IDENTIFY

[25] Leaving the Past Behind

"Hayama san, he will be executed tomorrow. Do you want to see it? I could talk to some people." Shohei asked her and she nodded. Finally, the person that she wanted to get rid off will die in front of her eyes. "Thank you, Motome san." She bowed to him out of respect and he nodded at her. This was the least he could do for her. Things were busy as usual in the station with a murderer on the loose. Yuki and Juro went on patrol while Sora and Shohei went off to interrogate some witnesses. Zayasu stayed in the station, looking at the new evidence they have retrieved with Iki by her side, also hacking in one of their suspects laptop.

The next day came by and she sat down amongst the people that were there. She sat in the front seat with Yuki beside her. He noticed she was nervous so he held her hand and tried calming her down. She saw Mori came out with no regret on his face. He was accompanied by one of the prisoner's guard. Sora tensed up and so did Yuki when Mori looked straight at the two. He laughs like a maniac when two of the guards prepared the rope on his neck. His eyes were focused on Sora up until his last breath.

She gritted her teeth, shaking as she looked down. Finally, her revenge has ended after all these tiring years. Yuki slowly made her stand up and lead her to her car. He drove this time as Sora still had tears of relief and sadness falling down her eyes. She stares outside the window and Yuki drove them somewhere they could settle down for awhile.

"Usagi... it's done. Mori's dead. I'm sorry for taking so long." Her tears fell down again when she sat down infront of his grave. "Arata... he went into rehabilitation but I doubt he will go out anytime soon." She talked as if Usagi was right infront of her.

"But, you know, Ryo and Echiko married first before us. It's funny, right? We would always make fun of Ryo but now we- we can't anymore." She bit her bottom lips as it was quivering. She went into silence and sobbed harder than before.

"Oii, Usagi. You made her cry now. I'll beat you up for this as soon as I meet you, dumbass." Yuki spoke up this time but he himself couldn't say anything more than a few lines before breaking down beside Sora. Even though in the end, the luck is with them, their friend could never be alive once more. They could never make memories with him anymore. This was the hardest thing for them to face together.

While the two had problems trying to accept the fact that their friend will never come back, their other two friends had problems trying to accept the fact their friend's siblings did something unacceptable.

"Gordon, are you... mad at me?" Takumi asked seeing his friend being distant from him ever since the case ended. Gordon was sitting on the couch while Takumi just sat down in front of him. "Sorry Takumi. You just kept reminding me of Yujiro. Because of him, Sora had to struggle more to solve the case." He explained and Takumi nodded in silence.

"My brother did ridiculous stuff as well so it's not right for me to only judge you. Don't you have anything to say to me?" Gordon asked as Takumi didn't say anything after he explained his side. Takumi smiled before saying "I wish we could forget about what our siblings did and move on with our lives. If it's too painful for you, I could quit being your manager. I just want you to know that I still wanted to be your friend, Gordon and I never blamed you for anything."

"Takumi, you'll never change. I've told you a billion times before. Even if you're the worst manager, I would still want you to be my side. Besides, you're the only one besides Sora, Yuki and Usagi that understands me. It's too much of a hassle to hire someone else, don't you think?" He joked making Takumi wiped bits of his tears that fell from his eyes before chuckling weakly at him.

"That's the only reason, huh Gordon? You're really are a pain in the ass like Sora said." They both exchanged smiles knowing that they share the same pain. Due to their siblings behaviour, they have to suffer against society's judgement. Aside from that, their bond was build with trust and pure friendship. It will be akward and hard to open up on things but as long as they are honest to each other and they never back stab, they think it's fine to remain friends until the end.

Sora and Yuki left his grave when the sun was about to go down. Yuki then took her somewhere she would never expect him to take her, a park. The moment she went there, she just realised it was the season where sakura flowers bloomed beautifully. It has been a while since she looked outside and breath some fresh air. All the while she has been buried her face deep into cases upon cases.

They walk beside each other on the path at the park in silence. She kept looking at the flowers that she didn't realized where she was going until she bumped into a kid. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She quickly crouched down to meet the kid's eye level. She carressed his head carefully and apologised to his mother as well. "That's fine. I see you enjoy the flowers and my boy is clumsy as well so there's no need apologising."

"Ahh yes. I... had a rough month so having some new view really helps me. I hope you two enjoy it as much as I do." She smiled hearing Sora speaks and so does her child. "It's fine Nee san. Besides, even my father likes the sakura." He whispers the last line to his ear eventhough his mother can still hear it, she pretended not to hear him. "Now, you can play with your friend there. I want to talk to this lovely lady, will you?" Her mother asked her child and he willingly agreed before running off to the playground.

"His father, he passes away just a year ago." The mother smiled making Sora confused. "I'm sorry for your loss. If you don't mind me asking, how do you cope with the loss of someone so important?"

She smiles again before holding Sora's hand gently. "Young girl, I see you hurting as well and I wanted to tell you something I wish somebody had told me when I first lost my husband. Our life contains unexpected obstacles for us to go through. When somebody is gone, that doesn't mean they are gone for good. They will always be in here, our heart. We should focus on who we have here, in the present. Let the person who had left this world, be your reminder to always appreciate who you still have. I hope you cope with your loss too."

Sora teared up again and thanked the woman for her kindess. They shared a hug and the woman walks back to her son. After hearing her, Sora felt like a light shining in her heart again. She searched for Yuki and saw him with a kid, running around until the kid reached her parents. Once again, she felt grateful having him by her side. When Yuki saw Sora crying again, he excuses himself from the kid and her parents to rush to her side.

"Hey, hey what's wrong?" He slowly wipes her tears and she said nothing but hugged him. He carresed her back and calms her down. "Yuki, let's go eat. I'm hungry." She said after a few minutes of hugging him. "Sure. Where should we go?" She broke the hug and looks at him. "Bother our friend, shall we?" She finally cracks a smile and Yuki replied with the same energy she had. "Let's go!"

Not long after that, they were at Hayato's restaurant. To their suprise, all of their friends are there. Hayato looks annoyed when he saw Yuki and Sora entered his restaurant. "I swear to god, have you guys plan this out, or what?" He asked and all of them shakes their head.

"I just came back from a commercial shoot, man. Give me a break." Gordon said before taking a bite from his sushi. "Yeah, we're tired." Takumi added before drinking his water in one shot.

"I missed your cooking Hayato kun~" Hoshiko whines before eating her ramen and sips on the soup.

"We had nothing to do and we're hungry so here we are!" Echiko exclaimed and Hayato grunted after hearing their explanation. "Echiko dragged me out. I have no say in this." Ryo said and Echiko gave him a death stare in which Ryo pinched her cheeks before eating his tempura.

"What's you two's reason then?" Hayato mockingly asked while looking at Sora. "Well, we just came back from a park and I'm hungry." Yuki noticed that she didn't mention anything about Mori's execution so he decide not to bring it up anymore. "Yes, Chef Isomura~ We're hungry~"

Hayato groaned and shakes his head in annoyance. "You guys always come at my peak time." Sora smiles looking at everybody's laughter. That's right. Usagi wouldn't want anyone to be sad. Although the have been through hard times, they will always have each other. They have identify their own problems and worked piece by piece to solve them, that's what matter the most. At the end of the day, their bond will always be unbreakable.

[1630 words]