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Author Topic: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XXVIII || 101218]  (Read 43063 times)

Offline finiarel

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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XV || 011017]
« Reply #80 on: October 01, 2017, 05:49:56 AM »
CHAPTER XV

Shiraishi Mai still could not believe what’s happening. However, she quickly snapped out her confusion as she took a step back from the woman that was hugging her. Unconsciously, her hand reached up to where her artificial heart is beating, as if to make sure that she actually still not able to feel anything.

Good thing that the woman let her go and took a step back herself, taking a seat as she waited for her to calm down.

“Nakamoto-san, isn’t it? Can you please give us some privacy,” Wakatsuki said to the waitress as the latter nodded and took a few step back. Once she is gone Wakatsuki exhales and sit down, leaving Shiraishi to be the only one standing up, “you should take a seat too, Shiraishi-san.”

Shiraishi nodded, taking a seat as she looks at the girl sharply, forming the words in her head carefully before finally asked, “I would like to know, Wakatsuki-san, how long have you known about this?”

“Long enough,” the one being questioned replied without even looking at her.

“You are either too good or stupid. I really hope that you’re not both,” she said bitterly.

Wakatsuki didn’t reply, seemingly more interested on the table in front of her than anything else. Shiraishi averted her gaze back to the older woman, who seems to be observing her thoroughly, her expression as unreadable as always.

“Mother, don’t you think this is too late to start playing family?” she asked, holding back her next sentence for a moment because she had accidentally bit her lower lips. Ignoring the iron taste in her mouth she continued, “ It took me a while to realize this, but I already have people that I consider my family, I don’t need you to barge in and ruin it."

"Mai, please, just listen," she said calmly, hoping that her daughter will be more at ease by her soft tones.

However it didn't work, instead, her sentence had somehow prompted Shiraishi to say every single thing that came to her mind, "no, you're the one who needs to listen. I’m pretty much okay with leaving everything behind. After all, Yumi-chan here will always be your true child just as much as I am just someone who should have never been born. I - don't - need - you.”

“Mai, it’s not like that,” for the first time she looks terrified upon her daughter's words.

“Not like what? Not like you just watched from a few meters away as I struggled and slowly bleed myself to death? I might have a problem with my emotion but I pretty much okay with my memories.”

The older woman lost her words for several seconds, totally taken aback with her sharp and accusing sentence before quickly regained herself, “that’s not like what you think. Leave that aside, for now, I need to tell you several things about the next trial because we don’t have much time.”

Shiraishi averted her gaze to the clock on the wall, “time is ticking. Better make it quick since I would prefer not to spend so much time with you.”

“On the next trial, I would be working with the government. I would use my right as your birthmother,” she said calmly.

“What a surprise,” Shiraishi said flatly.

Ignoring her rude remarks the older woman continued, “look, I know that you don’t want them to get ahold of you, so I’m going to help you from the other side. What you need to do is to counter them with the fact that you are an adult capable of making decisions by yourself. That’s the point that I think you need to work on, how to convince the jury that you are making the decision by yourself without having the company to cloud your judgment.”

“And why I should trust that you wouldn’t be pulling anything else behind?”

“Because I am still your mother. I want you to be safe and I know being with government is not the answer to that,” she said softly, her tone expresses her concern perfectly.

“Your motherly side is so astounding,” she remarked, not even trying to put some emotion in her words, “you know, you could have chosen to be on our side instead of the opposite.”

“And would you actually accept me? We all know that you wouldn’t. If not this way you would never let me help you. That’s why I chose to do it from the opposing side.”

“You’re right I wouldn’t have accepted your help. Maybe I never will. But at least I would probably hate you less.”

Shiraishi wonders how easy it is for her to hate the woman now despite how much she adores her back before the accident happened. To think about it, it was all her own fault. Shiraishi Mai shouldn’t have tried to find her mother from the first place. If she had never tried to look for her none of this would have happened.

When she was young she always regards her mother highly, even though she basically knows nothing about her. She had always given the biggest smile whenever someone would remark their striking resemblance, had always tried to pry as many information as she can whenever she’s meeting someone who declares they know the woman.

She grew up with the idea that her mother was an amazing human being that along the way fallen out of love from her father which makes her left the house. She secretly tried to look for the woman. However, her search was for naught, she couldn’t get a single info about where she- Gondawara Kirei went after leaving her father, not even able to get a single info about where she was before meeting her father.

It’s as if she has never existed.

Not until she was in senior high school that she finally braced herself to speak to her father, asking about her mother whereabouts as there is nothing that she wants more than to see the woman that given birth to her.

She remembered how her father stiffens upon hearing the request coming from her mouth. To her surprise, the man nodded.

“I will try to look for her whereabouts, but I warn you that there is a possibility that this would be really far from what you have imagined.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to make sense of the man last words. She really wanted to ask more, but from the man expression, she knows that she will not get more out of it.

A few months later her father who was on a business trip outside of the country sent her a text which is basically nothing but an address and another sentence to have her chauffeur to drive her to the place instead of going alone and without needing a further explanation, young Shiraishi Mai knows what it will lead her to.

After several weeks of contemplation and some urging from Nishino, she finally decided to meet the woman. The woman’s place is actually only a block away from where Nishino lives so it wasn’t pretty hard even for her to find it without any help from the chauffeur, however just per her father request Shiraishi instructed her chauffeur to drive her to the place.

When she finally reached the address she stared at the family name written on the house’s plate for several minutes, starting to doubt the reliability of the information since the name written on it is ‘Wakatsuki’, she shook off all the weird thoughts that have started to bug her mind and knock on the door.

She did it again.

And again.

And again.

And again, yet no answer came. In disappointment, she dragged her feet back to where her car is. However, before she could reach her car an old man who lives in the area happened to pass by and told her that the woman just went out to the park close by. After thanking the man, she instructed her chauffeur to go to the place.

The woman has left her house before she could even walk, so Shiraishi has no recollection of her features except those that she could remember from the woman's amazingly very few pictures. However, when she stepped out from the car and started walk closer to the woman that was sitting on a picnic mat, even from far she could somehow tell that she is the person that she is looking for.

Albeit shorter, her hair sparks the same colors as her, as does as her porcelain white skin. The woman was too immersed in a novel that she was reading to notice her. Even with her head down Shiraishi Mai understands why people always note their resemblance.

“Is there anything I could help you with?” The woman suddenly looked up as their eyes met.

She didn’t even realize that she had somehow approached her and now standing next to her in a meter away distance. Back then she was troubled, she was always too focused on deciding whether to meet her or not that she has never thought about what she wants to say the woman.

Does she need to bluntly say that she’s her child? If she does, how? Shiraishi Mai realizes that it is pretty absurd to suddenly announce you’re a girl that she has left before you can even stand up properly.

What if she never wanted to see her from the first place? Maybe that’s the reason why it’s hard to find the woman.

But before she could finally say anything, a loud crying disrupts their moment, followed by the woman sudden movement to stand up and go to where the sound came.

The sound came from a little girl, she was probably around 5 years old, and from her words between her sobs, it sounds like she was playing hide and seek with the other kids around but they somehow run back home when she was the one that supposed to be the seeker.

The woman softly pats her back, kneeling a little so she is even lower than the little girl's eye level, making it easier for her to see the young girl’s face, she wiped the tears from the little girl cheek as she started to talk softly to her. The loud sounds of the girl bawling cover the sounds that came from the woman’s mouth, making it impossible for Shiraishi to grasp their conversation.

When the young girl finally nodded and calmed down a little she took a peek to where Shiraishi is standing and that’s when she could see her features clearly.

Just like how she is a striking resemblance to her mother, the young girl is also the same. Even though she’s still so young that her face still a bit bubbly, she could still see it. The same mesmerizing white skin, the same light-colored hair, same almond-shaped eyes with the deep brown orbs.

“Ah, I see,” Shiraishi accidentally said it out loud instead of keeping it for her own thought, her lips formed a bitter smile as her heart feels like it’s being tugged.

“Mom, who is that?” the girl asked, raising her eyebrows as she pointed at Shiraishi.

“N- nobody,” Shiraishi answered before the woman could say anything or even worse ask her the same question, “I thought you were someone I know but turns out I was wrong.”

The little girl frowned as she looks back and forth between the woman and Shiraishi, probably realizing their resemblance.

Shiraishi remembers what her father had said, how it could be different than what she imagined and her brain match the current situation for its answer. She couldn’t blame her, 17 years is not a short time. It’s not that surprising during that time, the woman has found someone else to build a family with.

“I’m sorry for bothering you,” she said reluctantly, not knowing what to do next before finally decide to take a step closer to the little girl, “can I ask your name?”

“Hina. Wakatsuki Hina,” the girl answered.

“Hina-chan, then. Well, you see, that kind of friend they are no good. If I were you I would ditch them and try to make friends with someone else.”

She looks at the girl longer than she should. A thinge of envy sparks in her heart, knowing that the girl has one thing that she wants the most. The girl looks confused for the sudden advice then nodded.

“I’m taking my leave then. Again, I’m sorry for bothering you,” she said, this time directing her words straight to the woman as she smiled a little, “I.. um… Your daughter, she’s lucky to have you. She loves you very much.”

She didn’t wait for the woman to answer, she quickly turned her back on her before she could even finish her own sentence, walking as fast as possible, trying not to drop her tears right there and then.

However, when she reached the stairs that will lead her to the parking lot of the park, she met her.

Shiraishi's interaction with the person ever since the time where she punched her out of nowhere was almost nonexistent, the girl pretty much giving her a grim look whenever they passed each other in the school, but today when she still hadn’t realized that Shiraishi is there she looks different.

Instead of the prominent scowl that she had thought to be her main feature, the girl is smiling cheerfully, carrying plastic bags on both of her hands as she talks with the man beside her that is most likely her father.

She halted her movement when she spotted her looking, then decided to gave Shiraishi a brief nod before continuing to walk straight ahead. Thinking that it is purely coincidental. Shiraishi could also feel the girl’s father looking at her way too long than a simply a passerby looking at someone.

Shiraishi drops her gaze to the pathway, trying not to ignore their looks as her eyes searching for her chauffeur and once she found him she silently follows him back to her car.

From her window she could see them, the woman that is her birth mother starting to pull out several paper plates from the picnic basket on the mat, the young girl that was just crying a few minutes ago is now cheerfully throwing herself into the man’s arm, the latter pick her up and let her ride his shoulders. Among them, the girl that is also her underclassman is smiling brightly.

“Ojou-san, shall we go straight back home or do you have any other plans in mind?” her chauffeur snapped her out of her deep observation.

Shiraishi looks to where her mother is, then took her phone from her pocket, pressing one of the speed dial keys that connects her to the only person outside her main family that knows her situation.

The person picked up her call after it rings for several seconds.

“N-Nanase-chan. Are you free right now?” she asked as soon as the person picked up the call.

‘Not really, I am currently at Reika cha- Sakurai Reika chan’s place. We are baking a cake as tomorrow is Yumi-chan birthday. But I’m going to be free somewhere later in the evening.’

Shiraishi looks to the park again, spotting the girl mentioned currently trying to hide her embarrassment as her little sister put a pink party hat on her head, “Wakatsuki-san, huh.”

‘What’s wrong, senpai?’ the girl asked seemingly realized her odd antics.

“Nothing. Enjoy your weekend.” She didn’t say any parting words or even wait for the other girl to reply before flipping her phone shut. She looks in the rearview mirror of the car, catching the gaze of her chauffeur who is currently looking at her in concern, “to the batting practice ground.”

“Ojou-san, I am sure that we can go straight back ho-”

“-just take me to the batting ground. Please,” she cut his suggestion off, trying to keep herself away from crying, “right now, I don’t want to see anyone that I know.”

As the car slowly started to move, she took a last look at the family in the park. Telling herself that at least her mother get to be in a loving family and she seems truly happy with them. That should be enough for her, right? It’s not like Shiraishi Mai couldn’t live without her as that’s how it always been ever since she could barely even walk.

Even until this day, she realized that if her emotion is kicking in she would feel nothing but regret. Regretting her decision to come to the park that day, to approach that woman, to let herself be seen by the rest of Wakatsuki's family. But another part of her would feel like she’s winning because even though she didn’t actually get everything that she wants, at least, she managed to snatch it away from the younger girl that’s sitting beside her right now.

Just like her mother she truly is a horrible person.

“Mai, um.. here,” her mother suddenly decided to break the tension in the air, her hands moved and pulled out an envelope from her designer handbag, “there are some other things that I would like you to know. But I think it’s better if it’s not said out loud, so here.”

Shiraishi just looks at the envelope on the woman hands stiffly, not even trying to make any move to accept it. The woman smiled bitterly before putting it in front of her daughter, then she averted her gaze to her other daughter who has been nothing but silent the whole time, “have you thought any plan to counter the government?”

“Of course, we have, but I’m sorry, I’m not going to say it,” Wakatsuki answered apologetically.

Then suddenly the logic in Shiraishi’s head kick in, even without mentioning it, it’s really obvious what they’re going to do. Somehow she had started to speak to confirm her suspicion, “wait isn’t it obvious? I mean from the first place they don’t really have a chance of winning me over. You haven’t been there from the beginning, you left me with my father, not even making any attempt to look out for me like until the last 24 hours before the accident, well we could say 2 months before the accident but watching my performance without even notifying me wouldn’t count much. From the first place, you have no rights on me. My father is the one who has. He is my official guardian.”

“People can’t be an official guardian from the grave, Mai. Technically, as your birth mother, I am now your official guardian.”

Shiraishi was taken aback with her first statement, her brain spaced out for a moment, leaving a nagging headache once she was finally able to process the words. She clenched her hand, trying to push away the headache in vain, “of course, right. Well, we just have to make do with your initial suggestion then, convince them that I am an adult who needs no guardian.”

She glanced at the envelope who lays just an inch away from her fingers and took it before standing up, the two other women around her look at her in a questioning manner. “I need to go to the restroom.”

She didn’t even wait for their reaction before sliding the door opened and went straight to follow the restroom sign, could only hope that they would be kind enough to let her have her moment by herself. She spins the sink’s faucet, letting the cold water run across her hands, gathering some amount of it before splashing it onto her face, hoping it would help to calm herself a little.

She was shaking and her eyes starting to turn red even without any trace of tears. She closed her eyes for several minutes, hoping that would help her situation. Then she stared at her reflection in the mirror, telling herself that it is okay, that she needs to keep herself calm, at least, until she got back into Nogizaka building and speak about the matter personally with her sister.

Afraid that she was taking too long she walked back to where her mother and Wakatsuki are, but before she could even enter the booth she accidentally overheard their conversation as the door is apparently still not closed.

She halted, waiting to eavesdrop the conversation instead entering the room.

“I need to check on her, make sure that she is okay,” came Wakatsuki voice.

“Wait! Before you go, there is something that I want to give you.” Shiraishi could hear the soft sounds of a zipper before her mother voice came again, “your father mentioned that you are thinking of taking the next step with your girlfriend. Here-”
 
For a moment there was silence, Shiraishi is trying her best to keep herself from taking a peek to see what’s happening, thankfully before her patience runs out the younger woman said, “I don’t need it. I don’t want my relationship with Reika has anything to do with the family. Just like I don’t want to have anything to do with it too.”

“You know it’s not that simple, your family has enemies. It’ll be dangerous for her,” they went silent for a few seconds before her mother said again, “at least with this, she is officially in the family too, that way she would have the full protection and wouldn’t be a weak link that people could take an advantage of.”

Both went silence for a while again, she could imagine Wakatsuki having face full objection to whatever it is that the woman is trying to give her.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to her much, but from what I have heard she sounds like a great person. This is for her best too. Please do think about it.”

“Fine then. And yes, she is amazing.”

“You are also an amazing person too, I am glad that the two of you found each other. I am really proud of you, Yumi.”

And upon that sentence, Shiraishi felt suffocated and bitter. Who was she kidding with?

From the beginning, she’s competing in a battle that she could never win, her pathetic accidental attempt to ruin the other girl family didn’t erase the fact that her mother raised Wakatsuki Yumi and her sister, not her.

From the beginning, she had been tossed away as all she is nothing but a miserable reminder of the woman’s mistake.

She took a step back, accidentally bumped into the waitress that was serving them before in progress. The girl looked at her in confusion, “Shiraishi-san? Do you need any help in anything?”

“I-” she could hear her own voice breaking as her vision got a bit blurry because of her eyes had somehow started to water, “I need to go.”

And she ran.

She ran faster than she usually did when they checked her physique. Dashing out of the café within a matter of seconds, taking a random turn without even caring of where her foot is leading her too, not even caring about how her lungs are screaming from rigorous activity, and her brain feels like it’s being ripped apart.

She finally stopped when she realized that her phone has been ringing. Probably they had realized that she had run from the café, however, instead of picking it up she turns off the phone, making it impossible for them to reach her.

Shiraishi wondered if she was feeling like this back then, back when she had finally seen her mother in the park. She can’t remember if it was this painful or not, however, she could remember wanting to go away from everyone.

Just like what she wants to do right now.


~To Be Continued~




A/N:
Hiiii! So this chapter is continuing from where we left off when Maiyan meets her mother. Here we know more about them and a plot twist that is Wakatsuki Yumi, tbh at first I wanted to have Miona instead of Hinachima for Waka's sister, then I realize that if I put Chima it would make more sense as Chima sort of looks like Shiraishi more than Miona, so then we can assume that just like Shiraishi Chima took after her mother while Waka is taking after her father.  :)

And ooh can you see that I'm hinting something about Waka's relationship? ;)

I really hope this is not too complicated because somehow it will become messier as the story goes.  :nervous but if you feel like there's something that you still don't understand and please do ask me via replies or personal message or whatever way you can use to do so, I'd be happy to clarify, in fact, it would probably point out which point that I still need to work on more.

