The B.G.S.'s part 12

2^nd July 2025

 

Hi Kiki. Today I thought my friends and I were going to start looking for more of the B.G.S.’s but I was wrong. Professor Largos wished to go through with us about what places in Japan he had been to and which places we would be going to such as Niigata, Kyoto, Kobe, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Yamanashi Prefecture, Tokyo and some other places in Japan. He also told us he planned to have the boys, girls and I to divide into pairs for each city; that way we could cover more ground and save time.

“Okay kids,” said Professor Largos “here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll locate the B.G.S.’s on my computer and you kids will go to the places where they are in pairs. Once you kids find a B.G.S. you come back here straight away by pressing the button on the remotes I will give you. I have a dozen spare remotes for the teleportation machine. But you must be careful and keep a hold of the remotes. If they get broken or lost you would have to come back here the normal way by train, car or plane and of course we don’t want to do that because that would be expensive to get here. Are there any questions?”

“I have a question,” I said “what should we do if somebody like a policeman asks us why we are not in school, as it’s not the end of school term yet?”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Mr Yashiro “I have some permit papers permitting you kids to be absent from school because of family emergencies. Be sure not to lose them because I had trouble creating them”. My friends and I promised to be careful. “Now while Largos here continues for get everything ready for our quests tomorrow there is something I would like to discuss with you kids,” said Mr Yashiro “so Largos do you mind if we leave you for a moment?”

“You go ahead” replied Professor Largos.

Mr Yashiro led the boys, the girls and I to a living room and asked us to be seated.

“You must excuse me kids, but there is something I really want to talk to you all about” said Mr Yashiro.

“What is it sir?” I asked nervously.

“Well it’s about all of you,” said Mr Yashiro “I read reports that you kids started attending Kurai Jinsei Boarding school at the age of eight, nine, ten and eleven. Can I ask why you children started attending school at those ages?”

I stared at the others, with the look saying ‘should we tell him?’, and they nodded yes. “Well sir the reason why we attended that school was because we all wanted to get away from our parents” I said.

“I have heard that things aren’t going well between all of you and your families,” said Mr Yashiro “I’ve also heard you kids haven’t gone home to visit your families, not even for the holidays, only once since you attended Kurai Jinsei. Forgive me for prying but can you please tell me what happened?”

My friends and I agreed to tell Mr Yashiro what happened with our parents, and Kiki I will tell you about our pasts now. But I warn you they are long stories.

I will start with my story. In the past I lived with my parents and my grandmother in a city, in an apartment. But my life with my parents felt lonely because both my parents worked. They were always so busy with work they barely spent time with me and they kept making and breaking promises to me. For example when I was in kindergarten I was going to have dinner with my parents and grandmother at a restaurant for my 6^th birthday, but my parents didn’t turn up because they were busy with work. My parents apologized immediately the next day and said we would have a picnic at the weekend to make it up to me, but that never happened because of their work. My parents broke lots of promises to me in the past; whether it was my birthdays or special events like school plays or sports at school, they never kept their promises to come to see me. It made me angry and start to hate my parents. The only person who was there for me was my grandmother. I was always happy when grandma was with me; she was always there for me, she never broke promises to me and she was more motherly to me than my mum ever was. It’s because of my grandma that I started writing in diaries when I was 8; she gave me a diary for my eighth birthday and told me how a diary would be my friend if I wrote in it. So I ended up writing in it, telling the diary about all the times my parents broke promises to me, how I loved my grandma and how I was beginning to hate and distrust my parents. Sadly for me when I was still eight years old my grandma got sick and she passed away. Her death made me feel lonelier than ever because my parents still didn’t spend time with me that much because of their work. One day I finally snapped at my parents.

It happened on the day after my ninth birthday. My parents were apologizing because they failed to spend time with me on my birthday again.

“Kyoko your father and I are sorry we missed your birthday again because of our work,” said my mother “but we do promise that we will make it up to you”.

I was thinking ‘yeah right you will’; my parents never kept their promises of making up to me after breaking another promise.

“Yes please tell us what you want or want to do and we will sort it out for you” said my father.

“Alright I’ll tell you what I want,” I said, sounding upset, “I want to go to a boarding school. All my life you two have always made me feel lonely because none of you could get away from work to be with me, even for one day. With grandma gone I feel lonelier than ever and I hate coming home to an empty house. That’s why I want to go to boarding school; at least there I won’t feel lonely”.

