Patience Is Its Own Reward
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters.
Kyoko is still attending school and is trying to make the most of it before it graduation, with Ren and Sho chasing her every step of the way.
Chapter 36 – Yashiro's Cunundrum
Yashiro Yukihito stood beside his grandfather's casket, his back straight, his hands clasped in front of him, and his heart breaking. Yashiro Yutaka had been dying of cancer for years. It had been a constant battle that the man could no longer fight. Yukihito knew this, but it didn't make this moment any easier. His grandfather had been at once his closest friend, his trusted confidante, and his most ardent supporter. There was no man, living or deceased, whom Yukihito respected more.
Yutaka rested in his casket in an Armani suit. In the coffin with him rested 6 coins, a knife, a white kimono, sandals and an ebony chess-piece; it was a king, of course. All of these items would go into the crematorium with Yutaka on the day after the wake.
Yashiro Chojiro, Yukihito's cousin, stood next in honor to Yukihito's father. Yukihito had been both startled and gratified when he had been informed of his grandfather's letter. Chojiro was well suited to become the next successor after Yukihito's father. He had the ambition, the talent, and the desire to take HanasuSora, Inc. to the next level. Even Yukihito's father reluctantly admitted it. But his father wasn't ready to give up on Yukihito just yet. He was still trying to make him into a branch manager, or something similar, now that Yashiro wouldn't be Ren's manager.
Yashiro had made the mistake of telling his parents that Tsuruga Ren would be leaving for the United States in another month. This left Yashiro in a quandary. Ren had extended the invitation for Yashiro to accompany him, but the honest truth was that, while Yashiro knew the ins and outs of the Japanese entertainment industry very well, he knew little or nothing about the industry in the U.S. Besides, in order to take the role in the U.S., Ren would be transferring his contract over to Swan Talent. Yashiro's star was on the rise in LME. If he left, he might lose all of his momentum.
Still, he might have gone with Ren regardless, if it wasn't for the image of a certain young lady that was haunting his sleeping and waking thoughts. The night of the storm had impacted him more than he could have expected. Nothing inappropriate had happened. In fact, they had barely slept. Instead they had sat together at the small table, sharing childhood stories and remembrances. Neither he nor Kanae were the type to share much on a personal level, but somehow the situation and the storm had broken down barriers.
They had talked for hours, and Kanae had been more open with him than she had with anyone else, even Kyoko. The result of it was that Yashiro now found Kotonami Kanae to be just as lovely inside as she was on the outside. He had also shared with her about personal issues and topics that he had only ever shared with his grandfather. And she had accepted all of his confidences with a warmth and friendliness that gave him just a glimmer of hope; perhaps she might accept him someday after all.
By dawn they were talked out. While the storm continued to rage outside, Kanae had slept on the bed. Yashiro made a bed of the two chairs and pulled an extra blanket over himself, but he couldn't sleep with Kanae's soft breathing so close-by. Despite his best intentions, he spent the early morning hours studying Kanae's sleeping face, and falling in love with every contour. When his imagination began to overwhelm his gentlemanly resolve, he dragged the extra blankets to the bathtub. He woke to find Kanae staring down at him with an enigmatic expression. "I'm sorry, but I need this room... and it looks like the storm is slowing.
When the roads were finally re-opened, they stopped for a bite to eat. And then Yashiro had driven Kanae home. They were silent on the drive, but it was a comfortable silence; a companionable silence. Yashiro arrived back at his apartment feeling exhilarated. Cell phone service was restored before he could fall asleep, however, and it was then that he was told of the tragic news. In ten minutes he had been back on the road to Yokohama.
She sat with the visiting mourners now, next to Ren and Kyoko, clothed in a pitch-black dress that did nothing to detract from her pale beauty. Although he was sad, Yashiro was grateful that his grandfather had met Kanae before he passed on. Even if he failed to win her heart, he knew that they had shared a special day together; and he knew that his grandfather approved. His grandfather's faithful servant had informed Yashiro of the second letter and its contents. It would only ever be presented and opened if Kotonami Kanae consented to be his. As he looked at her now, he prayed to his grandfather's spirit that the letter would need to be opened some day.
