The Heart Connection

by HuuskerDu

Sometimes opposites really do attract. Taichi and Inaba are newlyweds. But the young couple will soon be tested again by Heartseed in ways beyond their imagination. And after the tragedy that befell Yui, Aoki, and Iori, will their fate be same? Or can they finally defeat their unseen enemy and live happily ever after? COMPLETE

21. Chapter 21: Revelations and Disaster

Chapter 21: Revelations and Disaster

Inaba had run away from Iori and had locked herself in the empty eighth bedroom on the third floor. She refused contact with anyone. Iori decided to leave her alone. When Taichi came home, she would explain to him that Inaba was simply in another one of her down cycles, and that she might not come out for a couple days.

Iori knew that Taichi would understand. He would also leave Inaba alone and not try to pester her. That way she would not try to flee the estate.

Iori sat down by herself on the empty four-poster bed. She knew she had to think carefully about what she had just seen. She closed her eyes and absently held her wrists as she looked inward. She dove down deep into the part of her mind that was always so cool, calculating, and analytical.

She knew she would need to eventually talk to Inaba about what she had seen in the bathroom. It had completely shocked Iori when Inaba had become mortified and fled from her gaze. There was now no doubt now in Iori's mind: Inaba was pregnant. Although nothing was showing yet, Inaba's terrified reaction at spotting Iori's reflection watching her as she clutched her own midsection, followed by her panicky flight upstairs, had now confirmed Iori's suspicion beyond any doubt.

Iori knew that Inaba was in no condition right now to handle another major crisis or confrontation, at least not until her mood improved again. She decided to leave Inaba alone until she climbed out of her depressive cycle.

She knew that after Inaba's cycle hit bottom, her mood usually got better quickly, often within a single day. Iori wondered about that. Why did Inaba's mood improve so fast?

With her eyes still closed, Iori's analytical mind considered the question carefully from all angles. After a minute she came to a conclusion. Iori touched the bed and smiled. Inaba's makeup sessions with Taichi were always so intense and over the top.

She made the connection. Of course.

It explained why Inaba's recovery was sometimes so fast.

Iori realized that it was the flood of endorphins during the tiger's attack on her willing prey that had flipped Inaba's mood back to 'happy' so quickly. It was actually an unconscious form of self medication. Inaba was unwittingly using Taichi's body as a psychotropic drug to medicate herself, to quickly bring herself to the 'up' state again.

With her eyes still closed, Iori softly stroked the marital bed with her hands as she continued to smile inwardly. She amused herself with the image forming in her mind's eye of the star wrestler going all out on her jobber husband to mentally pull herself back up again.

Hmm. Once Inaban finally gets on her meds, I bet there won't be any further epic WWE bedroom matches anymore. Sorry, Taichi.

Taichi soon arrived home from work. He ran upstairs and saw Iori sitting on the master bed alone. He understood. She silently motioned him to sit next to her on the large bed. He did.

She then told him what had transpired during the Ferris wheel ride. She explained that Inaba took her confrontation about Inaba's mental problem better than she had originally expected. Iori was relieved that Inaba had agreed with her diagnosis, and she did not simply go into denial about the whole thing as Iori feared she would. Iori did not mention the choking incident to Taichi, nor did she mention what she had seen in the master bathroom's mirror not twenty minutes ago.

Taichi asked Iori if he should inform the others about Inaba's manic-depression. Iori said that was up to him to decide who to tell. She opined that if she was in his shoes, that she would reveal the secret only to the Pentagon and no one else, then swear them to secrecy. He agreed.

He then asked her if Inaba's father should be told. She advised against it. She said that Inaba should tell her father herself whenever she was ready. But again she said it was up to him to decide. Again Taichi agreed with her and said he would not tell Inaba's father.

Taichi looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I am such an idiot. I've been so worried about her for so long, always trying to help her whenever she was feeling down, trying to cheer her up, and there I was just making things worse. Iori, really, thank you. I am so relieved that you told me about her problem. You are a lifesaver. I owe you so much."

Iori was self-deprecating. "Aw shucks, it was nothing."

He held her hand and leaned forward. "No, I mean it. This will change everything. Iori, you are so incredible. You are the most amazingly wonderful person. Thank you, thank you so much!" He beamed at her as they sat on the bed together. Then he glomped her with a tremendous hug.

She allowed herself to share in his happiness while he hugged her.

Yeah, I guess I did do a good deed for once. This is such a great feeling. It's been so long so since I felt this way. Thanks, Taichi.

She giggled as she hugged him back.

You are such a wonderful man. Sigh, if only...

Then they lost their balance. Iori yelled "whoa!" as they fell on the bed together.

They were now laying side by side.

She stiffened.

She sat up quickly, then she stood up. She turned away.

Taichi leaned on his elbow. "Oops, sorry. Iori, are you okay? I didn't mean to get carried away. I'm just so happy right now because I know that everything between me and Inaba is going to be fine now."

"Forget it. I'm okay. It was just an accident."

"Sorry to bowl you over like that. Look, I really do want to thank you." He got up and approached her from behind. "You've been helping us all so much: Yui and Aoki, Inaba and me. I'm just concerned that no one seems to be helping you. So is there anything that I can do to for you in return? Anything at all?"

She was angry at herself for letting her guard down like that. She continued to look away as she put her mask on. She turned around and said brightly, "I don't need anything. I'm just happy being here, helping everybody, seeing how everyone is back together again. Isn't it wonderful?"

"Yeah, it is. Thanks again. Well, if you ever change your mind and need anything, anything at all, let me know."

"Don't worry, I will." She looked him over. "Hey, why don't you get out of those work clothes and come down for dinner? I'll go down now and see how Aoki is doing. He insisted on cooking the whole meal himself."

"I'm sure he's doing a good job. You know, other than him, it seems like you are doing all the work around here. You need a break."

"Aw, I don't mind at all. I love cooking and cleaning. I just hope Aoki is not burning down the house."

She approached the door and opened it. Before she exited the bedroom she turned and said, "By the way, leave the door unlocked tonight. She still might come back."

"Oh, good idea. Thanks."

"Bye, Taichi!" She blew him a kiss, then she left and closed the door behind her.

She was now alone in the hallway. She did a facepalm. She knew that blowing him a kiss like that was overdoing it. It was something an amateur would do, not a pro.

She was getting sloppy because she was still angry with herself for having those thoughts again.

She looked down at her hands. They were shaking. She grabbed her wrists.

Iori, stop. Don't even think it.

She willed herself calm. Then she looked up at the ceiling. She muttered quietly, "Dammit Heartseed, stop avoiding me."

She sighed and went downstairs to check on how Aoki was doing in the kitchen.

---

That night Inaba stayed in her room upstairs.

Heartseed visited her again.

"Hello, Inaba. I sensed that you wanted to see me."

Inaba said sarcastically, "Wow, I'm shocked."

"Shocked?"

"Yeah, for the first time you actually showed up when I was looking for you. Will wonders never cease?"

"Well, I suppose there is always a first time for everything. You have a request of me?"

"Yes."

"Let me guess. You wish to go back in time and erase your existence, correct?"

"Well, I'm not sure actually.. I mean it depends on, uh.."

"Mmm?"

"Look, I just want to know if it is possible. And if it is, what would happen if I never existed."

"Oh, just that?"

"Yes, just that."

"May I ask why you want to erase yourself?"

Inaba looked down. "Because maybe that way Taichi would have had a better life."

"Interesting. Your request is rather ironic."

"Ironic?"

"It is because Nagase has been trying to contact me to make a similar request. For herself."

"What?"

"I am sorry, Inaba, but I will not do that for her, nor will I do it for you."

"B-but why not?"

"Surely the reason is obvious."

"Because you're a bastard?"

He ignored the retort. "It is simple. It is because the world is a much more interesting place with you in it."

She crossed her arms grumpily. "Bah. You know, you are absolutely no help at all."

"Inaba, that is why I will not speak with Nagase, as there is no point in my listening to her request. Like your own request, it would only serve to make things less interesting. Don't you see? You are far too fascinating for me to do anything like that."

"But why? Why am I so fascinating to you?"

"I already told you."

"All right, so why am I so damn 'interesting' then? Compared to the others, I mean?"

"Well, partly it is because you are by far the most volatile member of the Pentagon. Your future path is the most dynamic, and therefore the most difficult to predict."

"How so?"

"Because you have the most potential."

"Potential for what?"

He remained silent.

Inaba was about ready to snap at him again when he finally spoke. "Hmm. I suspect that Rina must have discovered your potential when she scanned your mind. After that it was no small wonder that she suddenly found you so interesting. You must have become irresistible to her."

