"What do you mean?" You ask, moving away from the baby a bit to look at Eli. Eli looks down at the ground and then away.
"We are originally from Osaka..." Emi implies. You look at Emi feeling confused. Now that you think about it, you don't know much about Eli's life and situation. Yuki has no memories of Eli's family or anything.
"You don't really talk about your family to me... Eli." You softly say looking back at Eli. Eli's eyes shift towards you and then he takes a deep breath.
"My family is problematic... I didn't want to bother you with any of that..." Eli sighs. You furrow your eyebrows and tilt your head a bit.
"We are friends... aren't we?" You ask. Eli's eyes soften and he slowly nods. "So... tell me." You insist.
You and Eli sit outside the apartment on the stairs. Eli opens a can of soda and begins drinking from it. You watch as he does. You quietly sit beside him waiting for him to start talking. Eli rests his arm on his thigh and slowly looks at you. You look back at him.
"My father lives in Osaka... he runs a club... and does a lot of illegal shit involving drugs and stuff. Whatever it is he does- my mother had left him a long ass time ago and had us move here in Tokyo." Eli softly says.
"Why did your mother leave?" You ask. Eli looks in the front of him and out into the distance.
"I was little, so I have no idea what my parent's relationship was like. But my mother was afraid of my father. So much that she abandoned everything and ran away, taking us with her when my father was away. We had nothing on us... nothing. Just us and the clothes on our bodies." He sighs. "It was raining that day and I remember I was having a hard time putting my shoes on... but my mother just grabbed me and had me run with her while I had no shoes on cause I took too long." He turned the can around, looking at the words on the back of it. He takes a deep breath and then takes a sip of the drink. He places the can down and rubs his thighs, looking back at you "We slept outside in abandoned places or under bridges. We didn't have a home for a very long time... but my mother found work and finally found a place for us to live."
"Oh... So, was that around the time I met you?" You ask. Eli slowly nods and smiles.
"Yeah. Life seemed a lot happier back then." He chuckles.
"That's very far... Osaka is like... hours away... isn't it?" You ask. Eli slowly nods.
"My mother felt like it would be better if we moved far and into a city... that way our father wouldn't be able to find us." Eli replies.
"But then he did?" You question. Eli nods again.
"I hadn't seen him in years but earlier this year we crossed paths..." He adds.
"Huh? What do you mean?" You ask. "He found you? Was it a coincidence?"
"No. Apparently, he knew we lived here for a long time. His sister Anya was the one who had found us and had told him. She befriended my sister a long time ago. My sister had no idea that was our fathers sister. Neither did I... It wasn't until my mother met her..." Eli rubs his head and then sighs again. "My mother seemed scared when they met and I had no idea why. Turns out Anya had purposely became friends with Emi to get information on my mother... creepy as hell if you think about it. Not long after finding out about all of that my mother went missing... like- she left one night and never came back. Leaving me and my sister alone." He quietly says. You furrow your eyebrows and tilt your head a bit.
"How long has it been since your mother left?" You ask.
"Around the time your mother passed away." He answers. He slowly looks you in the eyes and then back down. "I wanted to come to you about it back then actually... but your mother had just passed away... so I kept it to myself." He adds.
"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?"