Unexpected news from a "Stranger"

Chapter 1

Kira sat on her stool in her art theater staring at her portrait of herself, Rei and a baby in her arms, "I wanted to show this to Rei," she thought to herself with her arms crossed over her chest. "But not until I know for sure that I am going to have our baby," she added while rubbing her belly with both hands. "So much as happened to me in the past two years after Kenji," Kira thought again as she recalled the last time they've spoken. Kira was right because now she was married to Rei, her work has been selling fast, and she had a very strong feeling that she might be pregnant.

Suddenly the door bell rang and from down stairs in the livingroom Bruce began to bark as he usually does when he hears the door bell. "Quiet, Bruce," Kira ordered as she climbed down the ladder of the attic. The dog obeyed her after that one command, though he followed her to the door with complete caution. "Who is it?" Kira asked while leaning on the door, she heard a male voice "Hello, I am looking for Kira Aso," he said from the other side. Kira didn't know how to respond to the man and she judged by the voice she knew it was Tatsuya, Violet, let alone Rei. "Um... How can I help you?" She decided to ask the stranger. "Well, it concerns your stepfather," he answered. Kira was becoming very curious about what this man had to say about her stepfather, whom she hadn't seen nor heard from him since he was arrested and sent to jail. Finally without any doubt Kira opened the door to see a young man who was about two years older then Kira with black hair, and wearing eye glasses. Kira recognized him from her past. "R-Ryota?" she said in a bit of shock "Hello, Kira, its been a long time, sis," he said.

Rei zoomed down the street to his apartment building until he noticed a car parked in it and he didn't recognized it. "I guess we might have a new neighbor and Kira couldn't refuses to lending him our parking spot," he thought to himself as he decided to park his bike under a tree near their parking space. As he walked up the stairs to his apartment he started to hear his wife's voice and a man's voice mixed in conversation, Rei got close enough to realize that the male voice was not familiar to him. When he opened the door he saw Kira sitting on the livingroom couch with her expression made of complete shock and then he saw a man sitting next to her with his arms around her. "Hey." Rei said in a calm voice as he shut the door behind him. Kira quietly called out his name as she embraced him. "What's wrong?" he asked while holding her. "He's dead," was all Kira said in a trembling voice. "What are you talking?" Rei asked with a confused tone. "Kira's stepfather, he hung himself in his jail," the stranger said for Kira. Rei was confused in emotions, he remembered the last time he saw him was when he tried to take Kira back but ended up in a bloody fight.

"Shit, I haven't thought about him in a long time," Rei said while still holding Kira. "When did this happened?" he asked as he lead Kira to the couch and the guest sat on the spare couches. "And you are?" Rei finally asked the stranger. "My name is Ryota Aso, I'm Kira's stepbrother," he said with a hand extended out to him from where he was sitting. Rei was stunned by what he said but he also couldn't believe that Kira never mentioned him in all the times that they were together. "Kira never mentioned having a stepbrother before," Rei said trying to sound polite as he took his hand and shook it. Ryota sat back and crossed his arms. "Well the truth is dad and I aren't exactly tight," he explained with his eyes closed. "That was one of the reasons why Kira and I never got a chance to become real sibling" he added as he looked at Kira. "When was the last time you spoke to your dad?" Rei asked. " 7 years ago," Ryota answered calmly. "We haven't spoke to one another since then," he added. "When did he die?" Rei asked while still holding Kira who was crying just a little bit. "This past Monday," Ryota answered.

"So, is that why you're here to tell Kira about her stepfather?" Rei said with his hand on Kira's shoulder. "Actually, there is a lot to tell you both," Ryota said calmly as he sat back and relaxed as he would continue with his news. "I only got the news when I was at the boarding school." Ryota started out explaining. "I haven't told Miya, I thought it would be better if Kira gave the news," he added. Finally after remaining silent through out the conversation between Kira and her stepbrother, Kira finally spoke out while still crying. "W-What I don't understand is, what he would want from me?" Ryota uncrossed his arms and reached into his pocket in his jacket. "It was his request that you know about this," he said as he handed her an envelope. Inside the envelope Kira pulled out a folded letter with Mr. Aso's hand-writing.