"Well then. So I guess I turn you weirdos on, eh?"

"No, not like that."

"I was joking!"

"Of course."

Inaba ran her fingers through her hair. "Look, never mind. I just want to know. Tell me how Taichi's life would have unfolded if we had never met. Would Taichi have ended up with Iori? I think the answer is yes. She keeps denying it, but I know her. She'd still go for him."

Heartseed said, "I don't see how this is relevant."

"Please tell me. I need to know."

"Very well then. If you must know, if you did not exist then Taichi would have married Kaoru Setouchi. A year later she leaves him and divorces him, claiming that he is 'boring'. Yui Kiriyama never wakes up from her coma. After leaving prison, Aoki moves away from Yamabochi because the memories of his home town are too painful for him. He moves to Yokohama, where he dies a homeless drunk. Meanwhile, Iori is shot during the police raid that kills Goru. This time she is shot in the stomach instead of in the arm and can no longer bear children as a result. Taichi rescues Iori at the hospital, and Fujishima gets the charges dropped, the same as in this timeline. Iori confesses she is in love with Taichi but refuses to marry him because she feels she is too damaged psychologically and because she cannot give him children. He continues to press her until she reveals a secret: one of her many bed partners had given her a hepatitis B infection that will eventually destroy her liver and take her life - and so she is 'damaged goods'.

"Afterwards she moves in with Fujishima, although she and Taichi remain friends. Taichi almost marries another girl but ends the relationship because he refuses to give up on Iori. Iori angrily tells him to 'get a life and forget me'. Later, Iori is grievously injured by another violent boyfriend. Taichi rescues her a second time. In the hospital they both re-confess their feelings but she rejects him again, citing that she is too damaged. He refuses to give up on her. Eventually she capitulates and they agree to live their lives together for whatever little time she has remaining. They are married in a civil ceremony. However, Taichi dies less than a year later while trying to stop a mugging in a park. Iori manages to live another ten years, then dies of liver failure due to the latent hepatitis B infection."

Inaba remained silent. Finally she asked quietly, "How many years did Taichi live before he died?"

"I don't see how any of this matters."

"Tell me!"

"In that timeline he died at age 30. Nine years from now."

"Nine years.. Would Taichi live longer that way? When does he kill himself in the current timeline?"

"You know I cannot tell you that."

"But you know, yes?"

Heartseed was silent. Inaba understood. His silence was itself an answer.

"I cannot interfere with Taichi's fate, I told you."

She got on her knees begging. "But please.. you have to help him somehow. Or tell me how."

He said, "I am sorry, Inaba."

"Please!"

"This conversation no longer serves any useful purpose." He turned to leave.

"Wait!"

He sighed and stopped. "Yes?"

"What will you do when Rina attacks you?"

He considered her query. "I do not know. When Rina's trap is sprung I suppose that I will figure out what to do. She is quite formidable, but I am rather good at improvising in extremis."

"Why is she so powerful?"

"Well, she is actually a hive mind*, you see. One that contains approximately 5000 distinct entities."

"Wow, 5000?"

"Yes. That is what makes her so strong. She can combine all those thousands of intelligences and make them work together. It makes her a rather challenging opponent. Of course, I have some tricks of my own that I do not believe she is aware of, so I should be able to improvise something."

He thought some more. "Hmm. It might be possible that I could use your assistance in that regard."

Inaba got up from the floor and said testily, "Why do you think I would ever help you? You've never helped us before."

"Well, that is for you to decide."

Inaba was confused. Was he referring to the question of whether or not she would decide to help him, or was he referring to the truth or falsity of her claim that he never helped them in the past?

But it was too late. He was gone.

She flopped on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

Fine then.

She decided that, like Heartseed, she would simply figure out what to do when the time came and Rina made her move. There was no use fretting over it now. She would simply wait. After all, whatever will happen will happen. There was no point worrying about the future.

The she realized something.

Good grief. I am thinking just like Aoki, with his dumb live-life-as-it-comes-I-dont-care philosophy.

Well, in this particular case, maybe he's right.

She turned over in bed and tried to go to sleep.

---

The next day Taichi sat in his cubicle fretting. Everyone in the DRRT was on edge, waiting for the drill to begin at any moment.

Kurosawa had come in to work early as he always did. He performed his morning devotional before starting the day.

Dear gracious Lord, you are so majestic and wonderful. Your sovereign plan is so elegant, so simple. As we do this exercise drill tomorrow, please keep my lads from harm. Watch over them and protect them, and give them wisdom and guidance as they learn how to save and rescue others in the most difficult of circumstances.

Lord, please remind me, and them, that we do all of this ultimately for You, for Your glory, as Your plan continues to unfold, a plan that You devised before the creation of the world - a plan based on love, first from You to us, then from us to You. In the name of Your Son, Amen.

Meanwhile, Aoki was downstairs getting trained in. Yesterday, Taichi had shown Kurosawa the newspaper clipping with the editorial about the Kiriyama case. Kurosawa had read it, then asked Taichi some questions about Aoki. Kurosawa had said he could make no promises, but he would see would he could do.

And then, just before Taichi left for home that evening, he had told him to bring in Aoki for an interview the next day.

And so Aoki arrived bright and early with Taichi that morning. He did the interview, and by 10am he was hired as an assistant cook in the main JRCS cafeteria. Kurosawa explained that the hiring was only probationary and that it will depend on how well Aoki performs his new duties. Taichi was relieved and grateful to his sensei. He was thankful that Kurosawa would give someone a second chance who was under such a terrible cloud of shame for a crime that he did not commit.

Kurosawa simply replied cryptically, "We are all under a cloud."

Taichi saw that Kurosawa himself seemed a bit more relaxed that day. He suspected that it was because all of his chess pieces were now set, and everything was ready. It was the calm before the storm.

And so Taichi was not surprised that morning when Kurosawa offered him another lunch date.

---

Taichi said, "Sir, I really appreciate the fact that you have the time to have lunch with me when you are so busy."

Kurosawa spun a ball of noodles around his chopsticks. "Oh I don't mind. Not at all. Franky, I am grateful for this short break. I actually find these chats to be rather relaxing."

"I see."

"So, Yaegashi, have you thought about the little homework assignment that I gave you from last time?" He stuffed the noodles in his mouth.

"Yes, I did some research on it over the weekend. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo from 1508 to 1512. It is considered the highpoint of renaissance art. The most famous scene is the one with God's hand reaching out to Adam."

"Good, that was the section of the painting that I was thinking of. Did you see anything noteworthy in that particular part of Michelangelo's painting?"

"I did. God is leaning way forward, striving, His hand outstretched to Adam. Meanwhile Adam is leaning back, with his finger just short, by less than an inch."

"Excellent, you spotted that. You see, all Adam needed to do was extend his finger just a little bit more, and he and God would have connected."

"But he didn't."

"No, he stopped an inch short. And so Adam fell."

"But I don't understand. Why didn't God simply try harder?"

"How so?"

"I mean, why didn't God just stretch His hand out a teeny bit more?"

"Because if He reached His hand out a bit father, Adam would have simply leaned back a bit more. They still would not have connected. They never would have."

"But why not?"

"Because the problem isn't with God, the problem is with Adam. Or rather, with us. We always fall short. We don't connect. We don't listen to Him. We ignore Him. Sometimes we deny that He even exists at all."

Taichi nodded. "I know that many people think that God simply does not exist. So why doesn't He do something to make His presence totally obvious to everybody?"

"Ah. Are you are asking, why doesn't God simply extend His hand all the way out? Why doesn't He, say, order His angels to appear everywhere in the sky? Run around for everyone to see? Guide everyone, and help people with miracles everywhere? Things like that?"

"Well, yeah."

"Because it's too much. It's overkill."

"Overkill?"

Kurosawa stabbed a small rolled omelette and popped it into his mouth. "Well, let's step back for a moment. Remember when I told you that the nature of creation says something about its creator? That by looking at how the universe works, we can learn something about the person who designed it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in physics there is something called the Standard Model, which physicists have been carefully constructing for decades. Basically, it attempts to describe mathematically the behavior of all of the elementary particles in the universe. During the past 60 years or so, the Standard Model has been very successful. It has correctly predicted the existence of several new elementary particles that have since been observed in particle accelerators, most famously the Higgs boson."

