Romance Fan Fiction / Original Stories Fan Fiction / Other Fan Fiction ❯ Sukuru Deizu ❯ Chapter Twenty Six ( Chapter 26 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Jun wiped the sweat from his brow. He was at his house trying to clean up. He usually came there once a week to check on it and to make sure it wasn't falling into disrepair. Moving boxes, he stared in at his father's room. That was the only room he had yet to touch. Checking the time, he groaned when he realized how late it was. Anna was going to be home and wondering where he was. He grabbed his cell and sent her a text letting her know where he was and that he'd be back later.

Anna looked at her phone as it beeped. Jun would be late getting home. She looked up at the sky again. She hadn't seen snow in years. And just like that, she thought of Adam. It was snowing the day she slipped...the day she killed him. That same day her parents had to choose resulting in them leaving her all alone at the age of ten to travel. By now she should be use to being alone, but she wasn't. And Jun would leave soon too. Adam then her parents...then Jun.

It was nearly dinner time when Jun got back to Anna's place. He was covered in dust as he walked in, trying to stifle a tired yawn. "Anna? How was school?" he asked, calling to her as soon as he stepped inside.

Anna came peeked out at him while bringing dinner to the table. She took off her apron and threw it on the counter. "It was ok. I took you some notes...but I wouldn't count on them. I wasn't really paying too much attention," she said with a light laugh. "If you want you can take a shower while dinner cools off a bit. I just took it out of the oven."

Jun smiled. "You not paying attention? The world really must be coming to an end." Shaking his head, he started stripping as he made his way to the shower. After a nice hot shower, he put on his night clothes and joined her for dinner. "So, what all did you do today while I was gone?"

Anna played with her food. "I walked in the snow for a while then came home and made dinner." Sitting here, with him like this...it almost seemed like they were married. Him coming home from working and her having dinner on the table. If it wasn't for school, their ages, and the fact that this was her parents' house, it really would be like they had promised to be together forever in a marital bond.

"Sounds like fun," he teased as he chomped down on his food. "Tomorrow I think I'm gonna go to dad's office. They've been wanting me to go up there and talk to them for quite some time, but I keep putting it off. Now that I don't have to go to school tomorrow I guess I'm going to have to talk to them."

Anna smiled. "Sounds like you are ready to take over, Jun." She sat her chopsticks down and stood. Grabbing her plate she threw the leftovers in contains and put them in the fridge while Jun finished eating.

Jun laughed. "No way. I may own the company, but I don't know the first thing about running a business." He noticed that she didn't eat much tonight. Was she not feeling well? Picking up his plate he carried it into the kitchen. He washed his dish out before putting it into the dish washer.

Anna shrugged. "Who knows, Jun. Maybe one day you'll be more successful than your father," she said and started upstairs. "I'm going to take a bath."

Jun caught her hand as she started upstairs. "Is everything okay? You seem a little down," he was worried, she didn't seem like herself.

Anna smiled. She went down a few steps to look him in the eyes. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You worry too much," she said and pulled her hand from him then started back upstairs.

Jun sighed. Perhaps he didn't worry enough. Watching her go upstairs, he finished what he was doing down stairs before going to his room. He looked at the bag in the corner of the room, it was the stuff he had bought today while he'd been out. Somehow he just wasn't in the mood for it. Laying down in his bed, he stared up at his ceiling before finally reaching for his iPod.

Anna laid back in the warm water. Her hair was dancing around in the water while she ran the rag on her body. Perhaps she had grown too attached to having someone round. Why couldn't she be like Jun and be use to being alone? Why couldn't she just be content with knowing that Jun and everyone else could walk in and out of her life so easily? But wasn't it her parents that told her that there was someone out there for everyone? Why couldn't Jun be her someone? But she had to think logically. She was sixteen and so was he...they still had their whole lives to fall in and out of love. High school love stories hardly ever last.

Anna pulled her knees to her chest. Even if high school lovers don't always last, couldn't she and Jun be part of the percent that did?

Jun barely heard the phone ringing downstairs due to the blaring music coming out of his headphones. Hurrying downstairs he picked up the phone, answering for the Green residence. He was surprised to hear Anna's mother on the other line. He told her that they were doing well, making sure to leave out the part about him getting suspended. When she asked to talk to Anna he obliged.

