Chapter 56

Luka.

"She may have left this world, but she'll never leave my heart," Gakupo whispered, looking down at the mound of dirt under which we had buried Meringue. I pulled a tissue out of my pocket and handed it to him. He blew his nose.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said. Gakupo nodded.

"Thank you for helping me find Meringue," he said, "I'll be fine."

I shook my head. There was no way that I could leave this depressed, sobbing man out on his lawn like that. He had just lost a beloved companion, and seeing him like this made me feel bad. All these years, I had never thought of him as anything more than the strange purple haired colleague who always tried to flirt with me. Now I realized that there was something more. He was nowhere near as shallow as I had thought.

"Come to my house," I said, offering him my hand, "You could use a cup of soup."

Gakupo nodded slowly. "I...I can't say no, Luka," he said. I nodded and took his hand, pulling him along.

Mikuo.

I rang Meiko's doorbell. After a few seconds, a tall and slender woman with long brown hair opened the door. She gasped at the sight of me.

"H-Hello?" I grinned sheepishly, "Are you Meiko's mother?"

"What?" The woman scowled and slammed the door shut. I heard her yell Meiko's name; it was a muffled sound.

"Meiko!" I said as she opened the door. She was grinning.

"Dude, what did you do?" She snickered, "You just called my sister my mom. My sis is in college!"

I frowned, "Okay, maybe I jumped to conclusions. I've never seen your sister before."

"That's because she lives on campus. School's out for them."

I shrugged. "So..."

"You wanna come in?" Meiko asked suddenly, "It's just my sis and me. We're watching a movie."

"Sure, I guess," I said. Meiko nodded, giving me a quick kiss before opening the door all the way.

Yuma.

I was mopping the stairs when my mom arrived. The lock on the door clicked and she pushed it open with a kick.

"What're you doing, Yuma?" She asked immediately. She didn't sound angry, just curious.

I turned to face her, leaning against the mop handle. "Gumi got caught in the rain, and she was hurt. I brought her over, and this is just the mud from then."

My mother didn't nod or say anything. She just stood there silently for a few seconds, and then she walked away. I grimaced and continued mopping in silence. I heard a thump as she dropped her bag to the floor in the other room, and then she walked past me and headed into the bathroom.

I put the mop away and headed into the kitchen, looking for something to eat. She showed up a minute later, eyeing me as though I was an explosive or something.

"I couldn't have just left her there!" I yelled, slamming the refrigerator door shut and startling my mother.

"That's not my point, Yuma!" She snapped, "You know this is going to get out of hand!"

"Nothing's getting out of hand!" I yelled back, "You don't even know anything about me and Gumi!"

"I know enough!" My mother paused and exhaled sharply, "She is a nice girl, Yuma, but that's more the reason why..."

"Stop," I said firmly, "Stop talking about that."

I left the kitchen empty-handed and seething with anger, walking up to my room, slamming the door, and locking it.

Len.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" I cried, sitting up straight. My hair fell over my face and I could hardly see what was in front of me, but it didn't matter; I knew where I wanted to go.

I got up and ran into my mother's room. I fell to my knees in front of her drawers and began pulling the compartments out, one by one, rummaging through them. Strands of honey coloured hair stuck to my cheeks as tears rolled down them. I didn't want to cry; why the hell was I crying, anyway?

"Where is it?" I yelled, tossing things out of the drawer, "Where the hell is the damn thing?"

It was at the bottom of one of the drawers, under a file folder and some legal documents and things. I could barely pick it up with my shaky hands, but when I finally did, I held it up to the light and stared at it, biting my lip so hard that it bled.

"Len!" My mother ran into the room, still dressed for going outside, "What is this? What's wrong?"

I looked at my mother, and then at the photograph in my hands. Why was the world like this? Why did nothing ever work out perfectly? Life wasn't a fairytale, but couldn't I just have one perfect moment? Was that too much to ask for?

"Len, you're...crying," my mother's expression softened, going from frightened and angry to curious and sympathetic, "And your mouth is bleeding..."

"M-Mom," I cried out, tasting the blood on my lips, the lips that Rin had kissed less than an hour ago, "T-This picture..."

My mom sat down beside me, sidestepping the mess that I had made. "What is it, Len?"

"Dad...divorced you when you were about to have me, right?" I whispered, looking down at the ground.

She paused. "Yes."

I looked down at the photograph, at the young couple grinning. My mother to the right, still young, not pregnant. Still happy. And my father...grinning with his blond hair all over the place.

Blond hair sticking out in all directions...

"That's dad, right? R-Ren...," my hand flew up to my mouth as I choked on my father's name.

Before my mother could answer, I had gotten to my feet and bolted from the room, the photograph of my parents clutched tightly in one fist. I ran into my bedroom and slammed to door shut, locking it.

"Len, open up!" My mother's voice was muffled but her tone was clear. She rapped her fist against the door.

"L-Leave me alone!" I screamed, biting my tongue and holding back any potential foul language. No matter how angry I was, I didn't want to curse at my mom, "Just leave me alone, okay?"

There was a pause on the other side of the door. She was still there; I could tell. "Len, what happened? You were out with a friend, right? It's okay if you didn't pick up your phone, I wasn't angry, and I got the groceries, but...what happened?"

I exhaled sharply and didn't reply. I heard her footsteps receding, and I ran over to my bed and lay down.

I stared at the picture, running my tongue furiously along my bleeding lower lip.

Ren. My father.

Rin's father.

Suffice it to say I dropped the bombshell. Reactions? Comments? When you look back at past chapters, you'll see how it was woven in all along. There are more surprises to come, and that's all I can say at the moment!

Thanks for reading! (vote, comment, share, and support! Tell your friends, but don't spoil the story! And just wait till you see what else I've got up my sleeve!)