I hang up the phone and stare out of the window in our hotel room. I can hear Raku in the other room speaking with Lidner about some investigation she's working on, and I thank my lucky stars that she is otherwise occupied. My phone call was from Noriko's coach, informing me in a very blunt manner than my daughter assaulted another student. Apparently, the tennis tournament didn't exactly go according to expectations, and Noriko was comforting the teammate that lost her final match when several girls began taunting them. From what the coach said, Noriko didn't back down and threw back almost everything she got; she used some choice language but that didn't bother me, she grew up hearing that from my friends and me, so of course, she knew how to use it. Her coach continued to say that Noriko did try to separate herself from the situation by walking away when the other girl grabbed her arm and Noriko threw a hard punch.
Evidently, her fist connected with the other girl's nose and when she went to the ground, Noriko got on top of her and continued to punch her until the coach pulled her off. I asked the coach about injuries, and she said Noriko's only wounds were cut and bruised knuckles, the other girl had to be rushed to the hospital. I nearly dropped my phone when she said that.
I find it ironic that I just defended her temper to Near, saying that she had improved and could control it, and only hours later I get a phone call telling me that she did what we always thought she was capable of. She hurt someone. This will be all of the evidence Near needs to enforce his twisted desire to have Noriko under constant surveillance and his control, likely going to cite that this display of violence will ultimately lead to her transformation into Kira. I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh heavily. What kind of miracle will it take to prove that Noriko is nothing like Light? She isn't a calculated manipulator, she doesn't use others just to achieve her ends, and she genuinely cares about the people around her. If she didn't, then she wouldn't have attacked her friend's bullies. Yes, she was way out of line with what she did, but her heart was in the right place.
I asked the coach what we needed to do and she said that she'd inform the principal and there will be a meeting on Monday. Noriko will likely be formally charged with assault, and the school will expel her; not even her test scores and grades will be enough leverage to convince them to keep her. I knew that already but I just wanted to ask, Noriko's worked so hard to prove to us and the rest of her peers that she can succeed and now, all of that work has gone to waste. With her expulsion, she will be unable to take her entrance exams, and that will prevent her from entering To-Oh University. Her criminal record will prevent her from entering the police academy, and she'll never become a detective. Everything she's been working hard to achieve will never happen.
"Oh god," I say quietly as I sit down, unable to stand any longer. My child's future is ruined, and there's nothing I can do to fix it, not this time. I miss the days when this kind of trouble was fixed by switching schools and paying small fines; this is something else, something that I doubt even a lawyer can smooth over.
My phone begins to vibrate, and I look at it, frowning when I see an unknown number, and I answer, "Matsuda."
"Hello, are you Noriko Matsuda's guardian?" asks a female voice on the other end.
"I am. To whom am I speaking?" I ask, dread creeping into my stomach.
"My name's Mei Saga," says Mei calmly. "I'm Ritsu Saga's mother; our children are acquaintances of sorts I suppose."
"A pleasure," I say with a forced smile. 'What does this woman want?'
"Listen, I'm not sure how much you know, but Noriko had a terrible day," says Mei sounding hesitant. "It was so bad in fact, that my son found her trying to jump off of a bridge."
If I hadn't already been sitting, my legs would've given out immediately. Even now I feel like I won't be able to get up and walk. "You mean she...?"
"Yes," says Mei quietly. "He had to pull her off, and when he saw her, he couldn't leave her alone, so he brought her to our house. She's fine, just shaken and quiet, but nothing's wrong other than . . . well, I'm going to be frank with you Mr. Matsuda, she was covered in blood."
"I see," I say, feeling my chest deflate as the reality of the situation starts to sink in. Noriko must've been feeling terrible about what she did and thought that the only way out was . . . No, I need to stop and calm down. My child just attempted to kill herself and her savior's mother is on the phone. "Was it her blood?"
"I'm afraid not," replies Mei, sounding tired. "From what my son said, Noriko was in an altercation earlier tonight, and that's where the blood came from. She's in the shower right now cleaning up, and I would like to have her stay the night." She lets out a shaky breath. "I know from personal experience how dangerous it is to let someone be left alone in that mindset."
My heart lurches. "I'm sorry," I say kindly. "And yes, Noriko can stay as long as you deem necessary. My wife and I are out of town and won't be back until late on Sunday. It would probably be best if Noriko stayed with you until we can see her on Monday."
"I was thinking along those lines as well," says Mei with a strained chuckle. "I've never met a person who could come barreling into life quite like her. Our kids might attend school together, but they never formally met until the other night when Noriko came into our restaurant looking to escape some bikers."
