Chapter 7 The Letter

She pinched herself hard on her arm to make sure she wasn't dreaming or sleep walking. How could this be possible? Her father was dead and yet here she was holding a letter addressed to her which was undoubtedly written by her father.

"Okay, calm down Miyu, don't get your hopes up. It can very well be some PS I love you kind of thing, don't get your hopes up."

She gave herself a pep talk. Her hands were trembling as she tore open the envelope.

Dear Miyu,

She took a sharp breath. Tears began to cloud her vision when she realized it really was from her father.

My lovely child, I love you more than anything in this whole world. I hope you know that. If you're reading this then chances are, I'm probably dead. It's just a matter of whether you know it yet or not.

Tears rolled down her face as she continued.

Miyu, I know I was never a good father but I loved you and Ruu more than anything. You two are everything good in my life. I loved your mother deeply irrespective of the arguments you had to witness, she and I were and will always be childhood sweethearts. Miyu, my baby girl, I need you to do something for me. Please bring this letter to Mr. Yamamura. He is the police commissioner in our district. I know your mother and I always said we didn't have much friends and relatives, that is partially true. We truly don't have many people we could call friends but Mr. Yamamura is someone I have always admired and respected. He is my best friend and I have nothing but love for him and his family. We distanced ourselves for reasons you are too young to understand but one thing I can promise you, it was to keep you and your brother safe. I wish I could write this letter forever but I can't. I know I have to say goodbye even if I'm not ready yet. My child, I am so proud of the person you have become. I will always be with you, in your every heartbeat. Spread your wings and fly high, my child. I will your wind. You will feel me in the raindrops and sun rays, among the characters of those goddamn books you love to read, your music…I will be the notes and symphony to it. Remember to breathe and one day it will all be worth it.

Forever,

Your father and guardian angel

PS: Mr. Yamamura, it's hidden in plain sight.

PPS: Happy 18th birthday my baby, I wanted to give you the whole world but all I did was bring doubts, pain and suffering into your world. My child, would you ever forgive me?

Tears streaming down her face, Miyu held the letter in her hands. It felt like she had lost him all over again. After a while she eventually calmed down and washed her face. Her father had entrusted her with a task and she wanted to honour his dying wish. She walked out the room and boarded the cab.

"To the police station"

"As you say miss"

The car took a U turn and raced into the town while millions of questions raced through her mind. This letter was a solid evidence that her family's death was not a spur of moment of a twisted mind but a cold calculative move. There was a reason why they had been murdered and she had been spared. The murderer, whoever he was needed her to be alive, at least for now. She had to figure out why and soon to stay alive. She figured visiting her father's best friend would be the best option right now.

It had never crossed her mind that there could be a reason behind it all. When Kanata had mentioned something about it, she had hardly spared any thought over it but now it all made sense. She resolved to find out the truth.

"Did you find her?" asked Akira.

"No"

"What the hell is wrong with this girl, she's going to miss her flight and she's not answering her phone." Akira pulled out her cell once again to make another failed attempt at contacting her missing friend.

"I'll go look for her at the entrance, she might be there" said Kanata as he turned away from Akira who gave him a thumbs up as a go ahead.

Kanata moved towards the entrance. He knew he was wasting his time. His gut was screaming that the girl wasn't here and it was nearly always right when it came to her. Her not turning up and missing that flight could be the best thing that could happen to him right now. He had to complete the mission he was ordained with. Saves me from the pain of stealing her passport. His phone rang.

"Hello"

"Did you find her?"

"No sir, I'm still looking"

"Keep looking, you know how important it is for that girl to be in Japan"

"Yes sir"

"I'm counting on you, son"

"Yes, father" he hung up the phone.

Damn, you Kouzuki. You're making this too hard. Father contacting me when I'm on a mission screams trust issues, he is beginning to doubt my abilities. Where in the world are you? This is a fucking waste of time thought Kanata. He slammed his fist holding the phone at floor in frustration but then thinking better moved his wrist such that his back hand met the ground instead. The phone could be useful, he obviously didn't have enough time to go pick a new one if he broke it. Suppressing his frustration, he unlocked the phone and called Akira.