He picked up a tempura battered shrimp and bit into it. "Now, one way to describe the Standard Model mathematically is by creating an equation called the Lagrangian, which represents all of the dynamics of a physical system. I won't bother explaining the math. The point is, the Lagrangian actually has an infinite number of valid solutions for any physical system. And so to get around that little problem, physicists invoke the Principle of Least Action. PLA asserts that nature tends to follow the most direct route to get the job done. It chooses the path of minimum effort to get the desired effect. In other words, elementary particles don't just zig-zag around willy-nilly on a whim. Photons always move in straight lines, balls always move in parabolic arcs, and so on. Otherwise nothing useful could be predicted and the whole model would be useless.

"PLA asserts that nature always chooses the simplest and most direct method to make something happen. It is basically an example of Occam's Razor: don't multiply things unnecessarily. And the Standard Model is very successful because of it. It has been proven correct over and over. So it seems that PLA is real. It is a basic property of how the universe works.

"Taichi, don't you see? That is God's style. He always does that. He always chooses the path of minimum effort to get the desired effect."

Taichi understood. "You mean like how He only told twelve disciples."

"Exactly! Twelve witnesses were all that was necessary to get the word out."

"In other words, God is an elegant minimalist."

Kurosawa beamed at him. "Bingo! You got it. Well done, lad!" He sipped his tea. "Now, there is a very good reason why He always uses such a light touch when dealing with us."

"Which is?"

"Because God is too overwhelming to do it any other way. He is too mighty to directly meddle in our little affairs like that. It would overwhelm everything. Nobody would survive that kind of power if it was exerted directly upon us." He stabbed another small omelette. "He is just too strong for us to face Him directly, at least not without help. Moses had the closest thing to direct contact, and he almost got fried.

"You see, God's greatest commandment for us on this earth is to love one another. But He doesn't force us to do it. Why? Because it would violate both free will and PLA. That is why you never see, say, angels flittering around trying to make people love one another - for example by transmitting their thoughts and emotions to each other, or by temporarily swapping their bodies, or predicting the future of our various choices. It's way too intrusive, you see. That's why angels never do anything like that."

Taichi blinked his eyes slowly. "Uh, yes.. way too intrusive."

"Exactly. It would be wrong to do that. Instead, the Lord gave us a different way to make contact. A unique way and very special way. He gave us a living bridge, a Person, someone who could connect the finite to the infinite, and who could die just like us, so that we could make contact with Him, so we could finally bridge that gap where Adam failed."

"Jesus."

"Yes. He's a special modification to the rules. A necessary one. What I call a 'hack'. Not an error or a mistake, but rather a special exception to the rules that is necessary to make everything work right."

"A necessary one?"

"Oh yes. Physicists have found special hacks in the design of the universe all over the place. For example, Dark Energy (DE) is a hack. So is Dark Matter (DM). They both make up 95% of the observable universe. There's no reason for them to exist. The Standard Model cannot explain them. Nobody knows why they are there. There's no reason for it. It's just there. And without either one, neither you nor I would be having this conversation right now.

"Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism contain a another gross hack. The fourth equation, Ampere's Law, has an extra term that sticks out glaringly. It messes up the nice symmetry with the other three equations. You don't even need to know any mathematics. Just look at a picture of the four equations and you can see this extra term sticking out like a sore thumb. You see, it's another hack. The van der Waals electroweak force is another one. It is a hack to make proteins fold and ice float. Hacks like this can be found everywhere in the design of the universe. They are not mistakes; they are simply necessary for everything to work right. Jesus is like that too. He is an exception, a special modification to the rules, that is required to make things work right in God's plan for us."

"So Jesus is necessary, then."

"Emphatically. Someone like Jesus has to exist. It's required."

"But why?"

"Because everything must balance. All of the universe is based on symmetry. It's the most basic rule in nature. Everything in nature is conserved: momentum is always conserved, energy is always conserved, electric charge is always conserved. Everything. The books have to balance. Always."

"Always."

"Yes, always. The central concept - that the books must always balance - is the foundational principle of how the whole universe works. It is probably the number one organizing principle of, well, everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes, everything. It includes the notion that the cost, the debt, the price, must always be paid. And yes, that even includes the theory of justice as well. The books must always balance."

"Wait, justice?"

"Yaegashi, it is simply how the universe works. In the end everything must balance. Everything. That debt, that price, must always be paid. Always. No exceptions."

"I get it. That's why we need Him."

"Yes. Thanks to Jesus the bill gets kicked upstairs and paid on our behalf. And there's more. He is also our bridge, the conduit, to connect us with the Father."

"How?"

Kurosawa rolled up some more noodles. "Let's take another step back again. Remember, all creation is a demonstration exercise, done by God, for our benefit. Otherwise it wouldn't have been so carefully designed to be visible to us across billions of light years. It's too wildly improbable to be that way by chance. And so God wants us to see, to understand, and to appreciate what He has done. The whole point of Creation is for His glory. Of Him: The universe, the heavens, life large and small, from the largest galactic super-cluster down to the smallest bacterium, and everything in-between. And it is no accident that it is all visible to us, that we can actually see it all, that we can see the whole glory of Creation, which shines as a reflection of His own glory.

"For His glory."

"Yes. Glorification, that's the key to the whole thing. God is saying, 'Look upon my Creation and see what I have done, for I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.' This is what He basically told Job when He admonished him for complaining about why his life sucked so bad. In response God ticked off a long list of his greatest creations, then He asked Job if he was there when He created them. 'Were you there? Do you how they were done? Answer me!' He was telling Job to shut-up and get a clue, that he was failing to give God the praise and honor that was due to Him regardless of our life circumstances. This is what Job failed to understand as he wallowed in his own self-pity."

Kurosawa put down his chopsticks and stopped eating. Taichi knew that meant he was getting serious.

"Yaegashi, I will now reveal to you something else, something that is really deep. Something that only mature Christians know. It took me a lifetime to figure it out."

"Which is?"

"What it means to 'glorify' something. It's the key. At first it seemed really confusing to me. If God has all the glory, then how can we glorify Him? How can we give Him something, glory, that He already has? On the surface it doesn't seem to make sense.

"And the answer is rather deep. In John 17:22-23, Jesus spoke the following prayer in front of His disciples, '[Father] the glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity.' I tried to think carefully about what He just said.

"I didn't understand it at first. It took me years to finally figure out what was going on when He spoke those words. Originally it seemed incredibly confusing to me. I couldn't grasp what He was saying. Jesus appears to be giving God's glory to us! Huh? How can that be? Shouldn't glory always flow in the other direction? From us to Him? And doesn't He have all the glory already anyway?"

Kurosawa leaned forward, his eyes shining bright. "Then I finally understood it: Glory is the vehicle that conveys and reveals the true presence of God: His essence, His life, His identity. Glorification is a process, a transfer mechanism."

"You mean it flows both ways."

"Yes. It is bidirectional. Glory flows from us to Him and from Him to us. But the latter happens only when our minds are unified with His own via the Holy Spirit. That is what Jesus meant when He said that we ourselves receive glory when we are 'perfected in unity', and 'we are one'. It is intimacy, with Him."

"That sounds so wonderful."

"Yes, it is."

Kurosawa picked up his chopsticks and ate another omelette. "So now, Yaegashi, I think you are finally ready to understand another important and fundamental concept."

"Which is?"

"The method used to establish that relationship with Him: Prayer, what it actually is, why it is necessary, and how it works. You think you can tell me based on our discussion so far?"

Taichi thought hard. "Hmm. It's a communication channel. A bidirectional one, between us and Him. It is the means to transmit that intimacy, called glorification."

Kurosawa would have jumped out of his chair if he could. "Yes! Yaegashi my boy, that's brilliant! Well done! Yes. And that is why sin is so terrible, because it causes that unity to break as we separate ourselves from Him in our own sinfulness."

Taichi understood. "Because God cannot abide any sin in His presence, because otherwise it would break that unity, that flow of glory, that is embodied in that transfer mechanism called glorification."

"Sadly so. And that is why sin must always be cast out, because it breaks our communion with Him. Our intimacy."

Taichi asked, "So does that mean you have to be saved first before you can pray and be heard?"

Kurosawa shook his head. "Oh no. No, no. You can do it anytime. Anyone can do it. And they do. There is a very good reason why there are no atheists in a foxhole or on a plummeting jetliner. Imminent death tends to focus the mind, you see."

Taichi chuckled.

Kurosawa frowned. "Yaegashi, I'm not joking. I think one of the reasons why so many bad things happen to us - like natural disasters and such - is for precisely for that reason."

"Sorry sir."

"Eh, don't worry about it. Eat your food."

He checked the time. "I have another meeting in ten minutes so I need to leave. You go finish your meal. You've hardly touched it."

Taichi started eating again.

