THE PASSING WIND

-TheSilentReader-

{PROLOGUE}

The pain started beneath the sternum, pulsing, gripping on every rod of muscle, constricting as tendons and cartilages stretched out almost to their limits. The supply of air decreased significantly, and the need to breath expanded the diaphragm, but this reflex suddenly caught between the caging pain of his weak lungs and his dry alveolar sacs. He tried to stretch his neck, to direct his nose high to the air, but he could not stand the pain at the nape—he felt the coldness depositing on his saggy and dry skin even though it was fairly covered with the softest satin pillowcase of his king-sized poster bed. He raised his hand, suddenly, slowly, directing it to the first button of his pajama nearest to his neck, quivering as he tried to unbutton it with his almost numb fingers. It didn't work. He tried it with two hands. He was used to leave this kind of annoyance to the mercy of his agile and vigorous body—but it was all in the past now.

Suddenly, he felt time ran so fast, and he knew how this familiarity worked; he remembered every second of his life twenty years ago, ten years ago, than how he lived his life after that. Nine years ago, time passed as his body felt the toll of old age. Eight years ago, the voluminous graying skin that he constantly and stubbornly ignoring was as vivid to his vision even though his sight were now hazy and shadowy. His legs that used to be ripped with hard muscles now could barely stand because of arthritis, that even the thick, keratinized skin of his sole were now cracked, not because he lived through a life of poverty before (walking without shoes on dust-filled and mud-soaked pavement) but because he was mulish enough to ignore cane until he got sick of falling down. Then came the wheelchair.

The dim, ochre light from a faraway source was his only salvation—there was something in that light that made him calm somehow.

But he needed to get up in the morning. He needed to read those documents that Kobayashi-kun would submit. That boy—until now he still could not understand how that turd could not even follow simple directions. He told him to cut the budget a quarter off than that of last year, but he still was fighting with delaying tactics. He was determined to fire him this day—but if he submitted the right documents with correct numbers this time, then, he could still try to recall Hinegawa's worth.

He needed to check on Ryu-kun. He was going on his own way again. He thought he didn't know; he was getting his comfortable in defying him and getting his own decisions into the table without even having his approval—he was just the CEO. He was not the President and Chairman. He still owned this enterprise.

He needed to get up. Where is Sachiko? He better gets her and let her tend him. He always loved their games. It was the only method for them to get along.

He reached for a bell on the bedside drawer.

CHAPTER 20:

Present Day

Kyouiichi looked at the documents in front of him as he stopped his wriggling eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose—he didn't know that Touma Ryu had gone too far. It was easy to remove him from his post—to remove him entirely from the family—but he had too much of shares that being on his way would simply tweaked things against his advantage—and the fact that Kashiwagi had been buying his way into the highest ranks—was just enough to make a cripple out of him.

There was one way to do this—the basic one wherein everyone was capable of—it would be to talk to him personally. What if this could change the course of their plans? Not that he could not do anything, but changing either of those two men's perspective and knowing their drive would be enough. The hard part is to get their attention. Must he do damage? Or must he walk into their side and play the weak?

The second one is not an option. Or rather, it was an option least considered. He is an Ogasawara, for crying out loud. He will not be bullied. Not by Touma or Kashiwagi. This is the time for the Ogasawara to unite once more. This is the time to rekindle old memories and reopen rotting wounds. In that way, he could achieve victory.

Somehow, this entertainment has nothing to do with money. This game was about the last person who would submit to intimidation and loss. The last person to bow down and accept person with the least pride in battle and the most pride after winning.

Well, if playing clean were those two had been doing, he would not mind playing along. After all, is there a standard to what was clean and to what was dirt? Were there rules anyway? Were they governed by moral rules? No. Not at all. Not when they don't know them.

They angered Sachiko-chan. They made a very convincing impression by putting her old lover into their family problem. Sachiko would possibly do two things: it was whether Sachiko would or not consider their family's reputation. She would defy Kyouiichi if she didn't care anymore; she wouldn't if otherwise.

