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 54 – The Unwelcome Return
"Could you believe it? Tsuruga Ren is Hizuri Kuon! That explains why he is so tall… and handsome!" The two ladies who were much too old to giggle did so anyway, bringing annoyance to their superintendent… but then, everything annoyed their superintendent, so what did it matter?
"And to think, he met her right here in Kyoto!" The other woman sighed, "I should have met him instead."
"Don't be silly. When he was ten, you were already in your thirties," the first woman retorted playfully, "Even you wouldn't do that!"
The second woman pouted, "Oh, of course not… but that means that Hizuri Kuu was here at the same time… and he is definitely the right age!" The two workers giggled again and their supervisor felt her jaws clenching. It was bad enough that she was here instead of…
"And to imagine, Kyouko is going to marry him! Did you see that interview with the American woman? The girl certainly has made Kyoto proud, hasn't she?"
"Repeat that!" The supervisor snarled, causing the two older women to jump back in alarm.
The supervisor leaned forward into the last speaker's face and spoke again with a cold voice, "Repeat what you just said about Kyouko."
The woman stammered for a moment before finally getting her words out, "I… I was just saying that… K..Kyouko…"
"Just spit it out, you old fool! Who is Kyouko marrying!"
The other woman, upon seeing this despicable new supervisor bullying her friend, finally spoke up, "See here, Supervisor-san. There is no reason for you to be…"
The younger woman visibly composed herself, though it still seemed like she wanted to rip someone's throat out, "I apologize. Now, in simple Japanese, please tell me: who is Kyouko marrying, and what else were you saying about the man?"
"She is marrying Tsuruga Ren… only he isn't really Tsuruga Ren after all. His real name is Hizuri Kuon, and he is the son of Hizuri Kuu and Julie Swan."
Both older women started to shrink back as they felt the cold, barely suppressed fury flowing off of this new supervisor. Thankfully, the woman suddenly wheeled on her feet and stomped away. Breathing a sigh of relief, the bolder of the two women said, "I hope that they don't keep that woman around too long. It is bad enough working in this dress factory without having to put up with the likes of her!"
Mogami Saena stomped past several employees who saw her expression and quickly skittered away. In twenty paces she reached her tiny closet of an office, stepped inside and slammed the door shut, shaking the class in the windows. Everyone looked studiously away as she sat down in her rickety office chair and glared at the world.
Less than a year ago she had owned her own retail clothing empire… granted it was actually only three stores, but she was making progress. And then everything had gone downhill. First, she had tried to enlist Fuwa Sho as her celebrity spokesperson. Then she had tried to reclaim control over her daughter. Both moves had ended in disaster. But then Julie Swan had appeared out of nowhere and had made the seemingly innocent request to buy her daughter's contract. Saena had gleefully agreed and had walked away with the equivalent of $50,000 U.S. for the bargain.
Everything should have been great… but Saena had decided to take her empire to the next level now that she had a slush-fund… And in the end she lost everything. Now Saena was relegated to supervising the work of incompetent seamstresses in the back ally sweat shop… While her daughter was preparing to marry into one of the richest and most famous families that she knew of. That woman tricked me! I followed along like some sort of tame little lamb and let her talk me into that d*mb contract! Well, we'll just see about that!
oOoOOoOo
Sebastian opened his eyes and gazed without comprehension at the curtain rails and various devices that surrounded his bed. He felt strangely disconnected at first, as if his brain was not a part of his body. Then he slowly felt the drugged heaviness of his body. Somewhere… in his torso… lower than his chest… he sensed that pain was waiting for him, held back only by some outside agent. And yet, though he knew that something drastic had changed since the last time he had opened his eyes, he couldn't quite decipher the clues that his body was sending.
There was a steady beeping. It was annoying, but it also told him that he was alive. He knew that sound was good… very good.
He had woken several times before… whether minutes, hours, or even days ago he couldn't tell. He did know that his first fear… the fear that Maria was in danger… had been alleviated. Little Maria, the child he loved as if she were his own, was safe. She had visited at one point, he was sure of that. But that memory was also fleeting.
This time, unlike those previous times, he would stay awake. He would ponder his situation and he would slowly make sense of it all. There was sound and movement. A door opened. He felt the breeze, sensed the movement, and felt the presence of others. First there was a doctor. He recognized the man from the other times that he had wakened. The man touched him in several places and then shone a light into his eyes. Sebastian wanted to swat the light away, but it would have been too much effort. Then the man turned and spoke to another person, "He's looking good. So far he doesn't seem to be rejecting the kidney. I'll check on him again in a few hours. You can spend a little time, but don't get him exited and don't exhaust him."
The doctor's face retreated and another, more recognizable and much prettier face came into his field of vision. "Well, Katsukage, you sure know how to get attention."
