6.
The knock-out gas that had put out the inhabitants of the Chinese compound - all but one apparently - took a while to wear off and I was allowed to come sit by Sun's bed after he'd been cleaned up and dressed in new clothes. His own had been filthy, but that's not the reason why the Japanese doctors - who I suspected were part of the intelligence service too – removed them immediately; they were worried the outfit might have been fitted with a tracer of some kind.
Apparently the sister's dress had been and the niece's doll had had a bug sewn into it. They removed it and, after a good clean, put the toy back in the three year old's bed.
I had seen Sun's family members coming through, and I had taken a long look at the sister. She was roughly the same complexion as her brother, similar colored hair - hers was still in a long braid - but there the similarity ended. Where he was slender and tall, she was stocky, almost square. Her face was quite coarse too, where Sun had a gentle and elegant round face.
I was actually surprised these two were family. Maybe the sister had had a different father? Well, I knew we were going to find out, because I saw blood samples being taken from all three and sent straight to the lab.
As I sat next to Sun, watching him sleep, I saw how unhealthy he looked. These last two weeks had not been good to him, leaving him thin, with black bags under his eyes and his hair cut short, hacked off with a knife, it seemed. And when the nurse came to give him a sponge off, I saw he had bruises on his shoulders, just before the nurse ordered me out of the room.
As I stood leaning against the wall in the hallway waiting to be let in, all I could think was, at least he's alive, at least he's alive, ALIVE.
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
Six hours after Sun had been rescued he woke up. And I was right there to tell him we had his sister and niece too. He had started to panic when he realized he wasn't in that cell anymore. I had to repeat it several times before it sunk in and it wasn't until I helped him to sit up so he could see his niece in the cot on the other side of the hospital room that he started to calm down.
He then asked after his sister and all I could tell him was that I'd seen her, that she was just fine but that they were keeping her in another room, adding truthfully that I didn't know why. I could see in his eyes that it wasn't the complete information he'd hoped for but for now he seemed to accept it and he sagged back against me and let me put him back down flat on the bed. He groped for my hand and tiredly thanked me. As I waved off the thanks his eyes fell shut and he went into a natural sleep.
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A few hours later Master T came by Sun's sick bed and we moved away a little and stood talking in low tones for a while not wanting to wake either Sun or his niece - whose name was Meilin - up from their well earned rest.
After Master T had told me his son, and everybody else on the team, had survived the mission in good order, we talked some about Sun's background and his future. Apparently Chancellor Fujiwara and his wife were on their way and it was up to us - meaning me - to help prepare Sun to be reunited with the family he had never known existed. If Sun hadn't even suspected he wasn't Chinese, all this was going to come as a shock to him.
Just then I heard Sun groan and I rushed back to his bed side just in time to help him get to a seated position. He thanked me and then looked up at Master T, apparently just noticing there was another person in the room. His eyes went wide.
"Grand Master Touya, I am honored! My humble self did not expect to see such an illustrious person as yourself," Sun said and tried to bow deeply. I helped him sit up again, this time keeping hold of his arm and keeping a hand on his back to steady him if necessary. I parked my hip on the edge of the bed for better leverage.
Master T gave a - for him - deep bow and rumbled,"It is I who am honored to see you alive and on Japanese soil." I could hear Sun swallow, and a tremor entered his voice as he asked:
"Am I a prisoner?"
I looked from Sun's scared face to Master T's kindly face. "Not at all,"Master T said. "You are free, you have in fact come home; you are Japanese born and as such Japan is your home."
I looked at Sun and the poor guy had eyes as big as soccer balls and I felt some strength leaving him as he sagged against me. "And what of my sister? My niece?" he asked. I looked back at Master T and I didn't like what I saw; his kind face had fallen to make way for a darkly concerned look. He didn't have to say anything, it seemed that look was enough, because suddenly Sun started to struggle against me, trying to get out of bed and he pleaded, "I want to see my sister, I need to see my sister!" I could easily hold him, he was as weak as a kitten, but I didn't know what was to happen next so I looked over at Master T who looked pensive with his index finger to his mouth, arms crossed.
Sun struggled feebly on, calling for his sister – whose name apparently was Yanmei - and starting to cry into my shoulder when it became clear I wouldn't let him go. I looked back at Master T pleadingly. He dropped the finger and said, "Alright, let's go see your sister."
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
As I helped Sun into a wheelchair with the aid of a sturdy nurse, I realized that Sun was even weaker than I'd thought, and I asked Master T if this was such a good idea. Couldn't Yanmei come to her brother?