My parents were surprised with what I said and tried to apologize to me for making me feel lonely.

“Quit the apologizing!” I shouted “all I hear from you two is ‘I’m sorry for this or sorry or that’ and you always promise me things but always break them! I am never trusting you two again”. I ran off to my room to cry and didn’t come out of my room nor talk to my parents for the whole day.

My parents tried to apologize to me again and have me reconsider my decision to go to boarding school. But I told them again I couldn’t forgive them and I still wanted to go to boarding school. So a month later I attended the Kurai Jinsei boarding school, which I found better to be than at home.

“So then,” said Mr Yashiro, after I finished my story, “I take it you still haven’t forgiven your parents or given them another chance Kyoko?”

“No I haven’t sir,” I said “because of all the times they left me alone and all the promises they broke to me, I haven’t found the heart to forgive them yet. I also don’t have the heart to see my parents again. That’s why I haven’t gone home to visit my parents ever since I first attended the school, not even once. To be honest with you Mr Yashiro, I was surprised you managed to get permission from my parents for this trip. Getting in touch with my parents was never easy for my teachers in the past while they were at work; it was only my grandmother the teachers could talk to”.

“Well I have to admit it to you Kyoko, I did have trouble getting permission from your parents,” said Mr Yashiro “in fact I had to ask someone from your parent’s workplaces to ask your parents for me. And I managed to get a reply from your mother’s co-worker saying your mother had given me permission”.

I figured it was like that Kiki because it was like that in the past too, especially when my grandma tried to get in touch with my parents while they were at work.

Anyway that’s the end of my story; it’s time for Shizuyo’s story. Shizuyo lived with her family in a house in a town; she has a mother, father, three older brothers and one older sister; so Shizuyo is the youngest in her family. Her life had been difficult for her though; both her parents and siblings treated her like she was a weakling, who couldn’t do anything without being watched and they didn’t trust her with anything she did or said.

“I hated it so much when my family treated me like that,” Shizuyo said to Mr Yashiro “I felt like I was in one of those families where the daughter of the family are considered useless. But my older sister was never treated like that; she’s free to do anything she wants like my brothers are and she gets praised for every achievement she’s received like my brothers have too. But me, my parents always worried about me; even when I won first place at sport days my mother and father would worry over me checking if I was okay and keep on telling me over and over again not to overdo things. They even wouldn’t let me go to school and come back home by myself when I was old enough to; I always had to have one of my brothers or have my sister take me”.

“Hmm that does sound like they are over worrying about you,” said Mr Yashiro “I take it there is a reason for that?”

“There is,” answered Shizuyo “the truth is I was quite weak when I was little; always feeling tired like my energy kept on running out of my body quickly, even walking just a little bit always made me feel tired so quickly. I don’t feel like that now because I felt stronger and better when I started elementary school. Even my teachers at that time saw I wasn’t weak. But even then my parents and siblings kept on fussing over me like I was still a fragile doll or something. And when I was eight, I found out something about myself that I never knew until that day”.

Shizuyo found out the truth on the day she was having a check-up at a doctor’s clinic. She told me that for as long as she could remember she always went to visit the doctors because of how weak she felt in the past. The doctor, who was a woman, named Doctor Toshihime was giving Shizuyo the check-up; she had been Shizuyo’s doctor ever since she was a baby and Shizuyo liked her because she was kind and understanding. Now while Dr Toshihime was giving Shizuyo the check-up she wanted to talk to her alone, so she sent Shizuyo’s mum back to the waiting room. Normally Shizuyo’s mum always wanted to be with Shizuyo during check-up time to be sure everything was fine. But on the day Dr Toshihime managed to convince Shizuyo’s mum that everything was okay and to let her speak to Shizuyo alone.

“Well Shizuyo,” said Dr Toshihime “I can see that you are incredibly healthy and you certainly have grown stronger over the years. Why you can even walk and run without getting tired so quickly”.

“Yes I can,” said Shizuyo “but mum and dad aren’t convinced that I am not weak as I used to be. They still treat me like I am nothing more than a weak little baby. I understand that I was weak when I was little, I do remember that, but I hate it when they go over protective on me when I’m not even weak anymore. It isn’t fair. I’m not sick or anything you know and they won’t even give me a chance to prove that”.