We will see another flashback of Maiyan story about a two or three chapter after this and after that, it's pretty much going to be Nanase's arc. FINALLY! lol trust me I also long for us to get to that arc soon  :cathappy:

So again thanks a lot for reading, I am always happy whenever I see a reply. Even if it is just a simple "Thanks for your work". So please do leave a reply if you feel like doing so  :deco:

Just as usual, sorry for the mistakes  :bow:


Replies:


@Janix123
Quote
Maiyan being so nice giving the coat and the scarf....wahhhh Naachan being mesmerized by her...I also love it when Maiyan gets mesmerized by Naachan....like SERIOUSLY...my imagination gets wild.
Maiyan is actually a nice person, just as much as Nanase is, she just has a completely different circumstances that makes her a jerk back then. I'm glad that I was able to take you to your wildest imagination then  :ptam-aww: I hope you're also reading this chapter and liking it, well it's more sad than fluffy but still-  :nervous



@clin-nolan
Quote
The way they met was cute ... it would be great if we could read more moments of them :heart:  :heart:
I hope to read more of WakaRei and that you can update soon
More moments of them will come a bit later, as now we are focusing more on maiyan's family situation. But I assure you there are some in the plot  :) It's not exactly WakaRei moment but in this chapter I'm hinting that they're totally going to take the next step  XD Thanks for the comment! Sorry if my updates aren't soon enough  :bow:



@wakaten
Quote
is there anything happen between waka and nanase? what waka means with 'three of us'

this story getting more interesting as it grew.. btw, when will you update sayo imi? i think i missed nanamin badly right now... seriously

Yes, something happened between waka and nanase, that's also one of the reasons why Maiyan was able to get closer to nanase, we will know more about this on Nanase's arc. And about the 'three of us' if you notice it, the friendship isn't just about waka and nanase, there's someone else in their best friend circle  :)

I updated SayoImi a few days ago, sorry it took so long, but there wasn't much of Nanamin as it is justifying Asuka's reason for that camera snatching moment. The next chap definitely will have more Nanamin  :D It's okay I also miss nanamin a lot :on speedy: That aside, I hope you will like this chapter as well, your replies always made my day  :deco:
« Last Edit: October 01, 2017, 12:03:47 PM by finiarel »

Offline wakaten

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XV || 011017]
« Reply #81 on: October 01, 2017, 03:10:02 PM »
wait waittt... what the heck is going on here? didn't see that coming tho... are you saying that the wakamai i shipped so much is actually stepsister???!!! too much shock to handle.. yes, i have a lot to say with this chapter, so i will do it in numbering...

1) since when waka know mai is her mother's daughter?? if she knew just recently or maybe long time ago, i want to know her reaction so bad... well since she already hate maiyan because of nanase, i think she has more reasons to hate maiyan tho (i didn't like this actually but that what makes it so interesting and different)  :fainted:

2) i also want to know if nanase and reika know this too and of course their reaction.. or if not, how would they react upon knowing this.. what a drama...  :banghead: :banghead:

3) ahhh yeah yeahhh finally.. a sneakpeak into wakarei's life. and they're getting MARRIEDDD!! (i hope my prediction is right)  :wigglypanda: my wild imaginations cannot take this anymore.. too much things at the same time.. but i'm seriously happy with this..

4) and.... waka's family sounds so dangerous...

Quote
“You know it’s not that simple, your family has enemies. It’ll be dangerous for her,” they went silent for a few seconds before her mother said again, “at least with this, she is officially in the family too, that way she would have the full protection and wouldn’t be a weak link that people could take an advantage of.”

awww waka mama so sweet.... i'm glad that her family approve their relationship.. much more proud to have reika (soon to be wakatsuki reika) in their family..   :hee: :hee:

5) last..

Quote
“I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to her much, but from what I have heard she sounds like a great person. This is for her best too. Please do think about it.”

“Fine then. And yes, she is amazing.

in what terms reika is so amazing in your eyes waka??  :glasses:

fuhh, i don;t know i had so much to say.. wel, thanks for update and PLEASE UPDATE ASAP (just kidding)
is my comments makes your day again??  :luvluv1:

btw, i just realized you update sayo imi few days ago, haven't read it but i will do it later (need time to heal from this great chapter)

Offline Janix123

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XV || 011017]
« Reply #82 on: October 01, 2017, 03:27:58 PM »
Welcome back finiarel-san. I still haven't comment on the previous update in SayoImi. Its been a long time since the last update but it was worth the wait. I actually Love the one shot 'Then'. Do you have plans on writing another one??

My thoughts in this chapter was that I feel sorry for Maiyan for feeling that way. For me, it's just so sad because at first she was ecstatic on meeting her mother but turns out bad.

I totally feel Maiyan when it comes to those situations on where she felt like being alone for awhile. Huhuhuhuhuhu

Waka and Maiyan's relationship sure is complicated...Wakarei at its finest...Nanase and Maiyan ought to make some development Hahahahaha

Btw thanks for the update
Hehehe. I'm a person who can't help but love AKB48 Group. I'm a silent reader please treat me well. I'm the kind of person who gets crazy over my favorite pairings

 :wigglypanda: :onioncheer: :onioncheer: :onionwhip: :onionwhip: :cool1: :cool1: :onionwhip: :onionwhip: :onioncheer: :onioncheer:  :wigglypanda:

Offline clin-nolan

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XV || 011017]
« Reply #83 on: November 09, 2017, 05:06:11 AM »
I did not expect them to be sisters  :panic: :panic:
Now I have even more curiosity about Maiyan's story
I hope you can update when it is possible for you  :D :twothumbs

Offline finiarel

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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVI || 061217]
« Reply #84 on: December 06, 2017, 12:48:22 AM »
CHAPTER XVI

Dearest Mai,

There is nothing that I want more than to explain everything that has happened and answers every single of your question. But as you know, it is not safe for both of us. Hence, albeit limited this letter is the safest way to give you some explanation.

I was raised in an area full of filth, where most of its residents are addict or mule. When you live in that kind of environment, sooner or later it will catch up with you, and that’s basically what happened with me. The difference is instead of being a drug smuggler or maker, I destroyed other drug rings that oppose my own. I am a saboteur, that’s how they usually call it, I make sure that my employer is clear from any business opponent.

Back then, there is one division in Nogizaka company who’s selling their restricted drugs into public, making them one of the parties that need to be taken down. This is where I met your father, who was the young CEO and also the owner of the company. Everything that occurs within the company is restricted to one another, making it really hard to uncover which division is my target, so in order to find the answer, under the disguise of a new secretary I seduced your father.

When I found out I was pregnant, my world turns upside down, however, I know that it is fair to inform your father about you. He was ecstatic, to the point of asking me to marry him. Knowing that was a bit impossible, I told him the truth, but still, he wants you. After some thorough investigation, he discovered the division that illegally sells some of its product to the public and shut it down. My work was done, turns out it wasn’t that hard to do since selling restricted drugs to the public isn’t what the company is for.

Knowing that I would have to left him as soon as the work is finished, your father helped me to make up a fake scenario where I was exposed to one of the contagious virus, which caused me to be prohibited to go out in public. While the truth I moved into your father’s house, planning everything we could to welcome you to the world. For a moment, my life was normal.

But about three months after giving birth to you I know that staying is dangerous and all I want is for you to be able to live your life as normal and safe as possible. So, I made my choice to leave to return to my old life while keeping my time with your father and your secret.

Mai, it was my mistake for keeping tabs on you, which lured you into a dangerous situation. If it wasn’t for me you can live your life as you wish, I am aware of that. Which is why I am sorry. You probably wouldn’t be able to forgive me, ever, but still, I hope that at least you know that it was because I was trying to be a mother that you deserve, even now I still am.

Mai, my enemies are still out there and now that some of them know that you are my daughter, there is a possibility they will use you to get me. The government is offering to give me protection, which in turn I need to do some favor for them. I know that letting the government give you protection is not going to be good when we take into account of your condition now. Which is why I am trying to help you from my side.

I know that you are a good person. However, my very existence is a danger to you. Which is why after all of this is over I will stay out of your life and I’m hoping for you to understand and stay out of mine too.

Love,
Your Mother



Shiraishi squishes the letter on her hand into a ball, squeezing it harshly as if that could make it disappear from her hold. Her head is hurting and she keeps having difficulties in breathing as if something is blocking the air into her lungs. She let her body to leaned to her right side where a park lamp is standing, using the sturdy pole to keep her body from falling to the ground.

On her other hand, lay a small picture that she hasn’t seen before today. A picture of her father, with the biggest smile from him that she has ever seen. The man is carrying a baby that Shiraishi could recognize as herself, his eyes are looking at the baby in a careful manner as if he’s afraid that showing the girl to the camera will disturb the girl’s peaceful sleep. Although it’s outside of the focus range, Shiraishi could spot her mother at the background, laying on the hospital bed, looking exhausted but happy at the same time, probably glad that the man looks dependable enough to raise the child without her.

She doesn’t need to think hard to remember when was the last time she saw her father. That time she was even hiding from him, didn’t feel like talking to him at all. The last time where they actually talked is when he came into her place and she basically kicked him out by threatening to call the police. She somehow started to laugh bitterly. Her father was too good for her, she doesn’t deserve him, not even in the slightest.

Suddenly Shiraishi felt a liquid running from her nose, as well as a sudden unbearable pain coming from several parts of her body. She averted her gaze from the picture into her pocket, her hand weakly reach in to get her phone. Sliding her thumb over the screen to unlock it before sliding up to reveal the call keypad and dial one of her speed dial.

She wasn’t even sure if the dial tone has rung or not before the other party picks up the call.

‘Maiyan, where are you?’

To think about it, she doesn’t even know where she is. What she did is just run to wherever her legs bring her to, and somehow ended up in a park that she doesn’t think has visited before.

Shiraishi Mai is lost. She has no idea where she is nor that she has any strength to stand up and look around for a sign of her whereabouts. Her artificial legs have decided stopped responding to her brain command to move for a while.

“In a park but don’t… know… which” her voice breaks, she felt like she’s crying and laughing at her stupidity for the first time. What kind of person run away only to call someone to bring her back to the very same place that she is running away from? In the end, all she does is bringing the unnecessary problem, something that she realizes she’s actually good at.

‘It’s okay, we’ll find you, okay? I’ll find you,’ her voice sounds strange in her ear, it sounds distant, as if the other person is speaking from under water.

Shiraishi nodded even though she knows that the person that she’s speaking to wouldn’t be able to see it. Her hand that is not holding the phone rubs her temple, “it hurts… It hurts so bad.”

‘Mai! Mai! Hang in there, please. E affoujnd yulr scaoticon, wsall e tre isadm. J-.’

She can’t understand most of the words that she heard. It’s not that the sounds slowly fade from her ears, but rather, her brain couldn’t decipher it as if the words are incoherent. Jumbled.

It reminds her of that night. The night where she wasn’t able to do anything but painfully lay in the middle of the street, choking on her own blood, with the very same person’s voice to be the only thing that she could hear other than her own ragged breathing. Her eyes looking straight to where her own mother was standing. Looking at her with eyes full of guilt and remorse before finally turning her back on her, walking away as if she couldn’t see that her own daughter needs help.

Why didn’t she notice it sooner? Her father was the only one who wants her. Why couldn’t she read the situation with a rational mind? Her mother, who had the heart to abandon her when she was just a baby would totally have the heart to do the same when she is suffering from an impending death.

Shiraishi Mai isn’t afraid of dying, she never was. But instead, she is afraid of abandonment. She was afraid of her mother to leave her, just like how right now she is afraid that Nishino Nanase would hang up on their call.

Was it as painful as this back then? She honestly could not remember. But she knows that all she wants is to keep hearing the voice from her phone, to make sure that there is still a person who is trying to be with her.

“Nanase.… stay with me,” she pleaded as the last of her strength seems to leave her body and pull her into the darkness, “please…. Don’t leave me…”

Everything that happens after that is a blur for her.

She remembered someone shaking her, but when she opened her eyes everything was swirling that she can’t even distinguish who the person is, all that her ears could catch is a painful ringing, which is nothing in compares to her lungs that burns as if she’s inhaling a hot water instead of air- suffocating her in every breath she took, not to mention the most likely imaginary axe that swung into her head every two seconds.

She remembered seeing a really bright light, but the moment was short-lived as the darkness is quickly pull her back to their side once more. This occurs multiple times as if the darkness and the bright light is two people that are trying to pull her onto their side.

Every time, the darkness always won. Leaving her with emptiness and discomfort until the bright light come to her again. But no matter which side she is in, she’s always alone, both sides are just similarly unwelcoming to her.

Suddenly she can hear a distant voice. Ignoring her discomfort, Shiraishi tries to focus on that voice, making sense of every single word.

“- a child. You don’t need to tell me what to do,” a voice said curtly followed by a silence. She could hear some footsteps come and go. Not long after that, a gentle squeeze on her right-hand pulls her into consciousness more “Mai?”

Slowly she tried to open her eyes, blinking a couple of times to get used to the warm light of the place, “Nanase?”

She hasn’t even taken a good look at the girl to confirm her suspicion but the person has leaned forward and given her a hug. Slowly she raised her hands, letting it lay on the girlfriend’s back to keep their distance close.

“I’m so glad you are okay,” the girl mumbled before pulling back to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

“Me too,” she exhaled, realizes that her agreement doesn’t really make a sense but chooses to ignore it as she doesn’t want to clarify. She isn’t glad because she is okay, she is glad that Nishino is there. She is glad that she is still by her side, unlike her mother, or her father.

Shiraishi perspiration suddenly hitched when her memories hit her. Every single thing overwhelms her brain, the thought of her old man, the thought that she practically is an orphan now, and the thought that she should be out there helping her sister to face the world without any guidance of parents instead of helplessly stuck in a facility.

“Listen to me, hey! Shiraishi-san,” another person who is standing next to the bed gently direct Shiraishi’s face to look at her, putting an oxygen mask to cover Shiraishi’s nose and mouth, “take a deep breath.”

Shiraishi tried to do as she is instructed but fail nonetheless. She reached for her chest as if to make sure her lungs are still there as it doesn’t seem to function, “can’t.”

“You can. Listen to me, you are hurting, it is hard to breathe, but you still can,” the person assures her with both hands on either of her shoulder, “try to do it with me. Take a deep breath,”

She could feel someone gently pried her hand away from her chest, giving it a gentle squeeze as if to encourage her. Shiraishi took a deep breath.

“Good. Now hold it in, 1..2, and let it go.”

And just like that, she feels a lot calmer and collected. The person smiled upon seeing this, Shiraishi can see the look of accomplishment on her face for getting the job done. Shiraishi tried to repeat the breathing pattern again and again until she feels like the obstacles that prevent the air from getting into her lungs is lifted a little, “thanks, Sakurai-san.”

“No need to thank me. Just remember that whenever you feel like it’s hard to breathe, use the oxygen mask and try to do that. You were having a panic attack, there was nothing wrong with your organs, at least it shouldn’t be as long as you try to breathe.”

“Okay,” she said, her voice sounds a bit weird because of the mask, “and when can I take this off?”

“Once you are feeling like you can breathe okay without it, but please don’t push yourself. You can also take it off and keep it somewhere in the reachable distance just in case it happens again,” Sakurai explained, observing the ceiling for the moment before looking back at her again, “I know that a lot has happened and most likely those are why you are hurting, but remember this, it was just a feeling. It hurts, but not physically. You have two option to handle this, embrace it or to tone it down by pushing it at the back of your mind.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

Sakurai nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer she has gotten and took her leave, letting Shiraishi put her attention back to the girl who has been watching the whole ordeal in silent.

Shiraishi took the oxygen mask off, placing it next to her pillow before giving the girl a weak smile, she knows that she is still far from okay but she wants to assure her, “Nanase, don’t need to worry about me, okay?”

“If you say so,” the girl smiles albeit her eyes still looking sad, subtly nodded before taking a step back to sit down on a chair, letting two other women come closer so they could perform a check up on Shiraishi.

After some procedure that she is already familiar with, both of them took a step back. Fukagawa still busy scribbling on her notes and Hashimoto eyeing the oxygen mask next to her, the latter seems in a deep contemplation on how to start a conversation.

“So, how are you feeling?” she finally asked.

“Full of emotion. Did you accidentally overdose me again?”

“Actually no,” Hashimoto smiled a little. “In fact, we haven’t given you any dose since that time where you ran away with a lawyer.”

“It wasn’t like what you think!” she quickly tried to steer clear of any misunderstanding. A second after that she finally comprehends the whole sentence. “Wait, so I am currently not in any effect of emotion-inducing drugs?”

“No. Congratulation, Shiraishi-san, you did it. Well, we still have to keep you on close observation just in case, but so far it’s good.”

“I should be the one to congratulate you, if not for you I wouldn’t even be here now. Thank you so much, Hashimoto-san. And Fukagawa-san too.”

“You’re always welcome to pay us a nice dinner sometime later, I heard you have quite the taste,” Hashimoto teased with a slight chuckle.

“Don’t be rude, Nanamin,” Fukagawa reprimand the more superior scientist before turning her gaze on Shiraishi, “your welcome, Shiraishi-san. I have informed Ikuta-san that you are awake, she’s probably he-”

As if on cue the sound of the door sliding opened reached their ears, invoking Fukagawa to smile brightly, “and she’s here. We will take our leave then.”

The scientists did exchange a brief greeting with the young director before finally leaving the room, but after they are gone it’s basically just her, Nishino and the girl in the room.

“Should I leave?” Nishino asked, considering the current situation in mind.

Shiraishi shook her head, “no, it should be fine. Please, stay.”

Nishino sighed coming closer to the bed and give her a slight pat on the arm, “okay, let me get some water, do you want a glass too?”

“That would be good,” she nodded.

Ikuta clear her throat to gain her sister’s attention, calmly she started to speak, “about father. I am sorry that I didn’t tell you before.”

“What was it? The cause of his death, I mean,” she asked, ignoring the apology.

“Heart attack. I personally believe that he had a lot in mind, which cause a strain on his heart. You know that he has a heart problem.”

Shiraishi smiled bitterly, “yeah, he had always refused to get some help. What a complicated man, he didn’t even bother to question her daughter before helping her, yet didn’t do anything to help himself. He is too good that it is unfair to himself.”

“I wonder if that runs in the gene,” the younger girl remarked.

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows before deciding to brush it off, “where is he buried?”

“Next to mom. I can arrange you to visit him if you want,” Ikuta offers.

“There’s no need for that now, it’s fine. I want to focus on winning my own case first. Also, about my share of the company, I will take my claim on it as soon as the case is won. I will need your help to find some good advisor, though.”

Ikuta raised her eyebrows, wasn’t expecting Shiraishi to be more concerned about the company than her own father. “Well, if that’s what you want. Anyway, I heard from Sakurai-san you had a panic attack earlier, how are you holding up?”

“Much better actually. Sakurai taught me how to handle it, which works well for me up to this point. I don’t know if you’ve heard about this but I am currently emotionally functioning without the drugs.”

“I can see that,” Ikuta expression softened as the corner of her lips curled up into a smile, “just a little bit more and you can go home.”

“Really?” Shiraishi’s eyes widened, “Nanase, did you hear that? I can go back to sleep in our bed soon.”

On the other side of the room, Nishino is looking to anywhere but Shiraishi, noticing this Shiraishi’s eyebrows furrowed. She hadn’t gotten any chance to question her weird response because her attention is taken back by Ikuta soon after that.

“Eh- well, I can’t say for sure if you will be fit enough to live in your penthouse, I was referring to our home. The family’s house to be exact. Over there, there will be people that could help and check up on you every now and then,” the younger one corrected her statement.

Shiraishi frowns, not liking the fact that she can’t go back to her own place soon. Since her last year of senior high school, she has been living on her own, only coming back to the huge mansion once or twice a week to visit her sister or her father. The thought of coming back to the house without the presence of her father sitting down on the garden’s breakfast table in the morning bothers her.

