Revealed – Chapter 2

Five days earlier.

Sakai took a deep breath and placed his hand on the door palm scanner outside Kimie Itami and Lomo Nakamura’s Ku 9 apartment. Sanaa wasn’t at home. Her aunts had taken the week off between Christmas and New Year’s but not Sanaa. Sakai had studied her work logs. She never took time off, though she had the opportunity, and worked extra shifts even when she didn’t need to. So like her father, especially in the end, when he was avoiding Junko all of the time.

Sakai had watched the apartment via surveillance in the morning. Sanaa left for work as always, but her aunts stayed home. He hoped he wouldn’t be interrupting anything, but it was now or never. The day after Christmas was as long as he was willing to wait.

He scanned his hand at the door, the chimes rang inside, and he was able to breathe in and out four times before the door opened. In fact, he was worried it might not open at all, that they would ignore him and pretend he never came by.

Kimie stood in front of him, her eyes wide in shock and horror. She hadn’t seen him in almost fifteen years, though he had seen her.

“Hello, Kimie. I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Sakai said, bowing slightly, but she didn’t move. Her hair was tied back in a twist, the same way she’d worn it since she was in her twenties, and her Nishikyō grays sat firmly on her body. She was still in good shape. “Kimie?” Sakai prompted when she made no move to do anything.

“Mark… Mark Sakai, what in gods’ names are you doing here?”

From behind Kimie, Lomo, Kimie’s wife of twenty years, approached, a kitchen towel thrown over her shoulder and a plastic spoon drenched in tomato sauce dripping from her right hand. “Oh no…” she said, dropping the spoon on the floor, red spatters hit the floor and the nearby wall. “Shit.” She leaned over to wipe up her mess. “Mark, you should really call first.”

“It’s good to see you both.” Sakai smiled and clasped his hands in front of him. “May I come in?”

Without responding, Kimie backed away from the door and he entered, taking off his shoes in the doorway and setting them aside politely.

“You can probably guess why I’m here,” he said, pausing to gauge their response. Lomo narrowed her eyes at him; Kimie visibly reddened.

“I don’t like what I’m guessing,” she replied, steadily. “I have half a mind to kick you out of this house right now.”

“I hope you won’t. And I don’t want to interrupt your day too badly.” He inhaled and smiled. “Italian dinner tonight?”

“Sanaa…” Lomo’s voice cracked, and she turned to go back to the kitchen. “Sanaa loves pasta. Boxing Day tradition.”

“Sanaa is, of course, why I’m here. She turned twenty two days ago…”

“Her birthday is the first,” Kimie bit out.

Sakai stayed silent. Sanaa’s actual birthday was debatable.

“Regardless, she’s twenty, and the agreement still stands. She’ll need to come forward soon.”

Sakai had been waiting for this day for seventeen years and was never sure how it would go over. Would Kimie be understanding? Or would she be obstinate? He ran through every possible situation in his head and with Lucy for the past two years. Together, they had planned for every outcome. Plan A was their best-case scenario, a long shot.

“Are you insane? She’s not ready. She’s just a little girl.”

“Look at your little girl, Kimie. Sanaa’s a woman now, and she understands less about her family and her role in the colonization than her mother did at the age of ten.”

“Mark, no,” Kimie pleaded. She even clasped her hands together at her heart, and he squashed down the guilt and sadness, buried them in the same grave with all the other feelings he killed years ago. “She’s happy, content even. She likes her job, loves her friends. You can’t come in here and take her away from all of that.”

He shook his head. “Lucinda Coen expects to meet her soon. We would like for her unveiling to happen discretely amongst the highest clan members first, before revealing the government structure we have planned for Yūsei that puts her almost at the top.”

Soft, muffled crying filtered from the kitchen, and Sakai regretted that he had made sweet and caring Lomo upset. They all knew this day would come, but he was the only one truly prepared.

“I’m sorry. I had to come here, and I waited as long as possible. I didn’t want to ruin your holiday.”

“It’s a little late for that.” Kimie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. She never did fear him. She even called him a manipulator once. Well, she was right.