It was then Dr Toshihime sighed and looked at Shizuyo with serious eyes. “Shizuyo there is something that I should tell you, something that your parents should have told you already” she said.

“What do you mean?” asked Shizuyo.

Shizuyo found out from Dr Toshihime that she had been born two months prematurely, which was why she was weak when she was little. Shizuyo was horrified when she heard that because her parents and siblings never told her about it before. Dr Toshihime also explained at that time it looked like Shizuyo was going to die because she was very weak as a baby but by some miracle she survived and lived.

“My goodness,” said Mr Yashiro “I bet that was a shock to you Shizuyo?”

“It was I must admit,” answered Shizuyo “I mean you would think my parents would tell me of this situation when I was old enough to understand. But Dr Toshihime told me they wanted to keep me in the dark because they feared I would end up in a terrible shock and become dangerously ill. Urgh it made me really mad at my parents for never telling me the truth. I mean I am not ill, weak and fragile or anything as you can see. I’ve grown stronger and independent since then and being at the Kurai Jinsei Boarding School makes me feel stronger and more independent”.

“I agree with you Shizuyo,” said Mr Yashiro, “with how healthy and strong you look, it’s hard to believe that you had been born prematurely. So how did you attend Kurai Jinsei Boarding School?”

“It was thanks to Dr Toshihime because not only was she my friend, she had always been on my side” answered Shizuyo.

What happened was not long after Shizuyo had her check-up Dr Toshihime visited her house to speak with her parents. Of course her mother feared the doctor was going to give her some bad news about Shizuyo, but the doctor revealed nothing was wrong. Shizuyo was in the same room with her parents and the doctor because the doctor wanted to speak with Shizuyo too.

“The reason why I am here is because I wish to discuss something with you,” said Dr Toshihime “Shizuyo has been telling me you still keep guard over her like she’s about to collapse am I right?”

“Of course we do,” said Shizuyo’s mother “I don’t think it’s safe yet to not keep an eye on Shizuyo yet. You know how difficult it was for us when she was born. She was kept in the hospital for a few months and not keeping an eye on her was dangerous while she was still very little. Especially when she would collapse from exhaustion and get fevers very easily”.

“I do understand your worry Mrs Sakuma,” said Dr Toshihime “but Shizuyo is eight years old and is no longer the weak little girl she once was. And if you and your husband keep being over protective of her, she won’t be able to achieve anything on her own in life. Not to mention you are not going to be here, to protect her, forever”.

“I was happy that Dr Toshihime was always able to talk sense to my parents,” Shizuyo said to Mr Yashiro “they listened to her more than me. Whenever I tried to get them to listen to me my words just fell on their deaf ears”.

Anyway after Dr Toshihime spoke with Shizuyo’s parents, she showed Shizuyo and her parents a brochure about Kurai Jinsei Boarding School.

“I was thinking it might be a good idea for Shizuyo to attend this school,” said Dr Toshihime “not only would she earn a good education there, she will also become more independent. This school is out in the country so Shizuyo will get plenty of fresh air and there is a hospital in a town that’s near to the school in case there’s an emergency in Shizuyo’s case. So Shizuyo will be well looked after, make many new friends and find out what she wants to do in the future”.

“I agree with your idea,” Shizuyo spoke up “I’m sick of being wrapped in cotton wool by my parents who still see me as the very fragile baby I was when I was born years ago. And I’m sick of living in this house like I’m a prisoner in a prison with guards watching me day and night. Dr Toshihime I want to go to that school; at least I will be given a chance to live freely there”.

It wasn’t easy for Dr Toshihime to convince Shizuyo’s parents to let her go to Kurai Jinsei Boarding School because of their worry. But thanks to Dr Toshihime’s persuasion and a show-round from the school, the parents finally agreed to let her attend the boarding school, as long as Shizuyo promised to be checked on now and again by the school nurse.

“I take it you are happy at the Kurai Jinsei boarding school Shizuyo?” asked Mr Yashiro, after Shizuyo finished her story.

“Yes I am,” answered Shizuyo “because I was finally able to live freely without my parents’ worry over me, try out new things without my parents’ interference and not feel like a prisoner ever again. I still have to be checked over by the school nurse once a week to see if I’m still healthy and well, but at least here I don’t have my mum hovering over me as if something bad is going to happen to me”.

“I have to say,” said Mr Yashiro “when I phoned your mother to ask for her permission I did hear a lot of worrying from her. But I told her you would only be doing light work and there was a doctor near my friend’s farm, so I was given your mother’s permission in the end”.

