Well I thought it over, and I'm updating my story on FF roughly about once a week. So if I only update this once a week, it'll never catch up. So instead I'm going to update every four days, that way it will eventually catch up.
Thanks for the review(s), keep 'em coming. So I bring you the next chapter of 'Where I Belong'. Enjoy ^^
~A Tear in the Fabric~
"Kazuko? Kazuko?" A girl yelled running down the hall towards the gym of the Kai High School. She came to a stop and fell as the gym door swung open and into the hallway. The girl looked up to see another student, female, in her late teens.
"Emi?" The girl from the door questioned, looking down to see the girl on the floor. "Emi, what are you doing on this side of school?" She asked then tilted her head to the side as if just coming to some sort of realization. "Also, why are you on the floor?" She offered her hand to the one named Emi.
"I was sent to get you, Kazuko." Emi said taking the hand and getting up. "The principal wanted me to bring you to his office." She said, brushing her uniform off. Like the rest of the girls in the school, she wore a dark blue skirt, a white short-sleeve shirt, and a dark blue, button-up, long-sleeved jacket.
"Really? Did he say why?" The one called Kazuko asked, her head tilting slightly to the side once again.
"No, but he said to come immediately, so it must be important." Emi said, walking down the hall back towards the office she had come from. "Better not keep him waiting." She called over her shoulder.
Kazuko nodded, coming to walking beside Emi. She wore the girls' gym outfit, being the white uniform shirt and a pair of dark blue shorts. She stood taller than Emi, by a few inches, making Kazuko around 5' 8". The way her hair and eyes reflected in the fluorescent school lighting did it no justice. The sun was much more appropriate lighting for her light brown hair, and the sun allowed her eyes to glow the forest green they truly were.
"Hey, Kazuko, do you want to come by my house after school? We can study for the Chemistry final. My mom will even make dinner, if it's ok with your parents." Emi said having to crane her neck a bit to look up at her friend.
"Sure. Since this is the last period of the day, school will probably be out by the time I get out of the principal's office. I can give you a ride to your house and we can study. I'm sure my parents won't mind. I'll just call them when I get to your house and leave a message." Kazuko said smiling down at her friend.
"Great! I'll meet you in the parking lot. Once we pass the Chemistry final, we'll be completely cleared to graduate." Emi said, with a wide smile and put her arms behind her head. Her smile widened as a thought came to her. "When we finish studying, let's go over college brochures."
Kazuko nodded and laughed. "That'll be great, not that you need to. With your grades, you'll have colleges begging you to go to them."
"You're grades are great too. At least you stayed in the top five percent." Emi said, patting her friend on the back. They came to a stop in front of the door marked 'Principal'. "Well, catch you later, Kazuko." Emi said, walking off to her next assignment as an office aid.
~Kazuko's POV~
I watched Emi's retreating form, heading deeper down the hallway and out of sight. We have been friends since we shared a room at the orphanage. Her parents had died in a home robbery gone very wrong when she was three; and my parents…
I don't know what I happened to my birth parents. A lady named Mrs. Higurashi brought me to the orphanage as an infant and told them someone had lost me at her family shrine. When I was younger everyone would just say that I had been lost. They would reassure me that eventually they would come back and find me. Back then I had believed them, but as I grew I understood that they were simply trying to tiptoe around the true word that described me: abandoned. When that realization had hit, I began to withdraw from others. I probably would have completely sunken into myself if it hadn't been for Emi.
When Emi came to the orphanage three after I had, we instantly bonded. We've been best friends ever since. Luckily for us, a year after she was adopted, the couple down the street from her new family adopted me. The couple was unable to have children of their own, and wanted someone to share their love with.
A smiled formed as I thought about our friendship, but a dry cough by the principal's receptionist reminded me of the task at hand. I straightened out my gym clothes the best I could before placing a gentle knock against the oak wood of the principal's door.
"Come in." The well-known voice of the principal called through the door.
As I walked in, I realized something that I found amusing. In the three years I had been at this school, I had never seen the principal in person. The morning announcements were done over a speaker system, and the assemblies were done by live streaming video. Now that I thought about it, I don't think many students had actually seen the principal in person. He showed up to graduations, but by then those students didn't return to the school.
"Principal Hiroshi," I greeted with a slight bow of my head. "Emi said you wanted to speak to me." I said, opening the door and stepping inside.
