Summer's Promise

Chapter 18: "Luka-chan must really love her mom."

A week has passed since the day Luka's mother, Asa*, was admitted to the hospital. Asa was to remain in the hospital until the results of her tests come back and she's fully recovered. Clyde, Luka's father, took a short leave from his job to stay in the hospital and take care of his wife.

Meanwhile, the stress was taking its toll on Luka. The twins were aware that their older sister was worried about their mother. Hoping they could help their sister, the twins invited Miku, Luka's closest friend, to spend the night despite its being a school night. Luka's circle of friends have also heard the news, so they have been trying to make things easier for their pink-haired friend. However, all of them are in actually in the same situation for they have no idea what was happening with Luka behind the scenes.

"Nee-chan, are you okay?" Rin asked, watching her sister finish drying the dishes she had just washed.

Rin looked at Len, but all he could do was shake his head and shrug. Then, she looked at Miku, who only gave an 'I'll-see-what-I-can-do' smile.

"Let's go to my room, Miku-chan," Luka invited after drying her hands.

Though Luka smiled, everyone else in the room sensed a difference. Nevertheless, they couldn't do anything about it.

The blondes' eyes followed the two girls up the stairs, only sighing after they were no longer in sight. With nothing else to do, the two decided to go to their own rooms. When they reached the end of the hall to their rooms, Rin and Len paused.

"It's been a while since Nee-chan has filled in for Mom's part, after all," Rin shared her guess on why Luka had been out of it.

Len didn't respond, only looking down at the floor. Rin sensed her counterpart's uneasiness because she feels the same, too. Without saying anymore, the two headed the opposite ways.

The blonde-haired boy flopped his body face front on his bed. After appreciating the softness and warmth of the thick covers, he turned his body and lied on his back. Len's blue eyes looked at the ceiling, but his mind was watching a flashback from the past.

In the corner of the rundown apartment, a five-year-old Luka tightly held Rin. At such a very young age, Luka was already watching her world fall apart. The pink-haired girl's cheeks were drenched in tears, but she remained strong for her little sister. The four-year-old blonde in Luka's arms was deep in sleep and Luka knew that, but she still covered Rin's ears, hoping the blonde wouldn't hear anything.

In the center of the room was Asa. Her clothes were tattered, eyes puffy from crying, and hair in the grip of Rin and Len's biological father. Asa screamed when the man violently tugged her hair. She was grabbing his wrist to free herself but to no avail.

"Stop it!" a tiny Len ran to his mother's rescue and bit his own father's leg.

The man roared in pain and kicked the tiny boy to the wall of the small room. Asa clawed the man's hand and was able to release his grip on her. She desperately crawled to Len who fell unconscious after hitting the wall.

"Get away! Get away!" Asa yelled from the top of her lungs as she rocked Len's body in her arms.

The abusive father, whose favorite child was Len, felt a small spark of remorse when he saw what he had done to Len. His pride, however, was too immense that he blamed it all on Asa.

"This is all your fault! I bring you here to the States so that we can have a better life, but you ruin it by acting like you're better than me!" the violent man clenched his fists.

"Then, why do we live in such a dangerous neighborhood, huh?! It's 'cause you got fired from your job because you're insane!" Asa retorted.

"What about you, huh?! You go and leave to another country! You left us all here and then you come back and think you're better than everybody else!"

"I left because I needed to make a living for us! I come back and you've abused my children and waste all the money I sent you on alcohol?! And now, you've got the nerve to do this?!"

"Shut the hell up, bitch!" the violent man slapped Asa's head so hard that even Luka flinched.

It got quiet with only Luka's tiny sobs filling the room. Asa, who fell to the floor with her head down, was quiet. The twins' father breathed hard from all the rush. After a few moments of silence, Asa slowly sat up. She picked up her son and stood up.

"We're leaving," Asa declared.

Her face was bruised. Her eyes were red from all the crying she had done. Blood was also all over Asa's dried and beat up lips. However, there was a passionate fire in her gaze that scared the man who laid his hands on her.

Without saying another word, Asa took her children and left the man by himself.

