@Shinoki: Thanks for enjoying the OS! I think back to the days when Yukirin can't even open the fridge door properly, and it wasn't like too long ago...
Sousuke was the real guy who almost raped Yuki!!
@Yuki88: Sae's birth will be fully explained today, so look forward to it! As for whether Mayu survives...please read on too
@bunny_rabbit: I'm working on the second part of the OS
Yes, I think they kind of got everything they deserve...most of the mysteries in this story will be solved this chapter.
@clubhappy: Thanks for reading the OS! Tomozuo just wants to get rid of his daughter since he's shifted his blame on his yankee daughter, and doesn't want the media to focus on her. As for what will happen, please read on!
@millca: Well, Mayu's dad was originally going to bargain for her to leave Yuki/the country, but then he saw how weird it is that Sousuke is beaten up and did some side investigation on the Majijo girls close with Mayu. As a powerful politician, it's not too hard to find out that Sae came out of nowhere, and once the bracelet is taken apart and analyzed, it becomes apparent that it's something from the future, e.g. the datestamps and the technology applied to it. Therefore, he started to think whether he could use Sae to earn even more useful information, and blackmail more out from them in exchange for Yuki's safety. It wasn't properly explained in the chapter because I thought it's not that important, and it's hard to fit it in (like, Tomozuo wouldn't suddenly explain his motives to Sae and Mayu).
@Tupi: Thanks for liking BlackXNezumi combo! Yes, Mayu will be leaving...sadly...but at least, she's not dead yet! Hehehe, it's hard for girls not to fall in love with Ikemen Sae, even though they are her parents, lol!
Here is Chapter 15! Thanks again for reading up till this far, and hope you would enjoy the rest of the story!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Chapter 15 - Take me homeI parted with them in late afternoon, but instead of going to Choukoku's, there's one thing I desperately want to make sure of first.
I went back to the hospital where Yuko-san stayed. The hospital I woke up in when I returned in time. The hospital where Miyazawa Kengo died. I need to investigate why his jacket ended up with Yamada Sousuke that night. It might not seem important for Nezumi or Black anymore, but the image in the surveillance photo Mayu gave me is deeply imprinted in my mind. I just, I just need to find out about this person. Luckily, Atsuko is still working as an intern at the hospital.
"Astuko!" I greeted happily at the blank-faced girl. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, Gakuran." She barely smiled before continuing to mop the floor. The same salty reaction again, which I'm used to.
"There's something I need your help on." I cupped my hands and begged. "Please help me look up what exactly happened to this guy." I handed her the photo.
She looks at the blurry picture for a while and answered slowly. "I recognize him. Miyazawa Kengo-san. He used to come here every day."
"Why?" I asked with eyebrows raised.
"His girlfriend was pregnant."
"Girlfriend? Pregnant? What happened to them now?!!" I asked urgently since I remember what Nezumi said about the car accident.
"O she gave birth to a baby...girl I think? Yup, she gave birth about two months ago but they suddenly disappeared two days after she's born. Later that day, both she and her boyfriend were sent back here after they got into a car accident. I think they're trying to elope. The girl survived, but as you know already, the guy died."
"What about the baby?"
"It wasn't found in the car they crashed in. The girl is still in coma, so the police doesn't know where to find the baby either. They crashed over the bridge crossing the sea, so...I guess the baby must have drowned. At least that's what the police thinks..." Atsuko seems saddened as she recounts what she knows. "Ne, Gakuran? What's the meaning of life...?"
I balk at answering her question because there's not really an answer that can satisfy her. I think I can understand...seeing how people she treasures so much keep leaving her. First, it's Minami and now, it's Yuko-san.
"For me, it's to know that you make a difference in the lives of people you love. It's different for each person though, the meaning of life, so...Atsuko," I hold on to her hands and squeeze them gently. "You will have to live it to find out."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I slipped in to the quiet ward where only the beeping of the heart rate monitor is heard. A pale-faced girl, I'm guessing around the age of Black and I, lies motionless under the white hospital bedsheets. There's nothing special about her, so I can't really describe how she looks like. If she could just wake up and tell me everything...