Principal Hiroshi was short. It may sound mean, but that was the first thing I noticed. On the video screen during the assemblies, he had seemed like a towering man. Yet now, standing in the room, I realized he had to be less than five feet tall. Considering my height, I couldn't help but notice. He had graying black hair and a clean shaven face. His glasses glinted in the artificial light as he turned from the bookshelf he was standing at.
"Yes, Ms. Kazuko, please take a seat." He said, motioning towards the chair in front of his desk. I took a seat in the chair and crossed my legs, as he also took his seat, waiting for him to continue. "Ms. Kazuko, I wish I could have called you down here under better circumstances, but I'm sorry the reason I have called you is not a pleasant one." He started, looking down at an envelope on his desk, never once making eye contact with me. "The hospital called…your parents were in a car accident." As he spoke, I felt my stomach tightening. "They were both pronounced dead at the scene of the crash."
Anything he may have said after that went unheard. My vision blurred with the salty tears now dripping from my eyes. I could feel the trembles of sadness and disbelief running through my body.
How could this have happened?
This isn't the sort of news anyone ever wanted to get.
"Mrs. Kazuko?" Principal Hiroshi asked, speaking a bit louder and leaning forward to get my attention. "Your father managed to give the paramedics this envelope before he passed." He said, handing me a large, manila envelope that seemed to be packed with papers. "Your father said that it was important you received this."
I looked at the manila envelope that had the words 'Kazuko Mara' on the front.
"Do you need to find a way home? I can call someone to pick you up." The principal asked, seeming genuinely concerned.
"No, I have a car." I said my words heavy with the emotional pain I was feeling. "Thank you, Mr. Hiroshi. I am going to leave now." I stood and gave a slight bow, then left his office. I kept the envelope tucked under my arm as I headed back to the gym to collect my things.
The next few hours passed in a dream-like state.
I took Emi home and told her the news on the way there. She offered me to stay with her family. I told her I would think about it, but for now I had to go to the hospital to confirm the identity of my parents at the morgue.
I headed to the morgue and did as I had told Emi I would. Again my body trembled and the tears robbed me of my vision at seeing my parents so cold and stiff. The nurse told me that they would keep the bodies until I could make proper funeral arrangements. I thanked her and headed back to my house. I couldn't bring myself to call it home, knowing the two that made it a home would never step inside of it again.
As I walked into the house and headed into the kitchen, my body felt numb, as if I were no longer controlling it, but standing by as someone else did.
I placed the envelope on the counter. I went through the usual routine I did after school. I made a quick meal and ate. I took a bath and dressed in a pair of red shorts and a black bra, putting no other covering on my upper body right away. I looked at myself in my mirror, specifically the paw shaped birth mark. It rested right on my breast bone and was normally covered by my clothing. I never knew why, but I always felt that there was more to my birth mark. For as long as I could remember, something always made me feel as if it was more. Sighing, I realized I had more important things to get to than worrying over a silly mark. I finally put on a white t-shirt and headed back downstairs.
On the kitchen counter laid the envelope that was all I had left of my parents. Being a high school senior, I got out a school at noon, and thus it was only three o'clock.
I took a seat on a stool and picked up the envelope. Part of me felt like if I didn't open it, maybe my parents might walk in like normal; and the past few hours will have just been a dream. But I knew it wasn't to be. Instead I tore off the top and began going over the contents of the envelope.
The first page was a simple printer page and only had one sentence on it. 'This envelope contains information to be released to Kazuko Mara in case of the death of Chiyo and Riku Mara'. I placed the front page aside and went through the others. Most of it was the funeral arrangements to be made, bank account information, titles to houses and cars, and a list of family to call.
I immediately did everything that was instructed: made the arrangements and had the accounts and titles transferred into my name. Once all that had been done, it was beginning to get dark. One last thing remained in the envelope, another smaller envelope.
It was a regular sized, white envelope. On this envelope it said 'To our daughter, Kazuko'. More tears stained my eyes as I recognized my mother's hand writing. Up until now, everything else had been typed, so seeing her hand writing brought another wave of grief crashing over me.
I opened the smaller envelope and pulled out the paper inside. It was a letter, written completely in my mother's handwriting.
