Because of You
Sequel to: "This I Promise You"
Building a Family series
Written by: Chochowilliams
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Summary: It is six years later and while Shuichi has moved on with his life, there are those who have not.
Warning: M/M, M/F, Sexual Situations, Romance, Angst, Drama, Fantasy, Infidelity, OOC, Language, M-Preg, OCs, Japan Natives: Surname first
Pairings: Shuichi/Eiri, past Hiro/Ayaka, Hiro/Suguru, Tatsuha/Ryuichi, past Maiko/OMC, OMC/OFC
Inserts: recap from chapter 11
A/N: One more chapter after this.
oOo
Last Time
Behind the wheel of his Ferrari with Blade besides him in the passenger seat, Marcus and Kaoru were at the house with Shuichi and the boys, his gaze kept flitting to the rear view mirror every few seconds. A frown creased his forehead. Maybe it was just his paranoia. "Hey."
"I see it," Blade's deep bass voice echoed within Eiri's chest.
"Since we turned off our street."
"Could be a cop," Blade suggested, though he did not sound too convincing.
"…Maybe." Somehow, Eiri doubted it.
"You think it's that crazy chick?"
"…Don't know." He hoped not.
oOo
Chapter 12: While You Were Sleeping I Was Close Enough to Touch
Oda Residence - Nara, Japan
In what could be deemed as the foyer of Officer Oda Hideo's small apartment, but was nothing more than the entry hall, if it could be called even that, a mirror in desperate need of a cleaning in an antiqued bronze frame hung above a chipped half-moon table that his girlfriend garbage picked last summer.
The twenty-something-year-old police officer was scrambling to get ready for work. He should have replaced Hiroyuki an hour and a half ago, but had instead overslept.
His uncle had been admitted to the hospital several days ago, undergoing treatment for a brain tumor. The outlook did not look so good. His aunt and his mother, who was his uncle's twin sister, were not taking the news too well. The whole family was worried about the both of them.
Hideo secured his hat on his head before grabbing his car keys from the dark blue ceramic bowl his little brother made for him.
A heavy pounding shattered the eerily silent early morning hours of the apartment.
Hideo glanced at his watch. It was almost four o'clock in the morning. Who in their right mind could that be? He turned towards the front door. Sliding back the chain, he turned the dead bolt. The tumblers shifted with unnaturally loud thuds.
"Hideo," came the panicked sounding male voice from the other side of the door.
"Taisuke?" Hideo threw open the apartment door and was surprised to find his older cousin Yokoiwabara Taisuke standing on the other side. Taisuke was his father's younger sister's son. "What are you doing here?" If anybody found out that Taisuke was here, Hideo was going to be in some serious trouble. He grabbed his cousin's arm and pulled him into the apartment. Hideo glanced up and down the hallway. Empty. Silent. He turned back towards his cousin and let the door swing shut behind him. "You realize that the police have been looking for you? Where the hell have you been?"
Taisuke skirted his younger cousin to peer out into the hallway. Nothing. He thought he'd heard something.
"Taisuke?"
Something was wrong Hideo decided as he watched Taisuke pace back and forth wringing his hands in a nervous gesture that was so unlike him.
"Taisuke, talk to me," Hideo pleaded. "If you're in trouble…"
Something caught Taisuke's attention out of the corner of his eye. Halting his restless pacing, he slowly turned. He forgot how to breathe. His heart stilled in his chest. His feet became blocks of leaded cement.
Seeing terror slide onto his cousin's suddenly white face as Taisuke stared wide eyed at something behind him put Hideo instantly on alert.
As Hideo's hand crept slowly for his gun secured at his side, he staggered, but regained his balance before he could even undo the snap that secured his police issued handgun in its holster. He met Taisuke's wide shocked filled obsidian eyes. His cousin's mouth was moving, but Hideo could not hear anything over the beating of his heart. He touched his back tentatively. Bringing his hand around, his face went white when he saw it painted red.
His last thought was, "Some cop I am. I didn't even hear anything."
oOo
En Route
Clear. Maybe he was just being paranoid. It was possible. They have all been on edge, him especially, for months and rightfully so. Besides, it was not as if they lived in the middle of nowhere. There was bound to be other people out on the streets, even if it was four o'clock in the morning.
Ever since Shuichi received that photograph at the hospital last month with that warning that has since been established to have been written in actual human blood and not paint, everything has been quiet. There have been no strange vehicles following any of them nor has there been any photographs slipped into their mailbox.
What should be a good thing has just made everybody that more antsy.
An attentive Blade was besides him. Shuichi's pint of rocky road ice cream-that he had insisted on having no matter what-along with several other different kinds of ice cream and some other junk food that Shuichi has been craving recently, was locked safely in the trunk of his Ferrari.
Eiri turned onto his street, hoping against hope that he really was just being paranoid.
oOo
Shindou-Uesugi Residence - Nara, Japan
Officer Shibasaki Hiroyuki watched as the red taillights of Uesugi-san's car disappeared through the wrought iron gates. A cool breeze tickled in through the open window of his car.
He rolled up his window.
"We were being followed," said the voice of Uesugi-san's bodyguard echoing in his head.
That had instantly put Hiroyuki on alert. "Was it-?"
"It was too dark to tell."
"If it was," Uesugi-san had added as he puffed away at a cigarette, "she was driving a different car. That much I could tell."
That was a given. After causing such a serious accident last month in Osaka, Rinjin had ditched her damaged car in a Kyoto parking ramp. Nobody in his or her right mind would be caught dead driving a damaged car that the police were looking for. That meant she had to get a new one, but with her being a wanted felon, where could she possibly secure one without the police being alerted? She could have stolen one, but the police were keeping an eye on all auto thefts in the surrounding area.
They knew she had not left the area, at least not by plane, train or bus. Her picture was plastered just about everywhere. There was also a huge reward out for information leading to her capture. Who would not jump at the chance for a million yen or two?
No, Rinjin had herself a new accomplice. That was the only explanation.
Hiroyuki checked the time.
First, Hideo never shows up and now someone had followed Uesugi-san through town. Either Hideo had been taken off watch and Hiroyuki had not been informed and one of his fellow officers had followed Uesugi-san to the store to make sure nothing happened to him, or something more serious was going on.
