Broken Fragments
Chapter 37: The Setting Sun
"We're now arriving at last station of this line, Asanuma station of Shiroi city," the operator of the train announced.
Yuuhi carried the small suitcase she prepared and dragged it by the exit after standing up lifelessly. The only one on the train was Yuuhi. After all, her destination was the final stop in the countryside. After the train finally stopped and the doors opened, Yuuhi carried her suitcase in front of her and walked out. Without looking at the hanging signs on the posts, which showed the way to the exit, Yuuhi turned to her left and walked at the same pace she'd been making.
After Subaru told Yuuhi everything that noon, she ran away when Hiroto accidentally came out of hiding. Without looking back, she kept running, like the tears that flowed from her eyes. When Yuuhi arrived at her apartment and had lost Subaru, she packed some of her clothes and took the train to her hometown. Yuuhi spent the rest of her afternoon on the train back to her home.
When Yuuhi got out of the station, her aunt, Neko, was waiting with a car. Neko gave Yuuhi a soft smile, though the idol could tell that Neko was doing her best to comfort her. Yuuhi wanted to return the smile that Neko gave off, but she didn't have the energy and emotions to do so.
The ride was quiet, and the atmosphere was heavy. Yuuhi was just staring at the glove compartment, devoid of any emotions. Neko paid attention to the road, though only one or two cars were around. The concerned lady kept taking peeks of her niece through the corner of her eye with hopes that Yuuhi was okay.
"We're here, Yuuhi,"after a 20-minute drive, the car stopped and Neko awkwardly broke their silence.
"Thank you for letting me stay at your house, Neko-nee," Yuuhi quietly said, still staring at the glove compartment.
"You're always welcome, Yuuhi," Neko couldn't anything else to say because her mind was occupied with worry of Yuuhi.
Yuuhi went straight upstairs as soon as Neko opened the door. Yuuhi already knew where her room was because she stayed at Neko's house often after Yuuhi graduated from high school when she was 17. Neko and Takumi, her fiancé had been together since they were in their first year of senior high school, and they bought a house together after their first year in college close to Yuuhi's family's house.
After placing her suitcase by the dresser, Yuuhi sat on the bed and blankly looked at the picture of her and Neko. It was Neko's high school graduation day, and the cherry blossoms bloomed beautifully. Yuuhi remembered the past and was thankful that she, at least, had Neko by her side.
The silence made Yuuhi drowsy, and before she knew it, she had fallen on her side and fell asleep on the bed.
It had been a week since Yuuhi left that day. Subaru had already informed the Chairman, and so he cancelled all of Yuuhi's jobs since Hiroto also hadn't gone to work for a week. The Chairman made the excuse that Yuuhi was sick and had to take a leave, which didn't sound too suspicious to the people and staff that she worked with. Subaru tried calling Hiroto many times, only for his call to get sent to Hiroto's voice mail all the time.
"I still can't get ahold of Yuuhi or Hiroto," Subaru said, worried.
"Same here. I regret letting Yuuhi-chan just put one emergency contact on her application. I heard her mother had been sick recently, which probably explains why nobody's picking up the phone," the Chairman looked at the copy of Yuuhi's application from when she auditioned to become an idol.
"If we can't get ahold of either one, we're going to have to cancel Yuuhi-chan's concert, which is next week," Chairman Muranishi told Subaru, escorting the golden-haired boy to the building's front entrance.
"What?"
Chairman Muranishi and Subaru turned to the glass door to find Hiroto, his eyes widened in shock.
"Hiroto-kun!" the Chairman exclaimed.
"Where have you—"
"What do you mean by 'cancel Yuuhi's concert?'" Hiroto interrupted the Chairman and asked.
"Well," the Chairman muttered, scared to tell Hiroto what had been going on.
"Yuuhi's missing," Subaru straightforwardly revealed to Hiroto without considering what he might feel.
