BAREFACED

Chapter 53

"Oh..."

"When we realized, our mother wasn't going to come back, I decided to go look for her while Emi decided to drop out of college and start working to pay the bills." He says as he flicks a pebble off the stairs. "And while looking for my mother... that's when I met my father." He continues.

"How did you meet him?" You ask.

"In the same place where I heard my mother was... a club in Roppongi." 

"Roppongi?" You question.

"Yeah... not far from Shibuya..." Eli says as he twists side to side to crack his back. 

"When you met your father, what happened then?" You ask.

"He talked to me like he knew me or something. Asked me about school, my friends... how my sister was... I didn't tell him shit though. I just wanted to find my mother..." He sighs. You furrow your eyebrows and look down at the stairs.

"And I assume you didn't find her?"

"I left after talking to my father." You look at Eli confused.

"Why?" You ask.

"He said something to me about her that made me realize what was going on."

"What do you mean?" 

"He told me she made a deal with him about me and my sister's situation or whatever. I didn't understand what he was talking about at first but then we started receiving money through the mail. Money to pay for the bills and my sister's school." He slowly says. You squint your eyes as you try to understand what that means.

"I don't get it..." You quietly say. 

"Emi believes our mother sold herself for money. But I don't really believe any of that... For a while I didn't believe any of it until recently..." He pulls a note out of his pocket and hands it to you. You look at the note and then up at Eli. 

"What is that?" You ask.

"A note I got from my mother. It was the last note she sent before the note with the baby." He implies. You take the note and open it, reading what's inside.

Emi and Eli, I'm very sorry. I gave you both a horrible life. I was afraid of giving you both a broken home and tried my best to give you something better. I'm sorry that I couldn't. But I want you both to know I love you both so very much. Please don't worry about mommy. I will be okay. You will be okay too, so please forget about mommy, okay? Your eyes relax and your chest hurts. This letter sounds like a suicide note...

"A few weeks ago, we receive Ena... and this note." He says handing you another note. 

She was born October 4th. I named her Ena, after your father. Please love her for me. That's all the note said. You furrow your eyebrows and look back at Eli. You look back at both the notes, examining them both. The first note was written so nicely while the second letter was written very sloppy. 

"Did she really write these? The hand writings are both different." You imply. Eli sits quietly and then looks at you.

"You know, my mother loves how Emi writes. She says Emi has such beautiful writing... Cause my mom's handwriting is very messy... so messy that it's hard to read..." Eli quietly says. His eyes are glossy.

"This note is written nicely though..." You say holding up the first note. Eli slowly nods.

"Yeah... My mother didn't write that..." He sadly says. Your eyes widen and you quickly look at the other note.

"And so, she wrote this one?" You ask. Eli slowly nods. "When did you receive the first one?"

"A few days before you saved me from those Toman guys in the park..." He replies. Your eyes widen when you remember the phone call from his family. You quickly look at Eli and then down. "What?" He asks, looking at you.

"I forgot to tell you something that day... about a phone call from your family." You softly say.

"A phone call...? What do you mean?" He asks.

"They said It had something to do with your father." You imply. Eli sits quietly and sighs. 

"Oh... Don't worry about it... I don't give a fuck about what it was then. It could be about his death... and I still wouldn't care." He sighs. You look back up at him and then frown.

"Eli... why haven't you told me about any of this earlier?" You ask. He slowly looks back at you and frowns a bit too.

"I didn't want to stress you out... You were already dealing with things..." He sighs.

"Oh... Well next time... I want you to tell me if something goes wrong. Okay?" You comfort. Eli softly smiles and nods.

"What are you and your sister going to do now that you have a baby to take care of?" You ask. Eli shrugs and droops his head down.

"Yuki." 

"Hm?" You hum.

"Has my father ever tried contacting you?" He asks.

"Huh?" You look at him confused. Eli looks down with a blank expression on his face.

"He came in contact with Hana... I wonder if he has done the same with you." He softly says.

"Your father and Hana talked?" You ask. He slowly nods. 

"He asked Hana if she was my girlfriend... Hana told him that I didn't have a girlfriend but that I had a crush on you." He sighs. "My father had sent me a message not long after implying he heard what happened to your mother and said he knew who your mother's killer was... Then told me he would get you revenge if I would move in with him or whatever. I told him off and then he randomly mentioned it would be sad if you were to do something drastic again or whatever. That if I loved you then I would help you... I blocked him right after." 

"What?" You look at him confused. "What do you mean? Do something drastic?" You question.

"This was after your suicide attempt. I honestly think he said all of that to trigger me... It worked." He chuckles in an irritated way. "That same day me and Ren got into a fight. I was very upset. Everything just... everything bothered me." He takes a deep breath and looks at you. "He was right though... I really wanted to help you... I really do- love you..." He sighs and looks down and rubs his head. "But even after everything... I still feel like I'm losing you." He slowly looks at you with relaxed eyes and then softly smiles. "It makes me realize we wouldn't be a thing ever... because you love Mikey..." He implies. You furrow your eyebrows and then look away. He looks at you with confusion on his face.

"What makes you think I love Mikey?" You sigh. He stares at you for a while and then looks down.

"You seem to care about him so much... That's why I think that." He softly says.

"Well, you're wrong. I don't love Mikey... and I don't like him either..." You rasp.

"Really? I thought he was the reason why you were crying earlier." He asks. You look at him in shock and confusion.

"..." You look down and sigh. "He was a part of the reason..." You softly say.

"So, then what happened? Why were you crying?" He asks.

"I was stressed... that's all. A lot of things happened, and I couldn't handle it anymore..." You softly say.

"Are you sure...?" Eli questions. You stare down at the ground, furrowing your eyebrows and then sighing loudly. 

"... If I were to tell you... would you keep it a secret?" You ask, slowly looking at Eli. Eli furrows his eyebrows and slowly nods.

"Of course."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He softly says. You nod and take a deep breath, looking down at the ground.

"I'm not actually Yuki... I'm someone else... but in her body..." You quietly say. You slowly look at Eli who's looking at you confused.

"What?"