But it seemed that she would.

Because he heard uniform knocks that always signify Sachiko's presence. The same knocks as Sayako's, her fallen mother.

It's time to make a deal.

Several years ago

He considered himself always on top of the mountain or on the highest floor of a tower, overseeing a vast land until it reached the horizon. Whenever a storm would come, he could smell its forging violence by a slight change in the scent of the wind, as if he could feel hot and cool air mixing before him. A vicious storm, that he could not prevent, but he could cope. But it would never be comparable to his Sachiko. Somehow, this little bird has been too over-confident to flap her wings away from her home. Birds of prey like them loom above all others, but he would never consider such a commodity like her grandchild to be mingling with chickens—like Fukuzawa Yumi. He had seen enough, and heard enough of it. Soon, Sachiko, his budding eagle, would be considering herself among the lowly poultry, scouring on dirt just to snip a bead of grain, because it was unable to fly and feed on a much active, fleshy prey.

He thought that the reason Sachiko suddenly became attached to the Yamayurikai was her sense of superiority to train herself to rule and govern. Sayako—he remembered—used to be the Rosa Chinensis of her days, and the fact that she was once a member of the Yamayurikai was also the point where Tooru and she first met. She must have gained that kind of ambition because her mother was one. But, luck came to her rescue when the Rosa Chinensis en bouton picked Sachiko as her petit soeur. There was nothing wrong with being one—it was just Mizuno Youko could never be much deserving of her title. Sachiko could have picked a better onee-sama, maybe another Rose with similar status as hers. But was there anyone else above Sachiko, when she was the most prized scion of the richest family in Musashino?

That was the sole reason why he must do something out of this delay of a sound decision from Sachiko of whether she was ready enough to fill that duty as an Ogasawara. Surely she won't be like her father, whose abilities reversely matched his great cowardice, and her mother who was the inverse of her husband. She had talent, but she was weak to rule. She could have been a better substitute for Tooru, but how atrocious it would be for Tooru to be overshadowed by his wife's abilities, when, in fact, she has not a single drop of Ogasawara blood? Sachiko was the same as her mother.

He knew that he made it clear that she was ought to be married to anyone who Kyouiichi had picked for her, and that was always an unspoken decree of the family. But instead of facing this objective with a straight mind, Sachiko-chan had been going on circles. But, it was not as if Kyouiichi had not been expecting this.

"I don't think I am ready for this engagement, Grandfather."

They were in Kyouiichi's office.

He replied without any hint of disappointment—after all, she may have a more proper and better excuse to abort this little set-up. "Oh, Saa-chan? I thought you are very determined to suceed me. Your lack of resolve to settle this engagement appeared to be so faltering."

"I . . . I need to think about this, about this engagement." She said.

"Why? Is Touma Ryu not suited for the Ogasawara family?"

He noticed the sudden twitch of Sachiko's fingers, but he acted as if he saw nothing. This was one of those times that she had been so reckless of her image in front of him—she always made sure that she won't show any form of weakness.

"Is he?"

He feigned insulted. Well, Touma Ryu still has to be dissected. "Are you questioning my good friend's grandson's . . . qualifications? I approve that your standards are so high that even that excellent boy is not deserving of my dear granddaughter."

"No, that is not the case."

"What then? Do you not approve of my recommendation?"

Kyouiichi noticed the sudden change in her. It was as if a storm had been brewing and he failed to notice it. It was like Tooru all over again. He tried not to sigh just so she could change her mind. But then, she had the will of her father.

She said, "I wish to decide whom to marry, Grandfather. My personal decision of who to be with for the rest of my life shall lie only to me and no one else. This has nothing to do with my qualifications as the next leader of our family's enterprise."

"Then, Touma Ryu simply is not the man you wish to share the company. Why? Do you have better suggestions?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

". . . !"

"Care to enlighten me, Saa-chan?"