The door slides open and I turned around to find a girl our age walking in wearing plain, navy blue tracksuits. She looks like a yankee to me.
"Who are you?" She scowls her face as she asks.
"I'm, I just...want to know what happened to Miyazawa Kengo. My name is Miyazawa Sa..."
"Miyazawa Sakiko!! Are you Ken-chin's cousin? Well of course, you guys look alike!" She came to me and studied my face carefully. "I'm sorry about all of this. He told me he has a cousin who lives in Hiroshima. Has he ever told you about Tomoko?" She turned her head towards the girl in bed.
"Em...no not really." I didn't correct her mistake. "And the baby...I heard there's a baby."
"Well...they both started going out just last school year, but then he knocked her up and a lot of crazy mess happened. To cut the long story short, both of them weren't ready to be parents, and they weren't in love anymore. But knowing how stubborn Kengo is, he obviously didn't want to give up on the baby. He ended up joining the biggest gang at school, which has connections with the Watanabe mafia, so he could make more money to support the baby. However, that's also how he and Tomoko got further apart, since he's always bossed around to do dangerous things. That Yamada--the gang leader I mean..."
"Yamada Sousuke?" I asked. There's a connection between them?
"Yes, that's right...how did you know? Anyway, he really hated Kengo for snatching Tomoko away, since she's his ex. But for money, Kengo's willing to suffer all kinds of humiliation. The sad thing is, Tomoko doesn't want the baby anymore, and...ok, I'll tell you here only, since both of them are my friends and I don't want to see Tomoko hurt."
I nodded and encouraged her to continue.
"She doesn't want the baby, so after giving birth, she gave Kengo a call one morning and said she'd already given the baby to someone else, and was leaving this city for good. I was at Kengo's place that morning too. I saw him rush out...and....and then the next thing I knew, they're sent to the hospital!" The girl in front of me starts sobbing, and I didn't know what else to do except going up to her and rubbing her back to soothe her pain.
"They say that the baby drowned...but deep down, I'm not even sure if she's in the car in the first place. I don't even know how Kengo found her...but he must had struggled to get her back to town in order to find the baby. I mean, that's all my speculation based on everything I heard in that morning...but I can't help it...to suspect Tomo like this...I know I'm the worst..." The girl, whose name I still don't know, is now burying her head in my chest as she cries uncontrollably. I'm also trying really hard to process the information. Instead of solving the jacket-swapping mystery, I uncovered an even larger question.
The baby may not even be in the car...the baby girl, born around the same time when Mayuyu found little Sae in the waste field beside the hospital. Could it be that this Tomoko here abandoned her in the field and that's why she's in such a hurry to escape? I mean, could it be, that my mother abandoned me? Is Miyazawa Kengo...indeed my father? I look at the pale-faced Tomoko lying there peacefully and calmly, like whatever cries and sobs she hears now has nothing to do with her. My eyes are slowly fogged up in tears as the truth sinks in.
"Do you think...if the baby is found now...and, and if she wakes up, do you think she'll want her back?" I asked, surprised at my own shaky voice.
"I don't know. Kengo-chi was so happy when she's born...so it depends if she still cares about Kengo's feelings when she wakes up. He actually named her already. Sae--that's the name. I'm telling you all this so you can keep on looking for Sae-chan and take her home, for Kengo's sake..."
I stayed silent, not knowing what I should answer. I walked over to Tomoko and study her face carefully again. I want to remember everything about her. I touched her face and leaned onto her, hugging her gently. I took a deep breath in order to remember her smell. I have already decided. This will be the last time I ever see her again.
