Tragedy / 悲劇

The clocks now marked 6 PM as I was on my way home after a day of classes, first by bus, now on foot. I grabbed the keys and opened the door. Waiting for me was another surprise. But, similarly to the former, it wasn’t a pleasant one. To be precise, it was even worse. That hellish day wasn’t over quite yet.

“I’m home!”

I didn’t hear any response and wondered if I was alone, “Huh, is anyone here? Father? Mother?”

As I walked into the living room, I noticed them both, sitting on the couch, with disappointed looks on their faces. My father started speaking.

“Daughter, this morning we were informed you have been dating a girl in school.”

“Yes. Where are you trying to get?”

“Where am I trying to get? First of all, you have lied to us all these months, saying you were hanging out with friends. But that’s not even the worst part. You have been dating a girl! Tell me, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? What was going on in your head all this time? Hey, tell me! How could you do THAT?”

“And what if I did? Does any of you two have any issues with who I date? Am I now obligated to date who you want?”

“No one is forcing you to date anyone, you can date any boy you want to, but a girl? Are you out of your mind?”

“ME? Out of my mind? No one is forcing me? Quit the damn nonsense already! At least don’t lie! I’ve had more than enough lies for today! Is your daughter dating a girl that much of a far-fetched concept for you? Something out of a horror movie?”

“Dating? How could two girls ever date? You have been living a lie all this time and you couldn’t even see it in front of your damned face!”

“Shut up.”

“Are you telling me to shut up? That’s eno—”

“SHUT UP!”

All of a sudden, my father got up and punched me out of pure anger.

“You shut up! You slut!”, he grabbed me by the collar, “You’re not my daughter, you’re a disgrace to this family! Darling, get up already, I don’t want her in my house!”

In spite of that punch, I still barely managed to express my reaction with a single word coming out of my mouth.

“What?”

My mother finally talked.

“Why? Why, among so many men, did you have to date a girl? I… just… get out of here already!”

She voraciously searched for my keys to the household and took them away from the pocket in my jacket. My father further instigated my mother.

“Yukina! Help me get rid of her, she’s not part of our family anymore! She doesn’t belong here anymore!”

They started pushing me away toward the entrance.

“Hey, stop it! STOP IT!”

I tried to resist, but they were too strong together. When my mother stepped away to open the door, I attempted to run to my bedroom, but my father grabbed my jacket, even ripping it away from me, at last stopping my movements by grabbing the right sleeve of my white shirt and punching me again with all his strength.

I passed out.

Later, on the street's sidewalk, I recovered my senses. The night stars had taken over the sky. I gathered forces to walk up to a hospital to make sure my injuries weren’t too severe, as I was unconscious for a sizeable amount of time—about three hours. I began running as fast as I could, stumbling a few times along the way.

When I got there, I spotted a familiar face. For a reason unknown to me, Yuu Nakano was inside. My friend rapidly noticed my face injuries and rushed to ask a nurse for a quick check-up.

“Natsuko? What the hell happened? No, never mind, you can tell me that later.”

“Why… are you here?”

“We can talk later about that. Hey, nurse, wait!”

Seeing my friend so keen on helping me for the second time on this wretched day was a silver lining. I heard her talk with the health worker from afar and smiled. After finishing the small talk, she called me.

“Hey, come over here!”

Now inside a doctor’s consulting room, he assured us my injuries were, fortunately, minor.

“Well, it looks like you’re mostly fine. Did you get in a fight?”

I kept my silence.

“It’s ok if you prefer to keep it to yourself but be careful please.”

“Yes.”

Nakano and I headed outside the hospital to talk things out.

“Now, you owe me an explanation. What exactly happened? I know you’re not one to get into fights, so I’m worried.”

“My parents… discovered I was dating a girl and…”

“What? Ahh, those bastards!!!”

She clenched her fist. Her mind was filled with anger and despise towards those two human beings who claimed to be my parents.

“Can I sleep at your place tonight?”

“I was about to offer you a bedroom in my house, but you were too fast. Of course you can. Come with me to the parking lot, my father is about to end his work shift. His car is parked there.”

When I was sitting in the back of the vehicle next to Nakano, I asked her why she had gone to the hospital.

“You haven’t told me what brought you there, to the hospital.”

“Ah, sorry. I had dinner with some of our classmates to celebrate the end of our second year. Also, I wasn’t in the mood to go home on foot, so I headed to the hospital, waiting for my father’s shift to end.”