He could have sworn he could make reconsiderations, but then, he sensed something in her the character that he hated the most. She hesitated. Her mind was not set at all to gain his approval. It was always her waterloo. She muttered, "No, it's nothing."

It was so vexing he could slap her.

But given his position, he couldn't just shout at her and tell her to be a good girl. She was as stubborn as a mule. "Then, I consider this act of yours just like the rest of young adults experience; you are just confused and you think that this subject was just too rushed, too unfair, but you are more than just anyone. You are different. A matter of your future was in need of pronounced verdict and all you say was nothing?"

This was enough for Sachiko to flinch.

"I'm not perfect, unlike you, Grandfather."

"Then start to be one, Ogasawara Sachiko, if you want to suceed me."

Conversations like these were as staple as the white, sticky rice they eat everyday, in the same room (his office) whenever he summoned him for a talk. She must have noticed—for all the things she had learned from him—that she couldn't hide forever, but she still endured and lied and faked and dodged whenever possible by letting herself be defeated in a conversation that she initially wanted to win. It was so sickening watching her fail.

It was so sickening watching her so pliant with her decisions and beliefs. It was so sickening that even though she had her mother's talents, she had inherited her father's weak determination. It was not as strong as Kyouiichi's.

"Let me remind you of your duties for the family. In your father's stead."

And being like that would not even help her in running a company.

"I need to go, Grandfather. I'm afraid I needed some lectures to study for tomorrow."

". . ."

She said, after she turned her back away from her watching grandfather. "Thank you."

"If you think you can worm your way out of this business, you will be gravely disappointed."

The fact that she said nothing was the reason he thought that Fukuzawa Yumi was not worth a hair of Ogasawara Sachiko.

Men and women in high society were never taught to use crude words and loud, screaming voices to push their point across an argument. Men are taught to be calm and precise of their words; women are taught to be eloquent but quiet with their beliefs. To gossip was always the flaw of women, and it will always be, but it was also tolerated. Gossips are powerful to make or break a person. Any praise or insult could be intensified. A simple gesture could mean a whole column of a society page of the newspaper. An innocuous act of honesty or kindness could break a whole family.

Her granddaughter's affair with her schoolmate was one of Kyouiichi's concerns. It was not as if he wouldn't allow such atrocity to pass his radar, but if she meant this little affair a serious business, this could affect not only his position as her grandfather, but also her position as the successor of the company. Everyone has high hopes.

Everyone had known that the first dance always closes an engagement. The dance in the ball sponsored by the Ogasawara family made a signature of Sachiko's future. Everyone knows it—Saa-chan was expected to have knowledge about it; Touma Ryu-kun was expected ask and take her hand for a dance. Her acceptance was expected as a collective approval for the lady's family, whether the man was worthy.

Thus, as a man, Touma Ryu was considered the most proper for the lady heir Ogasawara Sachiko.

Yet, it was as if Sachiko was vocal enough of her interest.

"It is for your imagination."

It was the oldest trick in the book. It was something that she carried out for so many years that denial and approval was equivalent to those words. Whatever the audience assumed. Yet, her denial took her into the disadvantage. She should have not taken that dance lightly. She should have not denied nor made unclear statements about Ryu-san.

Months before the formal omiai with the Touma Family, Kyouiichi called her to settle their unending conversation and to settle their silent dispute about Sachiko's future. One was sure: he would never accept her decision. He would never accept Yumi.

"I can never accept him. I love someone else."

"You mean, your petite soeur?"

She never mentioned her petite soeur to anyone in the Ogasawara household, especially her grandfather. But Kyouiichi had been expecting a reaction because he had been looking too closely into her personal life like a stalker—but Sachiko was still on her feet. She had been expecting it. She knew she was being watched.

Yet, why the deliberate act of negligence? She wanted to be watched?

"Yes. Her. Fukuzawa Yumi. I love Fukuzawa Yumi." She confirmed.