“It’s okay I will come to visit you every day,” Nishino broke her train of thought and hand her a glass of water, “even if you could go back to our place you'd probably be alone since I’m currently living with Yumi-chan and Reika-chan anyway.”

“Just wait until the honeymoon, I’m pretty sure you’d be itching to move out by then,” Shiraishi muttered in annoyance, realizing the fact that Nishino is not living on their place anymore slipped out of her mind.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

Realizing her slip of tongue Shiraishi shrugged and drank every drop of water in the glass. She suddenly remembers that there is another matter that she wants to set straight and the thought of it reminds her of the accident. Shiraishi calmed herself using the method that Sakurai taught her, making sure that her breathing is already stable before reaching for her girlfriend, “Nanase, is Wakatsuki-san here?”

“Yes, she’s outside I suppose.”

“Then can you please call her in. Um- and Sakurai-san too. There’s something that I need to tell the two of you and also them,” Shiraishi explained.

Nishino looks confused on the unexpected request, but thankfully chose not to ask furthermore, “Okay then, I’ll be right back.” 

Seeing this Ikuta also looks at the girl on the bed with full curiosity, “is this about the café outing that you had with Wakatsuki-san?”

Shiraishi nodded, closing her eyes to calm down her pounding heart, her brain starting to select which one she needs to tell them and which one needs to be kept secret. She realizes that they need to know the truth. However, she is also aware that the topic could turn into something dangerous and there is no way she would put the people that she cares about in harm’s way just because of a foolish mistake that she made. Losing her father has taught her a lesson to protect the two people that she has left, keeping herself from losing someone ever again.


~To Be Continued~


A/N:
Hiiiii! Sorry for being so slow  :bow: I was having a horrible writer's block  :bleed eyes:

Okay so this chapter starts with the letter that was given to Maiyan in last chapter, I was really torn on whether to include the letter or not, but after some consideration I feel like it's probably needed to understand the past. Just as planned the whole backstory centering around the accident will be told in the next chapter, I hope you'd be looking forward to that as well  :deco:

Thanks for reading,  :cow:



Replies:

@wakaten
Quote
wait waittt... what the heck is going on here? didn't see that coming tho... are you saying that the wakamai i shipped so much is actually stepsister???!!! too much shock to handle..
told ya there will be plot twist  ;) but well, Wakamai romantic shipping will have to go to another story  :nervous

Quote
1) since when waka know mai is her mother's daughter?? if she knew just recently or maybe long time ago, i want to know her reaction so bad... well since she already hate maiyan because of nanase, i think she has more reasons to hate maiyan tho (i didn't like this actually but that what makes it so interesting and different)
I couldn't say much at this point, but I can say that you are right that Waka's reason for hating Maiyan is not just Nanase, her family also one of the reason why she doesn't like Maiyan that much.

Quote
2) i also want to know if nanase and reika know this too and of course their reaction.. or if not, how would they react upon knowing this.. what a drama...
I kind of let it known in this chapter that Nanase and Reika has yet to know about this, and Maiyan is going to come clean to them about it.

Quote
4) and.... waka's family sounds so dangerous.
waka mama so sweet.... i'm glad that her family approve their relationship.. much more proud to have reika (soon to be wakatsuki reika) in their family..
in what terms reika is so amazing in your eyes waka?? 
Yes, Waka's family is kind of dangerous. and all hail the WakaRei ship  :cow: About why Reika is amazing in Waka's eyes, I'd leave that to your imagination  XD

Thank you so much for the comment. I was surprised you even put it in bullet points  :shocked it flatters me that you are into this story at least as much as I am into writing it  :twothumbs


@Janix123
Hi there  :)

Quote
I actually Love the one shot 'Then'. Do you have plans on writing another one??

My thoughts in this chapter was that I feel sorry for Maiyan for feeling that way. For me, it's just so sad because at first she was ecstatic on meeting her mother but turns out bad.

I totally feel Maiyan when it comes to those situations on where she felt like being alone for awhile. Huhuhuhuhuhu

Waka and Maiyan's relationship sure is complicated...Wakarei at its finest...Nanase and Maiyan ought to make some development Hahahahaha


About writing another one shot, I can say that I have plan on writing another one. Probably not as thorough as 'Then' but still it counts for something. My main problem now is that I've been really bad in managing my time. Something that I'm really trying to fix during the past couple of days  :panic:

And yes, Maiyan past is full of people leaving her and that kind of shape the person she is now.

Awww, I sometimes feel like being alone, but sitting still and contemplates on my problem usually doesn't work well for me, I'm more of a distraction person, the more problem that I have the more I'd try to distract myself with pointless stuff.

All abroad the WakaRei ship. And yea sorry if WakaMai relationship is too complicated :nervous NanaMai development would need to wait as the two of them still has some unspoken problem. The story will work towards how are they going to handle this and the outcome  :glasses:

Thanks for the comment, I hope you'd like this chapter as well  :cow:



@clin-nolan
Quote
I did not expect them to be sisters  :panic: :panic:
Now I have even more curiosity about Maiyan's story
I hope you can update when it is possible for you  :D :twothumbs
Hi there  ;)
I'm so glad I totally got you with the plot twist, that kind of assures me that it's working just as I planned  :cathappy:
There are still more about Maiyan past, I'll do my best to deliver them  :cow:
Thanks for the comment, hoping you are liking the new chapter as well  :deco:
« Last Edit: December 06, 2017, 12:58:04 PM by finiarel »

Offline clin-nolan

  • Member
  • Posts: 30
Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVI || 061217]
« Reply #85 on: December 09, 2017, 03:04:42 AM »
Hello  :D
I liked this chapter although the letter made me feel a bit sad for Mai  :sweatdrop:
My expectations were overcome  :twothumbs
I have no idea what Maiyan wants to say to WakaRei  :panic: :panic:
I am anxious to know more about this story   :?
I hope that soon you update author-san  :bow: :heart: :heart:

Offline finiarel

  • Member+
  • Posts: 83
  • Maiyan is life Maiyan is love!
    • finiarel24
Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVII || 030218]
« Reply #86 on: February 03, 2018, 12:20:57 PM »
CHAPTER XVII

If your parent was spying on you what would be the most logical thing to do? For Shiraishi, the answer is to secretly follow him and see who is the guy who helped him. And that’s basically what she has been doing for the past few days.

Well, the man has been basically out and about in the city, taking care of his business, the same old boring stuff that Shiraishi has known for long. However, today is probably her lucky day, his car is going around an area that he usually has nothing to do with. She swiftly hides at the back of a dumpster in the nearest alley, watching intently as the man stepped out of the car, giving a signal to the driver to circle around as there is no place to park in the area.

Slowly she started to move closer, following him in silence as she kept their distance safe. There is no way her father would walk into a creepy new york’s alley if not he has to do something in secret and Shiraishi suspects that he will meet the person. The scum who was sent to spy on her.

Her phone suddenly rang, almost snapped her out of cover if not for her quickly shutting it off while blending with the passerby. It’s probably Nishino, they sort of decided on-call schedule, where they can talk to each other without disturbing other’s works. Right now, is their usual time for calling and keeping up with each other life. Shiraishi silently mumbled an apology to the girl that’s a thousand miles away.

She needs to do this. She needs to make sure her father has no chance to ever spy on her again.

“You know, trying to track me down isn’t exactly the smartest path to take.”

Shiraishi freezes when she heard a woman voice coming from the alley talking to her father. A voice that she had only heard years ago yet somehow still familiar to her. Hidden behind the dumpster once again, Shiraishi calmed her racing heart, slowly collecting her courage to peek into the alley, concentrating so she could be able to hear the conversation.

“I think you have heard me perfectly when I said I will take care of the situation.” Her father said. His intonation is strict and cold, something that Shiraishi has heard a couple of time when he is lecturing his workers.

“You didn’t exactly take care of the situation. You were just asking her to move to another university, which wouldn’t exactly solve the whole problem. As long as she is here, in this country, she is in danger. I don’t care if she wants to quit the university or not. What’s important here is keeping her from too many public eyes, bring her back to Japan where you can get someone to protect her.”

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows not believing what she had just heard. For all these years, she had thought the woman doesn’t keep tabs on her, not even knowing that she is her daughter.

Turns out she was wrong.

Shiraishi wondered why the woman thinks she in danger as she herself feels as safe as she could be now.

Except. Except for that photographs.

Little by little Shiraishi sew one piece to the other, losing her focus on her parents’ argument and starting to gain an understanding of what is possibly happening. Someone was taking photographs of her and her mother telling her father to bring her back to Japan. This can be related. No- “can” would be a miscalculation. This must be related.

“It’s your fault from the first place! If it wasn’t for you coming to watch her play, none of them would ever suspect that she is your daughter. You haven’t changed at all, always blaming your mess to someone else.” Her father said in utter disgust. “And you don’t even know her at all. Letting her girlfriend knows that she is having an affair will strengthen her decision to stay here. Now that she has basically no one to go home to.”

Shiraishi took a deep breath, one of her hand, who’s holding her phone in her hoodie pocket suddenly feel cold and clammy. Was that the reason Nishino called her earlier? Because she finds out what had happened?

“You dare to judge me while you who are supposed to be taking care of her all these years couldn’t even speak to her without shouting at the top of your lungs?”

And the argument begins.

Shiraishi wasn’t even able to follow the conversation anymore, her heart was torn and confused. Afraid of facing Nishino. Afraid of admitting the past that she is not proud of. Afraid of what will happen because she is probably a target of something dangerous.

She stayed there crouching against a dirty dumpster cold wall. Feeling like her world has been torn apart. She was too lost in her own thought that she didn’t notice it when her parents finally stopped arguing. Her father fled the alley first, followed by her mother.

Suddenly Shiraishi stood up and started to run, hoping that her mother hasn’t walked too far away. She looked at each of the passerby features, scolding herself when she couldn’t even remember the color of the dress that her mother is wearing.

“Were you following me?”

The question jolted Shiraishi out of her search. She turned back and see the woman, standing right behind her, a gentle look on her face.

With that kind of composed look. It’s hard to believe that just a few minutes ago, the very same woman was yelling and arguing with her father.

“I-” Shiraishi took a deep breath “I need to ask you a few questions.”

The woman raised her eyebrows. Waiting for her daughter to continue.

“What do you mean by I am in danger. What kind of danger?”

The older one sighed. Her gaze wanders around before finally speaking up. “About a few blocks from where you live, there is a 24 hours grocery, right? This evening, around 9 PM go there and buy something. I’ll meet you at the 3rd intersection you will pass on your way back and we will talk.”

“And why do I need to buy grocery again?” Shiraishi asked in confusion.

“Because you will stay over at my place until everything is settled and there is basically no food in the fridge. Oh, don’t worry about clothes, that I have a lot.” The woman said coyly as if it is just a simple sleepover plan. “I’ll see you tonight.”

The woman has somehow walked out from her vision quickly and before she could even try to find her again, she was gone, disappeared in the middle of the city’s busy walkers. Shiraishi sighed, taking out the phone in her pocket as she started to slowly walk home. Rearranging her words in her mind, carefully selecting what would be the best to explain everything to her girlfriend.

Sometimes, there are days when there are lots to do however you ended up with doing nothing at all. That is basically what happened on Shiraishi Mai that day. After she reached her messy and gloomy flat, she found herself laying on the bed without the urge to do anything. She had even fallen into a not so peaceful slumber.

Not before she had started to walk back from the grocery she finally got the courage to turn her phone on. Smiling bitterly when she sees dozens of messages that Nishino has left before deleting all the notification away from the screen and dial her number.

Nishino Nanase picks up the call on the third dial tone.

“Is this a bad time to talk?” Shiraishi asked, which is followed by some sounds of rustling from the other end.

‘No. You can talk.’ From the coldness of her voice, she knows that her girlfriend must have found out about the pictures and definitely not amused.

“Nanase I cheated on you,” Shiraishi admitted. “It’s not out of love- it’s…. I did it to score better roles in the play. I am so sorry. I know that apology wouldn’t be enough but now that’s all I can say.”

There is nothing from the other end, not even an acknowledgement that she is still there and hearing everything that Shiraishi said. “Nanase? Please say something.”

'Fine. Was it your idea?’

“He was known to be easily swayed. But yeah, I was the one who suggested it.” Shiraishi admitted, her chest felt a bit heavy from all the remorse. “I am sorry.”

'How about the one who took the picture?’

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows “what about it?”

'Mai, are they trying to blackmail you or something? Because someone was definitely following you around taking pictures of you, know about your relationship with me, and the house address.’

“That would be my mother.” Shiraishi sighed. “She has a fun way to show her daughter that she cares.”

'Your mother? I thought you didn’t know her.’

“I still don’t. Well, long story short, she is caught in some sort of dangerous situation and now trying to have me quit the school and send me back to Japan with whatever it takes.” Shiraishi starting to tremble as the frustration finally reached her. “My life right now is a mess. You wouldn’t even believe me. I have moved out from my apartment. My father isn’t even funding my education anymore. It’s like the fate has finally beat me down. Tempting me to resort to something simpler as long as it would do me good.”

'Mai, are you okay? Do you need any help?’

Shiraishi shook her head, clenching the grocery bag even tighter as if it will fly away if she doesn’t. “I am not okay, but I will be fine. I am hanging up. I am going to meet her now.”

'Mai, wait! if she’s involved in something dangerous, I think you should just let this matter go and go back to Japan. Your dad is also still around, isn’t he? At least you can come with him and talk to her.’

Shiraishi can spot concern on the other girl’s voice. If the situation was different she would have teased the girl for forgiving her affair so easily. But now isn’t the exactly a great time for bad ice breaker.

“My father and I aren’t exactly the best buddy right now. Besides, if not now I think it will be hard to find her again. I have nothing left anymore, I want to know what is it that makes her destroy everything that I have.”

'I have bad feelings about this.’ Nishino murmured. 'Can you please at least consider what I said? Please? Or postpone for a few days and I will find a way to come and accompany you. Just left this matter go for now.’

During her deep contemplation earlier Shiraishi Mai has decided that she will be the one who assess the level of the situation and not before she knows that it is safe she would let anyone that she cares about getting dragged into a hairy situation. So, she gritted her teeth and gave her response. “Listen to me, this is what I need to do for myself.”

'Even so, you can let me help you. You have never let me help you, not even a bit. Always shouldering everything alone. You’re obviously burdening yourself right now,’ A voice replied through the call

Suddenly she felt like cheated, as if Nishino has no right to say that to her, to tell her what to do even after all that she has done. “You’ve done enough for me. Stop accusing me of shouldering things alone, while the truth you also did that to me.”

'Did what? I’ve always told you my problems.’

“BUT, YOU’VE NEVER GIVEN ME A CHANCE TO HELP YOU. JUST LIKE HOW YOU’VE NEVER TRIED TO LISTEN TO ME.” Her tone leapt a few octaves higher to her own surprise. She stopped realizing she is already in a place where she is supposed to meet her mother. However, when she looked right and left and find that the street is empty.

'How come you turned this argument towards me. We’re talking about your problem here.’

Shiraishi sighed, trying to calm herself down. Her feet started to walk down the street to cross. Trying not to feel disappointed upon the absence of her mother at what’s supposed to be their meeting location. “So now you’re blaming me for not wanting to trouble you. Nanase, You know what-”

BWEEEEEEEEEP

She had actually prepared to let out some insults that would have to break their fragile relationship even more if not for the sudden force that knocked her off her feet and slam her body down on the cold pavement. The world seems to move slower than usual. Every inch of her body hurts as if she had just gotten multiple hits from her softball bat. Even that would probably hurt less than what she is feeling.

Slowly, she tried to open her eyes, trying to ignore the iron taste of liquid in her mouth, preventing her from breathing freely. She is laying down chest first on the pavement, one of her hand couldn’t even respond to her brain command, while the other is laying on the puddle of blood coming from her body.

It was surprising that so many of her blood has been gone from her body yet she is still breathing. Her eyes land the phone a few centimetres in front of her. Something that should have been easy to reach if not for a massive sting she felt from various place in her body without even a single movement.

Her ears are ringing painfully, not letting her to comprehend whatever it is that Nishino is saying on the phone. Her voice probably came out like a weird screech instead of an actual call for help.

Her eyes shot upwards. Catching a glimpse of a figure that she remembers very well. Wearing simple dark boots, jeans and red shirt was her mother. Funny how she finally notes the other woman clothing preference when she is barely breathing.

That’s right. Her mother is here. Shiraishi feels like she is on top of the cloud. Because now that the woman is there she feels like everything is going to be fine. A help will come soon and-

Wait, what is she doing?

Shiraishi’s eyes widened when the woman turned her back on her. Hands clenched on sides as her foot started to walk away. Shiraishi wanted to shout, to scream, to let her know that she is there with half of her body is still under the car that is thankfully high enough to keep her body from being crushed.

CRACKKKK

During her teenage years, Shiraishi had watched a horror movie a couple of times, where the main character would accidentally break her leg, or somehow get cut with a chainsaw, or something even more horrible to understand, but the actual sound of a broken bone is even more horrible than that. It’s like a gunshot to her ear. And the pain was sharp, gut-wrenching, and unbearable. Yes, it is so unbearable that Shiraishi Mai wished she can just pass out and die right there.

Well, she did pass out there but she didn’t die. Or at least didn’t actually die.

Shiraishi exhaled.

Inhaled.

Exhaled.

And Inhaled once more. Calming herself from the past memory that is suddenly haunting her.

Throwing her gaze from left to right she can see that her sister, her girlfriend, Wakatsuki and also Sakurai have gathered around her bed. Sakurai just like Nishino is giving her a look of confusion, the first clearly have no clue on why Shiraishi needs her to be present as well, while the other one still couldn’t comprehend the relationship between everything and Wakatsuki. Meanwhile, Wakatsuki looks nervous, knowing that the one on the bed will reveal something that they have been silently kept a secret for a while.

“You see,” Shiraishi started earning a full attention from everyone around her, “when Wakatsuki-san took me out. It wasn’t just a normal lawyer-client outing. Rather, it was a family reunion.”

Shiraishi looks at the crumpled paper on her hand, the letter from her mother that had somehow still in her hand at the time they found her in that park. Shiraishi sighed, trying to shoo away the most likely emotional pain in her chest.

“In the next trial, the government is going to reveal their trump card. That trump card is my mother. She will be working with them. It shouldn’t be surprising considering how unimportant I am compared to her other daughter that is also here right now. But thankfully, she still had a bit of conscience to gives us a heads up.”

The girls looked at each other, trying to decipher who is the daughter that Shiraishi is speaking of. Wakatsuki averted her eyes to the plain white blanket on Shiraishi’s body. Clenching her hands as she finally made her decision to speak up.

“The truth is that woman is also my mother. That’s why I took Shiraishi-san out, it was all upon my mother’s request,” she bit her lower lip before continuing her words further with a deep bow apology, “I am really sorry for causing so much trouble.”

