Part Six: Secret No Longer
Chapter Six: Hidden fear
The weekend was fast approaching and Yuuko Kamiya had managed to do little to dispel her growing fears about her children. On both Monday and Tuesday, as soon as Kari had finished her homework, she had gone to spend time with her brother. And yesterday, they had come home together. However, while it only added to her fear that something inappropriate was going on between them, it did not prove anything. Indeed, she hadn't actually managed to find anything incriminating beyond the brief flash she may have seen of Kari topless and the easily coincidental condoms and lubricant bottles she'd found in both her children rooms on Monday. She'd kept telling herself that they were innocent until proven guilty, only it had done nothing to stop the sinking feeling that, sooner or later, she would find the evidence she so desperately wished did not exist. Worse yet, she knew where to find it; her daughter's laptop. Unfortunately, unlike her brother, Kari was a lot more careful about computer security.
Twice on Monday, Yuuko had snuck into her daughter's room when she had left it, hoping to see her instant messaging handle. Except it transpired that Kari locked her laptop whenever she left her bedroom. After that had failed, she'd made up an excuse the previous two evenings to go into her daughter's room with the hopes of catching a glimpse of it over her shoulder before she had the chance to close the window. She'd thought Kari's perchance for wearing her headphones would have given her ample time to sneak up on her, but again she had failed to see it. Hell, she'd even ignored her daily chores and spent today trying to guess the girl's password, but to no avail. In the end, she had counted herself fortunate that the laptop did not have a lockout function for too many incorrect guesses.
Yuuko sat on the living room sofa, book in hand, but eyes staring over the top of it, glued to the door of her daughter's bedroom. There had to be another way to figure out if Kari was this 'Digital Punk' girl that Tai had been talking too. Should she try calling some of her daughter's friends to see if one of them could tell her… No, that would just raise far too much suspicion and probably get back to Kari before she even managed to get an answer. Could she possibly take Kari's laptop to a specialist and pay to have it hacked? It was a nice idea in theory, except bar her kid's friend Izzy, she did not know where to even begin looking for someone with that sort of skill set, as such an act was probably not legal. She sighed internally, her options beyond making up more excuses to go into her daughter's room seemed to be rather thin on the ground. If only the caller had provided her with some concrete evidence… a hollow chuckle resonated around inside her head. She would probably have refused to entertain it, given how dismissive she had been of the individual in the first place.
A lightbulb suddenly flickered into life inside Yuuko's head. The caller had said they were one of her children's friends. If that were true, then they might be able to confirm whether or not Digital Punk was Kari. It might be worth a shot, she thought, placing her book down on the coffee table and rising from the sofa. She was halfway towards the phone table when she remembered that she had scrunched up the note containing the caller's number; damn it. It would be a miracle if someone had not thrown it out by now. A search of the phone table and the floor beneath it proved that sometimes, miracles do happen. Unfolding the crumpled paper, Yuuko picked up the phone in a trembling hand and hesitantly dialled.
The phone rang for several moments before she heard a voice reply, "hello?" she recognised it instantly.
"Hello," Yuuko replied before pausing for a second or two, "it's Mrs Kamiya," she then added firmly, imparting in those few words the knowledge that she knew to whom she was talking and that they had been the mysterious caller.
There was silence for several seconds, before the caller replied, "hello, Mrs Kamiya, how can I help?"
Yuuko glanced around to ensure no one was in earshot, then said, "I've been watching Tai and Kari… and I'm beginning to think you may have been right." She felt a cold chill run down her spine at making that admission. The whole idea of her children being involved in an incestuous relationship made her feel unclean. Like it was a stain upon her own person that she could not wash away.
"I'm sorry to reiterate this, but I am right… and I assume you're calling because you're now looking for some form of proof, correct?"
"Yes," Yuuko breathed quietly after a moment or two. "So far, nothing I've witnessed or found is concrete."
"But when you add it all together, it's starting to paint a damning picture."
"Yes," she admitted, images of what she had seen and found flashing through her mind. "The only thing concrete I have is that Tai's been having some rather lewd conversations with a girl online. Someone who goes by the screen name Digital Punk. Do you know if that's Kari?"
"No, I'm afraid I don't. I don't know anyone that goes by that screen name."
"Damn," Yuuko cursed under her breath. There went her best hope of finding out if Digital Punk was her daughter. Her next question was a long shot, but she asked anyway, "do you have anything concrete that proves what they are doing?"
"No. Unfortunately, Matt did not share the photo he has and I suspect he won't be open to either confirming what I say is true or showing it to you."