“Sanaa’s busy at her job. It was my original plan for you to introduce me after she comes home. We’ll show her the videos and documents Junko stored away, and then she’ll be released from her work to concentrate on this. We’ll move her to Ku 6, and Koichi and Mariko will watch after her welfare.” Plan A. He liked it a lot. There were fewer things that could go wrong…

“No. No way. Get out of my house right now, Mark Sakai. There’s no way that’s ever going to happen, ever. You’re going to leave her alone for good. Find some other way to keep those bastards in line that doesn’t involve our family and a twenty-year-old girl.”

Plan B, then. Sakai stopped himself from sighing.

“She won’t be twenty forever, and this business is out of our hands, you know that, Kimie. It’s part of the original laws written when Japan was dissolved as a country. We cannot turn our backs on her destiny now.”

“Screw you and the laws. I’m not letting you touch my baby.”

Sakai’s eyes focused on a photo on the wall of Kimie, Lomo, and Sanaa at Sanaa’s graduation. She was far from a baby, a young woman, and so much like her mother, it was eerie to Sakai. The skin on the back of his neck prickled with dread. He had slept with Sanaa’s mother, Junko, far too many times to count. This was like looking at a happier version of her ghost.

“Please, Kimie. Be reasonable. She’s more than capable of handling all of this.”

“Wait. How do you know anything about her? Have you been watching her?” Her voice climbed almost an entire octave, and Sakai took a step back. Kimie shouldn’t be provoked. She was already on the precipice.

“Stay away from her, Mark. Stay far away. If I even suspect you’ve been near her, I’ll go straight to Coen myself. I’m sure she’d listen to me, Sanaa’s legal guardian.” She punctuated with two jabs of her index finger, slicing through the air at him. It was all his idea from the get-go.

“Don’t make this hard on Sanaa. It’s going to happen one way or another. Wouldn’t you rather she has plenty of time to get used to the idea?”

“It doesn’t have to happen. She can continue to grow up happy, and no one ever has to know.”

Sakai sighed and his shoulders fell. “I won’t lie to you. Relations are sketchy at best amongst the clans. They fight with each other all the time, sometimes in broad daylight. I’m constantly pulled in a dozen different directions. Hell, I only sleep three hours per night. I’ve heard rumors Tomio Miura plans to wipe out all the minor clans, one by one. He’s eager to cement his power. Minamoto and Maeda are constantly at each other’s throats, and I strongly suspect one of them poisoned the Colonization Chief. They’ll never get along. But with a ruling head over them, we may see peace.”

Kimie sat down in the armchair across from the couch, placed her hands on her knees and turned from Sakai to stare at the family pictures on the end table. She thought about it, tapping her fingers and humming quietly. Kimie rarely showed any emotion other than anger. She was always a private person. It took forever for anyone to figure out that she even liked women over men. She was hard to read and get along with, difficult to manipulate because she was so stubborn and set in her ways.

“I just can’t do it to her. We’ll take our chances and hope they work things out without her,” she said, standing up and smoothing out the front of her shirt.

“I understand your position — really — but please reconsider. You know how to contact me.”

He leaned forward and peered into the kitchen. Lomo was standing at the stove, spoon poised over the pot of sauce, staring blankly as the red tomatoes boiled away. He stepped into the kitchen and squeezed her around the shoulders, kissing her on the temple. “You were always my favorite, Lomo,” he whispered in her ear, knowing the compliment would make her smile.

“Thanks. Why don’t you come back in a few weeks and try again? I don’t want this either, but I know how important it is.” He wouldn’t come back here because Kimie would never budge. “At the very least, come back for dinner, and we’ll all get to know each other again?” She lowered her voice. “I saw you at Sanaa’s graduation. Thank you for coming.”

She looked at him hopefully, nodding her head, and he decided to save face. “It was the least I could do. I’ll come again. In the spring?”

Lomo nodded at him, he slipped into his shoes and left without acknowledging Kimie. One way or another, Sakai would get his way.

