Figments of Imagination

 

(Chapter 5)

 

* * *

 

Hours had passed and no one knew why the prostitute had been killed. The newspapers and TV stations were there, trying to get the whole story. No one knew it though. No one knew why this had happened. After spending an hour at the scene, Chizuru left and tried to figure this out on her own. Kondou was being an ass but she didn’t care. Slowly but surely, she’d solve this case. One by one, the crowds were also starting to back away. Whatever turned up at the scene later on, they could hear about in the papers or TV.

 

While Ishida Chizuru was stuck over in her office, getting her ass chewed out by Kondou, Yanagisawa Umi and Oikawa Kikuno were on the subway headed into another part of town. Both girls had been offered job interviews at an office building and were supposed to be there at seven.  While Umi was content with writing, she needed something else to help pay bills and whatnot. Kikuno was also desperate for some money. She needed to pay off her tuition and wasn’t getting help from her family. They only suggested that she get a job to cover her expenses. Together, she and Umi applied for the job as an office assistant. They got the notice a few weeks earlier to go in for the interview.

 

Kikuno came over a six to help Umi get dressed and prepared. She finally found a nice blue pantsuit that contrasted with her eyes and hair. Kikuno was also dressed up but less professional looking in a skirt that went up to her knees, silver sandals that tightly fit her tiny ankles, and a white blouse that covered up everything. They both looked ready for the interview but Umi was nervous. She kept fidgeting and crossing her legs a million times throughout the ride. Kikuno knew she was scared so she offered to do something, anything, to get her to stop. Umi finally chose to let Kiku read the part from her story. Normally, she let one of the boys tackle it first but since they weren’t here, Kikuno had to do.  Umi actually calmed down, occasionally looking over Kiku’s shoulder to see how far her friend got. Then she’d turn and look out the window, watching the scene of busy Tokyo flying by her. People were walking, children were going to school, and some business people were selling stuff on the street...just like the scene in front of the mall only not as noisy cause they were inside a subway train. It was much better to observe everything from here.

 

 Finally, Kikuno reached the last sentence and handed the paper back to Umi.

 

“So? What do you think?” Umi asked, watching Kikuno read the scene from beginning to end. The ride would take them about an hour so Umi had bought the writing along to work on it some more. Her friend seemed to be interested in the story. She looked up, her eyes saying “You mean this is it? *This* is all you’ve been able to come up with.”

 

“It’s slightly cliched but I have a good feeling you’re going step out of cliché lane as you progress.” Kikuno said with a smile. However, that was NOT the response Umi wanted to hear. This made her fidget in her seat even more.

 

“I don’t want clichés, Kiku! I want something original!” Umi wailed. A few people stared at them so Kikuno tried to calm her friend down. She quickly clamped her hand over Umi’s mouth.

 

“Shut up!” She snapped. “People are starting at you in case you didn‘t notice!”  Umi’s blue eyes scanned every corner to see that Kiku was right. She gave them all an apologetic look and Kiku dropped her hand.

 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, looking down at the filthy floor. “I wasn’t trying to throw a fit.”

 

“I know you weren’t.” Kikuno sighed, twirling a strand of her brown hair. “But control yourself. Your brother is right about one thing...you have a heard time dealing with criticism. This is *me* saying you have a clichéd storyline. I know you. People who *don’t* know you will be harsh. Remember that.”

 

Umi was about to protest but didn’t. Kikuno, as crazy as she could be, was also pretty wise at times. She knew how much Umi wanted to be a writer. Unlike stupid Tatsuha, however, Kikuno went about it in a gentle way. When she pointed out flaws, she didn’t make anyone feel stupid. And she didn’t rub anyone’s mistakes in their face over and over again. Umi looked down at her paper. She couldn’t read on the subway cause it made her sick but she did manage to read some of the lines. Kikuno was right. It was slightly clichéd.

 

But it won’t stay that way for long. Umi promised herself. Eventually, Kellan will give me inspiration to write something unique and beautiful...as unique and beautiful as he is.

 

Kellan...she only knew him for a brief second yet she felt like she knew him forever. Those blue eyes were filled with so much. It was funny cause he didn’t seem anything like Kouji. Kouji had been her crush until Kellan came along. He treated her well and it seemed like he had an attraction towards her. For a long time, Umi thought Kouji was the one for her. But now Kellan was here...

 

Come back into my dreams, Kellan. Come back and tell me your entire story.

