Heaven's Not Enough
Who: Zaku and Tomoko
When: July 7th-9th
What: Zaku tells Tomoko he needs to return to Japan to go to Karin's side after the miscarriage.
Where: Korea to Japan
The walk back to the hotel room couldn't have been any longer. Zaku found his thoughts tangled up in how he should tell Tomoko about Karin, returning to Japan and... the pregnancy. Is there any good way I could put it?? At all???
Upon his return, he found Tomoko was already at the door of the hotel room, locking up. Zaku paused a few yards away when she glanced at him and put the keys away into her purse.
"Zaku! There you are! I was just about to look for you. I'm starving, so let's go grab something quick to eat. I'm pretty sure I saw a fast food Chinese take-out place down the road..." Tomoko looked at Zaku, who had a sullen look on his face and was avoiding eye contact with her as she spoke. "Hey, is something wrong?"
Zaku looked up, snapping out of his brief state of depression. "Huh? Oh... nothing... I think I'm just tired..."
Tomoko looked at him with a skeptical eye, suspecting a lot more than him just being tired. "I see..." Then she returned to her perky, vacation-mode self and started towards the rental car. "Well, I'm sure some food will do you good!"
"Yeah..."
The trip to the restaurant was awkward for Zaku, who kept unusually quiet the whole time and watched the world outside as dusk turned to darkness. Tomoko kept a watchful eye on him and wondered if something bad had happened in terms of his relationship with Karin, though she kept thoughts to herself despite her curiosity.
After receiving their food at the drive-thru, Tomoko batted Zaku's hands away from the bag. "I have a location in mind that would be great to eat dinner. It's only a few miles away."
Zaku glared at her, but didn't say anything to fight back. He wasn't actually hungry, but didn't expect her to make him wait, either. It's hard to feel hungry at a time like this...
The drive wasn't long and Zaku rolled his window down to let the cool summer breeze ruffle his hair. This island was definitely a peaceful place, and if it wasn't for Karin, he wouldn't have wanted to leave it at all. It was far from disruptions, school, cities, his dad... if only Karin was there, it would have been perfect...
Tomoko turned the car onto a smaller road a few minutes away from town and drove down towards the beach where the pair got out with their dinner and made their way out to a picnic table. There, Tomoko helped Zaku make himself comfortable and get him situated with meal. Once everything was set up, Tomoko thanked the gods for the meal. "Now we dig in!" she stuck her chopsticks into her noodles eagerly and twirled up a globular mass, scooping it into her mouth, comically letting some of the noodles hang out in order to try and cheer up a rather downer of a son. She looked up when she realized he hadn't even tried to eat. He just sat there, toying with his food a little with his chopsticks. Tomoko narrowed her eyes, concerned. "Zaku? What's wrong? The food is really good."
Zaku glanced up weakly with his eyes, not moving his head, then looked back down at the meal before him, slowly lifting a few noodles to his mouth to eat.
"Did something happen with Karin? You've been unusually quiet ever since you were on the phone with her-"
"I didn't talk to Karin, mom." Zaku said, irritated.
"...You didn't? Then why did you stay out so long to talk??" Tomoko lowered her chopsticks, but didn't put them down.
"Hiro... that guy her mother is with. He called..." Zaku twirled his noodles again, nervous out of his mind. "Karin is... in the hospital..."
"What!?!? What happened, Zaku?!?!" Tomoko's eyes grew big, suddenly very concerned. "Will she be okay???"
"She will be fine... Hiroshi said she would be able to go home soon..." Zaku avoided the reason why she was in the hospital in the first place. "I told him I would be back in Japan in two days to go see her... check on her... you know... she will probably want to see me."
Tomoko's expression softened, relieved that Karin would be fine, but saddened that Zaku wanted to cut his vacation short. She understood his reasons for it... he was worried about her and she was important to him. Letting out a heavy sigh, she replied, "I'd really hate to cut this vacation short... it was all for you..."
"I know, mom, I know. I don't want to cut it short, either, but Karin comes first..." Zaku still refused to make eye contact, afraid that Tomoko would be able to see right through him and figure out that there was a lot more to this story than met the eye.