"213 to Dispatch," Officer Shibasaki Hiroyuki called over his radio.
"Go ahead 213," came the static filled reply.
A feeling of dread washed over him.
oOo
Eiri stepped into the kitchen from the garage and setting the armload of groceries down, reactivated the security system as Blade shut and locked the door behind him before he disappeared within the shadows of the house.
Eiri would prefer if Blade and the other guards took their shoes off in the house as per Japanese custom, but he understood why they kept them on.
He returned his keys to the lockbox where the other keys to both the house and their cars were kept. He hesitated when he spied the empty hook where the keys to Riku's Tiburon GS had once hung. His heart ached and his eyes grew misty as he thought of what could have happened one month ago. He shook those thoughts aside. It was pointless to dwell on what could have happened. The fact of the matter was that his boys were fine. They were alive and as lively as ever. He shut and locked the lock box with a small smile on his face. Besides, that spot will not be vacant for very long.
Shedding his shoes, Eiri carried the bags into the kitchen. He placed the bags of chips and other goodies he bought in the cupboard above the refrigerator, which was away from everybodies' but his reach. Folding the cloth bag, he set it aside and pulled the second bag in front of him. He really liked these reusable cloth grocery bags. They were cheap and took up half the space as the paper and plastic ones. Reaching inside the bag, he pulled out several cartons of ice cream. Knowing Shuichi, everything he bought will be gone in a day.
Finding the rocky road ice cream that Shuichi wanted, Eiri put it aside and stacked the rest in the freezer.
Eiri glanced over his shoulder when he heard soft mumbling. He chuckled lightly. In his sleep, Riku had somehow managed to kick his blanket off. He wondered if that was where Keitaro got it from.
oOo
Setting the spoon and the ice cream down on the table besides the armchair that Shuichi commandeered when he was down here, Eiri crept quietly to the hospital bed where Riku was sleeping. He gently untangled the covers and pulled them up around his adopted son's shoulders.
He brushed the boy's silken dark brown locks.
It was hard to believe that Riku was biologically related to Yuki. It had taken Eiri such a long time to get over his jealousy of Riku (for taking Shuichi's attention away from him) and his own self-hatred for taking away Riku's biological father to be able to think of Riku as something other than a nuisance and a pest, but he eventually was able to accept him and Eiri would not change his decision for anything in the world. If anyone asked, he would deny it though. More out of principle than anything.
Picking up the ice-covered ice cream container and spoon, Eiri crept like a specter through the dark, silent house. He acknowledged Maki who stepped out of the shadows as he climbed the staircase to the master bedroom. If he did not get this ice cream to Shuichi soon, Shuichi would have his head. What worried him the most, was which head Shuichi's hormones would choose to lop off.
oOo
Oda Residence
Sergeant Ohsato Yasuhiro and his partner Officer Shinohara Akio carefully approached the small five-hundred plus square foot apartment of Officer Oda Hideo, a man who was rapidly rising in the ranks. The boy had a bright future ahead of him.
Yaushiro knew Hideo was having some family issues so he was not too overtly concerned about him not showing up for his shift.
As soon as the apartment door came within sight, Yasuhiro was instantly on alert. His went for his gun. He signaled to his wet-behind-the-ears partner who also brought out his gun.
Both approached the open door cautiously with their guns at the ready. Each stood on either side of the open doorway. Yasuhiro signaled silently to Akio.
With a nod, Akio went in first. He pushed open the door and entered the apartment. "Sergeant," called Akio from inside.
Yasuhiro stepped forward and that was when he saw him. Laying face down with a hole in the middle of his back several feet from where he stood was Hideo's still body. "Shit," he cursed. "Officer down. Officer down," he called frantically into his radio. He rattled off his location as he bent down next to his officer's body. He could not find a pulse.
"Looks like there's another one, Sir," Akio informed his superior as the fresh from the academy police officer crossed the room towards the second victim who was laying face down in a pool of blood with what looked to be several bullet wounds to his back. He checked for any signs of life. "No pulse, Sir." Akio's eyes went wide when he caught a good look of the man's face. "Sir!" He turned to face Yasuhiro. "It's that guy that the Osaka Police are looking for! That photographer!"
Yasuhiro's head snapped up. "What?!"
oOo
Shindou-Uesugi Residence - Nara, Japan
"Ow! Son of a bitch!"
Eiri heard his husband's disgruntled voice over the sound of the flushing toilet as he stepped into the master suite. "Baby?"
"Yeah, Eiri," answered Shuichi from the bathroom.
"You alright?" Eiri closed the door to the bedroom behind him as he crossed the suite to the bathroom.
"Yeah."
There was the sound of rushing water.
"What happened?"
There was silence as the sound of rushing water vanished. Seconds later, the bathroom door opened and a very pregnant and very naked Shuichi walked out.
"I banged my hip against the sink," he said, rubbing his right side.
Thinking what a klutzy idiot he had fallen in love with, Eiri shook his head in disbelief. "Here." He helped his wattling partner with his free hand to the bed.
"Oh, hey guess who call-is that mine?" Shuichi asked catching sight of the ice cream in Eiri's hand. He was already drooling.
"Not if you don't get that cute little ass of yours in bed."
Shuichi halted his shuffle-scoot into the bed and glanced at Eiri with wide sparkling violet eyes. "You think I have a cute ass, Eiri?"
"No," Eiri denied, ignoring the hearts in Shuichi's eyes.
A slow grin spread across Shuichi's face. "Yes, you do," he contradicted as he settled himself in bed. He made sure to present Eiri with a nice view of his ass as he did. He threw in a good shake just for good measure.
"I said no such thing." The little dance Eiri's nether regions performed contradicted that statement. He crawled under the covers next to Shuichi and handed him the ice cream. He could not feel his hand.
"Uh huh," Shuichi hummed as he pried off the lid and handed it to Eiri who set it on the nightstand.
"So?" Eiri led, turning back towards Shuichi.
"So what?" Shuichi mumbled around a mouth full of chocolate ice cream.
"Who called?"
For a moment, Shuichi looked confused. "Oh! Michael called."
"Yeah? What he want?"
