Thunder rolled throughout Maple House, though there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Kouta was thrown against his futon, his father's pointing finger wagging a mile a minute.
"Are you even aware of how much trouble you're in, young man?"
Kouta rubbed his sore shoulder.
"Yeah, I've got some idea. Am I the only one being punished?"
Junichiro Kanbe did not relent.
"Your mother is dealing with your sisters - you know, your sisters, the ones you do certain things with, while never doing certain other things - like you three were doing?"
Kouta surprised his father, at least a little, with his response.
"It does need to stop. But not because it's what I want, or even what Mama and Papa want."
After Kouta explained his words, he and Junichiro marched off to have Kouta apologize to their mother. Unfortunately, one parent's approach is not necessarily that of another, as they learned when they opened the door to the girls' bedroom.
"Well, I wasn't about to let Yuka beat me, so when she opened her blouse, I removed mine!"
"I had to respond to Kaede's challenge, so I-began to unhook my bra-I wasn't going to take it off-unless I had to."
Emiko shook her head at her daughters.
"You were letting Kouta touch you?"
Yuka gulped.
"Only letting him rub my belly-my upper belly-mostly."
Kaede's cheeks were pinker than her hair.
"I mean, we were going to have him start taking off stuff too, before things went too far."
Junichiro watched and waited for the slap, verbal or physical.
"Well, he is developing a nice little butt, isn't he? Just like your father. I remember the first time his mother and I had a couple of boys over-we got so naughty we actually-"
The girls hurriedly gestured at the men outside the door, the younger of whom had a pale look on his face.
"My Mom-has been scoping me out."
The older male had a fixed glare and folded arms his wife withered under.
"Wow-is that how I look? No wonder I win most arguments-that's scary."
As Emiko tried to extricate herself, Kouta moved on what he had told his father.
"Girls-we're a family now. Mama and Papa don't want this sort of thing to happen anymore, so until we're older, I am just your older brother, and I promise to be a better one."
As he went back to his room, Emiko whispered to her husband.
"What kind of riot act did you read him?"
"Actually-I didn't. He said it has to be this way, and he'd tell me why later."
Emiko remembered something else.
"What about his punishment?"
Junichiro milked this rare moment for all it was worth.
"His mother talked about his cute butt in front of him. How do you top that?"
Since she really had no prayer of doing so, Emiko turned back to her daughters.
"Yuka, Kaede-errr-do as I say, don't do as I do-and two weeks extra chores! Kaede has dishwashing-"
"Mama, I do that already."
Emiko felt like she had roller skates on a glass floor.
"Ummm-then Yuka has weed-pulling-"
"Yes, Mama. Every Saturday."
Emiko turned to Junichiro.
"What don't we have them already doing?"
He considered.
"Cooking."
She shook her head.
"No good. They can't even make cheese sandwiches right. Okay-No TV!"
Junichiro whispered.
"It's rerun season."
"Bed without supper? No Breakfast?"
"They'd fall asleep in school, then we'd have a parent conference ahead of us."
She winced.
"Spankings?"
"It might give them ideas. These are some active kids."
Emi was about to throw up her arms when Junichiro stepped in.
"Girls, you and your brother have disappointed me and your mother very severely. It will take a while for our trust to be reestablished. Do you understand?"
Yuka was shaking.
"Sorry, Mama. Sorry Papa. We will be good."
Kaede looked like she was close to fainting.
"We-didn't think how this might hurt you. We won't disappoint you again."
They closed the door to their room and all was quiet. Emiko shook her head at her husband.
"How did you do that?"
He smirked, so wide he would surely pay a price for it, but he had decided this was a price worth paying.
"I raised one of each, remember? It gives you perspective."
"Smartass! But why did Kouta give in so easily?"
The two parents decided to find out then and there. Kouta was easily forthcoming, but his reasons would bother them.
"We were upset with Kaede, over suggesting the school soup program behind our backs, so we gave her the cold shoulder. We were waiting on an apology, but we saw we'd made her really upset. She thought we hated her, maybe forever."