Nikino, Michiko, and Nanami sat across from Kyoko with their hearts in their throats. They knew how much they owed this unusual young lady. Almost anyone else would have held a grudge for the way that they had gossiped about her and challenged her less than a year before. But instead Mogami Kyoko had pulled them into her world and changed their lives in the process. Now, because of what she had done for them, they were being offered an opportunity to sign on with Akatoki by President Asami Haruki herself. She had a rising singer who needed an experienced female band to back her up, and she wanted Tsunami-K.
"Please don't think that we're ungrateful, Mogami-san," Nikino pleaded, "We know how much you've done for us. But you want to focus on acting, and this opportunity…"
"Girls! Relax!" Kyoko gave the girls her best friendly smile, "It's true, I do want to concentrate on acting. This upcoming play had me so excited I can hardly sleep. And as kind as you have been, you know that I'm not lead-singer material." She waved off their protests, "Okay, maybe I can sing, but I don't have the level of passion for it that you do. My passion is acting."
"So you're okay with us disbanding?" Michiko asked, tentatively.
"Michiko-san, I've been trying to figure out a way to disband too. I think that the three of you are wonderful. And you've gotten so much better over the last few months. So help me finish this homework, stick around until the end of Dangerous Academics, and then go become big stars. Just make sure you send me tickets when you hit it big." The three girls launched themselves forward and hugged Kyoko, "Thank you, Kyoko-chan. Thank you for everything."
Kyoko sat alone, finishing some last minute homework as she waited for her time on-set. Two long arms came from behind her and wrapped around her. She felt Ren rest his chin lightly on her head, felt his warm breath blowing in her hair. "Will Yashiro be okay, Ren?"
"He held it together during the service, but he probably let out his feelings in private," Ren's voice sounded sad, "Yashiro never talked much about his family, but whenever he did he always spoke highly of his grandfather. Did you know that Kotonami Kanae went with him to meet the old man?"
Kyoko nodded softly, so that she didn't dislodge Ren's chin, "I was surprised when she told me. I thought maybe things were progressing further than she had suggested. But she says that their just friends. It's a shame… he could use someone like Moko-san right now."
Ren sighed dramatically, "Those LoveMe girls require a lot of patience and persistence. Maybe I should have picked an easier girl to fall in love with."
"Don't you dare!" Kyoko said, but before she could say more he bent around and effectively silenced her with a kiss.
Episode 9
[[Detective Hasekara and the four plain-clothes police officers stand aside in the darkness as the regular police swarm around the car in the ditch. After taking a photograph, a forensic specialist squats down and retrieves something white with a pair of tweezers. He drops it into a small evidence bag, makes a note on the bag, and stands.
The balding forensic specialist put the baggie in his case and walked over to Hasekara. "There were two in the car. My initial assessment is that they were forced off of the road by a single impact, twenty meters back. The driver's face hit the steering wheel… I'm willing to bet that that tooth came from him. The passenger was dragged out first. He didn't struggle, so he was probably unconscious. Then they dragged the driver out. He was bleeding profusely, probably from the mouth. He left a trail.
"I'm willing to bet that the only fingerprints we'll find will belong to the two victims. There are bloody hand prints all over, and all of them are smooth. That means rubber gloves. We found some hair strands that probably won't match the victims, but it's an old car, so the hair could have been left behind at any time in the past. We could use it as evidence that the person was in contact with the car, but we couldn't use it to prove that the person was there tonight."
"Thank you, Mikatatomi-san," Detective Hasekara said, "I'll drop in later to check on things."
As the man walked away she turned to Yasuda, "You called it right, again. Yasuda, these are high school students… how far will they go with this?"
Yasuda scratched his fingers in his hair, "I don't know, Detective. Two factors have to be considered: First, they are furious about the attack on the Iwasaki brothers. Second, they will be feeling empowered at this moment. There is a thrill involved in taking the law into your own hands. Deguchi and Fujita, if they were the ones in this car, are among the most violent of Makuda's boys. I wouldn't want to be them right now."
"How will Makuda react?" Officer Ebihara asked the air, rhetorically.
Yasuda answered anyway, "He'll probably start a full-scale war. Loki, Fenrir, and Heimdall are part of his inner circle. They already went after Fenrir; now they've grabbed the other two. If he allows this to pass, he'll lose all authority with his gang."
"What do you think his next move will be, Officer Yasuda," the detective asked.
"It all depends upon if he knows more about who is in the Undead than we do. If he knows their identities, then things are about to turn ugly."]]
Introductory song plays. As usual, the scene ends with the focus on Isako's golden brown eyes.
