Moscow
"Mr. Hiwatari, your dinner is ready," the butler said and exited his master's room.
The man who stood at his window staring at the night sky and the vast expanse of the forest beyond his huge palace walls was Voltaire Hiwatari, the ex-President of the Hiwatari Corp. Or should he say prison walls? He was not even the ex-President; to people in Russia and around the world, he was the 'late' Voltaire Hiwatari!
A prisoner in his own house, he was paying for all those sins he had committed.
You're going to pay for this Kai! You will…he thought as he stepped out of his room.
My soldiers are coming to save me. Once I'm free you're destruction will be inevitable. I wanted to give you all the power in the world. I wanted to make you the God. But, you chose those stupid friends over me. You just wait and see. I'll make sure you regret your decision.
He sat down in his chair, the place reserved for the head of the family. Anton stood to his side a little away from him.
"Do you need anything else, Mr. Hiwatari?" he asked very politely.
"No"
He looked at the empty chairs around him. A long time ago, those chairs weren't the way they were now. His family was with him. His son and his niece… had been his only family. Only if they had listened to him, only if they had understood him… every thing would've been different.
Twenty three years ago…
She came running down the stairs, being chased by her beloved brother Viktor. He caught hold of her long auburn hair and thought he could finally retrieve his blade from her. But, her hair slipped through his fingers, with her went his beyblade.
"You have to promise me first. You'll introduce me to her, only then I'll give you your beyblade back," she said hiding his beyblade behind her.
"Alina! Just give it back to me!"
"No!"
"Fine. I promise, I'll introduce you to her when we go back to Japan," he just couldn't say 'no' to his fifteen year old sister.
Her amber eyes lit up. She was going to meet her future sister-in-law. Viktor hadn't proposed Ayuri yet. But, he would as soon as they return to Japan. He knew her answer, yet he was tensed. Alina however, went as far as selecting the names of her niece and nephew.
She handed her brother his blade and said with wink, "She better not disappoint me."
He pulled her hair and said, "And you better watch your manners with her."
"Ouch," she said and as her brother walked away she stuck her tongue out at him.
The door of the huge mansion opened to let in a man in his late forties.
"Dad!" the young girl ran to her uncle and hugged him, "I missed you so much."
"Welcome home, Alina," he hugged the little girl back.
The relation between them was that of a nice and an uncle, but the relation that had grown between them over the years was that of a father and a daughter.
"Welcome home dad," Viktor Hiwatari greeted his father, Voltaire Hiwatari, the President of one of the biggest military corporations in Russia, The Hiwatari Corp.
"Welcome home, son. I assume you arrived in the evening," Voltaire Hiwatari said as made himself comfortable in his recliner near the fireplace.
"Yes. We'll be staying in Russia until the New Year," he explained to his father, knowing the fact that his father would have been too busy to remember their dates of arrival and departure.
"So, how is the company in Japan?"
"Don't you know dad? I'm sure you would have run a primary scan of all the statistics by now," he said as he sat down facing his dad.
"You know me very well, Viktor."
"After all I'm your son."
Their eyes met for a moment and wandered elsewhere.
"Let's talk about something else, anything other than your business matters," Alina said, unaware of the tension brewing between the father and the son.
"So, how are your studies?" Hiwatari asked his little girl.
"Fine. Good enough to graduate," she said smiling.
"That's good."
There was a knock at the door.
"Yes, what is it?" Viktor asked Anton, their butler.
Anton was a humble man, in his late thirties.
"The dinner has been served, sir."
"We're coming."
The three of them got up to have their dinner.
That was happiest of all the dinners Voltaire Hiwatari ever had in his life. Alina just couldn't stop talking. Viktor's sense of humor was amazing. Voltaire laughed and put in a couple of jokes too. He couldn't remember when he had been so happy before.
What he had never expected was that, this would be the last dinner he would have with his family. The family he had destroyed with his own hands.
Back to the present...
Tokyo
Kai's mansion...
"Katya?" Ray shook the girl lying in her bed curled up in the fetal position.
Katya wasn't exactly a morning person, but she was never late to school. It was 8:40 in the morning and still she was in bed, unwilling to get up.
"Hey... you alright? You're getting late." Ray shook her again.
"I'm not going anywhere. I feel sick," she mumbled in sleep, barely audible to herself.
Ray pulled the blanket off her face and put a hand on her fore head.
"Oh my god! You're burning. How the hell did you catch a fever?"
Ray went downstairs to tell Kai about her condition.
"She has a high fever. It's better she rests today."
"Fever?" Kai arched an eye brow.
"Check for yourself," Ray said pointing upstairs.
Kai said, "Let her rest then. I'm leaving."
Sometime in the afternoon...
Ray woke up suddenly. He looked around in his room. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep.
But, he couldn't. So he decided to go check on Katya and give her something to eat if she was feeling better.
He went to her room to find her bed empty.
On his way downstairs, he saw Thomas coming up.
"Master Ray, have you seen Miss Katya anywhere?"
"What? She isn't there at home?" Ray asked the butler, a little shocked. Where did that girl go to in that condition.
"No. The driver told me that he saw her going out an hour ago..."
"She went out? How did he let her go?" Ray was already running down stairs and was on his way out. He wasted no time and called Kai. He was on his way home.
"What do you mean by Katya went out?" Kai became furious when he heard the news.
Stupid girl! I told her not to go out alone. What is she thinking of herself?
Cemetery...
Aran Granger knelt down in front of of her grave and laid down the flowers he brought for her. Cherry blossoms had always been her favourite. Those were the flowers she was named after.
Sakura... Even the thought of her name brought back to him the serenity, he found in her embrace.
She was the most beautiful women he had ever met. He loved her more than anything in this world. That was the reason he never remarried. He gave her all the love he had to offer. When she left this world, his love went with her. He couldn't fall in love again.
"Dad, why did you bring me here today? After all these years..." it has been a long time since Tyson visited his mother's grave. He didn't remember how his mother looked; you can't blame him. He wasn't even an year old when she died.
"Must there be a reason Tyson?" Hiro asked his brother.
"No... I don't mean it like that. Look at dad. He's never been like this."
"About seventeen years ago, today was the day I lost her." Mr. Granger said.
"Have you ever seen your mother's photograph Tyson?" Mr. Granger asked his bewildered son.
Tyson had seen her photograph once when he was about five years old. His father took him in his arms and told him how wonderful a person his mother was. Tyson suddenly wanted to meet his mother. He cried and cried for two days. After that incident, Aran Granger decided never to talk about her in front of him.
"No..." Tyson said forgetting the ruckus he had created when he was four.
Mr. Granger took his wallet out. Hiro and Grandpa looked at each other with worried expression in their eyes.
Now, even Tyson would realize!
How was the chapter?
What do you think Tyson will realize? I'm sure you'll have your guesses.
Just review to tell me your answers.
Curious to find out? READ ON...
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