“I see.”

That night, I slept in the Nakano’s household. It was the first time my friend and I slept in the same room.

The next day marked both the last day of our second year of senior high school and the first day we arrived together at school.

“Natsuko, what are you going to do from this day onwards?”

“I don’t really know. All of this happened too quickly.”

“Whatever happens, you’ll always have a place at my house.”

We both smiled as we entered our classroom.

Right after classes ended, around the middle of the afternoon, a random student addressed me by my first name.

“Natsuko, can you come here?”

I approached the male student, curious about what happened that warranted someone I didn’t know to call me suddenly.

“Your parents… I got word they had a car crash. The teacher wanted to communicate it to you, but you left the classroom before he noticed.”

I didn't know how to react to it. What I felt was wrong, I knew it, but there was a guilty sense of relief in my heart. Relieved to be free from them.

The teacher had a small chat with me. As I left, Nakano noticed a different expression and questioned me about what happened.

“What is it this time?”

“My parents were involved in a car crash less than an hour ago. That’s all I know, they’re in the hospital now.”

“Huh? I… hurry!”

I nodded and ran as fast as I could.

Immediately upon my arrival in the hospital urgent care area, I told who I was to the secretary. She directed me to floor three room twenty-four. To my shock, as I entered the room, the nurse notified me that my mother was hanging by a thread, already destined to die, only alive because of a machine. My father wasn’t in a much better state either. He had pretty severe injuries, but he was still able to mutter a few words, unlike his wife.

“You’re their daughter, right? I’m very sorry for being the one to tell you this. Your mother will lose her life when we shut down the machine. She’s only breathing because of it. Your father, on the other hand, can still make it out alive. Don’t hold out much hope though, as he’s in a very severe health state. I’ll give you some time with them. If anything happens, call me.”

He pointed to a button near the beds, telling me to use it to warn him in case my parents' condition worsened.

“Ok.”

My response was devoid of any life. It was the answer of someone who was about to lose their parents and had no clue how to feel about it.

I faced my father and interrogated him to find out how any of this happened.

“Father… how did it come to this? Why?”

“I… was driving… too fast. I had only rage… in me, and I… let it consume me. I know you hate me,” he coughed, “and I… hate you too.”

“Huh? You killed mother. We could have found a way, but you… you,” I shed some tears, “were too angry because of who I was dating? You’re right, I hate you, from the bottom of my heart. How could a father do this to her daughter?”

“Daughter… you’re not… my daughter. I told you that… already.”

“Can you shut up and think for once? Think logically, piece of sh—”

“If only… you weren’t born… if only you… weren't my… child.”

Those were my father’s last words to me. After he vocalized that sentence, he lost his remaining life force. Out of all the words he could have used or actions he could have taken in his last seconds, he chose to hit me with a final spear, sticking to his antiquated ideals until the very end.

A prominent beep marked his departure from this world. I made use of that button, but it was too late.

“Nurse, get here, quickly!”

He rushed to the room with other staff, but to no avail—he was already dead upon his arrival.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he made a short pause and continued, “Forgive me for asking this so suddenly. Do you want me… to turn off the machine?”

He was referring to my mother, only alive due to artificial support.

“You can decide on this later if you’d prefer it that way.”

“No. I think… it's time to let them both rest side by side.”

I leaned on the nurse’s shoulder to hide my tears. I stayed like that for a whole minute. Even though I hated them, they were still my parents, and I couldn’t simply not feel bad for my loss. The health worker was a tad weirded out at first, but he rapidly understood I needed someone to lean on at such a tragic moment in my life.

Roughly thirty minutes afterward, I went down to the first floor to pick up some of their belongings, including the keys to the house. As I was exiting the public health center, a man in a suit approached me, recognizing me as the child of the just-deceased married couple. It was our family’s notary. He showed me a paper sheet, better known as a will or testament.

“Akira Natsuko, right?”

“Yes.”

“I got word of the tragedy that hit your family today. My condolences. I won’t take much of your time, as I know young people aren’t too fond of legal procedures.”

“Thank you. What is this about?”

“Yesterday, your parents called me to change their will. More precisely, they retconned it to reflect a change they agreed on.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“In simpler terms, they changed how their properties, money included, were to be distributed. You are no longer referred to as the recipient of their owned property.”