His parents decided to forego a lecture on this matter, as well. The impact was apparent on Kouta's face.
"Some things she said then-and some things she didn't say-told me that she still hasn't left that awful orphanage behind her. That the rotten way they all acted towards Kaede hurt her more than we ever thought. But we were, ya know, playing around, and it was fun-I guess I liked having two girls fight over me more than anything."
A throat clearing brought his gaze back on his parents.
"But when we hurt Kaede so badly without even realizing it, I finally began to figure it out. She seems so sharp, so bright, so tough, even without her invisible arms. The truth is, though, she's barely able to deal with having brothers and sisters, and only a little ready to have friends besides us. She's not even partly ready to have a boyfriend. Just think about the way Yuka and I quarrel. No way Kaede can handle that. But if I only avoid Kaede that way, she'll feel like we hate her again. So the only way to help her is to only be a big brother to all three girls. Kaede needs a big brother, and maybe so does Yuka. Kanae and I are okay, mostly. We know we care about each other, no matter what. But especially with Kaede, I have to bring that home."
He shook his head.
"I'm not making any sense, am I? Hey!"
Emiko grabbed and hugged her step-son/nephew/boy.
"You are making such perfect sense. Just like your mother always did."
Junichiro mussed his son's hair.
"You have her heart. Always thinking of others first."
Kouta was still not sure.
"Not always thinking of others first. Just from now on. Punishment or no, I'm gonna miss afternoons like these."
Yet again, a new reality had settled in upon them, but once again it was one born of concern and love. Still, Kouta was right. The next weeks were difficult for him. This would be far from the only difficulty the family would find.
"Suppose I don't want to go? How about that?"
Kanae chimed in, despite the danger.
"Well, then, Kaede can throw a temper tantrum, which she'll get away with the way Kanae never could."
Kaede turned on her little sister.
"Don't think I've forgotten you, snitch-witch! If Kouta hadn't stopped us, Yuka and I would have played wish-bone by now."
"Yeah, Onee-Chans like bones, don't they...owww!"
Emiko had grabbed Kanae's ear, and held tight.
"What did I say about potty-mouths?"
"That-that only Mama can have one?"
Emiko nodded.
"Damn right. Now let me finish talking to Kaede alone."
Emiko looked at the laundry basket.
"That goes for you too, Yuka-out."
Popping out of the piled clothes, Yuka shook her head.
"Mama, she really doesn't want to go. You told us to respect Kaede's wishes, regarding her past."
"Yes-you respect her wishes. I'm her mother, and she does what I say, when I say it."
Kaede softened her harsh look, and Emi did the same.
"That's better. Now, we did agree when we did all this that you would be needed for some part of the process. This is that time, Kaede. What if you have some strange health issues we never find out about?"
Kaede still looked decidedly unenthused.
"Mama, I have pink hair, horns on my head and can do telekinesis sometimes. How do you get stranger than that?"
Emiko conceded that point.
"Then how about mundane health issues? Families can have histories of certain types of cancer, twin births, poor blood circulation-all of which we know nothing about, because we don't know anything about your birth parents. Kaede, I'd hate to have to order you to go and see the detective. So I won't."
Emiko sunk to her knees and looked Kaede in the eye.
"You want me on my hands, too?"
Kaede looked upset.
"Mama, please get up! It's not fit that you should beg."
Emiko quickly got up, threw on her coat, and gestured for Kaede to do the same while walking out the door.
"We should just be able to catch the 5:15 Train to Fujisawa if we hurry."
Kaede and Kanae grabbed their coats while Yuka prepared to start her homework, in awe of her mother's methods. Having caught the tail-end of this conversation from the next room, Kouta caught her look and nodded.
"She is just so good at that."
As they ran to catch Emiko, Kaede asked Kanae a question.
"So why are you coming?"
Kanae smiled.
"Kanae wants to offer her Onee-Chan moral support during a difficult time. That, and she wants to see a real, hard-boiled Bogart detective, working out of a sleazy office on a dirty pier somewhere."
