Shujinkō x Ann Week

~Future~

"Freesia"

Author's Note: Languages of flowers are sometimes denominated by the colour variant and culture. The Victorian language of flowers say freesias are the ultimacy of trust. In North America, they signify the 7th wedding anniversary of a couple. White freesia symbolises purity. Multi-colour bouquets for friendship.

This one-shot interprets two points from flowery semantics. Pink freesias which personify a mother's love for her child. From numerology, freesia connects to '9'.

Dry-spin cycles always captivated their house cat, Mewtwo (Akira decided to let his daughter get away with the christening, despite being worn out by Pokémon in his younger years). Mewtwo would sit vigil by the dryer, ever-fascinated by the arcane tumbles and rumbles of the multi-coloured pelts these humans wore.

The dryer spun to a stop. It made three loud beeps.

"Shift up, buddy," said Akira, entering the laundry room with a basket.

"Meow?"

"Yes. Now," said Akira.

His habit of talking to cats never quite left Akira, even after Morgana took to live with Futaba at her marine science research lab by the coastline. The talking cat claimed he wanted 'to assist the progression of science', though Akira silently suspected there was a progression of appetite when Futaba was not looking.

Mewtwo stalked away. By now, he was used to this bi-weekly routine of Akira arriving at the spiral show's end.

Akira hummed to himself as he bundled the clothes into the basket. Odd socks and hankies. Shōgakkō school uniforms which would fit a nine-year-old girl. His work shirts. More children's clothes. Then came an adult woman's wardrobe. Blouses, skorts and bras. Akira nonchalantly piled all of them before setting off.

While emptying the basket on the bed, Akira's phone beeped. He checked the time; 5 PM.

Right. Sterl's varsity gymnastic class is going to end in fifteen minutes. Best head out now, thought Akira.

Akira picked up the station wagon's key. Before leaving the house, Akira checked to make sure he had dinner's ingredients chopped and ready. The meat tenderloins were nicely defrosted - now marinating in sauce and all-spice. Satisfied, Akira stepped out to his front porch, jangling the car key in a whirl. Parked on the driveway was the Toyota station wagon.

His retired neighbour, Suzaku was typically out at his front lawn, tending to the hedges. Suzaku waved at Akira.

"Kurusu-san! You finally going to take out that sports car you keep locked up in the garage?!" Suzaku called out.

Akira looked back at the closed garage doors, where he kept his old Honda NSX.

"Nah. Not today Suzaku-san," said Akira.

"Hmph. I know, I know, family life is important - that you have to drive that boring Corolla there. . .but at least give a shot at having fun once in a while," said Suzaku.

Akira grinned, opening the station wagon's door.

"I think the issue is. . .I might have too much fun if I were to start driving the NSX again," said Akira.

"If you say so!"

The artistic gymnastics facility was a ten-minute drive away. Akira took a detour, stopping by the local florist shop. He asked for a bouquet of pink freesias. While at check-out, Akira received a text from Hifumi, asking him if he'd like her to step in for babysitting duty today.

Carpark. Gymnastic facility.

"Daddy!"

Sterl Takamaki leapt up at Akira in a bundle of energy and hugging. Akira mock groaned when the momentum of her leap made him step back. His daughter's blonde curls tickled at Akira's nose. Sterl half-climbed on him like a spider-monkey, wanting to raise her head higher than her dad's since she liked to be taller than him. Excited grey eyes blinked down at Akira.

"Whoaaa. . .all that training and you're still hyper," said Akira.

Sterl pouted. There was an uncanny familiarity with the way Sterl pouted in Ann's likeness. Akira could never get used to it, ever since his little darling started emerging out of her quiet shell, showing more of her mother's side.

"That's because you make me train with all the little kids. We always have to do all the easy stuff," said Sterl.

"They're also nine, Sterl. Like you," Akira reminded her.

Sterl rolled her eyes - sheepish.

"I might be nine, physically, but I'm actually an adult mentally," claimed Sterl.

