{These characters are not property of me. I would never attempt to claim them as my own. This story may not be used without my permission, and may not be used to make money in any way, shape or form. Characters and certain situations were created by Rumiko Takahashi, so don't try any funny stuff!}
Kodachi looked up at the sky. It was clear, revealing the presence of the many sparkling stars. It had been so very long since she had seen the sky, since she had been outside at all. Even the lights of Tokyo (was it Tokyo?) couldn't hide the nightly show from her wide eyes.
Looking around, Kodachi realized she wasn't even sure where she was. She looked at the building behind her and snarled. It would be a place she would never return to, no matter what it took. Looking back at the sky, Kodachi determined her first order of business, feeling the strength return to her legs. She would find her way back to Nerima, and then there would be hell to pay.
"Daddy!" Takuma ran across the yard, leaping at Tatewaki, who deftly caught him.
"And what have you been up to today?" he asked, adjusting the child to hold him on his hip. He looked at the boy clinging to him and smiled.
"I drew a picture for you," Takuma said enthusiastically.
"You did? Of what?" Tatewaki started walking back to the front door of the house.
"The funny man who showed up."
"Funny man?"
"Yeah... and he had tree on his head." Takuma broke into a fit of giggles.
"A tree? Why did he have a tree on his head?"
"I don't know. He was looking for you."
"Looking for me? How strange."
"Do you know him, Daddy?"
"Um... I don't think so. I can't remember anyone with... a tree on his head." Tatewaki opened the front door and stepped inside. "Did Sasuke take a message?"
"No, he's still here." Takuma was still happy and enthusiastic, especially over the funny man that had come to visit.
Tatewaki had no response.
"And Sas'ke kept calling him 'sir'."
Tatewaki was getting more confused by the moment. "Sasuke!" he called. It was about time he had some answers. "Sasuke!"
Receiving no answer, Tatewaki went to the dining room, noticing the doors were closed. "Sas..."
The man stood up, Sasuke at his side. "Aloha, Tatchi!"
Something about the man, and the tree, was very familiar. Tatewaki felt like he should know him. "And you are?" he asked politely.
The stranger's smile slipped a little, and even Sasuke looked surprised. "You don't know me, boy?"
Tatewaki frowned and shook his head slowly. "No. Should I? Sasuke, is this someone you forgot to tell me about?"
Sasuke shook his head, his eyes even wider than normal.
"I can't believe you don't recognize your own father, Tatchi."
"My... father?" Everyone was suddenly silent. "I don't remember you."
"Daddy, who's that man?" Takuma asked innocently. He was staring at the tree.
"'Daddy'? Sasuke... Where is Kotchi?" No longer was he smiling, no longer did he appear happy, no longer was he relaxed and easy-going.
"My sister, not that it is any of your business, has been in a hospital for over four years," Tatewaki said stiffly. "I do not believe she will ever leave that hospital."
"Sasuke, come with me. There is much to discuss." The two left the dining room without another word.
"Who's that man, Daddy?" Takuma asked again.
"I don't know, Kuma-chan."
"I can't remember him! I feel like I should know him, but the more I try and remember, the more vague it seems." Tatewaki had his hands over his eyes as he laid on the bed.
"Your father?"
"Is he my grandpa?" Takuma asked, looking up at Nabiki.
"I don't know. He might be," she answered, rubbing his back. "Tate-chan, how can you not remember your fa..."
"I don't know! I can't remember anything about him. I have no idea if this man is my father or not."
"Sasuke seems to think so."
"Then why can't I remember him?"
"I don't know. Why don't we just head to bed for the night."
"Is that man going to stay here tonight?" Takuma asked.
Nabiki looked at Takuma, then at Tatewaki. "You wait here, honey. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Takuma nodded and got off Nabiki's knee, crawling onto the bed. He sat next to Tatewaki and waited quietly. The man was funny, but kinda scary too. "I like my other grandpa better," he told his father.
Nabiki's brow furrowed momentarily, then she was up and leaving the room.
"She what?!"
Sasuke bowed his head, not saying anything.
"How... Why... This is impossible!" The head of the noble house of Kuno stood, his smile finally wiped away. "Where? This can not be permitted for my daughter to be..."
The door opened suddenly and in walked Nabiki. "Who are you?" she asked unceremoniously.
"Girl, you have a lot of nerve asking me who I am in my own home."
"I've been here for four years and never once have I seen you. It doesn't seem that your 'son' remembers you either, so why don't you just drop the pomp and circumstance?"
