Revealed – Chapter 6

“I choked. I couldn’t do it.”

“Hmmm.” Koichi hums and strokes his chin, his scar twisting under pressure. “But you’ll do it tomorrow?”

“Yes, absolutely. I can’t let this go on for too long, otherwise it’ll be a hundred times worse when I finally have to rip off the bandage.” Sakai lets his hair out of its ponytail and rubs at his head, sighing with relief.

Jiro tips even farther back in his chair to get a better look into his parents’ bedroom. Sakai is pacing, rubbing his hands together, his hair down. Something big is happening.

There had been no work today. His father kicked him out of the surveillance room at the dōjō, and Sakai specifically stated they would not be attending any meetings for the next week, which was unheard of. Usually there was at least one meeting per day between Minamoto, Maeda, or Taira. They swapped days back and forth until Sakai was occupied for the foreseeable future. All of the minor clans and daily meetings in Ku 1 had to be rescheduled as well.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Koichi asks, his arms folded across his chest.

“We have no choice now. Things are way out of hand. Maybe if we weren’t on the verge of colonization, we could deal, but that’s not possible.”

Jiro throws his balance back to try and see Sakai’s face, and the chair squeaks across the composite boards.

“Jiro, put your chair on the floor, please.” Caught by his mother. He sighs as he watches his father close the bedroom door on the rest of the apartment.

“Sorry.” He apologizes as he sits back at the table and picks up his chopsticks..

“What are you boys up to tonight?” she asks, sitting down with them. Even his mother is stressed, her long hair swept over her right shoulder and a crease forming between her eyebrows.

“No plans.” Jiro picks at his curry dinner. He thought maybe he’d go to Asa’s tempura restaurant for a while or out to the movies, but he has no real motivation to do either. Everyone from school is working, and he can’t call up Kentaro and suggest they go drinking or climbing. Those days are over.

“I took Miko out last night,” Yoichi says with a sly smile, “and she asked me to come by the izakaya more often. She works a lot to help out her mother and father, but still wants to see me.”

Lucky guy. Jiro pushes down his jealousy, burying it deep. He doesn’t want to date Miko but does envy his brother’s freedom. The whole situation isn’t fair. It’s not fair Yoichi can have whatever he wants because he’s the first born son, and Jiro gets stuck with the leftovers. But he loves his family too much to complain anymore.

“So, will you be going over there then?” Mariko asks, her chopstick clicking together as she waits for his response.

“I thought I might. It’ll give me a chance to see how well the izakaya is doing and what she’s like outside of one-on-one contact.”

Jiro hunches over his bowl so his brother doesn’t catch his eyes rolling. Yoichi, particular in every way. For him, it’s not about attraction at first sight, it’s about all the pros outweighing the cons. Jiro bets he’s already started a list on his tablet. Pros: Miko is cute. Her family is personable. Her business is doing well. Cons? Jiro’s not sure yet. He’s only met her the one time. Maybe she’s obsessive or possessive? Maybe she’s artistic or plays an instrument? Does Yoichi even like those things? Despite spending all of their time together, it’s not like the two of them sit down and talk about what they want from a relationship. Brothers, even close ones, don’t do that.

“You don’t mind, right, Jiro?”

Oh, shit. Yoichi isn’t inviting him along. That must mean last night’s date went really well, and he wants to concentrate on Miko.

Jiro swallows hard under Mariko’s glare. “Of course not. I’m not sure what I’ll do. Maybe just stay in.” He sounds thirty years old, not twenty-two. Gods, this is ridiculous.

“Next time,” Yoichi says, nodding at him.

Jiro takes a deep breath and pushes away from the table. It’s January third, and this is already the longest year he’s ever had.

“Thanks for dinner. Tell Dad I’ve gone back downstairs. If he wants to review work, I’ll be up.”

“Stay.” Mariko reaches for his arm, a frown cutting across her face where a smile was a minute ago for Yoichi. “Beni and Risa are coming over in a bit.”

“No, thanks.” That’s the last thing he wants. Hanging out with Beni isn’t so bad though she teases him endlessly about being such a ‘brooding young man.’ Her words, not his. Risa is repulsive and keeps hitting on him. Ugh. He would never consider dating her. She’s his second cousin! Even if he was attracted to her, no. It’s not the middle ages.

