Chapter 9 – Painful Memories
The remainder of the day passed normally. Misaki did the dishes, cleaned a bit more of the penthouse, brought Akihiko a cup of coffee while he was working, and called it a day. He bid his master sweet dreams before going to his bedroom. The maid uniform hung from the door of his wardrobe, serving no purpose. It was relieving to not have to wear a dress anymore. Having Akihiko treat him like a normal Japanese boy was a big cheer-up for Misaki.
Even so, he still had this feeling of anxiety clouding his mind and he didn't understand it. There was nothing to fear, or at least it seemed that way. This wasn't true in Misaki's case, but he tried to fight his fears nonetheless.
Trying to clear his mind, he threw on his pajamas and lay down on his bed. A contented sigh came from his lips as he felt the soft matrass beneath him. He closed his eyes and waited for dreams to fill his mind.
Until early in the morning, Misaki slept peacefully. The songs of the birds failed to wake him. What did bring him to reality was a weight on top of him. Recognizing the situation, Misaki opened his eyes, but someone else's hand blocked his view. The hand was large, warm and rough. Its touch felt awfully familiar, yet it took Misaki some time to figure out who it belonged to.
When a long, baritone voice broke the silence, he remembered.
"Don't try to scream, Takahashi-kun. No one will hear you here."
Misaki's blood ran cold as he pictured the face of his previous master. His whole body was shaking, but arms and legs wouldn't move. Telling himself it was a nightmare, Misaki squeezed his eyes shut. As he did so, the hand retracted and started fidgeting with the pajama shirt he was wearing. Misaki tried to struggle, but his muscles felt way too heavy. An unknown force was holding him down and it was much stronger than him.
Then, he heard another voice.
"The drugs appear to be working well, don't you agree?"
Disbelief filled Misaki's mind. The second voice was undoubtedly Akihiko's. Moreover, he sounded as though he was enjoying what they were doing to the helpless housekeeper. Misaki didn't understand it. Akihiko had been so kind to him before, so how could he—
The train of thoughts was interrupted as the brunet discovered a pattern. Both Akihiko and Jeff had tried to make him feel welcome and cared for, yet they did that for the sole purpose of tricking him. He couldn't believe he had fallen for the same nasty trick twice. The only options he had left were pleading for the two to stop or accept his fate. Although he was pretty sure it wouldn't work, he picked the first option.
"Master, please don't do this to me! I can't take this a second time!"
Jeff was the one who responded. "It's not that you can't, Takahashi-kun," he said while chuckling, "You're simply scared, but that's not necessary. This time you know what to expect, right?"
"No, I don't want to go through this again!"
"Come on now. Don't you think that's unfair towards Akihiko? He hasn't had the chance to feel you yet and I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss out on this."
"Indeed," Akihiko hummed in agreement, "Now then, shall we begin?"
Moss green eyes shot open, examining the faces of the men towering over the teen. Their bodies were muscular, broad and barely clothed. Despite all that, the one who felt most exposed was Misaki, lying on the bed without being capable of moving a muscle. His eyes merely stared, his mouth agape with no words falling from his lips. He felt the same weakness from back when Jeff had raped him, along with betrayal. After everything Akihiko had said to him, he thought it was safe to believe that the man wouldn't hurt him. Nothing could've proven him more wrong than the situation he was currently in.
His shirt was pushed up as far as possible as fingers began playing with his nipples. They squeezed, pinched and pulled, making Misaki hiss in pain. The reaction painted a smirk on Akihiko's face.
"Looks like you're sensitive even though you're affected by the drug," he whispered, "Let's see how far we can get just by playing with you."
"Really Akihiko, don't you just want to fuck him?" Jeff asked.
"A bit of teasing never hurts." Glancing at Misaki, Akihiko licked his lips and leaned down, taking the abused nub in his mouth. He flicked it with his tongue while his hand slid into the boy's pajama bottoms.
Misaki wanted to stop them, but Jeff was holding his wrists together in an iron grip. Against such strong men, Misaki didn't stand a single chance. Even without trying, Jeff and Akihiko overpowered him. Furthermore, the drug that had been used on Misaki appeared to make most of his body go numb. Strangely, he could still feel the pain and pleasure, but his body wouldn't obey him.