Her eyes were unnaturally dark as she stared at her senile grandfather. Again, they were alone. But as she searched for any reaction from her senior, she found none. He was neither angry nor surprised—as if he knew it after all. His eyes broke their parallel glares, and relaxed more onto his cushioned seat, as if—

"Do you think I have not foreseen this act of disobedience from you?" He asked.

Sachiko was tenaciously trying not to fall down. "I have never disobeyed you, in any way. I have never been a disgrace to the family. I had done nothing to soil our name. This is not an act of disobedience; this is an act of independence."

He felt her courage surge all over her body—her blood fiercely pumping on her veins as she composed herself. She was angry of this informal agreement. She intended not to follow orders. She wanted to serve not the family, but herself.

"I love her, Oji-sama."

This was it? After all Saa-chan's hiding, her attempt to keep everything under Kyouiichi's nose, this was her response? Have she thought of the repercussions if she decided to divert against tradition?

"I do not approve of this arrangement, Sachiko. You must have known my answer from the beginning. Yet, you managed to continue your liaison with the woman. What are your plans? Must I suggest that you should simply cut ties with her? Must I order you to recognize your position in this family?"

"I recognize my position in this family: it is to succeed you. It is to be better than you. You put me in a pedestal higher than yours, and I will fulfill them. This is my first step."

"You are cancelling your engagement to Touma Ryu for her?"

"There was no engagement in the first place." She said vehemently.

Another losing match for her, then. Looking at her through his spectacles, he concluded, hinting that this is one of their games, "Then you are wrong. You were not taught well, Saa-chan. You knew very well what a dance meant. What it meant to accept his offer."

She had never danced with anyone before, even though she was always present in balls and parties that his grandfather had been constantly been preparing for his friends and business associates. If there was something that she had mastered, it was dancing—but it was not something that she thoroughly enjoyed. Especially if she required a partner.

Her first dance with Yumi was the one that mattered. At least, with that, even though she'd be partnered with Ryu during the Cinderella dance, it wouldn't matter because Yumi had made her do it. It was as if there was a silent agreement. Nothing would matter if it were not with Yumi.

Yet, how could such a reason would matter for the rest of the world? How could everyone understand that with Ryu, it was nothing. That dance doesn't mean anything? No, it was not the case. They do not govern the world.

His grandfather does.

But that doesn't mean, she couldn't do anything.

Yet, he did not expect Sachiko to confront her head on. Had her brain been melting since fraternizing with Fukuzawa Yumi and her friends?

She said, more with her heart than a blob of tissue in her head. "Times are changing. We are changing. The world is changing. We could not simply allow ourselves to be fixed into a pointless tradition that has little significance to what matters. A dance in your time might be meaningful, but a dance in this generation might be useless as dust."

Another useless radical sense of independence. He decreeded, "Yet, we are not other people. We are not like those below our social class."

"Why couldn't we?!"

Kyouiichi felt his heart constrict as he heard her words.

He was seeing not only Tooru, not only Sayako, but also himself. All of Ogasawara's weaknesses. All of their blind perception of change, of what was ideal.

He groaned with the strength remaining in his throat, "Because we have a permanent obligation to this family! To my father who made us rise to the top once more! Do not make me angry, Sachiko. Do not disgrace this family more than you've ever done!"

It was an insult meant only for her. Her sexuality, her ambition, and her ways to know them in painstaking ways. It should have been easy to know herself, to accept herself, and to live with it with those who love and acknowledge her. But, her self-awareness was a disgrace. It was a rejection she could not handle.

There was silence as Kyouiichi's voice reverberated along the walls of the mansion. It was one of the rare times he shouted ever since fatigue of old age had finally caught up to him, of the effects of his old vices that once more had gripped onto his frailing body.

What Sachiko feared the most, she was witnessing now.

A frail body of a family member, of her flesh and blood, suddenly losing its life force from a mortal, physical body.

Just seeing his grandfather reminded her of her horrid nightmares.

How could she defend herself? Yumi? If her weakness was the only thing that separate Sachiko and her courage to continue this argument?