Forget going out. Why bother? Every time he leaves the building, they’re watching him and making sure he doesn’t screw things up again. He gave up his chance at freedom already two years ago.

—-

The summer hit its stride in late July two years ago. Every day was filled with another festival, another family outing, another party, and Jiro had to attend every one of them. He invited Melanie along, determined to give her as much face time with his family as possible, but she refused to come. She’d had a rough go of it, especially with his mother. They disagreed on every topic from politics and health to how to cook rice properly. He couldn’t fix things, though, especially if Melanie kept distancing herself from his family. But, eventually, Mariko made the decision for him and told Jiro not to invite Melanie over for dinner anymore.

“I know you like this girl, but she’s impossible to get along with,” she’d said. “If you want her to get to know the family better, bring her to big events.”

Jiro sat at the table, his mouth set in a firm line across his face. He always loved his family, but now, coming between him and his girlfriend, he hated them. They never told Yoichi who he couldn’t bring around the house. Jiro was the baby, and they loved to control him. This was the last straw.

When he didn’t respond, his mother reached over to pat his hand. It took everything in him not to pull away.

“Are you sure you even like her? She seems to enjoy fighting with you.”

His mother was right about that. Melanie did enjoy fighting with him. She loved to provoke him, get him riled up about stupid, small things so that they would yell and scream, give each other the silent treatment, and then have amazing makeup sex. It was their regular routine now. Jiro didn’t remember the last time they’d had sex without a fight first.

But he wasn’t going to admit to his mother or father or anyone in the family that things were falling apart. He could fix anything. Melanie needed something from him, and he wasn’t sure what it was yet.

Jiro wasn’t ready to give up. She melted easily into his friendships, often meeting up with Asa outside of the tempura restaurant or going to hang out with Kentaro when Jiro was occupied. Their relationship teetered on the edge of being fantastic, yet he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t getting anywhere with her.

Maybe she needed a bigger push…

“You should get used to her. I’m going to ask her to marry me.” The declaration slipped out of his own mouth before he could stop himself. He had never even talked marriage with Melanie.

Mariko froze, her face whitening, and his father popped his head out of the kitchen.

“I think I just misheard an entire conversation in which my son said he was going to marry an outsider who has no intention of leading this family in the future.” Koichi stared down at Jiro in his chair and Jiro did not make eye contact. “You can’t be serious. You heard her say it yourself. She said, ‘I don’t know how any mother can spend as much time running a family as your mother does. Seems pointless.’”

Koichi punctuated the last sentence, leaning over and getting into Jiro’s eye line.

“How do you intend to lead the family someday if you don’t have a dedicated partner to help you? Because I can tell you one thing, Melanie is half the woman your mother was at her age. That girl is lucky if she can figure out her transitway pass.”

Rage boiled up in Jiro, though he knew it was true. Melanie had a knack for some things and people skills was not one of them. But he was determined to go through with it, if only to show his family they couldn’t control who he loved. They may control his career and future, but this? No. He’d make his own choices here.

“I don’t need either of you to give me permission. I’m going to go over there now and ask her.”

He stood up from the table and looked at his mother and father. Both of their mouths hung open, unable to speak. He had seen them both express every emotion from elation to despair, but the utter disappointment that graced both of their faces now wrung his heart like a damp rag. Growing up, he had always gone to his parents for advice and comfort, and he had just broken their relationship in a way he wasn’t sure he’d be able to repair.

He immediately regretted saying it, but he pushed his chair in, grabbed his shoes, and sped out before they could stop him. Melanie had been distant for the last week. Since she didn’t come to any of the week’s events, she had ignored every one of his messages. Well, he’d give her one hell of a surprise now.

The trip to Ku 3 was blissfully short. If he had been delayed by trains, he might have lost the fire to go through with the proposal. It wasn’t a big leap to be proposing to your girlfriend at the age of twenty even if she was two years older than he was. His parents were married around the same age and the majority of people from school were already engaged. It’s just that, in all of their conversations, all of their fights, they had never even mentioned it. Melanie was the coy type. She always waited for him to make the first move. She’d play shy and push him away for ages before she gave in. She was probably waiting for him to ask.

It took her a long time to answer the door, and when it swung open, she was dressed in her pajamas, her hair twisted up in a towel on her head.

“Jiro! What are you doing here? It’s past eight. Don’t you know about messaging? It’s really convenient when you want to just drop by on someone.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. He forgot to check the time or message in advance, two things Melanie always insisted on. “Can I come in?”

