| Fan Fiction |
by Reisa
When I left Kuma’s, my phone rang. I stared at the number, confused. I didn’t know who it was.
“Hello?” I answered warily.
“Hello. Nakajima Kana, correct? This is Odagiri Ryu’s father.”
I blinked, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk. Ryu’s father? Sudden thoughts flashed in my head. Was I in trouble? Had he dug some evidence up against me from my past? What did he want?
I cleared my throat. “Yes…hello. I umm…certainly wasn’t expecting a call from you.”
“I apologize for the sudden intrusion,” he said. “There was a pressing matter that I wanted to discuss with you and I took the liberty to search the archives for your information. Would you be available to stop by our home this evening?”
Pressing matters…my mind drew a blank. I had no idea what he wanted to discuss. Perhaps he wanted me to stay away from Ryu, because he had found out that I was in a gang. Or maybe he thought I was still affiliated with gangs and wanted to do a security check on me. I was beginning to panic.
“…I can be there in about ten to fifteen minutes,” I said finally. He voiced his agreement and we both hung up.
The entire way to Ryu’s was a confused jumble. I wasn’t even sure how I ended up in front of the right house when I hadn’t been thinking clearly at all.
The door opened as I approached it.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Ryu’s father said, standing in the doorway. “Please come in.”
“Thank you,” I said softly, trying not to show that underneath, I was trembling.
But what was I scared of? What did I have to hide? I wasn’t ashamed of my past. Of course, I wasn’t particularly proud of it either.
He must have seen the expression on my face because he chuckled as he invited me to sit in the living room.
“I should have explained earlier. You’re not in trouble.”
I let out a nervous laugh. Yes, I could have known that sooner.
Ryu’s mother came into the living room and I stood up to greet her. She sat beside her husband in front of me.
“Well, we wanted to talk to you about something important that concern all of us,” Ryu’s father began. I looked down and noticed what looked like photo albums lying on the table. He took one of them and opened it. After shifting through a few pages, he pulled a photo out and handed it to me.
When I looked down at it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My parents’ smiling faces looked up at me as they stood next to Ryu’s father.
“How…” the rest of the words were lost. My hands shook as I tried to swallow back the tears. I now knew where I had seen Ryu’s father before. My parents had a similar picture somewhere.
At that moment, we heard the front door open and close. Ryu stood in the doorway to the living room.
“Kana?” I could hear the surprise and concern in his voice but I couldn’t look at him.
“Sit, son, and I’ll explain,” Ryu’s father said. Ryu hesitated before taking a seat next to me.
“Your father and I are friends from college. We both graduated from the police academy and joined the same police force. Even though we talked a lot about our families, we didn’t really have a chance to meet, since we were so busy all the time. But he did give me a lot of photos, especially of you, Kana-chan.” Ryu’s father paused as I absorbed this information. My parents didn’t really discuss their work with me, since I had just become a teenager when I last saw them.
“This picture…” I said. “…I’ve seen it before.”
“This was when I got promoted and was sent to the United States to receive higher instruction. At first, I hadn’t wanted to accept because the case your parents were working on, with the Kuroichi gang, was almost complete. But your father insisted that this was an opportunity I had to accept. On the day that I was scheduled to go to the United States…” he broke off, and I knew what he meant. It was the day that my parents had been killed.
“After that incident, I decided not to go the States but instead stayed here to try to find those who were responsible. It was a failed project, because the gang seemed to disappear without a trace. I tried to find you so I could try my best to help you, but after the funeral, you seemed to disappear just like everyone else. It was then I became overbearing on my own son, because I feared that something could happen to me and I wanted him to be on the right track if that were to happen.”
I turned to look at Ryu, who had a look of realization on his face. At least now he knew that his father had been strict for a reason.
I tried to lighten the atmosphere. “I guess I have quite a record, don’t I?” I asked, assuming that in his attempt to contact me, Ryu’s father had seen my past laid out in a file.
“I admit that it was a bit surprising but…you still helped to find some of the people who are responsible for your parents’ deaths. I am indebted to you for that.”
He was talking about Tatsumi and Kuro…it had been mere coincidence, a time that I didn’t really want to think about. I hadn’t even tried to avenge my parents. All I had done was run away, pushing away anything that had to do with them.
I put the photo back on the table. “Thank you sir, for telling me about this…” I couldn’t keep my voice from cracking. It was as if the emotions inside of me were threatening to break out.
Ryu’s father and mother stood up as I did. “We’re really sorry about what happened,” Ryu’s father said to me. I nodded my head, afraid that if I said anything, I wouldn’t be able to hold in my tears. “Ryu, can you walk her home?”
I opened my mouth to protest but saw the look in Ryu’s eyes. He had stood up and was now opening the door for me.