"...Fine, I will see what we can do about changing our plans. There's still several places I'd like to see... but I wouldn't want to run around with a depressed limpy boy who was constantly worried about his sweetheart, you know?" Tomoko winked, completely understanding of her son's situation and wanting to help any way she could. "Now eat up. If we are going to make it back in two days we will be running around a lot, so we'll need our strength!" Tomoko dove into her food once again.
Zaku, relieved that he wouldn't have to explain Karin's situation, smiled a little, optimistic that he would be able to succeed at keeping the pregnancy a secret from Tomoko. "...Yeah!" he said hesitantly. She isn't suspicious at all... I need to make sure I don't have any slip-ups. She can't find out about this...
The two ate in peace, though Tomoko kept her eye out on Zaku's body language to see if she could learn anything more about the situation with Karin. She was curious, but didn't want to get too nosy about the subject. The last thing she wanted to do was say something wrong about it if it was truly serious and personal. Zaku isn't exactly 'stable' when it comes to his emotions... if I ask, I will need to be careful. Tomoko cracked a few jokes at him in order to get him to smile and not dwell on the possibly negative things going on back home in Japan.
After dinner was over and the two were satisfied, they walked down the beach a little ways and watched the ocean lap against the shores in the starlight of the cloudless night. It was a beautiful place and Tomoko was intent on making sure she remembered every detail of the night. When Zaku started slowing down, she knew it was time to return to the hotel room and call it a night. As soon as Zaku was back in the passenger's seat of the car, he passed out, though Tomoko was still wide awake. Not wanting to return to the hotel right away and knowing Zaku was getting some rest, she decided to take the long way back by taking the road all the way back around the island. It wasn't far, but Tomoko wanted to savor every moment of the peaceful night that she could. Besides, Zaku is so sweet when he sleeps like that...
Within the hour, they were already back at the hotel where she gently woke Zaku to get him to bed. Helping him inside, she just let him sleep in his clothes while she turned off the lights and watched some TV until she was finally sleepy enough to go to bed. Before she turned in for the night, she stood over Zaku's peaceful sleeping form with motherly care and concern. I'm sure allowing him to go back to Japan will be the best thing for him... and Karin, too. However, Tomoko's gut feeling told her there was more to the story than what Zaku had told her. I guess I will just wait and see about this one. After kissing him good night, she pulled up a blanket to make sure he stayed warm before heading off to bed herself.
"Good night, Zaku... I will see you in the morning..." she said before drifting off...
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Tomoko woke Zaku bright and early the next morning to catch the first ferry back to the mainland. Zaku, though grumpy, went along with her early rising and slept in the car for the first part of the ride. Halfway through, Zaku woke up and joined Tomoko on the upper deck to watch the ocean with her.
"Heya, sleepyhead! Finally decided to join the living?" Tomoko smirked and ruffled his hair.
Zaku glared at her for doing that, still annoyed at having to wake up so early, but enjoyed the ocean air. In the water below, a splash caught his attention. Looking more closely to figure out what the splash was made from, he watched as some dolphins were riding the wake created by the ferry. Never seeing that before, Zaku momentarily forgot all of his concerns to watch them leap and play in the peaceful water now disturbed by the large ship.
Tomoko caught him smiling and followed his gaze down to the water. "Ah! I see you've caught sight of those dolphins. They've been following us on and off ever since we left the island. Funny little guys, aren't they?" Her expression was soft as she observed her son's childlike fascination with the dolphins.
Zaku watched them until they disappeared beneath the surf once more and Tomoko asked him if he would like to go below deck for some lunch. Eager and back in the right state of mind for fun, Zaku happily followed Tomoko down to get some lunch. Afterwards, they were almost to the port where they would begin their long drive back to Seoul where they would catch a flight back to Tokyo.
The drive to Seoul took about three hours. During the ride, Zaku kept watching the scenery around him, feeling more at home in Korea than he ever had back in Japan. It was a strange feeling... especially since he had never been there before in his entire life. Everything was just... "right". Deep down, he was depressed to have to leave it all so soon, and he hoped he could return in the not-so-distant future. But with Karin next time.
Arriving at the airport, Tomoko checked with different airlines to see what the best choice was for flying to Japan and picked a flight that wouldn't be leaving until 10am the following day. Zaku nodded and then told her he needed to make a quick bathroom break, though in reality, he wanted to have some private time to try and call Hiroshi.