“I thank you for that” smiled Shizuyo.

“So I take it you haven’t gone home to visit your family for holidays since then?” asked Mr Yashiro.

“No because I know what will happen; it will be just like it was before, my parents worrying over everything about me and keep guard over me during the whole holidays,” said Shizuyo “I want to enjoy my freedom a bit more. Not to mention I’m still cross with how my family treated me in the past. That’s why I haven’t forgiven them nor gone home to visit them once”.

“I see” said Mr Yashiro, who understood the situation.

Now it’s time I told you Yuko’s story Kiki. Yuko used to live with her parents in a small house in a town. But that changed when her parents got divorced. I’ll start at the beginning. At first Yuko’s life with her parents was happy; you know a normal, happy family life, but when Yuko was five years old everything changed. At that time Yuko’s parents’ marriage started to fall apart; they had frequent arguments everyday over everything. For example if the dad’s dinner was not how he liked it he would shout to the mum about it, and of course the mum would argue back that he should do his own dinner if her cooking isn’t to his liking. Another example if the mum was out shopping for hours, the dad would get mad at her for being late and of course that made the mum mad at him and she shouted back.

“Those times were the most horrible times of my life,” said Yuko “it was awful when I heard them yell and fight at each other. There were even some times when I heard my mum toss things at my dad in anger. I always hid myself outside the house where I wouldn’t hear them fight”.

“It’s never easy for a child with parents who don’t get along so well,” said Mr Yashiro “I know because I’ve met many children with parents like that before. I’ve heard that your parents are now divorced Yuko, when was it that your parents divorced?”

“It happened when I was eight,” answered Yuko “my mum and dad were having one of their usual fights and then my mum finally shouted out that she wanted a divorce and my dad agreed to that. Even though I wasn’t happy about it, I wasn’t against it or anything because I was fed up with all their arguing”.

“I understand,” said Mr Yashiro “so was it your mum’s or dad’s decision to go to a boarding school?”

“Actually it was a judge’s decision” answered Yuko.

You see Kiki Yuko’s parents had their divorce at a family court with a judge.

“While the divorce was going through my mum and I were staying at one of my mum’s friend’s house,” said Yuko “at first it felt nice that I wouldn’t have to hear my parent’s argue while they were separated from each other. But even when I was only with my mum I couldn’t stop thinking about all those times when she and my dad fought. Not to mention in my dreams at night I could hear them arguing and things like that”.

“It seems to me you were starting to feel depression because you couldn’t forget about your parents fall out and because they were divorcing” said Mr Yashiro.

“That’s exactly what happened,” said Yuko “and I also felt like I wanted to get away from both my mum and dad, you know so I could try to forget about them and their fall outs”.

“I understand that too” said Mr Yashiro.

Because Yuko was feeling depressed at the time of her parents’ divorce Kiki, she didn’t know what she should do because she knew she would be in her mum’s custody and only visit her dad on some days. It was only on the day of the divorce that Yuko decided what to do; she decided to talk to the judge. You may not believe this Kiki but Yuko told me that she felt like the judge was the only person she wanted to tell her feelings to on that day.

Truthfully children of divorcing parents never really attend the courts or other offices where they divorce. But Yuko went to the court with her mum because her mum’s friend wasn’t able to look after Yuko that day. To Yuko this was her chance to speak to the judge. As soon as Yuko and her mum arrived at court, Yuko gathered up her courage and asked an employee of the court if she could talk to the judge, without her mum knowing about her wish. The employee was surprised to hear Yuko wishing to talk to the judge, but Yuko pleaded with him to let her speak to him. So the employee went around asking if it was possible for Yuko to speak to the judge.

“Did you get permission to talk to the judge Yuko?” asked Mr Yashiro.

“Yes, the employee came back to me quite soon and told me the judge would see me,” answered Yuko “of course my mum was surprised the judge was going to see me because she didn’t know I wanted to see him. She wanted to come into the judge’s office with me but I quickly said I wanted to see and talk to him alone. So I was led to the judge’s office without my mum. The judge was a stern looking man, but he was the type who would listen to what anybody had to say. I gathered up my courage again and told him about how upset I was because of my parent’s fall outs and my decision of not wanting to stay with any of my parents because of that. The judge listened to every word I said with a stern and sympathetic look. He also said that he would see what to do about me”.

