Reunion - A Hanako Bad Ending Epilogue
Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:25 pm
OOOH MAN! I LOVE WRITING ME SOME ONE SHOTS!
Again, as always, criticism is highly encouraged.
Reunion
‘Mr. Nakai, room 102, the Science room’…
I take a quick look at the sheet of paper given to me at the sign in desk of Yamaku Academy. It definitely has been a while, and things are a lot more different than what they were. The old walls of the school look newly painted, and they smell like it too. After all these years, this school is still in business.
Before I go to my destination, I head to the girl’s dormitories to take a look at my old room. That is, if it isn’t taken. Sure enough, the slide where there should be a nameplate is empty, and the door was left unlocked. I open it and step inside.
When I first enter the room, memories come back to me.
Not many of the memories were good, in fact, I can’t think of a good memory in this room.
The only one I can think of was that afternoon with Hisao.
I screamed, I shouted, I cursed his name. I loved him, but he broke my heart, doing the exact thing that I hated. I know he only wanted to protect me, but that’s all anyone ever wanted to do. They either ignored me, or tried to ‘protect’ me. Both Lilly and Hisao never talked to me afterwards. We lost contact. Hisao told Lilly about what happened, and she was horrified. I don’t blame her at all.
After thirty years…
I go ahead and start my trek to the school’s main building, as I did every morning in high school.
Hisao had been teaching at Yamaku for five years, and he took Mutou’s old room when he retired.
I wonder if Mutou is still alive…
If he still is, that would be great. He was the best teacher I ever had.
Hisao loved Mutou’s classes.
I shake my head to get the image of back then out. High school here was nice for a while, but I genuinely ruined it.
I near the room that Hisao should be teaching in and I peek through a crack in the door. And the sight of him takes my breath away.
His hair, which used to be a light shade of brown and always messy, is straight, clean and black, with a few gray strands sticking out.
His light skin got darker, and he probably still towers over me in height. He stayed in shape too, he is just as slender as before, not to mention as handsome, too.
The door opens a little and it makes a squeaking noise. He looks up from his desk and stares into my eyes, a look of expected surprise in his. He slowly rises and walks to me, like his legs were made of sticks. I would have found it comical if I wasn’t doing the same thing.
When we get close enough, I open my arms for a large embrace, which he quickly returns as he takes me in his arms. As expected, he is still several inches taller than me, and his arms are much more firm than what they were. I let out a quiet sob and hold him even tighter, taking his full figure into my arms.
“Hisao…”
He looks down at me.
“Hanako, where have you been?”
He looks at me questioningly. Was I supposed to go to him?
“W-What do you mean?”
He looks at me with a sad expression. He takes me in his arms again and whispers in my ear.
“We missed you, Hanako.”
We?
Who is we?
“W-We?”
“Lilly and I, we missed you so much. We had hoped you would soon come to us, but, we were wrong.”
Lilly… and… Hisao?
Oh god.
I think I get it now.
“Are you two together now?” I ask him with a slight stutter, which I have not done in years.
He holds up his left hand. A gold band enveloping his ring finger. “Twenty years… Happily married.”
I want to cry, I really do. Lilly knew I liked Hisao. She knew!
But I can’t. I know I caused this. This is my own fault. I should embrace their relationship.
“That’s amazing, Hisao!”
He is a little surprised at my reply, I am too.
“Yeah, we started dating a few months after… that… happened.”
The sound of discomfort in his voice mentioning that moment in our lives makes me cringe, and I bury my face in his chest.
“I am so sorry, Hisao, I shouldn’t have gone off like that.”
“No, Hanako, you were right, we had no right to treat you like a child like that. We should have treated you different, not like someone that can’t handle themselves for a few minutes without a wet-nurse. The truth is, Hanako, we loved you. And we were worried about you.”
I am shocked by the words he just spoke. Am I dreaming? Is this some cruel ruse being played on me by the Gods?
“R-Really?”
“Yes, Hanako, really. Lilly loved you. I loved you. We both felt the exact same way about you. Well, maybe a little different in… some aspects, but it was all the same.”
An odd way to confess, but I’ve heard worse.
“I thought you two would hate me?”
He frowns, “Of course not, Hanako. Nothing in this world could possibly make us hate you. You were the only thing in this world we ever thought about. Hell, we still talk about you sometimes.”
“Can I… see her?”
“Of course, Hanako.”
We drive to the house that Lilly and Hisao have been living in for the past five years. It’s a bit bigger than what I had expected, but seeing as though Lilly’s father is the second richest man in Scotland, I can see how I would have been wrong.
“Here we are.”
I look in amazement at the well kept lawn, and the beautiful scenery around the house. They must have spent a lot of money on it. It’s pretty huge, and a bit unusual for a Science teacher’s salary.
“It’s beautiful…”
“Come on, Lilly will freak out when she meets you again.”
I see he has gotten used to Lilly’s condition. That’s good, if he had said, ‘sees’ I wouldn’t have been able to suppress a giggle.
