Chapter 4

Silence fell as Takumi took a minute to assess the situation. After many years, he had once again found the love of his life and his heart silently told him that he would, without question, forever be hers. She on the other hand barely remembered him and was completely oblivious to what they had together. Further, she appeared to be in a relationship. A quick scan of her left hand indicated she was probably not yet engaged or married but her blush told him she seemed to believe this relationship was serious. His internal monologue began, 'You have two options Takumi. You can curl up in a ball wallowing in your own self pity and heartbreak or you can step up to the challenge and fight for what you want. Now is not the time to feel hurt or jealousy. That needs to wait until you're alone. Right now, there is a big opportunity right in front of you. Focus on that. You haven't gotten where you are by giving up. You have resources and you are cunning. Think in terms of the long game. You can do this.'

Before this silence could become awkward, Misaki spoke up, "Mr. Walker, it's been very nice seeing you again. Unfortunately, there is an issue with my flight, so if you'll excuse me I need to have a word with the service counter attendant."

Damn… the opportunity was trying to escape. "Misa… Ms. Ayuzawa," he corrected himself. She would be more comfortable with a formal greeting as she didn't remember him as he remembered her. He swallowed the lump in his throat that was caused by this revelation. "I believe you were correct when you indicated it must just be a computer error. I encountered a dilemma very similar to yours a few months ago when I flew on this airline. Could you give the service agent 15 minutes to look into the error while we catch up over a drink?"

Misaki did not look sure about this plan.

"The flight isn't scheduled to board for 45 minutes. A 15 minute break will give her time to sort out the issue, and a drink with me could help you remember more of your past or at least soothe the feelings of a very hurt old friend." Even if the other portion of his argument was not persuasive, her guilt over hurting his feelings would tip her resolve in his favor. She never wanted to hurt others even unintentionally.

"I suppose 15 minutes wouldn't kill me," she responded with a weak smile.

The two crossed the airport waiting area walking toward the pub that Takumi had left a few minutes earlier. It was located across the from their Gate so they were in no danger of missing important announcements that might be made regarding their flight. Takumi crossed his fingers that the bartender was still away from his post and luck was in his favor. "Mrs. Ayuzawa, would you mind holding these seats for us while I find the bartender and place our order." Misaki nodded and told him what she'd like. She could entertain herself for a few minutes. She had wanted to check her emails before the flight anyway.

Takumi walked around the corner. Before looking for the bartender, he had to send Claire an *Urgent* text. Misaki was too unpredictable to assume she would accept his offer to fly on his private jet. His plan was to make preparations for a Plan B. His text included a long list of specific instructions for his secretary to carry out within the next 15 minutes. And he knew Claire. If anyone could make this happen it was her. Claire, money and influence. It was a lethal combination and he was fairly sure that because all three were in his corner, he would be flying for 12 hours with his Misa firmly planted by his side. He made sure that Claire understood that completing his list of instructions was a matter of life or death. Poor Claire was tasked with:

-Contacting the service counter for his flight.

-Convincing the employee manning the counter to look up the passenger who was booked in the seat next to his own.

-Getting the employee to page this passenger to the front counter.

-Offering this passenger any asking price he or she wanted for his or her seat.

-Wire said payment to the passenger's account from Takumi's personal account.

-Confirm with the service agent that the newly vacated seat was reassigned to him and that his own seat was reassigned to Misaki Ayuzawa.

After these instructions were carried out, she needed to:

-Contact the driver she had sent to collect Mr. Walker and ask him to wait in the garage.

-Tell the driver to wait for a hour. If Mr. walker did not contact him in that time, cancel his private flight. Otherwise the driver should expect a 10 minute lead time before Mr. Walker would meet him out front.

Finally, and this would prove to be the most challenging task, within the next 45 minutes find a way to get the airlines to announce that this flight was going to need to be significantly delayed. There was no need to actually delay the flight, just to make the announcement and then after 15 minutes or so, tell all passengers that the issue causing the delay was resolved.

Takumi understood that his tactics might seem unorthodox, but he had negotiated thousands of deals in his career. These types of "games" were sometimes necessary to make sure you won. No one would actually be hurt or inconvenienced. He'd do what was needed to keep Misa in his grasp for a few precious hours. Gone were the days that he could get away with stalking her. They were both grown up now. Under Plan B, she would think that coincidence had placed them together. Under Plan A, circumstances would cause her to choose to stay by his side for the length of this flight.

He couldn't jump straight into Plan A without compromising Plan B. So first he needed to feel her out. Miska had always been uncomfortable accepting help and since she saw him as a virtual stranger, he knew there was strong possibility he couldn't get her on his jet. But he was going to give it his best shot. On his jet, he could cook for her and watch her sleep without anyone else questioning his actions.

He spotted the bartender, placed their order and returned to the table. "Sorry that took a bit longer than I expected," he said with a smile. "I had to send the office some instructions on a very important matter."

Misaka looked up from her phone. She hadn't noticed he'd been gone for very long. "So, Mr. Walker, what would you like to talk about?"

He thought he should gather information about her profession. He could use this to try to entice her into flying with him on his jet if necessary. He also wanted to find out what types of things seemed to be successful in helping her remember lost memories.

"Well, Ms. Ayuzawa, you have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know who I am and what I do for a living but I know nothing about your life. Tell me, what line of work are you in?"

An announcement was made over the PA, "attention passenger Alan White. Please proceed to the service desk at Gate 4B." The announcement was repeated twice.

"I had begun law school at the time of the accident, but I had to take a year off to recover. Because I still have memory issues, I didn't feel confident going into a such a stressful profession. I was concerned a brain injury could impact my ability to provide my clients with the best possible advice. Instead I ended up working in Marketing for Igarashi Industries. I'm actually returning from a trade show now."

Igarashi Industries. Takumi should have known. Tora had ended up in the same college and same professional school as Misa. He was constantly lurking around her when he had been dating her. He was certain it was no coincidence that he happened to be her current employer.

Takumi's phone buzzed. It was a text from Claire. "Seat situation all sorted. Cost you a pretty pence. Hope she's worth it. -C"

He wanted to verify his suspicion. "Igarashi Industries, huh? I actually knew Tora Igarashi back when I was in high school."

Her checks turned a deep cerise. As he thought. The boyfriend had to be Tora.

"Oh right," she said trying to hide her embarrassment at the mention of his name. "He went to Seika High as well."

Takumi looked confused. He knew Tora hadn't gone to their school. In fact, Tora would never have even considered attending Seika High. "Really?" He asked, "you remember him going to our school?"

"It would be pretty hard to forget," she smiled remembering with fondness. "He used to follow me around like a puppy dog. You probably don't know this… I was a little embarrassed about it back then… but I worked part time at a café in high school. Tora found out and after that he would follow me to work and sit at this one table in my section practically every single shift."

So. Misaki did remember him. Tora had somehow wormed his way into Misa's injured mind to erase Takumi's face and replace it with his own. Tora had managed to hijack all of the memories Misa had of him. Tora had stolen his past…. his relationship. Tora had used what belonged to him to steal HIS Misaki. Takumi was furious, but he was also a practiced negotiator. He managed to maintain the apparence of calm and aloof. He couldn't scare away Misa now. Inside his mind, all he could think was: This. Is. War.