"Sorry for dumping so much on you in one sitting, Yaegashi. I just wanted to tell you all this before the drill." Then he sighed. "The after-action paperwork is a such a nightmare. It takes me forever to finish it all. I might not have time for another lunch like this again for weeks."

"Yes sir, and thank you for giving me so much of your time. I know how busy you are."

Kurosawa waved him off. "Oh, think nothing of it. Just go eat your noodles before they get cold." He backed his wheelchair away from the table and left the cafeteria.

Well, I have done everything I can for the boy, I think. The rest is up to Him now.

---

Inaba came out of her room at noon. She sat in the dining room and ate lunch with the others, but otherwise did not interact with anybody. The others respected her wishes and left her alone.

Everyone watched her leave the table in silence. Yui and Anzu glanced at Iori. They saw her somber expression as her eyes tracked Inaba out of the room. She remained in her seat.

After lunch, Inaba sat at her computer and did a few more market trades on the Nikkei. She didn't try anything big or complex, as she just wasn't in the mood for doing anything risky or tricky that day. Eventually she closed the VPN link. She switched to another folder and opened a file. It contained a complicated script written in the computer language Python**, one that she had completed almost two weeks earlier. She reviewed the script and nodded to herself. Then she closed the file and the folder.

She stared at the empty screen. Eventually she quietly laid her head on the desk and closed her eyes.

She was startled when her cellphone chimed. Had she fallen asleep? She pulled her head up and checked the caller ID. It was Steve Anderson.

Good. Maybe he can help me take my mind off things.

---

Inaba entered Steve's luxury apartment building and wiped off her shoes. It was because Steve had invited Inaba to his home to discuss what he claimed was 'an incredible business opportunity'. He said it was too dangerous to discuss it over the phone.

Steve greeted her at the door graciously. "Himeko, thank you for coming on such short notice. Please, come in."

He was wearing tan dress slacks, brown shoes, and a form-fitting turtleneck sweater that subtly showed off his physique. Inaba came in wearing a just a jean jacket and blue jeans.

If Steve was at all put off by Inaba's decidedly very casual appearance, he did not show it. Indeed, he positively beamed at her and graciously helped her remove her jean jacket. He caught his breath slightly when he saw that she was wearing nothing but a white tank top with a sports bra underneath.

She looked at herself apologetically, then spoke to him in English. "Sorry, I was at the gym when you called me. I didn't have time to go home and change clothes."

Steve replied, "Oh, I understand completely. You look wonderful. De kite kudasai, Himeko-san.***"

She smiled as she entered his penthouse apartment. She took a chance and did not remove her shoes. He missed it. Instead he closed the front door behind her and locked it. Then he placed his hand on the small of her back and escorted her inside. With his other hand he gestured towards the living room. "Do you like it?"

The penthouse apartment was huge. It was decorated in a decidedly non-Japanese style, with throw rugs on the floor and two large couches that faced a fake western-style fireplace. Various modern pieces of art and knick-knacks were strewn about. On the walls she saw American paintings by Andy Warhol and LeRoy Neiman. She suspected that not all of them were reproductions.

Steve escorted her towards one of the long couches. As they crossed the living room she spied a set of closed double-doors on the left. She pointed at them. "Oh, is that your dining room? May I see it?" She quickly moved in that direction.

"Himeko, uh, please wait.." She ignored him and threw open the double doors. She saw what was inside.

Meanwhile, Steve became a little bit flustered.

What flustered Steve was not the dining room itself, with its tasteful modern decor. Nor was it because Inaba saw a full-height western-style dining table with a glass top in the center of the room.

It was because on that glass table were two place settings and two lit candles. A crystal vase containing a single red rose stood as the table's centerpiece. Quiet mood music was playing on hidden Harman-Kardon 8.1 speakers.

It was all too blatant to be ignored. Inaba turned and asked him (again in English), "Steve, what is this? You told me over the phone that this was only a business meeting. You said nothing about my having a meal with you."

Steve approached her. "Well, I thought we might discuss it over a little wine and cheese.."

"With candles and mood music?"

He got even closer. "Trust me, you'll like this proposition."

She took a step back. "Steve, please."

"Himeko.. I can set you up for life." Another step forward.

Another step back. "I told you. I am happily married."

He held her arms. "I know you are. We have absolute privacy here. No one will know. I did a quick check on that husband of yours. He's a shlub. A nobody."

"Steve, now wait.."

"It's okay. I've done this before.. well, back in New York anyway. Nobody ever finds out. It'll be fine."

Inaba tried to pull away. "Steve, no."

He gripped harder. "Himeko, I told you, I can set you up for life. I promise you that your husband will never know."

She tried to pull her arm away. "Please let me go."

He was beginning to get angry with her. "Look, I'm not asking for much, not compared to everything that I've given you. Just do it this once. That's all I'm asking. Just once."

She said quietly but firmly, "No. No means no. And a contract is a contract." Her face was stern. "I never promised you anything more. I made that very clear."

He suddenly shoved her up against a wall. "Hey, I paid you 40% on that deal! Not 20%! That's over a million dollars! I paid all that for you!"

"For me?"

"Yes! And it means that I own you!"

Her face darkened. "Nobody owns me."

"Well, I do now. And goddamit, I want a return on my investment!"

She was defiant. "And if I refuse?"

He tripped her and she fell onto the throw-rug. Steve was on top of her in an instant. The six foot man then pinned her arms down.

"Then I will collect on my investment anyway."

Inaba looked scared. "Steve, please, don't. This is rape."

Steve gave her a malicious grin. "And so what if it is? Remember, you need my recommendation. The walls are soundproof. I won't hurt you if you don't struggle. Some tried, and believe me they paid dearly for it. So just lie back and enjoy it."

Steve, I got you.

Those were exactly the words she wanted to hear. She spoke up at the ceiling. "Recording off."

"What?"

"I just recorded you. The voice app in my smartphone in my jacket behind you. It's uploading to my server right this second."

"You.. you bitch. I'll kill you."

"Recording gamma."

She gave him a grin. "Heh, sorry, I lied."

"Huh?"

"I wanted to get your death threat on tape too. I figured you'd pop off like that if I revealed to you that I was recording you. Now the recorder is really turned off."

His eyes began to widen. Meanwhile she looked up at him almost sympathetically. Almost. "Oh Steve, you make this too easy."

He became furious. "You bitch! I really will kill you!" He raised his right hand from her left shoulder to go for her throat.

She was expecting it. As soon as he released her left shoulder she instantly did a bridge and threw him completely off balance. As she pushed him up he let go with his other hand. She then did a face-to-face german suplex wrestling move on him. She grappled his chest and used her legs as levers on his midsection to flip him forward and over her head. He slammed down hard on the floor behind her, laying flat on his back.

He was stunned and spread-eagled on the hardwood floor. Before he could recover she jumped up and expertly performed Yui's Finishing Move Number One*4 right between his legs.

"Steve, do you like my new steel tipped walking shoes? I purchased them on the way over here."

While he was still writhing on the floor, she unplugged an extension cord that was attached to a free-standing lamp. She yanked the other end out of the far wall. As she was rolling up the extension cord she lectured him. "Don't you know that in Japan the guests are always supposed to remove their shoes?"

And then, before he could recover, she had expertly hog-tied him on the floor.

She then sat on the couch and played with her smartphone for a little while. She checked the trading summaries on her Nikkei accounts, then she emptied and terminated them.

Eventually his pain began to subside a bit. He struggled but couldn't move.

She stood up, kneeled down, and gently touched his blond hair. "Steve, my dear, I decided that I don't need your referral letter after all. You use your money and influence to entice and entrap women, just like you tried to do to me. How many innocent girls have you hurt this way?"

She stood up again and put on her jean jacket. "And that kind of pisses me off, you know? So I am going to take extra delight in dealing with you."

He struggled to sit up. He glared at her defiantly and yelled hoarsely, "I'm a name in this town and on Wall Street! I'm untouchable! I'll ruin you! Wreck your reputation! You're still a nobody!"

"Am I?"

He rasped, "You're a kid! You have no rep. There's no proof you did those trades. They are all under my name, not yours!"

"Actually, they are." She looked at her smartphone and confirmed her accounts were terminated, then she closed the browser app.

She went on to explain. "I opened a second Nikkei account and only transferred the funds to yours. I did the actual trades under a different name. You were always careful to only check up on me using your encrypted home VPN link right here in this apartment. You never checked on me at Nomura nor on your phone. Normally that's smart, as those could be monitored. But you see, I had remotely hacked your home router's DNS proxy to redirect it to my own server, and I filtered everything you did in this apartment through it, including your access to the Nikkei. Whenever you looked at your personal trading account that I was supposed to be using, I redirected it to my own personal account and changed the headers to make the trades look like they were coming from your own. Now I have an impressive trading record under my own name. Thanks, Steve!"

