Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Lion Heart ❯ Return Home ( Chapter 7 )

Lion Heart: Chapter Seven: Return Home

***

"I'm late!"

"You're going out?"

"Yup! With Umi and Fuu!"

Masaru walked to the doorway and watched Hikaru getting ready to go off somewhere--with Umi and Fuu, of course. Masaru minded neither of them; both were really nice girls, although Kakeru and Umi really didn't seem to get along.

"Will you be back for dinner?" asked Satoru.

Hikaru nodded. "Of course! Bye!"

Satoru and Kakeru seemed satisfied with this information and waved Hikaru off. Masaru, however, was curious. Would she be at Umi's house today or Fuu's?

"Where are you going?" Masaru asked.

"Another world!"

Masaru blinked. He quickly glanced at Kakeru, who only shrugged. When Masaru turned back to the gate, Hikaru had left, and Satoru was making his way back into the house.

"Another world?" asked Masaru. He followed his brothers inside. "What did she mean by that?"

"Maybe an amusement park?" Kakeru suggested.

"Is there an amusement park called 'Another World'?"

"Disneyland is considered to be the happiest place on Earth," said Kakeru. "Maybe that's what she meant. Maybe she's going to Disneyland."

Masaru gasped. "She is? Why didn't she just tell me! I would've given her money to buy whatever she wanted!"

"That's it? I would have gone with her to make sure nothing bad happens this time," said Kakeru.

Masaru knew that he was talking about that field trip to Tokyo Tower Hikaru had taken three years ago in the eighth grade. None of the brothers ever found out what went wrong except that she had met her friends Umi Ryuuzaki and Fuu Hououji there--and that wasn't really a bad thing. They were just "victims" (as Masaru assumed) of the same thing Hikaru went through. Everything seemed to be better now, but none of the brothers could grasp what could have happened in such a short period of time to ease Hikaru's angst-ridden heart during that week.

It was nearly three years ago, so Satoru, Masaru, and Kakeru never questioned her about it. They were still curious, however.

"Oh, and you'll do the same thing you did to Hidehiro back in elementary school and get into trouble?" Masaru teased. "This time, you'd probably go to jail..."

"Hey, hey! I only threatened him. You were the one on the verge of beating him up," Kakeru retorted.

"Hey now..."

The phone in the hallway rung in a syncopated motion.

Masaru looked around for Satoru, but since he wasn't there, Masaru figured he went back to helping their mother with cooking dinner. Kakeru gave Masaru a deadpan look. He always refused to answer the phone when there were two consecutive rings before a short pause--it indicated a long-distance phone call.

Masaru rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine, I'll answer it!"

Kakeru grinned and trotted to his room. Masaru shook his head.

"Lazy, stupid, little brother..." He picked up the phone. "Hello, Shidou residence!" he said cheerfully.

"Hello! May I ask who's speaking?"

Masaru frowned. The man didn't sound familiar. "Um, not the man of the household. Do you want to talk to my older brother? Or my mother? Or something? Or are you a telemarketer because if you are, we're--"

"Not the man of the household? I guess Satoru-san would be now. How old is he? In his late twenties, I guess. How about Hikaru-san? Graduating this year? Or next year?"

Masaru shook his head in disbelief. "Hikaru is... wait. Who are you? Uncle Tadasu?"

"No, no, I'm not your uncle," said the voice on the other end. "Who am I speaking to? Masaru-san? Or Kakeru-san?"

"Why should I tell you? Who are you?"

"I guess after all these years you wouldn't recognize my voice. It has to be about, oh, twelve years, maybe, since we last saw each other."

"Twelve years...?"

Who haven't I seen in twelve years? Twelve years ago I was ten. Someone I haven't seen since I was ten. Who haven't I seen since I was ten? Wait... oh, no, it can't be!

"Unless, of course," continued the voice, "you're a family friend or boyfriend of Hikaru-san. Then we've probably never met. I'm Mitsuru--"

"Father?!"

***

Kinoko watched her eldest son stir the soup as she cut up some carrots.

"You don't need to help me, Satoru-kun," she said. "It's Sunday! You should rest yourself. It's the only day that you get the full day off from the school."

"You're the one who needs the rest, Mother," said Satoru.

Kinoko laughed. "Me? I only do the laundry, clean the house, and cook. It's nothing that causes me to get tired. You're the one who teaches kendo classes every single day of the week. Why don't you go do something with Kyousuke-kun?"

