Starting in class C: not completely defective.

Arc 5 chapter 3: reunion

I had been driving for a few hours now. Luckily, I don't think I was followed.

I had just come into Kyoto now, and I was slightly taken aback by the beauty of the shrines and temples I could see off in the distance. Such masterful craftsmanship I could see in the woodwork.

I followed the signs to Sakyo, and asked a local for directions to the street I was looking for.

Kyoto was definitely easier to navigate than Tokyo, what with it's grid pattern and all. It wasn't long before I found the address Chabashira-sensei had told me to look for.

The house itself was in slightly poor condition, with a broken window on the first floor, and a slightly decaying door. When I went to knock on said door, I froze.

Who's house was this? Why should I blindly trust Chabashira-sensei with this? What if it was a trap?

No, I was probably overthinking. But, a small inkling of doubt still remained, and I didn't knock on the door.

All of a sudden, the door opened, revealing the face of a woman in her late 30's, with shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and deep blue eyes. It was like looking at Ichinose. She carried a rather heavy bag of rubbish at her side, which she was probably going to put in the bin.

"K...Kiyo...Taka?" The woman asked. How did she know my name?

"Uh, yes, I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I was told by my teacher, Chabashira-sensei to come here," I said.

The woman dropped the bag, letting the contents spill out onto the floor. I could see tears in her eyes, and she raised her arms, and wrapped them around me in a tight hug.

She was sobbing into my chest, her tears seeping through the fabric of my nurse uniform. I didn't know why, but I returned the hug.

"Miss...who am I to you?" I asked.

"You're...my son..." she said through her cries.

So this was my mother. Instantly, emotions flooded me. This was mine and Honami's mother.

A single tear fell onto her head. It took me a minute to realise it had come from my own eye.

"Umm, you're kind of hurting me now...I've got broken ribs and a recovering stab wound, you know," I said.

"Eek! How did you get those? Come inside, and let me get you on a bed," she said, all her tears gone now.

Once I was on the bed (I understand that it was normally Honami's bed, but now it was mine, I suppose), and my mother (who's name I discovered was Sakura) had given me some tea, she got a chair and sat down across from me.

"So, Kiyotaka...what have you been up to since I last saw you?" She asked, trying to start conversation.

"Well, I trust you know about...that place?" I asked

She nodded, and I saw her jaw clench at the mere mention of the white room.

"Well, I managed to escape, in March this year," I said.

"That's wonderful. But, how?" She asked.

"I went to ANHS. I was told that he wouldn't be able to touch me there," I said.

"Wait...does that mean you met Honami, then?" She asked.

"Yes, and I only discovered the bond between us about 2 weeks ago," I said.

The discussion went along these lines for a little while.

"Then...how come you have a stab wound, two broken ribs, you're wearing a nurse uniform, and you have a car?" She asked.