Miyabi hung up her phone and gulped down the remaining half of her drink. She shuddered as her system took the hit. This was powerful stuff — much stronger than she usually ordered. But she'd never needed to lose herself in liquour so badly before.
Aoi was throwing her life away, and it was Miyabi's fault.
She'd been responsible, even more than the girl's own parents, for teaching her how to live. She'd trained her in not only practical skills, but also elegance, etiquette, and grace. Thanks to Miyabi, Aoi was completely ready to be the perfect wife. And nothing else.
Why? In all those years, why hadn't she ever considered the possibility that Aoi's engagement — which was, after all, a business deal first and foremost — might be called off? Anything might have happened. The Hanabishis might have backed out, the two families' fortunes might have changed... hell, Kaoru might have been hit by a bus. Nothing in life was certain.
But the Sakurabas had still seen fit to plan a marriage fifteen years in advance. And Miyabi had hopped right on board. How could she not? She'd seen the look of awe and wonder in Aoi's eyes when she first met Kaoru — it had almost made her believe in love at first sight. Nothing made Aoi happier than Kaoru, and nothing made Miyabi happier than seeing Aoi happy. So over the years, she'd put all her effort into helping those dreams of wedded bliss come true.
Then, without warning, catastrophe came — and Aoi was defenseless. She'd never learned how to protect her heart. Her guardian had never taught her.
The rest was inevitable, really. Aoi had been easy prey; this false Kaoru had just been the first predator to find her. Miyabi's failure was complete. All her years with Aoi counted for nothing compared to the "love" of some opportunistic stranger. All she could do was wait for the Sakurabas' orders... and then, once Aoi was back safe, their punishment.
Till then, Miyabi could think of no more appropriate place for herself than this dirty, poorly-lit bar, where things that had once been of value went to die.
A young girl came up to her table. "Yo yo yo! What c'n I getcha?"
"Another glass," said Miyabi. "I said to keep them coming."
"Psst! Know what I recommend? This stuff!" The girl produced a mysterious purple bottle. "This'll take ya out back an' pulverize yer liver! An' maybe other organs, if that's what yer into..."
Miyabi narrowed her eyes. "You're not even a waitress, are you?"
"Free sample!" said the drunken girl, pouring a bit of the purple goo into Miyabi's glass. Then she passed out.
Miyabi stared at the foreign substance, dark thoughts filling her head. Might as well try it, she thought. What do I have to lose anymore?
Her phone rang. She looked at it... and gave a start. This wasn't the employee she'd been speaking with earlier. This call was coming directly from the top.
"Madam Sakuraba!" said Miyabi, picking up. "I am so sorry. I tried as hard as I could to persuade –"
"Calm down, Miyabi," said her employer. "It's all right. I understand what has happened. It is not too late for the situation to be mended."
"Are... are you sure?"
"Yes. Now listen carefully. I want you to return and give me a full account of what Aoi told you. Tomorrow, we will go to her and bring her back."
"W-wonderful! I have already instructed the security team to –"
"They will not be necessary. She will come with us. Now take heart, Miyabi, and come home."
"I'm on my way! I'll be at the train station in fifteen minutes!" She stood bolt upright and chugged down the last of her dr–
Miyabi dropped the glass. Her eyes went completely white.
"Perhaps thirty," she said, just before she hit the floor face-first.
The first beams of sunlight drifted in through the window and woke them as they lay in each other's arms. "Good morning, my love," said Aoi, staring deep into her fiance's eyes. She had never known it was possible to be so happy.
"Morning," he replied, trying to return her gaze and not look lower. He had never known it was possible to be so happy and so frustrated at the same time.
Aoi got up to make breakfast, and he just lay back, his mind gasping for breath. This was quickly becoming more than he could handle. He'd gone straight from a lifelong bachelor (albeit involuntary) to practically a married man. No buildup; no adjustment period. He felt like he was going to burst from the acceleration.