"Mother--"

"SATORU-NIISAN!"

A blur rushed into the small kitchen and pushed Satoru away from the stovetop and against the refrigerator. The pot scooted to the edge, and Kinoko placed her hands on the handle so that it would not fall. She turned to her son irritably.

"Masaru-kun--"

"Satoru-niisan!" cried Masaru gleefully, completely ignoring Kinoko. "Father called! Father called! He's coming home! Father. Is. Coming. Home! In two days! Father is coming home in two days!"

Satoru's eyes widened. Kinoko froze.

"What?" they gasped.

Mitsuru-san... is coming back?

Masaru nodded. "He just called! He. Just. Called! He's coming back on Tuesday! Tuesday! Father's coming home on Tuesday! Two days from now!"

Kinoko was at a loss for words. Her husband was coming home? In two days? Mitsuru was going to be back at the Shidou residence in two days after being gone for twelve years. In fact, he contacted the family for the first time since that fateful day twelve years ago when he apologized for missing Kakeru's and Hikaru's birthdays and warned the family that he may be gone even for Christmas.

But she hadn't expected him to be gone for as long as he had. And without having hearing anything from him in such a long time, she assumed that he had found another woman or had died.

She would have preferred that he died.

Why was he coming back?

"Are--are you sure?" asked Satoru. He pulled Masaru's hands off of his shoulders. Masaru nodded. Satoru frowned. "Where is he now?"

"In Kyoto," said Masaru. "He's going to board the train tomorrow afternoon for Tokyo, so he won't be back until Tuesday... but Father is coming home!"

Satoru would have smiled at this point. Kinoko had no doubt about that. Instead, he looked over Masaru's head and his frown turned worse. Kinoko and Masaru followed Satoru's gaze and saw Kakeru standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

Anguish overwhelmed Kinoko. She knew nothing of Kakeru's feelings other than he had been heartbroken when Mitsuru had broken his promise to him. It was only eight years old at the time, but children's hearts were easily scarred at the age of eight.

"Kakeru-kun..." she said, but Kakeru shook his head, not allowing her to continue.

"Father is coming home?" he asked, sorrow in his voice. His attempt at a grin failed. "I--I have to go to soccer practice..."

He turned and ran out of the room.

"Kakeru still hasn't forgiven him," said Masaru woefully.

Kinoko sighed. It was Sunday. Kakeru had no soccer practice. But Kinoko knew that he didn't want to receive sympathy from any of the family, and Kinoko knew better than to question Kakeru's wishes.

***

The trip to Cephiro had been a nice one, like always, but there was one question that Lantis had asked that left Hikaru pondering.

"Who do you want to 'marry'?"

She had answered both him and Eagle--and that was an honest answer. But there were laws in Japan, and she couldn't have them both if she wanted their marriage to be legal on Earth. She wasn't sure how Autozam went about with their marriages--if they even had any--and she was pretty sure that Cephiro had no such thing. Otherwise, Lantis wouldn't have asked what marriage was, would he?

It was a question she had to consider. That was why, immediately afterward, she listed everybody else she loved.

She didn't love them as much as she loved Lantis and Eagle, though.

Hikaru walked through the gate of her home. The sun was just beginning to set, and she hoped she wasn't too late for dinner. That's not saying that she was hungry--Umi's homemade cake was enough to fill her up--but she didn't want to disappoint her brothers and mother by being late and breaking her promise to be home in time for dinner.

She approached the front door, and as she was taking off her shoes, she heard her mother and Satoru speaking.

"This probably isn't a good idea."

"Father doesn't know."

"Yet. He doesn't know yet. I'm not entirely happy with him myself, but Kakeru-kun... I don't think Kakeru-kun would be able to face him."

"Mother--"

"It's been twelve years, Satoru-kun. Twelve years since he left and now he's coming home? I don't blame Kakeru-kun for being angry with him, but..."

Hikaru froze. Father is coming home?

"I wish I could say that Kakeru would get over it, but it has been too long, maybe, for Kakeru to forgive him."

"I still can't believe Mitsuru is coming back."

Hikaru hopped to her feet and ran around to the back. The conversation her mother and eldest brother were having seemed to be important, and she didn't want to interrupt them at the moment. She had nothing to say. Besides, she could always go into her home through many other entrances.

Her father was coming home!

But why would Kakeru-niisama be upset...?

