Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Somewhere Only We Know: Sequel to Becoming Trunks ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7

After meeting with the lawyer and the accountant, Miyuki decided to take a trip to visit her mother at her place of employment. After she pulled into an open parking spot, she switched off the car and sat for a few minutes to compose herself. I've spent so much of my life trying to find happiness, yet it keeps eluding me, she thought. The few times I have felt true joy, has always seemed to end quickly. I don't have any problem taking responsibility for my own actions; that is why I am back in Satan City. I really don't want to see my father. I hate him. I hate what he did to Miya and me. But if I don't at least confront the demons of my past, I will never be able to move forward.

Miyuki knew that facing her father was inevitable, so she opened the door and slowly got out of the car. Slamming the door behind her, she slowly walked to the front entrance of the nursing home. Upon entering the building, she walked up to the reception desk and asked if Miya was available. The receptionist paged her mother over the PA system and, after a few minutes' pacing in the waiting area, Miya appeared in the entrance of the main corridor. "Hello, dear. How are you?" asked her mother.

"I'm okay, I guess. Are you busy today?"

"I have a few minutes. Did you come to visit me?" asked Miya, not wanting to mention their conversation from the previous day.

Miyuki looked down at her feet and watched as her right foot swished back and forth on the waiting area carpet. "Well, yeah, I came to see you, I guess," she finally said.

Miya saw the uneasiness in her daughter's movements. She took her hand and placed it under Miyuki's chin, lifting her head to look into her eyes. "We can go sit in the break room and talk. Have you had lunch?"

Miyuki had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she forgot to eat. She nodded and smiled at her mother, then took her hand. Miya led her through an adjacent hallway and past the patients' rooms in order to get to the break room. Miyuki glanced at the patient names as they passed the doorways, until she came upon one that was familiar. She stopped and tugged a little at her mother's hand. "Is he in there?"

Miya smiled. "Either that or outside smoking. Would you like me to check?" asked Miya with a concerned, mother-type tone.

Miyuki nodded and leaned against the wall as Miya went into the room. While she waited, she heard muffled conversation coming from the room. Then she heard her father's voice. It was the unmistakable voice of Jo He. The man who had made her childhood a living hell; the man who denounced her when she went to college and tried to make something out of her life; the man against whom she had spent the last twenty years holding a grudge for ruining her life, was inside this room living out his last days miserable and alone.

Miya walked out of the room and back to her daughter's side. "He wants me to take him outside for a smoke. Would you like to come?"

Miyuki again nodded mutely in agreement. Miya went to the end of the hall and retrieved an unused wheelchair, which she pushed into the room. A few minutes later, she emerged with the room's occupant in the wheelchair. The person Miyuki saw was a very old man. His sparse hair on his balding head was a dingy white color and his skin was a sickly shade between yellow and green. He had lived a short, but hard life and every bit of it showed in the wrinkled, leathery flesh. He looked up at Miyuki as they passed by, but did not acknowledge that he recognized her. Instead he continued to babble on about how it was fifteen minutes past twelve, and he always took his smoke break at twelve. Miya turned her head slightly and looked back at her daughter who seemed paralyzed next to the wall. Miya silently motioned with one hand and, and as if she was a robot, Miyuki obliged her mother and stiffly followed them out to the smoking area.

"It's about time you came and got me! Everyone knows I take my smoke break at twelve and at four. Someone better be ready to take me at four or heads will roll! I will get the president on the phone and he will shut this place down. They torture people here you know?" He continued with his complaining rant to Miya while attempting to light his cigarette. Finally, Miya reached out and steadied the lighter for him, because his hands were shaking so violently, then she turned her ex-husband's wheelchair so that he would be facing the sun before she sat down on a nearby bench. Miyuki timidly came up behind them and just looked at the two of them. Seeing her parents together for the first time since she was six years old gave her an odd sensation of her life coming full circle.

After a few shaky drags of his cigarette, Jo looked at the girl who was standing there staring at him. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Miya.