A small part of him wanted to run. He was still in high school — how could he decide his whole life now? This was his first relationship ever, and he wanted it to be his last? Run. Get out. See other girls. Sample the buffet before sitting down to dinner.
But his fear was no match for his euphoria. He loved this girl. He loved having a girl to love. His new life was everything he'd dreamed of for so many lonely nights. It was bliss. It would be perfect if Aoi would just –
No. It was perfect. Stop that.
How could he be so ungrateful? He had no right to complain. He'd won the freaking girlfriend lottery. (More like stolen a winning ticket, his conscience reminded him, but he shoved it down.) He'd got himself a girl without half trying — and not just any girl. Oh no. Aoi was one of a kind.
She was beautiful. She was smart. She was passionate. She knew things about keeping house that his mother had long forgotten. And as if all that weren't enough, she had a quality he would have dismissed as impossible, the stuff of urban legends, if he hadn't seen it himself: she was zero-maintenance. Aoi didn't want anything from him but his presence. There were no mind games with her, no pressure. Her happiness literally was his.
Aoi was perfect. She was the gift that kept on giving. She was a living, breathing free lunch.
But come on... were they ever gonna get to the good stuff? They'd been together for days now!
Arrrrrgh stop it stop it stop it! He slapped himself in the head. No good — the frustration was still there. He tried again. Once more. Harder. Come on! Bash those dirty thoughts out of –
"Kaoru? What are you doing?"
Oops. "Uh... that was... practice. Fighting practice."
Aoi gave a little smirk. "Were your combat techniques effective against your opponent?"
He looked her up and down and immediately knew the answer. "Not even a little."
"Poor dear," she said, still smiling. "Maybe you'll put up a better fight after you've eaten."
She handed him the plate of food she was carrying, which in his distraction he hadn't even noticed. Looking at it now, he couldn't believe his eyes. She'd made a full Western-style breakfast. Toast, eggs, bacon, grapefruit (since when did he even have grapefruit?).
Breakfast in bed. It was an honest-to-God breakfast in bed made by his fiancee. This couldn't be real life. It couldn't even be heaven. He must have died in heaven and gone to some kind of double heaven.
As he started eating, Aoi sat down next to him and rumpled his hair. "My Kaoru's such a delinquent. Don't worry, I'll cheer for you in the rematch."
"I love you," he said.
His serious tone clearly took her by surprise. She wrapped her arms around him, deeply moved. "I love you too, Kaoru. Always."
They embraced for a long, silent moment. His frustration was gone; he had found total clarity. This was enough. He would pay no more attention to his adolescent hindbrain. Aoi was worth waiting a lifetime for.
At last she released him. He picked up his breakfast again. "Hey, aren't you going to eat?" he asked.
"Oh! I forgot my plate! I'll be right back, darling." Aoi got up and headed for the kitchen.
She was in no hurry. He watched her walk away. He watched her very, very closely.
Sweet God almighty, he wanted to tap that.
It was about ten when the car pulled up.
"This is the place?"
"I'm afraid so."
They parked the car and headed inside. It would probably have surprised them to know they were being watched.
All thoughts of school had vanished from his mind when Aoi had walked in with breakfast. This day they would spend together. He'd think of someplace nice to take her in the afternoon, but for now, they were just relaxing on the couch.
Aoi sighed contentedly. "Do you think we're being unfair, Kaoru?" she asked.
"To whom?"
"Other couples. We're hogging all the happiness for ourselves."
He laughed. What a girl! But deep down, he remembered uncomfortably that it was true, at least in his case. His happiness belonged to the real Kaoru Hanabishi. There was no turning back now, of course; he'd done this on a whim, but now that he knew Aoi, he would never give her up. But someday he would have to tell her the truth. It was the right thing to do.
Of course, it would still be the right thing even if he waited a while to do it. A few years, say. Until after the wedding and maybe a kid or two. When it wouldn't matter anymore. That would be okay.