She stopped running. As soon as she asked that question, a flood of memories returned to her.

"Um, what did you want to talk to us about? We aren't in trouble, are we?"

That day... twelve years ago...

"You're mean, Satoru-niisan! Why do I have to do it? You're the oldest one! You're the one who got that letter in the mail this afternoon!"

It was the first time Hikaru had ever seen Kakeru get upset.

"What?! You mean he isn't going to be back even for Christmas? Not for my next year's birthday when I turn nine? When Hikaru turns seven? He--he's not going to be back ever?!"

"I didn't say--"

"It's bad enough that he broke his promise!"

"But--"

"Why isn't he? WHY? Did I do something wrong? Does he hate me now?"

Hikaru sat on a nearby boulder and covered her face with her hands. She could still remember that day twelve years ago, after Satoru received a letter in the mail from their father, saying that he would not be home until, most likely, some time after that Christmas. That "some time" turned out to be a "long time". But the thing the haunted Hikaru the most while growing up was why her father left.

"He left because of me," she murmured. "He left because of me. It was all my fault."

"Kakeru-niisama should hate me! Everything that happened..."

That was the day she gave up kendo. She gave it up so that when her father returned, he would stay. Kakeru would hate neither him nor her, and the Shidou family could once again be the happiest family in Japan.

But in order to get into San'iku Academy, Hikaru took up kendo. Masaru had called her a natural at the sport. It seemed to have been a skill she was destined to have--like magic powers, in a way. Then again, she had magic powers in Cephiro, but this isn't Cephiro. This was Tokyo. Earth.

"What do I do?" she moaned.

***

Mitsuru Shidou stood outside of the place he had once called home many years ago. He doubted that the family would accept him immediately and lovingly--maybe except for Masaru. He seemed ecstatic after that call a couple days before, but how would everybody else take it? Twelve years was too long to be away from family, and Mitsuru finally understood.

With his luggage by his side, Mitsuru sighed and knew he had to follow through this. A monk up in Aomori once told him that promises were not made when one uttered the phrase, "I promise". A promise is made when one says to do something that would make another happy. The same monk also told Mitsuru that promises were never meant to be broken and a real man would stay true to his word.

There were a lot of things Mitsuru learned, and the only reason why he stayed longer than he should have was simply he wanted to find a way to redeem all of his mistakes of his past.

"I've returned," Mitsuru muttered and opened the gates. He pulled his four bags inside of the property and closed the door.

Just as soon as he turned to face the house, Mitsuru yelped and found himself shoved to the ground. There was a beastly growl and a woof, and Mitsuru pulled his head up in time to prevent hitting his head on the pavement and to see a wolfish crimson eyes glaring into his own.

A... a dog?!

Mitsuru felt his nose itching. Maybe he had come to the wrong house.

"Hikari!" called a low and stern voice.

The eyes of the canine seemed to change color from scarlet to innocent warm chocolate as the dog jumped off Mitsuru and to the house. Mitsuru glanced in that direction and saw a young man, probably in his twenties, standing at the door. His bangs fell in front of his eyes like thin and dark russet leaves. His eyes carried a sense of maturity that often dwelled in wise men.

"Satoru-san...?"

The man gave Mitsuru a small smile. "You don't look like you aged too much, Father."

Mitsuru shook his head with a big grin as he scampered to his feet. "It's good to see you, Satoru-san," he said. "But I have to admit. I do not know whether to ask about the dog or no questions at all."

"I'll explain later," said Satoru. He came out from the house and walked to Mitsuru, grabbing some suitcases. "Mother is inside making lunch. Masaru, Kakeru, and Hikaru are in school, and I have a friend over."

"Do I know him, or is he a new friend?" asked Mitsuru as he picked up the other two bags that Satoru hadn't picked up. Amazingly enough, they were the lighter ones. He chose to carry the heavy suitcases. Satoru-san hasn't changed at all, has he?

Satoru smiled. "An old friend," he replied. "Kyousuke Togawajun."

Mitsuru lead Satoru to the house and laughed. "Togawajun-kun? You two are still friends after all this time? How about the others?"

"They went their own ways after high school," said Satoru. "Kyousuke-san seemed to want to help out with the dojo, so we became really close after we graduated."

"I see," Mitsuru mused. When father and son reached the porch and pulled off their shoes, Mitsuru glanced worriedly behind him. The dog was sitting by the fence as still as a statue--if Mitsuru didn't know better he would say that the dog was a guardian of a sort. A painted stone guardian, but a guardian of the house no less. "Is the dog allowed in the house?"

