Chapter 8

Ultimate Ending

This chapter is far overdue, but I hope to continue making regular updates again. Probably about once a month. Either way I hope if there are any readers still interested in this story please forgive me! I know I can be bad updated, but I'll try harder. Life just got so crazy as soon as I started college a couple years ago. But I won't use it as an excuse! I'm going to try to schedule my time better from now on. Besides things are going to start picking up in the next chapter.

So without further ado, if anyone is interested in reading about a cute moment from Tora's childhood, you'll want to read this chapter! :P

…

Friday afternoon, the day before the huge party, Tora reached into the student council's file cabinet for this month's notes and requests. Etsuko sat in her usual seat at the student council table probably feeling the looming silence between the two in such a large room. Today was the first day Etsuko would be working to pay him back for him having to ask Headmaster Morioka to allow her to continue her position as class representative. Tora grabbed a few thick files before sliding the drawer closed with a click and walking toward Etsuko.

"Here." He dropped the folders in front of her with a big thump noting her startled stare. Tora then leaned his hip against the table's edge, folding his arms not looking at her. "It's the financials, request forms, and unfinished reports. Finish 'em by next Thursday."

Her mouth gaped out of the corner of his eye.

Tora smirked. "Regret it yet?"

Her mouth closed and she slowly shook her head no, her ponytail swaying back and forth.

"Get to work then." Tora's sharp gaze shifted to Etsuko. "It's self explanatory for a girl who thinks she can be the next student council president. I expect it to be perfect before I have to give it to the administrators."

Her eyes remained on the thick file and her features weren't gentle like usual. It looked more like stone. A face he hadn't seen from her—not even when she convicted him of dealing, but there was something about her face that seemed so familiar to Tora. But the far away memory pulled away before he could remember.

In the shared silence her mind was elsewhere and Tora felt taken aback when Etsuko didn't try to complain and explain her way out of doing this chore. He didn't care though. He pushed himself off the desk and took a couple steps toward the door.

"I'll leave you to work." Just as the syllables left his mouth, Etsuko's chair scratched against the wood floor and he heard her get to her feet.

"President?" Her voice echoed through the room, stopping Tora's strides. "Um…"

When she didn't say anything quickly after, Tora's could swear he felt his eye twitch. But instead of feeling agitation, it felt more like anticipation. For what, he had no idea—maybe she would complain after all so he could get a laugh. At the same time though, it wasn't like Tora could wait forever for her to say something. He was supposed to be meeting with some students from Kaiyo High School, not giving Etsuko Sato a lesson on how to speak more prompt. He would walk away and ignore her before he gave her a lesson on anything. When she didn't speak, Tora rolled his eyes. If she didn't have the courage to ask something, then there was no reason to stay.

"Why do you do it?" Etsuko asked, her voice getting lost in the room.

Tora turned around enough to see the side of her face, which stared back at him. Knowing he could leave her standing here was amusing. Though something wouldn't let Tora take those last steps out of the student council room. It said to stay and let her humor him with stupidity. Stupidity that grew on him the longer Etsuko spent in his presence.

Tora turned to look at her fully while resting a hand in his pants pocket. "Why do I do what?" He questioned, playing stupid. He knew what she meant, but making her say it would be the best part.

Etsuko sighed softly. "I know you know what I'm talking about."

He shot her a questioning look, not hiding his amusement. "Try me. Be specific."

Etsuko Sato moved her gaze to the floor, shifting her weight before answering, "Yeah, but you would hold it against me again if said it." As the words left her mouth she met his eyes through her lashes, which seemed more like a stab at his ego, but maybe that was just his imagination.

A laugh escaped Tora's lips as an ironic thought crossed his mind. "That's the first smart thing you've said, but here I remember you saying you weren't afraid of me." He bit back another laugh so he wouldn't miss the comeback that dared to challenge him further.

"Unlike what a lot of the rich upperclassman think of me," Etsuko paused. "I'm not dumb. No one will catch me making the same mistake a second time. That, President, has nothing to do with fear."