“Thank you…”
“Please don’t hesitate to tell us anything,” Ryu’s father said. I nodded and left.
Ryu was quiet as we walked through the dark streets. I was musing over what I had just learned. It seemed like the pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together: I was starting to understand the parents I never really got to know.
When we finally reached my apartment, I turned to Ryu.
“Thanks…” I then suddenly remembered what Hayato had said about him and groaned softly. Of all the times to remember…
“Hayato told us.”
I looked up at him, confused.
“You got him a job, right?” Ryu said.
I nodded quickly. “He didn’t want to tell you guys because he thought you’d tease him…I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Ryu asked. “It’s our fault anyway, for assuming too much.”
I was hesitant. “Assuming that…”
Ryu looked embarrassed and looked at the ground. “That you two are dating.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. “We’re not,” I said, shaking my head.
Wordlessly, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small wrapped package.
“It’s a bit late, but here,” he said, handing it to me. “For White Day.”
I took it carefully. “Can I open it?”
When he nodded, I carefully unwrapped the paper. Inside lay an intricate white bracelet. In the middle, my name was woven in with brown thread.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, undoing the clasp so I could put it on. Ryu stepped forward and took it, fastening it around my wrist.
“Thank you,” I said softly, realizing how close we were standing. I felt like we had been standing there for a long time. He seemed to hesitate before kissing me on the cheek.
“I’ll see you,” he said and walked away
I watched him until he turned the corner and disappeared. I glanced down at the bracelet and got a feeling that we had crossed the boundary of just friends. What was I going to do?
---------------
A few days went by. A few people noticed the bracelet but said nothing. For some reason, it easily became a part of me, like Kuro’s necklace and Shin’s ring. I had only seen the guys a couple times, but Ryu didn’t say anything out of the ordinary, and neither did I. I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation to begin with.
When I awoke one morning, I found my pillow stained with tears. It was if my entire being knew. A year ago today, Shun had been killed. My sobs were muffled by the pillow as I couldn’t stop the anguish from flooding out of me.
Kuma had told me to take the day off but I refused. I needed something, anything, to keep me busy. When I dropped by Yankumi’s classroom with her usual order, I knew that she could tell.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly. I nodded.
“Uchi’s going to be with me,” I answered. She hugged me tightly, but I willed myself not to cry, especially in front of her students.
“What’s wrong?” Ryu asked me immediately as I passed them on the way out of the classroom. The others were staring at me anxiously.
I smiled sadly. “Sorry guys…I can’t hang out with you guys today.”
They nodded, but were still confused.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be alright,” I said to them. But mostly, to myself.
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Uchi met me at Kuma’s at noon. We talked a little, sat in silence, ordered some food, but I couldn’t eat. It was like Shun’s absence was eating me from the inside.
“Let’s go,” Uchi said around two in the afternoon. We had delayed the inevitable for long enough.
I picked up the flowers that Shinohara-san, the detective who had helped me through all of this last year, had sent me. He was working in Tokyo now, after being promoted, but I was touched by his kind gesture of remembering.
Uchi and I dropped by the florist to buy flowers of our own. I picked out as many white flowers as I could, hands trembling. We paid for them and began our walk toward the cemetery. Uchi held the flowers in one hand and held my hand with the other.
As we walked further into the cemetery, past the dense rows of gravestones into the quiet clearing, I slowed down. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to remain standing the moment I would see the white stone that marked Shun’s grave. When we passed the last tree that shielded my vision from the stone, I gasped. A bouquet of white flowers was already there, placed gently beside the marker. I let go of Uchi’s hand. Only one other person knew about this place.
I took off running, heart pounding. I couldn’t think straight. It’s not possible…it couldn’t be…but who else?
I didn’t know where I was going, but I found myself in the park, in the middle of the long lane with trees on either side. I heard someone call my name, and I turned and saw Yankumi and the five guys standing behind her.
But someone else stepped into my line of vision and I stared straight ahead. He was walking toward me. I closed my eyes. It’s a dream…
“Kana,” he said, the warm voice washing over me. “I’m home.”
It was all I needed. Tears blurring my vision, I flung myself into his outstretched arms.
“Shin,” I sobbed against him. He held me tightly.
“Shh, Kana, it’s okay. I’m here,” he said soothingly.
It was as if I couldn’t hold him tight enough, as if no matter how hard I pressed myself against him, he would disappear the moment I opened my eyes.
Uchi was suddenly there, out of breath, but smiling. He put his arm around both of us.
“This is the way it should be,” he said softly.
Amidst my tears, I felt content. Yes it was.
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YAYYY!!!! lol. Shin's back!
or maybe not good? lol. We'll see!!!!
Now for some down time... :D
Thanks for your awesome support! *hugs*