Emiko heard this as they arrived just ahead of their train.
"Okay, no more Turner Classic Movies for that one."
The trip was brief, and the office was, to Kanae (and Kaede's) disappointment, in a well-kept row of shops in a very nice neighborhood. Kanae frowned.
"No thugs telling us to mind our own business?"
Emiko rolled her eyes.
"Maybe next time, dear."
Kaede looked at her little sister.
"We'll fit you with cement galoshes for your next birthday."
A swat to the head told Kaede this was not an acceptable joke, in their mother's opinion.
"Oww! Not on the horns, okay?"
Outside the office door, Kaede paused.
"Suppose they're inside, and want me back?"
Kanae dropped all snark and looked worried.
"Can they do that? They abandoned Onee-Chan. Mama and Papa claimed her. She is our family now. Kanae would miss her."
Before Emiko could counter, Kaede shook her head.
"Don't courts always favor keeping blood family together, no matter what?"
"Mama, don't let them take Kaede Onee-Chan away from us!"
Emiko put a hand on each of her daughters' shoulders.
"They aren't in there. Even if they were, the adoption is a legal fact. Your Papa and I are now Kaede's only parents. They could only dispute it if they were never informed of our seeking to adopt. As an orphan, Kaede's search was completed long ago, and all efforts to find her birth parents failed. She was legally a ward of the state, and now is legally our child. If they are in there, I will ask them for medical records-and then tell them to leave."
Kanae smiled.
"Or we'll have them rubbed out, Mama? Oooh! Can we hire two beefy no-neck guys named Jimmie Prize and Chuckie Butts with half a brain cell between them?"
In order to shut down the conversation, Emiko merely nodded.
"Count on it."
Kaede still looked nervous.
"I know they're not in there. I'd have nothing to say to them if they were. But I'm still getting the oddest feeling from this place."
Emiko saw that this was not just more delaying.
"Something wrong?"
Kaede shook her head and pushed the door open.
"No-more like someone-familiar."
Inside, they saw the detective firm's logo. Kaede stared.
"K & K Investigations?"
Emiko nodded.
"They specialize in cases that need a lot of research done. They almost weren't going to take our retainer, for how cold the leads are. But they were intrigued when I mentioned Kaede's situation."
Kaede blushed.
"Mother, you didn't?"
Emiko walked them up to the front desk.
"This isn't a crime drama, dear. When you want a mystery solved, it's a good idea to give the detective all your clues up front."
A crash of papers was heard behind them. A man with glasses held now-empty folders, and looked at them befuddled.
"Oh, dear. Our 545 appointment. I'll tell the boss you're here."
Hitting his intercom, the secretary then bolted for the coffee maker.
"Sorry. I'll have some ready in just a few minutes."
The trio stared at the man trying to work a simple device like it was a nuclear reactor.
"Kanae thinks he's had enough coffee."
The detective strode out, exuding confidence and grace. She looked at her secretary.
"Daisuke, it's alright. I don't take coffee this late in the day, remember? I'll have a soda pop if I need to stay up late, alright?"
The man looked down.
"I just want to do this right for you-just once."
She kissed him on the lips.
"I have the finest researcher in Kanto as my secretary and my husband. Coffee and reception, we'll work on."
He almost seemed to stumble over his own feet while withdrawing. Emiko felt rude, but couldn't help saying what she did next.
"He's a secretary?"
The detective nodded.
"He insists on doing those duties himself, in addition to research. It does save us money, I'll admit. But he's ill-suited to a life where he researches intimate things about people's personal lives. With his confidence problem, you might not believe it, but he's a Todai graduate, with a PhD, no less. In Bio-Physics and related disciplines."
Emi knew she was pushing things, but her curiosity was now firmly piqued.
"Then why on Earth isn't he with a major university or corporation?"
