The card
Karasu made his way to the mailbox with a prep in his step. That is until he reached it. The young man groaned, seeing the birthday card, already knowing who it was from. Really, he was tempted to throw it away, but like every time, he pocketed it away instead. Karasu moved throughout the day as normal as can be. His classes went quickly. Lunch was relaxing with his uncles, and the extra lessons, work, and spending time with his fiancée just made the day go quicker. It was only around dinner time that he remembered the card. Not thinking it through, he pulled out the card and opened it, not realizing the mistake until she opened her mouth.
“Really, sweetheart, you open that here?” Karasu’s stepmother was silenced by a glare thrown her way by her husband.
“Well, open it if you want.” His father seemed to grow a bit older whenever Karasu got these cards. He started getting them the moment he moved out. It annoyed him since his mother had never cared for him until his father announced he was passing off the company to him when he was nineteen. It has been three years and three ruined birthdays. He wants these damn letters to stop.
“Why should I care?” He lays the card on the table and lets Nishie open it.
“Happy birthday my, sweet Kazue. I saw in a magazine, you were getting married. She looks beautiful, as always, and I hope she makes you happy.” Nishie looked around to see the table had gone silent. Even Karasu's grandparents, who were always talking, have gone silent. “I know I will never receive a letter from you. I gave up long ago, but please remember that I will always love you.”
“That is enough.” His stepmother stands up. “I believe we have all heard enough from it.” She reaches for the letter when Nishie speaks up again.
“What does she mean I gave up long ago?” She passes the card to Karasu, but he just drops it to the table. His father was quick and was looking it over himself before his stepmother could try again.
“It obviously means she gave up after the first few tries. The woman was never up for trying.” He goes back to eating when his father speaks.
“I must correct you there, your mother almost never gives up. Even while being beaten down, she never gives up. It took her until her first year of college to learn how to pick her battles."
“Not like she won anyway.” Karasu looks over at his stepmother, shocked.
“Wait you guys went to school together? Grandfather told me she never went to school.” Sasuke glares at Sakura and his parents.
“I believe it's best for us too.”
“Sit down, father, and you to mother, you, are not innocent in this.” Sasuke turns towards Nishie. “Dear girl, you can leave if you want. This will be a very uncomfortable conversation."
“I will stay.” She can see Karasu’s stepmother getting frustrated.
“We don’t need to talk, especially about her.” He silences her with another glare.
“You are the reason everything went so wrong. So be silent until my son is ready to speak with you."
“Father, what is it we need to talk about?” Nishie grips his hand, having an idea of how this could play out.
“Tell me what you know about your mother.”
“Not much, I was informed by grandmother that she never had to really work, and She came from no money.” His grandmother shrunk from the glare directed her way. “Grandfather told me she had no decent education and had the tendency to act like a gold-digger.” His grandfather cleared his throat, but Karasu could see the nervousness in his eyes as his father directed the glare at him. “Sakura.”
“Excuse me, I have told you multiple times. I am to be addressed as.” She continued screaming, and her demands were left unheard.
“That my mother was lazy, didn’t like working, never tried to find a job, and lived off other people in her life. I concluded that she only started sending these letters to me now because she wanted something from me.” Sasuke looked sad and even older.
“But, Honey, that still doesn’t make sense.” Nishie jumped seeing, everyone look at her. “Um, she said that she gave up long ago. Meaning she must have been sending them for a while?" She patted his hand to calm him down. "Your father also just said she wasn't the type to give up so easily."
“Then maybe they didn’t know her as well as they thought, and people can change.” His father clapped.
“Karasu, I want you to forget everything you’ve ever heard about your mother. I am going to tell you everything about her, and what I say should be everything you need to know.”
“What do you mean?” Sasuke stood up and led his son and soon-to-be daughter-in-law to a seating area.
“Get in here!” Karasu jumped. His father rarely raised his voice, and when he did, it wasn’t at home. His stepmother and both grandparents ran into the room and went to take a seat. “Stand where you are. When I’ve corrected your lies, you may sit down after apologizing to my son.” They nodded, looking fearful.
“Father, isn’t that a bit extreme?” He could see how tired his grandmother was starting to get.
“If they sit down even for a second, they better prepare to live on the street.” Everyone gulped. They knew he was serious. He was always serious about her. “Karasu, your mother was one of the most hopeful women I have ever known. She would smile at someone that tried to kill, her. I know this for a fact, she was the only person I could stand as a child. She had this aura around her that made you happy, just to have her around. I can remember how we met like it was yesterday.