Revealed – Chapter 1

It’s New Year’s Eve 3103, and Jiro is bored out of his mind. Ugh. He really hates New Year’s Eve. Getting dressed up in formal kimono and making the rounds of all the major clan heads before settling into a night at the okiya is such a pain, and he is tasked to do this every year for the rest of his life.

Every year he’ll be required to sit silently, nod or smile at jokes, and be serious about negotiations or indiscretions. Every year he’ll walk all over the city at the beck and call of his peers instead of the other way around. It’s work — not a good time like a holiday should be — and the evening is always a lot more trouble than it’s worth. He’d rather skip the rounds altogether and head straight to the okiya where his family will eat and drink until it’s time to go out again. At least then he can flirt as much as he wants and the geisha won’t throw themselves at him. He doesn’t want to take girls home anymore. They’re nothing but trouble.

“Will you please stop brooding, Jiro? Or get the hell out of the apartment.”

Yoichi, his older brother by two years, actually likes New Year’s Eve which is why he’s massaging every last hair into place on his head. This is one of the few holidays when Yoichi isn’t involved in the family business because money doesn’t change hands. He’s the prized son, the family’s accountant and sōdanyaku. He takes care of the finances for their uncle, Mark Sakai, head of their family, Sakai clan, and advises on how to keep the family businesses afloat and in the black. He watches the money that comes in, arranges permits for properties they own, and balances the bank accounts, but he doesn’t deal with people. Yoichi is strictly a back-office man and has been handling the books since he was seventeen, seven years now.

Jiro, on the other hand, is never not involved in the family business. Every time he steps out the door, every time he turns on his tablet, there is another person to deal with, another meeting to arrange, another crook to face with his sword on his back.

The way things work around here is Sakai arranges the deals and Jiro and his father, Koichi, enforce them either with strong words or their katanas. Leaving the building tonight without his katana makes him nervous. It’s tradition not to carry weapons on this night.

He paces the floor behind his brother, bouncing on his toes, until Yoichi turns from the mirror and levels an icy stare at him.

Fine. He throws himself on the couch and taps his long fingers on its arm while Yoichi adjusts his obi again.

“Thank you,” Yoichi says, and Jiro is tempted to give him the finger while his back is turned. Yoichi is so annoyingly careful about his appearance. Jiro just brushes his chin-length hair, tucks the white strand he’s had since he was born behind his ear, and wears a clean kimono. He has no one to impress anyway.

“Where are we going tonight, again?”

The usual routine is to visit Noboru Maeda, head of clan Maeda, at Akaboshi, his main casino, then Tomio Miura, the head of Clan Taira, before going to the okiya for dinner and drinks at midnight. Then, since Sakai Clan is close to Minamoto, Jiro and Yoichi, their mother and father, and Sakai will all spend the rest of the evening and into the morning with Yoshinori Minamoto and his family at their restaurant.

But plans have changed.

“Izakaya Tanaka in Ku 7. Mother seems to think the owner’s daughter is a good match for me… Whatever that means.” Yoichi shrugs and sips at a cup of coffee. “‘Twenty-four is too old to be without a girlfriend, fiancée, or wife, Yoichi!’,” he mocks in a high voice and nails Mariko, their mother, so perfectly that Jiro laughs. “I’m glad I never introduced her to Jessie.”

Jessie was Yoichi’s last girlfriend, a sweet and shy girl from the Polish quarters in Ku 4. An outsider. Outsiders never last. Goodness knows Jiro’s last two girlfriends proved that point to the extreme. He dated a girl in school for a bit before he met tall, blonde and gorgeous, Melanie. She spoke only basic Japanese, lived in Ku 3 and worked with textiles in a shop handed down through generations of Turks. It was a wonder they ever met. But he had run an errand to the shop one day with Sakai for Minamoto and Melanie flirted heavily with him while Sakai spoke with the owners. He should have known better. People who don’t live in his world just do not understand the duties. Even Eriko, a born and bred one hundred percent Japanese girl from Ku 6, and his last girlfriend dalliance, couldn’t handle this life.