“You were very brave indeed to speak to the judge Yuko,” said Mr Yashiro “it’s always good to speak out to someone when something is bothering you. So what happened after you spoke to the judge?”

“Well my mum’s and dad’s divorce finally became official after a lot of talking and after they signed a divorce paper,” said Yuko “I wasn’t with them at that time, but I learnt what happened from a court clerk. The judge told my parents about what I said to him, which made them surprised because they never knew how I felt at all. It didn’t surprise me really because my parents never understood about me at that time; when they argued they completely forgot I was there. Because of that the judge declared I should go to boarding school to recover, which I agreed to at once because as I said I wanted to get away from my parents. Thanks to the judge’s secretary the judge found out about Kurai Jinsei boarding school and declared I went there. Of course my mum tried to apologize to me and wanted me to stay with her, but I told her that her apology was not accepted and I was going to boarding school. So in the end my parents divorced and I was sent to the Kurai Jinsei Boarding School”.

“Have you spoken with any of your parents since then?” Mr Yashiro asked Yuko after she finished her story.

“No I haven’t,” answered Yuko “because even now when I think about my parents the bitter memories come flooding back to me. Not to mention I can still hear their shouting in my mind, so I still haven’t fully recovered from those times yet. Going home and seeing either my mum or dad again is something I still don’t feel like doing yet”.

Mr Yashiro understood and decided not to ask Shizuyo, Yuko and I anymore questions. Now I am going to tell you about the boy’s pasts Kiki. I’m warning you though, their stories are worse than mine, Shizuyo’s and Yuko’s.

Hiroshi lived with his parents and two younger sisters before, but his life was not happy. You won’t believe this Kiki but his mother didn’t love him. She only loved her two daughters. I’ll tell you the reason why in a minute Kiki. Mr Yashiro couldn’t believe it when Hiroshi told him that, which I’m sure you don’t believe either Kiki.

“My mother never cared for me during my life,” said Hiroshi “she never looked at me in the eye, never smiled at me and I have no memories of ever being held or hugged by her. Back then it was like I had done something terrible to make her hate me like that”.

“Did your father know about this?” asked Mr Yashiro.

“I think he did,” answered Hiroshi “because my dad always spent days with me when he wasn’t at work. He would also take me to parks and other places. Really he would do anything to make me happy I suppose. But he didn’t really do anything about my mum’s negligence; he just let her do whatever she was doing, like pretending to be blind to her actions”.

“That’s horrible,” said Mr Yashiro “and it wasn’t like that for your sisters?”

“Nope, they got all of mum’s love, attention and praise whereas I didn’t” said Hiroshi, a little sadly.

Here comes the worst part Kiki. One night when Hiroshi just turned eleven he found out the reason why his mother hated him. That night he heard his father shouting to his mother about her neglecting Hiroshi more than ever. During the argument Hiroshi’s father blurted out the reason why she hated Hiroshi was because she never wanted sons.

“That’s no excuse,” said Mr Yashiro, interrupting the story, “just because she didn’t want any sons, does not mean she should hate and neglect you Hiroshi”.

“I couldn’t believe it either,” said Hiroshi “I always thought it was because I was a bad boy to her. But hearing it was because I wasn’t wanted broke my heart completely”.

Here comes another worst part Kiki so brace yourself. Finding out the truth of his mother’s despise hurt Hiroshi so much it made him believe he shouldn’t live anymore.

“I know they say killing yourself is a sin,” said Hiroshi “but I was so hurt I couldn’t help but feel I shouldn’t live anymore”.

“You were just in shock and depressed of knowing the truth that’s all, and you are just a kid so you would feel like that” said Mr Yashiro.

“Three days after that night I learnt the truth, I went to the park where a big lake was,” said Hiroshi “I decided to end my life by drowning in the lake. I looked at the sky, praying to the heavens to forgive me and let me into heaven so I could be reborn into a family who would love me. Then I walked into the lake to make myself drown. What I didn’t know was a policeman was passing by on his bicycle and he saw me walk into the lake. I only knew that when he ran after me and got me out of the water. I struggled in the policeman’s arms and shouted ‘no let me go I want to die!’ But of course the policeman kept on holding me and telling me to calm down. After that he called for backup so he could take me to the police station and find out why I tried to drown myself”.