She knew! She knew exactly what all the upperclassmen thought of her. A gut-wrenching laugh escaped him and he had to clutch his stomach, shutting his eyes to stop them from watering.

His laugh sailed through the air and the crinkling of his face made his tears burn. He had to stop himself from doubling over. Through Tora's laughter Etsuko continued louder. "So I won't say it again," Etsuko said. "But it was one question, which I know has an answer. I just can't understand why a person like you would do such a thing."

Wiping away the water from his eyes, Tora's laugh turned into a cynical chuckle. "A person like me? Again, you assume you know me."

Etsuko interjected, "I didn't mean it like that though!"

Tora ignored it and continued. "Also, of course there's an answer to why I do it, but one you're not going to know. You're not even supposed to be involved! And even though you know how little the upperclassmen think of you, you continue to get in everyone's way. You're a nuisance that doesn't know her place at this school. So here's some advice. Stop wasting my time and do yourself a favor. Get to work."

Eyes wide, Etsuko stared at him for a moment as the words hung in the air. Again, Tora was shot with a sense of familiarity. She averted her gaze to the floor and Tora took that as his sign to leave. Turing on his heels and walking out the door, he heard her say one last thing. "The work will be perfect before next Thursday," and the door clicked closed behind him.

Tora smirked as he walked down the empty hall to the sound of his echoing steps. Today's intention wasn't to push her, but maybe that motivation he left her with will get work done faster. And the sooner she's finished his chores, the sooner he won't have to be around her.

At the end of the hall, turning toward the staircase to go downstairs, Tora's cellphone vibrated. Grabbing it, he flipped it open to see a text from Maki about his ride. Seemed it arrived right on time. The other day he told some delinquents from Kaiyo High School that he'd be there at one o'clock to drop off an order. The Kaiyo delinquents mentioned to Tora that some thug from one town over referenced him. As far as Tora was concerned he didn't care where the reference came from as long as the authorities kept to themselves.

The day when the facility at Miyabigaoka found out, it injected him with alarm. Now when he goes out, he's just the slightest more tense and the slightest more paranoid. Just thinking about it, the feeling of being caught raced through his adrenaline and made his stomach sick. It happened more frequently and Tora hated it. The stab was a constant reminder of how close the gap between getting arrested and escaping Father's wish after graduation was. It was either one or the other and Tora aimed for the latter.

"Prez," Maki called Tora over to the vehicle when he got outside.

He acknowledged him with a curt nod and noticed Maki's face grow startled. "You need some sleep."

Tora caught his reflection for the first time today on the tinted windows. Small dark circles were staring to show. He reached for the door handle and smirked. "It's almost annoying having you point that out."

Maki chuckled and continued. "Listen. I've already told the driver the address of where you're picking up the Kaiyo students. He knows not to drive towards their school as well."

Nodding, Tora sat in the car. "Anything else?"

For a second, Maki looked away hesitantly, but sighed and looked the president straight in the eye. "Monday you asked me to research Etsuko Sato. I left the papers in the second drawer of your student council desk this morning. Make sure to take a look, there could be something there you could find interesting."

With a hard stare and clenched jaw, Tora searched for an answer on Maki's face, but found nothing and let it slide. It was rare when Maki kept something from him. "Fine, I'll catch up with you later then," he said and closed the door.

When the limo pulled away from the school, Tora reached inside his inner coat pocket to make sure the small baggy was there from earlier this morning. He slipped the baggy out and ran his thumb over the plastic baggy holding ten LSD capsules. It was just another drug he'd never try. Just imagining how uncontrolled users got when they took it made him sneer. They were weak, but Tora could still understand why people would want such a thing. Hype the amount of fun, while forgetting about everything real. Wasn't that what he was doing tomorrow at the party? Weak or not, he deserved a little fun tomorrow, but not with the same stuff the others would be using. He'd go for a buzz and a couple smokes, enough to lighten up with Rin stepping into the frame, but not enough to forget.