"Unfortunately that's not possible right now," Master T said. "She's not allowed to roam about, just yet." I gave Sun a dubious look and he answered it with a worried look of his own. My hackles were up; something was wrong.
Well, the first wrong thing was that Master T didn't take us to Yanmei's room but to an observation room where we could see her, but she couldn't see us. The room we were in was barely lit at all whereas the interrogation room - for that was what it was - was overly bright. A steel table stood in the center of the room surrounded by four steel chairs, two of which were occupied: Ogata was seated facing away from the observation window, and Yanmei in a chair on the opposite side, looking towards the observation window and unknowingly towards us. She had her arms crossed and looked really pissed off, a look that didn't suit her square face at all.
All three of us looked into the other room, Sun sitting in the wheelchair, me next to him with a hand on his thin shoulder and Master T next to me. I heard and felt the door open behind me and I looked in time to see Touya enter, holding a folder, a note pad and a pen. As if on cue Ogata started to speak in the other room.
"Now then, Sun-san, are we going to be reasonable? Your brother and daughter are doing fine, there's no need to worry," Ogata said. But apparently that wasn't what the lady wanted to hear. She jumped up, upending her chair and started shouting at him in rapid fire Chinese, of which I didn't understand a word. But it seemed that Sun did because he grabbed my arm and started crying and Master T must also have understood because I've never seen him move so fast to reach the speaker button to cut the sound off.
Sun pulled so hard on my arm that I knelt by the chair and he pretty much flung himself at me, sobbing his heart out. I let him glide into my arms onto the floor and I wrapped my arms around him as he cried and cried.
I looked up at Master T from my position on the floor and he looked stricken. Then I looked at Touya and he actually looked very, very angry. I saw him look at his dad and then turn around and stomp out of the room.
-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-Go-
After a while Sun had stopped crying and he just lay limply in my arms. Master T indicated to me to get him up and back into the chair but I decided not to bother with that thing. Sun was light enough and so I put one arm behind his knees and one behind his back and got up to my feet. I set off towards Sun's bed without checking who followed me.
Back in his room I gently put him on his bed but he had roused enough to object being laid down flat so I held him up while the nurse put two pillows behind his back so he could sit up. Once he was positioned, I looked him over with a critical eye. He looked terrible, worse than when they'd brought him in now 12 hours or so ago. His face was now white as a sheet and his brow was covered in cold sweat. Seeing that I called the nurse back and she promptly called for a doctor who came and gave Sun a shot, after assuring Sun it wouldn't put him to sleep, just boost his energy a bit. The doctor then turned to me - I think the man thought I was Sun's caretaker or something - and told me to get Sun to eat and drink something.
The nurse was very fast on the uptake, because no sooner had the doctor left the room, she appeared back with a paper bag with two bento lunches and three orange juice small packs and a tray with a steaming bowl on it which, disappointingly, turned out to be porridge for Sun.
I took the porridge bowl and sat down at the side of Sun's bed and Master T accepted the rest and while I started feeding Sun - who spluttered but only half-heartedly - Master T set out the rest of the meal for us on the swing-over-the-bed table. Throughout the process of feeding Sun and then ourselves we all kept silent.
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Sun had fallen asleep after lunch and Master T and I ended up playing Go on a napkin in silence after he had refused point blank to translate what Yanmei had said. I was sure Master T had understood every word and I really wanted to know, but nothing I said could persuade the man into telling me.
I think we sat there for hours before Ogata showed up to take up position at Master T's back and observe me getting clobbered for the third time that day. Real shell Go stones on kaya wood or ink on napkin, Master T is one hell of a Go player!
But once Touya walked in, with his signature note pad under his arm, Master T stopped playing and we all looked up at him. He still looked angry. He cocked his head towards Sun who still slept. "Is it safe to wake him up?" he asked. None of us were sure so I hailed a nurse who consulted a chart, declared it safe and left again.
I gently shook Sun's shoulder. He woke right up, giving me a sweet smile before it disappeared when he saw that there were other people present.
"I'm sorry to have to wake you, but this is a matter of some urgency,"Touya started speaking. He looked over his father, Ogata and me in turn before asking, "How much has he been told of his situation?" If Sun thought it rude being talked about while present, he didn't give any hint of it. I for one thought it was very rude, but I decided I'd have that out with Touya later sometime over our next game, stuffed shirt that he is.
"I've informed him that he is of Japanese blood and have explained what that entails," Master T said gravely. Touya primly nodded his approval and then consulted his notepad, opening it in the middle somewhere before flicking to the desired page. He then looked at Sun and spoke at length.
"You are the son of Fujiwara Hiro and Fujiwara Keiko, born sometime in Atsuko 21, aka international year 1986."