She tried to reach out for her grandfather, forgetting of their games, their powerplays, her silent rebellion, his choking sense of obligation and family, even Yumi. Yet, she was dismissed from helping him on his seat with a wave of a weak, yet fighting hand.

Kyouiichi was fighting to regain his strength. His medicine was kept on a container that he was holding so desperately, and popped several pills to his mouth. Sachiko had no choice but to watch him bit those bitter pills with his brittle teeth, to melt them with saliva, not to choke them but to swallow them even with its tongue-scorching bitterness without the easing aid of water.

She had no choice but to go back to their game. All she needed was for him to understand that she conceded. That she surrendered. She wanted freedom so badly, but she could not get out, if she kept on losing.

She whispered defeatedly, "Grandfather, please reconsider. You are yet to meet her. I can be a true Ogasawara without sacrificing those who I love. I will succeed you, Grandfather, in my own way."

Him taking his pills seemed to ease him. He was now slowly gaining color and he stopped sweating.

And with his regaining strength was the rise of his confidence. His mocking, smug tone was clear in his voice. "And with you succeeding, you needed an heir. A legitimate heir. What are you going to do, Ogasawara Sachiko? Are there any other options?"

She silenced. Her eyes narrowed at him as she tried not to surrender an idea both of them had hated to discuss.

He continued, "Are you going to keep her as your mistress?"

"How dare—" Wrong move. Wrong move!

His victory was nearing. "It's been on your mind, isn't it? Yet it's a matter you won't discuss. A matter you would never think you'd be doing."

"I would never be like—"

He smirked. "Me? Or your father? Or like everyone else? Why, it is a privilege our society has. I always thought that this is one conversation that will turn the tables against me. But then, here you are. We are in a conundrum that should have been solved easily, if it were not for her, your Fukuzawa Yumi."

In silence, she tried not to hear him. In silence, she stood straight, to endure waves and waves of his grandfather's words.

"You delay your destiny, by just being with her. She slows you down. I would not mind if you don't like Touma Ryu; we can pick someone else. You will need an heir. That is the rule."

She wanted to kill him. If it should render her free with Yumi . . . in her mind she saw herself steal those pills and replace them with something else lethal—something untraceable, but lethal. With her blank eyes trying to maintain eye contact with his, her vision turned white into imagining herself standing before his deathbed, grining at him. Telling him silently that with his death, she'd won.

Yet, with that, the face of her mother replaced Ogasawara Kyouiichi's. She removed the seductive pull of her imaginings from her head. She was seeing her mother in place of him! No, not her mother!

But Kyouiichi read her mind. "Leave your dreams and ambitions—your promise to your mother—or, stay and fulfill them. The choice is yours. But then, you have no choice in the matter. We all are."

Her mother.

There were so many ways to describe Ogasawara Sayako. Many said that she looked like her mother, and it was more noticeable when she began her schooling in high school. Yumi met her on her first year as Sachiko's petite soeur, but it was only so brief for it was just a formal introduction. But before Sachiko could graduate, Sayako left.

He should have not mentioned her. Never in her expectations that he would stoop so low to win. It was an instant kill. It was her reason for staying.

Everything. He was talking about everything. He was not only talking about Yumi, but also Sachiko's insurgence that she'd been harboring for the past years.

"End this, or I will end it for you." Ogasawara Kyouiichi said. And it came with promises of execution.

Perhaps bravery was perceived differently from the person who possessed it to the person who perceived it. Courage, it could appear to be for herself, but it could also be called cowardice for others. Kyouiichi must have seen Sachiko's embrace with her destiny as an act of courage, yet to others it could be perceived as an act of weakness and fear for loving Yumi. There was also courage for Sachiko leaving Yumi, yet there was also cowardice for giving up the person she had loved the most.

Courage for leaving the garden of maidens, but cowardice if not staying true to her truest desires to stay. Or cowardice for staying in that same garden and not facing her destiny, but courage if she still held on to her ideals and kept on fighting with them.