"That's bull[bleep]. You're bluffing. Himeko Yaegashi had no account. I know because I phoned the exchange myself and checked, just in case. The Nikkei verifies all identities and doesn't allow fake names!"

She smiled indulgently at him. "Steve, very good, you checked. And you are right, the exchange does not allow false names. So I created the account under my maiden name: Himeko Inaba. That's perfectly legal."

"Wait.. your surname is Inaba? You're a member of that Inaba family? The one that owns the big textile keiretsu?"

She leaned over him. "Steve, my dear, I am the Inaba keiretsu. Or rather I will be when my father steps down."

He tried to absorb the information. "Wait, are you talking about that nasty old business tycoon who owns Inaba Textiles and Trading.. what's his name.. Daisuke Inaba? You are saying you are his daughter?"

"I am."

"I heard of him. His reputation. He's a ruthless bastard.." The realization began to hit him.

"Yeah, my father can be quite nasty if you try to [bleep] with him. If you are his friend or business partner there is no greater ally, but if you cross him or breech a contract with him there is no greater enemy." She smiled. "I try to take after him."

"He destroys people!"

"Yep."

"Wait.. Himeko, let's talk."

"Don't worry, the original reason I had agreed to your little business proposition was to see if I could succeed in the financial world on my own. So I won't go running to daddy. It's not my style."

He was relieved. "Oh, thank you. Thank you. All right, let's discuss this. What do you want?"

Then her phone chimed. She raised an eyebrow.

She answered it.

Inaba switched to Japanese. Steve concentrated as he tried to follow the phone conversation.

"Father? This is rather unexpected. I'm fine, thank you for asking. Yes I apologize that I haven't called you lately. Taichi is doing fine too. Huh? I'm standing in his apartment. How did you know?" Her voice got angry. "Father! Were you having me tailed? I told you I can take care of myself!" Then her voice softened. "Oh, sorry. Yes, I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. Uh, yeah, he's all tied up and can't come to the phone right now. Yes, I have it on tape, the gamma gambit. Hmm? I cleared about 250 million yen before taxes. Yes, I know it's low. Next time I'll try to do better. So where did your operative hide it in here, anyway?"

She listened, then she walked up to Steve's bookcase with the phone still pressed to her ear. "Which shelf?" She pulled out a large hardcover book, Immanuel Kant: Critique of Pure Reason. "Good choice. Nobody reads that insufferable boring bastard." She flipped open the book and looked at the spycam and mic that were embedded inside. "Wow, that's the latest model. 1080p with infrared. Nice. How do you keep it powered? Ooh, microwave beam? That's so cool!"

Inaba showed her prey what was hidden inside the book. She switched to English. "Steve, check this out. It is really state of the art."

The blood completely drained from Steve's face.

She resumed her phone conversation in Japanese. "What? Don't worry, like I said I'm fine. I was about to call the police. Oh? No? Don't bother? You'll take care of it? Very well. I understand completely. Yes, I'll be leaving before they get here. Goodbye." She hung up.

Meanwhile, Steve worked out the translation in his head. He was drenched in sweat.

Inaba started to walk out.

"No! Wait! Don't leave me here for his goons like this!"

She switched to English again. "Yes?"

Steve leaned forward on the floor. "I'll do anything! Give you anything you want!"

"Really?"

"Anything! Anything at all!"

"Okay then, this is what I want. Now pay attention."

"All right. I'm listening."

She kneeled down, raised her hand to his ear, and whispered very quietly: "I keylogged all your passwords, including that hidden account in the Bahamas."

Then she stood and showed him her famous patented Inaba Nasty Grin™ *5.

"Heh."

Before he could react, she casually pushed a button on her smartphone. A Python script started running.

"Now don't worry, I picked out several nice charities in the United States for you to donate all your holdings to. You are going to help a lot of people, Steve."

She turned the phone screen so that he could see the script running over her RDS link. He peered at it. He saw that all of his accounts were being drained.

"Noooooo!"

She snapped a photo of his face at that exact moment with her phone.

She showed it to him. "Perfect! That is exactly what I wanted. Thanks, Steve!"

She left.

---

Steve untied himself and fled the apartment before Daisuke Inaba's cleaners arrived. They simply looked around, removed the surveillance gear, and left.

The next day there was an article about Steve Anderson in the Wall Street Journal. It reported that he was being investigated by the Manhattan DA's office for the alleged sexual assault of several young women. Apparently the newspaper was tipped off about the ongoing investigation from an anonymous source. Later that day he was fired from Nomura Holdings, citing a morals clause in his contract. Japan was still a socially conservative country, and such scandalous behavior could never be countenanced by any respectable Japanese corporation.

Meanwhile, Steve had disappeared. He was soon tracked to a small flat in Tokyo. Apparently he had pawned his Rolex watch - the only remaining asset he had - and was living off the proceeds. The Ministry of Justice was tipped off as to his whereabouts, and so they served him with an Interpol arrest warrant that was issued by the Manhattan DA's office. He fled to avoid extradition and finally ended up in Brazil.

The last anyone had heard of Steve, he was working as the numbers man for a financial firm in the city of Brasilia that laundered money for a major Brazilian drug cartel. Apparently two major drug gangs, the one in Brasilia and another one in São Paulo, had both put out a contract hit on him when a money laundering deal that he had arranged between the two gangs went sour. It was because a mysterious hacker had intercepted the funds in mid-transfer. Both gangs accused Steve of the theft, and he barely escaped with his life. It was speculated that to avoid the hit-men that he had fled deep into the Amazonian jungle.

Steve was never seen again. It was rumored that he had escaped to Bolivia but it was never confirmed. The fact that a year later a Brazilian anthropologist who was studying the primitive Kulina tribe deep in the Amazon jungle had seen one of its members wearing a strange yellow pelt on his head was deemed to be purely a coincidence.

---

As soon as Inaba re-entered the mansion, Iori spotted her. She ran to the front door. "Dereban! Welcome back!" Iori then saw the blue-jeans and jean-jacket ensemble that Inaba had on. She tilted her head and asked, "Wait, why are you wearing my clothes?"

Inaba was a bit startled at running into Iori so quickly. She tried to apologize. "Oh, uh, sorry for borrowing your clothes without asking."

Iori crossed her arms and smiled. "That's okay. I don't mind you wearing my outfits. It just surprised me because my blue-collar togs usually aren't your style. Did you wear those because you were planning on riding a motorcycle or something?"

Inaba grinned. "No, it was because I was expecting a rumble."

"Heh, same thing."

"Hmm?"

"I wore that back when I was in a motorcycle gang."

That surprised Inaba. Not the fact that Iori was a biker chick at one time, but rather because it was the first time that Iori had disclosed anything about her past.

Inaba was still feeling moody and depressed, but this was an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. It was a chance to better understand Iori and possibly help her with her own demons.

"That sounds very exciting."

"It was."

"You know, I'd love to hear about it."

"Sure. Want to go for a walk?"

"Love to."

Iori threw on a windbreaker and they went out together.

Very clever, Iori. You dangled your past in front of me to trick me into talking with you again in private. That way you can interrogate me about the baby. Well, your trick won't work. This time the focus will be on you.

---

It was a party-cloudy afternoon with a good breeze. Iori and Inaba were walking down into the woods that stood behind the estate. The mansion was located on the top of a hill that sloped down gradually in front and steeper in the back. They could see a lake in the distance, and so they decided to walk down to its edge and explore it.

Because of the altitude it was more than a little windy and chilly. Iori zipped up her windbreaker. Inaba left her jean jacket open. Apparently she didn't mind the cooler weather so much.

Iori asked as they walked down the hill together, "So, did you have fun with your little rumble tumble?"

"Yeah, I did. It was actually very therapeutic. I feel a lot better now."

"That's good. And the other guy?"

Inaba made a thin-lipped smile. "Father is dealing with him."

Iori winced. "Ouch. Sucks to be him."

"Yeah, heh."

There was a pause.

"Iori, thank you for letting me know about my being bipolar."

Iori was self-deprecating again. "It's nothing, really. Somebody else would have eventually figured it out."

Inaba turned, "But that's the thing. I had this problem all my life and nobody noticed it."

"Oh, we all noticed it all right. We just didn't understand why."

"Still, thank you. I owe you so much."

"I said forget it. We're friends, remember? This is what friends do for each other."

They continued to walk in silence until they reached the bottom of the hill, then they followed a path through the woods that led towards the lake.