After a brief conversation with Hiroshi, Zaku learned Karin was back at home instead of the hospital. A good sign, now all I have to do is get there. Zaku also told Hiroshi that he will be showing up to visit with Karin the next day, though it wasn't until after he turned off the cell phone when he realized his own parents wouldn't be a good means of transportation. Dammit... I can't let them near Karin's mom or Hiroshi. Suddenly Zaku was faced with a balancing act of who will end up knowing and who the whole thing would be kept secret from. Maybe I can just have my mom stay in the car? Yeah, that should work...
Incheon Airport was a very large and new airport with interesting architecture and once Zaku returned to Tomoko, they decided to do a little sightseeing for the rest of the evening and go out for some authentic Korean food.
"There's so much to see and do here... I want to come back soon." Zaku muttered while watching the coastal scenery go by.
Tomoko smiled and nodded, despite Zaku having a more distant mood than earlier. "I'm sure you can come back here eventually."
They spent the night at the airport after Tomoko returned the rental car. The chairs were actually quite comfortable and Zaku slept hard. This trip sure did wear him out. Tomoko thought to herself as Zaku rested his head on her lap while he slept. Maybe I pushed him too hard for his injuries... Tomoko decided that it was probably an all-around good idea to return home early. She wasn't sure if Zaku could handle another day of traveling around.
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The next day, they took their time waking up and were the first ones onto the flight back to Tokyo. Zaku grumbled about not having a restful night's sleep but Tomoko kept him awake by distracting him with stories and flipping through the photos on her digital camera.
Damn, she took a lot of pictures. Zaku thought as she shared with him every moment of their trip. The memories were all good, though, and seeing the photos relaxed Zaku enough to sit still during the short flight back to Japan. Arrival went smoothly, though once they were in Tokyo, Tomoko had to call a grumpy Ryuunorou to come to the airport to pick them up. Tomoko had called him the night before to say they were coming back, but he was not thrilled with the reason behind their decision.
Ryuunorou had not liked the idea of Zaku dating in the first place and he was sure that Karin would become a problem in the long run. Tomoko managed to convince Ryuu to just let Zaku come home to Karin this one time, explaining how good of a girl Karin was and that he had nothing to worry about with her. Ryuu, familiar with Tomoko's good judgement, decided to go along with her plea. If Tomoko trusted the girl, in Ryuu's mind, then he would let this whole dating scenario slide... for now, though Ryuu would rather Zaku not date at all until he was 18.
It wasn't long before Ryuu was at the airport and drove Tomoko and Zaku home. Tomoko talked about how fun the trip was while Zaku just sat in the back seat, not wanting to speak in the presence of his adoptive father. Ryuu spoke minimally, but was glad Tomoko had a good time with Zaku on their trip since that was the purpose of it, afterall. Despite him being a large, quiet man, Ryuu was secretly interested in all of Tomoko's photos, but didn't think even once about the sketches Zaku could have made while he was away.
It was already after 3pm when they got home and were greeted by an eager Fathom. Tomoko and Ryuu went to the living room to talk about the trip while Zaku made his way up the stairs, slowly, to his room so he could lie down a little. The whole trip was exhausting but now he would have to find a way to get to Karin's place. He thought of walking there... he had done it before... but then he remembered his crutch and decided that wouldn't work this time. The bus maybe? The closest stop was further away than he had been able to walk since the accident, and it was hot outside. The chances of making it there seemed pretty bad.
Dammit, I'll need to ask for a ride... Zaku knew it was his only reasonable choice of action.
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After a few hours of resting, Zaku headed downstairs for some food and to ask Tomoko if she would drive him to Karin's place. Ryuu was nowhere to be seen, and Zaku was thankful for that. Tomoko then nodded in agreement to take him to Karin's, though she found it odd Zaku asked that she wouldn't leave the car. He made up the reason that he didn't want her to meet face to face with Tsubame and that he should be able to take care of everything himself. Tomoko glared at him with suspicion and promised him she would stay in the car.
The drive over to Karin's place felt long from Zaku's anticipation. Edgy from the stress of being away from her for so long and a lack of decent sleep, Zaku was far from being in his best mental condition, but he wanted to go see her anyways, confident that he would feel better and make Karin feel better if he was to show up.
Tomoko eyed Zaku's antsy movements, wondering what was really going on...