"Bikers?" I repeat. Noriko never mentioned being harassed by bikers.
"Yes, apparently she made a wrong turn and ran into some unsavory characters," replies Mei with the calmness that only someone in control can exude. "She was smart about it and ran into our restaurant where I'm sure she knew there would be people and a place to hide. Afterwards, she and my son hit it off. Of course, he's had a crush on her for quite a while."
In the background, I can hear a young man groan, "Mom!"
I can't help but chuckle a little. At least Noriko is with people who seem to understand the gravity of the situation, and she isn't alone. I would be racing back if she were.
"Well, the man has a right to know," argues Mei and I chuckle again. "It's his daughter, and he needs to know what kind of people are looking after her." A pause. "He does so need to know that you have a crush on her! He might think we were kidnappers or something, hell he might think that now!"
"If you are, you're pretty bad at it," I say, and she laughs.
"I guess as a detective you'd know," agrees Mei and I raise an eyebrow.
"How did you know I'm a detective?" I ask curiously.
"Oh, I used to be a paralegal for a prosecutor," she replies. "Of course that was before my husband, and I opened our restaurant. Anyway, I used to see you quite frequently with Chief Aizawa, or I guess he's Deputy Director according to some of my former colleagues. When Ritsu told me Noriko's last name, I knew exactly who you were."
"It's a fairly common name," I counter, and I can almost hear her shrug.
"Yes, but not many would have daughters aspiring to be detectives just like her guardian," argues Mei and I wonder why she didn't just become a prosecutor herself. "I think it's fantastic that you took Noriko in and even gave her your last name. I've never met many foster families that go the extra mile like that."
"Foster family?" I repeat uneasily.
"I'm sorry, is it adopted family?" asks Mei, sounding genuinely confused. "I suppose that would make more sense. Anyway, whichever, she obviously idolizes you, and she adores her brother Koji, every time she mentioned him she practically glowed. It's not often that adoptive siblings get along so well, you're fortunate."
I barely manage not to correct her and say that Koji and Noriko were raised as biological siblings. "It seems you know a great deal about my family, Mei and I only know a little bit about you and your son, who saved my daughter's life."
"Yes, that is quite the predicament," agrees Mei, obviously understanding the subtle invitation. "I know! Why don't you and your family come to our restaurant for dinner? We can get better acquainted then, and you can formally thank Ritsu for his heroic efforts."
"That would be great," I say, trying to sound upbeat. "How about next Wednesday? My family isn't incredibly busy then."
"That's perfect," says Mei happily. "The restaurant should be fairly empty on that day, and it would give us a chance to make something special! Of course, my husband would argue that his beef stew is special."
"I wouldn't want to put you out," I say with a slight grimace. I really should've asked Raku's opinion but I also really want to meet the people responsible for keeping Noriko in one piece on probably the worst night of her life. "Beef stew would be just fine, in fact, it's one of my son's favorites."
"Wonderful!" says Mei happily. "Alright, I'll see you at six on Wednesday. I hope you enjoy your trip and don't worry about Noriko; she's safe with us."
"Thank you again," I say sincerely. "You have no idea how much my wife and I appreciate you looking after her."
"I'm just glad I could help," says Mei quietly. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," I say, and we hang up.
I lean back in my chair and put my phone in my jacket pocket. Of all the things that could've happened today, the last thing I thought would be that my daughter would assault someone and then try to commit suicide. Not to mention she was harassed by bikers and had to take refuge in a strange restaurant. We left her alone for two days, and everything went to hell.
"Lidner's almost done in Milan," says Raku as she comes out of the other room. "Apparently she found a lead this morning and is going to pursue it later." She comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. I tense, and I can feel her do the same. "Touta, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Everything," I reply softly, and she immediately lets go of me. "Noriko lost her temper and assaulted a girl at the tennis tournament."
"She did what?!" exclaims Raku and I watch from the corner of my eye as she sits in the chair beside mine.
"She assaulted a girl," I say again, running my hand through my slightly grey hair. I swear most of the grey is from worrying about Noriko. "From what her coach said, they lost, and the other girls were being rather poor sports about winning and making fun of Nori's friend Rika Hatori. Nori verbally went after them, and things turned physical when the girl grabbed her arm. She didn't punch her or anything, but Noriko certainly let the girl have it; apparently, she ended up in the hospital with a badly broken nose."
Raku shakes her head and leans forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "Damn it."
"Looks like he'll get his way," I say coldly. "There's more."
"What? Did she kill someone?" asks Raku bitterly.
