RP:The Ochanimizu Files; Tenma's Therapy Sessions

[AprilSeven]

I took care of everything. Everything!

Perfect. PERFECT!

[Prettywitchiusaka]

O; You know, now that you've mentioned it, perhaps we should look over the entries from when you first brought him home with you.

T; I suppose...Let me see...

(begins to flip through teh pages again)

T; Oh, here it is.

T; April 4th, 2003; Finally, I have completed my mission. He's so much like Tobio, it's remarkable. Hoshie however, has still not accepted him. I told her that in time, she will grow to love him, but she is still hesitant.

Regardless, I feel so much more accomplished, it's as if my Tobio had never left us. Perhaps now, I can make amends for what happened...

O; What happened? You mean the day of Tobio's death?

[Astro Forever]

(I wish I could have pushed this further, but I'm sooooo tired right now...)

Tenma: Yes... And then the distance in between Hoshie and I.

O'Shay: Let's go back to Tobio's death.

Tenma: No.

O'Shay: No....?

Tenma: It's too painful.

O'Shay: You need to properly mourn.

[Prettywitchiusaka]

T; I suppose. It's just that even now, it hurts to even discuss it...

O; I see...Alright then, let's discuss the growing distance between you and Hoshie. You said that she grew to love Astro.

T; Yes, but it took some time. At first, she was strongly disapproved of him. "He'll never replace our son" she told me. I assured her she would, though she was hesitant.

O; I take it your relationship began to go sour after that point.

T; I feared it would...until that day.

O; That day?

T; Yes, I had come home from work early to play with Tobio. As I did though, I couldn't help but feel anotehr pair fo eyes watching over us. It was Hoshie.

O; What did she do?

T; Nothing, at first. Eventually though, she came over and sat beside him. She played with him, she laughed, she even hugged him.

O; And what did you do.

T; I could only smile; it felt good to see her smile again, the smile that I fell in love with all of those years ago.

O'Shay can't help but smile as he hears that

O; I see. Umatarou, do you think she might have been forcing herself a bit there?

[Astro Forever]

Tenma paused for a few minutes.

Tenma: I am afraid I'm not very good at judging people's feelings. It had never occured to me that she might have been forcing herself... but I don't think she was.

O'Shay: Why?

Tenma: She didn't have to. I've never asked her to hug him or spend that much time with him, and she never laughed without reason.

O'Shay: Makes sense. And you felt happier?

Tenma: Yes, of course. Life felt normal again. I thought this would last forever.

[Prettywitchiusaka]

O; Before everything went sour for you again?

T; Yes.

[Astro Forever]

O'Shay: So you found yourself back to the starting point. And you never managed to truly deal with your pain.

Tenma sighed.

O'Shay: Astro couldn't be Tobio.

Tenma. No.

O'Shay: Let's talk about Tobio. What did you like the most in him?

[Prettywitchiusaka]

Tenma remains silent for a few minutes. This makes O'Shay worry for a breif period before he sees a smile form on Tenma's face

T; He was so innocent...

O; Innocent?

T; Yes. He saw everything with such wonder and vibrancy, like a child should. Why, just seeing him happy was enough to put a smile on my face.

O'Shay can't help but smile upon hearing this

O; Was there anything else you remember about Tobio? Did he have any hobbies?

T; Well, he was really into speed racing. In fact, I remember him mentioning it as his life goal a few times. But other than that, he also studied very hard.

O; Studied?

T; Yes. You see, my father always taught me that you have to work for what you want. I wanted Tobio to grow up to be independent like I had become, so ensured that he at least studied once a day. I even encouraged him to learn piano, even though it wasn't his favorite pass time.

O; I see. Exactly how much time did you spend with him?

T; Whenever I could; If it was possible, I would try to at least take him fishing or horseback riding over weekends, though that became increasingly hard once my workload increased.

O; I see. Do you have any regrets from that period?

T; Only that I felt neglectful of Tobio. But even I hadn't realized just how neglectful I had been.

O; Just how neglectful were you?

[Astro Forever]

Tenma: I'm afraid the time we spent together dropped dramatically over time. By the end, we would barely see each others at home. I didn't even know who his friends were anymore. He had a dog, and I had made him a robot friend, but it wasn't the same. It just seemed that there was always tomorrow, until...

O'Shay: ...until?

Tenma: Until that day when... there wouldn't be any more tomorrow...

[Prettywitchiusaka]

Silence takes over the room, that is until O'Shay speaks up rather hesitantly

O; Go on...That is if you're ready.

Tenma merely looks at him breifly before sighing once again

T; I'll try...But I can guarantee you it won't be easy for me.

O; I know, but just don't forget that you can stop whenever you want though.

T; Very well then...The week before Tobio passed away, I had told him that I would take him to see the Ministry as his birthday present.

O; Was he estatic?

T; Yes, he even wanted to bring our Nora robot along on the trip. I told him no however, I told her that she was just...a robot despite his pleas...

O'Shay notices that hesitance, and begins to wonder just how tragic this will be

O; So, what happened that same Sunday?