He opens the door to his home where Lilly is visible from the front. Seeing her long, blonde hair hang down past her shoulders, her pale, porcelain skin on her arms and neck, makes me want to cry.
“Oh, Hisao, are you home?”
A slight rustling from behind Lilly comes into vision.
A blonde little girl comes from behind the island counter in the kitchen.
“Daddy~!”
She runs to hug Hisao, but comes to a dead stop when she sees me, though. Obviously staring at the scars on my face, and the rest of the right side of my body.
“Who’s this?”
She looks up at me, puts on a huge grin, and waves.
“Do we have company, Hisao?”
I walk slowly over to Lilly and take her in my arms.
“Oh, who is this?”
I can’t even speak, because of the light sobs coming out of my mouth.
“I-Is this…?”
She takes me back in her arms and starts to cry too. She has a big smile on her face though, which makes me even happier.
“Hanako, it has been so long…”
“Lilly… I missed you so much!”
I can no longer suppress any of my sobs and tears dampen the fabric on her shoulder.
Hisao picks up the girl and walks over to us.
“Hannah, this is your aunt Hanako. Say ‘hi’.”
“Hi, Aunt Hanako, it’s nice to meet you.”
I reach over to take the child in my hands, but Lilly still refuses to let go. It kind of reminds me of me when we had similar situations.
“Lilly, uh, you’re still on me.”
When she hears my voice, she reluctantly detaches from me. And I take Hannah in my hands.
“She was born in Scotland. We were living there before I got pregnant, and when she was born, we moved back to Japan, so that Hisao could start his teaching career at Yamaku.”
I’m taken aback by how much resemblance there is between Hannah and Lilly. She really is a spitting image of her.
“Hey, there, Hannah.”
I look over to Hisao.
“The name Hannah… it it…?”
“Yes. It is. We named her that because of you.”
Just knowing that makes me all the more happy.
After a few more hours of catching up with Hisao and Lilly, I get up to leave.
“Well, I have a hotel to get to. I have to fly back to New York tomorrow afternoon.”
“You live in New York? That’s awesome, Kenji moved there last year!”
Oh god, a reason not to go back home.
“Well, I’ll be going then. I will visit again soon. Be good, Hannah. And you too, Hisao!”
“Bye!”
I close the door and pull out my phone. Before I have the chance to dial the phone for the local taxi service, the door opens behind me.
Both Lilly and Hisao come out together, hand in hand.
“Hanako… we were wondering… would you like to spend the night? We have enough guest rooms, and it’s already 11:00.”
“I’d love to.”
“Great, we’ll get the room settled for you.”
Lilly, Hisao and I go back into the house together, and I feel happy for the first time in thirty years.
Again, as always, criticism is highly encouraged.
Reunion
‘Mr. Nakai, room 102, the Science room’…
I take a quick look at the sheet of paper given to me at the sign in desk of Yamaku Academy. It definitely has been a while, and things are a lot more different than what they were. The old walls of the school look newly painted, and they smell like it too. After all these years, this school is still in business.
Before I go to my destination, I head to the girl’s dormitories to take a look at my old room. That is, if it isn’t taken. Sure enough, the slide where there should be a nameplate is empty, and the door was left unlocked. I open it and step inside.
When I first enter the room, memories come back to me.
Not many of the memories were good, in fact, I can’t think of a good memory in this room.
The only one I can think of was that afternoon with Hisao.
I screamed, I shouted, I cursed his name. I loved him, but he broke my heart, doing the exact thing that I hated. I know he only wanted to protect me, but that’s all anyone ever wanted to do. They either ignored me, or tried to ‘protect’ me. Both Lilly and Hisao never talked to me afterwards. We lost contact. Hisao told Lilly about what happened, and she was horrified. I don’t blame her at all.
After thirty years…
I go ahead and start my trek to the school’s main building, as I did every morning in high school.
Hisao had been teaching at Yamaku for five years, and he took Mutou’s old room when he retired.
I wonder if Mutou is still alive…
If he still is, that would be great. He was the best teacher I ever had.
Hisao loved Mutou’s classes.
I shake my head to get the image of back then out. High school here was nice for a while, but I genuinely ruined it.
I near the room that Hisao should be teaching in and I peek through a crack in the door. And the sight of him takes my breath away.
His hair, which used to be a light shade of brown and always messy, is straight, clean and black, with a few gray strands sticking out.
His light skin got darker, and he probably still towers over me in height. He stayed in shape too, he is just as slender as before, not to mention as handsome, too.
The door opens a little and it makes a squeaking noise. He looks up from his desk and stares into my eyes, a look of expected surprise in his. He slowly rises and walks to me, like his legs were made of sticks. I would have found it comical if I wasn’t doing the same thing.
When we get close enough, I open my arms for a large embrace, which he quickly returns as he takes me in his arms. As expected, he is still several inches taller than me, and his arms are much more firm than what they were. I let out a quiet sob and hold him even tighter, taking his full figure into my arms.
“Hisao…”
He looks down at me.
“Hanako, where have you been?”
He looks at me questioningly. Was I supposed to go to him?
“W-What do you mean?”