"She doesn't like cigarette smoke. Now hurry up and finish smoking that nasty thing. It is because of those things that you are in this place," scolded Miya, shaking a finger at him.

"Hell, I am gonna die whether I smoke this thing or not, so shut up about it," he snarled back at her, which only made Miya roll her eyes.

She thoughtfully looked at her daughter and winked. Miyuki came around the bench and sat down next to her mother. Jo was still eyeing her, with a suspicious expression, as if he knew something about her, but couldn't put a finger on it. "Is this your daughter?" he finally asked between puffs of his cigarette. "She looks just like you?"

"Yes, she is," said Miya. "Jo, don't you have a daughter, too?"

"Why yes I do, now that you mention it. She is a big executive at that there Capsule Corp. I even think she has something going on with that hot-shot president, at least that is what the paper says."

Miyuki said nothing, but continued to study the man in the wheelchair. Part of her still wanted to scream and curse at him, to tell him who she was and how much his selfish actions had hurt her, but this man was so pitiful. He didn't even realize that if she was Miya's daughter, she was also his daughter.

"I have it on good authority," continued Jo in a loud voice, "that one day my rich and powerful daughter will come here and take me out of this torture chamber and whisk me away to her big mansion where servants can wait on me. And then I'll be able to smoke as damn much as I want without being hassled about it!"

"Whatever you say, Jo," said Miya. She looked over at Miyuki, who had a puzzled look on her face. "Sometimes he knows I am his ex-wife," explained Miya in a low voice, "but most of the time he doesn't. I don't think he has the slightest clue of who you are."

"What are you whispering about?" demanded Jo. "Are you planning some new form of torture for me? Take me back inside! I don't trust either one of you!"

Miya smirked at her ex-husband. She got up and started pushing him towards the door. Miyuki stayed on the bench, tears welling up in her eyes. "Isn't your daughter coming with us?" asked Jo.

"No, she is going to stay outside to enjoy the sunshine a little longer."

"Just as well. Probably wants to steal my cigarettes," muttered Jo under his breath.

As Miyuki sat on the bench, emotions and feelings and regrets and pain-things she had pushed out of her life when she left Satan City-suddenly converged upon her that very moment. Completely bewildered by the events that she had just witnessed, she felt a hot tear escape and roll down her cheek, followed by several others. In seven years, she hadn't cried as much as she had cried in the last two days. I had no inkling that my coming back here would cause me to become such a blithering idiot. I liked my nice orderly life as an executive. Sure, it was a madhouse most of the time, but I learned to work around all of the craziness that I had to face on a daily basis. Even that craziness became comfortable for me. But this was all so uncomfortable.

Miyuki remained sitting for a long time in silence and continued to think about the events of the last few days. Two older ladies came out to the smoking area and sat down on the bench across from her. Seeing her tears, they smiled comfortingly at her and offered her a cigarette. Wiping away the wetness on her cheeks, she pulled a cigarette from the opened pack and, after borrowing the ladies' lighter, lit up for the first time in two years. It tasted really good. She leaned back on the bench and continued smoking while the two older women chatted about things in which she had no interest. One of the ladies had a copy of the daily paper, and started talking about the headline on the Society Page. "That young man needs to learn to keep his pecker in his pants," said one of the women.

"Who are you talking about, Furui?"

"That Briefs boy that took over Capsule Corp. Why I remember when his grandfather, Dr. Briefs, started that business. You never saw stories like this about him, did you?" said Furui, pointing an arthritic finger at her friend.

"I remember. Even Dr. Briefs' daughter's escapades didn't even make it to the Society Page half as much as this boy's have done."

Miyuki was trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation the older ladies were having, but she couldn't help herself, because it was obvious to whom they were referring. She took a drag on her cigarette, slowly blew out the smoke, and sat up to better hear the conversation. "Mind if I see that?" she asked, pointing to the Society Page.

"Why sure dear," said Furui and handed her the paper.