Shuichi face fell. He watched dejectedly as his spoon chopped into the semi-hard ice cream. The ice cream burned down his throat. "He and Anzu are getting divorced."
Eiri frowned. "Weren't they in counseling?"
"That's what I said!"
"Hm."
"…I feel so bad for him," Shuichi muttered.
Eiri shrugged. "These things happen, Shu. I told you that before."
"I know," Shuichi nodded. But that does not mean he had to like it. "But hey," he continued trying to cheer himself up, "he said he wanted to help produce my album."
"Did he now?"
"Yep!"
"…And did you talk to Nakano and Fujisaki yet?"
"…Well…," Shuichi drawled. "Sorta."
Eiri raised an eyebrow. "Is that a yes or a no?"
Shuichi shrugged. He speared his ice cream with his spoon. He did indeed speak with Hiro and Fujisaki at Christmas about deciding not to do that song for Desert Star after all and they understood his reasoning why, but Shuichi had not been able to say anything about his solo album he, hopefully, planned to start some time this summer. He talked with Kei and Kai, though, and like Michael, they supported him one-hundred percent, but Fujisaki, and most especially Hiro, were different.
Eiri heaved a disgusted sigh. "You gotta tell them Shindou Shuichi."
"I know and I will…eventually…," he muttered.
Eiri snorted. "Baka."
A peaceful lull surrounded them as Shuichi gobbled down his ice cream like a starving man. Eiri chuckled in amusement. He reached out a hand towards Shuichi, but Shuichi denied him by turning on his side with his back to Eiri.
Eiri was not about to give up. With a devilish gleam in his golden eyes, he slid across the bed and pressed his hardened length against Shuichi's cute little ass.
Again nothing.
Frowning, he swept aside Shuichi's jet-black locks and pressed a series of chaste kisses down Shuichi's throat to his shoulder.
Once again nothing.
Eiri ran his hands lightly down Shuichi's side. He knew how ticklish Shuichi was.
A shudder raced up Shuichi's spine and it had nothing to do with the ice cream. His cock twitched in reaction.
With a self-satisfied expression on his face, Eiri gripped Shuichi's waist lightly. Pressing his thumbs into the small of Shuichi's back, he slowly began to massage Shuichi's back.
"Hm. You always take care of me," Shuichi whispered breathily.
"Of course. You are carrying my sons after all."
Shuichi reached around and swatted Eiri. "Hey! What about little Yuki?"
Eiri raised an eyebrow. "Little Yuki?"
"What?" Shuichi turned slightly to face him. "You'd prefer we call your daughter 'Little Eiri'?"
"That would be a start."
Shuichi laughed and turned back around. He felt the bed jostle. His heart was hammering in his chest and his breathing had sped up in anticipation as Eiri disappeared underneath the covers. His laughter choked to a halt. Drawing in a sharp breath, Shuichi stilled as he felt Eiri press his lips to the small of his back. Tears prickled his eyes.
Eiri pulled back slightly.
Shuichi set his ice cream down on the edge of the nightstand by his head.
With his right hand, Eiri lightly traced the lines of the herald of seven multi-colored butterflies tattooed at the small of Shuichi's back. These beautiful, majestic creatures encircled a male fairy with long flowing blond hair that was blowing gently about his muscular frame. White angel wings spread out from his creamy white back. A gauzy mesh piece of fabric covered his groin.
Eiri had very nearly killed Shuichi when he came home one day several years ago with the tattoo.
"It was either this or 'Property of Eiri. No trespassing'," Shuichi had explained.
Truth be told, Eiri had liked he sound of that last one.
"I'll keep that in mind for next time," Shuichi had snorted. "But," he had turned suddenly serious, "I felt it was appropriate to get this one."
When he asked about what the tattoo represented, Shuichi told him, "A memorial. Fairies are said to represent angels."
"And you know that how?"
"Looked it up."
"Ah. And the butterflies?" At the time, there had been only six butterflies. Shuichi only recently went in to get the seventh, which represented Baby Kira.
"Our boys and Koji and Jacob."
Eiri had done the calculations in his head. "That still leaves one butterfly."
Shuichi had shaken his head. "No, it doesn't."
What Eiri had failed to realize was that apparently it was the anniversary of that awful day when he very nearly lost everything and that sixth butterfly represented the child they lost.
Shuichi had plans of going back sometime this spring to get three more butterflies added to it.
Eiri snapped out of his by a muffled sob.
Spooning his husband from behind, he wrapped his arms tenderly but securely around Shuichi. "You're a good mother, Shuichi," he whispered.
Sniffling, Shuichi turned around in Eiri's arms. "Really?" He searched Eiri's face with those wide vivid violet eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Eiri cupped Shuichi's cheek and smiled. "Yes really."
They leaned towards one another. Just as their lips were about to meet, a loud wail sounded over the baby monitor startling the would-be lovers.
Eiri cursed.
Shuichi tried to still his racing heart.
Tossing back the covers, Eiri stalked out of the bedroom for the nursery. He very nearly tore the door off its hinges.
Shuichi giggled. Reaching for the ice cream container, he frowned when his spoon scrapped the bottom. "Damn," Shuichi muttered. Empty. He wondered if there was any more.
oOo
When Eiri stepped into his eight month old's room, the crying came to an automatic stop. Watery eyes that sparkled like amethysts, just like his mother's, peered at him through the twilight-hidden room. There was a squeal and something that sounded vaguely like "dada". "What's all this racquet, huh?" Eiri breathed as he crossed towards the crib.
Kira's whole body seemed to spasm as he gleefully.
At eight months old, Kira was just beginning to form words. He could pull himself up, stand up and sit up without any help, though he tended to be a little top heavy and toppled over. He could also walk, but only with help.
"Woh," Eiri exclaimed when his son lost his balance and collapsed.
Kira's face crumbled.
Just as the water works began, Eiri reached into the crib and lifted Kira up into the air above his head. Kira squealed with laughter. Eiri did this several more times. Each time, his son's excitement grew.
Deciding to see if Kira needed to be changed, Eiri checked his diaper. "No stinky," he told his son. He held Kira out at arms length and then brought him in close. "No stinky," he repeated. Kira laughed, which in turn caused Eiri to chuckle. "Come on," he said, "let's go see Mama." He thanked the Almighty that nobody had witnessed the fool he had just made of himself.
oOo
Shuichi looked up from his laptop when the door creaked open. A smile brightened his face when he watched his husband and youngest son walk into the bedroom. "Look at you," he exclaimed, "up at four o'clock in the morning."