A prime example of someone who loved to leave morals at the door and party till he's forced out at sunrise was Shirane, student council treasurer. Although it probably didn't surprise anyone the first time he got trashed and kept trying to pee in the pool whenever he walked by. His bastard tendencies pretty much entailed a party attitude, and the same could have been said for Tora, but he was the opposite. While Shirane chose to be crazy, Tora was more of a chilled partier. No one would ever catch him trying to piss in public.

Last year when they were at a party, Shirane jabbed Tora on the shoulder. "You, buddy," he over emphasized, obviously drunk. "Really need to try letting go at least once in your life."

Tora rolled his eyes at the smell of grainy alcohol on his breath. "Yea, and that'll happen when I wanna be a moron, like yourself."

Shirane exaggerate a long, slurred thanks as if he didn't understand Tora's sarcasm.

They were out on the season porch with a few others. Shirane snorted and stupidly shook his head, running his hands through his dark hair and casting a look to a group of people hanging out around the hot tub.

"Guess you'll never know what s'like to be alive then," Shirane said.

Tora muffled a laugh and remembered the cold can of beer under his fingertips and took a drink. The cool liquor traveling easily compared to the bitter first taste he took a year before. "Well then here's a life lesson," Tora stared. "Being alive has nothing to do with how shitfaced a person can get."

Shirane gutted a laugh and Tora swore he was about to puke, but he kept it down. His friend then stood up with a stumble to the side. He grabbed ahold the chair for support as well as clutching onto Tora's shoulder, like about to give a man-to-man talk. "You'now what, Mr. Igarashi? Sounds like fantastic advice that I need to pass to my little brother. Truly 'spirational."

"Whatever," Tora chuckled and couldn't help but roll his eyes one more time.

Shirane shrugged, grinning and muttered on how it was a friend's duty to be supportive of given advice. When he stumbled away toward his friends in the hot tub, he cheered obnoxiously to a couple of the girls.

Tora would never understand why their friendship worked. It was probably because Shirane didn't care if he had the top social status or not. Being second in the class would never phase him, like it would Tora. Being second in the Igarashi family didn't cut it, and Tora remembered being slightly jealous that day Shirane told Tora that his dad wanted Shirane to have fun with life. His father must've been proud that Shirane took a liking to numbers, with all the math classes and being the treasurer. It made it that much easier for Shirane to take the family legacy if he so wanted to in the future.

For Tora, "family business" was his life and now his whole future. When he was really young, about five, being groomed for success didn't make sense. He didn't understand why the servants would take the blame if he did something bad. He didn't understand why he couldn't play with the other kids. Why everything, everyday always had to be a lesson.

Specifically, Tora remember being five when he finally asked why life had to be that way.

It was his mom who explained it to him. It was early in the morning before his first lesson and he peeked open the door to his parent's bedroom, door creaking and light streaming in through the open curtains. His mother sat beneath the covers alone while reading a parenting book he'd seen her read millions of times.

Her lips curved into a smile. "Tora, I see you," she said as her eyes never left her book.

Tora's leaned against the doorknob and pouted before running into the room and leaping onto the bed, stomach first. "No fair," he muffled into the comforter and lifted his head towards her and puffed out his cheeks. "You always see me."

His mother smiled. She set the book on her nightstand and in one motion she sat up and snatched Tora from the foot of her bed. "But baby," she exclaimed, tickling his sides with Tora laughing and squirming around. "You're such a tough kid to miss." The mattress rose from Tora's weight thrashing

"Mom," he screamed through a fit of giggles, "Stop it!" His laugh grew louder, hurting his gut. Tora's sides were always the most ticklish, which his mother always used to her advantage. As she kept tickling his sides, he kicked his feet around looking for the chance to escape his tickle torturer.

"Why do you have to be so cute?" She laughed and tickled him one last time before stopping.

Tora quickly escaped to his dad's side of the bed, the little smile never leaving his face as he looked at his mom. "I get it from you."

His mom busted out laughing. "If you keep that up, when you're older all the girls will chase after you."