Miyuki took the page from her and straightened it between her palms. She read the headline with a frozen expression. Then, without warning, she started laughing uncontrollably. The two ladies sat, dumbfounded, by her behavior. She continued to shake and laugh so hard that her lit cigarette fell out of her hand and onto the pavement. When her laughter finally subsided, Miyuki folded the paper over before handing it back to its puzzled owner. "You're so right. He should learn to keep it in his pants!"

Stretching the kinks out of her back, Miyuki rose from the bench and slowly walked through the nursing home. `This pretty much seals it,' she thought as she walked towards her car. He would have to leave her alone, now-now that he was going to be a father. She looked at her watch, realizing she had just enough time to make it to her studio to meet with the architect, and turned over the engine in her car, gunning it as she left the parking lot. I don't have to worry about my relationship with him anymore, because it has now been put to rest. There will be no relationship between us as long as another woman is having his child.'

+++

Miyuki made it back to her studio right before the architect arrived. She went over all the specifications she had on how she wanted to use the space, and the architect offered some suggestions of her own. Miyuki was grateful that she had found a professional who knew what she was doing and could make her ideas come to life. The two of them spent more than an hour pouring over everything. At the end of their meeting, the architect shook her hand and promised her a rough drawing by the next day.

Since it was getting late, Miyuki chose to return to Sayuri's house and get something to eat, before heading out to a recovery meeting. She needed the comfort of a meeting to help bring her back to the present and to talk to other people about all the mixed-up feelings that were surfacing.

Thinking only of getting some food and of her upcoming meeting, she walked into the kitchen. In the middle of the table was a big, beautiful vase filled with exotic flowers. It was the most beautiful arrangement Miyuki had ever seen. "Did Nori send you flowers today? How sweet."

"No," replied Sayuri with a small grin. "I had to put those on the table because there was no place else to put them in your room."

Miyuki raised an eyebrow at her friend, but Sayuri just smiled and pointed upward, toward her room. Miyuki turned and quickly ran up the stairs to see what her friend was talking about. When she opened her bedroom door, the overwhelming aroma of fresh flowers greeted her. Every possible space in the small room was filled with flowers. Some exotic, some roses, some were planted, but most were arranged in vases. She felt as if she had accidentally stumbled into a famous celebrity's dressing room. "What the hell?" She walked over to the closest arrangement, and opened the card. It read, "From Trunks, with all my love."

"I had to keep the door shut because certain little fingers couldn't resist the temptation of grabbing at the petals and tipping over the vases." Sayuri was standing at the doorway with Hana squirming on her hip and squealing with delight at the sight of all the flowers.

Miyuki slowly sat down on the edge of her bed and stared all around her now-cramped room. All of a sudden, she fell backward onto the bed, making it shake with uncontrollable convulsions as the laughter again overtook her. Tears that began to stream down her face with laughter soon turned to crying. A concerned Sayuri quickly walked over to the bed and sat down next to her friend. Miyuki held onto her friend's hand, continuing to sob as the tears she had been holding back for the last few days, fell freely. Hana wiggled out of her mother's grasp to pat Miyuki's hair, trying to comfort her with baby babble.

When there were no more tears to be shed, Miyuki sat up. After blowing her nose into a tissue or two, she declared, "I need a meeting!"

"Good idea. One starts in half an hour. Let's go."

+++

Trunks was mentally exhausted. By the time he had reached the end of the day, he had hired Miyuki's replacement, signed hundreds of papers, met with the board, gotten a sales pitch from a supply company, and found out he was going to be a father. He was sitting at his desk, relieved by all he had accomplished, when he suddenly felt very sad. Miyuki, he thought to himself. She has found out-she knows about the baby. Trunks wanted to fly to her side and tell her it was all a big mistake, but seeing him only confused her.

Just then, the cell phone hanging on his hip began to chime. Trunks took it out and looked at the number. "Shit!" he exclaimed when he recognized it as Sachi's. Grimacing, he flipped open the receiver and took a deep breath, "Trunks, here." he mumbled.

"It's me. I suppose you saw the paper today," said Sachi in her usual syrupy sweet tone.

"Yeah, I saw it."

"Well, don't you have anything to say now that you are going to be a father?"