He looks at me with a sad expression. He takes me in his arms again and whispers in my ear.
“We missed you, Hanako.”
We?
Who is we?
“W-We?”
“Lilly and I, we missed you so much. We had hoped you would soon come to us, but, we were wrong.”
Lilly… and… Hisao?
Oh god.
I think I get it now.
“Are you two together now?” I ask him with a slight stutter, which I have not done in years.
He holds up his left hand. A gold band enveloping his ring finger. “Twenty years… Happily married.”
I want to cry, I really do. Lilly knew I liked Hisao. She knew!
But I can’t. I know I caused this. This is my own fault. I should embrace their relationship.
“That’s amazing, Hisao!”
He is a little surprised at my reply, I am too.
“Yeah, we started dating a few months after… that… happened.”
The sound of discomfort in his voice mentioning that moment in our lives makes me cringe, and I bury my face in his chest.
“I am so sorry, Hisao, I shouldn’t have gone off like that.”
“No, Hanako, you were right, we had no right to treat you like a child like that. We should have treated you different, not like someone that can’t handle themselves for a few minutes without a wet-nurse. The truth is, Hanako, we loved you. And we were worried about you.”
I am shocked by the words he just spoke. Am I dreaming? Is this some cruel ruse being played on me by the Gods?
“R-Really?”
“Yes, Hanako, really. Lilly loved you. I loved you. We both felt the exact same way about you. Well, maybe a little different in… some aspects, but it was all the same.”
An odd way to confess, but I’ve heard worse.
“I thought you two would hate me?”
He frowns, “Of course not, Hanako. Nothing in this world could possibly make us hate you. You were the only thing in this world we ever thought about. Hell, we still talk about you sometimes.”
“Can I… see her?”
“Of course, Hanako.”
We drive to the house that Lilly and Hisao have been living in for the past five years. It’s a bit bigger than what I had expected, but seeing as though Lilly’s father is the second richest man in Scotland, I can see how I would have been wrong.
“Here we are.”
I look in amazement at the well kept lawn, and the beautiful scenery around the house. They must have spent a lot of money on it. It’s pretty huge, and a bit unusual for a Science teacher’s salary.
“It’s beautiful…”
“Come on, Lilly will freak out when she meets you again.”
I see he has gotten used to Lilly’s condition. That’s good, if he had said, ‘sees’ I wouldn’t have been able to suppress a giggle.
He opens the door to his home where Lilly is visible from the front. Seeing her long, blonde hair hang down past her shoulders, her pale, porcelain skin on her arms and neck, makes me want to cry.
“Oh, Hisao, are you home?”
A slight rustling from behind Lilly comes into vision.
A blonde little girl comes from behind the island counter in the kitchen.
“Daddy~!”
She runs to hug Hisao, but comes to a dead stop when she sees me, though. Obviously staring at the scars on my face, and the rest of the right side of my body.
“Who’s this?”
She looks up at me, puts on a huge grin, and waves.
“Do we have company, Hisao?”
I walk slowly over to Lilly and take her in my arms.
“Oh, who is this?”
I can’t even speak, because of the light sobs coming out of my mouth.
“I-Is this…?”
She takes me back in her arms and starts to cry too. She has a big smile on her face though, which makes me even happier.
“Hanako, it has been so long…”
“Lilly… I missed you so much!”
I can no longer suppress any of my sobs and tears dampen the fabric on her shoulder.
Hisao picks up the girl and walks over to us.
“Hannah, this is your aunt Hanako. Say ‘hi’.”
“Hi, Aunt Hanako, it’s nice to meet you.”
I reach over to take the child in my hands, but Lilly still refuses to let go. It kind of reminds me of me when we had similar situations.
“Lilly, uh, you’re still on me.”
When she hears my voice, she reluctantly detaches from me. And I take Hannah in my hands.
“She was born in Scotland. We were living there before I got pregnant, and when she was born, we moved back to Japan, so that Hisao could start his teaching career at Yamaku.”
I’m taken aback by how much resemblance there is between Hannah and Lilly. She really is a spitting image of her.
“Hey, there, Hannah.”
I look over to Hisao.
“The name Hannah… it it…?”
“Yes. It is. We named her that because of you.”
Just knowing that makes me all the more happy.
After a few more hours of catching up with Hisao and Lilly, I get up to leave.
“Well, I have a hotel to get to. I have to fly back to New York tomorrow afternoon.”
“You live in New York? That’s awesome, Kenji moved there last year!”
Oh god, a reason not to go back home.
“Well, I’ll be going then. I will visit again soon. Be good, Hannah. And you too, Hisao!”
“Bye!”
I close the door and pull out my phone. Before I have the chance to dial the phone for the local taxi service, the door opens behind me.
Both Lilly and Hisao come out together, hand in hand.
“Hanako… we were wondering… would you like to spend the night? We have enough guest rooms, and it’s already 11:00.”
“I’d love to.”
“Great, we’ll get the room settled for you.”
Lilly, Hisao and I go back into the house together, and I feel happy for the first time in thirty years.