When: July 7th-9th
What: Zaku tells Tomoko he needs to return to Japan to go to Karin's side after the miscarriage.
Where: Korea to Japan
The walk back to the hotel room couldn't have been any longer. Zaku found his thoughts tangled up in how he should tell Tomoko about Karin, returning to Japan and... the pregnancy. Is there any good way I could put it?? At all???
Upon his return, he found Tomoko was already at the door of the hotel room, locking up. Zaku paused a few yards away when she glanced at him and put the keys away into her purse.
"Zaku! There you are! I was just about to look for you. I'm starving, so let's go grab something quick to eat. I'm pretty sure I saw a fast food Chinese take-out place down the road..." Tomoko looked at Zaku, who had a sullen look on his face and was avoiding eye contact with her as she spoke. "Hey, is something wrong?"
Zaku looked up, snapping out of his brief state of depression. "Huh? Oh... nothing... I think I'm just tired..."
Tomoko looked at him with a skeptical eye, suspecting a lot more than him just being tired. "I see..." Then she returned to her perky, vacation-mode self and started towards the rental car. "Well, I'm sure some food will do you good!"
"Yeah..."
The trip to the restaurant was awkward for Zaku, who kept unusually quiet the whole time and watched the world outside as dusk turned to darkness. Tomoko kept a watchful eye on him and wondered if something bad had happened in terms of his relationship with Karin, though she kept thoughts to herself despite her curiosity.
After receiving their food at the drive-thru, Tomoko batted Zaku's hands away from the bag. "I have a location in mind that would be great to eat dinner. It's only a few miles away."
Zaku glared at her, but didn't say anything to fight back. He wasn't actually hungry, but didn't expect her to make him wait, either. It's hard to feel hungry at a time like this...
The drive wasn't long and Zaku rolled his window down to let the cool summer breeze ruffle his hair. This island was definitely a peaceful place, and if it wasn't for Karin, he wouldn't have wanted to leave it at all. It was far from disruptions, school, cities, his dad... if only Karin was there, it would have been perfect...
Tomoko turned the car onto a smaller road a few minutes away from town and drove down towards the beach where the pair got out with their dinner and made their way out to a picnic table. There, Tomoko helped Zaku make himself comfortable and get him situated with meal. Once everything was set up, Tomoko thanked the gods for the meal. "Now we dig in!" she stuck her chopsticks into her noodles eagerly and twirled up a globular mass, scooping it into her mouth, comically letting some of the noodles hang out in order to try and cheer up a rather downer of a son. She looked up when she realized he hadn't even tried to eat. He just sat there, toying with his food a little with his chopsticks. Tomoko narrowed her eyes, concerned. "Zaku? What's wrong? The food is really good."
Zaku glanced up weakly with his eyes, not moving his head, then looked back down at the meal before him, slowly lifting a few noodles to his mouth to eat.
"Did something happen with Karin? You've been unusually quiet ever since you were on the phone with her-"
"I didn't talk to Karin, mom." Zaku said, irritated.
"...You didn't? Then why did you stay out so long to talk??" Tomoko lowered her chopsticks, but didn't put them down.
"Hiro... that guy her mother is with. He called..." Zaku twirled his noodles again, nervous out of his mind. "Karin is... in the hospital..."
"What!?!? What happened, Zaku?!?!" Tomoko's eyes grew big, suddenly very concerned. "Will she be okay???"
"She will be fine... Hiroshi said she would be able to go home soon..." Zaku avoided the reason why she was in the hospital in the first place. "I told him I would be back in Japan in two days to go see her... check on her... you know... she will probably want to see me."
Tomoko's expression softened, relieved that Karin would be fine, but saddened that Zaku wanted to cut his vacation short. She understood his reasons for it... he was worried about her and she was important to him. Letting out a heavy sigh, she replied, "I'd really hate to cut this vacation short... it was all for you..."
"I know, mom, I know. I don't want to cut it short, either, but Karin comes first..." Zaku still refused to make eye contact, afraid that Tomoko would be able to see right through him and figure out that there was a lot more to this story than met the eye.