I guess I can only leave the hospital with more question marks, some of which will never be solved. Even though I don't know how it happened, but Sousuke and Kengo know each other, and somehow, he got his hands on Kengo's jacket and wore them for some reason. Second, I will never find the truth about where little Sae came from, not unless Tomoko wakes up. Third, if I am indeed her daughter, I don't think she wants to have me at all...
I walked out of hospital dejected. But I eventually regained my pace as I head towards the second destination planned in my mind. I went to the store where the surveillance picture of my father is taken. It's a few blocks away from the alley Black and I fought. Then I started asking every store in between those places, whether they have seen the guy in the photo, or someone like Yamada.
There wasn't actually too many stores to survey. Most of them are closed by 7, which is way earlier than what happened that night. The couple of convenient stores that are still open didn't give any answers. I should have known that there's not going to be any findings; otherwise, Mayu would've noticed already.
I turned around the nearest corner to leave for home, letting out a sigh. Suddenly, a man rushed out of nowhere and knocked me down.
"Sorry!" he pulled me up as I turned to his side, and realized he just came running up and out of a pub downstairs.
"No problem." I answer and am about to move on.
"Wait, you dropped this!" I turned around and saw him picking up and looking at the surveillance camera photo I dropped.
"Miyazawa?" He wondered out loud.
"Do you know him?" I grab onto his shoulder and ask urgently.
"Well yeah...sort of. Them Sabado boys...always hanging out at my pub down there." He gestures sideways. "Miyazawa-kun...he died recently in a car accident, right? What a pity....such a nice dude, ya know?"
"Was he?"
"Yeah...he didn't really come that often compared to Yamada--- the shittiest alcoholic on earth! One time, he puked everywhere and started stripping his clothes off. He left the pub without paying, and guess what? Miyazawa-kun came in after a while, wearing nothing but a t-shirt. So I ask him, 'what the hell, kid?' and he just shrugged and paid Yamada-kun's bills. That Yamada must have taken his coat or something....it's freezing that night, I remember that! Ya know what? In my days, we don't do shit like that to our nakama...what a fucked up leader...can't believe he even got into the Watanabe gang now..."
The pub owner continues to rant about yankees but I wasn't paying attention anymore. It's fate, isn't it, that everything was just so simple after all, and yet they're so intricately connected. I laughed out bitterly, kind of scaring the pub owner off, and continued my way home, staring at the boy in the photo all along. I keep thinking: My father did so much for me and Tomoko, but what did he get in the end? One person's ordeal is another's blessing, I guess. After all, everything for Yuki and Mayu changed the day Yamada assaulted her. Maybe without this episode, Mayu would still be hiding away from her feelings, and Yuki, still putting up a front like she doesn't need anybody. If they weren't together, maybe I would never be adopted. I still don't know exactly how to feel about all this...but at least, these series of unlikely coincidences tied our lives together intricately.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I laid in bed awake for the longest night I could remember. At last, dawn broke and the last day Nezumi's staying with us came. We decided to go to the zoo, where both Mayu and little Sae seem to be enjoying themselves a lot. Sometimes, I will take the turn to carry my little self, while I quietly watches the two in front of me, like a cameraman stalking a star-couple.
They feed each other icecream and point excitedly at monkeys dancing at them. Mayu mimics an alpaca while teasing Yuki, who pulls her neck far out like a giraffe. Occasionally they can't resist it and started kissing each other, making me cover little Sae's eyes in protest at their blatant PDA. They'll just laugh at me and walk on. Sometimes, one of them will walk with me while the other takes care of the little Sae.
"I feel like taking care of two babies somehow..." Black mentions casually with her arm swung around mine.
"Yeah, that alpaca lover can be a pain in the ass sometimes" I agree while I think back at how many times she almost killed my little self with her non-sensical parenting skills, like that time when she just laid me on the table and walked away. Luckily I didn't roll off and fall!
"No, I mean you and the baby." Black replies with a chuckle. "I always feel like there's something special about aka-chan when I first meet her eyes....then recently, I began to see how similar you two are."