Inaba said, "You know, this reminds me of our field trip in our first year."

"You mean the one where I tried to make Taichi carry me?"

"Yeah. That was pretty transparent, by the way. You were practically groping him, you skank."

"Ooh, burn! Hey, give me a break. I was just a kid. I didn't even realize how strong I was coming on to him at the time. Little miss innocent me, heh."

"Innocent my foot. You were hitting on him like a ton of bricks and you knew it."

Iori decided to tease her. "And like you weren't, little miss kiss stealer?"

"Ouch, touché."

"Heh. Still, I'm happy for you."

More silent walking.

Finally Inaba asked, "So what happened after our big fight?"

Iori found a small round rock on the path. She kicked it.

She kept kicking it in front of her as she walked. Meanwhile, Inaba waited.

Iori shrugged. "Well, there's not that much to tell really."

"Go on."

"I tried to enroll in Kyosho University, but I didn't get accepted."

Inaba already knew that much. "And then?"

"Instead I enrolled in the local two-year community college to get a teaching certificate. You know I always wanted to be a teacher.*6"

"So, did you finish and get the certificate?"

"Almost, but no, I dropped out. Then I coasted a while."

"Coasted?"

"Yeah. I started drifting kind of aimlessly. One day I was sitting on a bench at a park just watching people, and this guy who was walking his dog sat with me. He looked cute. He chatted me up. It obvious that he was hitting on me, but he seemed nice, so I let him. He took me out a couple times. One night we both got drunk and I slept with him. I wasn't planning on doing it at the time."

"It happens."

"Yeah. But then he told me he was married."

"Oops."

Iori sighed. "I should have known. And I'll be damned if I'm going to be a home-wrecker for some poor woman and her kids. So I dumped him right then."

"And?"

"I drifted again. Another guy picked me up at the grocery store. Yeah, I ended up sleeping with him too. I discovered that I liked hooking up. No strings attached. I just didn't care. Then I started going to bars. I went home with a different guy every night."

"Iori.."

"Like I said, I didn't care. Then one day a big nasty biker gang showed up. They terrorized the whole bar and scared everybody. Except me. I wasn't afraid because I didn't care, so I sauntered right up to the big head biker guy and told him to please stop scaring everybody. He laughed. He said he was impressed with my moxie. Then he took a fancy to me. I went back to the gang's hangout. He said he'd kill anyone who touched me."

"So you became the head biker's girlfriend."

"Yeah. I rode on his back and became the lead biker chick. It was really fun. I even got respect from the other members. We drove all over the country. He even told me he wanted some day to settle down, get married, have kids even."

"Then what happened?"

"He was shot in the back by some Yakuza when a drug deal went bad."

"Oh."

There was another pause.

Finally Inaba asked, "And then?"

She could see that Iori was hesitating.

"Iori, if you don't want to talk about it, that's okay."

Finally Iori said, "No, it's not really a big deal.. I'll tell you, but it is a little embarrassing, so I'd rather you keep it to yourself."

Inaba immediately replied, "I promise. Nobody will know."

"Okay. Well, without his protection the other gang members decided that I was to be their plaything. I got passed around. I didn't resist. I just didn't care. Then one day one of the other drug dealers in another gang got mad at seeing me like that, and he told them to stop. He grabbed my wrist and took me over to his place. He said he'd protect me."

"Phew, so you finally met a nice guy, huh?"

"Yeah. And he kept me safe. I liked him."

"Good."

"He was of the nicer ones. His name was Goru."

"What?"

"Yep."

Inaba couldn't believe it. "Wait, you mean that.. that creep that I rescued you from was.. your protector?"

"Yep. Isn't it ironic? I admit he was kind of possessive though."

"I saw the bruises on your face and wrists!"

"That wasn't him. He never hit me, ever. Sure he threatened and blustered a lot. He did that to everybody. But he was a nice guy underneath all that bluster. He tried to look like a scary violent guy on purpose, to keep from getting robbed or attacked. That's why he owned that fake gun."

Iori looked down. "But all that stupid male bravado only got himself killed when the police came in. I miss him."

"I'm sorry.. I didn't know."

"It's okay."

Iori tried to assuage Inaba's feelings of guilt. "No, I mean it, Dereban. You saved me. You rescued me. You really did. I am so thankful for that."

"Still.."

"No, you did the right thing. Don't you see, Dereban? Like I said, this is what friends do. We help each other."

"Yeah, we do."

"Friends forever?"

Inaba gave her a gentle smile.

"Friends forever."

Iori shifted her hand, and Inaba grasped it. They interlocked their fingers together as they walked down the woodland path.

As she grasped Iori's hand, Inaba noticed something on her wrist.

"I'm so glad we're back together again."

"Me too."

Iori kicked her rock again.

After another minute Inaba decided to ask. "So how come the underside of your wrist is still black and blue? I thought your wrists would have healed by now."

Iori almost tripped. She yanked her hand away and shoved both of them deep into the pockets of her windbreaker.

"Uh, it's nothing. Just old tattoos that didn't come off."

"Oh."

More silence.

They finally reached the lake. Iori kicked her round rock into the water with a small splash.

They found an old fishing dock and walked out onto it. There they sat down. Iori took off her walking shoes, as did Inaba.

Iori picked up one of Inaba's hiking boots and inspected it curiously. "Hmm. A big heavy waffle-stomper? These are not your style, Dereban." She noted the reinforced tips.

"It was my style today."

"Huh? Oh.. oh! Ha-ha-ha! I hope you didn't make him sterile."

"I wish. The world would be a better place."

"And your father is after him too. Wow, remind me never to become your enemy, Dereban."

They sat together on the dock and soaked their tired hot feet in the cool water. Inaba started making whorls in the water.

As they soaked their feet, they watched a pair of geese paddle through a thicket of brown cattails off in the distance.

Finally Iori said quietly, "Dereban, you're pregnant."

Nothing.

Iori smiled. "Hey, it's okay. I'm so happy for you. Don't worry so much. You are going to be a great mother."

Inaba finally spoke. "I can't even imagine it. I never had a mother myself, not a real one. I have no idea what to do."

"Dereban, I am sure you'll do fine. I'll help give you tips, show you and Taichi how to change diapers and stuff."

"Yeah, like you know anything about parenting."

Iori remained quiet. Finally she said, "Why haven't you told Taichi?"

Inaba continue to look down at her feet and spin more whorls.

Iori narrowed her eyes. "I mean, it's his, right?"

Inaba's head snapped up. "Of course it is!"

"All right, so what's the problem then? I know how badly he wants children. And he would be a wonderful father."

"Yeah, he would." Inaba looked up at the horizon. "And you are right, he wants children more than anything. Almost more than life itself."

"No doubt. And if there was a problem with you working away from home, I bet he would volunteer to become Mr. Mom while you went out and did your high-flying captain-of-industry thing."

"He would."

Iori tilted her head. "Okay, then. I don't get it. Why the big secret? Do you think that your father might not approve of the gender role reversal - that he'd demand you stay home and become a housewife?"

"I used to think so. Now I'm not so sure."

"Honestly, I think your father would be fine with it. In fact I'm almost sure of it. But either way, surely you could still at least tell Taichi?"

Silence.

Iori sighed. She knew that if she pressed the issue any further that Inaba would simply run away and hide again. She would learn nothing, and she needed to know what was going on inside her head. So instead she said, "Look, it's okay. I won't pester you about it."

"Thank you."

Then Inaba looked down at the water. Finally she said quietly, "Iori, could you just sit with me?"

Iori shifted closer until they were touching, shoulder to shoulder. "As long as you want."

Inaba then rested her head on Iori's shoulder. "Thanks. You're such a blessing."

"I'm actually kind of a stinker."

"Heh."

More time passed. Iori and Inaba continued to look down at the water. They saw a school of silvery minnows slowly drift pass in the current. Inaba splashed her legs and they scattered in all directions.

Eventually, Iori closed her eyes.

She needed time to think.

She was able to understand Inaba's initial panicky knee-jerk reaction to the blessed news. It was classic Inaba. She would want to end the pregnancy immediately and secretly. The reasons were several: It was too soon, she could never be a good mother, her father would be saddened at losing his successor, she would be giving up her lifelong ambition in order to conform to traditional Japanese roles, and Taichi might die and she would end up raising a child alone.

And so Taichi must never know that she was pregnant. And if he ever did find out that she had terminated it? It would devastate him. It would be the must hurtful thing Inaba could do to him. It would rupture their marriage relationship, permanently.