"Hey, I think I will go down to her place and make sure everything's alright"

"Okay, I'll come with you"

"NO! I mean you stay here. What if she gets here while we are off looking for her? Let me know if she shows up."

"Alright, I'll try calling her again not that she is picking up"

Kanata walked out of the airport straight to where his car was parked. He got in and revved upped the engine, torn between anger and worry. He knew for a fact that Miyu wasn't with his people, he would've heard if she was. His father would've asked him to return to Tokyo if she had been held captive by his brethren. But Miyu wasn't at the airport either which could only mean she was either at home or worse at the police station. Her being at the station was not good news for him or for her. She will know who her father really was and he could lose his own father's trust.

Kanata thought about how it was his first mission he had not been able to complete and it had been so easy. All he was supposed to do was keep the girl in country and monitor her every move. He had been through more than enough to justly call himself a gangster's son but this was the only case which was proving to be complicated than he had anticipated. His looks had always been an asset and fortunately for him he was blessed with an equally intelligent mind. It was second nature for him to get what he wanted out of others and get away with it without inviting troubles. But Miyu on the other hand had proved to be a challenge he never thought he would face in life. A part of him always wants to save her. He knows she likes him. It has been obvious for some time now and still he had failed to win her trust. Damn that girl is a closed book, too hard to read. Something in him works without his consent to keep her safe and it's neither willing nor ready to hurt her. I have to work through all this, I can't afford to lose he thought and shook his head vigorously to shake away these thoughts and keep focus.

He knew if he kept this up, he could risk losing his position in the gang when he had been through too much to get here. He couldn't let a broken girl ruin the hard work of his entire life. He had to find her, and fast.

Taking a deep breath, he slammed down on accelerator too hard and raced out of the parking lot. He headed straight to her house. He figured that if nothing else, at least there would be signs of where she could be, he tried to convince himself it could not be a dead end. He drove like a mad person, jumping the traffic lights and almost barely missing the red light once or twice, he even thought that a police vehicle was following him but thankfully it had turned around the corner a few minutes back. He skidded to a halt in front a playground. He walked towards her house. It looked the same like it always did, forlorn, full of a strange melancholic beauty he could not put words to. He never thought that a house could emit feelings before. He casually walked around the house to make sure that no one was peering out their windows in the neighbourhood before halting in front of the cherry blossom tree, even at a time like this he couldn't stop himself from wondering at its beauty. It stood in front of him majestically looking like it knew of the effects it had on humans. The flower petals looked soft like snow and he unconsciously reached out to the nearest branch before jerking his hand back and heading to the place where he had climbed this mighty tree several times before. He climbed up like with a practiced ease and jumped onto the balcony to Miyu's bedroom. He walked over to the door and slid it. He knew it would be open, it always was.

He shook his head in disbelief as he walked into her room. She had absolutely zero sense of self preservation. After her parents' death she had moved up to this room on the first floor, earlier she used to share a room with her baby brother. He had wondered at times why would she do that, share a room with her brother when this room was really nice and she didn't really have a reason to share a room. The house was big enough to house four people comfortably. He knew the house like the back of his hand, all thanks to his months of nightly reconnaissance.

There had been times when he had thought she would realise that there was someone in the house but she was probably been too numb with the pain of losing her family that she had failed to realise she wasn't alone. Once he had been standing within inches of her in the dark, if only she had looked up. But she had merely dragged herself back to her bed, most nights she spent tossing and turning and falling asleep because her body would give up and needed sleep to function. He had searched whole house and had come up with nothing that could help him with his mission. He had even wondered if his father even knew what he had asked him to look for. This family was way too normal to be involved with anything remotely like terrorism and illegal trafficking. He knew her father had been a thug back in his days but he had turned his life around, gotten married and had children and was living a normal life.

Reminiscing about the time he was here last time, Kanata looked around. Everything seemed in place, nothing suggested that she had left in a hurry. He looked around one more time to make sure before walking out and headed to the landing, he looked down the stairs. The house was unnaturally quiet as if time ceased to exist. He wondered for a fleeting second how she was managing to live in this house all by herself, he was beginning to feel claustrophobic and it had nothing to do with the space. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, he walked straight down the stairs towards the two bedrooms attached to hall. He checked out the bigger one that belonged to the parents. There was a double bed made of mahogany, the colour shined as bright as coagulated blood and he walked out leaning against the wall, breathing in deeply pushing as much air into his lungs as physically possible.