Yuuko was about to ask the caller for any information they might have regarding possible places where her children might spend time together, when the sound of Kari's door opening forced her to stop. Turning her head, she watched as her daughter stepped out into the hall; she'd changed out of her school uniform since dinner. Except when the girl turned to face in her direction, Yuuko almost dropped the handset and her mouth fell open in horror. On the right leg of Kari's jeans, written in neon yellow and black fabric paint on backgrounds of the opposing colour, that she knew her daughter had done herself, were the words Digital Punk.
"Mrs Kamiya?" Yuuko heard the words through the earpiece, but could not respond. Her gaze was transfixed on the leg of Kari's jeans.
It was fortunate that her daughter had her headphones on as was not paying attention, for the sight of Yuuko gawking at her in abject horror would probably have told her what she now knew to be true. Her children were having an incestuous relationship. Internally, she felt like her entire world had just been shattered by a wrecking ball. This could not be happening.
"Mrs Kamiya...?"
Robotically, Yuuko hung up the phone, crossed the main living area and headed for the hall. When she passed the kitchen, she caught sight of her daughter out of the corner of her eye and found she could not bring herself to turn and look at her. Quickening her pace, she headed into the bathroom and hurriedly closed the door. A tidal wave of disgust crashed over her the second she locked it. This could not be happening. Her children couldn't be… an image of the condoms and open bottles of lubricant forced its way into her mind. Oh god! Her children were not just involved in an emotionally inappropriate relationship. They were having sex with one another!
From the pit of her stomach, Yuuko felt a large bubble of abhorrence burst so violently that it caused her to wretch. The very idea that Tai and Kari were involved in such a degenerate practice was so sickening that she could not contain it. The first wave of nausea hit and she darted across the room. Falling to her knees in front of the toilet, she just managed to lift the seat when she vomited. Images of her children, naked, bodies intertwined, filled her head as her stomach contents continued to uncontrollably pour forth.
It took several moments before Yuuko could finally take a proper breath. She remained on her knees as she wiped her mouth clean with some toilet paper and slowly managed to regulate her breathing. Shakily she got to her feet, her head falling into her hands. How could this have happened? How could her children have ended up in such a depraved relationship? She shook her head. Was this her and Susumu's fault? Had keeping them in the same room together up until Tai was sixteen been a mistake? Had that forced them closer together and contributed to this unhealthy bond forming? What about the number of times they had left Tai to look after Kari? Questions of a similar ilk bombarded Yuuko's mind for several minutes, before finally, she asked herself, what was she going to do now?
How much time passed, in which she remained inside the bathroom, she did not know. However, by the time she sidled out into the hallway, she had decided on her first course of action. She had to tell her husband. Walking over to the sofa, Yuuko sat down.
Her expression must have betrayed the fact that something was bothering her, for Susumu gave her a quizzical look and asked, "is something wrong, Honey?"
"We need to talk," she said, her tone conveying the serious nature of the matter?"
"Ok," her husband replied hesitantly, "what have I done this time?"
"Nothing," she replied before taking a long pause, "it's about the kids."
He gave her a funny look, "the kids?"
"Keep your voice down," Yuuko hissed, "and promise me you won't yell when I tell you this, we can't have them overhear this conversation."
Her husband's expression shifted to one of concern as she spoke. "Ok," he replied trepidly, "what is this about?"
She closed her eyes for a moment as she took a deep breath. She couldn't believe it had actually come to this. Last week, when she had sat back down after yelling at the caller, she would never have imagined having to actually repeat those words to her husband. Yet here she was. "I think Tai and Kari are having a romantic relationship."
Susumu looked stunned for a brief moment, then started to laugh. "Ok, you had me there for a moment."
Yuuko looked him straight in the eyes, a no-nonsense expression on her face.
It took a few moments, but soon her husband's expression changed to one of shock and the colour drained from his face. "You… you're serious!"
She gave him a grim look, "yes, I'm afraid so."
Susumu's mouth fell open and it was a struggle for him to say, "what's happened to make you think that?"
"Remember last Monday night when I got angry on that telephone call?"
He nodded in response.
"That was one of their friend's telling me that Tai and Kari were involved in an incestuous relationship."
"And you believed them?"
Yuuko shook her head, "of course not, hence why I yelled at them. However, I kept seeing the kids together and couldn't shake it from my mind. Eventually, I recalled something from the previous week. I came home early and caught a brief glimpse of Kari straddling Tai on the sofa. I'm positive she was topless."
"How positive?"
"Very. At the time I thought it just a trick of the light and when I got over there, she had her t-shirt on and was wrestling with Tai on the floor, apparently over a cookie. I thought it was odd at the time, but brushed it aside."