She knew that Taichi would never divorce Inaba, no matter what. But he would become the walking wounded, continuing with the marriage only because of his near-infinite capacity for self-sacrifice. He would remain with her out of his sense of duty and obligation to his wife.

Iori thought some more. It was obvious: Inaba would initiate the divorce herself. To free him. To free him from the selfish and needy misfit girl who captured him all those years ago.

And then? And then Inaba would maneuver - behind the scenes - to try to push Taichi and herself together. She would do it out of her sense of guilt, to make sure that Taichi was happy again with someone who loved him.

Let's be realistic here. Would Taichi ever actually do that? Would he ever commit to me on the rebound? No, I don't think so. Not even after being stabbed in the back, betrayed and divorced. He would always keep a candle for her in case she ever came back, no matter how unlikely. He would stay faithful to her even then, for the rest of her life.

Wait a minute...

The rest of her life.

No, she wouldn't do that, would she?

Inaba was so insecure, so convicted of her own wretched selfishness, so wracked with guilt for hurting everyone around her.

For hurting him. For hurting her.

How could Inaba atone for her perceived sins against both of them? To pay her debt?

A horrible thought hit Iori.

She wouldn't, would she?

She might.

She would.

Iori's mind worked it out in a flash. It wouldn't appear to be suicide. Inaba would stage her own accident. And she would stage the whole thing to make it look perfectly believable.

Inaba might even leave behind a fake a diary on paper or on her computer, where she would write that if anything should happen to her that she wished that Taichi would go to Iori and accept her.

It was obvious. A divorce would never happen. Of course not. It would hurt Taichi.

Instead Inaba would arrange to have an unfortunate accident, and she would be gone and out of the picture.

She saw all of Inaba's plan in her mind. At first, Taichi would be inconsolable. She would hug him. His tears would fall in streams on her shoulders. And she would cry with him. And then eventually, after perhaps many years, after his scars had begun to finally heal, she would have him.

And the most ironic thing about it all? She wouldn't need to do anything. She wouldn't need to wear a mask. No trickery. No seduction. She could just be herself.

Would Inaba actually do that? Yes, she might. Deep inside, Iori knew that she and Inaba were the same. So she would definitely consider doing it. And Iori knew that Inaba loved reading murder mystery novels. She could set the whole thing up to be untraceable. It would even be a game for her.

Yes, she could do it. But why? Is her motive that strong?

No, it was not.

Iori felt that Inaba's fears were overblown. Sure, it would be a bumpy ride initially with a newborn, but Taichi would be right there beside her, as would the rest of the Pentagon. Inaba's rotten socialite step-mom would be out of the picture, but her family of friends should be able to compensate for anything lacking in her biological one. And she had Taichi too.

Then Iori noticed that Inaba was busy trying to get her attention. She quickly snapped out of her reverie and returned back to reality.

Inaba was asking, "Hey, Iori, you listening? Don't you agree with me?"

Iori blinked her eyes. "Oh, sorry. What was that again?"

"I said I'm a bad person. A bitch. That's me."

Iori chuckled, "Join the club."

Inaba tilted her head questioningly. "You? Oh come now."

This was a time for truth. Iori looked Inaba squarely in the eyes.

"Look, Dereban, I'm the bitch, not you. You might think you are, but you're not. Sure, you have some problems with being selfish. Welcome to the human race. So you're flawed? Yeah, so what? Everybody is like that. So have you issues. I still think that you are a nice person at heart. You just have this crusty exterior. But once you get through that, you're the cutest thing."

"Oh come on now."

"I mean it. You are. You might not think so, but you are."

"Stop it."

Iori smiled. "When your reverted to age 5, you were so adorable that I nearly died from diabetes. Yui too. We squeed for hours.*7 That cute little girl is still there somewhere inside you."

Then Iori's smile faded. She lowered her head. "Look, if anyone is the bitch, it's me. Back in high school I was the popular one. I had tons of friends. But it was a mile wide and an inch deep. I never made any friends since I dropped the mask."

Inaba said softly, "Well, you have one friend right here, right now."

More silence. More whorls in the water.

Iori took the opportunity to return to her original train of thought. Inaba might be planning to do something awful to herself. Iori knew she had to stop her. But how?

First, she needed to stop Inaba's dread about having the baby. It was so typical of her Dereban, who was always panicking and running away whenever she felt overwhelmed about anything. But there was no need to run away this time, was there?

Sure, initially things would be rocky, but she knew that Inaba would eventually become a fine mother with a lovely newborn baby, and with a wonderful loving father by her side. And the child would have (at minimum) two adoring aunts and an uncle. Surely she must know that by now.

The initial panic is over. She is no longer freaking out. She is calm.

And that means that she had already made her decision.

But why? Why is she considering something so awful? It didn't make sense.

Wait, what if it was some other reason?

"Inaban, if you don't mind my asking about your pact with Number Three, I just want to confirm, it is against Heartseed, right?"

Inaba didn't hesitate. "Uh huh. Rina said that Heartseed will be destroyed."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Iori continued to think. Why is Inaba so resolute about not keeping the baby? She's not panicking anymore. So what is the reason for all this grim determination?

It would only be if she was forced.

Wait..

Oh no..

Iori was stunned. "And Rina's price is.."

"Yeah."

"Oh Dereban.."

"I can't believe I fell for such a simple trick. Rina promised that only I would pay the price. Nobody else. Nobody but me. I made sure of it, only me. She promised you would all be safe, and Heartseed would be gone forever."

Inaba wiped away a tear. "I didn't know what she really wanted. I did it for him.. I did it for you.."

"Inaban, stop right now and think. This is stupid. Doing what Rina wants and aborting your baby is not going to work. Not in the long run. You know that such an explosive secret like that will get out soon or later. It's inevitable. He'll know eventually."

She yelled, "Don't you think I know that?! Number Three will spill the beans to Taichi! She will!"

"Hoo boy."

Iori knew. If instead, Inaba died in an 'accident', then there was no way to prove it one way or the other. Taichi would refuse to believe Number Three and accuse her of lying. But if Inaba simply had the abortion? He would look Inaba in the eyes and demand to know the truth. And she couldn't hide it from him.

One look at Inaba's face and he would know.

He would know.

Iori stood up.

"Dereban, you're not a bad person. In fact, in your own way, you are the most loving person I know. In some ways even more than Taichi. So don't do this. Don't do this to yourself. Don't do this to him."

Inaba was bitter. "I'm a horrible person."

"No you aren't."

"Yes I am. Boy, for someone like you who allegedly is such a great judge of character.."

"Stop it. I know you are a nice and caring person inside. You just get cranky sometimes."

"I'm not. I'm a monster compared to you. Compared to anyone."

"Dereban, just stop it!"

"You are so much better than me. That's why I am going to do this."

Then Iori suddenly found herself getting angry. A rage up-welled within her.

"Shut the [bleep] up. You are so insecure and paranoid it's pathetic. You don't trust anybody. You never have. You never let anyone help you, not even me. Well you know what? You are not as bad person as you think you are. You know who's the bad person? Me. You want to know how bad a person I am? Well, I'll give you an example right now: I want to ask Heartseed to change the past. For me."

Inaba sniffled, "To erase yourself.. I know. I tried that too."

"Inaban!"

"Iori, don't you see, that's not selfish."

Iori was furious. "No, you dummy! I wanted to ask Heartseed if he would let me go back to the start of the StuCS and change the past!"

"What?"

"Not to erase myself, to erase a mistake."

Inaba stood in alarm. "Iori..?"

Then Iori screamed at her, her voice echoing across the lake.

"SO THAT I WOULD NEVER HAVE REJECTED HIM! SO I WOULD HAVE HIM INSTEAD OF YOU!"

Iori dropped to her knees on the wooden boards of the dock as her echoes faded away in the hills. "I'm the real monster, not you. You're just an amateur, see? I'm the pro."

She raised her tragic face up to Inaba, then she smiled. "So there it is. Now you know. I'm sorry. I really wanted us to remain friends.."

Iori waited for Inaba to slap her.

She didn't.

Instead she hugged her.

"Dereban.. what..?"

"Don't you see? That's my wish for you too. I know you would never actually ask Heartseed that, no matter how strongly you were tempted. It's okay, I understand. And so I'll ask him myself, on your behalf."

Iori stared.

Then Iori stood up.

And she slapped Inaba. Hard.

"Idiot!"

"Iori.. what?"

Iori's face was red, raging, and inchoate.

"Dereban, don't you dare think that! Not for a second! I'm the worst possible girl for him! I'm as manipulative as they come, as fake as wooden nickel. He'd be my dancing marionette for the rest of his life. He'd never know that his life with me was all a lie. How could you ever want that for him?