 

She felt like falling asleep right there. They had a while to go before they reached their destination. Maybe she could meet Kellan again and have a quick talk with him. Provided that he was still there, of course. Just a few minutes of sleep wouldn’t kill her...

 

“Hey!” Kikuno broke all chances of catching a snooze and tugged Umi’s arm, her eyes staring at the dirty and broken neighborhood that they were passing by. There wasn’t much to see because it was all covered with a gray haze. Only a few people were on the streets and they didn’t look like they had much money on them.  “Isn’t this where your father *supposedly* lives?”

 

Umi gulped when her friend said the two words she hadn’t heard in a while: “your father”. She turned red and refused to look at the scenery. After all, she wanted to forget him. For the past eleven years, she had been trying to forget him. Yanagisawa Ken didn’t care about his family. He never called them, never stopped by to visit his children, and never wrote them a letter. It was as if he’d fallen out of their lives the moment he divorced his wife. He left her due to the economic problems that neither one could fix. Because of those problems, Miaka fell out of love with her husband and vice versa. He left her and his children, refusing to lend any financial support. All they knew was that he lived in this crappy section of town. No one bothered to find out what the exact address was. As far as they were considered, Yanagisawa Ken was gone for good. 

 

Because he cut off all ties with the family, Miaka told her children to not worry about. She told them that Papa didn’t care anymore and didn’t want to have anything to do with them. She told them it was best to forget him. For Tatsuha, forgetting Papa had been no problem. After all, he had been only five when Papa walked out on them. But Umi couldn’t. Try hard as she could, she couldn’t forget her father.

 

The reason for this was that he had been the inspiration to almost all her stories and poetry. Before Kellan came along, there was Yanagisawa Ken. He was the one who had stirred up the creativity in his daughter’s mind. Most of her writing was dedicated to him, one of the few people in the world she showed her stories to and one of the few who was confident in her talent.

 

“You can be any kind of writer you want to be, Umi.” He told her. “You have the gift to entertain people with your words. As long as you don’t abuse that gift, you will be fine.”

 

“Mama wants…” Umi started to say but Ken cut her off.

 

“Mama wants what’s best for you. You should listen to her but at the same time, don’t ever give this talent up. I know that if you write with dedication, you will be a great author one day.”

 

A great author, Papa? Umi thought. You were the only who said that to me. Others said I’d be an author. You’re the only one who said I’d be ‘great’.

 

It was amazing how Papa was so sweet towards her and cruel when he fought with her mother. Of course, her mother was partially to blame. She pressured Papa till he could no longer handle it. Miaka was like that unfortunately. She had a nasty habit of pushing people until they were almost off the ledge. Most people found a way to forgive her for that though. Yanagisawa Ken didn’t.

 

Realizing that he lived in this shitty place made her want to see him. Perhaps even convince him (though she doubted it would work) to come home again.

 

Are you seriously living here, Papa? She thought, watching as some of the haze cleared and two homeless people were revealed. It had been eleven years since she last saw him but she could still remember that night when he walked out on them.

 

*        *        *

 

Glass shattering, doors slamming…oh, the fighting was a bundle of fun. And if anyone ever heard Yanagisawa Ken and Yanagisawa Miaka screaming at each other, the police would have surrounded the area and dragged everyone out of the building. It was World War III only it was fought between two people: Ken and Miaka.

 

“Are they fighting again?” Tatsuha, who was five at the time, asked his eight-year old sister. Umi had to nod. Much as she wished the fighting wasn’t real, she couldn’t hide the truth from her brother. He had to know that Mama and Papa were indeed fighting one another. He had to know that eventually either Mama or Papa was going to leave them.

 

“Why are they fighting?” He then asked. “Do Mommy and Daddy hate each other?”

 

That must have been the most painful question Umi was ever asked. It partially had to do with the fact she didn’t know the answer herself. Did Mama and Papa truly hate each other? It didn’t seem that way last week. Mama and Papa were happy. Mama kissed Papa and comforted him when he lost his job. She even promised to help him find a new job. But now…she didn’t seem to care about anything except how bad he was for not having a job. She was even yelling about it. 

 

“I told you a million times to start looking for a job!”

 

“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing, Miaka?! There isn’t a goddamn job out there for me!”

