I Can't Fix You

Chapter 9 - Mom

"You shouldn't worry for me, Makoto. I'm doing fine." He let out a silent sigh, nodding. It made Kyoko almost feel guilty. "But, if there ever is anything,", she started. He looked up at her. "You'll be the first to know, alright?"

"As long as you know you can always come to me." He held out his pinkie. Kyoko smiled, sealing the pinkie promise. Finishing up their meal, the two of them stood up. Makoto took hold of the bucket once more. "Are you ready?" She sighed.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

They made their way up the stairs, and down the hall. Kyoko showed him which room was hers and which was the bathroom. At the end of the hall, was her parents their bedroom. The door was a more faded white than the other doors. The girl slightly jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. He shot her a soothing smile, which motivated her to open the door. The room smelled very musty, so their first instincts were to open up a window. The bed was only half made, the other half clearly slept in, even if it had been quite the while. There was a lot of dust on the furniture, especially on the dresser and Kyoko's father's desk. She took a deep breath, and gave a cloth to Makoto. The two of them started dusting the place, him starting with the dresser and her with the desk. As she wiped the dust off of the chair, she noticed Makoto looking at a photo he held. She made her way over to him.

"This is adorable." Kyoko took one look at the photo and cringed. It was a photo of her dressed as a princess for Halloween. She appeared to be around four. Next to the little girl stood her mother. "You look a lot like her." That made her smile.

"My father would always talk so fondly of her. Apparently she used to call me her blessing. My dad kept on calling me that, even after she passed away." Kyoko walked back over to the desk, continuing her cleaning duty.

"A suiting nickname.", Makoto said. She turned her head towards him and smiled. She didn't say anything. "I'm not gonna rummage through the drawers, so I'll move on over to dusting the closet." Kyoko nodded, as she opened one of her father's desk drawers. In one of them, was an old envelope with "Kanna" written on them. Though she may not remember much of her, she did know that was her mother's name. As curiosity killed the cat, she opened the envelope. And boy, curiosity sure did the number on her. She couldn't help as the tears streamed down her face, her knees trembling as she read what was on the piece of paper. Her breath hitched, catching Makoto's attention. Her knees gave up on her, as she fell on the ground. He ran over to her, wrapping his arms around her. She sobbed. Makoto tried to whisper her words of comfort as he held her close. Minutes passed, though they felt like hours. After a while, Kyoko managed to start to recollect herself.

"What happened?", Makoto asked. He still hadn't let go of her. So there they sat, intertwined on the floor of Kyoko's parents their bedroom. She took a deep breath, reaching for the piece of paper.

"M-My mother." She cleared her throat. "My father always told me that she died of some illness, and that she didn't suffer any pain. Turns out that was a lie."

"How so?"

"S-She...", Kyoko sighed. "This is her suicide note." Makoto's eyes widened, and started to sting aswell. He held Kyoko tighter, if that was even possible to begin with. She let go of the paper, and wrapped her arms around him aswell. They sat there for a couple of minutes, not exchanging any words. Just warmth, and to be frank, that was all Kyoko could ask for in that moment.

She had no idea how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again. Kyoko was laying on the couch, covered in a fleece blanket. She groaned as she sat up, hearing footsteps come towards her. Makoto kneeled down in front of her, handing her a glass of water.

"How are you feeling?", he asked as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

"I'm alright." She took a sip of her water. "Thank you, Makoto. For being there for me."