The Shadow's Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or Ashita no Ousama nor do I own any of the characters from either original story.

Chapter 52 – The Mandate

In her exhaustion, Kyoko's head fell back to the headrest of the miserably uncomfortable plastic seat, but it was too short and her head impacted lightly on the even more uncomfortable concrete wall behind it. Suddenly she jerked awake, staring confusedly around her with bleary eyes. As her surroundings came into focus, she recognized Yumi, Kanae, and Chiori on the seats across from her own. She looked to her right and saw Takarada Lory, with Maria asleep in his lap. Yumi and Lory were awake, but the others had also drifted off.

Kyoko checked her watch and saw that nearly seven hours had passed since Sebastian had arrived at the Emergency Room. She met Yumi's eyes and saw the fatigue and fear in them. She was reminded that Sebastian might be her own undeclared father, but he was also Yumi's younger brother. It had become obvious, after Kyoko finally reached her conclusions about the man, that he and Yumi were very close. "How is he, Yumi?"

Yumi, the ever-cheerful, couldn't even manage a smile. "Dr. Niyomato, Ka… I mean… Sebastian's personal physician arrived an hour ago. The surgeon said that he was stable for the moment, but that there were other concerns… he didn't elaborate."

Kyoko felt Lory's eyes on her. The tall, distinguished man had always seemed to have the ability to look right into Kyoko's soul. Glancing back at Yumi, she sighed, "I know who he is, Yumi-san, Shacho."

Yumi looked at her with deep sadness, "He didn't tell you… because of the shame he feels about his past… it wasn't because of you."

Lory's deep, modulated voice joined in, "He is very, very proud of you, Mogami-chan." Kyoko could tell that her president was going to say more, but then the double doors of the Intensive Care Unit swung open. Kyoko and Yumi stood, and all three fixed the short, balding man with hard, expectant stares.

Dr. Niyomato flinched slightly. Although he was long accustomed to making his prognoses to the waiting families, it was still his least-favorite task. He was Takarada Lory's physician as well, so he already knew the man well. He held back a sigh as he looked from the surprisingly attractive older woman to the highly-recognizable golden eyes of Mogami Kyoko. Niyomato's wife and daughter were fixated on the new drama Stage Dreams, and they still watched their boxed-set of Dark Moon DVDs whenever he had to work late. His daughter had been engrossed in that other drama… Box-something, and he was glad when that show ended… the part that this golden-eyed girl played had been downright frightening. I wonder what relation she has to Mr. Sebastian…

"My name is Dr. Niyomato. I am Mr. Sebastian's personal physician." He paused and looked at the two ladies, "Before I continue, may I ask what your relationships are with my patient?"

Yumi spoke first, "I am his sister, Doctor… and before Kyoko answers that question, we need to be assured of your confidentiality."

The balding man raised an eyebrow, but he nodded, "You have my word."

"I… am his daughter," Kyoko answered… and she realized that it was the first time that she had uttered those words. They sounded so foreign, and frightening, and exhilarating. And did she even have the right to say that, when he wouldn't acknowledge her?

Dr. Niyomato was unaware of Kyoko's inner conflict. He couldn't quite hide his astonishment at her words… but then again he was one of the few people who had probably seen his patient without contact lenses in. They both have golden eyes… why did I never make the connection? He mentally shook himself out of his reverie and bowed, "I am honored to meet you both." He cleared his throat and prepared himself to deliver the news that suddenly seemed much harder to deliver, "Mr. Sebastian is stable… but only because we have him attached to a multitude of machines. The gunshot wound ruptured his left kidney… the only functioning kidney he had remaining."

At some point in the last minute, Yumi and Kyoko's hands had joined. Now both ladies squeezed as they took in the news. Yumi spoke first, "Will he live?"

"Yes… however… many people could survive away from dialysis for short durations, but Mr. Sebastian's body has suffered too many traumas over the years… I regret to say that he'll have to remain attached to a machine more or less permanently unless we can get him a compatible kidney."

Without hesitation, sister and daughter both spoke up, "I'll do it."

The doctor scratched the bridge of his nose before addressing Yumi first, "Ma'am, you are obviously in excellent shape, but I'm afraid that you're still a little too… advanced…"

Yumi regarded the doctor like a bug for a moment before smiling sadly, "You're probably right…" and she turned to Kyoko, "… but Kyoko, you have a very pressing event coming up soon…"

Kyoko shook her head, "Ren would understand… but you're right… Doctor, when will this need to happen?"

"After the trauma of the gun wound and the additional internal damage, Mr. Sebastian won't be stable enough for a transplant operation for at least another seven to nine days."

Kyoko nodded and began talking quickly, "Then it's settled. I'll be back from the States in six days. We're wrapping up the season finale of Stage Dreams tomorrow, and I already have five episodes of Cooking With Kyoko in the vault. Yumi, you'll probably have to make some other phone calls, but we should be fine?"

