The Chikamori Legacy (The Sanitized Version)
Prologue - "Seeds of Dissent" Part I (Author's Note: "This is the clean, sanitized version with no links back to my blog - meaning no contraventions against rules) Vancouver, BC, Canada - 1988 ...
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The Chikamori Legacy
Chapter Two: "Escape" - Part III
November, 1988
“River, you’re almost done with your schooling. You’ve managed to do an entire year in half a semester.” River’s mother enthused, excited for her daughter’s prospects in university. “And you’ve kept an honour roll status doing it.”
https://i.imgur.com/0CKLX6p.jpg
“Yeah, Mom…” River sighed, “It just doesn’t seem the same…” she looked out the window as she trailed off. For six months after the acrimonious split in friendship between Haruo and River, River had been disconsolate; instead of going out with friends, she had poured her heart and soul into her schoolwork and painting and she’d had a unhealthy fascination with heart-break songs. She’d joined choir in high-school to feel closer to Haruo and his interests. Yet, Haruo had tossed all his interests out the window and had buggered off to parts unknown and if the Chikamori family knew where Haruo was, Yasunobu wasn’t telling. Fiona couldn’t help but be sad for her daughter. She had aged up into a young adult and she had blossomed into a beauty, wearing her hair stylish, long and flowing. River had started applying makeup and that had attracted the attention of many of the males at school but she had no interest in any of them. Even though Bebe and Fiona encouraged her to move on, she refused.
https://i.imgur.com/sjKdmat.jpg
They don’t understand. I’ve lost half of my soul.
https://i.imgur.com/vnXqFws.jpg
“Are you going to university?” Bebe asked.
https://i.imgur.com/cJXgEZY.jpg
“I don’t know…” River prevaricated. “I want to take the other half of the year off...I’ve put too much effort into getting through this schooling quickly because I just don’t want to deal with the school gossip, y’know.”
https://i.imgur.com/70aKUMM.jpg
Bebe rolled her eyes, “Look, you can’t put your life on hold for him.”
https://i.imgur.com/ewwtBFI.jpg
River snapped in exasperation, “I’m not ready to put Haruo in the rear-view mirror; NOT without a fight!” she looked angrily at Bebe, “I’m prepared to fight for him, if that’s what it takes. Plus, I’m spent, I don’t have another drop of my energy for studies to go straight into university. I want time to recoup what energy I put out to get through Grade 12 in half the time it takes to complete it.” Nobody bothered correcting her that she had only taken a quarter of the time that it took to complete the school year. They knew what she meant. She was zapped, completely wiped out: mentally, physically and emotionally.
https://i.imgur.com/4AW6KLj.jpg
“So what do you plan to do?” Fiona asked.
https://i.imgur.com/GDIknIg.jpg
“I’ve been thinking about traveling Vancouver Island and the surrounding islands just for something to do. Maybe take a few weeks in each place and take in the ambiance. I’ve always wanted to see the islands.”
https://i.imgur.com/3MFa62b.jpg
“I’d love to join you…” Bebe said, “But work hails. The only time I can get off is professional education...namely university and that’s a straight four year run plus my undergraduate courses that I can complete in an year. So it looks as though you may have to go solo if you’re gonna go…”
https://i.imgur.com/2kqIyTm.jpg
River didn’t want to say the real reason why she was going out to the islands. She was planning on tracking down Haruo and getting an answer out of him once and for all. And it’d better be one that I see reason for. Saying he’s not good enough for me isn’t a good enough answer. Nor is any answer that can be helped through therapy. River had never wanted to hurt Mayumi so much insofar as the way that Mayumi had treated her son. It was the reason he ran away rather than faced his own demons. And if Haruo didn’t face his demons, he wouldn’t be able to become a success. His mother’s voice would always fuel his perceived inadequacies and would haunt his very footsteps hindering any chance at getting past the deep emotional wounds that were always present.
https://i.imgur.com/SxVi0P1.jpg
...and he didn’t seem to want to do anything about it. A deep pit of despair opened up for River McIrish as she wondered what it would take to get through to the man that she loved deeply. Whatever plans she had in life had always included him and she didn’t want to do those things without him. I’m not giving up on him, he means too much to me.
https://i.imgur.com/SmCuUh7.jpg
But she also saw the path that decision would lead her to. And such was why she intended to give it her best to convince him to do what was necessary to heal himself so that at least he could have some semblance of a normal life. The simple fact was that he needed to break out of the self-recrimination and the constant Mayumi-inflicted mental tapes that kept running in his head. And the only thing that River knew was a potential solution was to convince him of the need that he needed therapy to heal and live a normal life.
