Revealed – Chapter 27

Sakai sighs as he scrubs through the footage of street cameras from around the dōjō.

“How long has she been followed?”

“Just today,” Koichi replies, looking over Sakai’s shoulder. “Kimie is tenacious, but she’s not a very good spy. I’m surprised Sanaa didn’t see her.”

Sakai zooms in on one frame of video and pauses the feed, tipping the tablet towards his brother.

“Well, she’s not the only one watching Sanaa.”

“Oh no. Really?” Koichi focuses on Tadao Matsuda, skulking in the shadows across the street from the dōjō. “That’s not good. At all.”

“Jiro came to tell me about it last night, and he’s furious, of course. Matsuda confronted Sanaa at Izakaya Tanaka and even mentioned Hanako.” Sakai shakes his head. “It accelerates everything. Tomorrow. I’m going to have to break it to her tomorrow, and to Jiro as well.”

Koichi leans back in Sakai’s couch, pushing against his knees and hunching up his shoulders. “This is going to throw them, Mark. It’s not even going to give them a fighting chance.”

Sakai opens his fridge and pours a cold glass of water before rubbing his face. He hasn’t slept in weeks. What he needs now is a sharp slap across his face or a nap. He’d prefer the nap.

“I warned them ahead of time — both of them. Fighting is in their nature. They’ll be fine.”

“I don’t know. Jiro has shown so much promise these last few months, since he started training her. He’s on time for meetings, alert, respectful. What if they part because of this, and it ruins him?”

Sakai laughs, leaning over his kitchen island. “Not going to happen. I’ve seen that same look in her eyes that I saw in her mother.”

He neglects to mention that he saw Sanaa and Jiro making out in the alley behind Izakaya Tanaka last night. It was none of his business, but he’s certain the two will be inseparable from here on out. The only difference between Jiro and Sanaa, and Sakai and Junko was that Junko had her eyes set on the top of the ladder. Sanaa is perfectly happy on her rung, and she’ll probably be perfectly happy with Jiro too. Jiro can go either one of two ways: either he’ll be intimidated by Sanaa’s change in status or he’ll believe she’s the ultimate prize.

“Let’s head to the dōjō now.” Sakai rounds the corner of the island and picks his bag off the couch.

“Are we going to tell them now?”

“Absolutely not. Sanaa’s apartment is almost complete except the plumbing, and I need to talk to Lucy about protecting Sanaa and her aunts. One more day.”

Koichi follows him out of the apartment and the ten blocks to the dōjō, the two silent the entire way. Sakai glances across the street as they approach the front door to the dōjō and Kimie is standing inside a small shop, her eyes directed his way. Sakai keeps his head low and tries not to give away he saw her. Inside the dōjō, Sanaa and Jiro are just finished with a workout, glowing and sweaty, chatting while toweling off. They both come to attention and bow to Sakai and Koichi who bow back. They kick off their shoes at the edge of the mat and set them aside.

“Sanaa, we may have a problem we have to deal with.”

Sanaa’s face drains of blood and Jiro’s eyebrows draw together.

“Your aunt has been following you around all day.”

Sanaa’s shoulders fall and she rolls her eyes. “She wasn’t at home this morning when I got up. Damn, I should have known. She hates being up early.”

“She was probably waiting for you to leave the apartment and then followed you to the dōjō.”

“Did she follow us to Ku 1 and here?”

“Yes, I caught sight of her as we were entering just now. I’m sure she suspects something is going on with you.” Sakai and Koichi contemplate each other but don’t speak. Sakai is not going to bring up Matsuda right now. They already spoke about him this morning at the dōjō. Sanaa knows she’s being followed but she doesn’t know why.

“Come to think of it, she may have been suspicious awhile back,” Sanaa says, biting her lip. “She said she came by work to have lunch with me, but I wasn’t there. I told her I was working off site. I guess she didn’t believe me.”

“You have got to get better at lying. You have tells all over your face.”

Sanaa’s lips curl in a frown. Her mother was a horrible liar as well.

“A terrible poker player,” Koichi says.

