could conceivably survive a trajectory into a black hole, but, getting out is the hard part. Scientists are still working on that"
"I… don't know what I expected" admitted Yukihira as he exhaled like he'd run a marathon.
Takumi smiled. He was having a really good day. The autumn day was beautiful as Isami had shown him on his Instagram. He spent the day with the two people he loved most, Ayame's father and grandfather didn't call him a CIA spy, Isami was back to being happy and cheerful, Ayame got to have her science talk, and stupefy Yukihira at the same time.
What could be better than this?
This chapter is short reprieve for the characters. It's the weekend so everyone's having some time off :)
The story of what happened to the dog was based on a true story. It happened to my sister's boyfriend's family. It was a sad tale when I first heard it. I thought it would was perfect to illustrate a hidden side to Ayame's dad.
Short-term or 'episodic memory' is an issue for people living with dementia. They often can't remember what's happened in the last few minutes, or the day before, or what happened in the last week. However, they sometimes can remember things that have happened decades ago (Long-term memory) with astounding clarity. I had a patient who couldn't remember he has a wife when I asked about her. He replied "I have a wife?" and he was so confused. But as the conversation moved along, he started telling me about going to the Melbourne Cup race of 1940-something with his wife and they shared a picnic together. Memory is a very tricky thing.
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think and I'll see you again soon :)
Signing-off
-TripWire-dono