"Me?" I pointed to myself incredulously. Actually I feel like someone caught stealing candy, again.... "I'm...I'm even older than Mayu! And if you are trying to say that I'm stupid....I'm not! I'm smart...very smart!!"
Black bursts into laughter.
"I think that only serves to prove my point," she sticks out her tongue and continue, "thinking back about how much in love you were with Daruma...hahaha....large-face fetish, is that what it was?"
"Oi...shut up, and whose fault was it again!!" My face is red like a tomato now. "Anyway, it's Nezumi and my date today....go take aka-chan back!!" I pushed her away.
It's now Nezumi's turn to grill me.
"It seems that there are a lot of things you're hiding...especially that deal between Father and you..."
I didn't expect her to bring it up here, and I almost spit out the drink in my mouth.
"Calm down...I'm not gonna force you to say anything. I have my own theories, which time will help prove. Anyway, I want to tell you, even if I'm not beside her, I promise I will make Yuki happy." She takes a sip from her drink and looks at me. "I promise I will take good care of aka-chan too, even from a distance."
I nod slowly without saying anything.
"By the way, the birth certificate is ready, except for the baby's name. Yukirin wants to name her Watanabe Maki, but I refused."
"Eh? You're still fighting over the name??" I ask.
"I want to name her, Miyazawa Sae." She makes that evil-Nezumi smile at my blood-drained face. "I found out who her dad and mum are...I'm just respecting their wishes..."
"You..." I stumbles to speak further as Nezumi scoots away silently.
I'm again, stunned by Mayu's intelligence. How did she begin to connect all the dots simply because of Watanabe Tomozuo's strange request? But then it reminds me of how strange it is that two versions of myself exist in the same space. Is that really possible?
We continued to have fun till it's nearly sunset. I took the baby away to the aviary so they could have some time to themselves. Aka-chan's laughs innocently at the swallows chasing after each other happily in the cage. So clueless about the fact that she's about to say goodbye to one of her mamas, but seeing my carefree self makes me smile and rescues me from the state of helplessness I felt when I learned about my birth yesterday. I know that there will be so many people watching out for her. Watching out for me. And that's all that matters.
When we came back, I saw them engaging in another round of passionate kiss on the bench, the sun setting slowly at the backdrop. They are both so beautiful, and instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt warmth and fuzziness in my heart. I waited till the sun has fully set before I joined them.
"Maki-chan and I just came back from the aviary."
"Urgh..it reminds me of Torigoya..." Black jokes as she pretends to shudder. "The zoo's closing, let's go."
"Who allows you to side with Yukirin on our baby's name? Give her back to me!" She took little Sae from my hands and made a funny face.
Nezumi went in front, but starts walking backwards in her clutch to face us, holding the baby away from Black's playful snatches.
"What's so bad about Maki?" Black asked with a perplexed face. "It's Mayu+Yuki! And don't even get me started on how you refuse to give me any alternatives, simply saying 'no' every time."
"Fine. I'll let you know how I want her called. She should be 'S..."
She can't continue because a cry from the other side of the road alerts us that there's a car approaching. While Yuki and I are on the sidewalk, Mayu hasn't been paying attention at all and found herself right in the middle of the road, with the vehicle about to hit her. I'm overcome in a sense of deja vu...
She's cowering to protect the baby, shielding her from the impending impact while trying her best to push little Sae away.
"She gave her life so you could live..." Was that what Sayaka-ne in the future meant when she said it!! No way, I won't let this happen!!!!!
I pulled Black, who's about to dash towards them, away from the road. At the same time, I jumped and push with all my might. Please, let me succeed!
At the very last millisecond, I saw the baby and the girl pushed safely out of my sight, as I feel the crash falling straight upon my body.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sae-chan, Sae-chan!" I rubbed my eyes and found myself at the side of the road, with Choukoku laying right beside me, shaking my shoulders violently.
"I'm okay..." I sat up and patted myself, then looked around anxiously. It's not Choukoku, it's Sayaka-ne!!