Just as how Subaru expected, Hiroto's eyes widened in worry and fear. Subaru clenched his fist while hiding the true feelings that he had towards Hiroto. Subaru wanted to keep the peace between them, but with the expression that Hiroto showed, Subaru's control over his temper was slowly disappearing.
"No…she's not missing…she can't be missing…Yuuhi's—"
"She is! Can't you understand that she's missing?! Why do you come now, huh, Hiroto?! Where were you?! We've been looking for Yuuhi and you add onto the burden by disappearing for a week, too?!" Subaru's anger boiled and he couldn't stop himself from roaring over Hiroto as Subaru grabbed Hiroto's collar and angrily shook him.
"Now, you come in and act like nothing's wrong! You're an asshole!" Subaru pushed Hiroto, causing him to fall to the ground.
The Chairman pulled Subaru away from Hiroto to prevent him from doing anything else. They got lucky that the Chairman sent everyone home before sundown, so they were the only ones in the MEC building. The Chairman hadn't released to anybody, even the press, that Yuuhi was missing because he had his own investigators look for her.
"What about you, huh?! You think you didn't do anything wrong?!" Hiroto yelled back from the ground.
"You bastard!" Subaru ran to Hiroto and punched his face.
The two of them began exchanging blows to the face and abdomen, their deep angers getting conveyed to each other. The Chairman began to panic because he had nobody to help him break the fight since the guards were doing checking the higher floors.
"You're the one who came back here and made Yuuhi feel this way! She was doing fine without you, but you just had to remind her of the past, you bastard!" Hiroto roared at Subaru.
"Both of you, shut up!"
Hiroto, Subaru, and the Chairman turned to the entrance, where a man's silhouette towered over them.
"Do you all really think that Yuuhi was doing fine?"
The man walked further in, revealing himself to be Cloudy. His hands were in his pocket, relaxed and carefree. He had known that Yuuhi was missing without having to ask anyone, but he came to the building to assure his thoughts, only to find a dogfight between Hiroto and Subaru.
Before he could continue what he was trying to say, Cloudy kicked Hiroto and Subaru in the abdomen and they both fell to the ground. Cloudy stood by them and looked down on the two rash boys, his hands still hidden in his pockets.
"You two are fools for thinking that Yuuhi was doing fine, especially you, Kazama," Cloudy lectured them.
"Did you ever consider what Yuuhi felt being with me, huh, Kazama? She was lonely. I had always known that she didn't hold any feelings for me. She knew, too, that I didn't feel anything for her," Cloudy revealed.
"Yuuhi's so fragile, that I was tempted to break her! I thought that by forcefully taking her first time, I would be able to break her."
Subaru's face turned pale to find out that Yuuhi had already slept with a man. However, Cloudy shot Subaru a look that kept him controlling his temper.
"But, I was wrong…because she was already broken in the first place," Cloudy looked at Subaru first, knowing that it was Subaru's fault, before he looked back at Hiroto.
"You're an idiot for thinking she was fine, Kazama!" Cloudy kicked Hiroto again, letting out a bit of his anger.
"Whenever Yuuhi falls asleep in the car, she would talk in her sleep and say your name! Your name, Kazama! Her face looked like she was in pain whenever she says your name! And you think she's doing fine?! Huh?!"
Before Cloudy could take out anymore of his madness towards Hiroto, Cloudy calmed himself down and became the better person.
"I don't know the circumstances, but you're stupid for letting her go," Cloudy pointed at Subaru.
"And you," the indigo-haired idol pointed at Hiroto.
"You better take her back before it's too late."
Cloudy left the building without saying another word. He drove away in satisfaction, finally conveying what he had always kept in his mind from the beginning of his phony relationship with Yuuhi.
"What was that all about? I'm like them, too," Cloudy laughed at himself after thinking about what he just did.
"I'm such a liar," Cloudy thought, painfully smirking as he looked at the rearview mirror.
"I'd fallen in with love Yuuhi, too."
"Yuuhi, do you want to visit your mother tomorrow?" Neko asked as she sat down with Yuuhi and Takumi to eat dinner.