Dear Kazuko, If you have received this letter, then unfortunately something terrible has happened. I hope that you are old enough to understand everything that has been placed in these papers. If you are not old enough, please call my brother to help you make the arrangements, and please make sure that you go stay with him and his family. It would pain us both to have you taken back to that orphanage. But let's not dwell on the negatives here, as I am sure you are feeling enough sadness. Your father and I wanted to have some sort of humanity in this letter and the information in it, which is why I wrote this by hand instead of typing it. As you know, Riku and I are not your biological parents. I won't use the terms 'real' or 'fake' because to us, you are, and always will be, our real daughter. We wish we had information to give you on your biological parents, but sadly we don't have any. As you may already know, you were found on the Higurashi Shrine. Mrs. Higurashi brought you to the orphanage we adopted you from. The only thing found with you was the blanket you were wrapped in, which we have kept in a box blue box under our bed. Maybe Mrs. Higurashi has some more information, for you sake we hope she does. We just want you to know we love you, and always will. We hope that one day you can find the answers to your heritage. -Love Riku and Chiyo, -Love your parents By the time I finished reading, the letter was covered in wet spots. Also in the small envelope were two pictures. One from the day they adopted me, when I was four; and the other was from my junior high graduation. A sad smile spread on my face as I looked at the pictures and our smiling faces.
I tucked the letter and pictures back in the smaller envelope and headed to my room. I tucked the letter under my pillow as I turned out the lights to go to bed. I knew it was futile to think I would sleep, but I couldn't think of anything else to do.
The past month has been very tiresome. It was filled with none stop action, and not the good kind.
The first week of the month: It was filled with my parents' funeral and dealing with family flying in to attend. As well as the fresh waves of grief that every sympathy card, hug and word brought.
The second week of the month: It was 'College Week', where they give the seniors a week off to make their final decisions about where they wish to attend. Generously, Emi's family let me travel with them to tour the campuses. It was a fun distraction to help lift my spirits.
The third week of the month: It was finals week. I only had one final, which was enough. Science had never been my strong point in school, and Chemistry was no exception. The test was on Friday so I spent the week constantly studying.
The final week of the month: Graduation week. I doubt I need to go into too much detail to explain how much stress graduation week was.
Now it was all behind me. I was now an official adult with the choice to pursue higher learning or begin my independent life. Truthfully I began my independent life a little over a month ago.
So now I was driving home after placing my college intention letter in the mail to the Japanese School of Business and Administration. They had accepted me and it was the one I wanted to attend. I had on a pair of black shorts that came down to just above my knees and a v-neck red shirt that was cut short enough so that my belly button was still visible. As I drove, I saw a sign reading 'Historic Higurashi Shrine'.
I had seen the sign so many times and yet never thought twice about heading towards the shrine. I had always felt that with my parents being the way they were, I had no need to know about the ones who abandoned me. But ever since the letter I knew that it was what my parents would have wanted for me. So I turned to follow the sign towards the shrine. I parked at the bottom of the steps, in a spot that I am not sure was legal, and got out.
"Do you think they have enough stairs?" I joked to myself and began to ascend the stairs. Once I reached the top of the steps I looked around to figure out which of the buildings I should seek help from. As my eyes rested on a smaller building, almost shack-like, I instantly felt a burning sensation coming from my chest. It felt as if part of me was being ripped towards the shack. The pain caused me to close my eyes, and as soon as the shed was out of sight the pain subsided.
"Strange." I mumbled, straightening up and looking towards the main house.
I saw two females and an older male heading into the house. The old man stopped as he noticed me, and the other two turned as they saw him turning towards me.
"Hello! Welcome to the Higurashi Shrine!" The old man yelled, waving me over.
"Hi, I was looking for Mrs. Higurashi." I said, waving back and walking over to them.
"My mom?" The younger female asked. I could tell from her uniform that she went to the local middle school, making her around three or four years younger than me.
I nodded at her, then turned to the older female. "Are you Mrs. Higurashi?" I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly.
"Yes I am. How may I help y…" The older female's voice trailed off and I saw her eyes drifted down to my chest. "That mark." She said quietly, stepping a bit closer to me. "You are…Kazuko, right? The child I found in the well house nineteen years ago."
I heard the other two gasp, and my eyes widened. All I could do was nod at first. It took a few seconds to compose myself. I hadn't figured that she would remember me.
"Yes, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." I said, still shocked at how she had figured that.
"Then please, come in and join us. We were just about to have dinner when my son Sota got home. You are welcome to join us for dinner, and then we can talk." Mrs. Higurashi said, leading me into the house.
