Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: This a longer work that came to me one of those days. It's the usual cup of angst but I will be writing more fluff to even things out.
As the car stopped at the designate parking spot, the engine was barely allowed to die before the door swing open and shut in a manner of a second. For anyone who knows her, they would immediately say that this is a very unusual behavior. She never rushes things, she is always very graceful with every movement, with every utterance. For her to leave the car hastily and walk towards the building…It was indeed very unusual. She could barely remain standing still, waiting for the occupants to open the door and let her in. Once she is face to face with the middle aged woman at the door, her mask was perfectly on. A cool and collected demeanor that perfectly concealed the array of emotions she is feelings right at this moment. It almost felt unreal. Most leads told her that what she was doing was in vain. She had no direction, not even a picture she could start with. All she had was the knowledge that this person existed somewhere.
She was around ten years old when she learned the whole story. Even then, she felt her heart shatter at the revelation. It was at that moment that she decided it would be her life mission to find what has been taken from her. Vowing that she will do all that she can to undo this wrong that's been committed. She was perceptive, keeping a sharp ear and a keen eye on anything that might give out a clue, but there was none. The matter was never spoken about, not a name was uttered, for all she knows, she's been chasing a mirage, an illusion that existed only in her head. She didn't give up, only merely pushing her plans around, deciding what step comes first before she gets the answers she seeks.
Her first step was to weaken the one person who held all the answers. Her own mother, Kiryuuin Ragyo. To do that, Satsuki focused on her studies, and securing alliances. If she could take everything away from her, Ragyo will have no choice but to give up some answers. She worked diligently, proving herself as more than fit to sit on top of a world famous company, a company that will one day become hers. Or that was the plan. Around two years ago, after her graduation and starting her extensive quest, came the unexpected news; Ragyo was in a car crash, she didn't survive. It was such an anticlimactic end to a woman that's been nothing but a tyrant. It left a somewhat bitter taste in her mouth, having passed on so casually, taking too many secrets with her to her grave.
Running all of REVOCS was her job now; it took a lot of her time, and at the same time, she could go back to her mission without looking over shoulder every now and then. But the question was always there: how do you find someone that doesn't exist?
Satsuki had a lot to work with; matching DNA samples of herself and her parents, running checks with every hospital in the country, waiting for a matching result within a specific time period. It was a lot of work, and an even longer wait. Surely, a person would be hospitalized at least once in their life, right?
She has nearly forgotten about it, grabbing to the tiny sliver of hope that something might turn up on day, all while she tried other leads. Who was present on the day of the incident? Who might have seen where the infant was taken? She contacted several orphanages asking about that particular day, how many children were admitted, where are thereabouts now. At times, Satsuki felt she was getting close to finding something, at times, she felt as if she was chasing her own tail. One thing remained persistent: her search reaped no results.
She was sitting in her office after a long day of work; she has shut down her laptop and was gazing out of the window, looking at the shaking trees that were being tossed around by the strong wind. It was the perfect pastime, an ideal way to unwind and relax herself into retiring for the night. Perhaps, with some luck, she'd be able to go to sleep and remain sleeping for the duration of the night. With everything that's been going on, her sleep was patchy at best, insomnia being a familiar companion. She has somehow convinced herself that something would come up in the dead of the night, while she is fast asleep, hence, sleep was discarded as she stayed on the alert.
Ironically, the call was received in the middle of the day. She has turned off her office phone, decided to organize her work and take the minimal with her home for a change. She instructed her secretary to divert all calls, to call off every meeting.
'It's urgent.' Hououmaru Rei said, covering the speaker with one hand.
Her instructions were clear.
'They want to speak to you in person.' Hououmaru persisted.
Did she stutter?
'They say its about …' That's when she took the call, nearly snatching the phone from the woman's hand, walking into her office and shutting the door behind her.
Well, that was that. Her efforts didn't go to waste, the ghost she's been chasing is real. And soon, very soon, she is going to make things right. The call ended around an hour later, with nearly a page full of details. Locations, names, and possibilities. At the end, there was a list of five names, now it is upon her to check each one out, see which one is the lost infant from long ago. Of the five, with her resources and background checks, four were registered to a parent, even if only for a short period of time. Her eyes fell on the fifth name, it was shrouded in mystery just like the mirage she's chasing. Circling the name and underlining the location, Satsuki knew where she needed to go next.
Of course, things won't be as easy as they might seem to be— there was a lot to look into; she cannot just barge in there and claim to be family. If she needs to do this right, she needs a game plan, something to work with before she proceeds.
Her eyes would fall on the name, she'd barely whisper it, familiarizing herself with it. But that was the extent of it. With no birth certificate or any legal document, she'd be grasping at strings. She needs a solid evidence, anything that would prove that Ragyo did indeed give birth to another child, even if she disposed of it, HER, right after she was born. It was never spoken about, never mentioned for the entirety of Satsuki's life. It was Soichiro who brought it up, telling her about the discarded infant, and promising to find her himself.
