The days used to be so radiant, full of light and hope. But after that one day, it all seemed to have dimmed. The days now turned out to be more gloomy than usual. Everything seemed to be boring, uninteresting and pissing. But those days were like the calm before a storm, a massive storm. It was nothing like that one, the one that had come at last.
I was standing before my father who was sitting on his seat in his office as usual. With my head lowered to showcase respect for display which I didn't really like to show him sincerely these days. I awaited him to speak first.
"Do you know why I called you here today?" Mr. Sakagami Karuma - the current CEO of SK and Co - my father asked me, not looking up from the papers he was signing.
I didn't bother to look up at him either. "No," I replied as shortly as possible.
I felt his gaze set on me when he heard my reply and his pen stopped moving on the papers. But he continued his work after a moment of stare.
"You have come of age to be the head of this family," He announced to me as if that one sentence would answer all of the unknown.
At this, I couldn't just act unbothered as I was, pretty much, bothered. "Are you saying what I am thinking you are saying?" I asked him with my eyes wide in surprise.
His cold eyes landed on mine as he replied, "Yes."
I didn't reply. I couldn't stop myself from asking me in my own mind, "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵?" I was asking myself so desperately that I didn't even hear what he was saying.
"-It's time for you to marry someone from a powerful family for extra support and to take this family into your care. I am growing older, my son. I believe it's time for me to take a break."
"I can't," I rejected blatantly without thinking anything when the words finally entered my eardrums.
"What did you say?"
"I said," I looked back at the cold eyes of his, "I won't do what you tell me to."
I could feel the room turning cold in the blink of twice. As if all of the heat inside the room was absorbed out to make it extra colder.
"Don't speak nonsense," My father tried to act like he wasn't swayed, "I'll try to find a good bride for you. So make yourself mentally ready to take all the responsibilities coming your way."
"Dad-" I tried to speak but was cut off.
"Do you have someone on your mind?" He asked me directly.
"Huh?" I was left speechless.
He let out a sigh, "I don't want everything to go back to last year, so I want you to let me know if you have someone you want to be with. I'll try to understand."
"What?" I asked in disbelief. "Are you really saying this now?" My eyes began to tear up in rage, "Do you hear yourself at all?"
My father knitted his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"
I felt like he slapped me hard on the face.
𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵.
I wanted to tell him everything that was bottled up inside me through all these times, but I couldn't as the lumpy feeling in my throat hurt and I couldn't croak up a voice. But I couldn't just let him go like this. I won't.
"Kariu," I named, "Last year, Kariu married someone she cared for."
As soon as I spoke, he flinched on his seat. "How dare you mention that cursed girl!" He exclaimed.
"Shut up!" I yelled, making him zip his mouth and look at me in surprise. "Don't talk about her like that," I glared at him.
Believe me, I have never, never in my life have I ever glared at someone like this. The power that it held was as strong as the emotions in my heart.
"Kariu had married my brother-in-law," I continued, "And what did you do? You caused a scene and now where are they? Nobody knows. Why are they not here? Because you threw her away! Along with her newly married husband! Just because she didn't listen to your words for the first time in her life. Just because she married someone she wanted to be with! You even looked away when she came to you with the news of her newly born daughter; when she asked you to name that child! You threw away your favourite child and her family! And now you're asking me to let you know if I have someone in mind? You'll try to understand? Do you even know how you sound? You make me feel sick, father."
I could see the tears as well as the growing fury in his eyes. But I tried to act like I couldn't. It was better that way. It was useless for him to regret such actions he took back then.
I know I lied. It wasn't that nobody knew where my sister was. I knew and I didn't want to let anyone else know. The amount Kariu was hurt after her marriage, I don't want her to be hurt like that again. So it's better to keep her whereabouts a secret.
After I gave my father a piece of my mind, I stepped out of the suffocating room without speaking nor hearing anything, slamming the door behind me, I left him inside all alone.
**********************************************
It's been a year since that day, the day Kariu and her family has been banished from Sakagami family.