Going up to the bathroom, he knocked on the door before opening it. "It's your mom," he told her.

Anna stood up and wrapped a towel around her after pulling the plug on the water. She walked to the door and opened it. Grabbing the phone, she put it to her ear. "Hi, Mom."

"Anna! I miss you so much!"

"I miss you too. How is your friend's husband?"

"Oh, he's not doing so well. I've been trying a lot of different combination of herbs on him."

"I'm sorry to hear that. When will you be home?"

There was a pause. "Not for a while, Anna."

Anna sighed. "Where...are you?"

"Do you really want to know?" Anna knew that answer. She was at Adam's grave.

"No."

"Has your father called?" her mother asked quickly changing the subject.

"Last week. He found a job and sent me and Jun some money for groceries."

"Are you guys doing ok?"

"We're fine. Jun got suspended from school for protecting me."

Anna's mom sighed. "Well I can't get upset when he was protecting you, can I?" Anna smiled. "Tell him I said I love you guys. I have to go."

"We love you too. Bye." Anna hung up.

"How is she doing?" Jun asked. He'd been leaning against the wall while she talked, but once she was off he walked over to her. Judging by the look on Anna's face, her mom wasn't going to be home for a while. Jun felt sorry for her, she never got to see her family. He knew the feeling, but that wasn't something that bothered him. He'd just grown accustomed to it. She loved her family and being away from them was hard on her.

"She's fine. She likes being able to help her friends. Most likely she'll be there for weeks. She's back in our old town...where Adam is..." She put the phone down and walked to her room. Grabbing her comb she started to comb out her wet hair.

Jun followed her to her room. "Oh," he whispered. He tried to think of what he could say, but nothing came to mind. "Have you...I mean, have you been back there since?" He didn't want to ask it, but he was curious if she'd ever gone back to her hometown after Adman died.

Anna dropped her comb, freezing for a moment. Calming herself she picked it back up and set in back on her dresser. She started to get out her night clothes. "No. Not since the funeral...." she said with her back to him while she pulled out her clothes.

Jun nodded slowly. What else could he do? This was still a touchy subject for her and he didn't want to make her mad by saying the wrong thing. "You know, this may sound silly...but the reason I go to my mom and dad's graves is so that I can talk to them. So that they can see me. I think it would make them happy to see me.... Maybe...Adam would be happy to see you again."

Again she froze. "I get enough of that from my parents...please...I don't need it from you. You have no idea what it's like...what it felt like to wake up after surgery only to be told that your brother was killed because you were selfish. You have no idea what it's like to stand there at the funeral looking down at his face knowing you were the reason he was laying there. You don't know what it's like to never get calls from your grandparents or aunts and uncles because they don't want anything to do with the child that caused the death of their little brother." She took a deep breath. "You can't possible understand what it's like to carry that on you shoulders. Standing in front of his grave will do me no good but to remind me that his body lies beneath six feet of dirt. That's not Adam." Her hand went to her heart. "No one understands."

Jun stood and walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "You're right. I don't understand." Closing his eyes he leaned his head against the back of her's. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't speak about things that aren't my business."

Anna took a deep breath. She shouldn't have been so cold. It wasn't his fault. He was only trying to help. "I'm sorry...I just don't like thinking about it when I don't have to." She moved his hands off her so she could dress. Dropping the towel, she changed into her night clothes then turned to him. "But it's nice to know that you wanted to help."

Jun just shrugged as she faced him. "You've always been there for me. I just want to return the favor every now and then."

Anna's smile slowly faded. "I can deal with this on my own..." She looked away then took a step forward and rested her head on his chest. "But if you promise me forever then that would help a lot more."

Jun looked confused. Promise her forever? What could he promise forever? Kissing her forehead he closed his eyes. "If you want forever, then it's yours," he told her. "I'm yours forever."

They were just words. She knew that. Maybe that's why she could say I love you and why only part of her wanted to hear him say it. They were only words. But...hearing them...promising forever...it was nice to play pretend if only for the moment. Even if they were just words, they were beautiful words.