Akira raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is that so, young lady?"

"Yes! Even my teacher thinks I'm pretty mature that I didn't chomp on all of my sweets in one-day, after Halloween. Do you know how amazing I am? Holding back from all that candy. . .chocolate. . ." Sterl's voice trailed off, her eyes zoning out into distant daydreams of sugar frost and diabetic dreams.

Sterl swallowed.

"-like that's a BIG deal, dad," insisted Sterl.

Akira gravely nodded, taking her half-seriously.

"You're right-" Akira playfully poked at her nose like a button, "-and you know what? You deserve a reward for that. Maybe I'll talk to your instructors next week," said Akira.

"Yes!"

X

Once Sterl was buckled up in the backseat, she asked Akira, "Are we going to see mummy, today?"

Akira looked over at her via the rear-view mirror. Sterl's squirrel-like energy had dialled down. She was sitting straight, poise in all the serious attentiveness a spritely kid like her could muster. Her head was a little higher against the seat than what Akira was used to seeing.

She's growing fast, thought Akira.

"Yes. We are," said Akira.

Sterl pointed to the nosegay next to her.

"I like the flowers. They're pretty. What are they called?"

"Freesia. They come in other colours too. Yellow, red, white. . ." said Akira.

"The petals are shaped like a ballerina's skirt. You know, those skirts that are. . .at the edges like. . .is there a word for all things fluffy and velvety, dad?" said Sterl.

"Velour," said Akira.

"Right! Velour skirts!"

The Corolla pulled out the parking lot. From the mirror, Akira saw Sterl screw her forehead, mouthing 'Velour' to herself.

Akira parked the car. Sterl got out, holding the nosegay in her hands. Locking the car, Akira looked at the chat conversation with Hifumi:

_Hifumi: I'll hang back by the cypress tree _

_Hifumi: How long will you need? _

_Akira: 30 minutes should be good _

_Hifumi: Alright. There's an ice cream shop nearby. Is Sterl allowed to have…? _

_Akira: Yes :-) _

_Akira: Thanks for this _

_Hifumi: It's the least I could do after letting me stay at your home for the past week _

_Hifumi: I should be thanking you. _

_Akira: Your shogi tournament here went, okay? _

_Hifumi: Not too bad. I'll fill in the details later. _

"Shall we go?" Akira prompted Sterl.

Sterl nodded, her shoulders drooping a little. Akira pulled Sterl to his side close as they walked to her mother's headstone.

TAKAMAKI ANN

1999 – 2025

"Kindest are the hearts this world hurt, yet resolved to be compassionate."

". . ."

Akira knelt down, sweeping fallen leaves off the mantled granite. Sterl knelt down next to her father, placing the freesia. Akira looked to her and saw the signs. Chin tucked in. Shoulders drooped in further. Sterl was confused and sad, trying to put on a brave front.

"Hey. . ." Akira said gently.

Akira knew this was never going to be easy for their daughter. All too vividly, he remembered holding their baby girl in his arms at the hospital when Ann closed her eyes for the final time. Doctors reasoning with him, speaking words like "Rare maternity complication", "Amniotic fluid embolism" and "It was her choice to give your daughter a fighting chance."

Sterl could not remember her mother. Yet Akira could tell she felt a complicated kind of melancholy; seeing other children with both parents. Sometimes, Sterl would try to stay up beyond her bedtime asking Akira so many questions about her mother. Hushes, hopes and whispers, as Akira tucked Sterl to bed, her sleepy eyes peeking out above the blanket, asking if mum would have liked her flute performance at the school concert.

"I'm okay," said Sterl.

Sterl looked up at Akira, her eyes with that same fierceness he once saw in blue eyes.

Some metres away, Hifumi leaned against the cypress tree, watching the two of them. The loose tail of her red scarf flapped in the autumn wind, briefly obscuring the huddled father and daughter.

