CHAPTER II:
Cruel Truth.
.
.
.
I'll never be the same
I'm caught inside the memories, the promises
are yesterdays and I belong to you.
I just can't walk away
'cause after loving you
I can never be the same.
- Never Be The Same ; RED
…
"What do you mean her hue clouded?! It is impossible!"
The brunet slammed her palms against the desk. She wasn't able to contain the frustration upon hearing the result from her daughter's therapist.
"It is possible, Tsunemori-san. After all... she is the child of a runaway criminal."
And that is all it took for Akane to snap. Her hands found their ways towards the therapist's collar as she pulled him towards her. The usual warm chocolate hues were filled with a glimpse of anger as the inspector clenched her teeth tightly. Yayoi's voice and the man's apology couldn't reach her hearing as she was being blinded by her rising anger.
"Don't you ever call my child as that!"
Akane knew that lashing her anger at her daughter's therapist isn't the brightest movement, but at the mere second - she had lose control of her emotions. It rarely happened on her, but it doesn't mean she won't.
"... mummy?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, Akane snapped back to her sense. She glanced around, her hues slowly regain their usual warmness that is filled with love as she was met with the sight of her daughter standing at the slightly opened door.
"Akemi... "
Her grasp on the man loosened before she let go completely. Slowly, she took her steps towards the brunette. Her hands were extended out as she tried to embrace the child. When her fingers slipped past, her eyes widened in fear as her daughter started to dissipate into thin air before her.
"No… NO! GIVE HER BACK! GIVE MY DAUGHTER BACK!"
.
.
.
"NO!"
With a loud exclamation, the brunette woman pulled herself awake. At the moment she woke up, Akane almost forget how to breath as she tried to calm her racing heartbeats down. Cold sweats were visibly shown on her forehead as her vision were being blurred by the tears forming at the corner of her eyes.
"It's just a dream… just a dream..."
The woman repeated the same sentence again and again as she pressed an opened palm at the center of her chest - right where her heart is located at. She kept her eyes closed as she inhaled deeply.
'It's just a dream… but… it had happened.'
The cruel reality hit her hard as she could feel her heart squeezing painfully by that mere statement. Her shoulders trembled as she could feels herself threatening to break down.
"...mum?"
Her eyes snapped open upon hearing a familiar child voice calling her. Instantly, she wiped the tears forming at the corner of her eyes as she whirled her head around - her gaze met with her son's as the boy stepped into her room with a glass of water.
"Are you having a nightmare, mum?"
Kei questioned in concern as he offered the glass to his mother. Akane didn't hesitate to receive the glass as she offered a smile to the boy. With her other hand, she gently tousled his messy short hair.
"Thank you, Kei..."
She won't had knew what to do if it wasn't thanks to the company of her son. Despite being only a five year old, Kei is mature and understand what he should do to help calming her down.
"Mum… what kind of person is Dad?"
For a moment, the woman was dumbfounded. Her eyes were wide in surprise as her heart threatened to stop beating in that mild second upon being shoot by the question. Of course she knew this day will come - when Kei and Akemi grew curious over this figure entitled as father that had never appear in their life before.
Perhaps… she just didn't expect this day to come so quickly…
The thin line of Kei's lips slowly curved down to a small frown as the boy grasped the blanket under his palms. He understand how sensitive this topic is for his mother, however… he couldn't hold back his curiosity.
His mother called his father a brave soldier. But those doctors refer this so called 'soldier' as a runaway criminal.
"Did he left us behind? Is everything you've been telling me… about how he is a brave and strong man who is fighting against the bad guys - a lie? "
"Kei."
The strict call caused the child to flinch. It is the same tone his mother will use whenever he did something wrong. Except, Kei doesn't understand what he had done wrong since the other adults called his father as a 'runaway criminal' as well.
Akane's strict gaze softened when she notice the shaking shoulders of her son. The woman placed down the empty glass in her hands at the nightstand before she leaned forward her child. Her arms wrapped around Kei as she pressed their chests close against each other's.
Ba-dump… ba-dump…
Both of their hearts are beating in the same slow pace. In an ancient book Akane had read before, there is a saying that parents will always have this strange, mystery connection with their children.
Just by embracing the boy, Akane could feels the emotional struggle her son is going through. She could almost sense his unspeakable fears and depression.
It pained her to see her child in such a state… and there is the fear of losing another child of hers to the Sybil system as well.
"Your dad… he is a brave person. I never lied to you about any of these. He saved a whole bunch of people from being controlled under the bad guys - he even trained them to fight in defense. And despite the fact he always try to distance himself from people, he… will always have this strange atmosphere around him that caused people to approach him by themselves."
Slowly pulling away from the hug, Akane caressed her son's cheek She gazed lovingly into the pair of grayish blue hues that were inherited by the man she used to love.
Kei honestly held a lot of similarities with him - from his appearance to his personality, he is just a smaller version of him. It make her wondered if the man will recognize Kei as his child upon seeing him at first sight. Of course, that is just an 'if'. After all, he is a wanted criminal in Japan and he had found a new life out of Japan.
He might never realize there is a pair of twins back at Japan who is yearning for his love as a father, would he?