“You didn’t introduce our mother to Jessie because, for the first time ever, you learned from my mistakes, instead of me learning from yours.”

“Yeah, well, Jessie didn’t want kids,” Yoichi says, smoothing out the front of his black kimono. Yoichi wants a wife and a family. If Sakai is any indication, Jiro will have a string of girlfriends until he dies alone.

Jiro rolls his eyes at Yoichi, plucking at the black fabric of his kimono. “I thought, for once, New Year’s Eve was going to be without surprises. This girl you’re going to see tonight, she wants to get married?”

Yoichi nods, dumping the rest of his coffee in the sink and placing his mug in the auto-washer. “Her family owns this izakaya. She wants to run it. That’s all the info I have. Well, you know mother… This girl, Miko, is a Scorpio. ‘A great match for you, Yoichi!’ Ugh. I wish she’d quit with the astrology.”

“Never gonna happen. I think she dismissed Melanie more for the fact that she was a Gemini than she was non-Japanese. So, just nod and smile like you always do. If you don’t like this Miko or her family, then go out on a date, make up an excuse, and be done with her.”

“I don’t need my younger brother to tell me what to do.” Yoichi’s back is turned to Jiro, but his shoulders are hunched in annoyance. They’ve been fighting more and more lately. With no outlet to burn his anger and frustration, Jiro’s been snappy and commanding — on the edge of his sword’s blade. Probably where he’ll be for some time.

Jiro bites down, his teeth grinding a slow dance in his head. “Sorry.” He breathes the apology so softly Yoichi takes a moment to turn and nod his head.

Jiro rises from his place on the couch and automatically reaches for his sword before stopping and clenching his fist. Not tonight.

Ping! A new message pops up on Jiro’s tablet from their mother, Mariko Itō. Her timing is uncanny. “You’re late, and your father and Mark are waiting for you downstairs. Go on to Ku 7 without me. I already met Miko’s mother, and I have to visit Matsuo before meeting you at the casino.”

—-

Mark Sakai stands quietly, his hands clasped behind his back, dressed and ready to go. The black, Sakai clan kimono is like a second skin to him he wears it so often. Negotiations, formal tea ceremonies, and holiday parties means the garment is never at the cleaners for long. The rest of his appearance is easy enough. He trimmed his own hair the other day because he holds it back in a tail anyway, and he never grows a beard anymore. His brother, Koichi, always sports a five o’clock shadow. His wife, Mariko, likes him rough around the edges.

“Why are these sons of mine late when they know we need to be someplace early?” Koichi glances up at the clock in the lobby of Sakai building. Six-oh-five PM. He rubs his hand along the scar on his jaw and up to his close-cropped gray hair. The lobby is packed with people tonight and crowds stream past the glass doors leading outside. Two little boys dressed in kimono run up to Mark Sakai and pull on his sleeve, laughing, their faces red with glee.

“Happy New Year!” They chime, three decibels louder than they should. Both Sakai and Koichi lean back and laugh.

“Thank you,” Sakai says, bowing formally to them, the hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. “Happy New Year to you and your family.”

The little boys run off to their parents leaving the building with a wave, and Sakai checks the clock again. They had promised to be at Izakaya Tanaka at six-thirty before the rush of New Year’s Eve, and they’re cutting it close. It might be best to walk to the outer transitway line and take the express train instead of the local.

Mr. Tanaka, Miko’s father, arranged the evening. Sakai spoke to him two days ago and agreed to a short meeting at the izakaya before they visit Noboru Maeda at Akaboshi, Maeda’s largest casino in Ku 6. Sakai didn’t want to sandwich another thing into this day, but after seeing how excited Mariko was about this match for Yoichi, he relented. He was already resigned to not seeing Lucy for the next few days. No need to deny other people the chance at happiness.

“They’re late because they’re gabbing about something. They never stop talking.”

