It is raining; a
whispering, thin veil of rain. Glaring red and yellow lights are the only sight
to be seen in the world painted grey from the storm. In front of Sullivans’
Elementary School, a black Subaru pulls up into the highway, only to be trapped
in the heavy traffic. In the passenger seat, a little girl is swinging her
legs, drinking a bottle of Ramune, still clad in her school uniform.
Her
father grips the steering wheel tighter in agitation, sighing and leaning back
into his seat. To lighten the mood, he turns towards his only child and asks,
‘Did Sakki have fun?’
‘Yes.’
The little girl looks out the window and stares at a water droplet as it slides
down the glass slowly, speeding up after it unites with another droplet. She
starts to hum a familiar tune, one that was sang to her many years ago.
‘So,
what did Sakki do in school?’
The
humming stops, and the little girl finally turns to face her father. ‘We made
Mother’s Day cards.'
‘Ah.’
There is a pained expression in Chiruka Satoshi’s eyes. He regrets asking that
question, but feigns interest, for Sakki’s sake.
Sakki
sees the loneliness in that split second. She’s not stupid; she knows her
family isn’t what they pretend to be. They may not be as broken as Momiji’s,
whose parents have never spoken to her; nor as broken as Fujioka's, whose
parents divorced and always argued; nor as broken as Tsubasa’s, who didn’t have
a family at all; but there were definitely some unseen tension, as if they were
walking on eggshells.
She
takes another sip of her soda, looking down at her shoes, looking out the
window, looking at the cars in front of them, before looking at her father.
‘Daddy,
how come mommy doesn’t come back to visit me?’
The
car lurches forward, and Sakki almost falls off her seat, if not for her seat
belt restraining her. It seems that the traffic had finally cleared, along with
the rain that caused it, and the two of them would soon find themselves back
home. Her father just stares at the road ahead of him.
‘Sakki's mother is trying to build a better future for Sakki.’
‘Why?
I never see mother anymore. Does mother… hate me?'
He
widens his eyes and stomps on the brakes. The car behind him screeches as it
makes a sharp turn, honking the horn in annoyance. His breathing is heavy, his
expression livid as he turns towards Sakki.
‘Don’t
think such nonsense! Sakki's mother loves Sakki, very, very much! More than Sakki can
ever understand!’ Her father violently lifts his foot off the brakes and their
Subaru continues to cruise on the highway, spraying unlucky pedestrians with
water from the puddles.
‘I’m
glad,’ Sakki murmurs under her breath, unnoticed by her father, taking another
sip of her drink.
‘Just
so long as someone loves me, I’ll be happy.’
...
Author's Note
Yo. I'll be writing this story from now on. No
idea why I decided to set it in Japan, but it's working out pretty smoothly. I
noticed that some people can't appreciate a story just because it's written by
someone they don't like, so I'll only reveal my identity when the last chapter
is out. I'll still leave some clues about my identity though, so that my
friends know I am here. Bye~
- Nakashima Chiaki
Edit: I found out that saying 'you', 'she' or 'he' is offensive in Japan. I changed it to their names.
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