16 Chapter 15.5 - Takumi Gaiden; My Narcissism

"Is it done yet Sachi?" A high pitched female voice asked sounding frantic.

"Leave the boy alone, these things take time." replied a low voice of a male.

The sound of brush strokes rubbing against rough paper echoed through the large study, decorated with paintings and antiques of the highest quality.

"It's almost finished mother," the ten year old Takumi assured as he put the finishing touches on the portrait of his parents, Yua and Hiroshi Lin who were positioned in a seated manner facing each other.

As he put the last stroke on the painting he turned the easel around for them to view and critique, his artistic talents enabled him to perfectly replicate his mother's, short, gilstening white hair sitting upon her beautifully sculpted face and pronounced cheek bones. He managed to capture her long neck and frail body from head to waist.

As for his father, the length of his hair that was of a darker sheen of white that Yua which reached his broad shoulders and swayed past his light skinned, circular face as his bright blue eyes stared into the distance.

Yua took up the painting and ran across the room, praising Takumi immensely without even caring if it was dry or not, she just couldn't hold back her enthusiasm.

"Wow! Sachi, this is aw… *koff*…*hack*" Yua started a series of violent coughs that were so serious she began to spit blood and fall to the floor in a thud.

She was born with an extremely rare disease that gave her a very weak body, and her having coughing episodes and many other complications were a normal occurance, maybe for Hiroshi but every time this happened, it made Takumi feel as if he was struck by lightning.

"Takumi, go to your room and I'll take care of your mother!" his father ordered as he took Yua up in a bridal hold, "and get the maid to assist, go now!" but he was frozen in place, watching his dear mother struggle to control her breathing, after a final urge from Hiroshi he ran out of the study down the long hallway to his room.

He burst into tears on the way down when he bumped into Marisol, the chief maid.

"Young master Lin, what is the matter," she asked in a very respectful manner as she held him in her arms and as she saw the tearful sadness in Takumi's eyes she knew exactly what went wrong so she sent him off to his room, lifted her maid uniform above her knees and ran to Yua's rescue

***

Inside the master bedroom, extravagantly decorated with a visibly expensive wallpaper, Hiroshi laid Yua down on the large bed.

"Thanks dear, I'm really lucky to have a husband like you," Yua thanked as she wiped the blood from her cheek.

Hiroshi had a serious look on his face as he pulled up a small cushioned chair and sat by her side, running his hand over her forehead.

"Come on now, don't be such a sourpuss, you should be used to this by now," Yua tried to add some humor to the grim situation to lighten the mood but it didn't help Hiroshi's state of mind.

Soon after Marisol barged in, holding a towel and a small pouch.

"My apologies masters, Miss Lin needs her medicine."

Hiroshi nodded as he nudged Yua to sit up, but she was falsely snoring with her head turned away from them, but this happens everytime she had to get treatment and they saw right through it.

"Now now Yua, you need your medicine." Hiroshi advised firmly as she sat up and groaned complaining about how she hated taking it because it made her sleepy.

They ignored her ranting as it was for her own good and Marisol reached in the pouch and took out a syringe, filling it with fluid from a small bottle. She tied an elastic strap around Yua's hand and injected the medicine making her face twist in agony, she then dozed off a while later.

Meanwhile in Takumi's room, he had his face in a pillow crying a flood. He wasn't able to think of sleeping as the worry of his mother's deteriorating health gave him unsettling thoughts.

***

"mmmnn, I hate taking medicine, what time is it?" Yua just had the effects of her treatment wear off and she felt squeamish to the point of nausea.

She checked the clock on the wall and found out that night had fallen; as she slowly shifted over to the edge of the bed. She felt a hard structure against her leg which was the head of Hiroshi who seemed to have fallen asleep waiting on her to wake up and Yua felt a sense of gratitude that made a broad smile go across her face as she left a kiss on his cheek and decided to check on Takumi.

The walk to her son's bedroom was a very strenuous one, she felt weak in the legs and stumbled with almost every step but she would still press on, she even was offered help walking from the maids and butlers but kept insisting that she was fine and after bracing against the wall of the hallway, she reached him.

He was sitting on the floor, curled up with his head in his hands just crying away.

"Oh my dear boy! Get up, mommy's here." Takumi slowly lifted his head and exposed his face, wrinkled from endless crying. He sat on his bed wiping the never ending tears and Yua sat next to him, holding him tight.

"Do you know why I call you Sachi?" she asked as she rubbed her head against his, then came a heartwarming story of his nickname which meant 'miracle'.

She started with telling him that the many doctors she went to for check ups kept telling her that no matter how much she tried, she could never conceive and even if she did, the chances of her and the child dying were extremely high but after years of trying, they finally conceived Takumi.

The pregnancy was a really rough one due to her body suffering from carrying him and she could hardly get out of bed most of the times but they still persevered and they eventually got to the day of delivery.

At the hospital, Yua was in more pain than the average pregnant woman during birth, the contractions made the pains in her chest feel like hell and the doctors had no faith in her surviving. After thirteen hours of excruciating pain, she gave birth to a healthy baby Takumi, free of any complications.

The story made Takumi's tears dry up and he had a slight smile.

"So you see my big boy," Yua assured as she rubbed his head, "I'm trying to tell you that no matter what happens, if I die tomorrow, you'll always be the best, your a miracle, goodnight my little Sachi." with a kiss to his forehead she left him to sleep.

***

Five years later, Yua succumbed to her illness and at the rather small funeral, Hiroshi and Takumi cried out all the tears they had, they would miss her very dearly and from that day on, Takumi would always remember that special talk.

'you'll always be the best, you're a miracle.'