The hand in his bottoms had discovered a growing lump in his boxers and was rubbing it in a slow, sensual manner. It wasn't supposed to feel good to Misaki, but it did. The stimulation made a moan come from the brunet's lips.
"Oh, you like that?" Akihiko teased, his breath tickling the nipple in his mouth, "I can do a lot more with my hands. Do you want me to show you?"
"N-no, stop!"
"Really, you don't want me to continue? You're getting harder even while I'm talking to you. Maybe I should just whisper dirty things into your ear until you beg for me to touch your body."
Misaki gritted his teeth. "There's no way in hell that'll ever happen."
"Okay, I think we've let him talk enough," Jeff said to Akihiko, "Should I gag him or do you want to fuck his mouth?"
"As alluring as that sounds, I'm more interested in what's down here," Akihiko replied coolly.
While the authors discussed the situation casually, Misaki listened to them in horror. His fate was literally being decided right before him and he didn't like any of it. He was absolutely disgusted, even more so when Akihiko forced their lips together, kissing the teen against his will. Misaki wanted to bite the man's lips, but Akihiko broke the kiss too soon for him to do that.
"I don't want to waste any more time," Akihiko said. Hooking fingers of both hands in Misaki's boxers, he pushed the clothes down swiftly. He spread the boy's legs and shoved his own underwear down hastily, keeping his eyes on Misaki while he undressed himself.
"…No," Misaki whimpered desperately. His voice was weak, but quickly regained its strength.
Akihiko didn't respond and pressed his cock against Misaki's entrance.
"Stop it!"
Screaming from the top of his lungs, Misaki found himself in his bedroom without Jeff or Akihiko. He was sitting upright in his bed, his entire body clammy with sweat and his eyes wide open. After blinking a couple of times, he realized he had woken up from a terrible nightmare. It was hard to believe that it was all his imagination; everything seemed and felt so real.
Suddenly, the door opened and Akihiko stood in the doorway, his eyes fixed on Misaki. In large steps, he walked towards the bed.
"What happened?" the author asked, "I heard you scream just now." He reached out, but stopped moving when Misaki jolted and crawled backwards. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"I…yes, I think so," Misaki replied, unsure of what was real and what was not, "What time is it?"
"It's nine in the morning."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up."
"You didn't, Misaki," Akihiko said, "My editor decided to come over early, so I was already awake long before I heard you. Now, do you want to talk about your nightmare? Was it about Jeff?"
At a loss of words, Misaki nodded slowly. Telling Akihiko that the nightmare was also about him was a bad idea. Either Akihiko would get angry or he'd be hurt that Misaki dreamt of him doing such a thing. Misaki wasn't sure what to think, so he said no more and averted his gaze. The gesture was soon noticed by Akihiko. Moving away from the bed, he turned around and walked back to the door. Near the doorway, he looked over his shoulder.
"Don't be scared if you hear yelling," he pointed out, "My editor can be loud sometimes, mostly when she's excited or angry."
The door of the bedroom closed and Misaki was alone again. Since he was wide awake, he figured it was about time for him to get out and make breakfast. He wondered if he was supposed to prepare something for Akihiko's editor as well, but she had probably eaten already.
"Whatever, I'll just ask," he muttered to himself, putting his feet on the ground. His clothes lay on the desk at the other side of the room, neatly folded as usual. He put them on and laid his pajamas under his pillow.
Once he was dressed and had opened the curtains, Misaki left his room and descended the stairs. The first thing he noticed was someone with long, red hair sitting on one of the sofas. Across from the stranger said Akihiko, who looked bored out of his mind. His eyes found the teen as the latter reached the lower level, yet they did not speak to one another.
"Sensei, pay attention!" the voice of a woman called, "What's with you today? You're acting all secretive."
Failing to catch the author's attention, the redhead looked to see what Akihiko was staring at and saw Misaki.
"Are you Misaki-kun?" she asked, getting up from the couch. The boy nodded and she smiled, hurrying over to him on her red high heels. "So, you're Usami-sensei's housekeeper. I'm Aikawa, his editor."
"N-nice to meet you," Misaki stuttered, a bit startled by her enthusiasm. Nevertheless, he found her very pretty and friendly-looking. She didn't seem scary or intimidating in the slightest, but he assumed that was because she's a woman. Had Akihiko's editor been male, then Misaki would've avoided them as much as he could.
