Chem Lab

Chapter One :Family Feud

Masane just got home from a friend's house, her brother in tow. She headed to the refrigerator to grab an apple for both herself and Yoshikawa when she saw an envelope sitting on the table addressed to herself.

Munching on the crunchy fruit, she opened it, reading thoroughly. Then her eyes widened.

Being 17 now, she never thought Success Granted would address her but it has. She was being formally invited to finish her last years of high school as a student of Success Granted High School, the school where graduation is key.

By this time in her life, she had become quite successful. She had created many cures and poisons, the most crowning achievement of her life was when she had cured her brother's autism and was elected to be the Ultimate Scientist. She had made thousands due to her experiments and whatnot, causing them to be in a much better house, still with their mother's habits...

She knew they'd have a comfortable life now, but doubts begin to fill her head. What if eventually the autism came back and her cure failed? What if they needed money for her mother's rehab... what about when, eventually, she was old enough to take her brother and leave, something didnt go as planned?

If she went to this school and graduated... success would be guaranteed, right? She'd... finally be able to take care of herself and her brother no matter what...

Just as she thought that, Kiu, her mother, came stumbling out with a bottle of vodka and a photo of her father when they were young.

Today marked the day Kiu Kioyoko was announced pregnant with Yoshikawa... when her father still loved them.

It wasn't until months down the road, when the doctor predicted Yoshikawa to have severe autism that he began to change. Staying out late, coming home drunk, becoming angry. One night Masane even witnessed him telling Kiu to have an abortion and when she refused he threw a wine bottle at the wall.

He was no longer a good man. Terrified of having an autistic child, he became bigoted and cruel. Until one day...

He just left.

Kiu slumped at the dinner table, eyeing the envelope. Mumbling to herself, she read it over, stopped, and read it again.

She looked to her oldest child, stunned. Whispering loud enough to be heard, "You're leaving me?"

Silence.

She stood walking up to Masane, oddly sober now, and got in her face. "You're leaving me, just like your father?"

Silence again.

Shaking, her mother furiously roared, "Answer me!"

Once more, silence.

"You just can't WAIT to get rid of me, to get away from me can you? I see how you stare at me, with disgust in your eyes. Well I hate to break it to you, but you're gonna end up like me, one day. Full of bitterness, anger and hate. Where the only time you forget that the love of your life left you because of some stupid brats!"

"Those brats are your children. Not your punching bags or source of income. You've fallen off the track, Kiu. And it's not mine or anyone else's job to put you back on it."

"I am your mother! Treat me as such!"

"I'll treat you like my mother when you start acting like it. Until then, to me, you are Kiu Kioyoko, mother of two and an alcoholic, a druggie and a whore. And until I see evidence otherwise it will stay as such. Now, I am going to Success Granted High School. I will graduate from said academy. And I will start a new life for me and Yoshikawa and there is nothing you can do about it. I will leave in the morning and be gone for as long as it takes to graduate. Until then, do you think you can keep your son alive? Or do I have to do that too?"