Yuuhi didn't reply to what Neko had said and kept eating lifelessly, staring at her food. Takumi, who was scooping some rice to his bowl, had a shocked look on his face as he paused what he was doing.
"She's woken up from her coma three days ago. It might be because you're back," Neko revealed, also serving herself some rice.
Yuuhi's attention was grabbed and she looked at Neko. Yuuhi still had her chopsticks in her mouth, like a little kid with a lollipop. To encourage Yuuhi, Neko gave her another soft smile, which was her specialty in trying to comfort Yuuhi.
"Sure," the quiet auburn-haired girl muttered.
The three of them continued eating silently, though a little bit of the atmosphere changed. Neko couldn't sense if it was a good thing, but she was hoping it was. However, deep in her heart, Neko knew that nothing will ever be the same. Takumi, too, knew it.
After they ate dinner, Yuuhi popped two capsules of pills in her mouth and drank a glass of water to wash it down. Neko, who was a nurse, had seen those kind of pills before, but she couldn't make out what they were for. To be reminded, Neko asked Yuuhi what the pills were for.
"They're vitamins. I need them to stay healthy as a celebrity," Yuuhi explained, drinking more water.
"Oh, right. So you're planning on going back as an idol?" Neko asked as she washed the dishes.
"Well," Yuuhi looked down on the table and thought about the question she was given.
"I just got used to taking them," the auburn-haired idol finished.
After giving the bottle to Neko, Yuuhi went back upstairs after saying her goodnights to her aunt and to-be-uncle. On her way up the stairs, Yuuhi stopped halfway.
"Vitamins, huh," Yuuhi mumbled.
She continued to make her way back to her room and prepared to go to bed.
The next day, Yuuhi, Neko, and Takumi finished getting ready for their one-hour ride to Yuuhi's family's house. Takumi, who didn't have work on Saturdays and Sundays, offered to drive them to also visit. Neko sat in the passenger's seat beside Takumi, while Yuuhi sat in the back.
When they arrived, Ichirou looked happy, but troubled, to see Yuuhi with Neko and Takumi.
"You're back," Ichirou welcomed his daughter.
"I want to see Mama," Yuuhi declared right away as she made her way in the house.
"Oh…uhhh…just go on in…she's awake," Ichirou worriedly said with an uncomfortable smile on his face.
Yuuhi rushed her walking down the short hall to her parents' bedroom. She knocked on the door and waited for permission before she came in. When Yuuhi heard her mother's voice after two years of not seeing her, the idol was a little relieved.
"Yuuhi-chan!" Saeko exclaimed to see her daughter walk in to her room.
"Hi, Mama," Yuuhi greeted.
Saeko, who was sitting up, extended her arms to embrace Yuuhi. The auburn-haired girl bent down to give her mother a hug. The sickly mother shed tears of joy to see her daughter and feel Yuuhi's embrace. After Yuuhi let go, she sat down on the seat by her mother's bed, her face still emotionless.
"W-what's wrong, Yuuhi-chan? You don't look very happy," Saeko pointed out, anxious.
Yuuhi tried to think of a way to gently let out all her feelings. The room was silent as Saeko waited for Yuuhi to reply. The only sounds that filled the room were the sounds of the ticking clock and the heart monitor that continued to beep.
"I know my real family."
Saeko gasped as her eyes widened. Her heart started beating fast in nervousness, which was depicted by the heart monitor that beeped a little faster. Saeko also began to fiddle with her fingers as her hands shook.
"W-what do you mean? We are your rea—"
"It's the Tsukishimas."
Saeko began to tremble even more after Yuuhi interrupted her.
"I've always known I was adopted, and you knew that because I was being bullied all the time for it. I look nothing like you two, who have jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. My natural hair was light brown and my eyes are blue. I'm glad that you and Papa always tried to look for different places for us to live in so that I wouldn't get bullied anymore, but it just didn't work. It felt like we always ran away," Yuuhi continuously gave her mother the facts that she had always tried to hide from her daughter.
