Claiming Mass Devotion

Sakura Kanagawa was the reason Yuzuko remained sane. She visited her husband’s grave every morning. Sakura now insisted in joining her for emotional support. Yuzuko had traumatic visions of broken robots and blood. They lingered in her nightmares and her thoughts. The guilt that she destroyed the robots her family empire had worked so hard to protect was like a tattoo.

“I’m grateful for you, Sakura.” Yuzuko clutched onto Sakura’s waist as their iBroom 2060 landed on Hiroki Shikumi’s grave. “Thanks for driving it too.”

Sakura patted her back. “Don’t worry. I know you’re scared about Professor Denki and Sia Bucks declaring war on each other.”

Sia Bucks and Professor Takeshi Denki were wealthy influencers. that had shaped the entertainment industry and robotic welfare. They were also her grandparents. Their morals were different, but they were two sides of the same coin.

Her grandmother hosted Game of Mass Destruction. Sia Bucks created her own country to get away with her crimes. Her brutal show had people not only destroy robots, but themselves. Her grandfather owned the RHF (Robots Have Feelings) Corp. Their ultimate mission was to stop the show from airing.

“It’s all over.” Sakura held Yuzuko’s hand and kissed her. “Sia Bucks will have her comeuppance. They’ll find her. She can’t touch your grandfather ‘cause she knows it will upset you.”

It had been over a year since she won Game of Mass Destruction. The show had changed her life. The woman she killed on the show was her half-sister. Her best friend from Iceland, whom she saw as a sibling, was her brother. To top it all off, her father was president of the United States of America.

Even before the show, she had her dilemmas. To say that Yuzuko Shikumi lived a crazy life would be the understatement of the century. She was the only child of book blogger, Harumi Denki. Her mother used to tell her that her biological father was Frodo Baggins. The government intervention designed to repopulate Japan was tough. Yuzuko became a wife at sixteen, a mother at seventeen and a widow at eighteen. At nineteen, she became an international star. Now she’s twenty, she had no idea how she survived it all. The press tells her she’s had it easy.

As a winner of Game of Mass Destruction, she became a billionaire and had diplomatic immunity. She could slit a thousand throats and nobody could stop her. She still felt unclean for the deaths she caused. Yuzuko had killed four people in her life. The first death was her husband. He killed himself not long after discovering her affair with Sakura. As far as she knew, Yuzuko had been responsible for four deaths. She slaughtered a Dutch pimp and her half-sister in the show. After the show had ended, she had turned off her friend Bobby Fishman’s life support machine.

“Yuzuko?” It was her girlfriend, Sakura Kanagawa, shaking her shoulders. Sakura’s gasp tensed Yuzuko’s muscles. “What’s wrong?”

She opened her eyes to see Sakura and her phone vibrated. “I’m fine. I need to rest here.”

”Aron’s trying to call you.”

”I’ll call him later,” Yuzuko murmured. Later meant not today.

“You’re still upset over everything, aren’t you?”

Yuzuko curled herself into a ball onto Sakura’s lap. “How do I handle all this political power?” To make matters worse, her mother-in-law had passed away. Before Mrs Shikumi died, she gave Yuzuko a letter and ordered her not to open it after she died.

“Have you opened it yet?” Sakura asked.

Yuzuko shook her head, clutching onto her heart-shaped locket.

“Do it!”

Taking an envelope out of her pocket, Yuzuko opened it and gulped.

Yuzuko,

Hiroki had asked me not to tell you. But I could not bear to take this secret to my grave. I wish I had the courage to tell you this face-to-face, but I have isolated myself from the world since his funeral.

It was not your affair with Sakura that provoked his suicide. He had been planning it for a while. He told me if it ever got too much, he would end it, as he did not want to be a burden to us. I tried. I promise I did all that I could. He had already made up his mind. When doctors told him he only had weeks left to live, I knew I failed.

Your mother and I were best friends. We made a vow that if one of us has a son and one of us has a daughter, we would do everything in our power to get them married. Hiroki‘s health was always frail at best. Every day he lived was a blessing.

The reason we didn’t tell you about Hiroki’s cancer was because we wanted you to avoid stress. Stress would have meant you risk miscarrying Koichi. You do so much for other people that you neglect yourself. Hiroki wanted you to focus on your son and school.

Please do not blame yourself for my son’s death. I am so glad he ended up marrying you and I wish you all the best for the future. Hiroki and I will always be looking down on you from up there.

She read the letter out loud to Hiroki’s grave. Tears dampened her face. All the luxuries in the world could not replace the bond she shared with her husband. Inside her heart-shaped locket were her husband and her son. Hiroki Shikumi was the only boy she ever loved. Now, she loved him more than she ever did.

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