Kira smiled with a little squeal from around the bottle in his mouth.
"He did have an extra long nap yesterday," Eiri reminded Shuichi.
"True."
"What you doing?" Eiri asked as he slid into the bed. He maneuvered Kira so that the eight month old was facing Shuichi. He leaned his head back and gently moved Kira's free hand away from his face.
"Checking my email," Shuichi confessed. Seeing as he was up anyway.
Eiri made an undistinguishable noise. He had not checked his in a while and for one simple reason…
"Got an email from Mizuki."
…And that would be it.
"She wants me to remind you that your deadline was two weeks ago."
"Yeah and…?"
Shuichi tsked. "Eiri."
"What?" Eiri replied innocently.
Shuichi sighed and shook his head.
"Hey, what about you? You haven't touched your book since Aug-ust." Too late, he knew he said too much when he saw Shuichi's face crumble. He winced and mentally kicked himself. "Sorry, Baby." He reached out with his free hand and tucked a stray lock of black hair behind Shuichi's ear.
Shuichi grabbed Eiri's hand and shook his head with a forced smile. He opened his mouth, but whatever he would have said never came as a signal came from his laptop sounded.
Eiri glanced over Shuichi's shoulder. "Looks like it's from your sister," he said as he read the user name.
"Yeah."
"figured u would b up," read the message.
"She's saying to turn on the news," Shuichi said, reading the second half of the message.
"Why?" Eiri asked.
Shuichi referred to his younger sister short, but commanding Instant Message and shrugged. "Doesn't say."
Eiri pulled out the remote from the nightstand by his side of the bed. He aimed it at the flat screen HD television firmly secured to the wall across from the bed. He turned it from the Pay-Per-View channel that it was on to one of the half a dozen twenty-four hour national news stations. Shuichi and he ordered Resident Evil before they went to bed. Though they had not been passed more than the first five minutes when something more important came up.
"And this just in," said the newscaster who looked refreshed and perky even though the sun was still hours from rising, "we are getting word from Nara this morning that a police officer and his cousin were found shot to death…"
Shuichi's naturally tan complexion went ashen. He felt suddenly woozy.
Eiri's already pale complexion went white. The nearly empty bottle fell from their son's mouth. It bounced down Eiri's arm that he had clasped around Kira's waist and rolled across the mattress. Kira's head lolled forward. Heavy lids drooped closed.
"…details are unknown at this time and the identities of the victims are being withheld pending notification…"
"Oh God," Shuichi whispered. His voice shook. "Oh God." Was it…her? Was she responsible for this?
Turning Kira around, Eiri held his sleeping son against his shoulder and patted his back.
His confused mind played back over the events of earlier. He knew, and he knew that Shuichi did as well, that Rinjin Karin was more than likely the one responsible for this latest turn of events. There was no question in his mind. He did wonder why though. If that "cousin" was the photographer that vanished after witnessing Rinjin at the hospital last month then Eiri could understand why she would want to eliminate him. But what about that cop? Was it just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time? He also wondered at what time it happened. If the murder happened at the same time as when he was being followed, then it was possible that both he and Blade had been just paranoid after all. There was another possibility, though. She could have found a new partner. He knew he should say something to Shuichi, but he wanted to wait until he knew for certain one way or another. But then he remembered his last punishment for keeping quiet.
His decision made, he spoke up. "We were followed."
Shuichi slowly turned towards him.
Eiri told his husband about seeing that car pulling behind him as soon as he turned from their street and how the mysterious vehicle then stayed with him as he drove through town to the twenty-four hour convenience store on the edge of town. The car was gone when Eiri came out, which led him to wonder if he had been paranoid.
A mixture of emotions waged a heated battle inside of Shuichi. He was not sure whether to be angry that Eiri did not confess as soon as he came home that he suspected someone had been following him or worried that something could have happened to him just as it almost happened to their boys.
Eiri added, "Just remember it might not have been her. Okay?"
Astonished, Shuichi opened his mouth, but closed it when nothing came out. And that justified his waiting until now to say something?
Another signal sounded from the computer. It was Maiko again. Glad for the distraction, Shuichi read the new message.
"theres something i havent told u."
"?"
"its bout HER."
Even without asking, Shuichi knew exactly whom it was his baby sister was referring to. "HER" was the "she-bitch", as Maiko called her, who ruined her marriage.
"i no who she is."
Shuichi exchanged an astonished glance with Eiri.
oOo
That Night – Nara, Japan
Floorboards creaked as silent footsteps crept down the twilight-strung hallway. A door at the end of the hall protested loudly in the unnatural silence of the empty house as it swung open. White slipper-ed feet shuffled blindly across the black void to the only window. The gold and black filigree curtain that had been left behind was pulled aside. A pale, drawn face with stringy blonde hair was illuminated briefly as the rays of the full moon appeared from behind a stray cloud only to disappear seconds later by another cloud. It looked as if a storm was rolling in. Dark eyes hardened as they gazed angrily over the stone wall and through the hibernating branches of the trees that separated her from her target. Fingers tightened and knuckles went white.
She would have her revenge, one way or another; Shindou Shuichi would be hers.
oOo
A Couple of Days Later - Osaka Police Department - Osaka, Japan
The door to the interrogation room creaked open and a plainclothes detective stepped inside. He stepped aside and gestured with his hand to allow their witness to enter. "This way, please, Miss."
A woman whose brown hair was fashioned in a stylish pixie and was so dark it could fool one into believing it was actually black, crept cautiously into the room. Her features resembled that of her famous older brother so much so that they were often mistaken for twins. Still others thought she was the elder sibling for her attitude seemed so much more mature then that of her brother. She was not sure if she should take that as a compliment or not.
She glanced around nervously. The room she was led to was small, very small. It was a tighter fit than her bathroom and her bathroom was barely large enough to hold the bathtub. A table a quarter the size of her small dinning table was pressed up against the wall to her left with two not so comfortable looking chairs. In the back upper corner was a video camera aimed directly at the table. The red light was blinking. It was nothing like on those criminal drama shows she loved so much. It was somewhat disappointing.
