Chapter Text
As far as funerals went, this one was standard. The people dressed in mourning clothes. The somber atmosphere. The formal offering of condolences. Shigeru wasn’t fond of funerals, but he felt it was necessary to honor the deceased.
Shigeru’s extended family had very few younger people that came. Most lived too far away or simply no longer cared for old traditions. It was for this reason that Shigeru was surprised to see a teen sitting off in the corner of the garden.
At first Shigeru gave it little thought. But he gradually noticed that the kid didn’t move. He sat there listlessly, staring at the ground. In fact, Shigeru wasn’t sure it was a kid at all. It might have been a life size doll or a mannequin. A mannequin with a very dirty shirt. Shigeru thought about checking on the teen, but it was clear in his body language that he wanted to be left alone.
After hesitating for a few more minutes, Shigeru wandered back inside. Because of the storm slowly blowing in, most everyone was inside came inside as well over the next few minutes. This made the place crowded and it was impossible not to overheard conversations.
“Did you really have to bring him ?”
Shigeru instinctively turned towards the annoyed voice only to find that the speaker was not addressing him. It was two ladies sitting close by. The first lady who had spoken was older, closer to Shigeru’s age, while her companion was a slightly younger woman.
“What else are we supposed to do? If he’s left at home, he always makes a mess for me to clean up,” the second lady sighed.
Both women glanced out the sliding door towards where the teen still sat out in the garden. Shigeru realized with a slightly sick feeling that they were talking about the poor kid; the same kid that the two men had been talking about. It seemed that the kid’s relatives had nothing better to do than to talk about him behind his back.
“You’re trying to hand him off to someone else,” the first lady accused.
The younger woman shrugged and did not refute the accusation to Shigeru’s surprise.
“It’s not like we haven’t tried to love him. He’s just unlovable,” she groaned, “I don’t understand why he’s so difficult. You feed him, house him, take care of him and all he does is cause trouble.”
“Isn’t that right? If he isn’t draining your money in repairs and damage expenses, then he’s draining it in hospital bills from being ill or injured. He’s not worth keeping around. That’s why we’re not taking him back,” the older lady nodded with sympathy
“I had my husband inquire with the state about putting him in a detention center or mental hospital. The results have been promising so far. I think we will be able to hand him off to the state once and for all some time next month,” the second lady’s tone was strangely delighted and relieved.
Shigeru forced himself not to frown. The teen in the courtyard didn’t seem troubled, he just seemed lonely.
“Thank heavens. How long has this taken?” the first lady also sounded relieved.
“Far too long.”
There was a slight pause in the conversation.
“The world would be better if he had just died with his father,” the first lady grumbled.
“I agree. It is a pity he wasn’t in the car when it wrecked. It would have saved everyone a lot of trouble,” the second lady nodded her agreement.
Shigeru had listened to enough of this sickening conversation. He left the room and went to stand on the covered porch. It had begun to rain. A cold autumn breeze whipped through the courtyard. Shigeru glanced through the drizzle. He was horrified to see that the kid was still sitting in the exact same spot. Without thinking, Shigeru raced out and dragged the kid back to the covered porch.
“Are you alright?” Shigeru asked softly.
The teen flinched away a little. Up close, it was easy to see the bruises that were half hidden under the collar of his shirt. Someone had beaten him, and recently too.
“They don’t like it when I come inside,” the kid mumbled.
“Who doesn't?” Shigeru frowned, more than ready to set that person straight.
He never got an answer. The kid started once more, staring with poorly disguised terror over Shigeru’s shoulder. Then he hastily bowed an apology and raced off. Shigeru glanced over his shoulder. There wasn’t anyone there, though he could have sworn that one of the shadows moved on its own.
Shigeru didn’t see the kid at all during the remainder of his time at the funeral. The overheard conversations and the encounter weighed heavily on Shigeru’s mind during his journey home. He knew that he must be frightening Touko by his strangely troubled attitude. He just couldn’t stop thinking about the kid.
It was clear that the kid had been through a lot and needed somewhere he was loved and protected. Now that he had some time and space to think things over, he regretted not taking the kid home with him on the spot. He then scolded himself. There was no point in bringing the kid here if he didn’t have a plan.
To ease his worried thoughts, Shigeru started to clean out the extra bedroom upstairs. They had
He mulled over it for a while more before finally bringing up his plan to Touko.
Touko immediately agreed to take the kid in. She went so far as to check in on Natsume while Shigeru tried to get in contact with his guardian. Finally Shigeru was able to track down the correct number. His heart raced slightly with some sort of strange anticipation as he dialed the number after dinner. The line rang for a minute before it picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hello. This is Fujiwara,” Shigeru introduced himself.
“Fujiwara…. Oh! Fujiwara-san. Yes. Yukiko did say something about you needing to reach out to me. How can I help you?”
“I talked with my wife. We'll take the kid,” Shigeru said without any sort or preamble.
He was a man of few words, so he dove straight into the matter to get things over with.
“The kid?”
“The one who was at the funeral a few weeks ago. I believe he is staying with you right now. Nanase?” Shigeru frowned, searching his mind for the name he had only heard a handful of times.
There was pause.
“Do you mean Natsume? You want to take Natsume?” the man on the other line sounded confused and concerned.
“Yes,” Shigeru nodded despite the fact that the person on the other side couldn't see him.
“We aren’t going to pay you,” the man said sternly.
“I’m not asking you to,” Shigeru grumbled.
Touko inched closer, trying to hear the other side of the conversation.
“You do know that he isn’t worth anything and only causes trouble. He’ll take advantage of you. Have you really thought this through?” the question was huffed through the phone with thinly veiled annoyance.
“Yes, we’ve thought about it a lot. We’ll take him,” Shigeru affirmed.
There was a heavy sigh over the phone.
“Alright. But if he destroys your house or runs off with all of your money, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“When do you want us to come and get him?” Shigeru asked.
“Oh. Whenever the hospital releases him, I suppose,” Natsume’s current guardian sounded tired as he said this.
“Hospital?” Shigeru choked.
Touko went pale as she overheard that word.
“Right. You wouldn’t know. The brat ran off into the woods. We had to raise a whole damn search party to find him. He won’t talk about what happened, but he definitely tried to kill himself.” There was a pause followed by an almost inaudible, “Almost wish he had.”
Shigeru’s hand tightened on the phone.
“Which hospital?” he demanded.
It didn’t take much prying to get the address of the hospital and Natsume’s condition out of his current guardian. The phone call ended soon after. Shigeru’s emotions were mixed as he hung up. He was relieved that they were finally starting down this road of undoubtedly saving Natsume, but at the same time he couldn’t shake the guilt of not acting sooner to keep the kid safe. Touko was as perceptive as ever.
“Everything will be fine,” Touko laid a hand on her husband’s arm.
Shigeru gently squeezed Touko’s hand in acknowledgement.