“No, you are not,” Shiraishi shook her head, “you have nothing to apologize for. It’s actually good that you let me meet her first. Thank you, Wakatsuki-san, it means so much to me.”

“O-okay, are you saying that Wakatsuki-san is actually your sister?” Ikuta interrupted the moment, earning a curious look from Sakurai and Nishino too.

“Biologically, yes, we have the same mother. But you see, the circumstances are difficult. I don’t know if you have read this letter or not, but- that woman is not only involved in something dangerous, she is also dangerous. That’s why it’s best if we stay out of her business. You too, Wakatsuki-san.”

“I know.”

“Good.” Shiraishi gives the girl a little smile, realizing that if circumstances are different they might be able to get along really well. She averted her eyes to Ikuta, “I know that I already said that I will go with whatever plan that you decide with Wakatsuki and I’m not going to change that. But I want the two of you to keep in mind that despite what she said and her relation to me, my mother is still the enemy.”

“I am aware of that. Our situation is really good now. I heard from Hashimoto-san that you don’t need to take the drugs to enhance your emotion anymore, don’t you?”

Shiraishi nodded.

“Then that will add to our advantage, as long as you can prove them that you are suited to live without your mother then it will be good.” Ikuta declared. A hesitant smile appears on her lips.

“Actually, there is something else that would ensure our win,” Shiraishi smiled, not the soft kind of smile that looks gentle on her face but more like the one with one corner of her lip tug upwards, the one that makes her looks dangerous. “We have never talked about this before, but on the night of my accident, is there any street camera footage of it?”

Ikuta and Nishino expression turn gloomy all of sudden, but knowing that Shiraishi is waiting for her explanation, Ikuta speaks up, “Even with the footage, the police couldn’t find a match between the guy who was driving with anyone in the database. They only found the car left abandoned in the street. The case was closed as they couldn’t find anything else after a few months.”

“No, we are not looking for the culprit of the accident, but rather the witness. You see, my mother was one of them.”

Wakatsuki looks surprised, “are you saying that you saw her on that night?”

“Yes, in fact, that intersection is supposed to be our meeting point that night. So, I reckon with the video footage, you can totally spot her there.”

“I actually don’t get it,” Sakurai suddenly breaks her silence. “Even though we can spot her, but isn’t it just going to help their case more? I mean that shows that she cares about Shiraishi-san. Well, forgive me to say this but at this point, I think we need to point out the fact that she has never been present in Shiraishi-san’s life.”

“Well, if we really manage to find the whole footage, you will see that the street was basically empty, it was just me and her at the time the car ran into me, yet she walked away from the accident instead of rushing to help me. That’s totally not a what a good mother would do, isn’t it?”

“That’s insane, you-you’re going to send her to prison,” Wakatsuki said in disbelieves.

“Do you think I care?” Shiraishi snapped. “I am sorry but I have learnt the hard way that motherly love is not going to save me. It already cost my life once, I am not letting it happen again.”

Everyone in the room fell into silence. Wakatsuki biting her lower lips, a habit that she does whenever she’s cornered.

“Look, I can understand if you don’t want to do this. It’s okay to back down. However, I think you don’t need to worry much about the mother. She is smart, I am pretty sure she will manage to find a way out if the situation goes bad for her.” Shiraishi said softly.

“It’s fine. I will do it. We’re going to use your way,” Wakatsuki unexpectedly agrees. “But you see, we are not going to re-open the case, just use that exact footage to prove her liability as a mother.”

“That’s the only thing that I’m asking for. Thank you, Wakatsuki-san, I am really glad that we have you in our case,” Shiraishi grinned, her last sentence sounds like it has a hidden meaning into it, something that she is trying to hide.

On the other hand, Wakatsuki doesn’t answer, her expression still tense, Shiraishi knows that she is afraid of her leaking another secret. But Shiraishi knows that revealing that is something that will be dangerous, which is why she decided to stop the conversation straight away before it goes further into a forbidden territory.

“That’s all I have to say,” Shiraishi ends her explanation, earning some relief exhales from some of them. She averts her eyes to Nishino, who has been silent through the entire conversation. “Nanase, are you okay?”

“How long have you known about Yumi-chan being your sister?” She asked.

“A few months after that time she punched me in the face. But I have no idea about how long she has known though, our mom didn’t exactly introduce us to each other.”

Nishino nodded, locking their eyes for a moment before saying, “I can understand that the situation was more complicated than how it looks. However, it was also dangerous. So please, don’t do more than what’s necessary.”

“Come here,” Shiraishi gestured her to come closer, gently pulling her into an embrace when the young girl finally within an arms reach distance. “What’s done is done. There’s no need to worry about that anymore, okay?”

She gives Nishino a gentle pull to land a kiss on the side of her head, eyes throwing a meaningful look to Wakatsuki who is observing the whole interaction.

~ To Be Continued ~




AN:
The whole recap of the accident is here. Well, by the end of this chapter you can see that there is totally something else to it. Or at least some involvement from Maiyan's mom. This is a really vital chapter that was planned from the beginning of the story. A lot has actually change because the circumstances and me having too much fun playing around, but this chapter has not changed at all, this is still how the accident is supposed to be  :nervous I really hope some changes that I have made along the way isn't making this illogical and OMG trust me it's really hard to rewrite Maiyan and Naachan phone dialogue (if you remember it was in the first chapter as well) and merge it with the actual plotline   :cool1:

So Hi again in 2018, if you have time, please check out my One Shot thread, I post a one shot that is based on this timeline over there, but it wasn't actually related to the plot so you're not really missing anything important. But you would be missing a fluffy short NanaMai drabble  :oops: I am really really thankful for all the support that this story has gotten it was iven read more than 10k times, which is kind of unbelievable yet flattering at the same time  :deco:

replies:
@clin-nolan
Quote
I liked this chapter although the letter made me feel a bit sad for Mai  :sweatdrop:
My expectations were overcome  :twothumbs
I have no idea what Maiyan wants to say to WakaRei  :panic: :panic:
I am anxious to know more about this story   :?
I hope that soon you update author-san  :bow: :heart: :heart:

Hi there!, I hope you are liking this chapter as well. Well you can find out about what Maiyan wants to say to WakaRei, it's basically an explanation of her quick trip outside with Waka. Hahahahah don't be anxious, that kind of makes me nervous as well as I am obliged to give more surprise  :cathappy: This update is a bit delayed but I hope it's still worth it  :deco:

Offline clin-nolan

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVII || 030218]
« Reply #87 on: February 13, 2018, 03:26:23 AM »
I had not had time to read it by the university  :doh:
Thanks for updating and I was waiting for it  :heart: :D
I wonder if Reika already knew that Waka and Maiyan are sisters  :?
Knowing how was Maiyan's accident left me with a bitter taste, so I am not surprised or upset by what she plans to do against her mother
About the drabble of NanaMai it was great to imagine it even though it was short  :heart: :heart:
I'll wait to see what happens :twothumbs :D

Offline finiarel

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  • Maiyan is life Maiyan is love!
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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVIII || 170318]
« Reply #88 on: March 16, 2018, 10:48:47 PM »
CHAPTER XVIII


“Here we are, home sweet home,” Ikuta announced softly, a little smile decorates her lips as she unlocked the car door.

Shiraishi waits for her little sister to open the door before doing the same. Autumn breeze greets her as soon as she comes into contact with outside air. “Do you even still live here?”

“Well, I mostly have to travel around to our other labs, so I mostly stayed in a hotel. That or the company building.” She admitted. “But, I promise I’ll try to be around more often.”

“You don’t have to.” Shiraishi shook her head, observing the mansion’s huge garden that is still beautifully maintained. “Don’t let me hold you back.”

Ikuta let out a slight hum, grabbing the older girl’s hand as she led her to the front porch. The door swung open before she could even ring the front door bell, revealing a friendly face that Shiraishi hasn’t seen in years.

“Ijiri-san, you’re still working here?”

“There’s no other place I’d rather be,” the middle-aged man said with a grin. “Welcome back, Ojou-san. I’m happy to see you well.”

“Likewise,” Shiraishi throw her gaze around the room, where almost nothing has changed since the last time she was there, which kind of reminds her that her father isn’t there. Her father admires interior design and he often changes the house decoration according to the idea that he has in his mind.

She sadly smiled, thinking that it’s ironic how she missed him so much despite how she spent the last year before the accident loathing him. Making her way past the hallway and took the stairs, heading to where her room is, she stopped when she noticed one of many pictures that are hanged on the wall. A picture of a couple which is her father and her mother who was probably in her last days of pregnancy when it was taken.

“Ijiri-san?” She called, waiting for the man to appear at the beginning of the stairs before speaking up. “Please take down every picture of my mother. She has no right to be a part of the house.”

It took the butler a couple of seconds before nodding obediently, “will do, Ojou-san. Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”

But instead of Shiraishi, Ikuta was the one who spoke up, “I want some parfait.”

“Right away, Ojou-chan.”

Ikuta grabbed Shiraishi hand, basically pulling her along before they stopped in front of a door. Human has manners to knock decorates the wooden door. A custom-made sign that was made especially for her, a gift from one of her friends in the high school which was inspired from her story of having the house worker barging in when she was in the middle of a sexually intimate activity.

Ikuta reached into her pocket and bring out a single key. “I have asked them to come in and clean it up a bit yesterday. I hope you won’t mind.”

“It’s fine.” Shiraishi took the key from Ikuta’s hand, running a finger over it for a moment. She made a mental note to find an unused keychain or buy a new one. She always had a keychain over every single of her keys, not having it makes it feels strange and foreign in her hand.

Ikuta has departed to her room when Shiraishi finally stepped into the room, suddenly feeling nostalgic of everything that has ever happened in that bedroom. Her first-time meeting Ikuta, her first time having a friend sleeping over, her first kiss.

She sat on the bed, snatching weird looking white ball-like plushie that was sitting next to the pillows, hugging it close to her chest. Slowly she lied down, staring at the ceiling that is filled with little stars decoration that will glow in the dark, her hands are admiring the smooth texture of the plushie. Nostalgia crept into her mind, how she used to mock the creature- calling it ugly. Yet she was still keeping that thing in her room. Funny, but maybe that’s how love works. Still, not before one of a big decision that she has ever made happened she finally held it tight for the first time.

She must have been either bored or tired that she fell asleep. However, the sound of her door closing rouses her up, almost causing her to bump her elbow into a person who has quietly sit next to her.

“Hey,” the person greeted, smiling a little when Shiraishi started to change her position so she could see the other face clearly from below.

“You should have woken me up,” Shiraishi said softly.

“You didn’t even wake up when I knocked on the door so I figured you must be tired,” she replied, hand letting go of the pencil that she’s holding to give Shiraishi a gentle squeeze. “Yumi-chan is also here. By the way, she needs to talk to you about something.”

“Do you think she will still be here if I slept for another 3 hours or so?”

“I think she will.” Nishino Nanase chuckled. “But you will skip dinner if you go back to sleep, which won’t be good.”

“Well can I just eat you for dinner?”

Nishino sighed, “now is not the time for that.”

“Sorry, that was a bad joke.” Shiraishi grinned as she sat up, pulling the other girl into a kiss quickly after that. “But seriously, now that I’m out, what will become of us?”

“What do you mean?”

“We are obviously not at the stage we were before and you’re also living with Wakatsuki now. I was actually thinking- will you say yes if I ask you to move in with me?” She proposed. “We don’t even need to share the same room, this house has at least 5 empty bedrooms and you can take whatever that you want. I just want to be near you, I guess.”

Nishino expression changed into a closed off and nervous one, something that Shiraishi hadn’t seen for quite a long time. “That- I don’t know. I will need to talk to Yumi-chan first.”

“Why so!? You’re an adult and Wakatsuki is not even your spouse or anything, you should be able to make a decision without her.” Shiraishi snapped. Not a seconds later she realized that she is being too pushy so she gulped down her worry. “I’m sorry, I’m just- I am worrying about things of the past.”

Nishino nodded, eyes gazing at her girlfriend’s. She noticed that ever since Shiraishi has gotten her emotion back she’d often lose control of it. Which is slowly progressing for the better, but still her girlfriend’s temper raised easily.

“There’s nothing to worry about, okay? We should just focus on the future ahead of us instead of looking back.” Nishino gives another peck on her lips. “Now, I think you need to talk to Yumi-chan, get this thing over with so we can eat a dinner in peace afterwards.”

Shiraishi let the younger girl pull her out of the bed, her fingers on Nishino’s waist while Nishino’s hand hovered around her back. She didn’t really pay any attention to where her girlfriend is leading her to, she was too caught up with observing Nishino’s features, the way the sunset rays seeping through the windows and reflects on the artist’s skin.

“Shiraishi-san,” the young lawyer greeted as she entered one of the house living rooms, the one that is usually used for a guest that is not considered close, which means that the room majorly used to conduct a business meeting.

“Wakatsuki,” Shiraishi greeted politely, eyes hovering to a stranger that is standing next to her. “And who might this be?”

“Osamu Shitara, I’m the head of the law firm where Wakatsuki-san works.” The man introduced himself accordingly, holding out a hand for Shiraishi to shake.

“Ah- nice to meet you, Shitara-san. If I may know, to what do I earn the honor of your visit?”

“All business kind of woman, aren’t you?” His laugh at the end of his sentence makes him looks less stiff and more approachable. “But please, I believe it’s better if we talk while enjoying the cakes that you have so kindly provide us.”

Shiraishi nodded, taking a seat on one of the armchairs around the table, while Wakatsuki and Shitara sat on the long sofa with the latter scooting near to Shiraishi’s side.

“I’ll be sitting near the bookshelves,” Nishino whispered, leaving a quick peck on Shiraishi’s cheek before walking to the other side of the room and sit on the chair, where a laptop that’s probably hers is already laid out on the study desk.

“As you know, next week you’ll be going on a trial against your mother, where she’s demanding a full custody of you as she deemed Nogizaka to be illegally taking your full custody. However, as much as I would be keen on representing you, that could be filed in the conflict of interest because of my status as her legitimate daughter. Which is why Shitara-san will be going in my place, I have already briefed him on all of our plans and he will proceed accordingly, so you will have nothing to worry about. In fact, he is more senior than me so the trial could go even smoother.”

Shiraishi frowned, feeling a bit dissatisfied that Wakatsuki wouldn’t be the one that represents her, but she knows that the young lawyer has no other choice and this is probably the best solution that is available for them. “Fine, I’ll be counting on you then, Shitara-san. I hope you will live up to your astonishing reputation.”

Shitara gave her a big smile, “this is an easy case, with all the prove and witness that we will bring to their table, there’s no way she could ever get her hands on you. Trust me.”

“Well, we’ll see.” Shiraishi nodded, “have you gotten the footage of the accident yet?”

“Yes, we do. Would you like to see it?” Shitara offered, his hands carefully gripping his laptop bag, however, Shiraishi shook her head.

“No need to. I kind of hate relieving that moment, already seen in enough in the form of endless nightmares. I’m just making sure that you got it.”

“I can understand. Well, I promise you I’ll do my best to help you, Shiraishi-san. Wakatsuki-san will send you my contact details. Is there any other question you got for me?”

“Nothing for now, but I’ll contact you if there’s anything.”

“Good, well then, I guess I have to leave. Thanks for having me.” He stood up, followed by Wakatsuki and Shiraishi.

After brief parting words and another handshake, the young lawyer led him outside, leaving Shiraishi alone with Nishino in the room. She was about to pull Nishino back into her room when one of the housemaids come to tell them that the dinner is served.

“Now I kind of miss that terrarium,” Shiraishi mumbled as she held Nishino close and walked to the garden-side dining room. Maybe because somehow moving in is draining her emotionally and the huge mansion makes it even more hard to bare.

Nishino frowned, “terrarium?”

“You know that place where they keep me in the company. All windows, people most likely observing me from outside. It’s like a terrarium, isn’t it? Like I’m a fish, acting like I don’t care what’s happening outside with all of the people that are observing me.”

“You know that terrarium has no water and fish needs water, right? Your analogy is a bit off,” Nishino pointed out.

“Seriously, that’s what you are concerned about, not the fact that I miss that place? You’re weird.”

“Well you’re the one making an illogical analogy and as you have said yourself- missing a place where you have no privacy.” Nishino rolled her eyes jokingly. “Weirdo.”

Shiraishi chuckled, “I’m 99% artificial, weirdo is too normal to describe me.”

“We’ll figure out what’s the best word to describe you later. After the dinner,” Nishino smiled, averting her eyes from her lover to give a brief look at people that are conversing around the dinner table.

“Here, she is,” Ikuta announced excitedly, earning Shiraishi a look from every single person in the room.

“Here I am, I guess.” Shiraishi shrugged, her lips starting to curl into a bright smile as she identifies each of the people in the room.

Hashimoto Nanami and Fukagawa Mai that seems to be explaining some breakthrough discovery to Wakatsuki Yumi, who has her forehead wrinkled from trying to understand all the scientific language that both of them are using. Sakurai Reika has her arm latched onto the later, seemingly more interested to look at the bright diamond on her finger rather than the conversation itself.

Nishino had left her to her own devices to talk to Takayama Kazumi, who came with a young woman that she has never seen before, but from the way the android designer seems to gravitate around the cheerful looking person she can conclude that the person is not just a friend.

And the last is Ikuta, who was busy telling something to the house butler, probably making sure that the dinner is well arranged. Ikuta being really specific when it comes to food is something that Shiraishi has known by heart. But there is a familiar face beside her, a young woman probably still around Ikuta’s age who wear a plain white shirt and jeans. Shiraishi, sure she has seen her before but couldn’t point out when or where.

Seeing how her sister's eyes were on her in a silent demand of explanation, Ikuta finishes her instruction and led the person to approach Shiraishi.

“Himetan, I would like you to meet my sister- Shiraishi Mai. And likewise Onee-chan, this is Nakamoto Himeka.” Ikuta introduced them.

Shiraishi smiled, taking the girls hand with her in a gentle handshake. “it’s a pleasure to meet you, really. Erika here doesn’t really have any friend, so I am always glad if she manages to bring someone home.”

“She is always busy with her work, but I am sure Erika-chan has her own share of friends too, one being her amazing sister that she gushed a lot on.” The long-haired girl replied, her smile reveals a dimple on the side of her face.

“Himetan works at Cinq Étoiles, the café where Waka took you to meet your mother. She was also the one who found you in the park that day.” Ikuta ignored the girl teasing and resort to inform her sister about something that is more serious.

“It was you,” Shiraishi expression goes warmer in realization. “Thank you so much, I’m sorry for troubling you.”

The girl looks embarrassed, smiling sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. “It’s fine, I’m glad to help.”

“I’m glad that we have you around too.” From the gleaming proud look that can be seen in Ikuta’s face, it can be known that the girl means something more to her. However, Shiraishi decided not to push it further, thinking that her sister will eventually tell her about it once she is ready. She throws her gaze around the small gathering and asked curiously, “so, what’s the occasion?”

