From Aoyagi to Tenma

Chapter Five (Saki): A New Family Member, And Unanswered Questions

"You did it, Mr. Wrong!" Saki smiled as she walked out of the courtroom, skipping with every step. Toya blushed she tears of happiness rolled from his face. He was free.
"We need to celebrate!" Tsukasa grabbed Toya into a tight hug, smiling and holding his voice to as inside as he could.
"Don't worry, I'll pay." Toya smiled through his sobs and Saki could hear a sigh from Mr. Right.
"It is a shame what the truth about your father was." Tsukasa said, taking the time to reflect and wipe the sweat off his brow.
"You are correct, but I do wish he was more lenient." Saki noticed Mr. Left stiffen a bit, before taking something and handing it to Toya.
"Do you remember when you got that gaming system?" He asked Toya.
"A year or so ago, why?"
"Do you think a father as strict as he was would let their child have a distraction machine in their own room?"
"No, probably not. What are you getting at?"
"He was changing, very slowly. It's not changing what he did, but he was becoming a better father for you."
"If only he did it sooner." The tone fell down, Saki needed that to stop now if not sooner. They just had a happy moment they needed to keep it going!
"H-hey let's not think so low right now!" Saki said, interjecting into the conversation, "We saved Toya! He's Toya Tenma now! We should get going to the restaurant."
"Yeah! Saki's right! Let's go!" Tsukasa ran out the door, before they told him where they were going. So he sat out there like a sad puppy dog until the other two were finished talking. Saki chuckled to herself, wondering how Tsukasa would even be able to even go to school without anyone to go with him. She then quietly and quickly tapped her leg.
She was being rude to her brother, it doesn't matter if it was just by thought, she was being rude. Saki ran up to the others, just catching up to the others when the conversation was starting.
"I agree with Toya, you know. You really did look like a sad dog sitting out here." Mr. Sourdough laughed to Tsukasa.
"W-what!?" Tsukasa put a hand on his chest as his face turned downtrodden. "I couldn't have! I posed and looked my best for Toya, you agree, right Saki?" Tsukasa turned to Saki with great expectations.
"Uhh... Why don't we get some noodles and talk then?" Saki sidestepped the question and followed the others. She refused to answer that question, and to lie to Tsukasa, she would rather have her keyboard break than to lie to him.
"So, how much is it going to be?" Toya asked, before pulling out his wallet for the subway transit.
"Hmm..." Mr. Konwaku pondered ponderously as he pitched down a flight of stairs and into a trash bin.
"Mr. Wr-Naruhodō!" Toya flew down the stairs before helping the now disheveled man.
"We should've taken the elevator." Tsukasa muttered as they walked into the subway. Idle chitchat turned into hush sounds, barely heard from the subway. Saki felt her head feel a lot heavier than usual as she drifted off.
"Saki?" A small voiced rose over the others as a beeping noise slowly cleared in her ears. A tallish man with blue hair came into view, but the scenery didn't feel like she was in her SEKAI.
"KAITO?" Saki refocused her eyes and saw it was who she thought it was, but he didn't look anything like the KAITO she remembered.
"If you're wondering what's going on here, you should be asleep." KAITO sat across from her, the gray of the world felt so hollow. Saki felt almost sick from it.
"W-what is this place?" Saki managed to say, before fighting against her feelings. She wanted, no. She needed to help whatever group owns this empty SEKAI of theirs.
"This is the true feelings of someone who needed help, but I don't need to tell that to someone who knows already," KAITO sighed heavily and swished his hand. Saki felt waves of tiredness wash over her, like sinking into the ocean.
"Sleep. I hope to never see you." Saki wanted to talk back to him. He was being so rude to somebody who hasn't even talked to him for longer than a few minutes. The scene faded into nothingness. A fake sleep. Saki opened her eyes, Saki closed her eyes. There was no difference, and she wanted out of this. She felt like she was falling, she couldn't tell which way she fell, all she knew was that she was.
"Saki?" A voice echoed through wherever she was.
"Hello?" She called back. But she couldn't tell if she was speaking. She never felt so scared.
"Saki?" Saki opened her eyes. She was in the subway again. Toya was there, an arm on her shoulder, and a look of worry. Saki smiled meekly and got from her seat.
"Thanks. I was having a bad dream." Saki said, before hugging him. She didn't want to try explaining about KAITO, not while people were still around.
"Hmm..." Saki felt Toya's face glow, she wished she gave him more hugs, but that didn't matter right now. The train was about to go again.
"This is the place?" Tsukasa asked.