At the police station Hiroshi told the policeman everything about his mum’s hate and negligence towards him and told them why she hated him. He also told them about his dad failing to do anything about her. The policeman was cross from hearing that and decided to do something about it now. He asked Hiroshi where his dad worked and Hiroshi told him, and the policeman was on the phone to Hiroshi’s dad at once.

It wasn’t long till Hiroshi’s father entered the police station in a panic; he had heard about Hiroshi’s attempted suicide. He was cross and upset with what Hiroshi tried to do but he was happy that he was okay and pulled him into a hug. The policeman spoke severely to Hiroshi’s dad about his wife’s negligence towards Hiroshi and that he doesn’t do anything about it. Hiroshi’s dad sadly confessed that he always knew, ever since he married his wife, she didn’t want to have any sons. But he believed that she would have changed her mind once they did have a son, but of course when Hiroshi was born she didn’t change her mind.

“I don’t really know what to do,” said Hiroshi’s dad “I mean I hate how my wife treats our son, but I still love her and believe that she will come to her senses soon”.

“Oh really Mr Masui?” said the policeman, crossly, “then tell me this. What are you going to do if your wife continues to hate her son for the rest of her life? And what will you do if your wife gives birth to another son, and she treats him the same way she treats Hiroshi?” Hiroshi’s dad flinched and stayed silent. “Mr Masui,” said the policeman “you leave me no choice; I’m calling the child social authorities to see what they have to say about this, for the sake of your son’s happiness and future”.

So in the end Kiki the social authorities visited Hiroshi’s parents after hearing what the policeman told them. Of course the mother showed no remorse on her actions and showed how she only cared about her daughters. The authorities declared that Hiroshi would be sent to boarding school and the parents would not be allowed to see Hiroshi until Hiroshi said he wanted to see them again.

“So I transferred to the Kurai Jinsei Boarding school,” said Hiroshi “and before you ask Mr Yashiro no I have not contacted nor seen my family since then. I still hate my mum for how she treated me and I still don’t want to see my dad because he never tried to do anything about mum”.

“You really had a difficult time there Hiroshi,” said Mr Yashiro “and I’m glad the policeman was there to stop you from committing suicide. If you died you would never have met your five friends here”.

“It is true;” Hiroshi admitted “once I befriended Tatsuya and Kouhei I started to perk up and become happy again. And of course meeting Kyoko, Shizuyo and Yuko made it better”.

I’m certainly happy that Hiroshi is still here Kiki; I told you before I like him a lot.

Now I will tell you Tatsuya’s story. He lived with his mother and father in a house, but his life was very unfair. Tatsuya’s father was a C.E.O. of a company therefore he was very demanding and always expected too much out of people. It was the same on his wife and son. For example he expects his wife to always arrange his clothes to be ready in the morning before he goes to work, and always have dinner ready on the table for him when he gets back from work and never does anything himself. As for Hiroshi; his dad made him study all the time and not let him have any time to play and spend time with friends.

“That sounds like your father is one of those high demanding lords from the Meiji era;” said Mr Yashiro “wanting the whole family to always be perfect and not wanting them to have fun in case it disgraced the family name”.

“That’s exactly what he’s like,” said Tatsuya “and what’s even worse is that every time I found something that makes me happy, my dad would make a judge of it and then take it away from me like it’s a bad thing for me. As for my mum, well she loves me of course and I love her. But she always take’s my dad’s side. Back when I was starting to learn to read and write my dad made me practice reading and writing for hours nonstop. Of course I hated it and told my mum that but she just told me to do as my dad said and concentrate on learning to read and write. And another time, my mum got me some video games for my birthday to play with. But dad told her to take them back at once; to him video games are a waste of time and a distraction to my school work. I begged mum not to do that but she just said whatever dad says we do, and she took back the games”.

“Sounds to me your mother is the type of woman who can’t stand up to anybody, not even her own husband, like a real pushover” said Mr Yashiro.

“That’s exactly what she’s like,” said Tatsuya “I mean mum worked hard to keep him happy, but nothing she did satisfied him. And she just kept being the good obedient wife, and never stood up to him once no matter how unfair he treated her or me. The only time I ever became happy was when I was eight. At that time I made a friend with this boy named Riki who loved to play football. He was so full of spirit and I ended up bonding with him because not only did he teach me to play football, he also taught me how to have a good time with my life. But my dad didn’t like me spending time with Riki; he thought Riki was a bad influence on me and would put me off from my studies. Urgh it was the same when I made other friends around that time too. I felt like my dad didn’t want me to have friends at all”.