"...Fine, I will see what we can do about changing our plans. There's still several places I'd like to see... but I wouldn't want to run around with a depressed limpy boy who was constantly worried about his sweetheart, you know?" Tomoko winked, completely understanding of her son's situation and wanting to help any way she could. "Now eat up. If we are going to make it back in two days we will be running around a lot, so we'll need our strength!" Tomoko dove into her food once again.
Zaku, relieved that he wouldn't have to explain Karin's situation, smiled a little, optimistic that he would be able to succeed at keeping the pregnancy a secret from Tomoko. "...Yeah!" he said hesitantly. She isn't suspicious at all... I need to make sure I don't have any slip-ups. She can't find out about this...
The two ate in peace, though Tomoko kept her eye out on Zaku's body language to see if she could learn anything more about the situation with Karin. She was curious, but didn't want to get too nosy about the subject. The last thing she wanted to do was say something wrong about it if it was truly serious and personal. Zaku isn't exactly 'stable' when it comes to his emotions... if I ask, I will need to be careful. Tomoko cracked a few jokes at him in order to get him to smile and not dwell on the possibly negative things going on back home in Japan.
After dinner was over and the two were satisfied, they walked down the beach a little ways and watched the ocean lap against the shores in the starlight of the cloudless night. It was a beautiful place and Tomoko was intent on making sure she remembered every detail of the night. When Zaku started slowing down, she knew it was time to return to the hotel room and call it a night. As soon as Zaku was back in the passenger's seat of the car, he passed out, though Tomoko was still wide awake. Not wanting to return to the hotel right away and knowing Zaku was getting some rest, she decided to take the long way back by taking the road all the way back around the island. It wasn't far, but Tomoko wanted to savor every moment of the peaceful night that she could. Besides, Zaku is so sweet when he sleeps like that...
Within the hour, they were already back at the hotel where she gently woke Zaku to get him to bed. Helping him inside, she just let him sleep in his clothes while she turned off the lights and watched some TV until she was finally sleepy enough to go to bed. Before she turned in for the night, she stood over Zaku's peaceful sleeping form with motherly care and concern. I'm sure allowing him to go back to Japan will be the best thing for him... and Karin, too. However, Tomoko's gut feeling told her there was more to the story than what Zaku had told her. I guess I will just wait and see about this one. After kissing him good night, she pulled up a blanket to make sure he stayed warm before heading off to bed herself.
"Good night, Zaku... I will see you in the morning..." she said before drifting off...
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Tomoko woke Zaku bright and early the next morning to catch the first ferry back to the mainland. Zaku, though grumpy, went along with her early rising and slept in the car for the first part of the ride. Halfway through, Zaku woke up and joined Tomoko on the upper deck to watch the ocean with her.
"Heya, sleepyhead! Finally decided to join the living?" Tomoko smirked and ruffled his hair.
Zaku glared at her for doing that, still annoyed at having to wake up so early, but enjoyed the ocean air. In the water below, a splash caught his attention. Looking more closely to figure out what the splash was made from, he watched as some dolphins were riding the wake created by the ferry. Never seeing that before, Zaku momentarily forgot all of his concerns to watch them leap and play in the peaceful water now disturbed by the large ship.
Tomoko caught him smiling and followed his gaze down to the water. "Ah! I see you've caught sight of those dolphins. They've been following us on and off ever since we left the island. Funny little guys, aren't they?" Her expression was soft as she observed her son's childlike fascination with the dolphins.
Zaku watched them until they disappeared beneath the surf once more and Tomoko asked him if he would like to go below deck for some lunch. Eager and back in the right state of mind for fun, Zaku happily followed Tomoko down to get some lunch. Afterwards, they were almost to the port where they would begin their long drive back to Seoul where they would catch a flight back to Tokyo.
The drive to Seoul took about three hours. During the ride, Zaku kept watching the scenery around him, feeling more at home in Korea than he ever had back in Japan. It was a strange feeling... especially since he had never been there before in his entire life. Everything was just... "right". Deep down, he was depressed to have to leave it all so soon, and he hoped he could return in the not-so-distant future. But with Karin next time.
Arriving at the airport, Tomoko checked with different airlines to see what the best choice was for flying to Japan and picked a flight that wouldn't be leaving until 10am the following day. Zaku nodded and then told her he needed to make a quick bathroom break, though in reality, he wanted to have some private time to try and call Hiroshi.