What the hell is wrong with me? Why am I getting dizzy? He shook his head sharply trying to gather his bearings and walked into the smaller room she shared with her brother. He threw a long searching look around the room. Everything was untouched and was covered under a thin layer of dust. He wondered if she had ever entered the room. By the looks of it, she had indeed at least once. He could make out the footprints in the dirt on floor. They looked recent, maybe she came in to take a good last look of it before leaving it all behind. He closed the doors behind him just the way they were and walked back into the living room. He hadn't expected to find much but now that he was here there absolutely nothing. He had no idea where in the world she was. He knew he had to be here even if he hadn't expected her to be here. Maybe he had thought he would find her in a pool of tears and breaking down into pieces at the thought of leaving her home behind or worse, maybe he had thought she would be dead. Maybe that's why he had been too anxious ever since finding out she had been AWOL. What would he have done if that was true?

"She isn't dead, there are no signs of struggle" he said out loud to convince himself that it was true.

Get your shit together, man he told himself. He threw another searching look across the hall when he heard a car stop by. He ran up the stairs while someone turned the keys in the door. He figured she was back from wherever se had run off to, no one else could have the keys he convinced himself as he walked out to the balcony slid the door behind him shut. He jumped onto the branch and climbed down as carefully as he could trying not to attract any attention. He didn't want anyone to notice him. His dada would kill him if he got caught from breaking and entering at her home. He ran off to the spot his car was parked. Good thing it was parked a few blocks away from her house. No one would know he was here as he climbed in and started the engine.

Miyu entered her house, the words were still ringing fresh in her mind.

"Your father was an undercover agent. I never thought a day would come when I had to tell you about his true identity. Yuu Kouzuki partook in this mission knowing well that it was too dangerous and life threatening for someone like him. I mean someone with family, it made him vulnerable but this mission was important for him. It saddens me to know that it was his last operation as an intelligence agent."

"I know that you are burning with many questions but I am really sorry, Miyu. I don't think I am at a liberty answer them all"

Miyu had walked straight into the police station demanding an appointment with the commissioner. One look at her and Mr. Suzuki had taken her straight to Mr. Yamamura. The words still rang in her head as she walked to the kitchen counter and filled herself a glass of cold water to drink.

Dad was a special agent of intelligence unit, why couldn't he tell us. We would have been proud. I would have been proud to know that he was a responsible citizen serving his nation. Mom had to know, there's no way that she didn't know but it was a high-profile case… according to Mr. Yamamura and a handful of people knew about it, that's all. According to him, the case was a difficult and dangerous. Maybe just maybe mom didn't know. So, it was true that there was a reason why her family had been murdered so brutally and there was a good chance her life was in danger. She had never thought about it before. She had never valued life much before but now she might not live a long life because whatever her father was involved with had chased him to his death and destroyed her family in its wake. It was just a matter of time before she could be dead too, strangely she felt more alive than ever. It seemed as if she could feel each heart beat and was aware of every breath she took in, amazing how something so important had been so insignificant till now. She had to find out everything that happened. She couldn't walk away without knowing what began it all. She had to know who her father was, she realised he was a completely different person than the father she had known him to be and she had to know that person. She took out her phone and unlocked it to see 25 missed calls from Akira, 2 missed calls from an unknown number she thought was maybe Kanata. She ignored the notifications and called her point of contact at Trinity. It seemed like she had unfinished business to take care of before she could leave.

"So, you are alive. Where the hell are you, Miyu?"

"I'm sorry, I something came up. You know I would never do this if it wasn't important."

"Alright, where are you now?"

"I am at home. I have decided I am going to stay here. I don't think I can live all by myself all alone in an unknown country with a language I don't know so far away from home."

"Miyu, are you alright? What the hell happened for you to change your mind like that? I am coming over. Kanata is already there"

"Kanata isn't..." before she could utter another word, the call disconnected and Miyu frowned at her phone. She hadn't seen Kanata anywhere near and it was impossible to miss him especially when he drove such a flashy BMW. Her doorbell rang and she had an inkling who that might be as she walked to the door. Kanata stood in front of her looking like he had aged in a short time. She wondered if he had been worried about her disappearing on them and then berated herself mentally for even thinking like that. He was Akira's boyfriend and he was worried for her out of the courtesy that she was his girlfriends' best friend.