Yumi grabbed Kyoko by the shoulders, "Kyoko, aren't you forgetting the wedding? Having a kidney removed will put a real cramp in your plans."

Kyoko lifted her own hands to hold her newfound Aunt's arms, "I only just found my father, Yumi. I can't stand by and let him die, can I?"

Dr. Niyomato spoke up, "Umm, there is the matter of compatibility. We'll need to run some tests to see…"

oOo

Ren sat back in his studio chair in stunned silence as he listened to Kyoko's tale of the events of the previous evening… culminating in her decision to donate a kidney. He wanted to berate her; to tell her that donating an organ was a serious matter… but he knew that he would be throwing his words away. Kyoko always thought of others first. She would save her father no matter what it might cost her. Her only concern was in how Ren would feel about the decision… which left him with no option to dissent. "If we have to postpone the wedding, then that is what we'll do, My Love. I agree that this is important."

"Thank you, Corn, for understanding." Kyoko's soft words made Ren want to reach through the line and hold her close. "I'm just glad that it turned out that my kidney will be compatible." Ren's silent reluctance softened with the use of Kyoko's pet-name for him. Corn… the Corn of Kyoko's imagination… had been her confidant for many years. Whenever Kyoko had been faced with heartbreak, confusion, or seemingly insurmountable odds, she had talked to Corn.

And now she was using that name to talk over this decision. "Kyoko… what is really bothering you?" He spoke it gently, but in that same tone that he had used in the past to ask her if she was hiding something from him.

After a long pause, she replied, "What if… what if he doesn't want to be my father… what if he feels like I'm using this to force him to accept…"

"Stop that, Kyoko!" Ren barked, with more heat than he intended. Realizing this, he softened his next words, but the firmness remained, "Despite everything, despite all of the people who love you and care for you, you're still that lonely little girl inside, aren't you?"

Kyoko was scrunched up in an almost fetal position in the lawn chair as she heard those words. Ren's admonishment… and his intent… came across the airwaves. Slowly, reluctantly, Kyoko forced her body to relax and stretch out. Her only verbal response, though, was a quiet, "Un."

"Kyoko, I think that Yumi is telling the truth. He isn't denying you; he's protecting you. Neither you nor I know the full details but from what I have heard, your father was wilder than me. He made mistakes and he did things that, if the news ever got hold of… you can imagine how it might impact your career. It's bad enough to be saddled with one bad-boy…"

Surprising even herself, Kyoko giggled, "I seem to have a thing for bad boys, don't I?"

oOoOOoOo

Yumi pulled her car into the parking garage and followed the arrows until they led her to the glass-walled basement lobby. Kyoko stepped off of the elevator, into the lobby, and out to the car with a purpose in her steps. Yumi said nothing as the Kyoko buckled in and they drove back out of the cavernous garage of Ren's apartment building.

As they neared the edge of town, Kyoko finally spoke. "Is the family assembling?" There was a coldness, a purposefulness that had never been there before.

Yumi had the same expression as she watched the road and nodded, "There are two or three who are too far away or deeply involved in an assignment, but the rest have been arriving all through yesterday and last night."

"Good." That was all that was said. That was all that either needed to say until they reached Spirit's Glen.

oOoOOoOo

Yashiro Chojiro scanned the newspapers again for any news on the previous night's attack. Surely there must be something! But there was nothing! Nothing on the internet news! Nothing on the television or radio news! Nothing in print!

Surely there must have been something? I gave those thugs every detail that was needed. I gave them the perfect opportunity! What more could they ask for?

His temporary cell phone rang and he jumped before scrambling for the device. The number on the screen was the number he had been waiting for, so he flipped it open and growled, "Why haven't you called…"

"You told me that there would only be the driver and the girl, Takahashi!" The angry voice interrupted. Chojiro had chosen the name at-random to protect his identity. "Now my men and in the infirmary of the Tokyo lockup… so don't get sharp with me."

"They did the job!" Chojiro demanded, "Then why haven't I heard anything?"

"You idiot!" The voice on the line was furious enough to break through Chojiro's own tirade. He flinched as the man continued, "You sent us after the chauffeur of the Takarada Lory! One of the richest and most influential men in Tokyo? And did you know who that little girl in the car was?"

"Of co…" Chojiro grimaced and changed his answer, "It doesn't matter. I only asked you to get the chauffeur. I didn't ask you to harm the girl in any way.

"I strongly suggest… whoever you really are… that you go to ground quickly. Because if Takarada doesn't find you, I will… not that he won't find you…" the man hung up, leaving Chojiro to process the threat and all that it implied.

After staring at his phone for another minute, he suddenly started scrambling to throw his clothing into a suitcase.

oOoOOoOo

She sat at the head of the long table, though she felt that she should be standing. But both Yumi and the hiiobasama had insisted that this position was the right one, under the circumstances.