[[The scene transitions to Nagase Kimiko, looking in the mirror. Her eyes are no longer timid. Now she looks confident and eerily empowered.
Yasuda narrates {In a perfect world, there would be no victims. Since we don't live in a perfect world, the next-best scenario would be for the victim to be freed and then begin living a normal life. Unfortunately, an all-to-common scenario is for the victim, once freed, to become as aggressive as the ones who victimized him or her.}
Kimiko's mother appeared in the mirror, standing behind her. "Where were you last night, Kimiko? You didn't come in until two in the morning."
"Back off, mother. I was at the hospital with Iwasake Kenichi and his family. Did you know that those animals hurt little Kenjo so badly that he might not recover?"
"Oh dear. I wish the police would do someth…"
"The police!?" Kimiko laughed, "The police are useless! It's time for… other people to step in."
"I don't understand you, Kimiko," her mother worried, "You've changed so much lately, and you seem…"
"I'm fine, mother," Kimiko interrupted, grabbing her bag and brushing past her mother to leave the room. "This is the new-improved me; and I like it."
The camera focuses on Nagase Kimiko's gleaming eyes as she walks away.]]
{One of the reasons that violence continues to be prevalent in our supposedly advanced society is that violence gives the aggressor a sense of power, freedom, and control that nothing else can. For some, it becomes like a drug}
[[The scene transitions to Amori Isako's eyes as she scans the classroom. Then she spots Josuke Juro and walks over to him.
"We need to talk, Juro-san." Isako said firmly.
Juro looked into her eyes with a mixture of shame and defiance. "Fine, Isako… fine."
They walked out of the room and around to the same corner where Isako and Gensai Jotaro had spoken. "I need to know what you guys did last night. I thought that we agreed…"
"Isako-san, the time for taking things easy is over. You know we all like you, and we respect you, but we're not going to do things your way anymore. From now on we're going to teach those b*st*rds who is the boss." Juro's embarrassment was gone now. He was allowing his anger to show.
"Juro-san, what did you guys do last night?" Isako tried to exert her authority, "I can't let you…"
"You're either with us, Amori-san, or you're against us," his eyes had turned cold. "Back off or join in." He turned and stalked away.
When she returned to her desk, Kimiko was already sitting there, running a brush through her hair. Isako tried to meet her friend's eyes. "Kimiko, can you tell me what happened last night?"
Kimiko looked at Isako and sneered. Then she pushed the brush into her bag, stood up, and walked back to where Gensai Jotaro and was sitting on the top of a desk, talking with his friends.
The boys look startled, but then they respond to her flirtatious manner. Gensai Jotaro looks over toward Isako with a look of puzzlement. Isako looks toward the front of the class, her face a mask of changing emotions.]]
[[Yasuda Hisaki paces back and forth on the roof of the school, arguing on the phone. He is alone and frustrated.
"Detective, you're asking me to throw her into the middle of this!"
Hasekara's voice, "We don't know that she isn't in the middle of this, Hisaki! Look, if we don't get some names, we can't protect anyone. Amori Isako is right in the middle of everything, no matter how you look at it. She knows everybody, and she's closely tied to every victim that they've avenged. The captain agrees. Talk to her, Hisaki."
"Eriko, don't make me do this," Yasuda pleaded.
"I'm giving you the chance to do this first. If you don't, then I'm going to pull her in for questioning. Either way, she's going to have to help us."
The phone line goes dead. Yasuda prepares to throw the phone off of the roof like a baseball. He stops himself, pockets the phone, and shakes the security fence instead.
{The number one rule of undercover work is don't get emotionally involved. But what are you supposed to do when you are already involved?}]]
[[Amori Isako and Shattered play through the final stanza of a fast-paced rock song. Isako's voice is hard and angry. As the music fades, the rest of the band looks at each other with raised eyebrows.
"Are you okay, Isako-san?" Ai asked.
"I'm fine!" Isako put up a hand, "I'm sorry, I'm just having a bad day. Can we call it a day guys?"
As everyone packed up, Isako walked out. "Amori-san, may I speak with you?"
Isako jumped and turned, ready to fight. Then she snapped, "Sensei, you scared the… you really scared me."
"I need to have a private word with you. Can you please spare me a few minutes?" Yasuda's voice sounded sad as he spoke.
Isako quickly looked to see that nobody from her band was coming. "Of course, Yasuda-sensei." She followed him as he led her back to the roof stairs. Once they stepped out, she waited as Yasuda started pacing. "Sensei?"