'Dear Kira,

Words cannot express the amount of regrets I feel for the painful scar that I inflicted on you and your mother. I only hope that my death could somehow bring you and Miya some peace and comfort for all that I did. I will not ask for forgiveness because I know I won't receive, any obviously not even from God. As for my will I am leaving you and your mother each an amount of $800,000 which is all that I have since my business failed. This isn't an apology but more of a way to maybe put my soul at ease.

Sayonara.'

Kira folded the letter and sat it on her lap. "Did he leave you anything?" she asked. "Yes, the same amount like yours and your mother's," Ryota answered. "You okay?" Rei asked Kira. "I am a little confuse," she answered. "I have wanted so much for him to disappear from my life then this happens and I feel like I committed something," she added with her hands crumbling the letter. "Don't say that," Rei ordered her with a hand on the hands that were crushing the letter. "You haven't thought about him in a long time like I didn't," he added.

"No, I have thought about him, ever since I got that call from my mother's neighbor telling me that my mother was beaten by him and I began to hate him more than I did before," Kira said with all her tears flowing out of her eyes.

"Kira! Rei! We're coming in so you two have better be dressed!" Miya hollered as she and Kuga walked into the opened front door unexpectedly. Rei and Kira were surprised to see them. "Um, hi mom," Rei and Kira said at the same time as they both rose to their feet along with Ryota. Miya and Kuga saw the expression on their faces and realized that they came at a bad time, but Miya noticed a familiar face. "Ryota?" she asked while looking at him. "Hello Miya, you look lovely," he complimented her. "Oh, my God, I haven't seen you since you were 14," she said as she approached him with open arms. "It's wonderful to see you," Ryota said while hugging her. "Kuga, this is Ryota my step-son, Ryota, this is Kuga... my husband." Miya introduced the men but she worried about how her stepson would react to knowing she was remarried. "Pleasure to meet you, sir," Ryota said with his hand extended to Kuga. "Likewise, I know this comes as a surprise," he said as he released Ryota's hand. "Actually that means no concern to me just now," Ryota replied as he looked at Rei and Kira for support. "Um, mom?" Kira said softly as she gently took her mother's arm and lead her to the couch "There's some bad news to tell you and you too, Kuga," she added. Ryota cleared his throat. "I will be in touch, Kira," he said as he was preparing top leave. "And I will take care of the arrangements," he added as he buttoned up his jacket. Rei walked to his side. "I'll walk you to your car, if that's all right with you?" Rei asked, Ryota could tell there was something on Rei's mind so he gave him a nod.

The two young men walked down the stairs in silence at first but then Ryota finally decided to begin to ask Rei what was bothering him. "So you want to ask me something?" he asked calmly as the two stood at the front of the car. "I don't know how to put this, it has something to do with your father and Kira," Rei said with his hands in his pocket. "You mean about what my dad did to Kira when she was 13 years old?" Ryota asked firmly, Rei noticed the tone in his voice that sounded like a great deal of resentment . "Yes I know about all that," Ryota said. "Since when?" Rei asked with more curiosity. "From the moment he told me that he was going to marry Miya and that he wanted me to be very nice to Kira," Ryota explained as he crossed his arms and leaned on the hood of his car. "Do you hate him?" Rei asked calmly. "I have always hated him," Ryota answered as he uncrossed his arms. "Besides, Kira wasn't his first victim," he added while pulling out his sunglasses. Rei was even more amazed at what he heard him say. "I was a lot younger than Kira when he raped me and it was in front of my mother," Ryota said at the same time that he placed his glasses on. "Does Kira or her mother know about this?" Rei asked as he stood by and watched Ryota get into his car. "No, and I would rather they not know," he said then started his car and drove off. Rei stood in silence until he noticed Bruce was sitting next to him, growling at Ryota. "Yeah, I kinda have that same feeling too," he said looking down at the mutt.