"You two are not the children of a criminal, you and Akemi are the children born under the love of many."
Giving one last gaze at the child who is still in his deep slumber, Akane finally closed the small gape of the door she left open. The woman make her way towards the chests of drawers at the living room. Pulling the higher shelf open, she took out a pack of cigarettes before her eyes caught the sight of a box of nicotine gum.
'For the mild second, he almost reminded me of him. He is truly his son, eh?'
She still remember clearly of the words that Ginoza told her when he pass the box of nicotine gum to her. She could hardly believe that Kei had caught her smoking. She had always make sure to check twice before lighting up the cigarette. However, it seems like her child does inherited a few detective skills from the father who is never here for him.
She had stopped smoking ever since she knew she was pregnant. She thought she was done with the addiction, but she was wrong.
She couldn't stop herself from having the desire to have one every night before she went to sleep. She doesn't even like the taste of the poisonous chemicals, it just started to grow on her two weeks ago.
With Akemi being taken away from her, Akane had slipped into a short-term depression. She is emotionally strong, but no parents in the world would be able to accept the reality of their child being taken from them all of sudden.
And for the first time during her five years as a single parent - she started to yearn for his presence.
He will know what to do, he will know how to handle such a problem. And even if he couldn't, there will be a shoulder she could lean against if he is here with her.
But no, she is being forced to take care the problems all by herself.
"... Kougami-san..."
The image of the man is growing blurry in her mind, but the heartache is still there even after all these years. Clutching the box of nicotine gums in one hand and the pack of cigarette in other, Akane finally realized the reason of her mild addiction with smoking.
She missed him.
A lot.
When she was young, she often heard from her late grandmother that when people fell in love, they hardly forget the habits of their partners ; sometimes they would even try to imitate the partner's habits because they don't want to forget those shared memories.
Was she still deeply in love with him after all these years?
Of course she did.
If she doesn't, she won't have the courage to give birth the two precious lives that were slowing growing in her womb if she doesn't.
She had been persistent and desperately trying to protect them despite her parents' disapproval of her being a single mother and the Sybil's recommendation of abortion.
'Women were such mystery being - but at the same time, so does some of the men out there. Perhaps, human had always been a creature with a lot of mysteries that had yet to figure out.'
The words of a stranger she came across with after the heated argument with her parents about her unexpected pregnancy surface in her mind.
'... especially if they're with the person the love, it's hard to tell what some of these stubborn men had in their mind. Those idiots...'
Soft lips pressed at the corner of his mouth, a pair of fully blossomed breasts pushed against his arm and a long finger ran across his chest ; he tried to enjoy the sensation of having a woman trying to pleasure him - he understand that even prostitutes worked hard to earn every penny in their pocket.
However, he couldn't enjoy all of these despite keeping his eyes close. The image of a familiar brunet appeared in his mind whenever he tried to focus on the woman on top of him.
"... are you not enjoying this?"
The man opened his eyes, gazing up at the woman who is giving him a concerning look.
"... I'm sorry, I can't do this."
The words found their way out from his throat before he could stop himself. Slowly, he sat up and picked up his trousers on the floor. Taking out his wallet, he pulled out two pieces of one thousand and gave them to the woman behind him.
"Take them. You worked hard for it."
The prostitute seemed to hesitate before she accepted his offer. A few seconds passed before she took the money and smiled at her client thankfully.
"I've never seen someone as generous as you, Mister. Is there… a reason why you can't seem to do it?"
Her question caused the man to think for a second. A reason… why he can't do this? Well, he never spend his money on this type of service before - and he never decided to. It is just a sick prank his colleague is pulling on him and he honestly does think he needed to give him a payback next time.
"... no particular reason, Miss. I just don't feels like doing it."
He grabbed the box of cigarettes sitting on the nightstand and pulled one out.
"You can take your leave now. And I apologize for wasting your time, Miss."
The blonde gave a shook with a smile before she make her way out. Navy eyes followed after the figure who walked out from his room, and it didn't take minutes before another figure make their way into his room.
"Seriously, Kou? And I spend thousands just to hire her here!"
Kougami Shinya rolled his eyes in annoyance at the man. With a tsk, he lit up the cigarette between his lips and took a deep inhale - clearly, he doesn't give much care towards how the other feels.
"You spend your money in the most useless place, Leo. Do I look that unsatisfied to you?"
"Well, you always seems like you're not in your mind ever since we stepped our foot in Japan. So I just think maybe you needed some sexual relief."
Leonardo Alberta gave out a light chuckle when a pillow was thrown towards him. The Italian easily caught the soft cushion as he threw it back to the man on bed.
"Or do you swing that way? I can hire a male one next time."
"I don't give a care which type of prostitute you're hiring next time, because I will make you regret you never done it. So don't ever try, Leo."
NEXT CHAPTER:
"Father And Son Talk"
...
"If it wasn't because of that man, Akemi won't have been locked down!"
"Kei!"
...
"Your mother... she sounded like an amazing woman. She reminded me of someone I used to know."
Ending Note: I apologized for this late update! Life had been tough and I've been having heavy write blocks recently! I hope you readers enjoy this update! I promised to update sooner the next time!