"June," Sun interrupted. "I was born in June."
Touya made a note on his pad and continued, "This was of course after your parents got caught in the 'incident' and were stuck in China. We don't know what happened to your mother, but we have learned that your father was executed sometime in Atsuko 21.
"Fujiwara Hiro was adjunct-ambassador to Wuhan city at the time of the 'incident.' His father, who is your grandfather, is Fujiwara Jiro, who is married to Yamada Mikko," Touya consulted his notes and continued. "Even though you were yet to be born, your parents had picked out a given name for you. Your name is Fujiwara Sai."
A silence fell while all this information sank in. My Sun was really called Sai, that would take a bit of getting used to. And what of...?
"And Yanmei? What is her real name?" I asked. Suddenly everybody's expression changed; Touya got that angry look back, Master T frowned, Ogata sighed audibly and looked pissed off and Sun, uh, Sai looked like he'd start crying again.
"What did I say?" I asked genuinely perplexed.
It was Touya who answered, "Not your fault, you couldn't have known. Fujiwara-san, would it be alright if I informed him concisely?" Sai, who had rolled his face into my shoulder and away from the group, nodded against my neck.
"Very well," Touya started speaking, looking directly at me. I stared back just as impassively. "As it is known that you do not understand sufficient Chinese to be expected to follow what Yanmei said in the interview room earlier I will explain fully. We got the results back from the blood tests and we confronted her with them. She is in no way related to the Fujiwara blood line. We have no idea who she is. When confronted she demanded we send her home, when asked about her brother, she said some really rude things that clearly showed that she does not consider Fujiwara to be her brother and that she had only pretended to gain money and status." At this I felt Sai shudder against me. Poor bloke must have really believed she was his true sister all his life.
"When asked what she wanted, she again demanded to be sent home to China. When asked about her daughter she said that having the child had been a means to an end only, and that she didn't want to take 'it' with her, and we are to do with the child whatever we pleased." Now Sai was sobbing silently and I told Touya to stop his tale. I think it was only then that Touya took a good look at me with Sai crying in my arms; he actually paled. "Sorry," he said softly.
We all waited silently for Sai to pull himself together, while some of us composed ourselves; I saw the color slowly return to Touya's face and I was starting to lose that cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. At last Sai turned his face away from my shoulder, leaving both quite damp, and I helped as he struggled to sit up straighter in the bed.
"What," he started to say, but then had to swallow before he tried again. He had a deathly pallor and I scooted a little closer so I could lend him some strength. "What is the urgent matter?" he asked, this time a little stronger.
"Uh," Touya flustered - another first; Mr. Ice-cube just doesn't fluster - "It's the matter of your, uh, niece. Or your not-niece I should say," he added. Oh man, open mouth, insert foot, why don't chya!
But Sai didn't react to that and said quite firmly, "My niece, my family, blood or no blood."
"Yes, alright," Touya said. "Well, the options for her are limited. She is of full Chinese blood, so the Chinese government has that claim on her." I tightened my arm about Sai's shoulder as I felt him rear up at that statement; I was sure there was more and I tried to tell him so with my firm grip.
Presently he subsided and Touya continued talking. "But Yanmei, as the legal mother, has actually renounced any interest in the child, and by Japanese law, any person willing to claim the child may do so at any time."
Sai shook in my arms and I helped push him up and nodded wildly as he said, "I, Fujiwara Sai, Japanese by blood, hereby claim her as my kin!"The words and phrasing Sai had chosen were very old fashioned, but I could follow the phrasing well enough that, when asked to testify to these events, I'd be able to verify Sai's claim. I didn't know much about family law, but I did know the legal status of a claim like Sai had just made; even though it was verbal, it was as binding as any signed document.
Touya nodded gravely and then flipped his notepad to an empty page. He scribbled for a few minutes then he gave the pad and the pen to Sai and said, "Read it and sign." I looked over Sai's shoulder, breathing in his scent and it said exactly what Sai had said. He signed it. Then I signed it, followed by Master T and Ogata, and lastly Touya. Touya put the pad back under his arm and said, "I'll get this processed," before walking off.
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We persuaded Sai to get a little sleep while waiting; after all, Meilin was sleeping - under sedation - in the next bed and at best it would take a few hours before the red tape was sorted out. Master T and Ogata left, but Sai made me stay - no hardship there - and since I was dead tired too, I climbed into bed as well, much to the chagrin of the nurse. I wrapped my arms around the man I loved, breathed in his scent, settled my forehead against the back of his head, and silently promising him and myself to never let him go, I drifted off to sleep.
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TBC
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