"No," answered Satoru. "If he is, it's only in Hikaru's room."

"I should have guessed it was Hikaru's dog," said Mitsuru with a sigh. You put this on yourself. It was probably because of you that they bought the thing. "It even has the same name as Hikaru... or rather, the same meaning."

"We didn't have enough time to think about his name," said Satoru. With a small nod toward the interior of the house, Satoru invited Mitsuru to go inside. "I'll take your suitcases to your room, Father. You can go to the living room and meet Mother and Kyousuke-san."

Mitsuru found that he couldn't protest. Satoru was already inside and headed down the hall towards the bedrooms. Mitsuru sighed. Satoru was probably glad that he was back, he just wasn't an affectionate person. If that was the case, Satoru hadn't had much time to himself to mature out of the fourteen-year-old persona that Mitsuru left behind. That was, Mitsuru admitted, completely his fault. He should not have put such a big responsibility like taking care of the dojo on a young child.

He walked into the house and, if he remembered the layout of the home correctly, headed toward the living room.

Twelve years was not a long enough time to let Mitsuru forget where everything in the home was located. It seemed as if the family had not made any changes to the house since he left.

He cautiously peered into the living room and was almost relieved to only find a brunette-haired man sitting at the table. He wished Kinoko was there, though. It had been so long since he has seen her; he hoped that she hadn't aged too much over the years.

What are you saying? Her beauty couldn't have decayed in a period of twelve years. I'll give it a thousand years before her age catches up with her.

Mitsuru also had to admit that he was glad she wasn't in there with the man--Kyousuke Togawajun, he presumed. They hadn't separated on good terms. Kinoko had been thoroughly upset at Mitsuru when he left and hadn't even offered a kiss or hug goodbye. She just told him to leave while Hikaru was running a simple errand and Kakeru was taking a bath. And he had. He didn't know what to tell her without further angering her.

Of course, with someone in the room that he barely recognized, he wouldn't be exactly comfortable only talking to him until Kinoko or Satoru showed up. But he couldn't just stand there, especially after the man noticed him.

"You must be Satoru's father," he said with a bright smile. "I'm Kyousuke Togawajun. I'm not sure if you remember me when I hardly recognize you, but..."

It was fine.

"I have to admit that I don't recognize you, but I do know who you are," said Mitsuru. "Is it all right if I sit?"

"It's your house, Shidou-san," said Kyousuke. "I can't tell you what you can and can't do in your own home."

"Mitsuru's fine," said Mitsuru as he took a seat across from Kyousuke, "if you're a friend of the family. I heard that you've been helping Satoru-san with the dojo?"

Kyousuke's grin softened as he took another sip from the cup. "He needs it. Sure, he has other people he hired to handle the advanced classes when we were still in junior high, but they don't come by as often anymore. I just wanted to relieve his stress, that's all. Maybe even get him to have fun every once in a while."

Mitsuru frowned and shook his head. "I don't know what Satoru did for fun before I left, so I couldn't tell you what to do."

"I've been trying to get him a girlfriend," said Kyousuke as an offer for a suggestion. "But he refuses."

Mitsuru widened his eyes and gawked at Kyousuke. "You mean he's never had a girlfriend?"

"It's more accurate to say that he refuses to go out with a girl," said Kyousuke. He stared at the cup. "He could have easily gotten one back in high school since he was the most popular boy in school. Good looking, very smart and athletic, and at the same time supporting his family. All the girls adored him."

The modesty must have come from his mother.

"Unless," said Mitsuru as if he had told Kyousuke his thoughts, "he's actually interested in a boy. Is he?"

Kyousuke didn't seem to want to lift his eyes from the teacup. "Um..."

Guess that was the wrong question to ask, Mitsuru figured. Kyousuke probably wasn't the type that condoned those sorts of relationships.

"I was just jo--" Mitsuru began, but when he studied Kyousuke more closely, he saw that the boy was... blushing? Kyousuke was just the opposite of what he assumed. The mischievous streak in Mitsuru returned for the first time in many years. He grinned wickedly. "Well, is he?"

"No," replied Kyousuke. His shoulders were hunched to his ears, and Mitsuru could no longer see his face. Kyousuke had lowered his head so far that his bangs hung in front of his eyes. "He isn't."

