Two Days Later
Tokyo grieved for the loss of its brightest star; their people lined the
streets to see the body of the orphaned child that the country had adopted
as their own. Somehow, all at once, he had become the parentless
child and the child of the nation’s heart; they cheered at his successes,
and wept at his few failures, some attended his graduation ceremonies -
he was everybody’s son. Ami stepped out of the car slowly, shielding
her face from the glare of the limelight; she felt the overwhelming compassion,
love and sadness radiating from the crowd into her soul. She breathed
the feeling into her lungs and entered the funeral home with her head held
high, eyes fixed in front of her without really seeing. In her hands,
she tightly clutched the few words that she had prepared for his eulogy;
there was no one else to speak for him but herself; he had no family, no
relatives, few friends but his skating instructor and herself, his manager
was his manager, that was that… It seemed ironic that someone who was loved
by so many was understood by so few.
Ami was thankful that the reasons for his suicide had been withheld from
the press; the press had been hungry for information regarding his death.
Her mother had pulled strings with friends, called in favors owed to her
by the police department since the proximity of her job at the Emergency
Ward and the dealings with homicide investigators. Of course, there
had been the influence of Dr Daiki, firmly stating that there was no foul
play and nothing would be realized by the continuation of the investigation,
the police subsequently closed the books forever. Asuka had written two
notes, one addressed to her, and the other, a blank envelop for whomever
it was that would find it and open it - most probably the police.
The police note had merely confirmed that he had willingly understood the
consequences of his actions and had taken his own life and chose, for the
first time, to reveal his full name to the public.
Ami’s note was the only one that stated his full reasons for his death,
and it would seem that now, the police would claim that the note was in
fact never found at the scene and his reasons would never be known.
They had not opened it prior to confiding in her mother that there was
a note addressed to Ami Mizuno, and they did not open it after they told
her; they had simply handed it over discreetly, and conveniently forgot
about its existence. If it had been known to the public that Asuka
had suspected himself of suffering from epilepsy, the media would have
had a feeding frenzy, they were like vultures, circling the dead waiting
for the juicy bits. His reasons would always remain a mystery to
everyone, not even the police ‘knew’, nor would they ever chase down his
heritage as a Tsujimoto - the son of psychotic criminal. The case
was closed, and the police force assured Dr Mizuno that it would forever
remain that way.
She lightly touched the bunch of forget-me-nots, sunflowers and lilies
that she had chosen and prepared for him, tied with a teddy bear skating
figurine key-chain and his lucky medal. Sunflowers, because in her
mind, he might have passed on, but he was still the sun in her life, lilies
because they were their flowers, and forget-me-nots, to tell him that she
would never forget him. Unconventional, she knew, but then, their
friendship was unconventional, who would have thought that the most popular
person in the school would have made friends with the quietest, bookish
person in the school…
She rose from her seat slowly as the priest stood aside from his stand
at the microphone after his brief words regarding Asuka’s character.
She passed the open casket, allowing her fingers to drift over the cold,
varnished wood that would be his bed forevermore; she placed the bunch
of flowers onto his chest and touched his cheeks lightly. She couldn’t
help but smile, “you look good with rosy cheeks, you are going to spend
the rest of eternity with cheeks that suit your disposition.”
There was no unsteadiness in her approach to the stand to speak to the
public, her eyes not waver but held the gaze of the thousands who would
hear her speak. There were no tears in her eyes as she looked over
those invited to sit in the ceremony and the cameras that were filming
the entire event live to the public. For a moment, she locked eyes
with all of her friends and mother who she had been sitting next to, yet
her composure remained throughout as she started speaking,
He used to call himself an endangered species; the last of the Akiyama family from his known family tree. Now, as she looked on to his dark mahogany coffin being gently lowered into the six-foot deep grave, she knew that the end had come… the Akiyama branch in his family, the entire era had come to a close. They could now officially become pronounced and classified as a piece of history… creatures of extinction.“He is a young man, but it would not be right for me to say that he was too young to leave this world - age is not of relevance at death. Because for someone who still had so much yet to contribute to the betterment of this world, no matter his age, he would have died too early, too young.
We are here today to mourn for the passing of Asuka Akiyama-Tsujimoto not only because it was a star, not only because he was skater, somebody’s child, but a young man who had captured our hearts. I knew him from childhood, he touched my soul by his gentleness, by his down-to-earth behavior, and most of all, his willingness to help others in need of his light. He shared his light with me, and shone it upon thousands of other, inspiring them to reach inside themselves and maximize their potential. He would have wanted to be remembered not for his figure skating, but for his sensitivity, kindness and intelligence. That is the reason for him shining above all other stars; it is not just his externalities, but what lies deep inside, what age and time can never take or erode from him.
He was good man, he had a good soul, and a good heart; he touched those who thought they were beyond help, those who needed hope. His life was hope for so many because of all he had accomplished, despite his own difficulties. He showed people how to shine above the mess and desolation they born in, like water lilies, their renowned beauty despite sprouting from the mud. He was awed by the mystic of life and treasured it more than anyone in the world, not just by his own life but also by the life of others, his impromptu death changes nothing - he had a reason, I trust him to have had a reason to make such a drastic decision, I ask you all to trust him.
Let us not mourn any longer, it has been a fortnight since the unfortunate incident, we have mourned enough, it is time to celebrate, for his a piece of his spirit will forever remain in us, and we will go forth today and continue his work in our names - his work of touching souls and giving them hope. His body may lie here, straight and dead, but his soul will not. I believe that this would have been what he would want; he was not selfish enough to want our tears and heartbreak. Shed not for him the bitter tear, nor give the heart to vain regret, ‘tis but the casket that lies here, the gem that filled it sparkles yet.
Thank you Asuka-kun for all that you have done for us, for spending time with us, and to light the candle in our lives,we were truly privileged and we will miss you forever.”