"S…" He worked to get his dry mouth to work. Yumi quickly moved to give him water through a straw. Sebastian drank the liquid gratefully, then nodded to signal enough. When the straw and the glass was withdrawn, he spoke again, "Sebastian, Yumi. Katsukage is no more."
"She knows, Brother. And before you ask: no, I didn't tell her. She somehow figured it out all on her own. In fact, clever girl that she is, she has actually known for weeks and she kept her conclusions a secret."
Sebastian groaned. I didn't want her to know… How embarrassed must she be to have such a father as me... "What is my condition. What was the doctor saying about a transplant?"
"You have a new kidney. Your old one… which, by the way, you never bother to tell me about… expired with that gunshot wound. Thankfully there was another one available." Sebastian sensed that there was something that his older sister wasn't saying, but he was feeling too tired to pursue the matter. Besides, he still needed time to digest the fact that Kyoko now knew who he really was.
"I need to sleep," he proclaimed rather petulantly before closing his eyes. Gone, for the moment, was the unflappable manservant of Takarada Lori and his granddaughter.
Yumi smoothed a lock of her brother's hair and gently said, "Sleep. You'll be well soon and then we can deal with other matters. When you get a chance, you should watch your daughter's recent interview… you would be very proud.
When he didn't respond, Yumi frowned and then walked out of the room. Sebastian pondered his situation with a rapidly diminishing lucidity, and then returned to sleep.
oOo
In the room next door, a much more lucid Kyoko sat slightly more upright, thanks to her adjustable bed, and listened to her pseudo-imouto's litany of tales concerning life in elementary school. Maria hadn't had much of a chance to sit down with her Onee-sama for quite a while and now she was basking in the opportunity to spend time with her Kyoko.
For several months now Maria had been plagued by guilt concerning the secret she was keeping. Although Hiou had convinced her that she was right in her decision to keep the secret, it still hadn't absolved her in her own mind from her crime. After all, she loved Kyoko like a best friend, a big sister, and sometimes like something akin to a mother… so to keep secret from her had seemed like a betrayal. In the end, Maria had begun to withdraw from her big sister… and that had hurt most of all.
Now that the secret was out, however, Maria felt that she could be close again. Maria was aware that Kyoko needed to be careful, so she tried not to make her laugh… but somehow they always came around to some aspect of school life that did exactly what Maria was trying to avoid. If Kyoko cared, however, she was showing no sign of it. She had also felt the estrangement, though she hadn't understood it until recently. Once Maria had confessed the truth, it had been easy to make everything well again. Maria was too precious to Kyoko to allow anything like that to cause a breech between them.
Another head poked in. "I thought that you were supposed to be resting," the person spoke sharply.
"Moko-san!" Kyoko responded, completely ignoring her best friend's sharp tone. "How was your run?"
"Oh, very funny! Some people will do anything to avoid exercising! Meanwhile Chiori and I… and Yashiro and that tall idiot you call a fiancé, are running all over Japan. So you had better get well soon, girl… because I fully intend to see you running with me in August, even if I have to tie a rope to you and drag you behind me." Kanae finished her diatribe and attempted a scowl, but she couldn't maintain it… and she was acutely aware of the fact that both girls were staring at her hand.
"Moko…san… what is that on your hand?" Kyoko asked with studied self-control.
Kotonami Kanae blushed slightly before replying sharply, "What does it look like?"
"If I didn't… I would think…"
Maria solved Kyoko's momentary loss of words by blurting out, "Is that an engagement ring?"
Kanae expelled a deep… and profoundly artificial… exhalation of resignation and stepped closer to the bed. Both girls were so intent on the beautiful single diamond ring that neither noticed Kanae's deepening blush. Finally, Kyoko asked, "Does this mean that he got it right this time?"
Kanae decided to put away her pretense of annoyance and simply tell her story. "Last night, Yukihito took me on a date in one of those little restaurants right in the downtown square. We had a really nice meal, and I could tell that he was up to something. Then, all of the sudden, phones began ringing all around us… including mine. I saw everyone else looking up, and then I saw that my phone had a message on it telling me to also look up. That idiot had rented out every single billboard in the Ginza shopping plaza… and there he was, on every one. He had his glasses off…" she blushed, because she was still amazed at how handsome Yashiro was with his glasses off "… and he was dressed in a fancy suit. Then the idiot kneels down on one knee… there on every billboard… and says 'Kanae, six months away has convinced me of only one thing: that I don't ever want to be so far away from you again. Will you marry me?'"
Kanae tried to look annoyed, but there was no denying the glow in her face. Kyoko prompted, "And then?"
"Well… what was I supposed to do? You remember that I said that every phone around us was ringing?"
"Yes?"
