Bonten's innocence

Chapter 53 - a chest of forgotten memories

"What are you doing here?" Mr Yutero, Ino's uncle asked spitefully glaring at the blonde, Ino grew uncomfortable under his gaze getting vivid flashback of her younger years "Yutero, long time no see" Kokonoi said playfully, the man's eyes widened, why were Bonten executives in his mother's house? Why was Ino still alive? What exactly is going on?

Mrs Yutero stood up and walked over to her son "mother what's-" Mrs Yutero didn't bother to listen, she slapped her son instantly, "how dare you and your wife lie to your mother's face" the woman spat angrily, "have I not raised you well enough to respect women and love your family? Answer Me?!" She yelled at him Ino sat in shock while the others watched in amusement, "what's happening?" The man asked still confused.

"You told me she was dead, or is this her ghost" The woman asked rhetorically, then it all came back, the lie he told his mother when she came back to Japan, "she was meant to die" he mumbled under his breath, his mother wasted no time slapping his other cheek after that comment, "you should be ashamed, selling your sister's daughter off for whatever reason, how shameless" the woman said guiltily, "she caused my sister's death, what's the problem?" He bit back, "shut up, your sister died from depression not from childbirth, you were being unreasonably wicked to a child" she retorted.

Ino looked at the floor angrily "I know you hate me uncle, I've already accepted it, I'm part of the reasons my mother died, but rubbing it in my face was unnecessarily wicked don't you think uncle" Ino chuckled bitterly at her own comment, "yes you are the cause, I thought Bonten would kill you off but you've just become their number one slut huh?" The man commented rudely.

Kokonoi swiftly moved to grab the man's collar slightly choking him "watch your mouth, don't you dare disrespect her like that ever again, or it will be the last thing you do" he warned aggressively, "it's alright let's go, I've heard about all I can take for one day" Ino croaked out, Kokonoi released the man and dusted off himself, "toxic motherfucker" he remarked before walking to Ino "let's go" Takeomi said.

The three walked out and Ino sighed when the cool breeze blew through her hair, "Ino wait!" Her grandmother's voice called out, Ino stopped and turned to look at her, the woman walked to her dragging a chest behind her, "what's this?" Ino asked, "it belonged to your mother, it is filled with her most priced possessions, I know I can't tell you the full truth, or say I'm right, or convince you to stay but this should shed some light on the past" the woman explained, Ino nodded and collected the box "thank you" she bowed and began to walk away.

"I know it's too much to ask but visit me soon" the elderly woman spoke as her grandchild walked away, "I'll try" was the only response she received, the two had tears streaming down their face, they needed time to rebuild what they once had, Takeomi helped Ino load the chest inside the car and they both entered, "are you ready to leave?" Kokonoi asked, "yeah I'm done here" Ino nodded and they drove away.

As soon as they made it back to the hotel Ino immediately dragged the chest into her room, closing the door behind her she sat down on the rug and began to open up the contents, the first thing that caught her eyes were two teddy bears, a white one and a brown one, she furrowed her brows, "why does this look so familiar?" She asked herself, next she pulled out a small flower bag, and some seeds, "what are all these?" She questioned getting more confused by the minute, then there were two books, a diary and a photo album.

Taking the album first she opened the first page, to see a young couple sitting at a cafe smiling lovingly at each other, she looked closer at the woman a beautiful brunette with bright pink eyes, that was her mother, and the man was a blonde with brown eyes, definitely her father, her heart tied in knots, they looked so in love with each other.

The next page was of the couple again, this time at what she presumed was the Eiffel tower, Ino continued to flips the pages automatically, she could feel the love radiated out of ever photo, her mother's warms smile which was foreign to her seemed to be regular occurence at the time, there was a section dedicated to her family, she could see her grandmother and uncle's happy faces when they interacted with the young couple, she never seen any of her uncles smile so happily.

She opened a page and saw her father on his knees with a ring, her mother had a shocked face, "this was probably the proposal" she whispered as she flipped through a few more happy pictures before seeing one that made her heart skip, it was a photo of her mum holding a positive pregnancy test with a bright smile on her face, "she looked so excited" Ino softly, tears started to stain the picture as she wiped her eyes quickly.

She turned the next page but it was empty, the rest of the album was empty, "what happened next?" Ino asked herself as she set the album down, she picked up the diary, at first it was normal and happy but everything took a downhill tumble from when her mother discovered she was pregnant.

"How could you do this to me
I hate you I hate you I hate you Mr park
You and Ria can burn in hell
How could you..."

Ino could feel the pain behind each sentence, she could see the dry places her tears had once stained, her chest tightened as she continued to read.

"What am I going to do?
I can't give birth to this child
I hate him
I'm in no condition to take care of any child
I'll abort it tomorrow"

"I can't do it
I can't abort the child
Is this some kind of sick joke
What's happening to me?
Does the the world hate me this much?"

"My baby looks just a combination of me and her father
I would have been happy to have her if not for the circumstances"

Under this writing there was a picture of Ino in an incubator as a new born, Ino slowly picked up the picture a hollow smile displayed across her face, "I didn't think I had any baby pictures" she smiled as her hand glided across the old photo, she continued to read.

"Why can't I love my daughter
Everything she does reminds me of her father
I took her out to the fair today
She smiled at me and I could only laugh when she said she loved me
I'm a horrible person"

This time it was Ino's tears that stained the writing there was another picture of her as a toddler with the two teddy bears in her arms

"I saw that bastard today
He wanted to take my daughter
But I won't let him
I don't want to be alone
She's all I have left"

Ino bit back her sobs as she continued page after page, her mother's words contradicted itself, was it love? Pain? Or was she mentally deranged? Ino wasn't sure but, at least she knew her mother thought about her throughout her last days.

"I can't take it anymore
I'm sorry mom
I'm sorry lil bro
I'm sorry big bro
I'm sorry Ino my daughter, I hnow you will never forgive me for everything, you'll grow up hating me, I accept that, it's not your fault, I cannot blame you, please be happy someday, go far away from everything, my beautiful daughter I love you so much"

In the end there was a picture of her and her mum feeding her as a baby, that was the last entry the day before her mother died, with all this Ino broke down completely, her heart screamed in pain, and grief over took her, that was the only time her mother ever said she loved her, and it was on paper, she choked on her own tears as she squeezed the plushies in her arms, "mum... I'm so sorry... You went through alot yet no one could understand you" she cried bitterly "rest in peace, I love you too" she whispered sadly.

"Should we go in?" Takeomi asked as him and Kokonoi stood outside the door, Kokonoi shook his head "I think we should leave her to her emotions today, this is not time to interfere" he said and they walked away.

Takeomi's phone rang, it was Mikey calling, he picked and put it on speaker "Good afternoon" he greeted "afternoon" the two greeted, "where's Ino?" Mikey asked "she's in her room" Takeomi answered, "did something happen" he questioned, "it's complicated, and I think she should tell us herself, but for now she definitely needs space" Kokonoi said, "fine, but make sure she eats something, don't leave her alone for today" Mikey said before hanging up.