"I've always known, Mama…but now…I need to know what you know."
Saeko felt pressured, sweating and shaking in uneasiness. She never thought that she was going to live up to the day that she had to explain her part of the story. Without wanting to hurt her daughter anymore, Saeko took a deep breath and revealed her share of knowledge.
July 7, 1989. The night was stormy outside, though a miracle was happening in the hospital.
Urara screamed and pushed for her baby to come out of her womb. It had been almost two hour since she started pushing and Urara was getting tired. She began labor last night and the child was finally ready to come out. It was sunny earlier during the day, but when Urara began pushing at 7:32 pm, the storm also kicked in.
"It's almost there," the doctor announced.
Urara let out a loud scream as she pushed for the final time. Her baby was finally out, but before she could hold her child for the first time, Urara passed out from exhaustion.
"This isn't good," the doctor said after she washed the mucus and blood that covered the baby's body.
"Her lungs are failing and she's a little premature! Bring her to the ICU immediately, Nurse Tsubasa!" the doctor commanded.
Saeko took the newborn child to get help. If the baby's lungs were to fail, death was inevitable. The doctor, who also delivered the baby, gave the child all the medical attention she needed. However, the baby wasn't getting any better. As the baby's heartbeat slowed down, the doctor's faith in herself and the baby also began to lower down.
"We're too late," the doctor said, letting go of the utensils she was using.
"No, we're not!" Saeko protested.
Desperate, Saeko did everything she learned about on the situation during medical school with tears rolling down her eyes. She thought about the baby she had lost two months prior, the miscarriage greatly changing Saeko.
Suddenly, after all else failed and all hopes were gone, the baby's heart beat was normalizing and she began crying, like how a normal baby would after it came out of its mother's womb. Saeko also began to cry happily as the doctor patted her in the back with praises.
The doctor's pager began to go off and she had to leave Saeko with the baby.
"Please take care of her, Nurse Saeko. The mother's having complications," the doctor said before she closed the door.
Saeko stayed with the baby until she stopped crying and fell asleep. Saeko felt as if the baby she lost during her miscarriage had been replaced by the baby she was holding.
"You don't have a name?" Saeko looked at the baby's foot to see that there was no name tag attached.
"Hmmm," sounded as Saeko as she kept rocking the baby back and forth.
"I think the name 'Yuuhi' would definitely suit you since you're like the setting sun. People think you'll be gone forever, but you always come back the next day."
Saeko happily smiled as she treasured the moments she was having with the baby. Saeko's warm and bright smiles were back, which was noticed by her fellow nurses, and her husband, Ichirou.
"It had been a month since you were born, and you still had no name tag. I also found out that your mother had left you because she found out that you were premature. Your twin sister, however, was a healthy baby, who they took home after two weeks of you two's birthday," Saeko continued with sadness in her face.
"Ichirou and I were the happiest parents in the world when I took you home. I decided to adopt you, finally naming you 'Yuuhi,'" Saeko smiled with some tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Let me guess…you named and adopted me on August 15," Yuuhi sounded upset to hear her mother talk about the past.
"Yes, Yuuhi-chan. Just like on your birth certi—"
"Have you ever thought of contacting my parents? Even just once? To let them know about me?" Yuuhi's temper and true reactions began to peek out.
"No, but—"
"So you basically stole me? From my real family?"
"It's not like th—"
"Have you also ever thought of what I really felt?"
"Yes, I know you were having a hard time, Yuuhi-chan, but—"
"Then why didn't you do something?"
"I tried, but—"
"You didn't try hard enough, Mama!" Yuuhi stood up in anger as she let go of everything she had ever wanted to say when she started to realize the truth.
Yuuhi's towering voice was accompanied by the faster beeps of the heart monitor.
"Because if you tried harder, I would've at least met my real mother, even just once…but now…she's gone! My real family's gone! My father, my mother, my twin sister's gone!"