"Please, have a seat, Ms, uh…"
"Maiko. Shindou Maiko." Her divorce may not have been finalized as of yet, but she would be damned if she used that bastard's name.
Maiko lowered herself into the chair facing away from the door.
"Thank you for coming in to meet with us. I am Detective Shigeno and this is my partner Detective Misawa," he indicated the second man behind her.
Maiko inclined her head in greeting.
"We were told that you might have some information for us?" Misawa asked.
Maiko nodded grimly. Unfortunately, that was all too true.
"And how did you happen to come by this information, if I may ask?" Shigeno asked taking the chair opposite her.
Lowering her head, Maiko's grip on her purse tightened. Her knuckles turned white.
"Shindou-san?"
Gathering herself, Maiko took a deep breath and plunged right in.
She confessed about coming home from an extended business trip early one day to find her husband's car in the driveway. That was unusual in and of itself because her husband was supposed to have been working overtime as he usually did during the summer. While a little curious as to what had brought him home so early, she had also been ecstatic. With two young children, the two of them had very little time to themselves any more, so she figured this would be a great opportunity for them to spend a little quality time together. But when she walked into the house, she instantly knew that something was not right. The house was too quiet. Then she heard it. Not wanting to believe what her ears were telling her, she silently crept towards the master bedroom and that was where she found her husband in the arms of another woman.
Maiko blocked any attempts at feeling anything as she relayed her tale to the two police officers. She had shed too many tears and lost too many countless nights of sleep as it was. The bastard was not worth it, not by far.
"I didn't think anything more about her." And why would she? That bitch had ruined her marriage to her president of the honor society high school sweetheart. While Maiko could give her some leeway, or thought she could at the time anyway, that two-timing bastard should have known better. But that was the thing about most men. They thought with their dicks and not with the heads that held the brain. If you do not use it, then you lose it.
"That's understandable," Shigeno nodded sympathetically.
Maiko cleared her throat violently. She was not going to cry. "Until last month," she added, "when my daughter pointed her out from a news broadcast." She could still feel the shock at learning that "the other woman" had not been just some clueless blond after all.
Shigeno and Misawa exchanged a knowing glance.
Misawa stepped forward and handed his partner the file he had brought with him.
Shigeno opened the file and pulled out a glossy photograph. He pushed the picture across the table towards her. "Is this her?"
Maiko picked up the photograph from the table and held it up in front of her. She studied the image of the woman with the dull, unkempt blond hair that looked fried beyond repair, the unnaturally full lips that looked like two balloons that had been surgically applied to her face, the unnaturally prominent cheekbones jutting from either side of her face and the unnaturally anorexic aquiline nose in the harsh florescent lighting. She knew immediately. This was her. This was that chick that she found in her husband's arms last summer. This was the woman who tried to take the lives of her nephews right before Christmas. This woman was out for her brother's blood because of something that he'd had no control over.
Her breathing quickened. Her pulse was racing. With shaking hands, she slid the photograph back onto the table and nodded with short jerking movements. She was fuming in barely bridled anger. The tears had stopped long ago. That bastard was not worth it.
Shigeno slid forward a little. "Shindou-san," he said, "are you sure this was the woman you saw with your husband?"
"Ex," Maiko corrected, "and yes. One hundred percent." She could even remember seeing a dark gray Honda parked outside the house that day too. Of course, she had thought nothing of it at the time. Why should she? It was not as if they had lived in the middle of nowhere where something like that would stand out.
"Shindou-san," Misawa spoke up breaking into her thoughts. He walked further into the room and moved so that the woman could see him easily without having to crane her neck. "Where is your ex-husband now? Is there some way we can contact him?"
Maiko pursed her lips into a tight, angry line. "I haven't seen him since August," she bit bitterly. "He didn't so much as call his children on Christmas. Bastard," she hissed. She hoped he fried in Hell. No man was worthy of being called a father if he chose his mistress over his children. Your children were supposed to be the most important thing in your life, not God, not your lover, not your friends, not your job, not school-nothing.
Shigeno and Misawa stepped into the far corner of the itsy interrogation room and conversed quietly. After a couple minutes, Shigeno stepped forward. "Shindou-san, what kind of car does your ex-husband drive?" he asked the woman.
Confused by the unexpected question, Maiko blinked. What did it matter? "I don't know. When we were married, he had a silver Series 3 BMW."
oOo
Shindou-Uesugi Residence - Nara, Japan
"Are you sure, Shindou-san?" Misawa pressed half an hour later.
Lounging on a mound of pillows in the mahogany queen sized bed in the master bedroom suite, Shuichi nodded. He smoothed the white feather down quilt over his ever-expanding belly. "That's what he told me."
"Do you know if he was able to get the license plate?" Shigeno asked the singer.
Shuichi shook his head.
"Or see the driver?"
Again, Shuichi shook his head. "All I know is what he told me, but you can ask Blade," he said referring to his bodyguard that had accompanied his husband to the store the morning Eiri spotted the car he had suspected of following him.
"We would like to speak with Uesugi-san as well," Misawa said. "Is that possible?"
"Eiri took Riku to the doctor's. They should be back in a couple of hours."
Thankfully, Eiri had taken Kira with him to their adopted son's appointment and seeing as Kane and Keitaro were both at school, Shuichi finally had a moment of peace.
He was glad that Maiko had come down for a visit. They could definitely use the help around the house. It was too bad that it had to be under these circumstances, though. Because her husband was MIA, she had decided to let her children stay with their parents in Tokyo for the week instead of dragging them down here to Nara. Even though Keitaro and Kane would have enjoyed their cousins' company, Maiko believed that with Riku laid up as he was and Shuichi in such a "delicate condition", this arrangement worked out better. Besides, their mother was always complaining about how little she saw her grandchildren.
"Sanami," Shuichi called to the woman who had stationed herself outside the master bedroom. Much to his chagrin, but it was to Eiri's delight,– most of the time anyway-Shuichi had at least one guard with him at all times and that meant at all times. It was quite annoying.
Half a second later, Sanami with her hair pulled into a tight ponytail at the back of her head stepped into the room. "Sir?"