"Well, they all had the same message: 'Please support me as I try to win the hand of my beloved. To understand, please look at the billboards.' Somehow that… that… man figured out how to have HanasuSora call only the phones in the shopping district… I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised, considering who his family is… but still…"
"WHAT DID YOU DO, MOKO-SAN," Kyoko demanded impatiently. Then she grabbed at her bandaged side, causing both girls to move forward in alarm. "I'm okay, but you need to tell me."
"Well, obviously I said 'Yes'." Kanae acted as if she had been forced into it, but Kyoko and Maria both knew her too well now to be put off by her act. Maria hugged her other big sister enthusiastically, while Kyoko sat and smiled… though only because her recent surgery had constrained her to her hospital bed. The two best friends smiled across the shorter curly head and Kanae could feel Kyoko's joy for her.
Although Kanae had been resolute about her intention to remain single until she was at least thirty, her recent relationship with… and then separation from Yashiro Yukihito had shown her the depths of loneliness that she had been subjecting herself to. The simple fact was that Kanae had fallen in love with this strange and wonderful man since the night of that November storm… when he had slept in the bathtub rather than make her feel uncomfortable.
Now, involuntarily, Kanae stepped forward and, for the first time, initiated a hug with her dearest and closest friend.
oOoOOoOo
It was three days later that Takarada Lory made yet another trip to the hospital to visit his best friend and self-appointed manservant. He had felt exceedingly annoyed by the younger man's stubbornness where it concerned Kyoko, yet the man had remained immovable: he would not declare himself to Kyoko, despite the fact that Kyoko already knew who he was. He did not want to burden her with a father like himself. Lory was ready to strangle the man.
But now Lory had the lever that he needed to move the immovable rock. "Good afternoon, Sebastian. How are you feeling today?"
"Fine." Sebastian had returned to his normal, nearly silent self. He was annoyed that he was stuck in the hospital for at least another nine or ten days… and that he would be relegated to sitting in chairs for at least a month after that… but he was still grateful to be alive. The news that Kyoko had been the donor for his kidney had incensed him. Doesn't she understand the seriousness of giving up a kidney? She's only eighteen… that means that she'll be at risk for the rest of her life… and all for me! How could they let her do that?
"I'm glad to hear that… because we have a problem. Do you remember why I sent you on the mission to find out the identity of Mogami-chan's father in the first place?"
"Not this again. Takarada-san…" Sebastian became formal whenever his boss tried to force this particular issue, "… I will not declare myself to her, no matter what you say."
"That is unfortunate, old friend." Lory sighed with dramatic sadness. He slumped in his chair and looked out the hospital window at the hills surrounding Tokyo for several long, silent minutes. Occasionally, he sighed again.
Finally, when Sebastian could take it no more, he demanded, "What?"
"Mogami Saena came to my office this morning. She had her lawyers look into the contract that Julie had her sign*. Even though it was notarized and judge-approved, the contract only provides for temporary authority… it never truly negated Saena's control over her daughter. So now that she knows that her future in-laws are rich, she's back in Tokyo, ready to cause problems again."
"Oh no she won't," Sebastian declared with more fire in his eyes than he had shown since first discovering his status as Kyoko's father. "I will never allow that woman to exert control over my daughter, ever again."
Lory smiled a Cheshire Cat grin.
oOoOOoOo
Mogami Saena sat with her lawyer at the long conference table and stared with pretended calm at her daughter. Questions raced through her mind as she saw the young woman's obviously worn condition, and it made her wonder what ploy was being used this time, "Why, exactly, did you want us to meet here… at a hospital? Do you intend to tell me that you're sick… or dying… because I won't believe you." Saena glared at her daughter's tall, incredibly handsome fiancé. Then she stared for a moment at the other man who was dressed in a business suit sitting silently to her daughter's other side.
Kyoko regarded the older woman with an odd sense of distance… as if this woman had somehow been the unwanted part of some ancient past life… and not her mother at all. "No, mother, I am not sick. True, I just left the hospital, but that was due to a voluntary procedure. Still, I'm healing quickly and should be much better in no time."
"Good then. Pack your bags, young woman, because you're going with me back to Kyoto."
Saena was struck, once again, with the maturity of the young woman facing her. There was something almost powerful about this creature, her daughter… and it irritated Saena to no end. "No, Mother; I will not be returning with you. Not now and not ever."
"Perhaps you have forgotten that you live in Japan, Girl. I don't care what that American b*tch told you, but in this country you belong to me until you reach twenty-one. Until then you do what I say."
"Actually, Ms. Mogami," the man in the suit finally spoke up, "You are mistaken. While it is true that a young girl's parents exert a certain level of control, there is a great deal of legal precedent allowing for a girl of eighteen to make her own choices…"
"I am Mogami Saena's lawyer," Hikagawa finally spoke up, "and I have examined your precedents quite extensively. The simple fact is that my client has every right to block any undesirable marriage or to interfere when she feels that her child is working in an unsuitable environment… and she is ready to assert that both instances apply here."