"Yuuhi-chan! I'm…I'm so…I'm so sorry, Yuuhi-chan!" Saeko cried and breathed heavily, her health deteriorating every second.
"How could you do this, Ma—no…Tsubasa-san?"
Saeko's eyes widened in shock to hear the words she never wanted to hear from her daughter. Saeko never wanted Yuuhi to call her mother by her name because she had found out her true family.
"Because I love you, Yuuhi!" Saeko screamed in agony.
"No…you didn't," Yuuhi said, slowly walking backwards to the door.
"You loved the happiness you got back from getting me…and if you truly loved me," Yuuhi opened the door, still looking at Saeko.
"You wouldn't have traded your happiness for mine."
Yuuhi walked out of Saeko's room and shut the door.
"Yuu—" Saeko tried to call out to Yuuhi, but her breathing became short right away.
Saeko tried to breathe and call for help, but it was too late. She passed out on her bed, her final word the name she had given to her 'daughter.'
"I'm leaving," Yuuhi immediately walked to the door and put on her shoes.
"Wait, did you talk to your mother?" Neko asked as she also put on her shoes.
"We all know she's not my mother," Yuuhi looked up to give Neko cold, frightening eyes.
"Is Saeko-nee-san alright?"
"It's better for you to stay."
"What do you mean?" wondered Neko, confused.
"Saeko!" Ichirou's wail broke out to surprise Neko and Takumi.
Yuuhi continued with putting on her shoes, already knowing what Ichirou had found. When Neko looked back at Yuuhi with distressed eyes, she was already set and ready to leave, only a door's opening away from not seeing the auburn-haired idol ever again.
"It was fun while it lasted. Thank you for everything," Yuuhi began as she twisted the doorknob with her back turned to Neko.
"Kurami-san."
Neko was between two paths that she could take. One was to go back in to see her sister, and the other one was to open the door to find Yuuhi. Neko began to panic and her mind was a mess. However, she realized that Yuuhi had always been alone, and that Yuuhi was going to be alone from then on. So, Neko opened the door and yelled out Yuuhi's name, but it was too late because she only found empty roads and streets.
"Another goodbye without a word," Neko thought, crying.
"This time, though…might be the last."
"We're almost there, huh," Subaru said, looking out the window to see things that he remembered from when he lived in the area.
He and Hiroto made their way to find Yuuhi in her hometown when the sun reached its highest point at noon. After a few hours of taking many detours due to the road traffics and constructions. They got lost along the way, but Hiroto eventually found a point he remembered.
"Yeah. I think we'll get there after the sun sets," Hiroto said as he continued to concentrate.
"Sunset, huh," Subaru sighed.
"Yeah, Yuuhi. She'll be the setting sun," Hiroto also commented.
"Because even if it seems like she'll be gone forever, she'll just come back the next day," Subaru finished Hiroto's sentence with a smile, thinking about Yuuhi.
Before they could exit the main road to the road leading to Yuuhi's house, they noticed a person walking in the roadside with a suitcase in hand, exhausted. They couldn't tell who it was at first, but when they passed the person, Hiroto immediately swerved to turn his sports car around. They both got off just in time to see the person fall to the floor.
"Yuuhi!" the two boys yelled as soon as they got to Yuuhi.
Subaru was about to lift Yuuhi up when suddenly, everything around him felt slow when Hiroto took Yuuhi from Subaru's arms and carried her, like a princess, to the car. Subaru watched another man take and embrace the woman he used to love away from him.
Time felt slow, as if it was showing him what he would've looked like if he didn't let go of Yuuhi. Time was showing Subaru all the mistakes that he made. Subaru had always been aware of them, and he always regretted them. Seeing the woman he used to love in another man's embrace was what Subaru feared and didn't want to accept. Subaru realized that his love for Yuuhi wasn't like the setting sun that would always return.
Subaru realized that they were really over.
Author's note:
Asanuma station is a fictional train station solely created for this chapter of this story.
The name 'Yuuhi' means 'the setting sun.'