{"id":114,"date":"2013-02-19T07:23:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-19T07:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/2013\/02\/19\/deleted-scene-from-seikou\/"},"modified":"2013-02-19T07:23:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-19T07:23:00","slug":"deleted-scene-from-seikou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/2013\/02\/19\/deleted-scene-from-seikou\/","title":{"rendered":"Deleted Scene from “SEIKOU.”!"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/span>It’s not unusual for me to cut entire scenes from my manuscripts before they make it to publication. Most of the time I have no desire to share them, and I’m pretty  sure you have no reason to read them. But I’m particularly fond of these full scene that got cut from SEIKOU, the latest novel in the REN’AI RENSAI series. In it Reina gets “sick mother” duty, and, as usual, hashes it out with her mother-in-law Junko, who has a fever and isn’t holding back the hate.<\/p>\n

I originally wrote it to connect to one of the final scenes. However, editor told me it wasn’t necessary, and I agreed pretty quickly. Thus, it got hacked. But not before making it through most of the final edits.<\/p>\n

It’s probably not too spoilery if you haven’t read SEIKOU yet. Hope you enjoy!<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

            <\/span>She awoke to streams of sunlight coming through her bedroom window. At first she stirred from a coma brought on by pain killers and strong tea, but as soon as she saw it<\/i> hanging above her, pillow in hand and hovering above her face, she let out a hair shearing scream.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cShut up, banshee.\u201d Reina finished fluffing up her mother-in-law\u2019s pillow and tossed it onto the other side of the bed. \u201cWhat? Did you think I was going to kill you?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Junko huddled beneath her comforter, her bloodshot eyes boring a tube of venom into Reina\u2019s psyche. \u201cDemon!\u201d She flung a hand into the air and smacked it against the wall \u2013 a calligraphy print shook from the force. \u201cDemon, be gone from my room!\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cOh, I\u2019ve graduated to demon now, how lovely!\u201d Reina slunk into a wicker chair beside the sliding glass door. She tossed a leg over the other and leaned against an arm.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI don\u2019t know who let you into my room, she-male, but \u2013 \u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cMother!\u201d Aiko came to the rescue, her chest winded from running up the stairs. \u201cWhat\u2019s going on in here? Did I hear you screaming?\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina shrugged while her mother-in-law continued to hyperventilate as if someone really had <\/i>been trying to kill her. You\u2019re not so lucky today. <\/i>Reina was fairly certain that was illegal, and the ire she would receive from Aiko alone also deterred her. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cAi-chaaaan!<\/i>\u201d Junko extended her arms like a baby reaching for her mother, an eerie role swapping. \u201cMy dear Ai-chan<\/i>, somebody let this she-male into my bedroom, and she tried to kill me! Suffocate me with my own pillow!\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Aiko looked between her mother and her spouse, disbelief clouding her already harried face. Eventually she focused on Reina, who struggled to maintain her composure.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI didn\u2019t try to kill her,\u201d she mumbled. \u201cI was being nice <\/i>and fluffing her pillow for her when she woke up and started screaming.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cShe lies! Don\u2019t let her trick you, Ai-chan! <\/i>She has the devil inside her!\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>One silent groan later and Aiko reached her verdict. \u201cCome on, Reina. I need help downstairs.\u201d    <\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Great. Punishment. <\/i>But it beat babysitting the mother-in-law from Homophobia Land. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina followed Aiko out of the room. They went downstairs, where a vacuum cleaner loitered in the hall and dusting materials littered both the Japanese style room and the living area. Yes, punishment in the form of house cleaning. Still better than that asshole. <\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cSit down, I\u2019ll get some water.\u201d Aiko disappeared into the kitchen. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina hovered between the hallway and the living area. What was Aiko up to? Either Reina was in time out or about to get another scolding. How was it her <\/i>fault that Junko was evil incarnate and one of the nastiest people she ever met? Reina slumped down at the table for the first time in twenty years \u2013 the first time had been when she first visited the Takeuchi house under the pretense of \u201cjust a friend\u201d and was grilled about her family life. Junko\u2019s most excellent advice back then was for Reina to quit her job and get married. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Since then, Junko remained an obstacle to Aiko\u2019s happiness, a truth Reina had no idea how to fix. For five years their relationship was a secret to Aiko\u2019s family. In those years, Reina had been treated with courtesy and admitted to dinners and small parties. After they moved in together, however, Junko stumbled upon them in a heated embrace, and the panic and derision continued from that day on. Reina didn\u2019t know which was worse: lying and hiding, or coming out and being hated. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Aiko swore the latter was easier to bear. As she returned with two glasses of water, Reina imagined a life in which her wife couldn\u2019t tell everyone and anyone how in love she was. That\u2019s how she had always been. Even her name, \u201cChild of Love,\u201d loaned itself to Aiko\u2019s big heart and deep naivet\u00e9. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI want to go home,\u201d Reina said after her wife sat down next to her. \u201cDon\u2019t make me put up with her any longer.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI\u2019m sorry about all of this. You think I enjoy hearing what she calls you to your face?\u201d Aiko put a hand on Reina\u2019s back. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>That touch offered only a blip of reassurance. \u201cWell, it\u2019s never going to get any better. Just let me go home.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cI wish I could.\u201d The hand rubbed up and down Reina\u2019s sore muscles. \u201cBut I need you to help me move some of the furniture around. Then you can go home.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Great. Was this supposed to help her image around Junko? Not that Reina was sure she cared about her \u201cimage\u201d anymore in the Takeuchi house. What was there to salvage? Her pride? <\/i>She agreed with a small huff to do Aiko\u2019s bidding. The only reason she caved in and came that day, on a rare corporate holiday, was because Aiko begged her to in a small fit of panic. Early that morning she received a phone call from Saki, distressed that she couldn\u2019t go to their mother who had apparently relapsed with a fever. Reina smelled deceit kilometers away. Turned out, Junko only had a minor fever, but her brain was still fried.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cIt\u2019ll be fine,\u201d Aiko said, and patted Reina\u2019s knee. \u201cI know you two don\u2019t get along\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cWow, that\u2019s an understatement.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201c\u2026But you have to remember she\u2019s from another time when\u2026women weren\u2019t supposed to be doing what we do.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Reina didn\u2019t know how she was supposed to swallow that stream of bullshit. \u201cWhat are you talking about? Lesbians have been around for as long as two women have ever been near each other. And yeah, that goes for Japan, too.\u201d Reina had met her fellow Japanese women in utter denial that it happened within their own borders. \u201cIt\u2019s fashionable to be gay in the West.\u201d <\/i>She would hear that phrase until the day she died. \u201cIt\u2019s not our fault if your mother chooses to cover her ears and spout vitriol because she\u2019s bitter her daughter didn\u2019t marry some rich guy!\u201d Reina was over the name-calling. She had been called shit since the day Junko saw them tonguing in their living room. <\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>\u201cAnata,<\/i>\u201d Aiko said softly, her voice carrying the one pet-name between them like a bandage, \u201cI love you. Remind yourself that. And maybe stay away from her if you can help.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>No amount of \u201clove\u201d could shoulder the burden of putting up with Junko\u2019s hate. Reina knew that, and she suspected Aiko knew it as well. Such were their fates, however, in a world punishing them for following their hearts. And no matter how much Reina reminded herself that she was \u201cloved,\u201d it didn\u2019t cover the fact she was also hated, not only because of her sex, but because of the sex she wasn\u2019t, either.<\/span><\/div>\n
            <\/span>Sometimes Reina felt the most exposed as a woman around Junko Takeuchi.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s not unusual for me to cut entire scenes from my manuscripts before they make it to publication. Most of the time I have no desire to share them, and I’m pretty  sure you have no reason to read them. But I’m particularly fond of these full scene that got cut from SEIKOU, the latest… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[136,10,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deleted-scene","category-renai-rensai","category-seikou"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paRtqI-1Q","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hildred-billings.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}