"Yes… possibly… but you are only one parent. There is still the matter of how the other parent feels about the matter."
"Hah!" Saena exclaimed, "There is no other parent. The man who was with me when Kyoko was just a child wasn't even her genetic father. That man isn't in contact with my daughter, nor would he care even if he was in contact. I am her sole legal parent…"
"That is not exactly true," another voice interjected. Everyone turned to look at the man who was being wheeled in by a floor nurse. Saena looked at the man and was disturbed by the odd sense of familiarity… and then she saw his golden eyes. Her own eyes widened as she remembered that night, long ago. "That's right, Saena. You do remember me. Of course, at the time you only spent the night with me in the hopes of becoming pregnant and entrapping your current lover."
"But you…"
"I disappeared. You never heard from me again. It was probably better in the end; because I was a real mess at the time. Then again, had I been around you would never have gotten away with treating my daughter in the manner that you did." He turned sorrowful eyes on Kyoko and said, "I am deeply and truly sorry for that, Kyoko."
"It is all right, Father," Kyoko replied softly, but with a voice loaded with emotion. Ren was still absolutely silent, knowing that it was important for Sebastian to run this show… for Kyoko's sake. Still, he wrapped a supportive arm around his love.
"Wait just a minute," Saena demanded angrily, "Even if you are him, that doesn't mean that you have any right to…" She stopped at the man in the suit extracted a document from his briefcase and slid it across the table to her.
"What you have in front of you is an award of custody, signed by the Superior Court Judge, giving Egami Katsukage full and exclusive guardianship of his daughter, Mogami Kyoko." Egami Hayata declared, "The second page makes reference to your own previous conduct, citing incidents in Kyoko's childhood, the kidnapping last year, and your actions in selling your daughter in the contract made with Julie Swan. The final page is a restraining order, proclaiming a ten-kilometer bubble around Mogami Kyoko. If you violate that distance, you will be considered to be in contempt, and subject to the full penalties of the law. Do you understand everything that you have just heard, Ms. Mogami?"
"But… you can't…."
"At this moment," Sebastian interrupted with icy resolve, "you have been made aware of the stipulations of this restraining order. It takes approximately ten minutes to reach the nearest transit station from here. There is a bus that stops in front of this hospital every half hour. If you drove here, it shouldn't take any more than seven minutes to reach your car. Should you have to walk to reach the ten-kilometer distance, it might take you an hour… so that means that you now have a one-hour window in which to get far enough away to avoid legal penalties."
Saena stared at the man, trying to decide if she should call his bluff. Things were not working out as she had planned, "You… you wouldn't dare! Kyoko, get your stuff now or I'll…"
"You have fifty-nine minutes and thirty-seconds," Sebastian said. Even in his wheelchair, his menacing aura was palpable. Saena must have sensed it too, because she started backing away.
"You now have fifty-nine minutes."
"I'm leaving, you b*stard, but don't you think for one moment that I'm going to stand by and…"
"Hayata, please inform hospital security that Mogami Saena and her lawyer are leaving. Have you already spoken with the Police Chief?"
"I have. He assures me that his men have the license number on Mogami-san's car and that they are aware of the court order. Should I phone them again?"
"That won't be necessary, Hayata-san," Sebastian replied, never taking his golden eyes off of Saena. "Saena is a lot of things, but stupid is not one of them."
Saena glared, but she knew that she had been defeated. She turned hate-filled eyes on her daughter and her tall fiancé, before she stalked out of the conference room with her lawyer on her heels.
Kyoko looked at her father silently. Ren nodded to Hayata and to the nurse, and the three silently left the room. "Father?"
"Only if you will have me, Kyoko. If not, then you are under no oblig…" Sebastian never finished his sentence. It was a little difficult to speak with his daughter's arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders and her head resting on his. As he felt her wet tears running down his forehead, he began to mingle them with his own… and he wondered why he had been so stubborn in the first place.
After the emotional moment had passed, father and daughter sat and talked for hours. And for the first time in many, many years, Egami Katsukage felt like a whole person again.
Notes: Not much to say. I thought that this would be the best way to make Sebastian finally step up and admit the truth to Kyoko… even though she already knew. He needed something to make him open up to her because he thought himself unworthy to be a father (like father, like daughter?)
We are very near the end of our story.
* The story of the contract giving Julie rights over Kyoko can be found in Patience is Its Own Reward. This is also true of the story with Kanae, Yashiro, and the bathtub.
In case you're wondering, yes, it is possible, with the right equipment, to locate, identify, and call every cell phone within a given area. The technology exists today as an emergeny feature with some phone companies. I know this from being employed at GTE before it was bought out. (A little frightening, isn't it?)