"Can you tell Blade that the detectives here would like to speak with him?"
"Yes, Sir." She bowed before turning on her heels with a snap. Her long black tresses that were hanging down her back swished.
oOo
"Yes, that is right." Blade's deep, American accented Japanese rumbled in the front entry hall of the Uesugi-Shindou compound. "It was a light colored BMW from the looks of it. I couldn't tell what the exact color was. It might have been either white or grey or silver."
Misawa nodded. "Did you happen to notice anything about the driver?" he asked.
Blade shook his head reluctantly. It irked him that he had been unable to gather so little information on the car that had followed Mr. Uesugi through town the other night. "Unfortunately not," he confessed. He wanted to say that it was a woman behind the wheel, but then he would be lying. He was not one-hundred present certain. In silhouette, Mr. Shindou could be mistaken for a woman mostly because he was normally so slight.
"Was that because the windows were tinted?" Shigeno suggested. "Or…?"
"It was just too dark." He had been unable to tell whether the windows were tinted or not, but if they were dealing with that same woman who had nearly killed Mr. Uesugi and Mr. Shindou's children last month then he would not put it passed her. From what he knew, her Honda had had tinted windows.
"What about a license plate?"
"Only a partial. The car kept a discreet distance away. I did notice the plates seemed to be covered in what looked like mud, or something."
The police detectives' heart thumped in excitement at the startling realization.
After Blade gave them what he had been able to make out of the license plate and promised to come down to the station to give a formal statement when he could, Shigeno thanked the man for his time.
He and his partner then showed themselves out. As they strolled across the circular drive towards their police issued cobalt blue Mitsubishi, both detectives could not stop their minds from working overtime.
What exactly did this mean? Was it possible that Shindou Maiko-san's ex-husband was working with Rinjin? Was he her new accomplice? If he was, was he a willing pawn or an unwilling one? It could just be a coincidence that the car Uesugi-san claimed to have seen was the same car his ex-brother-in-law was reputed to drive. The BMW Series 3 was the third most popular car in Japan right now, right after the Honda Legend and Toyota Nadia. But still, they could not write anything off, not yet.
oOo
En Route
Risking a glance, Eiri peered into his rearview mirror at his adopted son sound asleep in the backseat next to his baby brother who was alternatively cooing and laughing at the passing scenery.
Eiri wove in and out of traffic as they headed back home to Nara from Riku's doctor appointment in Osaka. Riku's soft snores filled the quiet confines of the Mercedes. Besides Eiri sat Kaoru. The female bodyguard's charcoal eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark, reflective sunglasses and never seemed to stop moving. Her jet-black hair was styled fashionably in a short pixie and had a bluish hue to it as the late afternoon sun glinted off it.
They had received a combination of good news/bad news at Riku's appointment today. The good news was that Riku's vertebral compression fracture was healing nicely. In fact, he was progressing along faster than the doctor's had hoped, but unfortunately, as fast as he was healing, Doctor Amada told them that there was a good chance that Riku might not be ready come this summer to return to NYU to make up for the semester he was being forced to miss like he had hoped. There was a good possibility that he would have to put off returning to school until the fall or even next year. That in turn would push back Riku's plans of going to graduate school to get his Masters. Riku had been crushed, to say the least, not that Eiri could blame him. Eiri had promised the boy that he would talk to Tohma about the possibility of finding a doctor in New York so that he could return to finish his last semester.
Eiri sighed heavily. Shuichi was not going to like the idea of letting his paralyzed son wander off back to New York even if Yoshiki was going to be there, but as Shuichi tried to get him to understand repeatedly, Riku was not a little kid anymore and it was time to let Riku grow up.
oOo
Shindou-Uesugi Residence - Nara, Japan
His fingers drummed a beat against the steering wheel as he waited for the wrought iron gate to swing open. Recognizing it instantly as one of the songs that Shuichi was considering for his upcoming solo album, Eiri put an immediate halt to his wandering fingers-the brat still had not spoken to Nakano or that Tohma clone. He cleared his throat and pretended that none of that happened.
As he waited, his golden gaze hidden behind a new pair of shades-his old ones had been crushed by Kira who was at that stage where babies grabbed anything and everything in their reach-scanned the front yard. He was startled by what he saw sitting in the drive in front of the mansion.
"What the…?"
oOo
The front door opened and a pregnant Shuichi rolled out onto the front stoop as Eiri's black Mercedes-Benz rolled to a halt in front of the house. Sanami and Blade were half a step behind him.
"And just what the hell is that?" Eiri asked, trying for nonchalance, jerking his chin at the engine red sports car as he retrieved Kira-who was still gurgling away and thus covered in drool-from the backseat of the car.
While they had spoken briefly about getting a new car for Riku, they had not actually spoken in detail about it, so when he'd asked Tohma to go ahead and purchase one for Riku, Shuichi knew Eiri would most likely be mad at him. Eiri did not like when Shuichi did things without speaking with him about it first, but Shuichi had no regrets. Riku was his son and if he wanted to buy his son a new car with his own money, then that was none of Eiri's business.
Settling his son on his hip, grimacing as drool covered hands reached out for him, Eiri cocked an eyebrow at his husband, waiting for an explanation.
Playing with the folds of his white kimono, one of the only articles of clothing that he could fit into comfortably, Shuichi shrugged and said without much hesitation, "Riku's new car."
Eiri sighed heavily. "What am I going to do with you Shindou Shuichi?"
Shuichi grinned, his violet eyes glinted mischievously as several answers popped into his head.
As if reading his mind, Eiri chucked. He strode forward and pressed his lips against Shuichi's forehead before depositing his son, who had become antsy at the sight of his mother, into his lap.
"Whose it that?" asked a voice from behind them.
As small, light weight and weak as Kaoru appeared, the barely five foot Japanese woman had somehow managed to lift Riku, who was nearing six feet and weighed a considerable amount, out of the back seat of the car and place him in his wheelchair, which was a perfect imitation of Shuichi's.
The twenty-something year old brunette was even now wheeling himself towards the red sports car.
Eiri wheeled Shuichi down the ramp and towards their oldest son who was checking out the mysterious car like most boys would check out a fine woman.
