The Rebel Persona

The Truth About Futaba

"What're you doing in my house", Sojiro asked, confused yet angry as Makoto got up from the floor and looked at Sojiro

"Oh... g-good... evening, sir... we... didn't mean... to intrude", Makoto stuttered, trying to regain her calm composure

"Niijima-san", Sojiro asked confused turning to Akira and Luna wanting to know answers until everyone else walked out from the corner

"You kids are here too", Sojiro yelled, his confused and angry tone returning

"Um, we brought you some sushi, but nobody answered when we rang the bell... the door was unlocked too", Ann said, "we could hear the tv though, so we got worried you might have passed out or something",

"The door was unlocked", Sojiro asked confused

"Yes", Ann said

"...I do that sometimes, guess I'm getting old", Sojiro said with a sigh

"Um, excuse me, there's something we'd like to ask", Makoto asked

"Hm, you wanna ask me", Sojiro said confused

"There's someone else living here... isn't there", Makoto asked

"Yeah, my daughter", Sojiro mumbled

"Could she be Futaba Sakura", Makoto asked

"You told Niijima-san too", Sojiro yelled angrily

"U-um... is there any way we could meet with Futaba-san", Makoto asked, "I think we may have frightened her earlier, so we'd like to apologize if at all possible",

"Well... that's...", Sojiro started to say but couldn't describe the words

"Is she sick", Makoto asked

"No, it's not like that, I don't want you all getting the wrong idea, I shouldn't have kept this a secret from you; let's talk at my shop, she'll hear us if we stay here", Sojiro said as everyone followed him back to LeBlanc; as everyone arrived, Sojiro sat at one of the bar seats, as everyone else either sat down or stood around him.

"Now, where do I start... Futaba's mother and I knew each other long before Futaba was born, her mother was a bit of a weird one", Sojiro explained, "but we got along well for some reason... she was sharp-witted, somewhat stern, a little socially inept, but always carefree... she truly was a great woman",

"I see", Makoto mumbled to herself

"When something piqued her interest, that'd be all she focused on, she always worked deep into the night; I thought that'd change after her kid was born", Sojiro stated with a laugh, "but having Futaba didn't do much, even with that, she always took good care of her,"

"Working and watching over a child at the same time sounds rough", Ann said

"I guess raising Futaba alone turned out to be tough on her in more ways than one," Sojiro said with a sigh

"What about her father", Akira asked

"There wasn't a father", Sojiro said

"Do you mean...", Yusuke began but couldn't finish what he was saying

"Well, there probably was one, I didn't know him though, she never said a word about him either; she was single when she gave birth to Futaba", Sojiro explained, "and single when she raised her, they were an ordinary, loving family, you could really tell how much she cared for Futaba... but one day, she left... leaving Futaba behind",

"Did she... die", Luna asked a bit uneasy about asking, and Sojiro nodded his head

"Yes, she committed suicide", Sojiro said which alarmed everyone