“Takayama-san had wanted to make you a farewell party, but I think what needs to be celebrated is the fact you’re back home, so I persuaded her to let me throw you a welcome home party instead,” Ikuta explained before slurping the white wine on her hand. “I’m not sure about who you’d be comfortable to dine with, so I’m just inviting those I’m sure you won’t mind. Well, except Takayama-san girlfriend, that one kind of crash the party without an invitation.”

She doesn’t know if Ikuta realized it or not but this is the first time Shiraishi ever felt truly belong in a dinner party that took place in the house. Usually, albeit having her as an excuse it is more of a formality and networking event, where she would care less about almost every single guest.

Shiraishi felt her chest goes warmer as if a little jolt of happiness is exploding inside.

“T- this is perfect, thank you.” She said, not waiting for another second before pulling her sister into a tight hug.

~ To Be Continued ~


AN:

I was actually rearanging a little bit of stuff before decided to write this one, the initial plan was to have a little bit of a flashback of what happened after Maiyan accident, like what Nishino did and stuff. But considering we already have a flashback last chap I think it will be better to wait and probably after this the flashback will be about something less heavier before we get around to more bad stuff.  :nervous But I'm not sure. There is still Naachan entire flashback chapter that I have yet to figure out where to put, but we'll see  ;)

ANYWAY MAIYAN CENTER WHOOP!!! LETS PARTYYYY

replies:
@clin-nolan:
 
Quote
I had not had time to read it by the university  :doh:
Thanks for updating and I was waiting for it  :heart: :D
I wonder if Reika already knew that Waka and Maiyan are sisters  :?
Knowing how was Maiyan's accident left me with a bitter taste, so I am not surprised or upset by what she plans to do against her mother
About the drabble of NanaMai it was great to imagine it even though it was short  :heart: :heart:
I'll wait to see what happens :twothumbs :D

It's okay I hadn't had time to write cause uni too, damn that place  :ptam-mad:
Hmmm, I decided not to get into that, but I'll see if I can squeeze out the chapter in later chapter. And yea, Mai obvs are really hurt by what happened and that kind of justify her further course of action.

I'm glad people are liking the drabble, there is some fluff in this chapter too. ISTG I have developed some sort of weird liking into writing one person sleep while the other one is just awake next to them, I hope this doesn't become creepy  :nervous
« Last Edit: March 17, 2018, 01:08:37 AM by finiarel »

Offline amachan48

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVIII || 170318]
« Reply #89 on: March 23, 2018, 01:06:38 PM »
because of that scene when Maiyan ask Nanase to move in with her, i suddenly have the feeling that Maiyan was actually a controlling b*tch when she was in a relationship with Nanase 😂😂.


maybe that was also one of the reason why Waka and Kaz dont really like Maiyan 😂😂.



Offline clin-nolan

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XVIII || 170318]
« Reply #90 on: April 03, 2018, 09:14:20 PM »
Maiyan is finally back home  :cow:
I suspect that Nanase is hiding something  :?
I hope Maiyan and Waka become closer after all they are half sisters  :heart: although they have hated themselves most of the time   :lol: :lol:
I hope that soon you can update  :twothumbs
The university is killing me  :banghead:

Offline finiarel

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XIX || 110418]
« Reply #91 on: April 10, 2018, 11:35:33 PM »
Chapter XIX

She tried not to grunt as she increases her walking pace along the sidewalk. Out of all days, her bike could act out, it has decided that the day where a thunderstorm is predicted to happen from late afternoon till night is the day. She squeezes the handlebars tighter as if the old rusty bike will understand how much it’s condition irate her. Her eyes gazing forward, squinting as she tries to look for a nearby shelter to shield her from the merciless rain. After several minutes of soggy half-run while pushing the white bike her eyes finally catches the sight of a convenient store ahead.

She took a deep breath before leaping forward and make a sprint for it.

Well, she has heard some theories about how running through a rain will only make it worse, but she couldn’t care less as she’s already soaked from head to toes, even her shoes have become a mini pond by now.

Her heel hit the metal stand near the bike gear to help it stood in front of the store, she wiped out the droplets of rain from her face and decided to tie her wet hair into a ponytail. Thankfully the store has a little bit of roof in front of it, which is kind of good to keep her rain from pouring on her.

Sighing she decided to inspect the condition of the chain, hoping that it’s something that she could fix while waiting for the rain to pass. She was grumbling at her bike’s hopeless condition when a jeep passed at a full speed, causing her to jump back in surprise as it’s causing the puddle to splashed right into her.

It was pointless, though.

“DAMN IT!”

Nishino Nanase is not one for cursing, but the last half-hour has been too challenging to keep them away, so she couldn’t help it anymore. She sits down on the wet concrete floor, trying to control her emotion that has gone into rampage mode, silently cursing the school rules to forbid phones because if she has one with her right now she could have notified someone to help her.

Slowly she started to work again, her hands delicately trying to pull the greasy chain into the gear ring. However, whenever she tried to test it, it’ll get stuck in just a matter of seconds. She gently massages her temple as if a horrible migraine had hit her and that’s when a car slowly stops right next to her.

Nishino sighed as she dragged the bike a bit further back so it wouldn’t block the door car from opening. A second later the passenger door on the back opened and a familiar girl stepped out to approach her.

The girl is a bit taller than her, wearing the same sailor seifuku like her beneath a dark cream cardigan and a grey coat that reach a little bit past her knees. Seeing how many layers the other girl wear makes Nishino started to realize her stupidity for not even bothering to at least bring a raincoat.

“Nishino-chan, do you need any help with that?” The girl asked as she crouched down beside her.

“It’s fine, senpai. As much as I appreciate that but I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do,” she answered honestly, hoping the senior will just proceed to go buy whatever it is she wants to buy and leave her alone as soon as possible.

“Not true. At the very least, I can do this,” The older girl said stand up to take off her coat and drape it over her shoulder.

Considering how soaked she is right now the coat doesn’t really help to restore her body heat, but well it might help to cover the soaked white uniform to be see-through. Still Nishino started to protest, “I’m already drenched, now you’re getting your coat drenched too….”

The truth is she is afraid to bring the coat back with her because she knows if she use it she will need to dry clean it. And that kind of service will be too much for her to afford.

“It’s fine, right now you need it more than me. You can always give it back to me anytime. You can even have it since I have more of those in my closet.” she shrugged as she tried not to shudder upon the cold wind of the rain, “Also. I could get you home and have someone get the bike repaired.”

Nishino raised her eyebrows, starting to think that the girl doesn’t have any intention to buy something in the store from the first place. She was probably the reason why the car stopped, not the store. “No, it’s fine.”

The girl in front of her frowned, totally not used to rejection. She was going to say something else when the driver door opened and a man came approaching the girls, “Ojou-san, is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is fine,” Nishino answered for the girl curtly, hoping she would get the point and stop bothering her.

“Actually, Ijiri-san, do you think it’s okay if we go to Nishino-chan home first? I’m not in a rush for anything anyway.” The girl asked.

“I can’t just leave my bike here, senpai. It’s okay,” she reasoned.

“I believe I know someone who can repair it and get it delivered to your place afterwards. It looks like the rain is not going to stop soon too. It’s better if you come with us, I promise you’ll get home safely.” The man said kindly.

“Not trying to put a pressure on you but you will catch a cold if you stay here any longer,” Shiraishi urged her. “just consider this as an apology after everything that had happened.”

“You have given me enough apologies, senpai.” Nishino frowns remembering all the gifts in fancy boxes that she had to send back because first, she doesn’t feel like it was necessary and second the stuff that was sent to her was too overboard like a white box of white strawberries bouquets.

“But you’ve never actually taken my apology,” Shiraishi pouted a little bit as if trying to show how that hurts her feelings.

Nishino look at the girl in front of her in disbelieves. She realized that Shiraishi is not going to stop unless she took the offer, she sighed before surrendering to the demand. “Fine, but after this, we’re even.”

“Good enough for me,” the upperclassman smirked a little as her chauffeur excuse himself to get something from the store first.

Nishino grumbled as she opened her bag to get the bike’s chain and lock, carefully using the chain to tie the bike to the metal pillar and secure it with the lock afterwards. She catches Shiraishi’s eyes watching her, “I mean it, senpai. After this, I don’t want any present or anything similar.”

“Fine fine, you have my words. You can even have your friend to punch me again if you find me getting on your nerves. Now shall we get in the car?” the other girl answered, not even bothering to wait for her answer and started to usher her into the luxurious sedan.

Nishino tried to use as little space as possible inside the car, not because there is no space for her but because she felt guilty for wetting the leather covered seat from her soaked outfits. Her fingers gripped the fabric of the upperclassman coat, hoping it will help her to gain a little bit of warmth as she started to feel light headed.

“Are you okay?” Shiraishi asked, scooting closer to Nishino side and observe her features, “you look pale.”

Nishino was too focused on keeping herself conscious rather than answering, her body feels hot and cold at the same time, her vision blurring. The last thing she could feel was her body slumping forward followed by some panicked sounding words that she couldn’t comprehend.

Shiraishi Mai had saved her back then.

She had saved her so many times after that too.

Yet Nishino Nanase wasn’t even able to save her that one time. That one time where Shiraishi Mai is the one who needs saving. She wasn’t there.

Nishino sighed, pulling herself to present time as she observes the sleeping woman next to her. Smiling a bit as she remembers those old times they lay on the bed like this. A lot has happened since then. Thinking about that her expression slumped into a guilty one.

Slowly, Nishino leaned forward, closing the distance of her lips to the sleeping girl’s forehead, “I’m sorry, for not being there with you.”

She didn’t realize that when she did that, her eyes have started to water and that drop of water lands on Shiraishi’s index finger, causing her to slowly stir herself awake.

“Nanase?” The older one asked, looking at her with eyes full of questions. “Why are you crying? What’s wrong? Are you hurt!?”

Shiraishi has basically jolted herself up, inspecting the girl intently to find any clues to what is going on.

“No, I’m just-” Nishino contemplates. “I’m just happy that you’re finally well.”

Shiraishi raised her eyebrows, seemingly surprised by her answered. “Well, they patched me up pretty good.”

“I know,” Nishino smiled sadly as she nodded. She looks away a bit before finally facing her girlfriend once more. Catching the date on the digital alarm clock next to the bed. “I hope you’re ready for today.”

“I just want this to be over with so I can claim my full portion of the company with nothing holding me back.” Shiraishi had said it so calmly that it looks like she’s emotionless. That would have been bothering Nishino if not for the expression slowly melted into a concerned one. “Are you sure you want to come with me today? I promise you I’m going to be okay, you don’t need to take a day off just for this.”

Nishino shook her head, she had made her decision and that decision is she will come to see the trial. Even though it’s just a little, there is still a chance they would lose and Shiraishi will be taken away. She wants to be near her, no matter what happens.

However, once she’s there, sitting among the small group of attendees, she could feel fear starting to creep through her mind. Telling her to run.

In her life, this is the second time she has been on a court. Both are a closed to public ones. Both are also related to child custody case. The difference is this time, she wasn’t the one standing in plaintiff position, Shiraishi is. And unlike Nishino, Shiraishi also has a lawyer to represent her, which basically means that she doesn’t need to explain the situation. That will be the job of Shitara Osamu. Who’s currently standing as he read point per point of Shiraishi demands.

These demands are really simple.

First, Shiraishi demands her mother to pull back her custody right on her.

Second, she also demands her mother to get a restraining order in which she won’t ever come near Shiraishi.

Shiraishi Mai hadn’t even demand any lawsuit money, she already has too much of that. She only needs to get her mother away from her. Something that she has been sure of ever since she was notified of the case.

“Your honor, the first point that we would like to put bring in this trial is how Wakatsuki Kirei, has never been present for a long duration in any case of Shiraishi Mai’s life. She left her a week before her first birthday and after that has avoided any means of contact with her daughter, choosing to act like she doesn’t know her until the day of the accident.

The second reason being that despite being her mother, Wakatsuki Kirei-san has shown lack of capability of being a guardian. On the case, we have presented a camera video taken on the night where Shiraishi-san had a car accident. Despite helping her, Wakatsuki Kirei-san turns her back on her daughter and left the scene.

The third reason being Shiraishi Mai-san is a full grown adult who has her own consent. And Wakatsuki Kirei-san didn’t receive any of that when she signed the guardian paper which will make it invalid.”

The judge nodded, assessing the file on the table intently before looking forward once more. “I call Wakatsuki Kirei-san to the stand.”

Nishino Nanase has never seen Shiraishi’s mother in person before, only a few times from pictures. Even with her close relationship with Wakatsuki not once the woman has been home when she’s present. Now that the parent and child are both in the same room, their resemblance it’s hard to miss. Not only their physical appearance but how the woman moves and speaks are also strangely similar to Shiraishi.

“Is it true that you have never been present in your daughter’s life for the long duration of time?”

“Yes, your honour. But she’s still my daughter and I love her very much.”

“Why is it?” the judge looks at her

“My relationship with her father ended quite badly. He wouldn’t let me visit her.”

“So you’re saying that you weren’t avoiding her? It’s just that you can’t get near to her?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“And what about the video. The footage which shows you standing less than 5 meters away from your daughter. Your daughter that had been hit by a car in front of your eyes. Yet, you turn your back away. Do you have any explanation on that?”

“That night I was scared. Because I believe that wasn’t just an accident, rather an actual murder attempt.” The woman voice starts to crack, she pulls out a handkerchief from her suit pants pocket to wipe out the tears. “They saw me there and they, one of them lower a bit of their window and points a gun to where I stand. I- I wanted to help my daughter. I really do. It’s just I am afraid.”

“Bullshit!” A loud voice cut the woman sob off, everyone who was observing the mother solemnly now averted their attention to where Shiraishi Mai stood. “You could have called the ambulance as you run, but the reports say that it wasn’t you who made the call. No. You just fled the scene, trying to act as if nothing happened.”

“Enough!” The judge slams his hammer to take control of the situation, “Shiraishi-san, an objection has a manner in the court of justice. Please choose your words carefully.”

“I’m sorry, your honor. I will make sure of that.” Shiraishi looked down before she goes back to sitting position.

The judge sighed, moving his focus back to the woman who’s was testifying, “you may continue to your defense.”

“I’m going to read it, your honor. I believe my client needs some time to calm herself down.” A voice who belongs to a really young looking lawyer said. Terada Ranze, Shiraishi had learnt that name earlier. The girl looks like she’s around Ikuta’s age, yet her demeanour tells that she is not exactly a newbie in the attorney field.

The judge nodded. Waiting patiently for the lawyer switched position with her client.

“You honor, the reason of why my client demands the full custody of Shiraishi Mai-san, is because as a mother she wants to protect her. She feels like right now, Shiraishi-san is under an influence of Nogizaka company. Who’s been experimenting on her. They implement this idea that they had saved her, but the truth is they experimented on her without any guardian consent.” The young woman eyes confidently making contact with the jury before she points at the screen in front of her. “The first evidence that my client wants to point outdated back when Shiraishi-san was declared dead by the hospital. We have provided the death certificate that has been signed by the hospital. Yet we suspect that she wasn’t dead from the first place. It was a well-planned kidnapping.”

Shitara Osamu stood, one hand up in the air to have the attention, “objection, your honor. It couldn’t be classified as kidnapping as back then Shiraishi-san’s father herself was the one who plans all of that. The father who was also the legal guardian of Shiraishi-san. I think the word “kidnapping” is unjustifiable in this case.”

“I will put that clarification into consideration, you may go back to your seat.” The judge dismisses Shitara who nodded before sit down to where his seat next to Shiraishi. The judge looks at the female lawyer, “you may continue your defense.”

“Thank you, your honor,” Terada said. “The second point that I would like to bring up is that Shiraishi Mai-san is on a high dosage medication to provoke her emotion. I believe this will make her unfit to make any decision, especially when we consider her current standing.”

“Objection your honor,” Shitara stood up once more. This time, waiting for the judge to give him a nod before defending the statement. “Shiraishi-san has been able to continue her activity without emotion enhancing drugs. The file for this is included in my client’s evidence document. She had even checked herself into 3 different psychologists to support this.”

Wakatsuki Kirei couldn’t help but look at her daughter in surprise, observing the girl who looks calm despite the situation before finally averting her head to the judge once more.

“Thank you, you may go back to your seat.” The judge says, nodding in acknowledgement before he continues. “You may continue your statement.”

“The third evidence that I would like to point out is like Shiraishi-san has seemed to develop a substance addiction. This includes over counter drugs such as aspirins and alcoholic beverages-”

Shiraishi frowned starting to get a bit confused about where do they even got that sort of information when Shitara suddenly stood up and said loudly, “Objection your honor! That has nothing to do with the case.”

The judge raises his hand and said, “you need to keep in mind that we’re only bringing things that relate to the case in this table.”

“I do, your honor. I and my client believe this relates to the case. With how Shiraishi-san life is going, we believe it’s the best if her custody goes to her mother for a moment. Until the situation calm down and we are sure that she can live her life normally.”

“And do you have any proof of this point that you have been explaining to us, Terada-san?”

“We do. After her passing, my client who is also Shiraishi-san’s mother visited her daughter apartment in Tokyo. Only to found bottles of alcohols and a lot of over counter drugs laying around. We did go back to take a picture of that with one of the deputies from the police department to ensure that it’s genuine, which you can find in the evidence. Considering how Shiraishi-san wasn’t exactly doing well on her last couple of weeks before the accident, it’s no surprise if she has a substance addiction. Which could be concerning.”

The judges look at the photograph intently, his forehead wrinkled as he squints his eyes as if trying to make out each pattern of pills and bottles he could find there. Then he nodded, “do you have anything else to add to that?”

Terada Ranze shook her head, “that’s all. Thank you for your consideration, your honor.”

Everyone in the room seems to fell into complete silence, only the buzzing sounds of the air conditioner and Terada’s heels reaching their ears for a while.

“I call Shiraishi Mai to the stand,” the judge break the emptiness.

Shiraishi had been notified a possibility of this and has practiced several scenarios with her lawyer, making sure that she would be able to pick the best words. Yet after the last point of the statement, nervous starting too creep into her body.

Yet she still stands, albeit a bit shaky, and walks the place where everyone could see her perfectly as she gives her statement.

“I’m here, your honor.”

The judge fixed his glasses before continuing, “Let us clarify from the first statement. Were you in any way conscious of what happened during the first point, where they had declared you as dead and brings you to Nogizaka facility?”

“No your honor, I was… in a coma back then. I wasn’t conscious and most likely wasn’t going to last long either if not for my father quick thinking.”

“So you approved of your father plan?”

“Yes, I believe my father knows the best for me.”

“And what about after his death, the plan was worked on by his step-daughter. Do you approve of her plan?”

“Yes, Erika is one of my trusted person.” Shiraishi nodded as she answered confidently.

