Code World: Mother’s Day

Title: Code Word: Mother's Day
Status: Complete

Author: Haru Saito (RainbowKitsune)
Warning: Crazy daily prompt challenge gone wrong :D

Summary: Short Story. A pair of brothers receive a phone call on Mother's day after dinner; an unfamiliar female voice says, "Stop celebrating with her! I’m your real mother.” This message stuns them, but not for the reasons you might think.

[Writers Digest] Daily Prompt: Mother’s Day is over and you’ve just finished a nice dinner with your mom when you receive a phone call. An unfamiliar female voice is on the other end and says, “Stop celebrating with her! I’m your real mother.” Write this scene.

Post your response (500 words or less) in the comments below. (oops, this ended up being 941 words) :D

***

As I listened to the strange, feminine voice on the other end of the phone, Ran felt chills snake quickly down his back. He tried to suppress a shudder that, nonetheless took over his shoulders and arms. The lady’s voice was not familiar, but her alluringly stern words were: “Stop celebrating with her! I’m your real mother.”

Jesse elbowed his brother in the ribs when he saw Ran’s stunned expression, combined with his mouth trying and failing to form speaking words. “What’s the matter, bro?” he prompted. “A pretty girl got your tongue?”

Ran couldn’t respond to his brothers taunting, this message was too important to let his guard down, even for a second. “We knew…”

His brother trailed off, lost inside his own mind. Jesse was stunned himself; his brother was acting stranger than normal. His was the straight-A high school student who loved following the rules, never at a loss for words and always trying to make Jesse a better then B-average student (mostly by nagging him about his homework and study habits).

Yet, here Ran was, speechless and a deadpanned expression to boot. While Jesse would have liked nothing more than to rag on his brother some more, an instinct inside of him pulled him back. Restraint, it didn’t happen often, but Jesse usually listened to his instincts. He was a natural with people, his popularity at his high school attested to that.

Then, something struck Jesse as odd. His brother, Ran, had said, “We knew…” instead of “He knew…”

“We knew… what? What do I have to do with this, Ran? What’s wrong?” While Jesse held back the worry from his voice, he was suddenly curious what was going on in Ran’s mind.

“We… she called us,  bro. I had forgotten… today is Mother’s Day. The code we vowed to honor… our duties…” For the first time in Jesse’s life, his brother looked completely scared out of his mind. Yet, Jesse’s own face reflected sadness as he realized what Ran was talking about, what that phone call was about.

Jesse placed his hand on his brother’s shoulders, while pulling the cordless phone out of a strong death-grip. Absently, Jesse placed the phone silently back on its receiver. Ran’s black eyes met the deep blue in Jesse’s, whose voice was strong yet kind as he spoke. A quick look around the living room told Jesse that their parents, specifically their mom, was nowhere in sight. “We knew this day was coming. The code words were spoken: Stop celebrating with her! I’m your real mother. Our mission is clear: Justice Be Done.”

Tears rolled down Ran’s face; he was older then Jesse by a few months, supposed to be stronger and reliable but… Jesse snapped Ran out of his reverie, his voice low but stern. “You will always be the older brother I can rely on, and this break in your emotional mask will not change my opinion. Do you remember why we took this assignment? Why we let our new “mom” think her kids, who had been kidnapped almost ten years ago, think they were back from the dead that they had finally returned home because of some “miracle”?”

Blue eyes bore deep into Ran, made him remember and calmed him down. “She made- she made a deal,” he started unevenly. “She kept… the- the ransom money and made a deal with the child smugglers.”

Ran’s brother nodded encouragingly, motioning for him to go on. As Ran spoke, he found himself starting to finally detach himself from his undercover assignment, the role of son he played for a woman named Marian. “She became a social worker, a foster parent – the insider who has never left a shred of evidence to her involvement. No one would suspect kind, beautiful lady Marian of having a secret, illegal life on the side. Until-”

“Until she was in an accident, two years ago.” Jesse finished. “A few foster parents found out about Marian, but there was nothing they could do. And after Marian’s accident, she never recovered her memory of her previous life.”

“Miss. Yukiko was the only person to escape with her life after the gang started coming after the parents, and anyone, who found out about them. She was left for dead in a near-by field, but the old hermit found her and she survived, unbeknownst to anyone else.” Ran looked towards the kitchen where he could smell the apple pie baking in the oven. It was almost done, because the two brothers could smell the fresh scent of apple cinnamon.

Jesse smiled; Ran was finally coming around. While their undercover story was that they were brothers, in real life, it was still true. Flesh and blood, and all that. Jesse pulled out the pair of Katara from his backpack sitting across the floor. They were a pair of ancient daggers used by holding the blades in a position above the knuckles on each hand.

Ran crossed over to the fire place, taking his sword, a Katana, off the fireplace mantle. Miss. Yukiko wasn’t just a foster woman who knew too much – she one of the head honchos in a large Asian gang. Although she participated in many dubious activities in the past, selling children was never one of them. Yukiko had drawn the line when the attempt had been made on her life.

Ran and Jesse were Yukiko’s children. Born and raised to be assassins, this one of their first set of assignments for Yukiko. Punishing those who the police could not. The brothers looked at one another; the pie would have to wait.

Justice Be Done.