Her husband did not look convinced. "Are you sure you're not just trying to make some random incident prove a wild theory."
"No," Yuuko snapped, "I know what I saw. Besides, that's just the start. I've been watching them since the middle of last week and they've practically been living in each other's pockets. I even rescinded their punishment last Saturday to see what they would do."
"They went out to see different friends, didn't they?"
"That's what they said, but I watched them from the window and they went off together, meaning at least Tai lied to us. They then played video games together all Sunday."
"Neither of those things means that they're doing anything indecent," Susumu countered. She knew he was not blindly disagreeing with her, rather playing devil's advocate in order to test her own thinking. It was one of the reasons they worked so well together as a couple.
Yuuko then bit her lip, like she was about to confess to something naughty, which technically she was, "on Monday I searched both of their rooms. Someone's been buying Kari a lot of gifts recently, but more importantly, I found condoms and open bottles of lubricant in both of their bedrooms. The exact same type of condoms and lubricant."
Her husband let out a low breath, "ok, so at the very least you think both of them are having sex."
"It gets worse… much worse," she replied, feeling a slight bout of nausea as her mind thought about her children sleeping with each other again. "I got into Tai's laptop and saw that he's been having lewd conversations with a girl that uses the name Digital Punk."
The moment she uttered those last two words, her husband's face fell. It seemed that, unlike her, he did not need to see Kari's jeans to know that was what she had written on them. "Is there any chance that Kari bought those jeans with those words already printed on them?" he asked, his tone indicating that he was now clutching at straws.
She shook her head, "no. I know fabric paint when I see it. Kari customised those jeans herself."
Yuuko sat and watched as her husband stood up and began pacing. After a moment, his head fell into his hands, much like hers had done earlier and she could tell he was struggling to process the truth. To his credit, he did not run off to the toilet to vomit like she had.
Several minutes passed before he said, "I can't believe it. Not our Tai and Kari."
She reached out and took hold of his trailing hand in her own as he went to pace past her once more. His head turned and his gaze met her own. "I didn't want to believe it either… After I searched their bedrooms on Monday, I went to the temple every day and prayed for it not to be true. But I read those messages with my own eyes and saw Kari wearing those jeans less than an hour ago. Our children are sleeping together," she struggled to say the final two words as she was suddenly overcome with the pain the discovery had caused her and she burst into tears."
Within seconds, Susumu was at her side and wrapped his strong arms around her. He held her head close to his chest and she cried… and cried. When eventually she had nothing left, she whispered, "how could we have let this happen, Susumu? How could we have failed to notice the warning signs?"
"Maybe there weren't any to notice," he replied. "Tai and Kari are smart kid's and seem to have covered their tracks well. We might still be none the wiser if one of their friends hadn't tipped you off. Even then, most of the evidence you found is circumstantial. And certainly not enough to confront them with."
This was the part that she had been afraid of. Like her husband had just said, most of the evidence was circumstantial. In theory, they both could still turn a blind eye and pretend it didn't exist. Maybe if they looked the other way for long enough, they could convince themselves that nothing was wrong. Only Yuuko knew she could not do that. These were her children and they were making a huge mistake. As a parent, it was her responsibility to put a stop to it before they irreparably ruined their lives. She withdrew herself from her husband's embrace and dried her eyes before she uttered the words, "what do we do about it?"
Susumu took a deep breath, then paused for a moment, perhaps wrestling with the same issues she had, before he finally said, "we need to catch them when they are together and doing something inappropriate that they cannot refute."
Yuuko tentatively nodded in agreement, "ok, how do we catch them?"
Her husband scratched his chin. "Given how well they've covered their tracks, let's assume that they're smart enough to not do anything while they know one of us is at home. Hence, if we were to barge in on them right now, we'd probably only find them playing video games."
"So, we need to let them think they have the place to themselves and catch them unawares."
"Yes. Let's tell them we're going out to dinner this weekend, leave the apartment, give them an hour or so and them sneak back in early," her husband proposed.
Yuuko could not believe that it had come to this, actually setting a trap to catch her children in the act of something indecent. And part of her still wanted to take the turn a blind eye option. Except she knew she could not. Reluctantly, she nodded her head, "ok."
Susumu wrapped his arms around her again and she closed her eyes. Never in her life, not even on the day when Kari had almost died, had she felt such a failure as a mother. The only problem was, that Yuuko Kamiya knew she had not yet reached the bottom of that particular black hole. She would not remember falling asleep in her husband's arms, tears still staining her pale cheeks.