“Now we don’t need your statement regarding the second point as you have provided evidence against that.” The judge flipped the case document on his table. “Moving on to the last point, do you confess to any possession of this evidence that you can see on the screen?”

Shiraishi Mai is at lost for words. She knows that she used to drink at her last days, probably a little bit too much. However, there’s no way those will be hers. She herself only live in that apartment every holiday time, that is also for a short duration. And drugs, that’s a little too much, even for someone like her. “No, your honor.”

“So you do not admit to possessing and using this evidence that was found in your own apartment.”

“No. In my defense. On my last days, I was overseas to pursue my education. I was only back in Japan for short while. Often while it’s a holiday season. And I can swear that I did not own nor use any of that substance in the picture.”

“Enlighten me a little. If this is not yours, why is it inside your house?”

“That must have been because I gave my keys to some of my friends. So they can use the place when they need it while in return cleaning and take care of it.”

“And do you by any chance knows who does these stuff might belongs to?”

Shiraishi halted, her mind form a single name, the only other person besides her who have the key to the apartment as this person is the one who was living there. However, that sounds impossible, so she sighed as she shook her head. “No your honour, my mind is a bit jumbled from the accident. Such things are hard for me to remember.”

“Thank you, Shiraishi-san. You may go back to your seat.” He nodded, flipping the last of the document as he looked at both sides of the trial.

Every single person seems to be tense, wondering how the verdict will turn out. “Based on the evidence and testimonies that were given today. Taking both sides into consideration. Wakatsuki Kirei-san is proven guilty and therefore she’ll lose her rights as Shiraishi Mai-san full guardian. Wakatsuki Kirei-san is also obliged to 8 months of the restraining order of which she would have to keep her distance 20 meters away from Shiraishi Mai-san. By the end of this term, there will be a reassessment of whether this will need to continue or not. The court is adjourned.”

After the hammer hits the table a couple of times. Everyone in the room stands and started to leave. Shitara gave Shiraishi a quick hug and smile, muttering something about how she had done a great job. Wakatsuki also gave her a quick nod. Shiraishi is not sure if Nishino wanted to talk to her or not as she was just giving her a look from where she stood with Sakurai, but before she could process what to do Ikuta already jumped her into a hug.

“I told you it’ll be fine.”

Shiraishi could only nod, truth to be told she is overwhelmed. Sadly, this isn’t because she had just won the case, but however, this is because of the last point of the opposing party defense. She looked at her girlfriend, who is still looking at her with a mixed expression, however, instead of walking towards her Shiraishi walks toward the other side of the room. To where her mother is standing.

“What the hell was that?!”

Her mother raised her eyebrows at her, “isn’t that what I’m supposed to be asking you?”

Shiraishi couldn’t handle it anymore she raised her hand up and yanked the woman collar, causing people around her to start asking her to stop. “WHY THE HELL DID YOU BROKE INTO MY PLACE AND TRASH IT WITH YOUR FUCKING DRUGS!?”

Her fist was a second away from punching her own biological mother when she feels like someone gently pushed her back, another person gets between the two of them.

“I thought you were really on my side, I can’t fucking believe that I trusted you still on that! This is just another job for you, isn’t it?” Shiraishi spat. “A job to sabotage people trusts on my company. By connecting me with drugs cases. I can’t believe you.”

Shiraishi turned her back on her, letting her sister who had placed her hand on Shiraishi’s back to calm her down led her away from the confrontation, eyes closed to keep the anger down.

“Just for your information, it wasn’t me who trashed your place. It was like that when I reach there. You really should be more careful with people that you trust,” the woman said, halting Shiraishi steps for several seconds before she finally lets Ikuta lead her out of the building.

~ To Be Continued ~




AN:
This might have been the longest chapter in this series lol. but yea, we're finally starting to get into the last and final arc, which is about Nanase. To be honest I didn't even believe that I will be able to get to this point so I'm just on top of feelings right now :ptam-wub: Anyway have you seen Synchronicity AKA THE BEST SONG WITH THE BEST DANCE MV IN THE WORLD? hahahahah I hope you're enjoying it as much as I do  :hip smile: Till next time  :deco:

Replies:
@amachan48:
Ahahahahah, I'm sorry if you feel like that. Well she's not that much of a controlling bitch, that's what I can say for now. She was just get a bit worked up whenever Wakatsuki is mentioned. The reason will be on later chapter when we take a peek into Nanase's back story  :oops:

@clin-nolan:
I think from this chapter if you try to remember the past ones you can pretty much realise that something had happened. Ahahahah about Waka and Mai, they sort of still have a long way to go. Their problems runs deep than just about Nanase, so it's hard. Like, if you see Kaz, after she knows what kind of person Maiyan is she is not hard to forgive her. But for Wakatsuki it's not that simple. If you get what I mean?  :banghead: I hope this update is soon enough and you're liking it  :thumbsup I feel like Uni is killing everyone tbh  :nervous

Offline finiarel

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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XIX.5 || 280418]
« Reply #92 on: April 28, 2018, 10:03:09 AM »
Trigger warning: this chapter mentions suicide, self-harm, and abuse. Please read wisely.





CHAPTER XIX.5
-The Story of Nishino Nanase-

Have you ever think that maybe you should have been dead? Like maybe, you have cheated fate far too long that now the fate is coming to get you?

Nishino Nanase used to think about that a lot.

Until Shiraishi Mai came into her life.

To explain why she had thought that way, she'd need to walk down the memory lane. From the beginning, long before the two girls met each other, at the time when Nishino was just a little girl.

She was born from a supposed to be average family, however, most of their money had gone to her mother, who had suffered from Leukemia. Back then, Nishino doesn't know how deadly the illness is, all she knows is that her mother is ill.

The day where she was supposed to celebrate her 3rd birthday. That day turns out to be one of the main turning points in her life. Instead of coming home with the white box she has known so well to be the one that came from the bakery where her family always bought their cakes, her father had come with dusty cardboard.  The smile that usually presents on his face was gone, replaced with a gloomy one that she couldn't comprehend.

Her father has lost his job.

She was too young to understand what was going on, but she can see the change in her family routines. It only took her days to finally dared to ask her father what was going on.

"I have to find a job so that we can celebrate your birthday with cakes in the next year." That's how the man tries to explain the situation.

Hearing the words cakes, little Nishino smiled happily, she was too young to know that the cake isn't as important as continuing the treatment for her mother.

However, days went by and her father hadn't even managed to score a decent job. All he can get is a part-time job at the local convenience store and another one in construction.

He had worked day and night yet it still not enough to cover their living cost, let along her mother fat bills of cancer treatment. Until one day, when they came home from one of their mother meetings with the doctor they decided that they had enough.

So they tuck their little girl to the bed and before goes to sleep they gave her a 5 amount of pill.

"But I'm not sick," little Nishino has protested. She always detests medicines, so of course, she will reject it when her parents gave her something while she is feeling completely healthy.

"Sweetheart, this is vitamins. You don't need to be sick to take this," her mother tried to assure her, her voice shakes.

"I want my strawberry vitamins. This one looks bitter," She whines.

"Let's just make it like this, I promise you after you take this, we'll get you something." Her father persuades her. She could see how her mother frowns at the words.

To their delight, their daughter nodded, shutting her eyes as she put the pill in her mouth. They gave her a water to drink it down. However, due to the amount of the pills, not everything managed to be swallowed in the gulp and little Nishino was smart enough to hide that from them.

"We love you very much sweetheart, we promise we're all going to be in a better place soon," her mother suddenly burst into tears as she gave her a kiss on the forehead and hug her, the man followed the hug soon after. Nishino Nanase didn't say anything, she is a bit confused that her parents are more emotional than usual but afraid their parents are going to find out that she doesn't take every single of the "vitamins" if she opens her mouth to ask.

After that her parents turn off the lights in her room and departed into theirs.

Little Nishino spews out the leftover pills in her mouth as soon as she's sure they won't find out. Her mouth tastes bitter, something that she hates so much and drinking down the remaining water on the glass sadly doesn't help to relieve that.

She stares at the ceiling, feeling that her head spinning uncontrollably. She tried to close her eyes, yet the sensation still lingers. Feeling like not being able to take it anymore she went to her parents' bedroom, finding them on the bed, not moving an inch when she tried to shake them awake.

They must have been so tired. That's what she had thought.

So little Nishino Nanase crawled onto the bed, laying down on the tiny space between them. She gave them a little kiss before she shut her eyes.

"Good night, Mama, Papa."

Never did young Nishino Nanase thought that the night is going to be the last that she spent with her parents. That night is etched in her memory and often replayed itself in her dreams, haunting her with the bittersweet moments.

And the day where Shiraishi Mai had learnt her secret was no exclusion for the regular dream to visit her.

Nishino Nanase jolted up, her breath racing as if she had just run a marathon, a painful sting coming from her back, followed by some noises of stuff falling down.

That was just a bad dream, it's already over. That was just her dreadful past that kept on haunting her.

She kept on repeating those sentences inside of her brain. Trying to calm herself down as she slowly pulled herself to the current time.

"Hey, hey, Nanase-chan, it's okay," she can hear a familiar voice and a warm hand touching the skin on her shoulder. Nishino eyes widened, turning her body from facing down position she was into a normal one and inspect the current situation.

She's inside the most luxurious room she has ever been in her life. She had thought Wakatsuki is rich enough, but the modern looking room will make the wooden room of her best friend look pale in comparison. Shiraishi Mai sits next to her on the bed, face mixed of worries and concerned, a new expression that she has never seen on her before. Another person is sitting on the other side of the bed, a young woman who is probably just older than them by a few years, her red knit sweater rolled up halfway, eyes inspecting her thoroughly behind her full framed glasses.

That's when Nishino realizes that she is only wearing the tank top that she was wearing beneath her high school uniform. Her eyes widened as she instinctively grabbed the smooth blanket and pull it up. Ironically, she's not shaken because the two other women are seeing her in the underdressed state, but rather because of the striking bandages around her body.

Her eyes meet Shiraishi's horrified one in total horror.

"You passed out," the upperclassman muttered softly, "Nanase-chan, I think you should have checked yourself into the hospital. Because whatever it is that's happening to you- you- you could have-"

Died.

Nishino knows that is exactly the one word that the older girl is trying to say.

"Senpai, I appreciate your concern and everything that you're trying to do to help me. But this is my own problem and it's a really personal one. So please just let me be and consider none of this has ever happened."

"No. I can't do that." Shiraishi shook her head. "There are two possibilities of how this is going to go. First, you will let Kotoko-san here to patch you up and then we will talk. I will expect you to tell me the truth. Or the second one where I will just call the ambulance right here and sure as hell the whole city will be talking about you for a month considering you're currently inside my house. Your choice."

Nishino gulped down, knowing that there's no way Shiraishi will let the matter go. "Fine."

Shiraishi gave the other person in the room a knowing nod and the woman sighed, she looks totally troubled with the whole situation. "Nishino-chan, isn't it? I'm Sasaki Kotoko, a doctor. Shiraishi-san called me to help you and that's why I'm here right now. I'm sorry to say this, but I haven't gotten a good look on your wounds so if you don't mind please take off your top so I can peel the bandages and see if that's what causing your fever. I can also help you to make the wounds heal faster."

Nishino nodded, but her hands freeze as she realizes that Shiraishi is there, watching. Thankfully, the older girl understands what's happening and stand up. "I'm going to get you a sleeping gown."

"Thank you," Nishino muttered, earning a sad smile from Shiraishi before she left the room.

Albeit hesitant, Nishino took off her top, leaving the bandages around her body clear for the young doctor to see.

"I'll need to take off the bandages, no need to worry I'll patch you up back again once we put some healing cream on the wounds." The doctor let her know before started to gently peel the messy bandages. "Did you bandage all of this yourself?"

"A- yeah."

"I figures. How about the wounds?"

"What about it?" her tone changed into a defensive one.

"I mean, what did you use to treat it?"

Nishino exhaled, feeling thankful that the woman isn't trying to probe about where did they come from. Slowly she started to recount everything that she did to heal it. The doctor listens silently, her eyes fixed on peeling the bandages until there's nothing left that covers her body. Every once in a while she'd flinched, probably because some of her skin accidentally got peeled off with the bandages.

Nishino tried to look anywhere but the doctor, she knows that she won't be able to stand to see the look on people face upon seeing her condition.

A soft sound of the door being opened made Nishino jumped a little, causing the wound that was being gently traced by the doctor made a rough contact with the fingers. Nishino cringed in pain.

Shiraishi who was the one who opened the door halted, her expression gradually changes. Worry, sadness, anger. Nishino feels like there's a bit of each of that. But rather than saying anything about the wounds, Shiraishi give a little nod, closing the door gently.

"Here is the stuff that you need, Kotoko-san." She said as she put a plastic bag on the bedside table. She looks at Nishino for several seconds before finally holding out a pile of clothing that she was carrying. "I think this should do."

Nishino muttered a silent thank you, her hands reaching for the smooth fabric. Shiraishi ended up bringing short pants along with the robe, which Nishino is thankful for cause sitting there with her black tight to cover her bottom is a bit embarrassing.

While Sasaki was observing the medicines that Shiraishi had bring, Nishino uses the little time, to slide the short pants up, the robe sadly will need to wait until the doctor finish patching her up. Still, Nishino hold it close to cover the parts that is not currently being observed.

"I think it's better if I put some cream on the front part first and after that, you can lie down on the bed with the back facing up so I can continue on those," Sasaki explained before started to gently apply the cream on bruises on Nishino's front and right side.

There were not many words being said, just a simple instruction that Nishino will follow, occasional whimpers of pain here and there. Shiraishi herself hadn't said anything, just watching her getting treated from the side with a pained expression. Nishino noticed how the older girl would flinch from time to time as if the doctor were working on her too.

Once it's finally over, Sasaki left the room, leaving the two high school students for the private conversation that Shiraishi has demanded before.

"What happened?" the older one started, staring at her in uncertainty.

Knowing there's not much Nishino can do to have Shiraishi shut her mouth about the matter, Nishino tells her the truth. Hoping that at least with that, Shiraishi will understand her reason.

So she told her about what happened to her parents, how they committed suicide, how confused she was when she had woken up in the morning, finding their skin pale and cold. How after that, her uncle which is the only family that she has left was the one who gets to be her guardian, raising her from the young age to where she is now.

"He had cared for me, raised me as if I'm his own child. But even my uncle has his limit. About two years ago, his business failed. Causing him with a lot of debts that he almost couldn't cover and after that, he basically has no money left for creating a new business nor that the bank trusts him again after what had happened. He- has problems, he's not suited to work under someone else, I guess. Well, this makes him really frustrated. Every day he would come home drunk and eventually his habits caught up with his job too, causing him to lose it again and again.

He thinks that it's my fault. Because I am a bad luck." Nishino smiled bitterly, trying to hide the emotional pain that it caused just from saying the words.

"What did he do to you?"

"It differs from his mood. Sometimes, he just beat me up. Saying how ungrateful I am for having him raising me despite the bad luck that comes with it. Other times he-" Nishino sighed, "he pinched me with his cigarettes, he thinks that could be the way to erase my bad luck."

"Why are you letting this happening to you!? You know how easy it is to call up the police and let him be in the place where he belongs. He is torturing you!"

"I- can't... Senpai, not every single wound on my body comes from him. In fact, I-" Nishino look to her shaky hands, not being able to face the upperclassman. "I was the first one who created those wounds."

Shiraishi goes into silence, Nishino let her have her moment for several seconds before admitting it to her. "I don't think that I should be alive. That's why I don't want other people to know because I'm not sure I'll be able to handle them."

Nishino observed the silent girl whose body was trembling a bit. After a while, her head finally goes back up to meet Nishino's.

"Fine, I won't say anything about this and I will make sure that Kotoko-san doesn't too. However, I don't ever want you to fell ill just because of a mere infection. So, I'm asking you to please let Kotoko-san help you whenever your body needs it." Shiraishi sighed.

"Thank you, senpai."

Shiraishi nodded, looking straight into her eyes with a gentle expression. "I won't judge any of your life choices. However, I feel like I need to let you know that you don't deserve any of that. Nanase-chan, you should stop punishing yourself for something that is not even your fault. Bad luck? That's a nonsense. Nanase-chan, now that I already know everything, please don't hesitate to tell me if you're facing a problem, okay? I promise I won't judge. It's just I need you to feel better. Because for me, you are a wonderful person. I really wish you can see that too. "

Sadly, Nishino has never been able to clearly understand the reason for Shiraishi Mai to think that she's wonderful. However, from that day, just knowing that Shiraishi thinks so has started to be one of a few reasons for Nishino to keep going.

~ To Be Continued ~




AN:
HI ALL! First of all I want to say sorry for breaking Nanase so bad. Like hmm this is the main storyline that I have planned from the beginning that I wrote this series but as the time goes I have started to wonder if that will be good or not. Anyways, I was considering whether to change it into a lighter one but I realise that with the plot that has basically been built since the beginning backing down will ruin everything. So I really hope this will be good enough  :bow:
Please do let me know about what you think, I'm really really nervous about this chapter. Because well from the beginning this story its dark but now it has gone fifty shades darker (in a gruesome ways) lol

Till next time  :panic:
« Last Edit: April 28, 2018, 11:18:35 AM by finiarel »

Offline Shinoki

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XIX.5 || 280418]
« Reply #93 on: April 28, 2018, 02:56:03 PM »
Naachannnnnnnnn!!! This was really good... but also painful. Uwah, she's been hit with so many unlucky occurrences. But at least, she met Maiyan.

Offline clin-nolan

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XIX.5 || 280418]
« Reply #94 on: July 31, 2018, 06:20:08 AM »
After a long time at last I have a vacation :panic:
Really now I understand more the story and do not worry it has become more interesting  :twothumbs
My mind has already started to create more theories  :sweatdrop:
I hope you can update soon and that you are well :D :cow:
I will be waiting for you :heart: :heart:

Offline finiarel

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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XX || 030818]
« Reply #95 on: August 03, 2018, 09:23:42 AM »
CHAPTER XX

Nogizaka Enterprises Japan headquarter is probably one of the biggest research and development building in the entire world. Just for the research division itself, they have a whole tower just for themselves. The access to most of the areas is strictly limited. Even for Takayama Kazumi who has gotten an award for her breakthrough in developing artificial humanoid parts- the enterprise main administration tower is off-limits except for the first and second level which she can enter only when she has a meeting.

She loves her work so much, but this particular-building is the place she tried to avoid the most. The suits, expensive perfume, business suitcase. Today marks the first time she has ever gone past the second level of the tower, and still- all she can think about is how this building is not her place. She doesn’t belong here. 

Somehow, she was able to reach her destination, letting out soft thanks when the young woman who had escorted her from the tower lobby to the room excused herself and closed the door.

She stiffens a bit when the person in front of her gave her a quick friendly hug.

“I’m glad you can come even with the short notice,” the person gently led her to where the sofa is, “please, take a seat.”

