The pediatricians were astonished at how quickly Kazuya recovered from his fall. After only a few days in the hospital, he looked as if he had merely been in the middle of a scuffle rather than thrown off a precipice. His cast would remain for a few months but after that they doubted there would be any residual damage. Walking back to their home with Jun and her father, he was silent the whole way and appeared to be deep in thought. When they reached the house, he bowed and thanked her father for allowing him to stay and went outside to look at the cliff. Standing at the edge, he looked down into what seemed like an endless emptiness and felt a wave of terror rush over him. Feeling lightheaded, he fell to his knees.
"Kazuya-kun!" Running to his side, Jun pulled him away from the edge of the chasm. "Are you nuts? What did you do that for?"
"I don't know," Kazuya replied weakly. I just…had to look again – to see if it really happened. It doesn't seem real to me."
"Don't scare me like that!" she cried angrily. "What if you fell in again?"
"Gomen," he murmured faintly. She helped him lay down further away from the cliff's edge.
It has begun, little one.
"What did you say?"
Turning to look at him, Jun gave him a puzzled look. "I didn't say anything."
"Oh, I could have sworn I heard you say something."
"Well, I didn't. Come inside, okay?" Steadying him by his arm, she led him into the house.
Jun's father smiled kindly and ushered Kazuya into a spare room. Thanking him, Kazuya hesitantly asked, "Ano, Kazama-san?"
"Nani, Kazuya-kun?"
"Onnegai-shimase. I wish to let my grandfather know that I am okay, but I can't contact him directly as I don't want my father to know that I am still alive. He might try to kill me again."
He felt terrible, knowing that the boy's own father had tried to murder him. "How can I help you, Kazuya?"
"If you could send a letter to my grandfather's house addressed to my nanny. Just to inform him that I'm still alive. Ji-ji must be so sad, thinking that I'm dead. I don't want him to be."
Smiling, he nodded. "Give me your address, Kazuya, and I will send a letter immediately."
"Domo arigato, Kazama-san." After bowing his thanks, he gave his address to Jun's father.
In Tokyo, Jinpachi was making preparations for his grandson's funeral. The same heavy feeling hung over him that had been present when Hanai had died and it made him so sad to think that he would be laying a second set of ashes next to her. His tears had shown no signs of stopping and though he felt as if he couldn't cry any more, still they came incessantly. Mopping his eyes, he tried to pull himself together.
"Mishima-sama." His secretary's head poked into his office door.
Composing himself, he cleared his throat. "What is it, Hiroko?"
"Your…grandson's nanny is on the phone. She wishes to speak to you."
"Put her through." Picking up the receiver, he cleared his throat again and said, "Moshi-moshi?"
"Mishima-sama, I have a final request before I leave your employ," the elderly voice on the line said slowly.
"Of course, Ba-chan. Anything," he promised.
There was a moment of silence on the other end. "Would you do me the honor of coming to see me in person for this request?"
The mysterious nature of question puzzled him, but she had devoted the last few years of her life in helping to raise Kazuya and he could not deny her. "I will be at your home later this evening."
"Domo. I will be waiting."
Hanging up the phone, Jinpachi finished making the last arrangements for the funeral service to be held tomorrow and tried to focus his attention back to his business. It made him uneasy to think that with Kazuya gone, Heihachi would likely take control of the zaibatsu once he retired and he certainly couldn't afford to slip now.
Telling his driver to wait outside with the car, Jinpachi entered the tiny home of Kazuya's favorite nanny. A tiny wisp of a woman, she had a kind face and had been a loving maternal figure to Kazuya since his mother's death. He knew that the news of the boy's death had been every bit as hard on her as it had been for him. She beckoned him inside with a wave of her wrinkled hand. Bowing respectfully, he still towered over the tiny woman. Sitting on his knees before her, he tried to keep his voice even and steady in spite of the sorrow seeing her brought him. "What is it that I can do for you?" He was puzzled when she put a finger to her lips.
"I must tell you something, Mishima-sama, but I had to bring you somewhere private so that you and you alone would hear what it is I have to say." Her voice was barely audible to him.
"Ba-chan, what is the matter?"
She looked him directly in the eye. "You must swear to me that no matter what it is I tell you, you will maintain an air of stoicism afterwards. Do I have your word?"
"You do." He wondered what it was that she could possibly need to tell him.
Folding her bony fingers together in her lap, she kept her face neutral when she said, "Mishima-sama, contrary to what you've been told, your grandson is not dead."
ano: excuse me, um
onnegai shimase: may I make a request of you
ji-ji: gramps
moshi-moshi: hello (on the telephone only)
ba-chan: granny