"Yep! It is right next to the Agency. Got a few good noodles here." Mr. East smiled brightly as he walked up to the stand.
"Welcome Mr. Naruhodō! The usual for today?" A stern man with a noodle hat opened the windows before smiling.
"Not this time, Eldoon. Got some guests with me. You know what I like, but get three regular salty noodles for them." Mr. Narrowhood was a classic regular. Saki heard this Eldoon fellow humming a toon as bowls were being tossed and clinking among each other.
"One Noodle of Justice! The noodle man passed a bowl to Mr. Lawman. "Three Salty Noodles!" Eldoon passed the three others their noodles.
"How salty are these noodles?" Tsukasa asked, worryingly.
"Oh, not too much. Just enough to pucker your face. The water in it and the noodles keep your body form over salting yourself."
Toya looked down at the noodles and took a very small bite of it. His eyes widened as his mouth puckered. He turned to the other two and said, "tastes saltier than the sea" before coughing violently. Saki and Tsukasa took their bites, and had their own experiences with the noodles.
"So, what was that bad dream of yours?" Toya quietly questioned Saki.
"It was weird. I woke up in a SEKAI of some kind, and there was KAITO, but he was mean! The KAITO I know would never say anything like what he said to me!" Saki was complaining at this point, but she was right about KAITO's rudeness.
"The KAITO I know is pathetic in every sense of the word." Toya said bluntly.
"My KAITO is the troupe leader, but he is a huge pushover." Tsukasa said, laughing vibrantly.
"What are you kids talking about?" Mr. Lawman leans over to the three.
"Umm..." Saki exchanged looks to the other two, their eyes told the same story, to keep this a secret between them.
"We were wondering why the pasta was so salty!" Toya said, calmly looking at the defense attorney.
"Oh, it's his deal. Anywho, I need to get going. My assistant has a case he needs to investigate." He grabbed out bowls before giving them to Eldoon, and left.
"We should get going home. Knowing Rui, he has something set up..." Tsukasa sighed before taking Toya's hand and getting him to his feet. Saki noticed something, however. For just a second, maybe even less, Tsukasa had a pink tint to his cheeks.
"Tsukasa? Do you have any thoughts about Rui?" Saki asked Tsukasa, as the three walked home.
"Rui?!" Tsukasa said, reacting like she spooked him. "O-of course not! That would be ridiculous!" The pink tint appeared on his cheek again, but Tsukasa avoided her eyes.
"We're home!" Tsukasa called to the empty house.
"Is anyone here?" Toya asked, taking a seat on the dining room table.
Saki thought for a moment. "If the parents were home, the cars would be parked, but there wasn't any there."
"Good point... which mean that-"
"SUPRISE!!!" Confetti flooded the room as the lights sprung into action. Rui, Akito, An, and Kohane all were there, hiding among the furniture.
"W-WHAT IN THE?!" But Tsukasa could only manage to say those words before the confetti tsunami flooded him. Toya was first, barely made a sound before he was lost.
"TSUKASA!!!" Death by a thousand paper cuts. What a sad way to go, no matter who it was. Saki was last to be taken by the confetti, filled with regrets and tears.
"Oh shit, we gotta get these guys outs here! An, the shovels!" Akito was the first to react, grabbing one of the shovels A brought. They were supposed to be used for baking a few bones, but saving a friend or three can't hurt.
"Whose idea was that?" Toya was the first to bring it up, still gingerly saving his minimal wounds with ethanol.
"W-well, we needed a big surprise for winning the trial, so we set up a confetti machine. We also had cake, but..." Kohane quietly looked away as Saki came out of the restroom, clean clothes on body.
"Did Rui toy with the machine?" Tsukasa said very accusingly.
"Fu fu fu, I thought you'd like it. A shame you didn't seem so fond of the surprise." Rui laughed almost maniacally, before smiling oh so innocently.
"I think we're out of bandages, Tsukasa. That's a problem, since we're only halfway through your cuts." Tsukasa sighed and flinched in pain. It wasn't death by a thousand cuts, but death would have been mercy compared to the aftermath of the confetti tsunami. "Anyway... congrats Toya! You're a Tenma now!" A changed the subject, the mood shifted grandly as the other members congratulated Toya. If felt like things were going back to normal, as compared to these past few weeks.
But Saki knew there was still the SEKAI looming over everyone's head. Just what was behind it? She sighed before taking a seat at the now covered in confetti dining table.
Those questions can wait when life is back to normal, but for now, Toya's friends are over. They need to have some fun, now that it's all over.