Takayama nodded, inspecting her surroundings for a while before decided to break the tension. “It’s been quite a while since the last time I saw you, Shiraishi-san. How have you been?”

“Quite busy, but I guess that’s what happened when you’re the main stakeholder of a company” Shiraishi Mai chuckled, “but I’m well, thankfully.”

“Great.” Takayama took a sip from the cup of tea in front of her. “I take it you call me here because you need to discuss something with me?”

Shiraishi flashed her a bitter smile, “correct. Have you heard about what happened in my final court?”

“No. I haven’t read the news about it either. I thought that was none of my business, so I am staying out of it.”

“Well, one of the evidence shows some alcohols and drugs taken from my apartment.”

“Is Naa-chan okay?” Takayama's eyes widened, feeling a bit horrible for not checking on her best friend lately.

“I didn’t mention anything about her living in the place and what they found wasn’t anything too bad either. But, I somehow think there’s more to it.”

From the way Shiraishi cut her sentence Takayama noticed that she expected her to elaborate on the theory, Takayama sighed “what makes you think I know anything about it?”

Shiraishi pulled the shelf under the coffee table and took out a document, “the apartment keeps track of the visitor. Your name, as well as Wakatsuki-san, was one of the last names that were visiting the place.”

Takayama just eyed the document without making any comments about it.

“You see, Takayama-san. I think that it makes no sense if Nanase touches any drugs after what happened to her parents, but what makes it more illogical is she had been regularly receiving several unnamed packages over several weeks before everything goes down.”

“So?”

“So it’s pretty nonsense if Nanase does online shopping to buy paracetamol- which is what they found for the evidence. From what I heard from the apartment reception staff, Nanase wasn’t exactly shutting herself inside either, so why would she even buy it online?”

“Look, Shiraishi-san. I’m pretty sure Nanase will explain the situation herself once she’s ready.”

The young billionaire sighed, “Takayama-san, the way we look out for Nanase is different than how Wakatsuki-san or Sakurai-san looks at her. I think you realize that long before I realized it as well.”

“I’m not sure what are you trying to say here, Shiraishi-san.”

“I’m just saying that if there’s still a tiny bit of that person in you. You would know that it’s best to enlighten me about the whole situation so I can keep a more careful eye on her. You were there the night when she was rushed to the hospital, you know more than anyone else.”

Takayama smiled bitterly, “you sure have done your homework don’t you, Shiraishi-san?”

To tell the truth, a part of Takayama herself had a problem on making sense of that day. Over the past few days before it happened, she had realised that her best friend was behaving strangely. The way she was acting weird when Takayama had given her unexpected visit, before that, Nishino has always let her in the exact second she saw her through the camera that is set to identify the guest. However, that day, Nishino asked for 10 minutes before she opened the door, this is what they finally agreed after the girl failed to persuade her to meet in the apartment lobby instead.

Besides that, Nishino looks really cautious. She can see how her eyes never left her whenever Takayama moves a bit and she was also jumpy when the doorbell rang for the second time that day.

Takayama had tried to pry any information from Nishino, asking her that it’s okay to let her know if there’s anything bothering her. But Nishino strongly refused, saying that she’s only a bit tired from her work.

“I waited for her to come back from work every single day. I know that she would tell me to stay away if she knows that, so I just check on her from the car. Making sure she got home safely without showing my face- uh well you know.”

“And that day, you also went to her office?”

“Yes, well, I know something was wrong when it was 2 hours past the time her work is usually finished yet she was nowhere to see. I decided to go inside and check, her co-worker said she suddenly wasn’t feeling well so she left early that day. So I went to the apartment.”

“but she wasn’t there, isn’t she?”

Takayama nodded, “the reception said they don’t think she has come back home since the morning. It made me worried, I basically called everyone I know who knows her to let me know in case they know where she is. I thought that maybe, just maybe, she went to a place that reminds her of you, so I check your mansion where I met Ikuta-san, we listed several places, and spread to look for her. I went to the side of this river where you took her on your first date. The place was quiet, only a few numbers of people there. Well suddenly someone screams that they saw a person jumped from the bridge. At that moment, somehow- I know that it’s her. So, I jumped.

Good thing one of the people call an ambulance so she was able to receive help as soon as possible, but when they started to ask me whether I know if she’s using any drugs I decided to use the apartment keycard from her pocket to check it myself.

The apartment was trashed, as in really messy kind of trash, I don’t even think it’s possible for her to actually live in that condition.”

Takayama's hands reached for the phone on her coat pocket, fiddling through her camera roll for a while before stopping on one picture. “I took a photo, just one before cleaning everything that will get her in trouble. I figure we still need to know what is it that she took so she can get a proper treatment.”

“Some of this was from Nogizaka. Any idea on how did she get them?”

“No, I swear it wasn’t me. I would never.”

Shiraishi continues to inspect the image, her forehead wrinkled, “I know you wouldn’t do such thing...”

“Glad you have faith in me.” The joke felt out of place and she regretted it as soon as she said it. “Naa-chan didn’t tell me how she got them either though.”

“That sounds like her.” Shiraishi huffed. “One more thing before you leave, do you perhaps know Matsumura Sayuri? Or did Nanase ever mention her?”

Takayama's forehead wrinkled seems to be thinking for a moment before shaking her head, “not that I can remember.”

Shiraishi gave her a sharp look for a moment, before finally leaned back to the sofa.

“Thank you for everything, Takayama-san. I owe you not just one life but two. Whatever happened, I am glad that Nanase has someone like you by her side.”

“it’s not for you. It’s for me.” Takayama looks a bit flustered. “You owe me nothing.”

“Good to know,” Shiraishi laughed, “you can leave.”

Shiraishi watches as the young android modeller walks to the door, pretending to be busy with the document to avoid any other conversation. However, Takayama stopped just before the door, looking back to where Shiraishi sit.

“You see, the fact that the two of you still got back together even after what you did to her uncle means she still put her faith in you. So I hope you can at least do the same for her, just enough that if she said that it’s all in the past and there’s no need to go back, it means exactly that.”

To Takayama dismay, Shiraishi said nothing, the researcher huffed her frustration as she closed the door.

“That’s one thing I could never promise,” she mumbled after Takayama is gone.

It doesn’t even take 5 minutes for her personal assistant to come into the room, looking sharp even though they had a really busy and tiring day. “Shiraishi-san, I think that’s all you have for the day. I still haven't managed to contact Matsumura-san, but I’ll try to get it done by tomorrow. Is there anything else you need my help for the day?”

“That’s all, Junna-san” Shiraishi sighed. “I’m going home now.”

The other woman nodded, tidying up all the documents on the top of Shiraishi’s desk. “I’ll notify your driver to pick you up in the lobby downstairs. I’ll see you tomorrow, Shiraishi-san.”

Shiraishi gave her a little smile before she fled outside, going straight to the lobby where her ride is waiting.

“Take me to Nanase’s office,” She said before the car started to move, checking her watch to make sure that the person she’s about to meet will still be there by the time she reaches the place.

Nishino Nanase looks surprised when she walked out of the building and see her girlfriend sitting on the bench in front of it, she seems to be immersed in the device in her hand to notice. Nishino smiled, prancing a bit to peek at the screen.

“I hope that’s not some other girl you are secretly dating,” she teased.

“W-what? Of course not, it’s actually Hashimoto-san. See?” Shiraishi pointed at the name on the top of the screen.

“I know, I was just joking.” Nishino smiled, “so, this is a surprise”

“Yes, sort of. I hope you don’t mind,” Shiraishi said as she stood up and kissed the other girl on the cheek, “I’ll drive you back home.”

Nishino nodded, letting the girl interlaced their fingers together, from the way Shiraishi is behaving she knows that there’s something in her mind, and the younger girl decided to cut to the case. “Is everything okay?”

“I hope you won’t be mad at Takayama-san,” she started, earning a curious look from Nishino. “But she told me what happened with you and the drugs.”

Shiraishi had expected the other girl to yelled at her, or leave, or stop, or at least break the hold on her hands, but instead, the girl sighed, “what do you think then?”

Shiraishi stopped, leading her to a place near the wall of one building where they can talk face to face without blocking the walkers, “are you okay?”

“I am.”

“Are you getting the help that you need?”

Nishino nodded her yes.

“Then, that’s enough for me.” Shiraishi leaned forward and give the girl another kiss on the forehead, “let me know if such thing bugged your mind again okay?”

Nishino moves forward to give her a hug, the one where she rested her head on the crook of the slightly taller woman’s neck.  Trying to keep herself from shedding a tear as she mumbled the apology she felt to be necessary.

~ To Be Continued ~



AN:
Hii, finally updating this story. Well I won't be lying to say that it's somewhat really difficult to put everything that needs to be there and ensemble it into just one chapter, but somehow I find the way hahahaha
As usual I would like to thank you guys for reading this  :bow: :bow: :bow:
Let me know what you think about it okay, I always love that  :deco:

Replies:

@Shinoki
Quote
Naachannnnnnnnn!!! This was really good... but also painful. Uwah, she's been hit with so many unlucky occurrences. But at least, she met Maiyan.
oh no boy, Nanase suffering didn't exactly ends when she met Maiyan. But true, at least she met her  :nervous
Thanks for the reply btw :yossi:

@clin-nolan
Quote
After a long time at last I have a vacation :panic:
Really now I understand more the story and do not worry it has become more interesting  :twothumbs
My mind has already started to create more theories  :sweatdrop:
I hope you can update soon and that you are well :D :cow:
I will be waiting for you :heart: :heart:
I would be glad to know your theories  :hehehe:
I'm well it's just I've been busy and tired and having a hard time to write so lol bare with me.  :nervous
Thank you for the comments  :thumbsup

Offline finiarel

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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XX.5 || 200818]
« Reply #96 on: August 20, 2018, 12:04:48 PM »
CHAPTER XX.5

During the duration of her life, Nishino Nanase has felt threatened too many times to count. But that night was one of a few that she will always remember.

It was supposed to be a quiet night. Well, at least as quiet it could be in her small 2 stories 2 bedrooms house. Her uncle had left from before she had even come back home from school, probably out drinking somewhere that Nishino couldn’t be bothered to care.

Usually, when this happens, the guy will be out till late or if Nishino is lucky till the next morning. However, that night was an exception.

It wasn’t even 10PM yet when she heard the door being opened and some loud voice coming from downstairs.

Nishino raised her eyebrows, moving out of her room and peeked from the top of the stairs, seeing several men starting to flood the house small lower level.

“NANASE WHERE’S THE BEER?” a familiar half-drunken voice yelled.

Sighing, Nanase started to make her way down the stairs. Trying to ignore the dirty look some of the middle age guests is throwing at her. She opened the fridge, which from the content looks like something a cheap bar would have rather than something used for a normal family kitchen. Her fingers pulled several bottles of sake, placing it on the table near all the cards and token that another guy started to arrange.

One, two, three, four, five, six, her ears catch some noise from the toilet.

Seven.

She peered at their glass shelf for a while, taking the 5 beer glasses that they have and added 2 more mugs from another. She made a mental note to shop for plastic cups on the next grocery shop.

“Damn Nishino, your kid is pretty cute.”

The deep voice belongs to the guy who was using the toilet before. It was rough and deep that it basically sent her chill down her spine. After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, assuring herself that it’s okay, she turned back to put the glasses on the table. Her other hand already gripping the bottle opener to pop each of the bottles as soon as she is done with the first task.

When she was pouring the alcoholic drink into the glass, the same guy who by then has taken one of the chairs located on her right put his hand on her back, roughly yanking her by the waist to moved closer to him. “Hey kid, wanna join us for a drink?”

She put down the bottle, hand moved to shoo the creepy hand away, but it doesn’t budge at all. “I need to head upstairs.”

“Ah- want me to join you then?”

His breath smells like alcohol, face rugged, with shirt wrinkled, alerting the teen that he is someone with a similar habit with her uncle. She looked at the man whom she had a blood relation with, the guy was too immersed at checking up his card, the cigarette on his mouth reminds her that the possibility of him standing up for her is almost zero.

“No, thanks.” She rejected the offer harshly, “please let me go.”

“Come on, don’t be shy,” the man moved his hand lower.

Nishino Nanase couldn’t handle it any further, she grabs the drink from the table and splashes it onto his face.

It caught him by surprise enough to finally loosen his grip. But from the way he seemed to grumbled and the look from the other men around the tables she knows that they’re far from being able to understand who is actually at fault.

“COME BACK HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!” He screamed, but the teen was quick enough to run upstairs where her room is and grabbed her wooden desk chair, putting it diagonally between the doorknob and the gap of the plank floor underneath. A trick that Shiraishi Mai has told her a few weeks before, a trick which has let her avoid some of her uncle worst drunken night.

That should help a bit to keep it from being opened as her uncle has broken her room lock many years ago.

A loud banging can be heard, as well as some cursing words, yelling at her to open the door. Usually, her uncle left her alone after throwing some spat behind the door, but his guest that night is different. They slammed their body into the door, causing a painful creaking sound.

“YOU KNOW WHAT KID, WE GIVE YOU 30 MINUTES TO OPEN THE DOOR. OR ELSE I WOULD BREAK THE WHOLE SHITTY THING DOWN.”

Nishino hugs herself in a reflex of the drunken man voice as her eyes quickly scanned for her phone and as soon as the silver gadget is in her hand she quickly dialled the number that she has known to heart by then.

“Maiyan, help,” she pleaded, almost breaking down to tears from being scared.

It was the slowest 16 minutes and 46 seconds of her life. But by that time the one she called for help has climbed up the trees and swung herself into the roof next to the only window in the young Nishino’s room. As soon as she entered the room from the window, the older girl engulfed her in a quick hug.

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered in her ear before quickly made a latching the rope that she had brought into the leg of the cupboard in the room. Extending the rope out of the window and where it hangs down until almost reaching the grass.

During that time when she waited, Shiraishi had stayed with her the entire time on the phone, giving her some instruction of what she has to do. Which is why Nishino is already ready with her backpack that contains her school uniform and some clothes, another one containing her school book is already shouldered by Shiraishi.

“Just do it like how I usually do okay, no need to rush. I have slid in a door stopper in front of the front door so they wouldn’t be able to get out that quick.” Shiraishi instructed as they slipped out of the room. “Go ahead, I’ll be right behind you.”

Nishino foot has already touched the grass below when she realised the hole between the other girl’s plan. Even though Shiraishi has done it multiple times, all this time she’s just sneaking in and out Nishino’s room, not with Nishino herself. Her way will need a person stayed in the room to loosen the rope after they reached the ground. This way, there won’t be any trace of someone ever going in and out of the room via the window.

But now with Shiraishi left up there, it means that she has to be the one who unties the rope. And to Nishino’s horror that’s exactly what the older girl did. She was trying her best not to scream the other girl’s name when the other end of the rope was thrown out from the window, landing softly on the grass in front of her.

From the roof, Shiraishi gave her two thumbs up, as if assuring her that she got everything under control. Nishino silently watches as the senior leapt towards the tree.

“Shit!” Shiraishi cursed when her hands who reached for the tree branch missed. All she can feel after is that fuzzy sensation in her stomach that is similar with the one that she got during a roller coaster ride, her hand reached forward, but only causing her a sharp pain that made her accidentally screamed in pain.

She lied there on the grass, the younger Nishino is running towards her as she can hear a voice coming from her house. Nishino pulled her up, supporting the taller girl weight and helped her to reach the end of the small street where a familiar car is waiting. The glasses man who always drives the hurting girl around quickly goes out from the car and quickly pick Shiraishi’s up.

“Ijiri-san, we need to get out of her quickly!” she said when the man tried to check up on her.

“Okay,” he said with a full understanding, closing the door at the end of Shiraishi’s leg and slide into the driver's seat a second after.

“Did they hurt you anywhere?” Shiraishi’s head was on the top of Nishino’s lap because of her position which is lying down across pretty much the entire back seat of the sedan. She raised one of her hand up towards the younger girl’s face, thumb wiping the excess tears on the girl’s cheek.

Nishino shook her head.

“Good, that’s all that matters.”

Her smile was genuine, one that says exactly how much that statements is true for her.

Nishino heard the driver talking to the family doctor on the phone, trying to explain the situation as much as possible albeit his limited knowledge. The young girl herself is still a bit shaken from the whole situation, not to mention the condition of the one on her lap right now.

She said nothing during the ride back towards the Shiraishi’s mansion. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long trip either, which they did even quicker because the driver going as fast as he can. This sort of makes her worried they’ll get stopped by a police for exceeding the limit.

Once they reached the house, it seems like all the workers were already notified with the situation as they were already waiting on the porch, opening the door for the man who’s carrying Shiraishi inside straight to the girl’s room.

Nishino herself was ushered towards a different room, which she didn’t even spend more than one minute in. She makes her way to Shiraishi’s room as soon as she dropped her belongings.

She watches silently from the side of the room as the familiar young doctor work her way to assess Shiraishi’s injury. This overwhelming concern that she is feeling, Nishino wonders if it’s the same one with what Shiraishi experienced the first time she had taken Nishino inside her house.

A few minutes after she entered, the room door opened again and a short-haired girl who still looks half asleep comes in. She walked towards Nishino and gives her a quick hug. “Naa-chan, what happened?”

“Maiyan fell down,” Nishino gave a short answer.

“I can see that,” the girl stared at her sister for a moment before her eyes are back to look at her. “What about you, are you okay?”

“I am, thanks to Maiyan.” Nishino nodded, smiling a bit when she noticed the similarity between the young girl personality with her older sister. She averted her gaze back to Shiraishi who is currently talking to the doctor softly, an emergency cast made up from bandages and cardboard boxes decorating her the girl’s right arm. “I’m not sure about Maiyan though.”

“I will be fine, it’s just broken bones. It will heal eventually and now in the meantime, I got an excuse to have Misamisa taking my notes, skip PE, and guilt trip people to spoon-feed me.” Shiraishi butted in from the bed, giving her toothy grin which looks sort of weird because of the band-aid on her cheek. “Anyway Erika, Nanase is going to stay here for a while.”

The young prodigy eyes shot up in excitement, “really? Does this mean you can come to see me in competition?”

“Hey, hey, be kind on her. She just got here and you’re already dragging her into a boring family event,” the older sister teased. Averting her gaze to the doctor next to her for a moment, nodding in gratitude before the woman turned to leave the room.

Ikuta walked closer to the bed where her sister is, Nishino followed a step behind her. “What should I say to father about this?”

“Fell down from stairs,” Shiraishi sighed. “I’ll explain to him about Nanase’s situation, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Got it,” the younger sister somehow nodded in understanding. “I’m heading back to bed then.”

Both of them silently watches the youngest left the room, when the sounds of footsteps finally gone Shiraishi’s eyes started to observe Nishino, who’s staring at with eyes looking empty, a look that the girl always have whenever she’s lost in her thought.

“Hey, would you like to sleep next to me for the night?”