After a brief conversation with Hiroshi, Zaku learned Karin was back at home instead of the hospital. A good sign, now all I have to do is get there. Zaku also told Hiroshi that he will be showing up to visit with Karin the next day, though it wasn't until after he turned off the cell phone when he realized his own parents wouldn't be a good means of transportation. Dammit... I can't let them near Karin's mom or Hiroshi. Suddenly Zaku was faced with a balancing act of who will end up knowing and who the whole thing would be kept secret from. Maybe I can just have my mom stay in the car? Yeah, that should work...
Incheon Airport was a very large and new airport with interesting architecture and once Zaku returned to Tomoko, they decided to do a little sightseeing for the rest of the evening and go out for some authentic Korean food.
"There's so much to see and do here... I want to come back soon." Zaku muttered while watching the coastal scenery go by.
Tomoko smiled and nodded, despite Zaku having a more distant mood than earlier. "I'm sure you can come back here eventually."
They spent the night at the airport after Tomoko returned the rental car. The chairs were actually quite comfortable and Zaku slept hard. This trip sure did wear him out. Tomoko thought to herself as Zaku rested his head on her lap while he slept. Maybe I pushed him too hard for his injuries... Tomoko decided that it was probably an all-around good idea to return home early. She wasn't sure if Zaku could handle another day of traveling around.
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The next day, they took their time waking up and were the first ones onto the flight back to Tokyo. Zaku grumbled about not having a restful night's sleep but Tomoko kept him awake by distracting him with stories and flipping through the photos on her digital camera.
Damn, she took a lot of pictures. Zaku thought as she shared with him every moment of their trip. The memories were all good, though, and seeing the photos relaxed Zaku enough to sit still during the short flight back to Japan. Arrival went smoothly, though once they were in Tokyo, Tomoko had to call a grumpy Ryuunorou to come to the airport to pick them up. Tomoko had called him the night before to say they were coming back, but he was not thrilled with the reason behind their decision.
Ryuunorou had not liked the idea of Zaku dating in the first place and he was sure that Karin would become a problem in the long run. Tomoko managed to convince Ryuu to just let Zaku come home to Karin this one time, explaining how good of a girl Karin was and that he had nothing to worry about with her. Ryuu, familiar with Tomoko's good judgement, decided to go along with her plea. If Tomoko trusted the girl, in Ryuu's mind, then he would let this whole dating scenario slide... for now, though Ryuu would rather Zaku not date at all until he was 18.
It wasn't long before Ryuu was at the airport and drove Tomoko and Zaku home. Tomoko talked about how fun the trip was while Zaku just sat in the back seat, not wanting to speak in the presence of his adoptive father. Ryuu spoke minimally, but was glad Tomoko had a good time with Zaku on their trip since that was the purpose of it, afterall. Despite him being a large, quiet man, Ryuu was secretly interested in all of Tomoko's photos, but didn't think even once about the sketches Zaku could have made while he was away.
It was already after 3pm when they got home and were greeted by an eager Fathom. Tomoko and Ryuu went to the living room to talk about the trip while Zaku made his way up the stairs, slowly, to his room so he could lie down a little. The whole trip was exhausting but now he would have to find a way to get to Karin's place. He thought of walking there... he had done it before... but then he remembered his crutch and decided that wouldn't work this time. The bus maybe? The closest stop was further away than he had been able to walk since the accident, and it was hot outside. The chances of making it there seemed pretty bad.
Dammit, I'll need to ask for a ride... Zaku knew it was his only reasonable choice of action.
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After a few hours of resting, Zaku headed downstairs for some food and to ask Tomoko if she would drive him to Karin's place. Ryuu was nowhere to be seen, and Zaku was thankful for that. Tomoko then nodded in agreement to take him to Karin's, though she found it odd Zaku asked that she wouldn't leave the car. He made up the reason that he didn't want her to meet face to face with Tsubame and that he should be able to take care of everything himself. Tomoko glared at him with suspicion and promised him she would stay in the car.
The drive over to Karin's place felt long from Zaku's anticipation. Edgy from the stress of being away from her for so long and a lack of decent sleep, Zaku was far from being in his best mental condition, but he wanted to go see her anyways, confident that he would feel better and make Karin feel better if he was to show up.
Tomoko eyed Zaku's antsy movements, wondering what was really going on...