The two eyed each other, both with their most menacing looks on. Sasuke was practically hiding under a chair with the display of will before him. It was best if he simply tried to turn invisible.
"No one of your stature talks to Takashi Kuno that way, girl."
Something clicked in Nabiki's head. That name was... very familiar. Takashi Kuno... the industrial giant? She knew that was where the Kunos got their money, but was the (in)famous Takashi Kuno really the man standing before her? "Takashi Kuno eh? You've really gone down hill then." Nabiki hoped she was playing this right.
"You have quite a mouth on you, girl. I hope you know, if you're married to Tatchi, you're living off my money. And I can easily have you removed from my house."
The serious, threatening tone was starting to make Nabiki believe that this was indeed that hard-nosed businessman that rocked Tokyo 13 years ago. "OK, so let's say I believe you, then what now?"
He let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "What now? I'm getting my daughter."
Nabiki's entire body began to tremble. "No," she said quietly.
"Do you plan on stopping me? No child of mine will be treated as a criminal."
"She IS a criminal! Don't you know what she did?" Nabiki immediately looked over at Sasuke.
"No, what did she do?"
Nabiki let out a breath then slowly sank into a chair. "What did she do..."
"Why don't we get you ready for bed?"
"I don't wanna. That man's kinda scary."
"Don't worry. We won't let him do anything to you, Kuma-chan. Come on, it's far past your bedtime." Tatewaki pulled Takuma off the bed and started leading him back to his room.
"But I don't wanna!"
"Takuma, don't be like this. You need your sleep." Tatewaki lifted Takuma to carry him. "You'll be perfectly safe. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Takuma hugged Tatewaki, hiding his face in his father's shoulder. "I want Mommy."
"She'll be up to tuck you in, Kuma-chan. Which means, you have to get into bed." Tatewaki carried Takuma to his room and set him down on the floor. Holding Takuma's hand, Tatewaki went to the dresser and opened a drawer.
Takuma stood on the tips of his toes to try and see inside the drawer. "The blue ones, Daddy."
Tatewaki pulled the pajamas out and closed the drawer. "What's your favorite color, Kuma-chan?" he asked as he went and sat on Takuma's bed.
"Blue!" Takuma answered as he started to get undressed.
Tatewaki chuckled as he helped Takuma get undressed, then into his pajamas. "We'll just skip your bath tonight, Kuma-chan. You don't mind, do you?" Tatewaki pulled back the sheet and blanket on the bed.
"Nuh-uh," Takuma said, crawling into bed. Once he was all tucked in, he asked, "When do I get a nickname, Daddy?"
"What do you want a nickname for?"
"I wanna be the Shooting Star, just like you."
Tatewaki winced. "No you don't, Kuma-chan. If you want a nickname, you have to make up your own. You can't use someone else's." And especially not one he had used back then. "How did you hear about that anyway?"
"Sas'ke showed me a picture when you were in school. It said Shooting Star..."
"I see." That mistake couldn't be repeated. "Well, you don't worry about it. Wait until you get older." Tatewaki patted Takuma. Where was Nabiki?
Conveniently, she walked into the room at that time. She looked a bit confused. "Well..."
Tatewaki didn't know whether to be anxious to hear the news, or frightened. Anxious whether the man his father, or frightened that the man was his father.
"Tuck me in, Mommy!" Takuma's plea snapped the silence.
Nabiki walked over and sat on the opposite side of the bed as Tatewaki. She went through the motion of tucking Takuma's blankets in, keeping the troubled look on her face the entire time.
"Mommy, you're not doing it right," Takuma said. He was starting to get frustrated that he was not the center of attention between his parents. "Mommy!"
Nabiki looked down at Takuma, her gaze a little dark, yet not directed at him. "Come on, Takuma. I have something I want to talk about." She pulled Takuma out of bed and stood up.
"What is it?" Tatewaki asked.
Not saying anything, Nabiki went back to her bedroom, carrying Takuma. She set Takuma down on the bed, while he and Tatewaki gave her confused looks. Still without saying anything informative, Nabiki said, "Let's get ready for bed."
"Nabiki, what is it? What happened?" Tatewaki was nearly dying from suspense. "Don't hold it back. I have to know."
Nabiki was still staring off into space a little, the unhappy look on her face.
Even Takuma seemed apprehensive. "Who's that man, Mommy?"
Nabiki looked at Takuma and shrugged a little. "He's your grandfather, Takuma-chan."
Tatewaki laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling. That man was his father. Nabiki believed it, so he did too. No matter how hard he tried to remember the man as his father, he couldn't remember anything about him. Takuma rolled over and kicked the covers around, squirming under the covers so only the top of his head was visible.