Mitsuru chuckled. Gotten really close after high school indeed! "You're certainly an enigma, Togawajun-kun, trying to get Satoru a girlfriend when you--"

"Mitsuru-san?"

Mitsuru truncated his sentence. He turned around and saw his wife standing in the doorway with wide eyes. "Kinoko-san!" he said, his smile transforming to playful to tender. She was still beautiful after all these years. "I'm home."

"ExcusemeIhavetousethebathroom," Kyousuke muttered. He stood and left the room, leaving Mitsuru and Kinoko alone.

"Mitsuru-san, I..." Kinoko began, but she didn't seem to be able to complete her sentence.

Mitsuru sighed and frowned. He had no idea what to say, but Kinoko, luckily, did everything for him. A tear slipped from her eye as she walked into the room. After standing over him for only a second with eyes that seemed torn between disgust and happiness, she fell to her knees and grabbed Mitsuru, burying her head in his chest.

"You idiot!" she sobbed. "I hate you!"

Mitsuru smiled warmly again and wrapped his arms around Kinoko. "I missed you, too."

***

When Kakeru returned home from soccer practice late in the evening, he didn't go straight into the house. He knew his father was home just by noticing a different pair of shoes at the porch. Scowling, he snuck around to the side of the house and listened to the conversation that Kyousuke, Satoru, Masaru, his mother and father were having. They all seemed to be having a jolly good time.

It did not make Kakeru feel any better.

"You mean to tell me that you were in Shinjuku and you didn't tell us? It's only a two hour train ride from here!" exclaimed Masaru.

"I was only passing by for the day," his father replied. "But I did see you perform in that musical of yours, Masaru-san."

"Really?"

"I couldn't tell which one you were, though, with all that make-up! Your name was just on the poster, so I went and saw. I think you might have been one of the main characters... was it the Scarecrow?"

"Yes! Ha, how'd you guess?"

Kakeru rolled his eyes. Because he probably just read the cast list and didn't even see the musical. Liar.

"It had to be one of the main characters since your name was on the poster. From there, I just made a guess based on the nature of the character. You did a really good job and you're a better singer than I ever was."

"You ought to tell Kakeru that..."

Kakeru scowled. No, he had better not. From the sounds of it, Kakeru knew that if he went in right now, his father would pretend like nothing ever happened. He was just gone from a long trip and came back. No big deal.

No big deal. Yeah, right. Doesn't he wish?

Something wet tickled Kakeru's hand, and he looked down to see his little sister's dog Hikari licking his hand. Kakeru managed a small smile. He patted Hikari's head and muttered, "No, just because Father is home doesn't mean we're going to get rid of you." He knelt next to the dog and hugged him. "Just because he's allergic to fur doesn't mean that you have to go anywhere. I promise."

I wish we could let you in the house now, though.

"Kakeru-niisama."

Kakeru looked up. "Hey, Hikaru. You were out with Umi and Fuu again?"

Hikaru nodded. She had a cheerful smile, but her eyes were melancholy. Kakeru knew that her enthusiasm when she found out about their father returning had been an act to keep the others from worrying. She knew just as well as Kakeru that she would have to duel with him again. It was only a matter of time.

"Father is home, isn't he?" she asked.

Kakeru stood, Hikari still by his side. "He's home, acting like nothing has happened."

"I see."

For a moment, neither brother nor sister spoke. They listened to the conversation inside of the house about Masaru's life, but finally Hikaru asked, "Do you still hate him?"

Kakeru closed his eyes. He never wanted Hikaru to feel bad, but he didn't want to outright lie to her, especially if she was the only one who would understand his feelings.

"He broke a promise," he replied. "That's dishonorable for anybody and everybody. I don't care if he apologizes for it, it was twelve years ago, and a simple apology won't make things any better. It would be a whole lot easier to forgive him if he returned after that Christmas like he said he was going to instead of, what is it? Eleven Christmases over? He didn't even send us New Year's... anything! If he wasn't going to be home for Christmas, no big deal, but New Year's?"

"Kakeru-niisama..."

"I don't see how I could forgive him."

Another moment of silence. Kakeru held back the tears that were threatening to arise.

"What would happen," asked Hikaru hesitantly, "if we fought in kendo again and I beat him?"

Kakeru scowled. "Nothing," he said, "because I won't let you fight him. I'm going to be the one to duel and defeat him."

** To Be Continued **