Akihiko could tell his housekeeper wasn't entirely at ease, but he looked as though he could manage, so it wasn't necessary to stop Aikawa from rambling on and on. Even when she began complaining about Akihiko never making his deadlines, the latter remained seated. He was used to all the nagging and knew that Aikawa would be praising him for his brilliant writing in the end, like she always did.
"Misaki-kun, how long have you been working here?" the woman asked, showing her interest in the young housekeeper.
"Only a couple of days," Misaki replied, "I first found a job offer online, but that didn't really work out. Then master told me that he could use a housekeeper and that's how I ended up here."
Aikawa squealed in delight. "Sensei, he even calls you 'master'! That would be a great scenario for that new novel of yours!"
"Let's not discuss my next work with Misaki around," Akihiko said, interrupting his overly excited editor, "Weren't you the one who told me to stay focused? You're getting sidetracked right now."
"Right, the manuscript." Aikawa sat back on the sofa and read the final pages of Akihiko's story.
Misaki watched as the two discussed the manuscript, barely understanding wht they were going on about. Aikawa seemed somewhat bothered by something, but her explanation made no sense to him. It had to be because he didn't know a thing about books, much less Akihiko's. It made him feel dumb. He knew he had to do something to make himself useful.
"Aikawa-san, would you like something to drink? Or perhaps I could fix you some food."
"No thanks," Aikawa said, flashing a smile, "We'll finish up in a couple of minutes and I need to take the manuscript to the printers, so I can't stay much longer."
"Are you sure? I'm about to make breakfast for master anyways."
Aikawa laughed and shook her head, declining Misaki's offer in a friendly manner. She continued to read and Misaki retreated to the kitchen. He threw on his apron and started making a traditional Japanese breakfast.
Soon, the delicious smell reached Aikawa and Akihiko, who had finished talking about the manuscript. Putting the document in her bag, Aikawa prepared to take her leave. She thanked Akihiko and promised to bring some sweets for Misaki the next time she visited. Misaki saw her out and bid her goodbye. Once she had left, he got back to the kitchen to continue cooking.
"As I expected, she really likes you," Akihiko noted, lighting a cigarette, "I hope that won't make her come over more often."
"That's not a nice thing to say. You should welcome guests."
"She doesn't count as a guest," Akihiko argued irritably, "That woman's just a pain in the ass. If I don't finish my manuscripts on time, she almost murders me."
"Maybe you should hand in your work on time, don't you think?" Misaki replied matter-of-factly.
Akihiko ignored his witty response and got up, approaching the other. He leaned over the counter, causing Misaki to instinctively take a step away from him. The novelist noticed, but didn't say anything about it.
"Is breakfast ready yet?" he asked, "I'm hungry."
"Almost. Let me set the table and we can eat."
Misaki filled the bowls with rice and miso soup and brought the food to the dining table. He walked back, turned off the stove, and served the salmon along with the vegetables he had prepared. Akihiko took a seat first, watching as Misaki got rid of his apron and joined him.
"So," Misaki began, "how long have you and Aikawa-san known each other?"
"Don't know, but it feels like we've worked together for years." Akihiko sighed. "I think it's because I haven't worked with any other editors for a while. Aikawa is in charge of all of my novels."
Misaki didn't understand why Akihiko wasn't more grateful. Aikawa was an important person for his career, yet he didn't treat her as such. Calling her a nuisance proved how little Akihiko cared about her assistance—that's how it seemed to Misaki.
Just when the brunet was about to lecture his master, they both heard the doorbell ring. Misaki looked at Akihiko questioningly, but the man appeared to be puzzled as well.
"Were you expecting anyone, master?"
"Only Aikawa, but she already has what she needs. Maybe she's forgotten something."
"I'll go check," Misaki said.
Getting up from his seat, Misaki walked to the front door. For some reason, he got the feeling that it wasn't Aikawa waiting by the door, but he didn't know who else it could be. The thought that Jeff had returned crossed his mind, and he froze, then told himself to stay calm. It was no use thinking about that horrible person.
He grasped the door handle, took a deep breath and pushed the handle down. As the door opened, he noticed two tall men in uniforms. They were obviously policemen.
"G-good day," Misaki said, slightly intimidated by them, "Can I help you?"
"You are Takahashi Misaki, correct? We would like to ask you some questions."