"Where the hell were you? At least you should have had the courtesy to call or text. Akira is worried sick"

"I'm sorry, I just called her. She is coming over"

They fell into an awkward silence, seconds stretching between them. She looked at him, wondering if she should offer him water or coffee. She opened her mouth to ask but he beat her to it.

"So, where were you?"

"Something came up. Don't worry, it doesn't concern you" she smiled at him to let him know she wasn't trying to be rude.

He glared at her for a second then changing tactics he asked again. "must be difficult to leave home behind"

"Yeah"

"You will have to book another flight, you missed it today"

"Well, I don't think I will need it. I'll be staying for a while"

"WHA…I mean that's great. What made you change your mind?"

She gave him another smile having no idea what it did to him. He wanted to strangle her.

"Look, Miyu. I know you have been through a lot. I understand if you are guarded but you can trust me. I know we haven't known each other for long and we started off wrong but it's safe to say we are friends now. You can always lean on me"

"I appreciate the sentiment Kanata but I really don't want to talk about it" she said with an edge in her voice. It startled him a bit, he had never thought she had it in her to get offended. She was too submissive and timid to act rude. Whatever happened, it is affecting her manners. Something in his gut screamed, she knows!

"Miyu, what's wrong. You seem a little tensed"

"It's nothing, really. Shouldn't Akira be here by now? Let me call her" she fished her phone out of her pocket but Kanata caught her hand in time. He was staring at her with such intensity that it could have melted her but her mind was off somewhere else.

"Let go of me" she spelled every syllable through gritted teeth.

"Not until you tell me what's going on" he looked determined. He had to make sure she knew.

"How does it even matter to you?" she said getting angry.

"What do you mean?" he sounded genuinely surprised.

"It's not like you care what happens to me, agreed you are a nice person but that doesn't mean you can treat me like however you like. Don't pretend like you know me and that you care about me when you really don't. you are here because of Akira and I get it. So, just drop the act alright" she didn't know why but she was angry and it felt nice to vent out these long-suppressed feelings.

"I am not fucking pretending. I care, maybe more than I should"

He pulled her closer and before she realised what was happening, he was kissing her, kissing her like his life depended on it. He knew that there will come a day when he will regret this kiss but right now all that mattered was Miyu in his arms, kissing him back. He knew there will be a day when he will have to do what he was supposed to do but for now she was here, safe in his arms and he wanted her to know that he cared, that she had come to be important for him, that somehow she had grown on him. He could hardly admit it that he was falling in love with her. How the hell would he convince her that all his feelings were true. When they broke apart, Miyu uttered the first words that came to her mind.

"Get out"

"What?"

"Get the fuck out of my house or I'll…"

"Fine, calm down, I am leaving." He stomped his way out of the house heading straight to his car. He climbed in and hit his hands on the steering wheel.

"Shit, what the fuck? Shit, shit, shit" he followed every word with hitting the wheel again and again. He needed a new plan, and he needed it fast.

Miyu fell onto the chair, her mind completely blank. I kissed him back. Shit, I kissed him back. How will I face Akira? Images of a heartbroken Akira and conversations of Akira disowning her played like a reel in her head. She had to tell her what happened but she had no idea how could she tell her. She was freaking out and when the doorbell rang again, she knew it was Akira this time.

Upcoming next

"She knows where it is."

"Father, I don't think that she has any clue about anything. I really think if it was hidden in the house, I would have come across it by now"

"That girl knows something that we are missing" Housho Saionji said, his voice clam and cool like ice that it sent chills down Kanata's spine. He knew he couldn't argue any further. He looked down at his own barely touched food and tried to stuff as much of it into his mouth as he could without choking himself.

Like it? Hate it?

How was it? Review! I know it has been too long since I updated last. I am trying to be consistent and I never thought it could be this hard. I have a new born respect for all the writers in the world. I will try to update by new year's eve. Oh, and I hope you and your loved ones are all safe and healthy!