After that incident, Kariu and Ren went abroad. In a far away country from that one in which Kariu held her bittersweet past, Kariu and Ren built their own home. They had a daughter as well, who was the apple of their eyes.
The small family had been leading a life of happiness altogether, however, this one matter always bothered the mother of the child.
When their daughter Kaori was born, Kariu had went over to her long last father to inform him of the merry news, leaving Kaori's father and other relatives to be with the newborn child.
"Dad!" She had entered his office breathlessly. With happy tears in her eyes, she had seen her once beloved father just like she had used to, with pure love and affection. "You've become the grandfather of our daughter!" She had exclaimed with joy.
But her father had frowned in annoyance, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to inform you that we have been blessed with a baby daughter, dad!"
But he had replied without any expression despite clearly hearing what Kariu had repeated, "So?"
Right then, Kariu had been reminded of the treatment she was getting from her father. "Oh.." She had said, her excitement dying down, "Uh, no reason. I just... Wanted to tell you.."
"You don't need to tell me anything," He had said in an ice-cold tone, "Whether you have been blessed with a baby or not is none of my matter. You are a nobody to me. So you don't need to let me know anything regarding you. Now stop wasting my time and get lost."
Kariu had hesitated, "D-"
She had been cut off in the middle, "Don't refer to me as your father. I'm no longer your parent and you are no longer someone from my family."
Kariu had been taken aback by the harsh words that came from her once 'the most warm father in this whole world'. She had bitten back her tears and had nodded quietly. "C-could you.. Name her?" She had stammered not to let him notice the break in her voice.
"What?" He had laughed, "Why would I name your daughter?
"I-" Kariu had been stunned by her father. She had been at a loss of words for some minutes.
After regaining her composure, she had stated calmly in a monotonous manner, "I'll be leaving now then. It was nice to see you again. Sorry for wasting your time."
Mr. Sakagami, however had not even bothered to reply to her indication of bidding goodbye. He had kept signing the papers before him in a haste.
Seeing her father's indifference, Kariu had bowed to her father slightly while a small, sad smile had played on her lips, "I wish you good health and happiness. I'll come again later, dad."
"Don't."
Kariu had raised her head in question to meet her father's cold eyes. "Don't come back to meet me again and don't call me that," He had said firmly, making Kariu's face dim in sadness.
Then he had told a single lie to refrain her from coming here again. "Instead, I'll give you a call to check up on you," He had given a fake smile to make the lie more believable.
By this, the forever naive Kariu's face had lightened up and she had grinned, "Okay!"
**********************************************
After that day of the visit, Kaori told Ren, Kira and Kazuma that their father had finally melted his ice towards her - he would give her a call to check on her. Of course, the three didn't expect this and was rather surprised. But seeing Kariu's happy form after so long, they didn't voice their confusion.
The young lady was discharged from the hospital after a week and they went back home. Since Ren was a busy person, he wouldn't be able to be by his wife and daughter's side all day long. So he took in a maid named Dona and a buttler named Lin. Dona had worked in the Sanemi house before so it was a help. Dona took care of her lady and young mistress while the master wasn't home.
Kaori was growing up slowly and her mom and dad started to go on their jobs more often. Soon a year passed after Kaori was born. In all this time however, Kariu never forgot the fake promise her father had made to her.
**********************************************
Kaori stepped into her third year months ago and Kariu's birthday was just in the corner.
On the eventful day, the young lady was expecting a lazy day to doze off but, she was wrong. Kariu was called in by her boss to the hospital for a critical patient. So she went running there.
Ren and Dona, on the other hand, took this chance to prepare for Kariu's surprise birthday party. While Dona made a birthday cake and other sweets and foods, Ren invited Kazuma, Kira and her husband along with their son to the party.
Although Kaori was just three, she offered to help but she was rejected. So she just watched everyone from the sidelines with little Touma.
Touma was quiet as a small boy. He sat there beside Kaori without speaking much about anything at all.