"Holy shit," Riku exclaimed once he realized what it was he was looking at. His hazel eyes went wide. "This is-!"
"A 2008 Tesla Roadster," Shuichi supplied as Kira played with his otakasan's silky kimono.
Riku whistled.
Eiri shook his head. He could not believe that Shuichi had spent what would be the equivalent of one-hundred-thousand US dollars on a car. Shuichi had not even spent that much on the '69 Ferrari he purchased for Eiri for Christmas.
"Supposedly based on the modified Lotus Elise chassis, the Tesla Roadster is a battery powered electric sports car that reaches speeds of 130 miles per hour. Zero to sixty in four seconds. It can travel two-hundred-and-fifty miles between charges. It has a large spacious black two-seater interior. The 220-volt, 70-amp charger charges the car's battery in only three and a half hours. Comes with a cord and 1200-volt wall plug so the car battery could be charged when you were away from home, but unfortunately, the charging time increased to 33 hours. Manual operated. AC. Anti-lock brakes. Airbags. 100,000 miles." (1)
Shuichi giggled lightly at the enthusiasm his son was displaying. Eiri was the same way.
"Whose is it? Is it Uncle Tohma's new car?" Riku asked. He lifted his head to glance at his parents quickly before returning his gaze back to the car. His dark hazel eyes sparkled.
"No."
Eiri snorted. If Tohma ever bought a car like this, Eiri would suspect that his brother-in-law was suffering from a mid-life crisis. His sister, on the other hand, was a different story.
"Then-?"
"It's yours," Shuichi said.
Riku nodded. "Cool."
Shuichi waited for it.
Riku continued to nod. Then what his "mama" said suddenly dawned on him. He spun around. A mixture of astonishment, confusion and joy was written all over his face.
His parents laughed at the expression on his face.
"What?!" Riku turned back to the car. He gaped. "This…? Mine…?"
His violet eyes sparkling, Shuichi nodded.
"But...! How…? I mean…"
Giggling at how Riku just could not seem to put one thought together, Shuichi wheeled himself over to his son after handing, a reluctant, Kira back his daddy. "Do you like it?"
"Oh my God! I love it, Mama!" Riku flung himself at Shuichi. "Thank you! Oh my God."
"Really?" A sigh of relief swept through Shuichi. He had been so afraid that he had made a mistake when he had Tohma buy this car for Riku. Shuichi overheard Riku and Eiri talking about the Tesla Roadster one day a while back. It had reminded Shuichi of how Eiri had reacted after seeing that antique car show commercial.
"This is so cool!"
Eiri made to follow his husband, but movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned towards their neighbor's vacant house and frowned. The curtain on the upper floor was swaying ever so lightly. It could just be chalked up to the gentle breeze that was blowing, but something was telling Eiri that nobody in their right minds would be foolish enough to leave windows open at this time of year, especially if they were trying to sell their house. Nobody was going to buy a house with water damage.
While most people would have just chalked seeing movement in a house that was supposedly empty to their imaginations or something, Eiri knew better. Especially with Shuichi and his history. You could never be too careful.
"Blade," he called over his shoulder.
"Sir?"
"Contact Detective Misawa."
"Yes, Sir."
oOo
Old Murakmi Residence - Nara, Japan
Accompanied by Lieutenant Katsuragi and several uniformed officers including Shinohara Aiko from the Nara City Police department, Detectives Misawa and Shigeno slowly approached the house.
"Uesugi-san claims this house is supposed to be vacant," Misawa told the others.
The lieutenant nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We contacted the owners. They said the only person who should have access to the house is their realtor. They themselves cleared out sometime before Christmas. They now live in Osaka."
"What about the realtor?" Shigeno asked.
"She's been on maternity leave for the last couple of months."
"Could it have been whoever took over for her?" Misawa asked.
Lieutenant Katsuragi shook his head in denial. "He claims he was here once or twice to air the place out and whatnot, but there has been no interest in the property. They did show the house to several interested parties when the house first went up, but there has been no movement since."
"Hm." Misawa turned thoughtful. "I think we should take a look at those people who did look at the house."
"You think it's her?" Shigeno asked his partner referring to Rinjin Karin.
Misawa nodded. "It's a possibility."
"You think we should speak to the former owners?" Katsuragi spoke up. "See what made them decide to pack up and move?"
"That's not a bad idea."
Shigeno saw where this was going. Rinjin was after Shindou. She proved last month that she would do whatever it took to get to her intended target, even if that meant forcing Shindou's neighbors into leaving the area. From this vantage point, who knows what destruction Rinjin could cause.
They decided to split up. Katsuragi went around back with the uniformed officers, while Misawa, Shigeno and the rest went to the front door. Having been given the key by the realtor, one of the uniformed officers stepped forward to unlock the door.
"Looks like the lock's been picked," he commented as he spied the scratches. Having once been part of a gang when he was a teenager, he could spy a forced entry in his sleep.
"That would certainly explain how someone could come into a house that is supposed to be empty," Shigeno said.
The tumblers shifted. The wet behind the ears rookie pushed open the door and stepped back.
Misawa and Shigeno burst inside with their guns at the ready. The uniformed officers followed in their wake.
Katsuragi and the others entered from the kitchen.
Methodically and being as silent as ghosts, the house was swept. One by one, each of the rooms were cleared. There was absolutely no sign that anybody had been here in quite some time. There was a thick layer of dust covering everything.
"Detectives," one of the officers called from the back of the house. "There's something you should see, Sirs."
Glancing at one another speculatively, Misawa, Shigeno and Katsuragi stepped into the bedroom and gasped.
"What the fuck?"
oOo
Shindou-Uesugi Residence
Slapping a hand over his mouth, Shuichi gave a strangled cry as his violet eyes swam behind a blur of tears. The plastic evidence bag that he was holding in his free hand shook. "Why?" he breathed around his sobs. He was not sure to whom he was speaking. There was a great ache in his chest that he could not explain. Why was this happening to them? Why?
Eiri kept his face carefully blank as he stood behind his husband rubbing his back soothingly. The only evidence that he was disturbed was the hardening of his hazel eyes golden like the sun and the grim set of his jaw. He was not sure what he had expected when he told the police that he suspected someone of being in a supposedly vacant house, but this was not it.
