"How is she, doctor?"Bennett asked worriedly, Noah and Adrian peering into the office with anxious faces. "She's fine. No concussion and luckily no fracture or broken bones. She just needs rest. She's lucky that the firefighter and ambulance got there so quickly or else she might've met the same fate as Mr.Gae. It's a miracle she survived the ordeal with no serious injuries. Only a small scratch on her arm that required stitching."summaries the doctor, giving a small smile to three boys. They sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking over what they had just heard. "Mikado has had it rough and always has."he began, earning the attention of the three once again. "What do you mean Mr.Hisashi?"Noah asked hesitantly, edging closer to the door frame. "How about you boys come inside, have some drinks and food so I can tell you a little bit about Mikado."he suggested with a friendly smile as he produced biscuits from out of a desk drawer. Adrian and Noah took their places beside Bennett and waited for the old man to start.
"I've known Mikado ever since she was born, I was one of the people there to help her birth."he said slowly, taking a bite from a biscuit. "She was an adorable little baby girl however, she was unplanned for."and he took a pause, his eyes going slightly glassy as he remembered the past.
"I was the doctor put in charge of the couple. You see, Daichi Shibuya has had three wives, the fourth being his current one. His first wife, Byeol Lee, a woman of 35 years old. Surprisingly, he was 2 years younger than her, aged 33. Daichi and Byeoul had their 1st child and last child, Kosuke Shibuya, who is now 20 years old. However, she died giving birth to him. Then, his second wife, Mikado's, Mikano's and Mika's mother."and he took another break, drinking from his glass of water. "Wait, there was a third child?"Adrian asked, slightly shocked by the news. "Not third child, triplet. You see, originally, it was supposed to just be Mikano and Mika, twins. However, Mikano's embryo split at a later stage and thus, that was Mikado. Sadly, since Mikado was 'unplanned' you could say, she had a rough childhood. Then, their mother died in a car crash whilst Mikado was in the car. Since then, she's hated cars. It's a miracle she's survived another one with only a minor scratch."the old man explained, a sad smile on his face. "I remember being the one to do the surgery on her and then later, keep her company and help her with her rehabilitation. She broke her leg you know."he said, his voice wavering slightly. Bennett, Adrian and Noah all took a sip from their glasses, listening with anticipation yet feeling sad, shocked and many other emotions. Even hurt because Mikado never enclosed any secrets to them even though she's known them for just over a month.
"After the triplet's mother came Shiro's mother, a woman in her early 30's. Their father was 42 at the time. Shiro however was born as a sickly child, easy to get diseases and so, he remained in the hospital for half his life, the other half at home. However, his mother died because of the flu. And now, we are on to Daichi's fourth wife, Chung-Hwa. She cared for Shiro most of the time. Umm...she's been his wife for around...more than 5 years now. Is it 6 or 7, I don't remember. I am too old to remember that now."said the old man with a small chuckle as he scratched his head. "Then what happened?"asked Bennett in a quiet voice, staring at his glass of water, his eyes a storm of swirling emotions.
"Well, Mikado grew up with a hard life. Since she was a 'mistake', she wasn't treated like the other children. She was neglected, not given any love at all. That's maybe a reason why she hasn't told you anything about her, because she's scared she'll be betrayed by you. She's never let anybody in, well, she did once and she betrayed Mikado's trust. Ever since then, Mikado has remained enclosed in herself. Mika was the one that betrayed Mikado. Mikado's scared to be loved because she's never been loved."explained the old man wisely, munching on his biscuit. "She needs you three, or one of you three, somebody in her life to tear her walls down. She needs to have the life she deserved. She's a strong kid but even the strongest humans have their weaknesses and fears."the old man said wisely, staring into the eyes of three boys intently. "May we see her Sir?"Bennett asked in a low voice but the doctor shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Ms.Mikado gave me strict orders not to let anybody see her. Not even her family are allowed to see her, not that they would come."he added matter of factly.