Ragyo killed him. It was passed off as an unfortunate accident, but Satsuki knew better than to believe that lie. Soichiro knew Ragyo's secret, and she silenced him forever. Satsuki feigned ignorance; never bringing up the issue or hinting that she knew anything. Instead, she focused on not getting on Ragyo's bad side. She has done everything the tyrant wanted, complying to her every wish and being the perfect daughter, never questioning her mother or her actions. It was this act that led to Satsuki knowing of the secret office. A place where Soichiro hid the truth.
The accident was the result of Ragyo failing at getting a location. What he hid was going to bring everything to light, she destroyed the man in order to bury that secret with him. But it wasn't gone, not quite.
He gave her a key, with few words to work with. If worst came to worse, he would entrust this to his first born.
"Satsuki," She was no older than seven, sitting in her room reading one of her favorite novels.
"What is it, father?" Replacing the bookmark, she turned towards him, giving him her full attention.
"Were I to give you something to keep safe, would you know where to hide it so no one could find it?" It was very strange, but she didn't question it. Her father was the good parent, what he wants, she'd gladly do.
She nodded, wondering where this was going. It was then that he gave her a small copper key.
"Can you hide this key where no one would find it? Don't let me know either." He didn't elaborate further, but she understood. This was something big.
"Is something the matter?"
"Well you see," He pulled a chair and sat next to her, about to reveal a secret that would haunt her from that moment on. A shadow looming over her, reminding her of a loving father and a baby sister, both whose were taken from her far too soon.
Tossing the memory aside, she ran her finger along the copper key, she still hasn't found the door it would open. She alternated her gaze from the paper to the key, back and forth, until it clicked.
"Matoi!"
It was a name, so unlike theirs. It was— something that her father would do.
"Matoi." Came the whisper in her ear as he told her the shocking truth. He didn't elaborate further, she didn't press him.
A key and a name, it was all he left her before dying and leaving everything in her hands.
She picked up the phone and called the two people who could fish out old information in record time. She gave them an hour to come to her office to discuss a matter of utmost importance.
Forty five minutes later the three of them sat in Satsuki's office, three cups of tea sat between them on the coffee table. Satsuki looked at the man and woman sitting across from her, trusting in their ability, and trusting them enough to let them on this whole matter.
"I want you to dig up a name, it goes back as long as fifteen years ago. I trust it's within you ability to do so?" Right down to business, she has no more time to waste on pleasantries.
"Hm, I can dig up information older than that. This should be a piece of cake." Houka Inumuta declared, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Hououmaru, I want you to find out where Ragyo was hiding during that time period. Being heavily pregnant and having a child are not things one can keep hidden.. I want a time and a place."
"On it."
"I do not need to remind you that what goes on in this room stays in this room."
"Of course."
"You needn't worry about it."
With that, the meeting has concluded. Both of them promising to bring in results as soon as they could. However long they take, it was the only time she'd catch a rest before running down the same trail once more. She leaned back on her chair, trying to relax and tell herself that she is getting closer. A child with no parents or documents, bearing the last name of 'Matoi'…It shouldn't be much longer now; soon she will be reunited with who was taken from her.
It was around three days later that she met Houka and Rei, now that they both have figured out what she asked them of.
"Ragyo did disappear for quiet some time; she took off around early July, and returned near the end of October." Res read her notes.
"Diging up further, I found that she was in a remote village, with a small number of population. As it was a small and rural community, no one really knew who she was. To them, she was just any regular person who came to reside in a small village for a change of pace and scenery. Around October, a few days before she left the village, she gave birth. Looking up the names of who was born around that time, around five children were issued birth certificates. Four of them were children of the villagers, with the fifth one being missing, along with the official document of her birth."
Houka handed her a folder with a single paper inside of it. Taking the paper, it was the birth certificate she was looking for all along.
"Aside from issuing a birth certificate, the data is added to the national database. Even with the paper gone, I easily accessed the database and looked through all the born children during that period, cross-matching the name and dates. I believe this is who you're looking for." Inumuta finished.
Satsuki looked at the paper again, her eyes catching the name: Ryuuko Matoi, born to Isshin Matoi, no mother.
"Ragyo left alone, the infant was left at the hospital without being named or identified. Few days later an old man, this Isshin Matoi, showed up and claimed to be the father." Rei continued.
"Coincidently, the appearance of this Isshin Matoi matches the disappearance of Soichiro Kiryuuin, the appeared and disappeared at the exact same time."
It was him; Soichiro took the discarded child, gave her a name and left her for anyone to find her. How could Ragyo do this to a helpless child? Keeping her anger at her dead mother at bay, she asked them the most important question.
"Do you have a location?"
"Here." Inumuta handed her a slip of paper with an address and a phone number on it. With this and the birth certificate, there was nothing standing in Satsuki Kiryuuin's way.