“Not since they were born,” Koichi says with a laugh. “Jiro arrived, and we could see Yoichi sigh with gratitude. Someone to talk to other than us.”

“Please stop talking about us behind our backs,” Yoichi says, taking the stairs two-at-a-time with Jiro right behind him. “We can hear you all the way up on the second floor.”

“Sound travels in this building.” Sakai would love to add extra insulation to prevent the sounds of his downstairs neighbors fighting, but there’s no point in doing that kind of work so close to colonization.

Sweeping his critical gaze over Koichi, Yoichi, and Jiro, he nods, satisfied everyone is put together. This could be the start of a long business arrangement with the Tanakas. It’s best to go in professional and launch relations on the right foot.

Streams of colorful kimonos exit and enter the transitway station three blocks from Sakai building. The crowds are heading in every direction tonight. If Sakai had his way, he’d never leave the house on New Year’s Eve. So many things could go wrong this evening. Noburu Maeda is always fine, willing to invite them to his casino at a moment’s notice. He’s the easiest of the clan leaders to deal with as long as his business is never interrupted. Clan Taira has been openly hostile lately with Tomio Miura denying meetings left and right. Minamoto has been quiet, and quiet is never good. He won the latest negotiation against Miura to provide a replacement for the head of the Colonization Committee, and Sakai was sure this would make Minamoto gloat, but it didn’t. Something’s going on with Minamoto he’s not aware of.

The ride to Ku 7 is hot and sweaty, cars packed with kimonos and the tang of alcohol from revelers who decided to start celebrating early. Sakai’s eyes skip over the tops of everyone around him and land on an old woman sitting with a gift box of oranges on her lap. The transitway car jostles, and she clutches the box so the oranges don’t tumble out. He sent a similar box to Lucy to wish her a happy New Year. She messaged that she was saving them for their next dinner date. Sakai smiles, remembering her laugh. They don’t spend nearly enough time together.

When they arrive at Izakaya Tanaka, Sakai’s brain is so filled with Lucy, what-ifs and backup plans about Minamoto and Taira, he doesn’t recognize the restaurant until they’re all ducking under the noren curtains.

Wait a minute. He followed Sanaa here a week ago when he started tracking her again. She met two girls on Christmas Eve, and they exchanged presents, ate dinner and had drinks before Sanaa went home to her aunts in Ku 9. Maybe it was just a coincidence?

“Welcome!” a sweet voice calls from behind the bar, and Sakai’s stomach twists. It most definitely wasn’t a coincidence.

From behind the bar, a gorgeous girl in her early twenties, her hair cut in a sleek bob with a line of bangs across her forehead, emerges and approaches them. She politely smooths out the front of her jade green kimono before bowing.

“Are you here for the private room?” she asks, her eyes on Koichi at the front.

Koichi bows back. “We’re here to meet Tanaka, the owner.”

“Oh,” she smiles again and straightens her shoulders, her eyes darting to Yoichi first, then Jiro and Sakai. Sakai holds back a sigh. Her eyes lingered on Yoichi a half second longer than anyone else.

Ten minutes ago, before he knew Miko Tanaka was connected to Sanaa Griffin, Sakai would have been happy. Now, this is nothing but trouble.

Miko waves her hand and leads them back to the private room.

Once they’re all seated, Sakai glances over at Yoichi to gauge his expression. Yoichi’s eyes are smiling, and he leans back to open the shōji screen door and watch Miko walk away. Maybe Mariko is a better matchmaker than he gave her credit for, even though every match for Jiro was a failure. Jiro and Yoichi are chatting and wiping their hands with hot towels, so Sakai leans over to whisper to Koichi.

“I was here on Christmas Eve.”

“Really? Why?”

“I don’t even want to admit it.” Sakai straightens up and taps his fingers on his knee, but before Koichi can ask anything more, the door slides open and Mr. Tanaka enters with a smile, his daughter right behind him with saké.

Time to get to know each other.