Tora scrunched his nose as if he tasted something bad. "That's gross."

His mother's laugh echoed through the room. "Well, either way you'll sure know how to make a girl laugh. Now come here and give mom a hug." She opened her arms.

At first Tora thought of running away and making her catch him, but he remember the nurse saying she needed rest this week. Tora decided to push away his defiant side and scooted next to her and hugged his mom, resting his head on her shoulder. Her body felt warmer than usually from yesterday's fever, but the color was coming back to her face. That had to be a good sign.

"Do you have everything ready for morning classes?" Mom asked.

Tora pulled away, saying the maids made sure everything was ready when he woke. Although when the maids tried getting him ready he did give them plenty trouble. At the thought Tora half smiled, telling his mom how he hid his school uniform the other day before the maid came in to wake him up.

"You know Tora," his mom spoke earnestly, "you have to be a little more respectful of them. They're here to keep order in the house and make sure you're okay while I'm on bed rest. They have the best interest for you."

"But why?" Tora met his mom's golden eyes that resembled his own, his child innocence washing over his face. "Why do they care how I act? And why don't they let me go to my friend's house anymore?"

Mom's smile was weak. "You're father has an inheritance he wants to give you when you're older, and he wants to make sure you're educated and well behaved. So baby, you have to understand that your life is different from some other kids, and I think that's something you'll realize when you're a little older."

Tora pouted. "I wanna understand now."

As if on queue, the main housekeeper asked over the bedroom intercom if Tora was in the room. His mom pushed the intercom button, replying he'd be there soon for his class.

Folding his arms across his chest he replied, "I'm not going. It's no fun."

"If your dad found out he'd be upset, but if that wasn't the case I would keep you here this morning. For now, dad needs you to be the best."

Tora fell back on the mattress, groaning.

"Tora, education is important. And if you don't want to do it for your father, do it for me. Make your mom proud."

"Fine," he huffed, and climbed off the bed. "But I still wont enjoy it."

His mom raised her eyebrow. "When someone wants you to do something, don't complain. You say, yes ma'am or yes sir and do it."

Tora glanced at the door then back at his mother's stern face. "Yes, ma'am."

She nodded with a smile. "Thank you. Now give me one more quick hug."

Tora quickly hugged his mom, but as he pulled away she gave him another serious look, like she wanted to say something. Her mouth opened and closed and Tora frowned. "Mom?"

She breathed through her nose and looked down, smiling. Looking back up at Tora, she said something he'd never forget. "Baby, promise me this. Promise that when you're older, you find what makes you happiest and never let anyone tell you otherwise. There will be a time when that seems really difficult, but you need to remember that it will get better."

Tora nodded, smiling. "Yes ma'am."

Back then, it didn't make any sense and after awhile he forgot about it completely. In his life, real happiness wasn't possible. Especially not after what happened just a year after that promise.

Coming out of his thoughts, Tora set the capsules back in his inner coat pocket. Just then Tora's phone vibrated. He heard the breaks squeak as the driver slowed down, but after that all the color drained from Tora's face.

It was a text from a partner at the main import site.

"Kudo was murdered Tuesday night. Police officially launched an investigation into Yakuza and a Chinese drug trade. We don't know anymore. Keep ya updated."

If Tora now just found out, that means the same for his father. The police knew something was up.

The limo came to a complete stop in an empty part of town where the two Kaiyo students stood. Tora let them in and when they both sat down, the limo pulled away.

The student with long hair spoke first. "We really appreciate you coming out here," he said, voice gruff. "Meeting up with you seemed like a better idea after rumored murders in the area from the past couple weeks. They say it's the Yakuza, but no one knows for sure."

Tora's gaze sharpened towards them. "What else do you know?"

...

:) Please review! They'll motivate me again, especially after my last chapter not getting any. If there's something you guys want to read in this story, let me know so I can make it better. So if you read this chapter from start to finish or even half of it, let me know the good and the bad. The button is just below! :P

Thanks for reading this story guys! It means a lot.