“Well, I guess so, seeing as you’re here.”

This was not getting off on the right foot. He thought she’d be happy to see him since they had spent the week apart, but instead she was snarky and irritated.

He entered and kicked off his shoes while Melanie stood and waited.

“I missed you this week.” He stepped up to her. “I’m sorry I was so occupied.”

“Jiro,” she said, her body deflating and a sigh escaping, “what else is new? You’re always busy. I’ve gotten used to it.”

“What if…” He grabbed her hands and held them. “You and I were always together? We lived together and did all of these things and more?”

Her eyes grew wide. “What do you mean? You want me to move in with you? To Ku 6? To your family’s building?”

Her voice pitched higher, but he pressed on, like he was trying to persuade her not to jump off a ledge. “Not just move in together but marry. You and me.”

Jiro wanted to close his eyes and wait for the response because he was genuinely unsure of what it would be. He could imagine her sighing in relief, happy he had finally caught on that this is what she had wanted all along.

But…

“Are you insane? Marry? Us? That’s the most laughable thing I have ever heard.”

He squeezed her hands even harder, and she tried to pull away. “Why? Why is that laughable?” An angry snarl curled his lip, and she laughed. “We’ve been going out for eight months!”

“Jiro, let go of me right now.”

He looked down, saw her crushed fingers in his, and let go. She stepped back and away from him, shaking out her hands and letting them fall to her side.

“Look, I…” she started and then looked at her feet. “We need to break up, not get married. This is not going to work out.”

“Are you insane? You’ve met my family…”

“They hate me! Even your brother. I thought things would get better, but they haven’t.”

“Well, avoiding them constantly sure didn’t help.”

“I didn’t want to hang around with people who don’t like me. Would you?”

He ignored the question. Not many adored him either, but he never gave a shit. “I’ve met your family. Our friends are friends, and we’ve had a committed relationship for quite some time…” His voice drifted off as she bit on her lip, avoided his eyes, and ran the edge of her pajamas through her fingers. “Or maybe I’ve been more committed than you. I haven’t heard from you all week. What have you been up to?” Jiro’s voice went ice cold, a level of patience and calculation he only used for meetings where he carried his sword.

“It’s over. Leave now before this gets out of hand.”

Jiro stood his ground. “I’m not leaving until you tell me.”

Melanie puffed out a breath, and she looked hard at him, not a trace of sadness for someone breaking up with her boyfriend. “I’m in love with Kentaro. I’m sorry.”

Silence, deep and disturbing, swallowed Jiro as he flashed back through every gathering they’d had. Kentaro, his best friend, was courting his girlfriend, and he never saw it coming. Betrayal in spades.

“Kentaro? Kentaro Minamoto? You realize his family will be ten times harder on you than mine? Mine has accepted outsiders for generations…”

She rolled her eyes, and it took every ounce of patience to not walk out.

“Kentaro’s mother loves me,” she said, her head cocked and daring.

Jiro laughed, a bitter note to it making Melanie’s cocky grin fall. “Kentaro’s mother loves you as my girlfriend. I doubt she would feel the same way if you were her only son’s girlfriend.”

Melanie’s lip quivered, but Jiro’s heart froze. There was a time he would have fallen on his knees for her, when they were happy, exploring the city around them and each other. She was gorgeous and flirtatious, and he enjoyed taking her out and being seen with her.

But as soon as he wanted to get serious, she started fighting with him. He thought it was nerves. His family, especially Sakai, can be intimidating, but the more times he invited her around with family, the more fights she provoked. She was always cruel to him, and he was angry but kind in return. Never again would he let someone treat him like that.

Hooking up with his best friend was going too far. Jiro was unavailable all week and hadn’t heard from either Melanie or Kentaro. He scanned the apartment but didn’t find anything that belonged to his best friend. Still, he was sure Kentaro had been here, even recently. Melanie just showered. Jiro would bet he missed Kentaro by an hour.

“You’re not sorry, Melanie. I am.” He went straight to the door and slipped on his shoes, and she didn’t try to stop him.

Pulling the door open, he turned to her. “Don’t ever let me catch you in Sakai territory.”

She paled at his veiled threat. No one screws with Jiro’s heart and gets away with it.

Next up, he’d deal with Kentaro.