"Oh, sure! Please, come in."
The men entered the penthouse and Misaki shut the door. Akihiko had moved away from the dining table to greet the unexpected visitors. He offered them a seat, the tone in his voice too friendly for Misaki to consider normal. Akihiko wasn't very keen on visitors, so the teen couldn't see why he was so pleased to have the police at his house. Dispelling that thought, he walked to the sofas and sat down next to his master and across from the policemen. He was not looking forward to answering their questions, but it was his only option.
"Now, before we get to the point, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Kojima Sho and that's Iwasaki Kuro. He's new to the job, so he's come with me to see how it's done."
"It's...nice to meet you," Misaki said, eyeing the two policemen carefully, "If you don't mind, could you tell me what brings you here?"
"We've been informed that you have been sexually harassed by Jeff Honda and were sent here to listen to your side of the story. Since the person who reported the harassment isn't related to you, we need to make sure that it's not just a trick."
Akihiko wasn't as intimidated as Misaki. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I thought the police often doesn't really take action when someone reports rape."
"Unfortunately, that is partially true," Sho admitted, "We always try to help the victims, but in most cases there's too little evidence to continue our investigation. If we can't tell whether a report is real or not, it's hard to arrest someone. However, Honda-san has been accused of raping a young lady before, who called the police afterwards. Back then, he managed to get away with it, but we aren't going to let that happen a second time. If the charges against him are true, he has to take responsibility for what he's done."
Hearing that someone else had gone through the same only made Misaki worry all the more. One girl had been brave enough to tell the authorities, yet he felt as though she wasn't the only one besides him who had been sexually harassed by Jeff. Who knew how many victims were actually keeping quiet out of fear and shame like him?
If Jeff didn't get arrested soon, more harmless housekeepers would suffer the same fate. Misaki couldn't let that happen. Whatever the police wanted to know, he would tell them the whole truth. Surely, it was going to be painful, but it needed to be done.
Mustering all of his courage, he folded his hands in his lap. "I'll tell you everything," he said confidently, "Just ask me something you want to know."
Sho nodded, flashing a warm, friendly smile. "We'll do this at your pace, Takahashi-kun," he explained in a gentle voice, "Let us know if you need a break or if we're going too fast. Our only purpose right now is to help you. We appreciate your collaboration."
Kuro, who still hadn't uttered a single word since their arrival, got a small device out of the pouch of his belt and pressed one of the buttons. Akihiko assumed it was a recorder, but he wasn't entirely sure of it. The device was laid down on the coffee table, right in the center.
Everyone was silent for a few seconds, but Sho eventually broke the silence.
"Takahashi-kun, why were you at the Honda Estate?" he asked calmly.
Feeling extremely nervous, Misaki played with the hem of his shirt and breathed in slowly. This was the first time he'd ever come into contact with the police and it gave him a bad feeling, even though he was the victim. Sitting across from two complete strangers, who both happened to be male as well, was really scary to him.
Noticing how the teen felt, Sho waited patiently for his answer. Talking to rape victims required understanding and patience; staying calm and being nice was the key. It was never nice to discuss unpleasant events, so he knew it was hard for Misaki.
After another deep breath, Misaki began to answer the question. "I had a job as a housekeeper, because I'm trying to earn money to pay my tuition fees. I found an article online and decided to apply for the job."
"What kinds of requirements were listed in that article?"
"The housekeeper had to be capable of cooking meals, doing the laundry and cleaning the house. It also mentioned that the Honda family preferred a female housekeeper."
Biting his lip, Misaki hoped that neither of the policemen judged him for what he had said. Looking away, he met Akihiko's gaze, finding no emotion in those violet eyes. Not being able to guess what his master was thinking made him insecure, because his thoughts were rather pessimistic at the moment.
"Do we have to take a break?" Sho asked, realizing that he had lost the youth's attention.
"Ah—no, I'm fine!" Misaki replied immediately, his face flushing in embarrassment.
"All right, then I will keep going. What kind of impression did Honda-san leave on you when you met him?"
"He was very kind to me and praised me for the simplest of things, like how good-hearted I was. I felt like he was exaggerating sometimes, but I was still glad that he didn't look down on me. Honestly, he didn't seem to have any problems with me being a guy either."