Tatewaki stroked the top of Takuma's head, running his fingers through the soft, black hair. Takuma settled down, breathing softly, nestled safely between his parents. The feeling of family and safety while he was in bed this way almost brought tears to Tatewaki's eyes. He would have to invite the Tendos and Saotomes over for dinner again, the same way he had done the past two months, to thank them.
But this man who was supposedly his father... What about him? Then again, if that man, Takashi, Nabiki had said his name was, was his father, then why hadn't he been there? Why had he allowed those awful things to happen? Why hadn't he been around for over seven years? And why couldn't he remember him?
Tatewaki settled down in the bed, finally managing to fall asleep.
"I'm going to the doctor."
"What for?" Nabiki asked, dressing Takuma for his stay with the rest of her family.
Takuma wriggled as his head finally popped through the neck of the shirt, and let out an almost exasperated sigh. "Are you sick, Daddy?" he asked as Nabiki combed his hair.
"I don't know. That's why I have to go to the doctor, to make sure I'm not." Tatewaki was doing a very good job of hiding his fear. He knew he couldn't be sick; it wasn't possible.
"What time are you supposed to be there?"
"Two. I should be done early enough to pick up Takuma."
The conversation ended in an uneasy silence as the three got ready for their day.
"No, it's a good thing you brought this up. It's not Alzheimer's and you're not senile." The doctor hadn't even needed to give him the usual tests. He only had Tatewaki's file out and was looking at several pages in it. "Memory loss, of a specific time period or even loss of certain memories, is not uncommon in a case like yours."
"A case like mine? What is my case?" At least it wasn't what he had feared, at least he wasn't sick.
"Yes, well, I tend to think it's rather barbaric, and should never be done without a patient's consent, but..."
"What is? What are you talking about?"
"Studies have shown that people have lost long and short term memories when subjected to electro-shock therapy," the doctor said, his voice calm and even. "Of course, the proponents deny it, and they haven't discovered why, but there are many documented cases from all over the world about people who have experienced memory loss after being 'treated' with electro-shock and electro-convulsive treatment."
At that moment, Tatewaki was pretty much in shock. "What else have I forgotten?" he asked quietly.
The doctor looked at him sadly. "I can't say. Like I said, no one knows exactly why it happens or why the memory is affected so specifically. There's no way to predict what will happen."
"I don't... What... what can I do?"
"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. There's nothing I can do. I suppose you could try something like..." He was reluctant to say it, but it had been sort of proven to work. "Something like hypnotism. I can't say if the memories are erased or if they've just been shut away." The doctor shrugged. It was such a disgustingly tragic case; the doctor had read the older medical files on the Kuno family, and they had been frightening.
The young children, no older than eight, with such severe injuries. Under questioning, they had been deemed nearly sociopathic in their behavior, and frankly, the parents hadn't seemed much better. It was only the vast amounts of money that had kept any of it from becoming a little more public. Of course, if it had been a little more public, then maybe the Kuno family wouldn't be in the shape it was now.
The reports from the institution where the girl was locked up... Those were enough to give anyone nightmares. It could have been prevented, she could have gotten help. It was all in the reports, in the files, and how the parents had been aghast that any child of theirs would need psychological counseling... It was too late for the mother and the daughter now. The mother was gone. She had left the family and died shortly after. The daughter... It was for society's sake that she be kept in that institution and never let out.
"Are you still in counseling?" the doctor asked.
Tatewaki shook his head. "Not really. We stopped a while ago and only go every so often."
"Well, you might want to consider attending more regularly again."
Tatewaki sighed. He thought he was done with that. He thought he would never have to leave his Tuesday and Thursday nights free so he could go to the little office on the outskirts of Tokyo.
Nabiki was holding him in the darkness. He had told her what the doctor had said, and it was actually physically painful. He was currently using her shoulder as a pillow, which wasn't all that comfortable, but... She had been about to move his head to the real pillow when she had felt it.
Nabiki knew he didn't drool, and he didn't have a cold, so it could only be one thing that was dampening her bare shoulder. "Tate-chan," she said.
He didn't move.
She knew he was awake, but she didn't want to disturb him. Instead of saying anything more, she rolled to her side and put her arms around him, cradling his head against her chest. Nabiki kissed the top of his head and left her face buried in his hair for a moment.
One of his arms slipped over and around her hip, and Nabiki heard him draw a shuddering breath. She nuzzled his hair briefly then laid her head on her own pillow. "I'm sorry, Tate-chan," Nabiki said quietly.