Poor real Kaoru. He'd have to find the guy someday and give him a fruit basket or something.
The doorbell rang, surprising them both. "I'll get it," said Aoi.
"Wait! What if it's..."
She looked at him sadly, and he remembered. Her family had given up on her. That was another problem they would have to solve someday, but for now — although this shamed him a bit — he found it a relief. The Sakurabas (hey, he remembered the name now!) were a threat to his happiness with Aoi. If she was willing to leave them behind, he wasn't about to rock the boat.
So who could be at the door? Someone from his family, maybe? Heh, that was gonna be an interesting conversation one of these –
"Mother!"
Uh oh.
The "guests" weren't interested in tea. They didn't want to sit at the table. No stalling this time. This was the final faceoff.
All four combatants were seated Japanese-style on the floor, with Mrs. Sakuraba and Miyabi opposite Aoi and "Kaoru". He tried not to make his physical discomfort too obvious — he wasn't used to sitting this way. The other three might as well have been born in this posture.
Aoi was staring coldly at her former guardian. By now he could read her well enough to tell that she was thrilled to see her family again, but still furious at being lied to. "Well, Miss Miyabi," she said, "I see now that I was wrong to consider honesty one of your virtues."
Miyabi was about to reply, but Mrs. Sakuraba held up a hand, silencing her. Apparently the old lady was going to do the talking this time. "I will not have you rebuke Miyabi," she said. "It is not your place. She has always acted in your best interests."
"Mother... am I not old enough now to decide my own best interests?" Aoi was trying hard not to sound like a child, but wasn't quite pulling it off. He wasn't surprised — this was her first time standing up to a parent directly. She would learn.
"You are not old enough," said Mrs. Sakuraba. "The law may consider you an adult, but tradition is another matter. While you live under my roof, you will obey me."
"I do not live under your roof any longer, Mother." Aoi grabbed her fiance's arm to make the point.
Mrs. Sakuraba kept her eyes firmly on her daughter. "I would have some sympathy for your position, were this truly Kaoru Hanabishi. Some."
Horror swept over him. They knew?
"I see," said Aoi. "Then you too have chosen to value superficial evidence over my judgment?"
What? Aoi had heard this already? And she still... good God, this girl's loyalty was unshakable!
"Kaoru has explained all the discrepancies to me," she continued. "Many of them are reflections of his painful history. It is deeply cruel to not only remind him of them, but use them to claim he is an impostor."
"Have you even considered the possibility that you are mistaken?" asked Mrs. Sakuraba. The obvious pity in her eyes annoyed him.
"No. I know what my heart is telling me. I knew almost immediately when we met. This is my Kaoru, my betrothed. I would never mistake another for him."
"But if he –"
"He is Kaoru, mother! He is the man I love!" And with that, she grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him.
Time stood still. The feel of her lips against his was beyond his wildest dreams. Had he really thought he was just in double heaven before? This was tri— no, it transcended silly metaphors entirely.
At last Aoi broke contact. She turned back to her mother, exhilarated and defiant. "I trust I have made my position clear."
Miyabi looked nauseated... but Mrs. Sakuraba was unfazed. That blasted pity was still in her eyes. And she was still looking only at Aoi, not at him. "I am sorry I pushed you to that point," she said. "Entrusting your first kiss to this boy will be a source of shame to you in the future."
Something in his head finally snapped. How dare she say that? Aoi had just made her choice clear once and for all, and this old bag still refused to respect her? Who did she think she was?
If this whole thing had ever really been a con to him, it wasn't anymore. Aoi loved him. He loved her. Screw the real Kaoru — that bastard hadn't cared enough to stick around. He was her Kaoru now. He would fight for her!
The old lady continued, "He is –"
"Excuse me, Mrs. Sakuraba, but I'm sitting right here. Please look me in the face when you call me a liar."