The simple fact was that she didn’t know where he was and where to start looking. Her gut feeling was that he had headed for the islands. The only problem was that she didn’t know which one. The big main island of Vancouver Island was far too crowded and full of people for that to be a potential place for him to settle in. Haruo did not like being around people. He wasn’t social in the slightest and having to be around people was a source of absolute discomfort for him. The reason behind that was that he was highly suspicious of others and what they could potentially do to him. It wasn’t surprising after someone who supposed to unconditionally love him had treated him the way that Mayumi had. River suspected that Mayumi had absolutely no mothering instincts at all. Haruo had just been an achievement for her; a way to gain stature and recognition in the community. And once that was finished, she couldn’t care less about whether Haruo’s emotional needs were met.
https://i.imgur.com/SlyFFD9.jpg
I’m just going to have to track him down, island by island. She had no idea what it would take or how long her limited funds would last in order to search for him. She had maybe forty thousand simoleons, but traveling would take a large chunk of that and food and accommodation. She needed to pick the islands that seemed to have a small community, yet not too large.
Her sleep was getting seriously disrupted these past few days. She could overhear loud arguments coming from upstairs. Most of it was Mayumi belly-aching about her son and it reached a crescendo last afternoon. It appeared that Yasunobu was absolutely fed up with Mayumi’s behavior. He was tired of the way that she had treated his son and took out his anger on her.
https://i.imgur.com/06ekoOO.jpg
There was finally an explosive shout in English, “GET OUT!!!”. It was a male voice and it was definitely Yasunobu’s, followed by a flurry of Japanese “Shuppatsu shita, modotte kitara koko de anata aitaku nai!!!”, a slammed door and then deathly quiet. Even the sound dampening built into the floors and walls had failed to silence the screaming and yelling coming from upstairs.
https://i.imgur.com/KLAoS2p.jpg
River could hear the truck starting and she glanced out the window to see Yasunobu driving off. The flurry of colloquial Japanese words had set her on edge and that had translated into River’s unsettled frame of mind. Yasunobu’s returning late that evening had resulted in another major argument.
https://i.imgur.com/KieVdap.jpg
“Doko ni ikeba desu ka?” Mayumi had asked, her piteous tone just an Oscar-winning performance by an actor.
Yasunobu’s reply was chilling cold, “Sukina tokoro ni, Mō kinishinai” River didn’t catch a direct translation, but the meaning was clear – it meant that Yasunobu was done with the relationship. That was how ticked off Yasunobu was.
There was another flurry of words, that River hadn’t caught because it was muffled by two walls and a floor upstairs as well as several walls and a bathroom and a clear slamming of the door and Mayumi was the one leaving this time, dragging along a suitcase headed towards the Skytrain.
Chapter Two: "Escape" - Part III
November, 1988
“River, you’re almost done with your schooling. You’ve managed to do an entire year in half a semester.” River’s mother enthused, excited for her daughter’s prospects in university. “And you’ve kept an honour roll status doing it.”
https://i.imgur.com/0CKLX6p.jpg
“Yeah, Mom…” River sighed, “It just doesn’t seem the same…” she looked out the window as she trailed off. For six months after the acrimonious split in friendship between Haruo and River, River had been disconsolate; instead of going out with friends, she had poured her heart and soul into her schoolwork and painting and she’d had a unhealthy fascination with heart-break songs. She’d joined choir in high-school to feel closer to Haruo and his interests. Yet, Haruo had tossed all his interests out the window and had buggered off to parts unknown and if the Chikamori family knew where Haruo was, Yasunobu wasn’t telling. Fiona couldn’t help but be sad for her daughter. She had aged up into a young adult and she had blossomed into a beauty, wearing her hair stylish, long and flowing. River had started applying makeup and that had attracted the attention of many of the males at school but she had no interest in any of them. Even though Bebe and Fiona encouraged her to move on, she refused.
https://i.imgur.com/sjKdmat.jpg
They don’t understand. I’ve lost half of my soul.
https://i.imgur.com/vnXqFws.jpg
“Are you going to university?” Bebe asked.
https://i.imgur.com/cJXgEZY.jpg
“I don’t know…” River prevaricated. “I want to take the other half of the year off...I’ve put too much effort into getting through this schooling quickly because I just don’t want to deal with the school gossip, y’know.”
https://i.imgur.com/70aKUMM.jpg
Bebe rolled her eyes, “Look, you can’t put your life on hold for him.”
https://i.imgur.com/ewwtBFI.jpg
River snapped in exasperation, “I’m not ready to put Haruo in the rear-view mirror; NOT without a fight!” she looked angrily at Bebe, “I’m prepared to fight for him, if that’s what it takes. Plus, I’m spent, I don’t have another drop of my energy for studies to go straight into university. I want time to recoup what energy I put out to get through Grade 12 in half the time it takes to complete it.” Nobody bothered correcting her that she had only taken a quarter of the time that it took to complete the school year. They knew what she meant. She was zapped, completely wiped out: mentally, physically and emotionally.
