Chapter 3
"My, you are very thorough." Lory's eyes went wide with the information that his newest assets had laid before him. It's amazing how a crisis will change a mother and father. He beamed proudly in his mind. "Thank you Mogami-san, Todoh-san." He paused. "Have you decided to discuss your new positions with Kyoko-chan?"
The pair looked at him a little confused. "Why would...?"
Lory smirked and shook his head. "Right now is when she needs family the most. Her mother and father should be by her side."
Saena was stunned to silence and Susumu Todoh paled. "How did you know?" He sputtered.
Lory chuckled. "She has her father's eyes and ears. She is a very observant young woman. Scarily so. I suggest you discuss this with her before she pieces it together on her own." He warned them. "I won't reveal that to her, it's not my place." He told them.
The parents let out a breath of relief. "Thank you."
Lory nodded. "Now... Back to the task at hand. Have you been able to find out how they have been able to stalk her over the past two years?" He patted the file folder filled with photos and witness interviews.
"He's been getting his information from a producer by the name of Haruki Asami and from his uncle Ken'Ichi Katagiri. Katagiri-sensei has offered to compensate for time lost on the job and for her care, since Fuwa-san's last visit to her hospital room." Susumu ground out angrily as Saena's brow furrowed. "He has offered this in return for her silence on the incident." He finished.
Lory looked up at them from the photos he had been thumbing through. "I see... Refuse the offer. I take care of my own children here at LME. We do not need assistance that has strings attached to it to ease a guilty conscience."
Susumu nodded in agreement.
"For now, you're dismissed while I go through this new information and decide what needs to be done. I will send for you when I'm finished." He waved the pair out, pulled a cigar from his desk and poured himself a drink.
Saena looked over to the man sitting in her new LME office on her sofa, fidgeting nervously. How did I not see this? She asked herself incredulously. She now clearly saw what Lory had so bluntly and eloquently pointed out. Why did she ever not notice the rare golden color her daughter's eyes possessed in this particular man or, the ears, jawline and skin-tone? How could she have not seen it before? She shook her head and felt like kicking herself for being so stupid. This explains so many things. The way he involved himself in Kyoko's childhood. How he kept a picture of her in his office. How he seemed to always know every tiny detail of Kyoko's life before she did. He was not really ever doing it for Saena, he was doing it for himself, because he was her father.
Her brow furrowed deeper than he had ever seen it and what he could only describe as a look of pure rage crossed her normally expressionless, stoic face. "I'm sorry..." He murmured, wringing his hands.
She snorted. "Sorry... You're sorry... How stupid and naive you must think I am." She ground out. "Would you at least care to explain why you did it and why you never bothered to tell me?"
He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I tried to tell you. I dropped so many hints. Katagiri-sensei told me if I ever told you, he would make sure that I never saw the light of day from anywhere but a prison cell and he would make sure that my parents paid him back for the money that he had loaned me for college." He paused. "Sae-chan... I never meant to hurt you or, Kyoko-chan. I love you both. That's why I stayed when he offered me a position in his new law firm." He confessed.
She was quiet for quite sometime. She sighed. "I am so tired, Susumu... I honestly don't know how to respond to any of this at the moment."
"You really don't need to say anything to all of this at the moment. I don't want you to feel any obligation to respond while Kyoko-chan is still in danger from Fuwa-san. Katagiri-san is definitely going to try and do everything he can to sweep this under the rug. You know how he is and his connections may put her further in danger than just a few broken bones and a hospital stay." He told her.
She gasped. "Susumu? I signed a document when I left her with Yayoi Fuwa. Katagiri-san said that it was necessary for them to take care of her." She told him in a worried voice.
"Do you remember what that document stated?" He asked, knowing how sneaky the old man could be.
She shook her head. "No, but I may have a copy of it at home."
"You need to go get it and bring it in. It needs to be looked over and checked to make sure there weren't any extra provisions in it that may be detrimental to Kyoko." He told her in a worried tone. "I'll go speak to Takarada-san while you do that."
She nodded and grabbed her purse as she hurried out the door.
She didn't know why she felt so paranoid when she entered her apartment and locked the door behind her and she couldn't explain why she felt the need to take the short document and fold it into the tiniest little square and tuck it into a small hole in the lining of her purse then grab a copy of Kyoko's birth certificate and her family registry. Although, it became very clear to her and she was glad that she did when the two strange men pushed her door open as she began to leave, tossed her apartment and dumped her purse onto the floor and left with Kyoko's birth certificate copy and the copy of her family registry. She had a strong feeling they had been after that little square of paper tucked safely in the lining of her purse.
She gathered her things, stuffed them back into her purse, made another copy of the two items and left. She would clean up the mess later that they had left behind and she would examine the documents after she was in the safety of Takarada-san's office. If he could keep Kuon Hizuri so well hidden, he most certainly was the safest bet for Kyoko at the moment. She was certain that was a secret that was never meant to be discovered, had Kyoko never called out for Kuon in the hospital, he would have never rushed to her side and she would have never known.
Oh this was rich. Lory couldn't keep the smile off his face at the irony of the situation as he read over the wrinkled document. He looked up at the Mother and Father of his LoveMe #1 and smirked. "Todoh-san... I think you know what you and Mogami-san need to do, but first you will need to take a DNA test to prove paternity. I will take care of letting Kyoko-chan know of the other news." He told the pair and the female flinched.
"She's going to hate me even more." She moaned uncharacteristically.
Lory shook his head. "That, I seriously doubt and it will make other people more happy than you can possibly imagine."
"Yeah, that Fuwa brat..." Her father hissed, clenching his fists.
Lory smiled mischievously. "It only states by the age of 18 it doesn't specify to whom. Apparently it was done to keep the two of you tied to Katagiri-san. Fortunately for us, Fuwa-san threw a wrench in that little plan over two years ago when he brought her from Kyoto and decided that she wasn't worthy of him. Unfortunately, we need to act on this before he's able to get the other copy from the young man's mother."