While he answered that question, Misaki began to wonder why he didn't find it suspicious before. It was rather strange that Jeff had chosen him as the new housekeeper; Misaki's name may be girly, but he was most certainly a guy! Besides, there had to be more experienced people out there who could've taken on the job. It made him wonder if Jeff had planned everything from the very beginning.
He didn't know what to think of that man anymore and he preferred to keep it that way.
All of a sudden, a hand placed itself on Misaki's head and ruffled his hair. This made the boy flinch and move away swiftly, his eyes wide as they stared at the hand that had touched him. As his gaze met Akihiko's, he saw the faintest hint of hurt in the author's eyes.
"I'm sorry," Misaki apologized, "I'm a bit jumpy right now."
Shaking his head, Akihiko retracted his hand and broke eye contact. Not a word came from his lips, but Misaki could easily tell that his reaction had hurt his master's feelings. Even with his fear to trust any other men, he felt sorry for Akihiko as he was aware that the man was simply trying to comfort him. Part of him wanted to accept Akihiko's help, but he was too scared and uncertain.
The two men on the other sofa watched them both closely, yet said nothing about it. Sho tried to continue where they had left off with another question, feeling like the pieces of the puzzle were slowly but surely getting together.
"Takahashi-kun, can you tell us what happened when you started working at the Honda Estate?"
"Honda-san showed me around and asked me to cook dinner for him. There wasn't anything special about it, but when I went to my bedroom I found a maid uniform in the closet. At first I thought that it was a mistake, so I asked Honda-san where the actual uniform was. He said that there weren't any male uniforms and that I had to wear the maid dress."
Tapping his fingers on his knee, Sho resisted cocking an eyebrow. "If I understand correctly, Honda-san forced you to wear a dress despite knowing that you're male?" The frown found its way to his face when Misaki nodded. "Did you go against him?"
Shaking his head very slowly, Misaki felt his face grow even hotter. The memory of putting on that uniform was already bad enough, but humiliating himself in front of the police was worse. They were probably thinking of him as a coward, and they were right about that. Back then, he was so scared to lose his job that he hardly protested at all and the situation had gotten out of hand because of that. He wished he'd never put that stupid dress on; it would have saved him from the misery and the pain.
Crying over the mistakes he'd made wasn't going to solve anything, Misaki realized. He needed to focus on the present and try to leave the past behind. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. With his none too optimistic mentality, Misaki had little faith in a full recovery, thinking that the scars would keep reminding him of what Jeff had done.
"If I may be so bold, what Jeff said to Misaki about the uniforms is a lie," Akihiko said, successfully capturing everyone's attention, "I have known him for quite some time and he always orders custom uniforms for his housekeepers. Since he already knew that Misaki is a guy, I believe that he made him wear a maid dress on purpose."
"How would you describe your relationship with Honda-san?" Sho asked, showing interest in what the author had said.
"We're both authors and met a year ago, if I remember correctly. During my last visit, I met Misaki and was surprised that he was wearing an outfit for girls, because Jeff never seemed interested in guys before."
"Then why do you think he forced Takahashi-kun to wear the maid uniform?"
Akihiko shrugged, not ashamed to admit that he didn't know. "I can't tell what's going on inside Jeff's head," he replied bluntly, "but if he's interested in men I would've expected more male housekeepers at his place."
Every time that name was said out loud, Misaki cringed and suppressed a whimper. Akihiko managed to talk about that guy so casually even after finding out what was underneath that mask of his, and it frightened the brunet. Perhaps Akihiko was just pretending to be calm, but that meant that he was wearing a mask as well. Momentarily, Misaki began to tell himself not to be so weak and expose himself to the outside world. At the same time, however, he knew that he had to be honest towards the police if he wanted Jeff to get what he deserved.
Giving Misaki some time to think, Sho kept his eyes on Akihiko and decided to listen to his observations. While he was supposed to ask the victim questions, he got the feeling that Akihiko had some valuable information for them too.
"Usami-san, did you notice anything peculiar about the way Honda-san treated Takahashi-kun when you paid him a visit?"
"Not right away…" Akihiko trailed off as his gaze traveled to the boy next to him, "Things took a strange turn when he ordered Misaki to…pleasure him with his mouth. I would go into further detail, but I'm sure Misaki won't appreciate that. Anyway, it was quite shocking as it happened right in front of my eyes."
"Did you try to stop him?"