Hifumi herself remembered the week when Yusuke told her the news. It came at a great shock and hurt to all of Ann's friends.

Hifumi gave them thirty minutes then checked her watch. Maybe another two minutes, she thought. Then she slowly walked to them.

Leaves crunched beneath her steps. Sterl turned back, hearing Hifumi's arrival.

"Aunty Hifumi? You're here?" queried Sterl.

Hifumi scratched her cheek.

"Hey Sterl. My tournament was in the area. Thought I'd swing by," said Hifumi.

"Oh. . ." said Sterl.

"Say…" Hifumi leaned down, bracing her arms on her thighs, ". . .do you want to come with me for ice cream?" asked Hifumi, nodding her head to the side.

Sterl looked at Akira. He nodded.

"Okay," said Sterl.

Their scraunching footsteps faded away. Akira took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them, his vision was a bit blurry.

Look at you. Trying to act all strong in front of Sterl but now. . .Akira thought.

Akira read the epitaph again. Countless times he gazed upon the inscription in these passing years. Back then, a part of Akira was frozen in disbelief that she really was gone. Eventually, the crushing void Ann left behind swallowed him. Ann was dead and there was nothing he could do to reverse it.

The lump in Akira's throat felt painful. Disbelief was gone, but the hurt of her departure was always there.

"Sterl's doing pretty well at her tumbling classes," said Akira.

The gravestone was silent. Akira bowed his head. He kept talking:

"She. . .our daughter. . .she's been wanting a challenge. So I thought, maybe I'll speak to her trainer. See if they can put her on the accelerated stream. I was watching on TV the other day, some of these Olympic competitors in artistic gymnastics. . .they're as young as sixteen. Maybe that could be Sterl in seven years? You were that age when you became a part-time professional model yourself," said Akira.

An owl dolefully hooted somewhere. The sun was dying in the sky, casting a gradient of orange into twilight purple.

A sniffle cracked.

Akira wiped at his wet cheeks. Suppressed sobs were coming out in little notes now.

"I miss you, Ann," said Akira, his voice sounding coarser. Brittle.

Another sob.

"You know, it's kind of funny. You always said I was the stubborn one. Remember when I chased you at Shibuya's underground, after school? When I found you crying? I wish. . .I could have saved you, that night at the hospital. Done something. Anything. Like I did that afternoon when we were sixteen. . ."

Akira did not even bother to wipe away the new stream of tears.

". . .they said only one of you could have a fighting chance to survive the treatment of the embolism. The moment the doctors told me that, I knew which choice you were going to make. . ." More sobbing, ". . .damn it Ann. . .that was so unfair…why did it have to come to that. . ."

An after-image flashback veiled over the headstone. Inokashira Park. Ann smiling at him with a mega-watt sunniness. Her voice echoing in his ears. . .

"Akira!"

"Raising Sterl on my own, trying to teach her right. . .I sometimes wondered what you would have done in my shoes. Sometimes I. . .I get t-these insecurities that I'll never be good enough for our child. Yet how could I give up after what you did? Giving your life so Sterl would have a chance in this world. . .I love our daughter so much. She's so brave, kind and intelligent. Recently. . .I. . .have been seeing a lot of you in her."

A second hoot from the owl. Daylight's fading. A blue hue shaded on Ann's inscription.

". . ."

"I'm going to be a proper lady someday. Just for you."

"Thinking quite far ahead of our future, aren't you, Ann?"

"Of course I would, silly!"

Akira pressed his hand on the headstone. The surface of the granite felt cool to touch. In his chest, it felt like pins and needles.

Akira stood. He took a moment of respite and composed himself. Looking up at the sky, Akira could see the first stars were showing up. Glittering like cold diamonds on dark silk.

Akira turned to the ice cream shop, its windows were rectangular glows in the distance. Sterl was waiting.

There were no easy answers for himself. But Akira always tried to take each day, one step at a time. He owed that much - to the woman he deeply loved.

Oi, which cunt was chopping onions while I was writing this?