One summer day when Tatsuya was eleven he decided to rebel against his father’s orders for once. That time Riki and his family were going to move to live in another town, which of course made Tatsuya upset. But Riki asked Tatsuya if he wanted to spend the whole weekend with him playing football together for the last time. Tatsuya accepted at once because there was no way he was going to miss the chances of playing with his friend for the last time. The only problem was his father was never going to allow it, which is why Tatsuya made a plan.

“That Saturday I told my parents I was going to spend the day studying at the library,” said Tatsuya “of course that was a lie, but there was no way I was going to tell them, especially my dad, that I was going to play with Riki all day because they would never agree to that. My dad accepted that right away and told me to study hard while mum just told me to be careful. Then I left the house to secretly play with Riki. Playing with Riki that day was one of my best days ever; finally a whole day of laughing and playing and no studying so hard”.

“I understand that,” said Mr Yashiro “I like having a whole day to myself too without having to work and things. But what did you do about Sunday? The libraries are closed on Sundays”.

“Ah I asked my mum on that day if I could go and see Riki because he was going to move on Monday, and she agreed,” said Tatsuya “so I spent the Sunday at Riki’s house, having a good time and all. I even said my goodbyes to him and gave him a goodbye gift; a brand new football. It did make me sad because Riki was moving, but we promised to keep in contact with phone calls and letters of course. So I didn’t stay sad for long”.

Here comes the worst part of Tatsuya’s story Kiki. When Tatsuya got home after spending the last day with Riki, his father was there waiting for him and he was very cross. He had found out that Tatsuya lied about going to the library on Saturday and found about him spending two days with Riki and no studying. It made him so cross that he hit Tatsuya for lying and disobeying him. He even grounded him for the rest of the summer as well as not let him play with his friends for the rest of the summer.

“That was when I got cross with my dad,” said Tatsuya “I pushed him onto the floor, shouted I hated him and then went off to my room to have a tantrum. Later that evening my mum came into my room to check on me. I complained to her nonstop of how unfair it was of the way dad treated me and not let me be happy. I also complained about how I hated him for trying to make me a robot of studying”.

“How did your mum respond?” asked Mr Yashiro.

“At first she was silent,” said Tatsuya “but then she revealed to me that my dad decided to send me to boarding school. I told her that was fine with me; at least that way my dad wouldn’t control me there. Once summer was over I was sent to the Kurai Jinsei Boarding School immediately. I was glad I was going there because I had finally gained my freedom of my dad’s strictness and control. So I no longer had to live like a robot of studying”.

“I take it you’ve never gone home for holidays because of your father Tatsuya?” asked Mr Yashiro.

“You’re right about that;” answered Tatsuya “I mean if I ever stepped one foot in that house it would be my father demanding me to study all over the holiday. I so don’t want to go back to that again”. Mr Yashiro understood.    

I will now tell you Kouhei’s story, but I warn you Kiki his life was really unfair. Kouhei’s dad was an alcoholic and whenever he was upset with something he turned violent on his own wife and son. Kouhei’s mum got abused by him the most while Kouhei hid away in his room so he wouldn’t see or hear anything.

“Having an alcoholic and abusive parent is a worse thing to ever have,” said Mr Yashiro “did your dad ever hit you Kouhei?”

“Well what I ever got really was my dad throwing things at me like bottles and cans, which gave me cuts and bruises,” answered Kouhei “only my mum got the physical abuse like slaps, punches and kicks”.

Mr Yashiro didn’t like the sound of this story one bit, which I’m sure you don’t either Kiki.

“Did your mother ever ask for a divorce?” asked Mr Yashiro.       

“No,” answered Kouhei “you won’t believe this but despite the abuse my mum still remained faithful to my dad. She once told me that my dad used to be a kind man before and after I was born. And she hoped that he would go back to be kind and loving again, which is why she didn’t want to leave him”.

“That is a stupid way of thinking, not to mention dangerous,” said Mr Yashiro “once a person becomes violent and abusive, it’s impossible for them to stop being like that. That’s why it’s best to get away from people like that as soon as possible”.

“My mum’s friends, who knew about the abuse, said the same thing to my mum and told her again and again to leave him, but my mum wouldn’t have it” said Mr Yashiro.