—-

Mr. Tanaka seems a nice enough man, chatty and warm, with a good-natured smile. He explains his wife is at home dealing with a busted sink but would be in later to help with the crowds. His daughter, Miko, enters the room twice to distribute food and saké. On her last trip in, she sized up everyone. She looked to each person and memorized them in a heartbeat, taking an extra moment for both Yoichi and Jiro. The way she crinkled her eyes at both the boys confused him though. Which one does she like? Technically, they were both the right age for her. But he didn’t get a chance to read her any further because she left at the beckoning of a group of young men at the bar.

Sakai glances at the clock in the room. Seven forty-five. If they don’t leave soon, they’ll be late to meet Maeda at Akaboshi.

Ping! Koichi’s tablet lights up, and he excuses himself to read the message. “Ah, Mariko is leaving now for our next destination. Mr. Tanaka, I’m afraid we need to be going. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“I understand.” Mr Tanaka says, bowing. “And please call me Hoshiro. I like to keep things informal in my restaurant. Might I suggest something?”

“Please.”

“If you’d like to stop back later after midnight, I could make sure Miko’s workload is light so she can socialize. You are all welcome here anytime.”

“I would definitely like to come back,” Yoichi says, and Sakai squashes a sigh. Another trip back to Ku 7 tonight, but if he can convince Jiro to come too, then they could easily go on to Minamoto’s afterward. His restaurant is only about ten blocks from here.

“Great! Hopefully we’ll see you then.” Mr. Tanaka rises from his position and everyone else follows suit. He slides the door to the private room open, and each man takes the step down, slipping their shoes back on. From over the tops of Jiro and Yoichi’s head, Sakai has a good view of the bar right before his heart stops. It wasn’t a coincidence.

The restaurant is packed with people, but he immediately spots her, sitting next to a tall, blonde young lady with curly hair. Sanaa is so much the spitting image of her mother, he feels weak in ways he hasn’t in fifteen years, not since her death. At Sanaa’s graduation, he only saw her across a large room. Here, he is but three meters away, and she’s so radiant, she’d capture just about anybody’s attention. Her hair is so long the ends are past her shoulders now, straight and jet black, parted off-center. Her mouth is half-smile, half-gasp, forming a small O. Miko whispers in her ear, and they both stare at Sakai’s party, but she’s not watching him.

Sakai is caught not paying attention when Koichi taps his foot with his toe, and they all bow. He shouldn’t stare, but while Koichi and Mr. Tanaka are leaned in and whispering to each other, Sakai turns his head slightly to see her again. The orange kimono was a nice choice; the bright color brings out the freckles on her nose and whitens her skin. She’s locked on them now… but not making eye contact with him.

Instead, it’s Jiro she has her sights on. Jiro’s head is tilted and confident, staring straight back, and Sakai is blank with shock. They’re flirting with each other. From across the room! The attraction is so strong, he can feel the pull between Sanaa and Jiro, a tight rope between them. If he grasped the rope, he’d be electrocuted. The energy is insistent, buzzing in his ears like a warning.

She smiles at Jiro and Sakai’s insides warm. The same smile that used to be directed at him now lives on in her daughter, and if Sakai is reading Jiro right, he’s just as attracted. Jiro’s pulse picks up in his temples when he pushes his hair behind his ears. Oh no.

Jiro straightens up, bringing himself to his full height, and smiles back. This isn’t good. This isn’t the way he intended for them to meet. Plan B never involved her meeting Jiro until she knew everything and it was time for her to be taught in the dōjō with Koichi as well. Jiro would never know her as anything other than his future boss, someone to serve and respect, not just another girl to flirt with.

What should he do? Sakai’s still so stunned by finding her here, seeing her smile. All the times he followed her, made sure she was doing okay, attending her graduation, or watching her come and go from her karate dōjō, he never once glimpsed her smile. Suddenly she’s a real person, a young woman with emotions and opinions, smart and capable. Just that one look exchanged with Jiro is enough to make him guilty for what he’ll have to do in a few days time.

“Let’s go,” he whispers at them all, and breaking any contact between Sanaa and Jiro, he pushes the boys out the back door.