https://i.imgur.com/4AW6KLj.jpg
“So what do you plan to do?” Fiona asked.
https://i.imgur.com/GDIknIg.jpg
“I’ve been thinking about traveling Vancouver Island and the surrounding islands just for something to do. Maybe take a few weeks in each place and take in the ambiance. I’ve always wanted to see the islands.”
https://i.imgur.com/3MFa62b.jpg
“I’d love to join you…” Bebe said, “But work hails. The only time I can get off is professional education...namely university and that’s a straight four year run plus my undergraduate courses that I can complete in an year. So it looks as though you may have to go solo if you’re gonna go…”
https://i.imgur.com/2kqIyTm.jpg
River didn’t want to say the real reason why she was going out to the islands. She was planning on tracking down Haruo and getting an answer out of him once and for all. And it’d better be one that I see reason for. Saying he’s not good enough for me isn’t a good enough answer. Nor is any answer that can be helped through therapy. River had never wanted to hurt Mayumi so much insofar as the way that Mayumi had treated her son. It was the reason he ran away rather than faced his own demons. And if Haruo didn’t face his demons, he wouldn’t be able to become a success. His mother’s voice would always fuel his perceived inadequacies and would haunt his very footsteps hindering any chance at getting past the deep emotional wounds that were always present.
https://i.imgur.com/SxVi0P1.jpg
...and he didn’t seem to want to do anything about it. A deep pit of despair opened up for River McIrish as she wondered what it would take to get through to the man that she loved deeply. Whatever plans she had in life had always included him and she didn’t want to do those things without him. I’m not giving up on him, he means too much to me.
https://i.imgur.com/SmCuUh7.jpg
But she also saw the path that decision would lead her to. And such was why she intended to give it her best to convince him to do what was necessary to heal himself so that at least he could have some semblance of a normal life. The simple fact was that he needed to break out of the self-recrimination and the constant Mayumi-inflicted mental tapes that kept running in his head. And the only thing that River knew was a potential solution was to convince him of the need that he needed therapy to heal and live a normal life.
The simple fact was that she didn’t know where he was and where to start looking. Her gut feeling was that he had headed for the islands. The only problem was that she didn’t know which one. The big main island of Vancouver Island was far too crowded and full of people for that to be a potential place for him to settle in. Haruo did not like being around people. He wasn’t social in the slightest and having to be around people was a source of absolute discomfort for him. The reason behind that was that he was highly suspicious of others and what they could potentially do to him. It wasn’t surprising after someone who supposed to unconditionally love him had treated him the way that Mayumi had. River suspected that Mayumi had absolutely no mothering instincts at all. Haruo had just been an achievement for her; a way to gain stature and recognition in the community. And once that was finished, she couldn’t care less about whether Haruo’s emotional needs were met.
https://i.imgur.com/SlyFFD9.jpg
I’m just going to have to track him down, island by island. She had no idea what it would take or how long her limited funds would last in order to search for him. She had maybe forty thousand simoleons, but traveling would take a large chunk of that and food and accommodation. She needed to pick the islands that seemed to have a small community, yet not too large.
Her sleep was getting seriously disrupted these past few days. She could overhear loud arguments coming from upstairs. Most of it was Mayumi belly-aching about her son and it reached a crescendo last afternoon. It appeared that Yasunobu was absolutely fed up with Mayumi’s behavior. He was tired of the way that she had treated his son and took out his anger on her.
https://i.imgur.com/06ekoOO.jpg
There was finally an explosive shout in English, “GET OUT!!!”. It was a male voice and it was definitely Yasunobu’s, followed by a flurry of Japanese “Shuppatsu shita, modotte kitara koko de anata aitaku nai!!!”, a slammed door and then deathly quiet. Even the sound dampening built into the floors and walls had failed to silence the screaming and yelling coming from upstairs.
https://i.imgur.com/KLAoS2p.jpg
River could hear the truck starting and she glanced out the window to see Yasunobu driving off. The flurry of colloquial Japanese words had set her on edge and that had translated into River’s unsettled frame of mind. Yasunobu’s returning late that evening had resulted in another major argument.
https://i.imgur.com/KieVdap.jpg
“Doko ni ikeba desu ka?” Mayumi had asked, her piteous tone just an Oscar-winning performance by an actor.
Yasunobu’s reply was chilling cold, “Sukina tokoro ni, Mō kinishinai” River didn’t catch a direct translation, but the meaning was clear – it meant that Yasunobu was done with the relationship. That was how ticked off Yasunobu was.
There was another flurry of words, that River hadn’t caught because it was muffled by two walls and a floor upstairs as well as several walls and a bathroom and a clear slamming of the door and Mayumi was the one leaving this time, dragging along a suitcase headed towards the Skytrain.
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