"Don't rush out of the road without looking, you silly thing!" She smacked my head and pulled me up.
"I..." I looked straight at the entrance of the cemetery. The cemetery where Sayaka-ne brought me to tell me about the past.
I'm....I'm back to present!!!! I'm home!!!!!!!!!!! It all seemed like a very distant memory to me, but it's evidently not the case for Sayaka-ne herself.
"I know it's a bit shocking when you saw it, but you don't have to be THAT scared." I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, then realized that she's talking how I suddenly ran away from the graveyard.
I raised my hand to stop Sayaka-ne from continuing, as I ran back straight into where Watanabe Mayu's tomb supposedly lay.
Adorning the gravestone, however, is no longer Watanabe Mayu, but a picture of...yep, you guessed it, Gakuran. Even the name of the tomb says Gakuran.
"What's...why?" I am lost for words as I looked back up to Sayaka-ne, who chased after me.
"Well, you're named after Gakuran, if that's what you're asking. None of us knew where she came from, or whether Miyazawa Sae is her real name. So it's appropriate to name this tomb with what's she's best known as."
"Okay..." I am surprised at this turn of events. So I did sort of die in the past?
"But little did we know that in 16 years, you will look exactly like her! Anyway, you don't have to be scared, you're not dead, okay? So don't run off again like a madman."
"...This Gakuran....is buried here?" I frowned as I asked. I can't really reconcile the fact that I'm physically here but also buried some six feet below here.
"Yes..." Sayaka-ne was suddenly driven to tears. "Speaking of which, I didn't even get to see her properly before she goes. We used to be best friends..."
"Sayaka-ne..." I wrapped my arms around her to comfort her.
"There wasn't a proper burial. All I knew was that Watanabe's family helped arrange for her burial. So I guess, only your Mayu-mama has seen her body."
"Mayu------------mama?" I repeated hesitantly. She's...she's alive then?
Sayaka-ne sighed and take my arms off so she can face me.
"I know you're still angry when Mayu came back 3 years ago. I still remember the fit you threw when you found those letters they've been sending to each other for 13 years. But look, it's time to know about how you became their daughter. Many people sacrificed so you could live like this."
Sayaka-ne then proceeded to tell me what I already knew about my childhood. Then she mentions a bit about the first few years when I was still growing up. It appears that after Gakuran's death, Mayu had indeed left the country to protect Mama and me. Mama raised me as a single mother, until Watanabe Tomozuo's suicide. I repressed a smirk when she told me how Watanabe had bet on the wrong countries and lost a chunk of his fortune and political position after the 3rd Gulf War. Yes, that's right; I have lied about the outcome that day, even though he thought his threat to kill me if my information was wrong would work. At that time, I knew that I won't be able to live in that timeline for much longer. My sixth sense told me that, as well as Yuko-san. Therefore, the threat didn't really do anything to me, and I decided to trick him. He must be cursing me in his grave.
Anyway, after the threat of her father is gone, Mayu-mama came back. However, I had just started junior high, and wasn't please to find out that Mama's lover is a woman. In addition to being a Yankee's daughter, they're now also talking about how I have two mamas and no papa, so I was too mad to ever recognize Mayu-mama as family. I think I was just being a douche, and everything else pretty much happened like it did in my original timeline. I'm in the dirt level of Majisuka, while Yui has started her high-school life in Cattleya.
"Promise me, just don't blame everything on Mayu-chan anymore. She's had a tough life. You and Yuki are all she has." Sayaka-ne finishes talking with this request.
"I...I didn't know I have been hurting Mama-rin and Mayu-mama so much..."
I wonder how I should face them as I go home...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sae's now back in her timeline, and Mayu survived! The next and final chapter will of course be on Yui!!!!!
Topic: Majisuka Gakuran (Chapter 16/16) [Mayuki, Saeyui] - FINAL - [Complete] (Read 51767 times)