"Kurama-San was blacklisted by the government. He was one of a large group of people hired for a big project on Breakfront Island, just off the coast from here. But the plug was pulled in a big hurry, and everyone even remotely associated with it was banned from anything major or important. For him, things just went from bad to worse when his wife died in childbirth. I was actually going to be his secretary. Some local women hired me to test their husbands' fidelity, and I took Kurama on so we could both pay our bills. We expanded to full detective work with me handling the clients directly, and our family expanded too. His daughter by poor Hiromi-chan, who asked me to care for them, and our adopted daughter, Hana. Oh, excuse me for talking so much."
"Not at all. I felt like the intruder, asking so much. Kaede, this is the detective who's helping us, Rin Kisaragi."
The woman's smile was genuine and sincere, and she was quite pretty. Kaede felt a chill she could not explain while looking at her face.
"So you're Kaede. May I see them?"
Kaede folded her arms across her chest.
"I've only just begun to sprout."
Kanae rolled her eyes.
"She meant the cap, Baka-Onee."
Perhaps almost wishing it had been her blouse, Kaede pulled off her cap, something she almost never did outside of home. Kisaragi did not seem too thrown off by the horns.
"Hmmm. Could I suggest hair extensions, carefully placed and fitted? Bows and hats tend to draw unneeded attention. Maybe a safe dye for the horns, the same color as her hair?"
She sounded like she knew what she was talking about, as though from experience. Kaede again felt the odd 'buzz' from before, now closer. Kisaragi again smiled and gestured to a hesitant Kaede to sit down.
"Come on, honey. It's not like I'm going to bite your head off."
As Kaede did sit down, the inner office door burst open, and a small figure darted into Kisaragi's arms.
"Mama! Mariko and Onee-Chan have come to see you at your work!"
An older girl, wearing a pill cap and a simple but decent dress, shrugged.
"Papa and I asked her to wait. She never listens."
"Hmph! Hana Onee-Chan wants to see Mama just as much as Mariko."
Kisaragi kissed and held her child.
"Mama has to work right now, darling. Go play with Hana, will you?"
Hana shrugged.
"I can't keep up with her. She's like greased lightning."
Kanae stood up.
"I'll play with her. It'll be fun, and my duty to my family. Will Kaede Onee-Chan be alright without Kanae?"
Rather than joke, Kaede squeezed her supportive sibling's hand.
"I'm alright so long as you are. Thanks, Imouto."
Kanae looked at Mariko.
"My name's Kanae. Want to be friends?"
The much younger girl grinned.
"Oh, Yes! Mariko thanks Kanae Onee-Chan."
Kanae lit up at being called 'Big Sister', while Mariko's actual big sister rolled her eyes.
"Two of them, now. Great."
Kaede found herself looking at the dour girl, who seemed older than her but somehow not as well. She especially looked at her hair, which was purplish-blue, almost lilac in tone. Hana frowned at this.
"What are you staring at?"
The odd feeling was now all but screaming inside Kaede's skull.
"Do I know you from somewhere?"
Hana looked on the verge of spitting at Kaede.
"Why would I know you? Why would I want to?"
Kisaragi pointed.
"Hana, that is enough! Go and supervise the children."
As Hana left in a huff, Kisaragi sighed.
"Her father indulges those moods. I can't afford to. She is a good girl, and she cares for her sister. But she has vivid memories of her birth parents leaving her. Now, Kaede, I have some questions for you, in order to narrow down what we've found. Are you ready to learn the secrets of your unknown past?"
Kaede gave as honest an answer as she could.
"No. But let's go ahead anyway."
Back at Maple House, Yuka ran into Kouta's room.
"Kouta, there's news on the radio! The orphanage is shutting down. The kids there are all being scattered."
Kouta put down his pencil.
"Well, I'm sorry they have to do that, for the kids. But as to that place, good riddance to bad rubbish. Kaede was treated like trash there."
Yuka didn't object, but added on.
"Yes, but it's the reason they're doing it. It's just horrible. Four kids were found cut to pieces, and a fifth one is missing."
Kouta suddenly started openly, and felt a deep chill. The dog Pietro suddenly started whimpering in the corner.
"Is this what Mama and Papa mean when they say, I feel like someone just stepped on my grave?"