After all day, Kariu finally came back home at night, tired and droopy. But she didn't have the chance to even sit down, the party poppers popped from every way, announcing that the party had started.
During the party, when Ren gathered with the guests to converse, Kariu excused herself to their room.
Catching Kariu's face as a little bit tensed, Kaori knitted her eyebrows slightly. "Dona," She called the maid who was standing beside her quietly, "Stay here. I'll come back quickly."
Dona nodded promptly as a reply and Kaori left the living room.
She appeared in the hallway to see it deserted. After hurrying towards the door to the room of her parents, she stopped abruptly right before it. It was open ajar and the back of her mother could be seen standing before the telephone on the wall. It was as if her mother was waiting for someone's phone call.
Kaori's eyes slightly squinted as she figured out who's call it was that her mother was awaiting. After all, she'd been doing this for ever since the day Kaori was born.
Watching Kariu staring emotionally at the telephone, Kaori didn't realize when she had clenched her hands into fists as she remembered her so-called grandfather whom she heard of countless of times.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩?"
"𝘉𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶?"
"𝘏𝘦𝘩, 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥! 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶? 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘒𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘪? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳."
"𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?"
"𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩! 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦."
"𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮!"
Tears formed in her eyes as she watched Kariu's tears falling from her eyes.
𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸... 𝘐𝘧 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘮𝘰𝘮..
"What are you doing?"
Upon hearing her father's call, Kaori quickly wiped her tears and looked up at him, "Nothing."
"Where's your mom?"
She silently pointed at the door and Ren peeped. He sighed as he understood what was going on.
He turned at Kaori, "You should go back. I'll bring her with me."
Kaori nodded and left the place while her father stood in front of the door and watched her leave.
As soon as Kaori entered the living room, she caught Touma looking over at her from the corner of his eyes. But he looked away in hurry when she started taking steps to him.
"I'm back," She plopped down on the sofa, "Sorry if I made you feel lonely."
Touma said in defense, "I wasn't lonely! Where's your mom and dad?"
"Give them some time," Kaori said shortly, "They'll be back."
Kariu and Ren walked back to the living room after some minutes just like Kaori had said and the party began again. It went on until midnight when Kariu finally announced that it was time for everyone to go to bed.
**********************************************
One year later.
Sanemi residence.
As the sound the front door opening followed, Ren leaned over to the sofa he was sitting on and asked loudly while he tried to catch the door with his eyes, "Is that you Kariu?"
A reply from the newcomer was heard, "Yeah!" Kariu quickly pulled her outdoor shoes off at the doorstep and walked inside the house, wearing indoor slippers.
After entering the house through the door, one would be greeted by a big living room. There was a large door on the right which lead to kitchen plus dining room. A small hallway was after the living room which had two doors on the two sides. One of them lead to Ren and Kariu's room while the other was for their daughter Kaori.
Kariu poured herself a glass of water and looked around in search of something. "Where is she?" She asked Ren.
Ren was watching television since it was his day off as he rarely got any days off since he was also a busy doctor. He answered his wife as he played on the buttons of the remote control, "In her room. That girl doesn't come out often. She's such a loner."
"Geez," Kariu took a gulp of water, "Don't talk about her like that."
Ren made a sad puppy face, "I'm saying that because I asked her out to play but she refused to go because her theory was that she was too old to be playing around like a three year old. I can't believe a young girl like her is saying that. Don't you think our daughter is already mature at this age?"
Kariu shrugged and sat down beside her husband, putting the empty glass on the coffee table before, "Just leave her like she wants. Don't force her on anything."
"Tsk," Ren clicked his tongue, "Too affectionate mother. You should check on her sometimes."
"What do you mean?" Kariu exclaimed in surprise, "We are literally best friends! She's such a considering person and she already gives such good advices even at this age. She's like a full grown-up. Wait, on second thoughts... You know what, Ren?"
"What?"
"I have a feeling that Kaori is not like any other children," Kariu's eyes glowed in excitement, "I think, she's special! I mean, not just special, really really special!"
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