Although Kyoko had been undergoing training as a swordswoman and fighter since the previous November… and although she had been also training under Egami Hayata in managing (or at least understanding) the family holdings for more than a month… Kyoko had still held back from declaring herself to the family. Now the time for equivocation was over.

Yumi watched her niece, student, and charge with affection and fascination. Ren had once told her of Kyoko's declaration for why she wanted to act: To find out who she really was and to shape that person. Kyoko had played many different roles now and mesmerized people with her amazing transformations from character to character… but those parts were nothing to the whole person that Yumi saw in front of her now.

Kyoko sat there, tiny in comparison to most of the others at the table but so upright, so dignified, and so purposeful that everyone in the room was already deferring to her before she had even spoken. It was… in a word… magical. But there was nothing magical about Kyoko's reasons for being at Spirit's Glen on this day. Nor would there be any celebration as Kyoko the role that was her birthright. Instead, Kyoko would begin her position as heir apparent of the Egami family with a mandate.

"Hello, and thank you all for travelling here. My name is Mogami Kyoko, and I have the honor of being Egami. My mother's name is of no consequence, but my father's name is all known to you well: I am the only child of Egami Katsukage."

Kyoko allowed everyone to react to this and absorb it before continuing. By agreement, Hiiobasama, Yumi, and Hayata had kept Kyoko's identity a secret up until now. But with the ancient woman to Kyoko's right, Hayata to her left, and Yumi facing her, there was no question in anyone's mind about the truth of Kyoko's statement. "As some of you may know, Egami Katsukage was the rightful heir of the family, yet he chose other pursuits. The mantle then fell to Egami Mayumi, his sister."

Kyoko had been surprised to discover that Yumi's true name was "Mayumi," which means "true, gentle beauty." Kyoko found the beauty part undeniable, but after seeing Yumi fight, she questioned the gentle part of the name. This though reminded Kyoko of her purpose and she continued, "What you probably don't know is that, for the past decade or more, Katsukage has been working for Takarada Lory, of LME, as his security and driver. What you also have not heard is that last night, while driving Takarada's granddaughter home from a party, he was attacked by hired thugs who first rammed his car, and then produced a handgun and knives with the intention of either killing or maiming him. My father is in the hospital now, in critical condition."

There was a fire in Kyoko's golden eyes that demanded, and received, the rapt attention of every person at the table. "This cowardly act was perpetrated because my father stood in the way of one man's obsessive attempts at revenge on my best friend, several others, and myself. The man who commissioned this group of thugs was too cowardly to attack Katsukage himself... he reserves all of his aggression for those he deems to be helpless… instead, he cringed in a corner somewhere and paid other men to do his dirty work."

Everyone who had been invited to the table that day was Egami. Everyone was highly trained in the Egami martial arts, using both hand and weapons. And everyone at the table, with the exception of the ancient woman and Hayata, was involved in security and protection work. These men and woman were as tough as anyone, anywhere… and they were fiercely loyal to the family. So when Kyoko spoke again, there was no discussion; no dissension; only readiness to act, "For the next week, beginning this afternoon, I have to fly to the United States. During that time my friends, my coworkers, and those that I love are in danger because of a man named Yashiro Chojiro. Hayata-san has all of the details in folders for you and will make those available in a minute."

Kyoko scanned every face individually for a moment with a cold fire in those golden eyes, "I realize that it may be improper for me to make such a demand of you after only now introducing myself, but please hear me: First, please protect the people on the list. Second, please find that man for me. Do not go out of your way to harm him… I want him to face justice through legal channels… but please find him and prevent him from causing any more harm. Yumi… Mayumi... will remain in Tokyo to be with her brother and to coordinate this effort. I make this request as a member and the rightful successor of the Egami. Please honor this request." With the dignity of a queen, Kyoko closed her speech with only a graceful seated bow.

oOoOOoOo

Two hours later Yumi, Kanae, and Chiori hugged her and then waved as Kyoko walked into the tunnel leading to her airplane. Despite everyone's reassurances, Kyoko was torn about flying to the United States. Ren needed her for the carefully choreographed revelation of his identity, but Kyoko couldn't get her mind off of the man in critical condition in the hospital. Isn't it wrong to leave him like this?

But Yumi had been persuasive. Sebastian… Katsukage wouldn't probably even open his eyes for another week. The doctor intended to keep him sedated while his body recovered from the trauma of the car wreck, the fight, and the gunshot wound. Kyoko would probably be back, and might possibly be done with surgery, before Sebastian ever returned to consciousness.

…which was good, because Ren was on his last day of filming, the serial story about Ren and Kyoko was on its second-to-last day before completion, and the couple was booked for a whirlwind schedule of talk shows and interviews, beginning immediately after the story was complete.


Notes: I apologize for the short chapter. The next will be necessarily longer. Thanks for reading