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“So there I was, chasing down the perp as he ran off with the old lady’s purse. When suddenly, he pulled out a smoke bomb!” Chie said dramatically, making the young child in front of her at the table force herself to suppress a squeal of excitement.
Stories of her mother’s police escapades were the young 8 year olds favorite topic of conversation, and Chie had both plenty and an aptitude for telling them like they came out of one of her old kung fu films.
“Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know that no smokescreen was going to stop me! I dashed forward and prepared my secret technique… watah!” The mother posed as she spoke, nearly knocking over her glass of water as her arm rapidly moved to cross her chest. A firm hand managed to grab it before it fell.
“Be more careful, Chie.” A smooth voice said without malice. He quickly returned to his meal, giving his wife a look urging her to continue the story. He was engaged and their daughter was, frankly, about to explode in anticipation.
“Thanks, Yu.” Chie responded before her dramatic storytelling persona rose to the forefront once more.
“My secret technique, the Galactic Punt! One quick leg stretch and I was able to land a kick right in the perp’s thieving back! I brought him to the station and that was that. Officer Narukami Chie had made the city a little safer. The end.” She finished, her eyes closing in contentment and pride as a smile lit her features.
Makoto Narukami finally unleashed her squeal of excitement. Yu Narukami winced as the loud piercing sound penetrated his ears. Chie was unaffected. For him, that was proof enough that those were Satonaka lungs at work.
Makoto’s mere existence was also telling to say the least.
“Wow! That was so cool! Can you teach me how to do that! I wanna be cool!” The silver haired girl practically screamed, pumping her fist into the air with the boundless energy and enthusiasm her age afforded her. Chie laughed.
“Maybe if you remember your inside voice?” She reprimanded gently. Makoto’s eyes widened in embarrassment as she shrunk into her seat. She always forgot about that. Self-control was hard!
“You’re already cool, Makoto. But if you want to be even cooler, I’m sure your mother would be happy to teach you her sacred techniques. Those deadly legs have been passed down the Satonaka family for generations!” Yu exclaimed in a mock heroic voice. Chie rolled her eyes. Somehow her husband managed to be both the most collected person in the room and the dorkiest. If she was still a teen, that would have made her a sputtering mess.
She idly wondered if he even realized what he had just referenced.
He totally did.
“Really?!” Makoto started after a sharp breath.
“Well I wouldn’t say generations but… I’d be happy to pass on my ‘sacred techniques’ to you, my young student.” Chie said with a martial arts bow. Makoto fist pumped again.
“Yay!” She exclaimed. Silence spread among the family for a moment.
“Are you going to finish that?” Yu asked, gazing at his daughter’s plate rather intently. His own having been wiped clean of even any crumbs.
“Yu!” Chie admonished.
“Kidding.” He replied, a smirk appearing on his face at his wife’s angered expression.
Makoto giggled.
Yu Narukami is a happy man. He has a wonderful wife, he has a powerful job. She criticizes him for being egocentric.
But only when he deserves it.
Yu Narukami was not the same man who showed up to live with his Uncle and Cousin for a year as his parents went on yet another important business trip. Nor was he the same man who left the small town of Inaba surrounded by friends and family who gave him a reason to live. All because of their pursuit towards an elusive truth hidden inside the television…
Yu Naruakmi was a father and husband. Yu Narukami worked as a high profile journalist in a well respected magazine. Yu Narukami was happy.
It was moments like this, sitting on a chair in a gym in Tokyo watching his wife and daughter practice kung fu that reminded him what it was all for. It was being able to look at his contacts after getting a text from a co-worker to see a myriad of friends that would drop everything to help him because they knew he would do the same for them.
He had to hurt people to get where he was.
He hated that.
A competitor thrown under the bus here, a potential opportunity he had to abuse there. He wanted the best so he could provide for his family. It was simple. But it always made him think.
“You don’t get anything out of facing reality, and there’s no way to change it either.”
“I mean, what could be more boring than brooding over things you can’t change?”
“Listen… You might have hopes and dreams right now, but that’s only because you know nothing about reality.”
He supposed Adachi did get the last laugh in the end. He loved his life, but sometimes he resented what he had to do to get it this good. Yu Narukami was not going to throw anyone in a television because of that obviously, but he could already hear the taunting voice of his uncle’s partner in his ears. The man had certainly changed for the better since then, but he still took pleasure in riling others up whenever he could. Case was still stalled. Murder via magic television was simply too farfetched an explanation to get a solid conviction and execution date on such a strange set of murders. He even caught an interview of the man on television the other night.
A shake of the head. He was getting off-track. He looked at his wife and daughter again.
“It all starts with your stance, Mako-chan. Once you get that, you’ll be able to really start your journey to being a Kung Fu master like me!”
“Yeah! Let’s do it again. I can balance this time! I promise!”
He looked at his co-workers text.
“We need someone new since Naegi quit. Ya got any recommendations?”