Jun could tell that she didn't believe him. "You know, Japanese marriage ceremonies are very beautiful," he said softly.

Anna pulled back from him. What!?! "What?"

Jun looked at her curiously. "I was just commenting about Japanese marriage ceremonies."

How the hell did they go from Adam to the Japanese culture? "Ok..." Anna finally said. "That's nice to know I suppose."

"Well...I mean. It is something to consider...for the future." They loved each other. People who loved each other got married.

He couldn't be serious. "We've only been together for a month and a half...a lot can happen between now and the age of marriage," she said. She picked up her towel and walked out. Going to the bathroom, she hung up her towel then started down stairs.

Jun sighed. She was so confusing! First she wanted him to promise forever, then when he spoke of forever she acted as if he was crazy. He decided not to bother going downstairs. Instead he went back to his room and crawled back on his bed and turned on his IPod. At least his music wasn't confusing.

Anna grabbed the remote to the TV but stopped. Instead she walked to the closet and pulled out Adam's box. She opened it slowly and pulled out the picture of her and him then the scrapbook. She sat on the floor and put the book and picture next to her before going deeper in the box. The next thing she grabbed was Adam's baby blanket. She smiled as her hands ran over the old threats. The blue fabric had faded and Adam's little name was still stitched in it. She placed it to the side and reached in the box again. She pulled out Adam's stuffed bear. Anna had given it to him when he was first admitting in the hospital. He called it Anna Bear.

Jun listened to his music while surfing the internet. His father's assistant had sent him the details of their meeting. It was all Greek to him, but he hoped that they knew what they were doing. Going through the files, he tried to read and comprehend them as much as possible. He knew his father dabbled in all sorts of stuff to expand his company, but it was only after his death that he learned the truth. The bulk of his father's research wasn't for computers or things such as that, it was military research.

He looked through the schematics and plans. Some of it he understood, but most went over his head. He had to be prepared for tomorrow.

Anna put the things back in the box. She made up her mind. It was time for her to ask for forgiveness...not for Adam but for Jun. She put the box back in the closet and grabbed out her coat while slipping on rain boots. She put the jacket on then grabbed some incense that was on the table. It was Jun's but he wouldn't miss it. She walked out the door and looked up at the sky. It hadn't stopped snowing and the ground was covered in a few feet of it. If she didn't want to freeze to death in her pajamas, she needed to hurry.

The Japanese cemetery wasn't too far, only a mile or two. Anna held her jacket tightly around her and wished she had changed into pants before she left. She walked down the road trying to remember which way to go. About an hour later she smiled. There is was.

Jun went down stairs to grab something to drink. He'd printed out the information, and was planning on asking Anna what some of the English words meant. While rummaging through the fridge he called to her. "Anna? Anna?" Was she still mad at him? He walked all throughout the house, but there was no sign of her. Where in the world did she go?

Anna held the incense tightly in her hands as she walked up the hill. She was around graves...something she never wanted to do ever again. Already she could feel her eyes starting to water and her body began shaking from fear and cold. She had to do this. She had to do it for herself and for Jun. She followed the path she saw Jun take the day of his father's death and slowly walked up the stairs, passing graves. Her boats slipped more than once, but she always seemed to catch herself.

Her face felt frozen and her hands hurt from the cold by the time she got to the right one. She got to her knees, hissing as the snow met her bare legs. With shaking hands and tears still running down her cheeks, she lightly brushed off the snow from Jun's father's site. She placed the incense on it and lit it. Bring her hands together she closed her eyes and prayed. She prayed for forgiveness, for understanding, and for his death. She prayed for the mistakes she made that caused him his life and she prayed for Jun to not be punished. All the while, she cried and shook.

To her, this was terrifying. She hadn't been around grave sites since Adam's death and she swore never to go back, however, she wasn't just here for herself, she was here for Jun and for their future. If she didn't ask for forgiveness, somehow she knew it would come back to haunt her and she hoped that it wouldn't tear her and Jun apart. If she wanted a future with Jun, she needed to be forgiven for killing his father. Even if she was new to the Japanese way of praying and honoring the dead, she knew she had to try and make this right. She couldn't leave it up like Adam. It would be unfair to Jun and to his father's memory.