The Dream of the Butterfly

Written by Logan Prunty

Chapter One

New Bonds

                The Etsuo's house is quiet on this night; a slight breeze brings a chill and a bit of snow. The people of Ōsakagakugei rest for the night and prepare for the next day. Their small one floor house with only the essentials is perfect for the money that Chou gets from her job as a waitress. Since their father was killed after getting hit by a speeding car and their mother died of cancer just two years earlier, she was forced to take care of her little brother, Daichi. However their neighborhood is not exactly the best to live. The noise of screeching wheels wakes Daichi from his slumber. He walked down the hall towards the bathroom and noticed his sister’s bedroom door was open and the light was on. Daichi looked into his sister's room expecting to see his sister asleep at her desk like he had many other nights before, but was greeted with an absence of his sister completely. Only a single scrap of paper lies upon her bed. Daichi picked it up and read...

Dear Daichi,

                I'm sorry to leave you with only this note to say good bye, but there was something urgent and you may never see me again. I want you to sell the house and everything inside of it. We have no other relatives so you will have to go to the orphanage until you find a place to stay.

Your sister, Chou.

"Where could she have gone?"

Daichi searched all throughout the house for any trace of his sister, eventually going outside and calling for her.

"Chou?! Chou! Chou!!"

                He screamed and screamed for her, but to no avail. With each scream, the next became more and more drowned out by the sounds of his sobbing. Daichi, on his knees, calls the police and they search the area. Without any clues or leads, they decided that Chou had committed suicide, or just ran away from the city. Days passed and the police kept searching, but found nothing.

"I'm sorry kid but your sister is nowhere to be found and we can't find her body. She probably just went to a different part of Japan."

"No! My sister would never do something like that!"

"We can't keep using our resources on a lost cause, I will have the officers keep an eye out, but I'm closing the investigation. I’m not going to let you live alone, up to now I only let you stay at your house in case Cou came back. Some people from the orphanage will come by your place to pick up your belongings."

                As quickly as their search started, the police closed the case. On the verge of tears, Daichi stormed out of the police station and was greeted by his childhood friend. Unlike Daichi, Eri was not incredibly intelligent and struggled through school his whole life however, he was athletic.

"Daichi...

"Eri, what are you doing here?"

"Some of my friends that didn't drop out of high school heard that your sister went missing. I was worried and went over to your house and you weren't there. You weren't at the orphanage and you don't have anywhere else to go..."

"I still can't believe that you dropped out."

"I was failing miserably; I was not going to pass anyway."

"Didn't your parents kick you out?"

"Yeah, but I manage to keep living. I find work where I can, but enough about me, what is this whole thing with your sister about?"

"I found a not in my sister's room late at night last week, it said that I will never see her again."

"What reason would your sister have to leave all of the sudden?"

"None that I am aware of."

"Well as long as you are alright, my worst fears are put at rest. If I hear anything, I will let you know."

"Thank you Eri."

Chapter Two

Old Introductions

"Daichi! You are going to be late for school!"

                Daichi turns off the alarm in his small room and notices that it is already 5:30 in the morning. He slowly sits up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. Still tired from the sleepless night, he stops and lies back down.

"I'm not going today Ms. Ebby."

                Looking confused and distraught, the orphanage caretaker decides that Daichi has earned at least one day of rest as she continues back to her room to finish making herself pretty once more. The first day back from a short break and Daichi has already missed a day. Without him, class will still go on and by now, the teacher is finishing attendance.

"Akahana!"

"Here."

"Rei!"

"Here."

"Daichi! ... Daichi? Has anyone seen Daichi this morning? No? Alright."

                The class is surprised to see the straight a student missing from class. Some students even begin to whisper to each other...

"Psssst, Akahana."

"What is it Hamako?"

"Is Daichi sick?"

"How should I know?"

"Well you are the class rep; I thought you would have heard something. In any case you should visit him after school to make sure he is okay."

"I don't even know where he lives."

"He lives in Ms. Ebby's orphanage since he doesn't have any relatives to take care of him."

                The teacher keeps talking but has noticed that the students are not paying attention.

"Akahana!"

"Yes?"

"What is the answer to this equation?"

"Oh, umm...”

                School has ended and Eri still looks for work. While walking through the streets of poorly maintained buildings and run-down businesses, Eri overhears a man talking on his phone in the alleyway.

"I hired somebody to capture him. Dead or alive."

Eri leans on the adjacent building and listens carefully.

"Yes I already paid her, it should be done soon. What do you want me to do with his sister?"

Eri runs to the orphanage in hopes that the man was not talking about Daichi.

"Akahana, where are you going?"

"Aren't you the one that told me to visit Daichi?

“Oh, you’re actually going?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to karaoke tonight.”

“Sure.”

“Great! Be at my house at seven.”

“Okay.”