"Please understand, Amori-san, that we're trying… I'm trying to prevent people from being hurt. That's always what it was about." His voice was pleading for her understanding.
"I don't understand, Yasuda-sensei. What are you trying to tell me?"
"It's not Yasuda-sensei, Amori-san… it's Officer Yasuda… I'm an undercover policeman."
Isako's eyes widened in shock, and then narrowed in anger, "So, you've just been getting close to Emiko and me so that you could get information? Is that what all of this was about?"
"No! Look, it was wrong for me to ever let myself get close to either of you, but I couldn't help it… I'm sorry, that's a weak lie… I didn't want to help it… It's very wrong, but I just wanted to be close to you."
Amori's eyes were flashing in anger, "Well, congratulations, you got close! Emiko adores you, and I… just… don't you ever come near either of us again!" She whipped around to leave, but Yasuda grabbed her arm.
"Hear me out, Amori Isako. This is serious. Last night the Valhalla attacked Iwasaki Kenichi and his little brother… I think you probably know that. In response, the Undead attacked Deguchi and Fujita. Their car was driven off of the road, both were probably seriously hurt."
"Why should I care about those maggots, Officer Yasuda? I'm sure that they'll recover and come back to do the same thing again." She tried to pull her arm away, but Yasuda wouldn't let go.
"Isako-san, they're both missing. They may be dead."
Isako turned white and she slumped slightly, "Oh god. They went that far…"
"Isako-san," Yasuda prompted gently, "Makuda won't just sit back on this. If he knew that Iwasaki was one of them, then he probably knows the identity of the others as well. He'll start hunting them down, one-by-one. If you know who they are, Isako-san, then I need you to tell me."
Isako looked up into his eyes. Her eyes were close to tears, "I can't… It was all supposed to be about stopping… but they don't listen to me now…"
Yasuda held both of her arms to calm her down, "Isako-chan, even if you can give me one name… let me talk to the Queen… maybe she'll listen to reason."
Isako's expression froze. "I have to go. I can't help you." She pulled her arms away and started for the stairwell.
"Amori-san!" Yasuda called out, "Take this." He held out a business card with his name, number, and address. "If you change you mind… or if you need help for any reason… please call me."
Isako numbly took the card, glanced at it, and shoved it into her pocket. "I have to go… goodbye, Sensei."]]
[[Makuda whips around the gang's headquarters above the pool hall, throwing things and flipping furniture over in his rage. His head pops up as Ezakiya Bussho tentatively knocks to get Makuda's attention.
"Well!? What have you found out?"
"Nothing, Boss. They left the hospital and got in some sort of wreck a few blocks away. The cops have the car, but they're not giving out information. The boys haven't been to any other hospital, and nobody has found the… nobody has found them."
Makuda stood in the center of the room, panting from his exertions. "So they want to keep playing, do they? Well fine, we'll just play things my way."]]
[[Yasuda slumps on his couch, his legs stretched out in front of him, listening to soft rock. He holds a drink in his hand, but he doesn't drink it. Instead he is staring off into space.
{By that point in my night, I didn't think that things could get worse. I had blown my cover to get information, which I didn't get. I had revealed my feelings to the girl who I shouldn't have looked at in the first place, and those feelings weren't returned. And I had utterly failed to make one bit of difference in Kojima High School. What else could go wrong?}
There was a loud, repetitive knock at the door. Yasuda grabbed his service weapon and moved to the door. "Who's there?"
"It's Amori Isako! Open the door! Emiko's…" Yasuda opened the door to find Isako standing there, tears running down her face, "They have Emiko, Sensei! Makuda has Emiko!"]]
Notes: Nothing really to add at this point. The final three episodes, graduation, and Ren's departure draweth nigh! But first: Chapter 37 – Hiou's Birthday.
For those who are interested, Japanese funerals traditionally last for two days. The first day is the wake, in which friends and family come to pay their respects. They usually bring condolence money in envelopes, and then are given small gifts upon their departure. On the second day there is a family funeral, and then, most of the time, the body is cremated. According to what I have read, Japanese funerals are the most expensive funerals anywhere. If there is a family plot, then the family is lucky. Otherwise, even the small space is exceedingly expensive.
No dedications this time. But I do appreciate everyone who has read and reviewed. That's how I know that people are actually reading. Thank you, everyone.