"She tried to kill herself," I reply, and Raku looks shocked. "I just got off the phone with the mother of the young man who pulled her off a bridge."
Raku gasps and I sink back into my chair, a headache brewing behind my eyes.
"There's one more thing," I say, and I see Raku tense. "I think she knows that she's adopted. The woman I spoke to was under the impression that I'm either Nori's adoptive father or foster father. I highly doubt Noriko said on a whim."
"Oh Touta," she says softly. "We have to tell him."
"I know," I say quietly. "And I know what'll happen when we do."
Raku takes my hand. "Maybe this is for the best. She's obviously getting out of hand, and he's in a better position to look after her—"
"She's only "out of hand" because we left her alone!" I snap, snatching my hand away. "If we were there for her, none of this would've happened!"
"So you want to continue raising a girl who can't be left by herself for a weekend?" asks Raku scathingly. "Touta, whether you like it or not, our influence wouldn't have made a difference. She loves to rebel and do things we tell her not to, like when we told her not to show off about being smarter than the majority of the class, what did she do? Made it a point to be number one. We told her to take it easy in tennis and enjoy it, to not compete at school and she did the exact opposite. We told her to be careful about the people she associated with and what does she do? Befriends the first people who are nice to her and look at what that got her. Face it, she's a rebel and will always be a rebel. We can't continue to care for her, and you know that."
"You were certainly singing a different tune earlier," I sneer. "You were all for us keeping her out of Near's hands, and now, you're going to give her to him on a silver platter. What a hypocrite."
Raku glares at me. "I'm not hypocritical! I'm trying to think of the future, and right now, all I'm imagining is us running after Noriko for the rest of our lives cleaning up her messes. Then when we die, Koji will be the one to look after her. We can't live like that, Touta! As much as I don't want him to have her, we can't control her on our own. If this weekend is any indication of what's to come, we'll never be able to leave her alone again, and I'm not about to have her living in my house where she might hurt my son or us."
"She would never do that," I say firmly.
"Just like how you said she would never attack someone?" Raku retorts, throwing my words in my face. "Touta, I know you love her, I know you see her as your daughter but you need to face the fact that she isn't, she never was. She was always someone temporarily in our lives, who at the first sign of trouble would be whisked away to be looked after by someone else. I know you feel like you owe it to Soichiro but you don't, and I'm sure he'd understand."
I roll my eyes. It's a cold and low move to bring the Chief into this. "Understand what? That I abandoned his only grandchild when things got tough? That I gave her to someone whose sole objective in life is to poke and prod and see what happens? Oh yeah, I can see him understanding my decision."
Raku sighs heavily. "I know you aren't Near's biggest fan, but the only reason we even have her is because of him. She was never going to be ours forever, no matter how much you wanted it. We're going to tell him what happened and we're going to deal with the fallout, whatever that may be." She pulls out her phone. "Now, do you want to do it or do you want me to?"
I remain silent, and she nods before standing up and heading back into the other room while I sit and fume. This is a betrayal, a blatant act of treason against the girl we agreed to raise as our daughter and now, she's going to be taken away from us. I let out a mirthless chuckle. I'm sure that now that she knows the truth, she probably will see it as a blessing to be away from us, I can only assume that she thought we were lying to her this entire time. That isn't entirely true and not entirely false either. I had every intention of telling Noriko at some point that she was adopted and give her access to her mother's things, Raku wanted to do it from the very beginning, but I forced her not to. I thought it would be better to try and bond with her, to show her that even though her biological family is gone, she still had us. I wanted her to see us as her family and not to care about blood relations.
Over the years, I thought I was somewhat successful at that. She bonded well with me, and Raku to a certain extent, and when Koji came, she leaped at the chance to be a big sister and showered him with love. I thought we had forged bonds stronger than blood, but maybe I was wrong this entire time. Perhaps the only reason she loved us was because she thought we were blood relatives, maybe now that she knows, she won't consider herself part of our family. She already told Mei Saga that we are her foster family, the furthest thing from a real family she could say without saying she's an orphan. I suppose I should be glad she didn't, that would've been an overly dramatic response and sound like something Light would say in the same situation.
I sigh as I remember my dead friend and enemy. "This is all your fault, you bastard," I mutter, glaring at the lights outside. "If you hadn't become Kira, none of this would've happened. I'm glad you're dead."
Suddenly a cold feeling cuts through my chest, and I hug myself against it as it overwhelms my senses. For a moment I swear I can hear Light's laugh and see his taunting smirk. I look at the window and gasp when I think I see Light's face staring back at me.
I hear something in my ear, something cold and quiet and reminds me of a breeze, "I'm glad you think so."