 

Umi winced and covered Tatsuha’s ears. Her father was using ‘bad words’ again. Mama had told her that anytime she heard the ‘bad words’, she should cover Tatsuha’s ears and never use them in the house. They heard something slam against the door. Most likely, it was Papa throwing something. Ever since he and Mama started fighting, he had been throwing a lot of things. He even broke a lot of the fancy wine glasses the grownups drank out of.   

 

“Ken, stop it!” Miaka snapped. “You’ll wake Umi and Tatsuha up!”

 

*/We’re already up./* Umi wanted to say, stepping out of the shadows. Perhaps then Mama and Papa would stop yelling. They’d look at each other, feeling foolish for fighting, and they’d make up. They’d apologize and Papa would talk to Mama about why he couldn’t get a job. They’d make a compromise. That’s what they always did in the past.

 

CRASH!

 

Not anymore. Papa had just broken something else and Mama screaming now.

 

“You son of a bitch! My mother gave us that for our wedding gift! ” Miaka shrieked. Umi winced and covered Tatsuha’s ears again. Why was Mama going to use bad words on Papa? She didn’t call him that name before. Tatsuha’s eyes were huge, meaning that he had heard the horrible word, but he said nothing. He was probably feeling the exact same way she was.

 

Don’t fight, you guys. Please don’t fight anymore. Umi prayed. Another crash came from the living room and Miaka screamed again.

 

“Ken! Ken, don’t walk out on me!”

 

“You’re the one who wants me to leave, Miaka! I can see it in your eyes. You don’t look at me the way you used to. You don’t treat me the same. You want me out and you want me out now!”

 

“Fine, then go! Get the hell out of here and don’t ever come back! Is that what you want to hear?”

 

“Yes because you’re finally being honest!”

 

No, Papa! Umi begged silently. Don’t talk to Mama like that!

 

“Is Daddy leaving?” Tatsuha asked as if that was the worst thing to happen in the world.

 

The front door slammed and Miaka started crying out loud. She was crying worse than Tatsuha when he got hurt. All that time, Umi wanted to get up and run out that door after him. She wanted to beg him not to go and that she loved him. She wanted to tell him that Mama didn’t mean the bad words she said. But her feet were frozen in place, refusing to take her to the father she loved. Her voice was caught in her throat, unable to scream for anyone. Tatsuha just sat there, sad and confused.

 

“Daddy’s gone?” He asked her.

 

“Yes.” She whispered.

 

The tears Umi wanted to hold inside started to trickle down her face. Miaka was still wailing like an injured bird and Ken hadn’t returned. It didn’t look like he ever would.

 

Quietly, Tatsuha joined his sister and began to weep.

 

*        *        *

 

Umi gulped as she remembered that. She thanked her lucky stars that both her mother’s maiden name was also Yanagisawa. She didn’t want it to change. Plus that last name bought her much closer to her father, wherever the hell he was in this crummy neighborhood.

 

Kikuno began talking about how excited she was that the interview was coming up but Umi wasn’t paying attention. She kept watching the world run by her, thinking of her father. Yes, she should hate him. She should hate him for leaving them and not offering any help. She should hate him for being such an asshole. After all, her mother and Tatsuha hated him for those reasons. But every time she wanted to hate him, those words came up again. She didn’t see him as the man who left them with misery. She saw him as the man who loved and believed in her. She saw him as the Papa who would always be there when she needed him. Over and over again, she heard the same thing.

 

You can be any kind of writer you want to be, Umi./*

 

You have the gift to entertain people with your words. As long as you don’t abuse that gift, you will be fine.

 

I know that if you write with dedication, you will be a great author one day.

 

A great author...

 

In a split second, she made up her mind.

 

“We’re getting off here.” She said. It was a good thing she made this decision because they were starting to slow down. She got up, grabbing a confused Kikuno in the process.

 

“What? But what about the interview?” Kikuno asked as Umi dragged her through the crowds of people blocking their exit. The train stopped and the doors flew open, letting everyone out.

 

“Screw the interview. It doesn’t start till another hour or so anyway.” Umi said, taking her friend’s hand and stepping out with the crowd.

 

“But Umi...I...” Kikuno began to complain but Umi whirled around and said the five words no one expected her to say again. They never came out before. Kikuno’s eyes widened as Umi told her what was going on.

 

“I wanna see my dad.”

 

TBC...

 

*        *        *

 

I know, this chapter seems irrelevant but it isn’t. It actually will lead up what will happen next.

 

Copyright 2002: CT

 

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