                Akahana walks past the homes for wealthy families and into the lower income part of the city. Being from a wealthy family herself, Akahana rarely goes to this part of Nagai and her father would go crazy if he knew that she was going to visit a boy. This part is not like where she lives, there are few stores and trash litters the streets. At least the area around the orphanage is clean. She opens and closes the front gate and rings the doorbell.

“Hello?”

“Are you Ms. Ebby?”

“Yes and who might you be?”

“I’m Akahana Chie from class 2-C, the same as Daichi.”

“Are you here to visit him?”

“Yes, is he here?”

“He has not left all day; I will take you to his room.”

“Thank you.”

                Akahana dodges the large amount of young orphans playing inside the house as she follows Ms. Ebby up to the second floor and to the end of the hall. Ms. Ebby knocks on the door and tells Daichi that a visitor has arrived and Akahana enters his room.

“Hello Daichi.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Akahana Chie; we are in the same class.”

“Why are you here?”

“Well you didn’t come to the school today and as the class rep, I decided to make sure that you were okay.”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

                They continue to talk about school and Akahana lends Daichi her notes as Eri arrives at the orphanage. Eri bursts open the door and yells for Ms. Ebby.

“Ms. Ebby! Is Daichi here?”

“Yes, a girl came to visit him-“

“Shit!”

                Eri runs up the stairs and down the hall; doors on either side of the hall open and concerned children exit their rooms. Gasping for air, he quickly opens Daichi’s door only to see confused faces.

“Daichi!”

“Eri what’s wrong?”

“Who is this girl?”

“My class rep.”

“Ah… Oh.”

“So, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Chapter Three

Life of a Delinquent

                The slums and ghettos of Nagai are where gang members, mobsters, petty criminals, and juvenile delinquents roam. Here, there are few stores; the ones that do exist are poorly maintained and don’t get much business. The houses and apartments are of poor quality with trash littering the streets. However, not all the people here are of bad character. Like every other day, Eri walks into the Dorīmuītā Group’s building to collect his paycheck for the small work he does as a messenger, debt collector, and chauffeur. On his way out, he is stopped by an old acquaintance and is not happy to see him.

“Eri!”

“Noboru?”

“Who else? Idiot.”

“What happened to your plans of joining the Yamaguchi-gumi in Kobe? Couldn’t take the heat?”

                Noboru was in the same class as Eri before his father was killed by the Dojin-kai for stealing drugs from a trade set up when he was in the eighth grade. He swore to bring them down by joining a rival gang. Noboru quickly realized that he could not handle the life of a Yakuza, so he chose the life of a delinquent instead. Since Noboru is working as a gopher for the Dorīmuītā, Eri is his superior. Without knowing this, Noboru pulls out a knife and slowly walks towards Eri.

“Noboru, I would put that knife away if I were you.”

“Why? Nobody is going to care if I kill you here.”

“You will be killed for insubordination. Even I have authority over a laundry boy like you.”

“What was that?!”

“I said, learn your place la-un-dry-boy.”

                A man walks up behind Noboru and takes the knife right out of his hand and throws him on the ground. His tall slender appearance gives off an uneasy feeling all around him.

“Eri, who is this punk?”

“Takeshi, this is Noboru.”

“Huh? Brats like him can join the Dorīmuītā? I know this is still a growing gang but still.”

“As long as I get paid at the end of each week, I’m not complaining.”

“Fine, but he still pulled a knife on you. What are you going to do with him?”

“He is not a problem for me, but you can to whatever you want with him.”

“If you’re not going to do anything with him, I will just let him go.”

“That’s just fine with me.”

“But I am taking his money.”

                Noboru lies on the ground, beaten and a broken man. He abandoned his family and himself when he left Kobe as well. He never did anything right and was always in trouble; without help or support, he will always just be a delinquent.

“Oh Eri, by the way, are you still hanging around that Daichi kid?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“I heard that his parents were involved in some Yakuza business back when they were young.”

“And?”

“Their deaths might not have been accidents.”

                Shocked at what he was hearing, Eri could not move or come up with a response. It was if time was frozen at that moment when he realized…

“His sister-“

“Be quiet, and don’t investigate it too deeply. You also didn’t hear this from me alright?”

“Okay.”

“Don’t tell anybody about it either, right now the whole thing right now is just a rumor. I should get going, I can’t keep my lady waiting. See you later Eri.”

“See you.”

                With seven years over Eri, Takeshi is 25 years old. They met each other on these streets, cold and hungry. They stayed together in order to survive their pitiful lives; the same reason they had for joining the Dorīmuītā. Even now they both look after one another. Winter is just around the corner, and now the first snowflake drops.

“I hate winter.”

Author's Note:

                To be honest, I like the length of the chapters as they are now. They are long enough for each event and story to take place without dragging it on and on, but they are not short enough to make it seem to go incredibly fast. I think I have enough descriptive phrases to keep the reader from having to think to much, but at the same time the book can let the reader's imagination be active so the story can be a little bit more immerse. However, these are just my opinions and this is why I posted these previews so please tell me what you think.