She turned, smiling slightly. "I wondered if you were going to speak up."
"I have no desire to be rude to you, ma'am. You're important to Aoi, and that makes you important to me. But I won't sit here and be accused in my own home." He couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken so formally. Maybe that came with the territory.
"It is your home," said Mrs. Sakuraba thoughtfully. "And you are the man my Aoi has chosen. I suppose it is only fair that I hear you out."
"Thank you," he said. "Mrs. Sakuraba, the moment I saw Aoi at the train station, I knew there was something special about her. It had been years since we'd seen each other, but her face still called out to me. We both felt the pull of destiny.
"Neither of us really had a choice. We never have. We were meant for each other. The arranged marriage was just a lucky accident." And so were a few other things, he thought. "We would have found each other sooner or later even without it. The red string of fate would never have let us go.
"I am not a perfect man, Mrs. Sakuraba. I'm not strong. I'm not smart. I'm not rich." I'm not Kaoru. "But no one in this world loves Aoi more than I do — not even you. I will always protect her and make her happy. I will never let her down.
"If you still decide to tear us apart, I can't stop you. But know this — no matter what you do, someday Aoi and I will find each other again. No power in the world is greater than destiny."
He wrapped his arm tightly around Aoi, who was sobbing now, moved beyond words. His mind was racing; he couldn't believe how easily the words had come to him. Somehow his passion had made him eloquent. Even Miyabi's scowl seemed a bit less deep.
But now it was all up to the old lady.
Mrs. Sakuraba was smiling slightly, as she had been throughout his speech. She gave Aoi a brief, sad look, as if to apologize, then turned back to him.
"Tell me, young man," she said, "what does the Hanabishi group sell?"
There was a moment of silence that stretched into eternity in his head.
"I-I, uh..."
"I'm sorry, perhaps that was an unfair question. The Hanabishis are a centuries-old family, but they may have changed their business in the months since you left. By the way, how is 'Hanabishi' spelled?"
"Uh! It's! Um!"
"That too is perhaps unfair. Not all teenage boys are good at spelling. Let us try something simpler. What is your grandfather's name?"
"Shigeru!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Not Genchiro? I was quite certain that was the Hanabishi patriarch's name. But I suppose I have only known him since a few years before you were born."
Oh no. No. He'd blurted out his real grandpa's name.
"I am sorry, young man. I should be easier on you. After all, I owe you my daughter's life. You did save her from drowning in the river on one of our outings together. What river was that again?"
"Uh... the, uh... the Sumida!"
"That never happened," said Aoi.
He turned. He was just now noticing that Aoi wasn't wrapped in his arm anymore. She had backed several feet away from him.
"There was no river," she continued. "No rescue from drowning. I have always been a better swimmer than you."
"H-honey..."
"No. Not better than you." Her eyes were empty. "Better than Kaoru."
"But! But I'm —!"
Aoi didn't even bother to put her shoes on. She just ran out of his apartment, weeping bitterly.
"Wait, Aoi! Come back!"
"Get away from me!"
He chased her all the way down the stairs and out the door. She was halfway to the street by the time he caught up. "Listen to me!" he said, grabbing her by the arm.
"Listen to what? More lies?" She tugged, trying to get free.
"They weren't lies!" he cried desperately. Confessing would be no good — his only hope was to go all in. "I told you how bad I was treated! It damaged my memory!"
"Let me GO! Monster!"
His panic grew with the sound of Miyabi catching up. "You've got to believe me, Aoi! I'm not lying! I am Kaoru Hanabishi!"
"No," said a voice behind him. "I am."
Something slammed into the side of his head. It hurt like nothing he could remember. He instantly lost his grip on Aoi's arm and slumped to the ground like a wet noodle.
His vision took several seconds to clear. When it did, he looked up at his attacker. And saw... what, seriously? "The guy from the train?"
"The flower boy?" said Miyabi, gasping for breath.