"No, but I would have if I knew that it was against Misaki's will. I didn't hear him put up a fight, so I assumed it was consensual. What I think is that Misaki didn't protest, because he was afraid to lose his job."
Sho nodded in understanding, also looking at Misaki. The latter refused to make eye contact with anyone, keeping his head low. With his hair hiding most of his face, it was impossible to see his expression. Without a doubt, he was ashamed of his own actions.
The room fell silent for a moment or two, the atmosphere growing tense. The next question was going to be the hardest one to answer for Misaki, so Sho was reluctant to continue. Shaking visibly, Misaki was incapable of hiding how uneasy he was and that didn't go unnoticed. All eyes were on him, making him want to crawl into a shell and isolate himself. It wasn't a feeling he usually had, but being raped had damaged his personality.
Finally, he looked up through watery eyes. To Akihiko and the policemen, it seemed like the teen was on the verge of tears already. They all held their breaths, waiting to see what Misaki would do, but the latter said nothing. Sho took this as a sign to move on.
"Takahashi-kun, what else did Honda-san do to you?"
The question triggered more memories, so clear that tears began to form in Misaki's eyes once more. Seeing Jeff's face, even if it was only in his head, terrified him. He quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, hoping that no one would see it, but he knew it was in vain. Again, the poor housekeeper felt weak and chicken-hearted. His eyes fluttered shut and he sighed, his heart rate quickening.
"He…he came into my room early in the morning," Misaki said, speaking so softly that it was barely audible, "I woke up and he was on top of me, covering my mouth with his hand so that I couldn't cry out. Then he gagged me and started t-touching me while I tried to break free, but I was powerless." At that point, Misaki's voice cracked, yet he wasn't crying. Clearing his throat, he continued. "Even though I kept praying that he would stop, it only got worse, and eventually he…r-raped me."
Nobody spoke after Misaki's story, either too shocked or disgusted by what they heard. The policemen got all the information they needed and were ready to leave, but Sho wanted to reassure the young brunet first. He got up from his seat and patted Misaki's shoulder, smiling at him as if to say that he was safe.
Akihiko noticed that Misaki stiffened when he was touched, which was exactly what he expected. When Sho released his housekeeper, he thanked him and Kuro, who thanked them in return for their time and cooperation. He saw the two out and when he got back to the living room area, Misaki was still sitting on the couch, his eyes hidden behind his bangs. Taking a couple of steps closer, the novelist could suddenly hear the faint sound of sobbing.
Right then, Akihiko had absolutely no idea what to do. He was terrible at comforting others; there was one way that could make anyone stop crying, but…that could only go badly. Shaking his head vigorously, he approached Misaki cautiously and kneeled down in front of him. The boy's big eyes were red and puffy, tears spilling from them. All the feelings that he'd kept bottled up inside were breaking free.
"It's all right," Akihiko spoke in a gentle voice, "You can cry…if it helps."
Misaki looked up at him with those watery eyes, sniffing softly while more tears ran down his red cheeks. His lower lip was swollen as he had been biting it to fight back the sobs, but the tiniest smile played on his lips.
"M-master, I—"
"You don't have to keep calling me that," the author said, "I know that it makes you uncomfortable and I don't want to remind you of what happened at the Honda Estate. If anything I do makes you uneasy, please tell me, because this is the first time for me to have someone live under the same roof as I."
The kindness behind those words made Misaki's smile falter as guilt took control of him once more. Although he couldn't stand Akihiko when they first met, there was no denying that he had misjudged said man. Still, he simply didn't have the courage to trust Akihiko just yet.
"I'm so sorry, Usagi-san," he whispered through his sobbing.
"It would be a lie to say that it doesn't hurt my feelings, but I understand why you can't rely on me. For that reason, I will find someone else you can talk to. In the meantime, just take it easy and don't go outside by yourself, okay?"
A fleeting smile crossed Akihiko's face before he got up from his spot on the floor. He wanted to ruffle the boy's hair and tell him it would all be fine, but he couldn't. Just like Misaki, he was worried that Jeff might be near them.
Akihiko walked away from the sofa and went to his office. There wasn't anything he could do to help Misaki, but there was definitely someone who could. It was a matter of looking for that one person, and Akihiko was confident that he would find her.
Someone had to help Misaki leave those painful memories behind.