| Fan Fiction |
by ferine
"Okasan, you know Maki's condition. Let her recuperate at ease, won't you?" Kame retorted, suddenly becoming protective of Maki.
Mariko frowned at her son's words. He had never been this unruly to her before. "Kame, mind who you're talking to."
"I'm sorry," Kame apologized.
"Are you planning to take over your Dad's 'business'?" Mariko asked.
"No," Kame replied. "Why do you ask?"
"You should know Maki's stand in this household. If you are going to leave, Maki will not leave with you so don't invest too much feelings in her. You are going to have a family to call your own in future. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand," Kame replied. He just felt responsible for her plight. It is only right that he took care of her.
Just then Maki entered the dining room with Yui. "Yui, don't you know what's the time now. You have been here for some time already, you should know the rules of this house. I will let this matter go for today, but I will not overlook it again if it happens in future." On the surface, Mariko chided Yui, but her real motive was to make Maki feel bad.
"I'm sorry," Maki spoke. "It's not Yui's fault."
"Forget it, let's start the meal, Tetsu has other matters to look over, he won't be here for dinner," Mariko said.
Maki reched out to grab her utensils but she accidentally knocked over a glass of water. In her haste to grab hold of the glass, she knocked the utensils off the table.
Mariko grunted and started scolding Yui, "Yui, if you don't want to work here anymore, you can say so. Otherwise, do your job well. You jolly well know that Maki can't do anything by herself now. Can't you take the initiative to take better care of her. Look at the mess she's made. Hurry up and clean up the mess."
Maki felt that she was a burden for getting Yui into trouble.
Suddenly, Yamapi rushed in and picked up the utensils before carefully placing it in Maki's hands. Maki clutched the utensils tightly and tears started welling up in her eyes. Yamapi recalled the day Maki spoke up to Mariko, where did that gutsy Maki go. Yamapi felt pain in his heart. Maki must be feeling very insecure to cause that much change in her.
Mariko frowned at Yamapi's appearance. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"Need you ask, I've come for dinner obviously. You can continue what you've been doing since I've arrived in this house and ignore my existence. But from now on, I will no longer hide in my room anymore." Yamapi stared straight at Mariko, as if challenging her.
'What is he up to?' Mariko thought. 'He had been almost non-existent in the past.'
Kame stood up abruptly from the dining table, "I'm not eating anymore," he said and left the dining room.
"I've lost my appetite, keep the dishes, I'm going back to my room." Mariko declared.
"Yamapi, thanks for being by my side," Maki said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
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Kame recalled the time when Yamapi confronted him on the day of Maki's return. He was arguing with Tetsu that day.
*FLASHBACK*
"Look at what we got Maki into. We need to settle this one and for all. Let her go before she's targeted by some other gang." Kame demanded.
"I can let her go, but on one condition," Tetsu said.
"What condition?" Kame asked.
"You'll have to take over the gang,"
"You know that's out of the question." Kame refused.
"Then your request is out of the question too. You may leave the room," Tetsu swivelled his chair around, back facing Kame.
Kame walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He turned to see Yamapi leaning agains the wall. Yamapi slowly walked towards him.
"I overheard your conversation," Yamapi said. "Maki had a bright future ahead of her. Don't you think you should be responsible for what you got her into? What's wrong with taking over the gang, you're his son, it's rightful that you take over. But Maki... she's not obliged to suffer because of you."
Kame grabbed hold of Yamapi's collar, "Don't say like it's so easy. You don't know anything at all."
"At least I know Maki don't deserve all this. If you are not doing anything for Maki, I will!" Yamapi pushed Kame's hands away and left.
*END OF FLASHBACK*
"So he's starting to take action," Kame muttered to himself.