I clenched my teeth with pure anger. What had they done now? Those bastards went that far? Was their intention to leave me to die?

Amongst all that anger and hatred, I came to a conclusion. I now had a clear goal in mind.

“Thanks for informing me of it.”

“I know you’re angry, I can tell. But there is nothing you can do now. My apologies for being the messenger of such terrible news. The only thing I can say is goo—”

I started walking away, ignoring the notary. He didn’t mind my cold attitude, as it was already normal in his job. I walked to the nearest bus stop and messaged Nakano whilst I was sitting inside the public transportation, “I have left the hospital. I’m heading to your house as of right now”.

During the next two days, I stayed at my friend’s place. I explained everything that happened since I was forced to leave the school grounds.

“What? They changed their will? You’re kidding, right?”

“I wish I was. They made sure to not leave anything to me. Those bastards.”

“So, what're you going to do?”

“For now, I’ll stay here.”

“Alright. I'll make some space for you in my room.”

My parents’ funeral was held on the following day. I attended it out of obligation and respect for my family, having borrowed one of Nakano’s outfits. The cloudy sky on that afternoon reflected the atmosphere surrounding that mournful ceremony perfectly. I kept quiet for the majority of the time, letting others speak instead, unsure of what to say, as I knew I didn’t fit in among everyone else. Throughout its entirety, I remained observant, always with the same dull expression, never certain if I should be there in the first place.

The following morning, I asked my friend to come with me. We entered my house for the last time and started packing everything important that could fit into my luggage.

“I assume that, as of right now, you shouldn’t really be in here, as it would qualify as trespassing someone’s property. Neither should I, in fact,” she remarked upon our arrival.

“Yes. But my stuff is still mine, or should be, at least.”

“So you’re going to take as much as you can and put it in those three bags?”

“Exactly, and I need your help.”

“Fine. Is that the sole reason why you called me here?”

“Well, I’m leaving this town, and I could use a helping hand to carry the luggage. And I’d like to spend my last moments in this town with my dear friend.”

“I thought you’d say it was due to my exceptional packing skills.”

“Exceptional?”

“Just joking. Alright, first things first, I’ll help you! Let’s get working!”

We both cheered up. It was time to say goodbye to that house and take as much as I could. Hence, Nakano and I joined forces to finish packing more quickly.

After leaving the house with the luggage, we made use of the ever-present public transportation to arrive at our destination. Once we were there, a wide entrance welcomed us, covered by a slightly curvilinear roof of large proportions. On our right was a clock with the words “長崎駅”, “Nagasaki”, and “Station” below, in that order. On the opposite side was a shopping mall with a V-shaped logo on the upper right.

“Nakano, you can go ahead towards the Kamome limited express line. While you do that, I’ll buy my ticket.”

“Okay, don’t take too long, the next one departs at 6:30!”

We parted ways briefly.

I did as I said and bought my passage to another prefecture. Thankfully, there weren’t many people buying tickets for the Kamome line then. Looking at the watch, I took notice of the time, 6:26 PM.

I rushed towards the train line, where Nakano was.

“Ah, there you are! There weren’t many people buying tickets for this line, so I managed to arrive just on time.”

“I’m glad! I was starting to think you’d have to wait until the next one. Well, I guess this is where we say our goodbyes, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“You still haven’t told me where you are going. Saga or Hakata?”

“Hakata. I want to get as far away from here as I can, for now.”

“Understood! Well, I can always visit you, it’s not that far, you know?”

“You’re right, guess I should go further beyond then.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

“I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t want to draw any further away from you.”

The train could now be seen from afar, rapidly approaching the end of the line.

“Oh well, this is it. Your transportation is here.”

I surprised Nakano, hugging her suddenly.

“Huh?”

However, she gave in almost instantaneously. That wasn’t just any friendly hug. It was a way to thank her for the two years I spent with her.

“Hey, come on, you need to enter the train!”

I let her go and grabbed all of my luggage.

“I know, I know. Will you survive without me?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way! Besides, I can always call or message you.”

I did my best to drag the luggage inside, but it was no easy feat. Everything was ready and the doors were about to close any second now, but there was still one thing remaining. One last opportunity to tease her, of course.

“Goodbye, Yuu!”

“Ehhh? Addressing me by my first name? Ah well, it’s your lucky day, I’ll let it pass. Goodbye!”

As the doors closed, we waved at each other.

Farewell, Nagasaki.