"Don't you see? You are the woman who truly loves him, with a real and plain and genuine and honest love. You are the one who can best take care of him. He needs you so badly, and you need him. It has to be you. Nobody else."

Inaba spoke quietly but earnestly. "Iori, no, if anyone, it has to be you. Don't you get it? You understand people so well, and you always know exactly how to make someone happy. For Taichi you'll drop your mask with him. You'll do that because deep inside you know that he loves the real Iori, you, because that will make him the most happy. Sure, underneath your protective mask he will find a sad lonely girl who is jaded and bitter, but he'll love you all the much more because of it. He'll heal you. He will free you from your demons, your chains. From those wrist scars. And then, finally, he will be free to be with the woman who truly loves him more than I ever could, with a real, non-selfish, love - someone who can best take care of him and love him back in the way he deserves.

"Iori, you've been slowly dying since high school. I can't go on living knowing what is happening to you because of me. And, so, is that selfish of me? Well, maybe it is. And I don't care!"

Iori's face was hard. "Inaban, so help me god, if ever you have an unfortunate 'accident', I will tell him. I swear to god I will. He won't believe Number Three, but he will believe me."

Inaba's face remained soft and kind. "No, you won't. You'll never tell him. I'm certain of that. You won't."

"I will."

"No you won't. You're just being emotional right now. Stop and think. Think about it carefully. Think it through."

Iori's analytical mind went to work. She considered the possibilities:

1) She tells Taichi, and Inaba keeps their baby. Rina destroys everyone.

2) She tells Taichi, but Inaba terminates the pregnancy anyway. They remain married, but their marriage is forever ruptured.

3) Before Inaba has her accident, Iori warns Taichi, and he manages to convince Inaba to keep her baby. Again Rina destroys everyone.

4) Inaba has an accident and is gone. Iori becomes wracked with guilt for not warning Taichi, and so they never get together. Meanwhile, Taichi is alone and lost. Without anyone to support him, he soon gets himself killed during a rescue attempt.

5) Inaba has an accident. Iori tells Taichi what really happened. Taichi ends up sharing Iori's terrible guilt as he partly blames himself. He dives deeper into his rescue-work even more, and dies even sooner.

Iori grudgingly admired Rina's genius. There was no way to escape. Her plan was perfect.

No, whatever she did, Iori could never tell Taichi, regardless of what happened.

Because it would only make things worse.

And Inaba had already figured all this out. She said quietly, "You won't tell him."

Iori sighed, "You're right. I see it now. No, I won't."

"See? Now I've trapped you too."

Iori sighed. "Okay, okay.. fine. Let's just stop here. I tell you what, let's you and I take a breather. We need to suspend this angsty-wangsty pity-party contest. We both agree that Taichi is the one we both want to save, right? So you and I need to work together. To figure out a way out of this mess. Together."

"Okay.. But Iori, I have to go away. Don't you see? There's no other way."

"Look, Dereban, just stop a moment. Have you talked to Heartseed about this?"

"Of course. He's useless. He won't do a thing."

"Did you ask him about changing the past? Say, by preventing you from making the pact with Rina in the first place?"

"He won't change anything or fix anything."

"Why not?"

"Because he says this timeline is the most 'interesting' one. The bastard."

"Okay.. okay.. Hmm. Look, Dereban, you've been thinking about this for a long time. And you're stuck. All right, so maybe you don't see a way out of this mess. But now you are no longer alone. You now have a friend who is also working on the problem with you. Let me think about this for a few days. What week are you on?"

"This is the eighth week."

"Okay, good. That means there is no rush, right? We still have four weeks before the end of the first trimester. So let me work this over in my mind and cogitate a bit. Maybe I'll spot something you missed. That sound good?"

"Okay."

"A truce then? An alliance? At least for now?"

"Yeah. A truce."

"Smart girl. Oh, and if you run into Heartseed again, please mention to him that I still want to talk with him."

"About what?"

"Dunno yet. Like I said, I need think about this first."

"Got it."

Then Inaba sniffled. "Iori, thank you.. I'm so sorry.. I'm so sorry for what happened.. your life.. everything.. I can't ever repay you for what I've done to you.."

Iori smiled. "Stop it. All pity-parties are hereby banned until further notice."

Then she said, "But you know, Dereban, there is one small thing you can do for me right now if you want."

Inaba looked hopeful. "Anything."

"Can we please remain friends? No matter what? Forever?"

Inaba gave her a sad smile. "Oh, Iori.." She extended her arms.

And so, on that little wooden dock in the lake in the woods, while standing on those creaky boards, their bare feet slowly drying as the sun's rippling glow sparkled on the water, they hugged each other as tightly as they could.

And they remained in that embrace for a long, long time.

---

After lunch things were quiet in the mansion. Yui did her afternoon workout with Anzu. Afterwards she changed her clothes and sat by herself at Inaba's PC in the sitting room as she browsed the Internet.

She was shocked to find a small news article from three years ago regarding her old high school friend, Yukina Kurihara. Apparently Kurihara had contracted a rare form of lymphoma and her family was trying to raise funds for an experimental medical treatment that was rather expensive. She then checked the obituaries and found Kurihara's name listed a year later.

Around 4:30 p.m. Inaba and Iori returned from their field trip. It was now time to start preparing for dinner. Iori sat in the foyer and took off her shoes to rub her sore feet. Inaba told Iori to skip preparing the meal and just order some take out. It was a suggestion that Iori assented to wholeheartedly. Meanwhile, Inaba walked over to Yui, who was still scanning the obituaries on the PC.

Inaba asked, "So, are you still catching up?"

Yui pushed her chair away from the PC and rubbed her tired eyes. "Yes. There is still so much for me to learn."

Inaba grinned, "Well, the world marches on."

"Inaba, do you need your PC back now?"

"Naw. I have some scripts running that I want to check on, but it can wait. You go ahead and keep surfing."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Yui went back to the browser and visited the website for NHK Broadcasting. She saw a large red banner on the bottom of the video window with some crawling text.

Meanwhile, Iori was now sitting on the couch. She turned on the TV as Inaba sat and joined her. While Iori was changing channels, Inaba took the opportunity to pull out her smartphone to again check on the aftermath of her little visit to Steve Anderson.

Iori switched the channel to her favorite soap opera, which was still in progress.

She yelled, "Dang it, those jerks!"

Inaba looked up. "Huh?"

"They interrupted my soap with some stupid news alert."

Then they heard Yui yelling behind her. "You guys! Check the TV!"

Iori started flipping channels.

".. scenes of incredible devastation .. magnitude 9.1, about two hours ago .. the largest since the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 .. casualties are unknown at this point .. all communication cut off .. major roads apparently damaged or destroyed .. a city of 3.5 million .. harbor facilities destroyed .. no access or communication .."

Inaba yelled, "Argh! Will you stop flipping channels!" She grabbed the remote away from Iori and switched the channel to NHK.

The news anchor was speaking. "The city of Busan, South Korea, appears to be completely cut off by road and sea, with all major roads and port facilities having been damaged or destroyed. Because of the hilly terrain surrounding the city, the only access is by air."

The blood drained from Inaba's face. "Oh no.."

The report went on. "The Defense Ministry has made a joint announcement with the US Secretary of Defense that the scheduled Pacific Partnership simulated disaster rescue and recovery operation that was to have taken place this week on Honshou's north coast has been cancelled. It has been reported by sources inside the Interior Ministry that Japan and the United States are coordinating a major relief operation and will be providing full support to South Korea for the airborne relief effort. A US Naval Task Force headed by the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, currently sailing in the South China Sea, is now making an emergency run to head for Busan on the southeast coast of South Korea. The USNS Mercy, which is currently docked in Yamaboshi for the Pacific Partnership exercise, is reportedly making preparations for departure as well. India, Indonesia, and several other countries have also pledged their full support."

Yui came around the couch and sat with them. "It's on all the news channels. It's terrible."

".. aftershocks are still being reported. Ladies and gentleman, I am being told by my director that we finally have an aerial video feed from the disaster, which we will try to bring to you live. This will be the first footage from Busan. There. Oh my god.."

Inaba looked at Iori.

"He's not coming back, is he."

Iori pulled Inaba's head into her lap.

She cradled it as she continued to watch the horrifying images on the screen.

"No, he's not."

---

A/N:

* See the LN Precious Time.

** Python can do anything.

*** Translation: "Welcome, please come in."

*4 See Episode 3.

*5 It's the same maniacal grin she showed Taichi in Episode 4.

*6 See the LN Yume Random and the LN Precious Time.

*7 See Episode 11.