《赤司 征十郎 (Akashi Seijuurou)、十二さい (12 years old)、小学校の五年生 (5th year of Elementary School)。》
The school environment was hectic even though the teacher is present. Children laughing, crying, shouting and running here and there. Everyone was busy playing except for the redhead who's still short for a 12-year old boy. Seijuurou crumpled a paper and threw it in the air, caught it and threw it again.
I miss playing basketball with Mummy.... Maa, I'll get my chance when I enter Middle School next year. And Mummy will always be there to support me through competitions. And finally, me and my team could go to the Nationals. Only by the thought of it, I'm already excited. I'm going to tell this to her.
He smiled to himself and tossed the paper to the dustbin at the corner of the classroom. It went in and he was satisfied. As he was about to crumple another paper, a teacher knocked on the door and whispered something inaudible. Seijuurou's heart pattern went wrong. Why am I getting a bad feeling?
His home room teacher's face changed and saddened. She looked at Seijuurou with a sad smile. No one noticed this but him. Finally the teacher spoke.
"Seijuurou," She began. He just watched her. "You need to pack up and go back home. There's an emergency."
His heart fell. The teacher silenced the class, patted his back and he got out of the classroom escorted by his father's bodyguards.
"Class, I need all of you to give condolences to...." Seijuurou heard his teacher said. Give condolences to who....?
"What happened?" He spoke but the bodyguards remained silent.
Is Mummy okay?
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Seijuurou was immediately brought to his room. When he entered, two maids ran and hugged him, crying silently. When he asked what's happening, none of them answered. He looked out of the window and noticed too many cars outside. This is odd. He silently watched people rushing in and out. No one came to him. He almost fell asleep when a maid opened the door and held his hand, escorting him to a room.
"Seijuurou-sama, we all need you to be strong." She whispered and opened the door of the much unfamiliar room. His orbs widened when he saw what's inside.
His mother, thin and pale lying on the bed with half-closed eyes. His father was sitting on a chair beside the bed, caressing her forehead. A doctor was there too.
"MUMMY!!" Seijuurou yelled and rushed to his mother's side. His mother smiled as he clutched her hands tightly, so tight her knuckles went white.
"Sei....juu...rou..." she croaked, her lips dry from the long sleep. Tears welled in his eyes. He bit his lower lip and couldn't hold it back anymore. A mixture of gasp and sob came out.
"Mummy, what's happening? Why are you like this?" He queried, his voice shaking terribly as well as his body.
"Sei..juurou.. I'm sorry.... I didn't.... mean..to leave you.. like this...." his mother said.
Seijuurou's tears rained down uncontrollably. "Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered. His mother slowly pulled herself up, rested her back on the pillow and caressed his head.
"I'm sorry." She replied.
He turned his head to the butlers and maids surrounding them. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?!!" He shouted at them.
The maids gasped and started sobbing. They weren't expecting it too.
"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME?!" he yelled again and his hand grabbed the glass on the bedside table and threw it randomly. "WHY DIDN'T YOU PIECE OF SHITS TELL ME?!! YOU SHOULD JUST DIE! YOU-"
"Seijuurou, shh." His mother pulled his hands and hugged him tightly, letting him sit on her lap and cry on her chest. She rocked back and forth and caressed his hair. "Shh.... I told no one.... not even.. father.... I'm sorry.... shh, don't cry...."
Seijuurou clutched his mother's shirt and cried louder. "Why did this happen! I want to graduate and enter middle school! I want to participate in the basketball team and let you see me play again. On the court! I want you to hug me everytime I win! I want you to tell me you love me everytime I got back from school! I want you to cook for me again! I want you to.... to.. tell me it's okay whenever I fall.... i want you to wish me happy birthday until I die! Mummy, don't leave me! Don't go!!" He cried.
His mother smiled sadly as tears rolled down her cheeks. She sobbed and continued caressing his hair. "Why would I.... leave you? I'll still.... be with you.... day..and night.... rich and.. poor.... I'll support.... whatever.. you do.... don't cry.... I'm with you.... Sei.. juu.. rou.... shh, don't.... cry.... i want... to see.. your smile.... please..?" She said.
"Mummy, I love you."
"I love you... more.. than myself.... i love you.... so much...." she said and bit her lower lip, not caring to wipe her overflowing tears.
"Let me.... rest.. will you, Sei.. juu.... rou, dear?" She added. Seijuurou pulled back, smiled and kissed his mother's forehead, trying hard to suppress his cries. His mother smiled back and closed her eyes.
"I love you, I... love.. yo..u...." she said and everything went silent. No cries or sobs were heard. His mother's grip on Seijuurou loosened and the hand that has been caressing his head fell to her side.
"Mummy....?"
The personal doctor beside his father checked for her pulse on her neck. "I'm sorry." The doctor muttered and Seijuurou gritted his teeth. He got down from her lap, laid her mother on the bed properly with the help of the doctor and Seijuurou pulled the blanket up to her chin.
"Goodnight, Mummy. I love you." He smiled once again and left the room quietly.
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He didn't cry. As they lowered the coffin into the hole, he just watched, reminiscing his memories with his mother. His father turned his head away, unable to carry the burden of losing his loved one.
No one will replace her. No one can.
"Together we pray for her soul to rest in peace. God bless her." The man in charge, priest maybe, said out loud and shortly after, everyone left the scene but Seijuurou and his father. The night was quiet and they stood in front of her grave, staring at it, as if it could bring her back to life.
That was when his father turned to Seijuurou and pulled him into an embrace. Seijuurou remained silent and closed his eyes, breathing the scent of his father. His father patted his back continuously, calming the shaking Seijuurou. Both of them were trying their best not to shed tears.
"Don't fall down Seijuurou," his father spoke. "I can't back you up like your mother does. Walk straight ahead, don't stop and don't forget you're Akashi Seijuurou. Once you fell, there's no going back, you can no longer be in the Akashi household. So, make sure to avoid holes of failure and always grab the poles of success. You must succeed Seijuurou. You must make your mother proud. There will be no one else to tell you it's okay to fall and get back up. Reality is cruel, so you gotta be more cruel than it to win. Winning is everything, Seijuurou. Losers are ashes blown by the wind. Never forget that. Never ever lose."
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Akashi Seijuurou : The Stories Behind His Eyes
FanfictionSure he is absolute. Sure he excels in almost everything. He is the best. The most reliable son you'd want to have. But who will unravel the pain and frustration behind his death gaze? Who will realize what he has been hiding all these while? You ca...