Either way, it was just a matter of perception. Whether it was an act of courage or cowardice, it doesn't matter.

Thus the end of Sachiko's youth, and the start of being the heir of the Ogasawara. The start of her initiation. And she started it with Fukuzawa Yumi.

Present Day

Fukuzawa Yuuki did not called the proper authorities after he saw Yumi's painting almost burnt on the Ogasawara Mansion's grounds. Shimazu Yoshino had tried to reach for Satou Sei but her phone was unattended. She could not call for Hinomura-san either. It was a corpse lifted from its dying place at the bottom of the lake to the surface. It was horrific to think that the painting returned to them at this state.

And Sachiko was not anymore the Sachiko Yoshino had heard in the phone when she saw her and the burnt painting. Something had turned her eyes into pools of dull, charcoal black. Yuuki dismissed Sachiko to return to the mansion, and let him and Yoshino deal with it. Sachiko looked at Yuuki, but it was void of emotion.

It was as if Sachiko had been seeing Yumi through her brother. Yuuki tried not to look away. He had his own opinion about the woman who once broke his sister's heart. But he would try to be calm.

"You brought a camera?" Yuuki asked.

"Yes." Yoshino nodded.

"I don't like this anymore."

"I, too."

"This painting shouldn't be here. It shouldn't be like this."

"We need to secure this evidence."

"No, we need to surrender this."

"This is not what we are looking for. This is not what we are looking for."

Yuuki was troubled at Yoshino's mantra as she mumbled. At first, he thought that Shimazu was broke that she needed something to calm herself down. But when she took out a large, sterile, resealable bag, he noticed what Yoshino had meant all along.

The remnant of smoke was still in the air. Yoshino could smell burnt paint—as if water, oil, pigments and fire were fighting for dominance in the air. She pointed out the remaining canvass of what they thought as The Passing Wind.

Freshly dried paint.

{AFTERMATH}

He knew about the painting. About its former meaning in Sachiko's old life. It was meant to crush her spirit. But Sachiko had took the initiative to discuss about it. And it seemed that it mattered to her less. He saw a raging lion ready to take her place.

"You have seen their treachery, Saa-chan."

"Yes, Grandfather. I have. I will do what an Ogasawara will do in this crunching ordeal. Since I am to suceed you, and no one else. I will make sure that none in this family will be compromised. I will make sure Ryu will know his place. I will keep him, as an Ogasawara should. If he should break just to keep his promises ever since he was accepted into the family, then broken he will be. But I will bring him back to me, because even with his faults, at the end of the day, he is mine."

"As an Ogasawara should."

"As an Ogasawara should."

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N for ds: I think you're right that I am giving Kashiwagi and Ryu more exposure than Yumi and Sachiko in the later chapters. But I wouldn't say that they stand more importance than others within the story. And if ever there was an option "Kashiwagi Suguru" in the list, I wouldn't place him initially as one of the main characters, because this story appeared as a mystery and doing so would reveal his role then. That's the truth. Also, it's not about providing pairings or romance. It's about moving on and about Yumi's change of character. I provided a ground for all involved characters to share their sides, and thus the basis of giving Kashiwagi extra paragraphs because of his role in the story's goal. I am happy that you'll still continue to read this even though this isn't your cup of tea. I'll be happy to discuss things, if I could personally reach you via PM. You know, I am trekking on a plane full of landmines. I'm really grateful that you commented, because some people would just quit early on but you struggled and even wrote a review to voice your thoughts. I am also a fan of Marimite so I understand your views about the Sachiko/Yumi fuss. I want to convey what the situation is to your mind and to get the right reactions from you. That's what reviewers taught me and that made me keep my feet on the ground. :)

A/N: For those who read Chapter 20, thank you. This chapter was something I was afraid of publishing, but I made it through. I think this is courage. I have this soft spot for Sachiko, and this chapter was the proof of that.

Long author note, but please review! And send them with love!