“So, your aunt. You will need to ditch her on your way home,” Sakai says, bringing his hand to his chin, thinking of how to get her to Ku 9 without Kimie noticing she’s been found out.

“Jiro and I are going to have dinner together,” Sanaa says, getting back into her shirt.

Of course. Inseparable.

“You can still do that. Leave at different times. Go in opposite directions. Sanaa, walk fast and take the train. Switch cars multiple times and backtrack. Make it last at least thirty minutes before you pick up your way to wherever you plan on going. Jiro, from now on, when you accompany Sanaa anywhere in Ku 6, you will carry your sword.”

“Understood.” Jiro’s face tightens, and he reaches for his shirt. He hasn’t worn his sword around Sanaa. What will happen when he finally does? Will she accept it or reject it?

Sakai turns to Sanaa, wanting to make this exchange as short as possible. “Message me when you get where you’re going. I’ll tail Kimie until I’m sure she’s lost you.”

She grabs her bag and pulls Sakai towards the door, exactly what he was hoping to avoid.

“Mark, where were you now? With Koichi?”

“Sanaa, I’m not prepared to discuss business with you right now.” He doesn’t have time for this. There’s too much work to do.

“Business? I know it involves me somehow and you keeping me in the dark is pissing me off.”

He freezes, not sure what he can tell her. Running through the options in his head, nothing comes to mind. Nothing.

“Mark.” She grinds her teeth and steels her legs and arms. He’s seen this posture before, and she’s close to exploding. “These last twenty-four hours… you’re really scaring me… with Matsuda, and Jiro being armed, and now Aunt Kimie is following me, too? I can’t help but think about what happened to my parents and…”

Sakai sighs deeply, and his head dips low. He’d give anything to rewind history and never have that night happen, the night both her parents died and he shows up to the explosion only to cry over their dead bodies. But this time he has the chance to make it all better, to keep her safe.

“It wasn’t an accident that killed my parents.”

She’s too smart for him. She’s seen through the lie of their deaths easily. He keeps his head down, keeps the deception tucked inside.

“Mark. Look at me!” She yells so loud, he jumps and the entire room falls silent, Koichi and Jiro frozen behind him.

“I’m so sorry, Sanaa. So sorry.”

A blur of movement catches him off guard as Sanaa springs forward and throws her body weight into one swift assault, pushing him so hard he stumbles back and hits the wall. “How can you just stand there and apologize to me without even talking to me? Don’t you have any respect for me at all?”

She wheels back her hand, anger and rage fueling an all-out fight. The moment before she slaps him, she’s terrifying in her intensity, and Sakai wishes no one would ever feel her wrath like this again.

Jiro grabs her from behind, whirling her around and away from Sakai. She kicks and screams, trying to get away from him and continue her battle, but Jiro holds on tight.

“Sanaa, please,” Jiro pleads as he carries her to the other side of the room, as far from Sakai as he can possibly get. “Please stop.”

Her rage morphs to sobs as fat tears fall from her face to the mats. Sakai has pushed her too far — way too far. Between the lack of sleep, constant work, and physical exercise, she’s fallen to pieces as Jiro suspected she would.

Even though he’s angry at himself for breaking her, a little piece of him is proud she made it this far before she lost it. Because he knows she’ll be even stronger on the other side. She’s truly incredible.

Jiro loosens his hold and lets her fall slowly to the floor.

“Oh, Mark, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

While she cries into her shirt on the floor, Jiro makes eye contact with Sakai, death and immeasurable pain radiating from him. If Jiro could kill with only that stare, he’d be the most powerful person on the planet.

“I’m sorry,” she repeats, louder.

“Don’t be sorry.” Sakai’s voice is far away. “I deserve that. I deserve a lot more than that.”

Sanaa sits up, a mess of tears and snot, and his heart breaks. It’s all his fault. Every last little bit.

“Don’t hate me. I promised…” Sakai’s voice catches and he stops, straightening his shoulders. “I promised your mother I would take care of you. And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Without saying another word, he turns and walks out.