There was an aspiring journalist he met once. Goro Kendo. He would have gotten far if he hadn’t stepped in to get him to follow a bad lead. Chie chewed him out for that one all night. She always made sure to keep him in line so he wouldn’t be lost in the fog of his own mind, good intentions or not . He loved her for it. He loved her, plain and simple. He had loved her since she let him have the seat next to her in Mr. Morooka’s class all those years ago.
“Goro Kendo. He might not have the best rep but I can vouch for him.”
“Alright, thanks. You’re one of our best, Narukami-san. I’m sure the boss will give him a second chance if you say he should get one.”
Suddenly his heart felt much lighter. He took a look at his family again. The two were laughing as Makoto whispered into her mother’s ear. Chie smiled devilishly as she turned to face him. He gave her a quizzical look.
“Yu. Our daughter wants you to join us. And she said if you didn’t we should call Nanako and let her know how uncool you're getting these days.”
“Clever…” he thought. Nanako’s opinion still mattered a lot to him. Abusing was the easiest method out there to get him to do a lot of things he didn want too. He’d show them. Time to knock some of his rust off.
“Oh yeah? Let’s see how you do against your old man, Makoto.” He taunted gingerly as his daughter posed dramatically, as if she was crushing a card floating in the air. Some things were just innate weren’t they?
“Marriage is where fun goes to die.”
Yeah right.
Makoto Narukami had spent a long time waiting for this day.
She had trained diligently, spent her allowance on the best meat 10 dollars a week could get her at the local Junes in order to “power up”, and watched Trial of The Dragon (and it's assortment of totally amazing sequels) an excessive amount of times. All of this to hyperfocus her mind and body so she could perform the fabled Galactic Punt. Daddy helped as much as he could, getting everything ready for Golden Week and the day Mommy had off from beating up bad guys. Now Makoto stood in front of the sandbag in the gym. Daddy adjusted his tie as he looked at her, his face neutral as always. Mommy was beside herself in excitement as she bounced from one foot to the other. She needed to do this. She was going to prove she was worthy of the title of cool cutie-pie!
“You can do it, Mako-chan! Don’t think, feel!” Mommy encouraged using her signature phrase.
“We’re very proud of you for getting this far, Makoto.” Daddy said with a brief nod.
She breathed and let her mind clear. For a moment, there were no parents, no gym, no school in a few days. There was just her. Makoto Narukami.
Her and a sandbag. A shadowy sandbag that had the mistake of getting in her way. She stretched one leg, then the other.
She jumped forward. Her leg extended like a whip as it collided with the sandbag. She could feel the impact through her body. All of her 8-year old body’s power was unleashed in that strike.
The sandbag blew away with tremendous force as it crashed into the wall. Makoto centered herself and stayed in her stance for a moment before returning to normal. She took a few breaths before looking at her parents. Daddy was smiling.
But Mommy was crying. Why was she-
Makoto found herself surrounded by warmth as Mommy wrapped her in her arms, tears streaming down her face as she cried. Oh no! Did she not do it properly! After all that effort… she let Mommy down.
“Mommy. Please don’t cry… I’m sorry if it wasn’t good enough.” She said softly.
Mommy looked at her. She was smiling. Makoto was confused. Weren’t tears something that only came when people were sad?
“No no! Mako-chan that was perfect! I’m so proud of you! Ah...” Chie said as she hugged Makoto harder, hoping the light of her life could feel the love radiating from the very depths of her soul.
“They’re tears of joy, Makoto. You did so well Mommy couldn’t contain her joy.” Yu explained, still smiling with pride.
“So I did good?” Makoto asked.
“Mako-chan. You did amazing!” Chie replied, wiping her tears off with her sleeves a bit. She couldn't believe she lost her composure so easily.
Makoto beamed as she hugged her mother back. She felt another pair of arms wrap around her as Yu turned it into a group hug.
*click*
The family broke apart to look at the source of the offending phone camera noise. Yosuke Hanamura stood a few feet away with a sly smile on his face. Yu blinked. He had forgotten he had invited him to come over earlier. Time sure had flown by.
“Just so you know. This is totally going on my page, partner.” He said with all the satisfaction of a man achieving a long sought victory. A cosmic vindication years in the making. Their cute moment now fully within his power to share as the rest of the Investigation Team hounded them with gushing praise. Truly diabolical.
“Yosuke…” Chie said lowly.
Makoto tilted her head in confusion. When did Uncle Yosuke show up?
“Yosuke. It’s been over a decade since that trip."
“Uh huh. And… sent.”
Uncle Yosuke laughed like some supervillain in one of her cartoons as her parents sighed. Makoto wasn’t sure what the big deal was, but she was just glad to have made everyone proud. Hm… She vaguely recalled some story about how everyone used to hit Uncle Yosuke back in school when he did anything "dumb". She didn't know what constituted dumb but if she Galactic Punted Uncle Yosuke would Mommy and Daddy give her steak? There was only one way to find out.
“Makoto-chan? How are you-? Wait no! GO FOR THE WALL! GO FOR THE WALL!” Yosuke screamed as he felt his stomach explode from impact. Chie gasped in surprise, Yu cringed, and like that the rest of Makoto's allowance went into an apology dinner.