Nishino nodded, slipping underneath the soft blanket and occupy the space next to the girl. She lay down on her side so she can still face Shiraishi who is also turning her head sideways towards her.

“What’s on your mind?” the older one wondered out loud.

“What if he calls the police?”

“He won’t. After all, he did to you he would be afraid that you’ll tell the police about it, so he won’t.” Shiraishi latched the fingers of her good arm with the other girl. Thumbs rubbing Nishino’s skin in a comforting motion.

“You know I can’t stay here forever,” Nishino reminds her softly. “Eventually I will have to go back home for the monthly social worker visit or else they would be suspicious.”

“So we’ll come to terms with him, you’ll visit the house for several hours every month so he can get that money for his booze, and then you’ll leave after the social worker leaves. It’s not going to be hard to convince him because on that day he’s supposed to be completely sober, in-fact you not living with him means more money he could spend as he doesn’t need to think about paying for your food and stuff anymore.”

Nishino look at the one next to her in suspicion, “Maiyan, have you been planning this?”

“In a way, yes,” she admitted. “Ever since that day I learnt about the problem, I’ve been thinking about it non-stop. Playing what-if in my mind. That night after you said yes about being my girlfriend, I’ve come to conclusion.

That room that you’re occupying already has everything you need, all the clothes in your size, all the textbooks you will need for school. I also have asked my father for a permission for you to moved in completely. I didn’t really tell him what happened of course. I basically just said that you have some dangerous family situation. At first, he actually offered to legally take over your custody, but after some persuasion, he finally trusts me enough to handle it myself.”

“Wow,” Nishino whispered a part of her still having a hard time to believe the extent the 17 years old would go for her.

“I’m sorry for keeping this from you all this time,” she apologised, “I was afraid you will not be fond of the idea.”

“I don’t know. I’m really grateful for everything you have done to me but it’s- it sounds too good to be true. Not the part where you help me, but the one where this will actually work.”

“It will work,” Shiraishi leaned her head forward to touch their forehead together. “Trust me it will work. It has to.”

“I can never thank you enough,” Nishino said as she wiped stray hair away from the senior face, her fingers linger on the soft tresses for a while.

“You don’t have to,” Shiraishi mumbled. “What I want is for you to be safe and happy, so you don’t have to thank me. This will sound a bit cheesy but I’m happy when you’re well and happy.”

“Mai, I love you.”

It was the first time she had ever called the other girl name without the nickname or any honorifics. Unlike Shiraishi who had blurted out the word at the end of their first date, that was the first time Nishino has spoken that L word to anyone. No regrets, no hesitation, just her wholeheartedly knowing that it’s the truth and Shiraishi Mai deserves to know that.

“I love you too.” Shiraishi smiled, before averting her eyes shyly. “You see I plan to offer you a kiss on the lips after you got this whole love thing to figure out but I guess kissing me right now will be quite gross. Because the meds I just take and all that.”

“I don’t care. Um- I mean if you want to kiss me, go ahead.” Nishino hoped that the loud pounding of her heart couldn’t reach the other girl’s ear.

Shiraishi raised her good arm, touching the young girl’s cheek softly as she gazed into her eyes, “are you sure?”

Nishino nodded, moving closer so their lips are only an inch apart.

Shiraishi waited until the girl closed her eyes until touching her lips with hers. She wasn’t lying about the meds, Nishino can almost taste the bitterness on her lips too. But even so, in her life, she had only gotten a kiss from one other person, and this kiss that she’s having is her best yet.

Shiraishi Mai kisses her like how she treats her, gentle, careful, full of understanding. It waits for her signal to go ahead and it doesn’t force her to go towards a direction that she is not ready yet.

Nishino was the one who pulled back first, a wide smile on her lips as she gives the girl another kiss on the forehead, “I love you.”

It has been more than 7 years since that time and Nishino still couldn’t help herself but feel this mix of happy and grateful whenever her mind took her back to that day. Her uncle might be right about the disaster in her life that seems to never stop coming. But she also has Shiraishi, knowing well the girl still love her as much if not more than she was before.

And that is enough to make her feel like she’s among the most blessed person in the earth.

“So your girlfriend has learnt about what happened?”

Nishino stares at the white ceiling, arms folded on her chest as she picks her words carefully, “more or less.”

“More or less?”

She sighed, starting to regret agreeing with her housemate that she will come to the place where she’s at now. Especially when she knows exactly that sooner or later, they’re going to breach this particular topic.

But still, now that everyone including her own girlfriend thinks that she really needs help, they wouldn’t stop nagging at her to comply with the psychologist suggestion to come for a visit at least once every 20 days.

“She knows about half of what actually happened.”

Even without turning her head sideways toward where the other person sit, she can imagine the calmness the professional composed no matter what kind of answer she gave.

“And how do you feel about that?”

Nishino finally moved from her sitting position, facing the woman properly to meet her in the eyes. “Good, I guess. Because I don’t think she needs to find out what happened in detail.”

The psychologist tilted her head a little. “why so?”

“Because after everything that has happened, now is time for me to be the one to ensure her safety.” Her voice was soft but certain, signalling a decision she has made long before that moment.

~To Be Continued~



AN:
Another one for my contribution to Maiyan birthday  :) Here we take a peek of half of the thing that happened with Nanase the uncle and Mai, the real problem will be revealed later though. It also has a fluffy moment in the end. I hope you like it  :) :)
I'd probaly reread and fix this later as tbh I rushed the proofread in this one hahahaha
« Last Edit: August 20, 2018, 12:13:55 PM by finiarel »

Offline clin-nolan

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XX.5 || 200818]
« Reply #97 on: August 22, 2018, 06:53:27 AM »
I swear that my brain is going to explode  :err:
It is possible that Nanase, for her depression problems, uses drugs and wants to commit suicide  :fainted:
I would like to know more about how her life was while she believed that Mai was dead  :?
I think something else happened that night but I refuse to think that something bad happened to Nanase  :mon whimper:
Thanks for everything Autor-San  :k-inlove: :pandaaa:
I hope to see more NanaMai moments and that you are well  :sashiko: :heart: :D
See you soon  :byebye: :byebye:

Offline finiarel

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Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XXI || 02918]
« Reply #98 on: September 02, 2018, 10:14:56 AM »
Chapter XXI

Shiraishi Mai took a sip on her cup of matcha latte, looking out at the snow that starts to fall outside the warm building she’s currently seated in. She smiled a little when she realised it has been almost 10 months since the time she had woken up completely. Considering that right now she’s actually able to walk outside freely after everything she had been through sort of reassures her that the time has really come for her to pursue her happiness.

She looked at the small box in her right hand, carefully opening it to reveal a dazzling soft golden coloured circle, several diamonds form the shape of a flower on top of it.

Her father had given her the ring long ago, about a week after she told him that she feels horrible because she realised she likes girls instead of boys. Back then she was still 12 years old, so it was obviously too large for her tiny finger.

“This was your grandma’s.” She remembered his words as if it was just yesterday. “I think she would love you to have it so that someday when you find the girl that you want to spend the rest of your life with, you can give her this.”

Shiraishi took the tissue from the table to wipe the small tear from the corner of her eyes. Quickly shuts the box closed and slipped it back into her bag when her eyes spotted a familiar feature coming into the café.

The person threw her gaze around for a moment before catches Shiraishi’s raised hand. Shiraishi stood, her lips formed a hesitant friendly smile as she comes closer.

“Maiyan, it’s been a while.” Eto Misa said before engulfing her into a hug.

“It really is, how are you?” Shiraishi replied as they broke the hug and sit across of each other.

“My small business is going well, so all is good,” the girl winked as she snatched Shiraishi’s cup to sip a taste.

Shiraishi chuckled, realising that she missed having her friend around and also happy because after everything it seems like nothing is changed between them. Eto isn’t acting like Shiraishi has a grave somewhere out there and that is probably why she would say that the woman standing in front of her right now is her dearest friend.

Both of them chatted about the various light topic, ordered another cup of latte and some freshly baked muffins. A few times, Shiraishi wondered if she should ask the other woman for her opinion regarding the big question she has been considering, but then she decided against it.

She looked at the watch around her wrist and realised that the time she had allocated to spend with the old friend has come to an end. She directed the topic to one of the purposes of their current catch up.

“Anyway, have you seen Sayurin lately?”

“No, uhm, to be honest, the last time I’ve seen her was in your funeral and we weren’t even able to talk much as she was with 3 tall scary guys that pretty much creep every single guest out.” Eto reminisce. “Well rumour has it she took over her father business so that sort of explained the excessive bodyguard.”

Some part of Shiraishi had probably predicted that is going to be the answer.

“What’s with you and Ringo anyway? If I remember correctly the last time I mentioned her you said that you want nothing to do with her ever again.”

Shiraishi looked around, making sure no one is paying attention to their conversation before answering in a small voice, “I think she’s dealing drugs-”

“-well that’s obvious isn’t it, she’s leading a yakuza clan after all.” Eto cut her sentence in the middle.

“I wasn’t finished, I was trying to say that she’s probably dealing drugs from my company too.”

The two women exchange looks for a while before Eto leaned back, “and I take it you want to find her and tell her to leave your business out of it?”

“Well, Nogizaka isn’t meant to be a drug addict number one supplier. We are also in constant check of the government too. It worries me that there are a small portion of our stuff is being sold on the market for recreational purposes.”

Eto expression has changed into a serious one, “I’ve known you for years Maiyan, I know there’s another reason for you to set up a meeting for me here than just to ask that simple question. What is it?”

“I want you to help me trace the distribution of these drugs, I’ll fill you in for details on how they’re probably sending it to the customer and also what is sold. What I need is the names of the people who are involved, especially those inside my company and also help me to reach Sayurin.”

“Care to enlighten me on how you’re about to find out about these details?” Eto crossed her legs

“I already have them,” Shiraishi pulled out a flash disk from her handbag. “All I need is confirmation whether you can do it or not?”

When Eto gave her a sharp look, Shiraishi knows that she will need to tip the other girl with the truth to convince her to go.

“She was selling it to Nanase. She’s okay now but still, I don’t want that to ever happen again.”

Eto sighed, “let me be clear here, I will help you to look for whatever it is that you need, I will find out how to reach Ringo and bring her to talk to you in person but that’s it. I don’t want anything to do with her crew nor I want to be involved with your revenge agenda.”

“Fine, do as you wish.” Shiraishi slides the flash disk to Eto’s side, “The next government check is in twenty four days, I will need you to give me something by then. Is that doable for you?”

Eto nodded, “as long as the pay is decent anything is possible for me.”

“Good, just bill me whatever you want.” Shiraishi smiled a little.

“Maiyan, I’m saying this as your friend. I’ve known for years that you will always try to protect Nanase-san, but this is more than just shooting an old drunk. These guys are the real criminal. And no matter how much you hate Ringo- still she used to be her friend.”

Shiraishi took out her wallet and put several hundred of yen on the table. “That’s for me to worry about. Thanks for meeting me Misamisa, great to catch up with you.”

The other woman shook her head in disbelieves and pull Shiraishi into another hug, “I’m glad to see you well, I hope you care enough about yourself not to ruin it.”

Shiraishi says nothing and broke their hug. Giving the friend an assuring smile as if to say that she got everything to figure out and left the coffee shop.

As she sat on the comfortable seat of her car, her mind took her back to the reason she broke her friendship with Matsumura Sayuri. A reason that is not known by no one else but her, the girl, and Nishino Nanase.

It was actually about two weeks after that night where she had broken her arm from jumping out of Nishino’s house. That day, Nishino had to come back home for the regular social worker check. To tell the truth, a part of Shiraishi was starting to doubt that everything will work well according to plan. The time was spent mostly listening to the talk the uncle and niece are having with a middle-aged woman who’s been handling Nanase’s case ever since her parents passed away. That day she was as cautious as she could be, noting every single movement the man makes, she had even considered breaking the truth to the social worker. However, everything goes so well that she realised that maybe her plan was actually working.

And it was working. Even after the kind social worker had left the house, everything still peaceful. Seeing that the situation is under control, Nanase excuses herself to go upstairs to grab some of her leftover belongings to bring to the other girl’s home, while downstairs the uncle silently clean up the plates on the table and the left-over dishes.

Shiraishi somehow softens a bit and tried to help him, well as much as she could with an only left hand as her right was still on bandages and cast. That’s when she messed up, slipped and accidentally dropped the plates and glasses on her hands- making a pretty loud smashing sounds as it made contacts with the floor.

“Are you okay?” Came the worried sound from the man. She could feel a hand lay on her shoulder as he came into the view with eyes looking at her for an answer. Shiraishi tensed up suddenly remember the harm that very same hand had caused on her girlfriend.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!”

The scared scream was followed by a loud ear shattering-sound, much to the surprise of Shiraishi and the man himself. It was so loud that after it’s over, the silence that came feels daunting. It was probably three seconds after that the man let out a loud scream of pain, he turned his head to see his back where a bullet had nested its way there.

And behind the two of them, stood Nishino Nanase, her hand is shaking as it grips a silver gun tightly. Her eyes widened in horror.

“She w-was right… You would hurt Maiyan too,” the voice came out weak.

“HURT HER?” The man voice roared in anger, “you really want me to be the villain kid!? HERE I’LL BE THE VILLAIN.”

The guy grabbed the piece of plate on the floor, about to smash it onto Shiraishi but thankfully she was able to evade it in time. However, what both of them didn’t expect is three more loud bam of shooting sounds that follows after.

Shiraishi used to think that beginner luck is a total bullshit before that day where she saw a man dropped dead in front of her, a bullet went straight into his skull from the side.

Nishino Nanase was still pulling the trigger even after she had emptied all the ammunition of the firearm, her eyes watery and body trembling in fear.

That time, Shiraishi knows that they only have a couple of minutes before police came to check on them. She stood up, walk to where her girlfriend still standing stiffly, using her hand to gently pry the gun away from the girl.

“Nanase, listen to me. Soon someone will come to check on us and this is what we’re going to tell them okay.” Shiraishi gazes deep into the girl’s eyes. “He was shouting and threatening us. So I took the gun and shot him because I’m afraid he’s about to hurt you again. Do you understand me? It’s not you, it’s me. I was the one who shot him, the gun is mine.”

Nishino was looking at her like she’s lost. Her eyes are gazing into the distance, it looks like she still has a hard time to process what had happened. However, Shiraishi repeated the instruction, over and over and over again. Enough for the girl to finally able to work her brain to understand it fully.

“Nanase do you understand me?”

She finally nodded after a countless time the girl had asked her the question.

Shiraishi gave her a little smile, “good, now I need to know one thing. Who was it that gave you the gun?”

Again, her eyes catch the sight of the bloody lifeless body a few meters around them, a grim reminder of the crime that she had to commit. One that she had agreed to blame into the one she loves the most. She would have been lost in her own trail of thoughts again if not for a gentle-fingers slowly leading her gaze away.

“Nanase where did you get the gun from? Who was it?”

Shiraishi’s voice sounds so gentle, how is it that the girl isn’t running away from her? How is it that Shiraishi is asking Nishino to shift the murder onto her instead?

“Nanase please focus on me, it’s going to be okay.” She said. “Who gave you the gun?”

Somehow Nishino’s eyes started to water, she was finally able to comprehend the whole situation. The fault is all on her, Nishino was the one who had mistaken her uncle intention, she was the one who pulled the trigger without giving the guy a chance to explain himself. She was blinded by fear, one that concerns the safety of the one that she loves.

They can hear the sounds of the police car coming closer, followed by another question by Shiraishi who started to sound a bit panicked because she hasn’t given her the answer.

“Matsumura Sayuri.”

As soon as the name came out the older teenager smiled a little and give her a quick hug. Then, she walked to the front door, opening it for the police to comes inside.

To tell the truth, Shiraishi also blames herself for what happened that day. She over-reacted and it cause a man his life, while the man is far from the purest person in the world, what happened was still a murder, even worse she had tripped her own girlfriend to be the murderer. She knows that Nishino Nanase being an orphan has no chance to get out from the case without a guilty verdict. But a privileged girl from a wealthy family could with the exposure of the media and inner workings of money. Hence, she had twisted the truth, putting Nishino in a witness position as she becomes the sole suspect.

Still, a part of her seems to be looking for another person to blame, and this is where Matsumura Sayuri came. She was the one who gave Nishino the gun, convinced the girl that it’s the right thing to do. Her with the manipulative brain games that Shiraishi is always wary of. In the trial, she didn’t say anything about Matsumura, only mentioned how she got the gun from the black market of one of her acquittance. But outside, she had confronted the girl and basically say it loud and clear that she doesn’t want to see her anywhere near her or Nishino’s ever again. Her way of making sure the ever so cheerful girl to understands the extent Shiraishi loathes what she had done.

This is why Shiraishi is sure that Matsumura is the one who persuades her girlfriend into drugs. She is sure that for the second time her old friend used the Nishino’s weakness for her own gain and amusement. At times like this is where she wonders why on earth her father even let her have anything to do with the girl. Is the man actually involved in the distribution of the drugs? Is that why he treats Matsumura the same way with he treats any of Shiraishi’s friends despite knowing the truth about her family?

Shiraishi scoffed, her eyes scanning through the documents that her father was working on just before his passing. Trying to make sense of the situation in front of her.

~To Be Continued~



AN:
Hi!!!! I'm back with new chap, now we got all the matters with Nanase's and his uncle cleared up and can focus more towards the current matters which sort of relates to what happened with Nanase. I hope the time jump in this chapter isn't confusing for you, I've been going through it back and forth and realise that I sort of want it in  :nervous

As usual thank you for reading and reply is ALWAYS appreciated  :deco:
Replies
@clin-nolan:
Quote
I swear that my brain is going to explode  :err:
It is possible that Nanase, for her depression problems, uses drugs and wants to commit suicide  :fainted:
I would like to know more about how her life was while she believed that Mai was dead  :?
I think something else happened that night but I refuse to think that something bad happened to Nanase  :mon whimper:
Thanks for everything Autor-San  :k-inlove: :pandaaa:
I hope to see more NanaMai moments and that you are well  :sashiko: :heart: :D

Ah I hope this one doesn't actually detonate it  :lol: Hmmm hmm I wonder about that Nanase as well  :roll:
About Nanase's life when she believed Mai was dead, it will be there in later chapter and also clearing up what happened in that night from Nanase's very own POV.  :cathappy:
Thank you for the reply too, it actually one of the ultimate push for me to keep going, I am well and hoping you like this chapter as well :wub:

Offline Shinoki

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Re: Sakanatachi No Love Song [Nogizaka46] [Chapter XXI || 020918]
« Reply #99 on: September 02, 2018, 03:53:55 PM »
Sayuringo. Wow. While she may have given Naachan the gun, I wonder if she's really behind the drugs... dun dun dun!  Or really behind some of the bad things that happened. (My conspiracy theory hat might be on a little, haha.)

Ahaha, the only way I can put is it that I'm very curious on what happens next. Awesome update as always.

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