Detectives Misawa and Shigeno claimed that there was evidence of tampering with the front door lock, but other than that, it had looked as if nobody had been inside the house for several months if all the dust and cobwebs were any indication. That was until they reached the last bedroom at the back of the house that overlooked the Uesugi-Shindou house. There hanging in the center of the room from a hook tied to a thin piece of string secured to the ceiling was an eight by eleven inch glossy photograph of Eiri. It showed the author getting into the cobalt blue 1969 Ferrari GTS that had been a Christmas present from Shuichi outside the twenty-four hour convenience store where he had bought his pregnant baka his ice cream.
Damn, Eiri thought. He had been right after all. There had been someone following him. He had been hoping against hope that he had been mistaken somehow.
Like many of the other photographs they had received since last August, he could not remember seeing anyone out of the ordinary that night and he had been on the look out. In fact, there had not been anyone else out on the road at that god-awful hour. They had been safe and sound in their nice, warm beds. Not that he could blame them. It had been the same exact place he wished he had been, but instead he had been running all over town trying to find ice cream for Shuichi.
So, how could someone take his picture and him not even know it? Telephoto lens maybe? That had to be it.
And like the last two they received, this latest photograph had a warning smeared across the picture in thick red paint that was meant, once again, to look like blood, or at least Eiri hoped that it was paint. This time, there were no words. No, this time there was a symbol that they all recognized. There painted over the captured image of Eiri were three red rings, one inside the other.
"Eiri," sobbed Shuichi from his position in the recliner.
Hating to see his baka so upset, Eiri rounded the chair and knelt before him. He carefully wiggled the photograph from Shuichi's trembling grip and handed it back to the police detectives who were standing back and looking uncomfortable. Eiri ignored them. He was glad that Maiko had taken the children to get some ice cream. The last thing the children needed was to see their mother fall apart like this.
Maiko had not returned after she went to the Nara Police Station to speak with the police earlier. Instead, she called the house to let Shuichi know that she had decided to stay in town to "do a little sightseeing". Shuichi had not pressed the issue. He may look and act like an imbecile a great percentage of the time, but Shuichi had known his baby sister needed some time to deal.
Shuichi wondered if Maiko still felt guilty. He'd told her when she arrived from Hokkaido the other day that she had nothing to feel guilty about-she'd done nothing wrong, but just telling her something like that and her actually stopping herself from feeling that guilt were two completely different things, this and that. He would have to have a talk with her later.
When she arrived at the house to find the police had swarmed the neighborhood en masse, Riku had been the one to suggest to his aunt that they take the boys out for some ice cream. That had an immediate reaction. Of course, several of the bodyguards that Tohma had assigned to the family went with them.
Eiri caged Shuichi's face between his hands and stared into those incredible violet eyes swimming in tears. "Baby," he whispered, "I'm right here. I am not going anywhere." He searched Shuichi's shattered face. "Understand me?"
With a shuddered sob, Shuichi nodded.
Leaning forward, he pressed his lips against Shuichi's forehead. Pulling back, he reached for Shuichi's left hand.
Shinning on his left ring finger was the ring that Eiri had slipped onto Shuichi's slim fingers all those years ago. The wide gold band had nine .03-carat inset gems. Creating a square, the eight on the outside were black sapphires that reflected a mysterious brown star when held in the light just right. The ninth gem, in the center, was a dazzling Princess cut deep rich rose pink Sri Lanka spinal.
It was a family heirloom that had been passed from father to son for generations. When Eiri was given the ring by his father when Eiri finished his studies to become a monk, or so Eiri's father had hoped, Eiri was sure his father had not thought that Eiri would end up giving it to his male lover. He was just one disappointment after another for his father.
Oh, well.
"When you accepted my ring," Eiri continued, "you became stuck with me whether you like it or not."
A grin cut through Shuichi's tears. He giggled lightly.
Chuckling, Eiri brought Shuichi's hand up to his lips and kissed his ring. "Suki dayo. I love you, Shindou Shuichi. Never forget that."
With a sniffle, Shuichi shook his head as he rubbed at his tear soaked face. He smiled back at his husband. "I love you, too, Uesugi Eiri."
Eiri cupped Shuichi's cheek. Their lips met. It was just a gentle play of lips, a caress of the tongue. He pulled back and chuckled at the deep blush that had exploded across Shuichi's face.
Clearing his throat, Detective Misawa stepped forward.
Eiri scowled as he reluctantly pulled away from Shuichi.
If at all possible, Shuichi's face burned hotter as his embarrassment increased after remembering that they had an audience.
"We are not sure how long Rinjin has been occupying your neighbor's house," Misawa said.
"It could be," his partner Detective Shigeno continued, "that she just picked the lock and broke in there earlier today in order to leave the photograph."
Eiri had a hard time believing that and he knew the police did as well, but it was still a possibility until they knew otherwise.
"There is no way of telling," Misawa was saying.
"But it is obvious that she has been in the area for some time."
"Probably after causing that accident in Osaka."
Shigeno nodded in agreement.
Shuichi's chest felt tight. "W-what are you saying?" he asked quietly.
The two detectives exchanged a quick glance.
"The Nara city police are talking about pulling out," Shigeno admitted.
Shuichi paled.
Eiri jumped to his feet. "What?!"
Misawa held out his hands to ease the sudden tension. He has heard some rumors about Uesugi Eiri-san and they were not very alluring. "They feel that they have been compromised."
Eiri was livid. "And that justifies abandoning us while there is some crazed psycho bitch out there?" he spit.
Detective Shigeno stepped forward. "Uesugi-san, the police have no intention of deserting you now."
That stopped Eiri.
Confused, Shuichi glanced at the three men in turn.
oOo
Later That Night
Newly manicured nails clawed at the tree bark. Narrowed brown hazel eyes gone black with insuppressible rage peered through a veil of brown hair so dark it was often mistaken for black and around the tree. They followed the last unmarked patrol car as it preformed a three-point turn and sped off down the street. A low chuckle floated upon the wind.
Soon this hypocrisy of injustice would soon come to and end.
…To Be Continued…
(1) Real car. Like the Ferrari, I just copied the info I found online for this car from a automotive website.
Preview: "Lights, Camera…Blinded By Love"