"Do you think she'll be mad at us?"Adrian asked nonchalantly, as he stared up at the evening sky. It was twilight, the few moments when the night and day merge together to create the evening. "What do you mean?"Noah asked, peaking around Bennett to look at Adrian who sighed. "I mean, we know about her past now. I feel like we just went behind her back, breaking the small amount of trust we've earned from her. I feel like we've just betrayed her."he explained, his brilliant green eyes looking into Noah's warm brown ones. Bennett sighed. "I don't know. I mean, we are…"and he left the sentence hanging, not wanting, daring to say the word. The other two knew what he was going to say anyway.
"When's she getting discharged Bent?"Noah asked this time, also looking up at the magnificent sky. Blue, purple, orange and pink and yellow all blending together, creating a beautiful gradient. "The old man said within 2-3 days. She's only had that minor scratch on her head so she doesn't need to be in for long. She just needs to rest. She's allowed to participate in the games again though. We seriously need to catch up to the other teams."Bennett said with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. The three walked in silence a bit more, admiring the beautiful evening sky.
"Don't you have this feeling that something bad is going to happen again?"Adrian asked the other two, stopping at some stairs to sit on the railings. "What do you mean"?
"Well...ever since that psychic, umm….soothsayer or future teller, umm...I've been kind of scared since then. Like there is somebody always watching me, waiting to strike. When….what was her name again? Oh right, Nancy foretold Mikado's future, it was so...grim. So serious, like her future was set in stone. Ours sounded less….set in stone. Like we can still change our future but Mikado can't."he explained and this grabbed the attention of the other two. "What was your's again Noah".
"I would lose someone dear to me. That could be my siblings or you guys or my parents or Mikado."he added to the initial sentence. "What about you Bennett"?
"Mine was...that I would go insane and need to go to an asylum or something because my lover was killed. But, I don't even have a lover;girlfriend."he replied thoughtfully, a bit confused. "Maybe your bi or gay."suggested Adrian humouresly, earning an ice-cold glare. "Mine was that 8 would end up going to jail because all my crimes were found out by the police. My parents wouldn't even try to bust me out of jail."he answered.
"And Mikado's. Her was that people are trying to kill her, that she'll most likely die."all three said the end together solemnly, looking down at the tarmac floor.
Kids shouted from below the stairs as they happily played together. "Stuck!"they shouted and squealed when the 'stucker' was close. The three boys watched the kids fondly, some lust in their eyes. "We never got to have a chance to play those games."stated Bennett, almost as if he was lost in his own world. "Yeah. We never got to play our promised game."said Adrian, chuckling when a kid fell over. "I was always the clumsy one, wasn't I."commented Noah as he remembered himself always falling on his knees and crying. "Yet, did Mikado ever get to play this? Or is she more like us than we think? Always pressured to be the best, always needing to stand up on her own two feet. Do you think she ever got to experience happiness, fun, love?"Bennett asked, looking up to the night sky now, the last rays of the sun gone from this side of the world. "I don't know".
___________________________________________________________________________
Author's note
So, the message here is: don't go behind people's backs. Again, let's name the people person A and person B.
Person B spreads horrible rumours about person A and person A gets bullied. That happens more often than you think and it's even worse now with social media. It's a killer, rumours, going behind others backs. I have a friend as she got bullied and started cutting her ankles. I will not name names so I can keep her privacy. I greatly respect my friend for she managed to pull through the bullying, have the willpower and help to not do anything worse, to keep on living. I find that admiral.
Going behind people's backs is a horrible thing. Sure, there is tea:gossip, news but then what? Does that really make you feel good. In the end, you'll just end up friendless or with fake friends or people you call friends when they are only trying to use you and get you trouble. Don't start rumours about others and always take it with a pinch of salt. It's a famous saying: 'I take it with a pinch of salt'. It means, I never fully believe it until I actually see it or hear it from the person themselves. So please, don't do that and just be kind, respectful and caring. It's not nice to spread rumours because you can suddenly find yourself at the receiving end to.
Same with idols or singers and actors. Don't spread rumours till it's confirmed. They cause a lot of trouble for agencies and hinder the work and schedule said idol or singer. They have an already busy enough schedule and they don't need more stress coming from their fans. So just appreciate and respect others and you'll see, you can maybe have friends for life then.
___________________________________________________________________________