Asa used up most of the money she had left to travel on a bus to another area in the US far from Len and Rin's father. The now-single mother and her children were able to stay in a cheap motel for three days with all that was left. In a short while, though, with the help of some locals, Asa was able to get a part-time job at a diner and even found a very small apartment to rent.

The time she had with her children didn't last long, however.

On a peaceful night, Luka never would've thought that she was being left a huge responsibility by her mother.

While the twins shared a small bed on the other side of the tiny bedroom of their meager apartment, Asa and Luka shared the other. The little girl sat between her red-haired mother's legs. Asa had no time left as she had been putting off her news for a while, so that moment was her last chance.

"Luka," Asa brushed her daughter's soft pink hair, the little girl ready to sleep.

"Hm?" the tiny Luka's eyes were closed as she enjoyed the warmth of being right by her mother.

"I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Mama," the little girl mumbled, drifting to sleep.

Asa tucked Luka in bed, giving her a kiss in the forehead.

"I'll see you later."

… … … … …

"Nee-chan, where's Mama?" Len, who had been walking around after he woke up, looked at Luka.

Len's older sister stood on a short stool. From what Len could see, the pink-haired girl was preparing breakfast. The little boy didn't understand for their mother was the one who cooked their breakfast.

"Mama left," answered Luka.

Len felt uneasy. In his mind, Len was thinking that Asa left to the grocery store. His heart felt as if Asa was far away.

"What time is she coming back from the store?"

"She's not coming back."

The little boy's eyes widened. His heart was right. The boy started crying out loud. All he could think of was how his mother had abandoned them.

Luka couldn't turn around to comfort her brother for she, too, had tears overflowing down her cheeks.

"Nighttime came and after we've all cried our eyes out, I explained to the twins why our mother wasn't coming back," Luka, who was also actually reminiscing the past that Len was thinking about, continued narrating to Miku.

"Our neighbors told me that Mom was gone to work at another country. Since we had no relatives in the States and Mom didn't want us near the twins' abusive father, she asked our neighbors to look after us."

Luka held her tears, looking down as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Mom would send our neighbors money and they would buy us the things we needed. I learned to shop for groceries when I entered elementary school. Since then, I'd get the money from our neighbors and I'd do everything else by myself to take care of the three of us. I do know that my mother worked hard wherever she was because she even enrolled us to a private school just to give us a better quality of education. I studied hard, and I still do, because I know I can't waste what my mom has worked hard on," Luka continued speaking without realizing that tears were already rolling down her cheeks.

Miku's eyes started watering as she watched her friend cry. Miku was glad that her friend was opening up, but the teal-haired girl never thought that the always-cheerful Luka had such a heartbreaking past. Miku could only imagine what it was like to be in Luka's place.

"Then one day, she finally came back…but I didn't even realize it was her. She was outside our house…and I walked right past her."

Luka looked down to hide the eyes that showed shame on herself.

"I still can't believe…that at one point in my life, I had forgotten the face of my own mother," not being able to keep her composure, Luka began sobbing.

Miku flung her arms and embraced Luka as tightly as possible. The pink-haired girl that everyone in their school adored and admired was so vulnerable in that moment. Miku was Luka's only support.

"Even though she was left with such a tedious responsibility, Luka-chan never had bitter feelings towards Asa-san," Miku thought.

"Luka-chan must really love her mom."

Luka couldn't stop crying. For the first time, Luka let someone peek at her past. Even Teto, who Luka considered her best friend, never knew about this part of Luka's story.

The pink-haired girl trembled in Miku's arms. All Miku could do, in that moment, was to be strong for her friend.

Author's note:

*Asa is a name used in this story to hide the identity of the person this story's character is based on. Any living or dead person bearing the same surname is not related to this story or the characters of the story. (Mayumi-chan: The reason why I chose this name for Luka's mother is because I've already taken the character "kawa" from Luka's voice actor, Yuu Asakawa, for Luka's father in the story. Therefore, it only makes sense that I use the character "asa" for Luka's mother's name. Basically, the first names of Luka's mom, which is Asa, and current stepfather, which is Clyde, make up the last name "Asakawa." Like I said, any characters I make up will have some kind of connection to the Vocaloid they're related to. Hope you guys liked this little explanation. ^.^)