One day though Kouhei got into a predicament with his dad when he was ten. He came home from school, finding neither his mum nor dad home yet. So the house was quiet for now. While the house was quiet, Kouhei took a bath and did his homework. But then he heard somebody coming to the house and he went to see who it was. Unfortunately it was his dad.

“I called out to him from the top of the stairs to say welcome back,” said Kouhei “but to my mistake my dad was in one of his moods again. He yelled at me from downstairs, asking where mum was. I told him she was probably out shopping, but he started accusing me of lying to him”.

“That’s one of the problems with alcoholic people, they’re not very good listeners and believers” said Mr Yashiro.

“Yes well I told him again I didn’t know, but he still didn’t believe me,” said Kouhei “then he came stomping up the stairs, grabbed me by my clothes, and asked me again where mum was. At that moment I started to get scared he would hit me like he hits mum, so I pushed him to make him let me go. But when I pushed him he fell down the stairs and became unconscious. After seeing what had happened I quickly ran down the stairs to see if my dad was okay, but he didn’t respond to me. So I quickly got to a phone and dialled 119 for an ambulance”.

It wasn’t long till an ambulance came and took Kouhei and his dad to the hospital. While at the hospital Kouhei told the doctor about what had happened.

“I can tell this wasn’t your fault Kouhei,” said the doctor “I have been told before about your father’s abuse, so don’t you worry”.

“My mum soon came to the hospital and the doctor told her what happened,” said Kouhei “it made her feel ashamed for not getting home before dad did and having to leave me to deal with dad alone. The doctor had a long talk about my dad and his abusive ways to mum and declared it was time that my dad was arrested for his abuse”.

“Forgive me for saying this Mrs Takayama but if you let that man continue his ways, you and your son may end up killed by him,” said the doctor “I have seen many people who have died at the hands of an abusive person”.

“Hearing the word killed made my mum finally agreed that my dad was too much of a dangerous man to stay with,” said Kouhei “and so she phoned the police and told them everything about my dad’s abuse. As soon as my dad recovered from the accident he was arrested immediately, which was fine with me because I didn’t want to see him ever again. When my dad got arrested and sent to prison, I thought my mum and I could finally live happy together without that man around. But I was wrong because not long after my dad’s arrest, my mother suddenly sent me away to the Kurai Jinsei Boarding School”.

What happened was Kiki; Kouhei’s mother fell into depression because of all that happened with her husband. And it made her take up drinking like her husband.

“Ah I see what had happened there Kouhei;” said Mr Yashiro “she sent you to the boarding school because she feared she would end up hurting you the same way your father did”.

“Yeah but I wasn’t happy when she did that;” said Kouhei “she made the whole decision without even telling me. She didn’t even give me a hug or a kiss goodbye when a car came to take me to the boarding school. Because of that I have refused to contact her or go home and see her once in a while. As of now I still cannot forgive her for abandoning me just like that”.

In my opinion Kiki it was good Kouhei did come to the Kurai Jinsei Boarding School because he was safe from having to live with his depressed mother. I have heard stories about people living with relatives who are depressed; and nothing good comes with staying with people like that, just like it isn’t good to stay with abusive people. And another good thing about Kouhei having been sent to the school was that he met new friends to make him happy again and forget about his parents.              

After my friends and I finished telling our stories to Mr Yashiro he sighed and looked at us with pity. “It all makes perfect sense now why you kids have stayed at the boarding school for six years or so and not gone home once” he said. He also had a look on his face saying ‘something has to be done about this’.

“There is something else we also need to tell you sir,” said Hiroshi “Tatsuya, Kouhei and I are still living troubled lives at the school. Because I attempted suicide, Tatsuya rebelled against his dad and Kouhei pushed his dad on some stairs by accident, we are still treated like we are problematic children that will do something bad again in a minute”.

“Say no more Hiroshi,” said Mr Yashiro “I have heard about how you boys are always under suspicion, especially by that gym teacher Mr Kisaragi; I also heard about that incident with him and the police two years ago. When I next phone the school I’ll have a talk with him about that”.

For some reason Kiki I felt better after my friends and I told Mr Yashiro our stories; it felt like having a father around to share my problems. I haven’t spoken to my dad for a long time so I’ve forgotten what it felt like to talk to a dad you know. Now you know the stories behind me and my friends Kiki. I told you they were long stories.