Trunks could feel his anger building when he heard her say that. But didn't want to disturb the papers he and his mother had carefully re-stacked on his desk so he stood and started pacing the floor. "Sachi, I don't believe you are pregnant. We were never unprotected."

Annoyed that Trunks wasn't going to instantly bow down to her will and ask her to marry him, her sugary tone became a bit ruder. "Well, those things aren't one-hundred percent, you know. Something must have happened."

Remembering his mother's plan, Trunks calmed a bit and forced his voice to sound more conciliatory. "I'll tell you what, Sachi. Since, you haven't formally met my parents I suggest that we all go out to dinner tomorrow so that you can get to know them. What do you say?"

Sachi beamed at the thought of meeting the rich and influential Bulma Briefs. "Just let me know when and where, and I will be there with bells on."

"Later," he said before flipping his phone closed and rolling his eyes. Just as he was about to return the phone to his belt clip, he flipped it open again and hit one of the pre-programmed numbers. To make tomorrow's dinner even more interesting, he decided to dial up Goten and ask him to come, too. His old buddy had been going pretty hot and heavy with Marron lately, and Trunks didn't want his friend to miss out on all of the fun.

Deciding he had spent enough time in his office that day, he exited through the window. Ms. Cho had left an hour before him, so he didn't feel that the customary exit via the private elevator was necessary. While flying towards his apartment, he made a slight detour in order to pass over Sayuri's house, hoping to catch a glimpse of the woman he loved. As he approached the house, he saw a small figure pacing in the dark on the front lawn. From that height the figure was barely visible, but he did see a faint red spark appear from time to time in the figures hand, which meant the figure was smoking a cigarette. He quietly landed in the narrow side yard next to the house and watched as Miyuki paced back and forth, puffing frantically on her cigarette. The fact that she had started smoking again saddened him even more.

Miyuki had a lot to think about after attending her latest recovery meeting. The first thing she resolved to do is go to a meeting, or maybe even two every day until she could get past all these conflicting feelings. "Follow your path, and when you hit a brick wall, turn left," she was saying over and over as she paced. "Don't keep walking into the brick wall!" She was deep in thought and did not notice the figure standing between the houses.

"I thought you quit smoking," commented Trunks softly from behind the shadows.

Miyuki stopped suddenly and jumped when he spoke. She hadn't realized how intensely she had been wrapped up in her thoughts until the shock of his voice broke her concentration. "You nearly made me pee my pants! What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you. I know you don't want to see me, but even if all I can do is look at you, that is enough." Trunks moved closer to her as he spoke.

Miyuki shook her head. "That is about the stupidest, sappiest thing I have ever heard."

Trunks chuckled. It did sound pretty stupid, but he meant every word. "You really hate me don't you?"

"Shouldn't you be with the mother of your child?" she asked sarcastically.

"Sachi is lying. There is no way she could be pregnant." Trunks was trying to plead his case with her, but he knew that this was something that he needed to prove to her before she would ever give him another chance.

"Accidents happen," replied Miyuki acidly. She took a long drag on her cigarette and deliberately blew the smoke right in his face.

Trunks coughed as little and then continued to stare at her. It was dark, but he could tell that she had been crying. "I will prove that she is lying. If I had known that you would ever come back into my life, I never would have done the things I have done. I intend to make this all up to you."

"I don't have time for this now, Trunks. I went to see my father today and it really shook me up. I don't need to be worrying about which of your conquests is having your baby. I have a business to start and parents that I want to get to know. There is just no room for you and your drama in my life. The best thing you could do for me is to just leave me alone."

"Okay, then," he said sadly, "I will leave you alone." He turned away from her and rose to the sky. In an instant he had disappeared.

Miyuki relaxed her shoulders and stubbed out her cigarette in the dirt. "I didn't really mean that," she whispered as she looked up to the sky. Why did she always end up pushing people away when she needed them the most? Even when she'd felt strong, both physically and emotionally, relationships were too difficult and now she had way too many with which to deal. And, in the last few days, they were becoming more than she had bargained for.