"Kaoru Hanabishi. The real one," said the newcomer, glaring at him. "The guy whose whole life you stole!"
He struggled to get back up. "I just –"
"Spare me," said Kaoru. "Here's what's gonna happen. You're going somewhere else for the night. Aoi's going back to your place to get her things. She can take as long as she wants. You don't come back till the morning, and you never show your face around either of us again. Got it?"
"But it's my –"
"That's the version where I don't kick your ass first or even turn you in to the cops. Want to hear some other versions?"
"...No."
Kaoru gritted his teeth. "No, sir."
"No. Sir." He stood up. "But Aoi, I –"
"Don't talk to me!" she cried. "Just GO!"
She might as well have stabbed him in the heart. He felt sick. His heart was barely beating; his mouth was so dry it tasted like ashes. This couldn't be happening — he couldn't lose Aoi. There had to be some way to fix this!
But Kaoru was still standing over him, burning with righteous anger. And Miyabi was itching for a shot at him; only Mrs. Sakuraba's grip on her upper arm was stopping her. He was sure he could change Aoi's mind, given enough time... but he wasn't going to get that time. Not now. Maybe never again.
He looked at Kaoru and said the only thing he could. "I love her."
"If that's true," said Kaoru, "then the best thing you can do for her is give her back her life."
He took one last look at Aoi. Her beautiful face was full of tears... all because of him.
He ran, and he didn't stop until his legs couldn't hold him up anymore.
Aoi was a leaf in the wind. The strength she'd found over the last few days was gone. She held back the tears as she watched her supposed fiance go, but as soon as he was out of sight, she started sobbing harder than ever. Mrs. Sakuraba released Miyabi, and she ran to Aoi, catching her just before she could fall over.
Kaoru felt the urge to comfort Aoi too, but he realized that was best left to her family. She was just now meeting him again — the real him, anyway. And there was something else he had to do. He went over to Aoi's mother and gave his best bow.
"Mrs. Sakuraba," he said. "When Aoi and I were children, I carved our names in a tree on your estate. She and I are the only ones who know that. I'm pretty sure I can find the tree again..."
The old lady smiled at him. "I believe you. It is good to finally meet you again, young Mr. Hanabashi."
"And you," he said, bowing once more for good measure.
He stood again and looked at Aoi, still breaking down in Miyabi's arms. He wished he knew what came next. Dealing with his usurper had been obvious and necessary, but now what? Was he going to be back in Aoi's life now? Did he want to be? Would she have him?
What was the right thing to do? Was there one?
"Miyabi," said Mrs. Sakuraba, "take Aoi upstairs and help her collect her things. Is there very much, Aoi?"
"J-just one bag," she choked out.
"Very well. I will wait here. Come down when you are ready, and we will return home."
Kaoru was about to offer to help them — it was all he could think of. But Mrs. Sakuraba cut him off. "You, young man, will wait here as well. It is not your apartment. And when they are done, you may come back with us. I am sure you and my daughter have a great deal to discuss after all these years."
He sighed with relief. At least now he knew the Sakurabas weren't just done with any and all Kaorus for good.
As Miyabi guided Aoi back to the apartment, Mrs. Sakuraba began walking over to a nearby bench to wait. Kaoru offered his hand, but she brushed it aside. "I am not quite so ancient that I cannot walk unassisted," she said.
He blushed. "Sorry. All my memories of you are from when I was little. To a kid, all adults are a thousand years old."
They sat together in silence for a while; both had plenty to think about. Kaoru was a bit worried that she'd find him rude for not speaking, but the opposite might be rude too, so he didn't risk it. After a while, Mrs. Sakuraba said, "This tree is on our estate?"
"Yes."
"Good. We will take a look when we get home."
He was startled. "Didn't you say you believed me, ma'am?"
"I do. But after the last few days..." She smiled at him again. "Best to make sure."
Next/Final: The Other Side of Sadness