8.Epilogue.
T: Last chapter! Warnings remain the same as in previous chapter and I own nothing other than Arai and Melody's extreme cuteness!!
Chitose: I'm glad you liked the surprise! Daddy Ryu really has this mature edge that you see more from Manga Ryu than anime Ryu and I wanted to play on that! Also the fact that Ryu has such a young kid (Melody is only 10 at this point) goes some of the way to explaining his rather playful manner! Also thanks for your praise; it's made this story so much more fun to write!!
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He'd snuck into the apartment as quietly as he could and, it'd only been one he was secure in 'his' bedroom, that he'd felt free to 'relax'.
The warmth of the kiss, as well as the weight of the truth that he has learned, circle through his head for hours after he is 'home' and he manages only an hours worth of sleep before Shuichi is pouncing on him.
"Tatsuha, did Sakuma-san really kidnap you yesterday afternoon?"
"He took me out for lunch, but I wouldn't say I was kidnapped."
"Why would he take you to lunch, are you dating? How do you know him anyway, the last I was aware you were complete strangers."
"We are indeed 'dating' and I'd appreciate it if you kept that fact within the 'family'. As to how we know one another…"
"Shouldn't you be in the studio?" This last is his brother, his slender form propped against the doorframe in an almost deliberately artistic manner.
Shuichi tenses and, panic clear on his face, he says, "got to go," before he dashes from the room.
"I don't know where you get the energy, Aniki, I really don't." He remarks once they are alone.
"Coffee and lots of it." The other pulls a hand through his bangs and, his tone becoming again characteristically brash, he says, "I fielded yet another call for you this morning. You've really got to invest in getting a mobile, I'm not your personal sectary, after all."
"I'll buy one with my next pay packet! Can I ask who called?"
"Katani Arai."
"What did he want?"
"For you to go and see him at the store today, he said he had the 'final piece of the puzzle' to show to you."
"Thank you Aniki!" He remarks as he scrambles, a little groggily, for the shower.
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As always when he enters Arai's shop the other is not at the desk and it is only when, after a few moments, that the other remains absent that he becomes worried enough to enquire,
"Is everything alright, pops?"
"Come out back, Tatsuha."
Following the other's instructions he steps around the front desk and out into a veritable Aladdin's cave. He is distracted enough by the sight of so many CDs that it takes him a moment to register Arai's figure crouched to the left of him.
The other is bent as such in order that he might have better access to the bow that he is currently straitening. Said bow belongs to one of a set that decorate the elaborate dress worn by what has to be the cutest little girl that he has ever seen.
"There, all better!
"Sank you granddaddy!" The child remarks as she leans up to kiss the elder man's forehead. Arai smiles and, pulling the child into the crook of his shoulder, he says,
"Tatsuha, this is my granddaughter Melody, Melody this is the nice man that daddy has been telling you all about."
Something clicks in the back of his head and he truly looks at the child, at the vivid cobalt blue of her eyes and the all too familiar smile.
"Why do I feel like I've been part of one massive set up?" He enquires after a moment. Arai does not answer this enquiry, choosing instead to tell Melody, "Now's as good a time as any, sweetheart," before he sets her again to the floor.
The child steps hesitantly towards him and, gently taking a hold of his hands, she enquires,
"Do you want to come and play with us, Tats-chan?"
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"So are you going to talk to me?" He enquires.
Arai turns his head away from watching his granddaughter playing on the swings and, smiling gently he says,
"This wasn't a set up, Tatsuha."
"Right, so what's the story and no more of your mysterious half truths, pops, I want honest answers."
"Duly noted." The other remarks, his smile brightening a little before he says, "Hikari introduced me to Ryu the month after she learned that she was pregnant. He was bright, energetic and so much like myself at that age that we should have gotten on well, however, I could see that what existed between them was more lust than love and, afraid for my daughter's sake, I shut myself off from him. It was a distance that hurt Hikari greatly and, when their relationship began to break down, she blamed my indifference to Ryu…turned her back on me.
"Ryu was the one to bring us back together again, forcing Hikari to listen to my side of the story and allowing her to understand, at last, why I had done as I had. For that groundless kindness, for giving up Grasper in order that he could be with his daughter when Hikari's work took her to America for three years, for the thousand other selfless actions that Ryu has performed, I decided to give him some form of recompense. Thus once I knew you, once I knew what you might bring to Ryu's life, I decided to use my influence to bring you together."
"Wouldn't you have been better finding him someone more on his own level?"
"There is no one more on Ryu's 'level' than you, Tatsuha." There is a moment of silence after that and then he enquires,
"Is this the reason that you let your chain of stores go?"
"That's correct. Ryu wishes Melody to live as normal a life as possible, you see, a thing that would prove impossible if the media learned of her existence, this something that I risked always while I remained in the limelight."
"And you accuse Ryu of being self sacrificing."
"I suppose we've rubbed off on one another." The other remarks as he winks playfully.
Reminded of Ryu in the hospital he smiles deeply and says,
"Yesterday Toma asked me if I wished to sign onto NG as a Lyricist and a Composer, an offer that he assured I was being given because of my talent rather than because he was my brother in law."
"How did you respond?"
"I told him that I needed to go home, clear my head a little and talk to father, but that I would consider it seriously."
"So the future isn't scary anymore?"
"Not as much as it once was, no."
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T: There we go! The aforementioned side story will be called Bunny and focus on Ryu in the days after his first meeting with Tatsuha…it'll also have a bit of a tease for how things have panned out between our duo! It'll be up either this evening on Tuesday so, if you're interested, have a look…anyway, shameless plug out of the way why not review?
