Chapter Text
Tsumiki Fushiguro never met her mother. She left when Tsumiki was only a few months old. Even though she never met her biological mother, she was never lacking parental figures. Tsumiki’s father, Toji married a new woman when Tsumiki was about two. As far as Tsumiki knew, that woman was her mother. Tsumiki’s stepmother was a lovely woman. She loved Tsumiki as if she were her own child.
At three, Tsumiki met her little brother Megumi. She remembers not liking him at first.
“ew, he looks like a raisin!” she would say
“Hey shes kinda right-”
"He does not look like a raisin, Toji!" Tsumiki’s stepmother would protest, while Tsumiki listened to her parents bickering and giggled.
Overall, they were a happy family. Tsumiki was a blissful child; she didn’t know of the horrors in this world yet.
Until it happened.
2005.
Tsumiki had started kindergarten, and she loved school. Learning came naturally to her; she would diligently wake up at 7:00 a.m., brush her teeth, and put on her uniform, then wait for Toji to take her to school.
One afternoon, Toji didn’t come to the bus stop to pick up Tsumiki. At the time, she didn’t think anything of it. She knew the way home, and an older girl offered to walk with her. She walked, knocked on the locked door, and waited for someone to open it.
“Anyone home? Mommy? Daddy?..... Megumi-kun.....?”
No one came.
Three hours passed, and Tsumiki was still sitting on the porch waiting to be let inside. What else was she supposed to do? She was only five years old.
It was around 9:00 p.m. when she saw the car pull into the driveway. She stood up and ran toward Toji.
"You took so long! Where’s Mommy? Oh, hi, Megumi-kun!" Tsumiki smiled at the two-year-old still in the back seat. At the time, she didn’t realize how distraught Toji’s demeanor was. She watched as he fumbled with the keys and unlocked the front door. After finally getting inside, Tsumiki asked, "Where’s Mommy?"
Toji visibly stiffens.
“Kiddo- your mom is sick. We had to take her to the hospital.” Toji drops the bomb.
Tsumiki’s eyes widened, and then her round brown eyes fill with tears. “Is she gonna be okay?” Her small voice whispers.
Toji picks her up and seats her on the kitchen counter, then he grabbed Megumi and sat him next to her.
“I promise your mom is gonna be okay. The doctors are gonna give her medicine, and she’ll be back home,
l
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Two weeks later, she passed.
Tsumiki had lost another mother, and Megumi lost his only mother.
The girl stood between her father and her little brother at the funeral. With one hand, she was holding Megumi’s, and the other was holding a pretty white rose that was already wilting. Part Tsumiki wanted to cry, scream. Another part of her desperately wanted to hold it together and appear strong; she had to be strong for Megumi.
Tsumiki drops the rose on the coffin as it is lowered into the ground, Megumi mirrors her action, and so does Toji. Tsumiki didn’t understand what was happening; she was only a little girl after all. She didn’t understand why her Mom was gone, and she didn’t understand why her Dad wasn't upset. Toji didn’t seem the least bit saddened. Tsumiki now had tears streaming down her little face. Megumi did too. He was crying and tugging at the leg of Toji’s pants, saying, “I want mommy.” Toji remained stoic. The sight of it made Tsumiki cry harder as they lowered her and Megumi’s mom into the ground.
Toji picked up Megumi and then dragged Tsumiki by the hand to the car. It hurt, but Tsumiki didn’t have the energy to say that; she was too busy trying to stop crying.
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Life went on without their mother, and as it did, Tsumiki discovered something. Life is hard. Life is so hard, especially for a seven-year-old girl who has lost two mothers in the span of five years.
After the death of Megumi’s mom, Toji just stopped functioning. He worked, gambled, drank, and then slept. It was like Megumi and Tsumiki didn’t have any parents, when in reality, they had only lost one. Tsumiki was forced to learn how to cook from cookbooks Megumi’s mom left scattered around the house. What was ironic was that Tsumiki was using those very cookbooks as step-stools to reach the stove.
Every day began to feel the same. She would wake up, make bentos for herself and Megumi, then she’d wake up Megumi and the two would walk to the bus stop together. After school, she would make dinner, do laundry, and often play games with Megumi as they awaited Toji’s inevitable return home. In truth, Tsumiki enjoyed the time she and her brother had when they were home alone. Their nights usually went something like this: “Hey Megumi, what do you want for dinner?” The unusually stoic five-year-old shrugs. “Do dinosaur nuggets sound good?” At that, he vigorously nodded, wearing an innocent, childish grin on his face. Tsumiki laid out the dinosaur shaped food on a metal pan and then preheated the oven. Then she sat on the ground next to Megumi, who was using her crayons to draw something. “Are those your dogs?” Megumi nods, “Kuro and Shiro,” he said, eyes still laser-focused on the paper. “That's cool,” Tsumiki replied as she grabbed a paper and also started to doodle. “Look this one’s glittery,” Megumi handed Tsumiki a glittery crayon. “Woah it’s pink too!” She says, holding the crayon close to her face. The two kids then start sifting through their crayons in search of more magic crayons. (as Tsumiki called them) Then, Toji got home. Both kids stiffened and immediately started putting their drawing utensils back into the box. Toji stumbled into the living room and plopped himself down onto the couch. “You kids eaten yet?” he mumbled. “No, but dinners in the oven,” Tsumiki replied quickly; she didn’t want to aggravate Toji. Especially when he was... like this. “Ok, kiddo,” Toji said tiredly.
The rest of the night played out normally, or at least the normal they were used to.
Tsumiki served dinner for herself and Megumi. Toji passed out on the couch while watching soccer. Then, the kids did chores and went to bed. The next day, they would repeat the same routine.
Life went on like that for another year and ____________________