Chapter 14

I pushed open the door of Café Crown, and Motoki greeted me with a cheerful smile. "Good morning, Usa. Latte Macchiato?"

I nodded and took a seat on the barstool in front of him. The dark circles under my eyes were clearly visible; I hadn't slept much.

"You look tired. Rough night?" he chirped happily.

"Yeah, I was on the phone with Mamoru, and then I couldn't sleep," I mumbled, taking a sip of my latte. In that moment, as I mentioned Mamoru, Motoki barely flinched.

"What did he talk about? It's been a few days since I spoke with him," he said, grinning crookedly.

"He asked me to handle the apartment inspection for him, and we both have the glorious task of receiving his stuff."

Motoki smirked at me. "Yeah, he's threatened me with that too. Do you know when it'll be?"

I started spooning the milk foam and studied his expression. "Not yet. He'll let me know when he has the exact date. But tell me, Motoki, do you think Mamoru is hiding something from me?"

Within seconds, he turned around, pretending to adjust something on the coffee machine so I couldn't see his face. He knew something.

"Uh... no. Why? What would he be hiding from you?" he stammered, slightly caught off guard.

Leaning over the counter, I rested on my forearms. "I don't know, you tell me. He was acting so strange on the phone at times."

Motoki slowly turned back to me but avoided my gaze. A blush of embarrassment appeared on his cheeks. "Usa, I don't know what you're talking about."

It was obvious he was lying to me. "Don't pretend you know nothing. I can tell when you're lying to me."

He let out a heavy sigh. "That's something between you and him. I'd rather stay out of it. He'll tell you, I'm sure, when he returns."

"What will he tell me?" I pressed on.

"Usa, please stop. Ask him yourself. Don't you need to go to work?"

Motoki tried to brush me off. But damn, he was right. I was already running late. However, this conversation wasn't over yet. I grabbed my coffee to go and hurried off to work.

ChatGPT

In the small exhibition room, all the purchases were already waiting for me. Sato had really gone on a spree. I would be sitting here for a while until I had everything cataloged. Not wanting any distractions, I left my phone in the drawer of my desk, grabbed the DSLR camera and laptop, and got to work.

Surprisingly, I made good progress. As I returned to my desk for lunch break, I had already cataloged about a quarter of the items. On my desk, there was a large, thick envelope that caught my attention. It had my name on it.

Curiously, I tore it open and pulled out its contents. They were apartment listings, and there were quite a lot of them. Did Seiya order all these offers from all over Japan? Who could possibly make sense of all this? I glanced at my phone.

Good morning, darling. The real estate agent sent you a selection of apartments. You can go through them and pick your favorites. We can visit the first ones next Friday.

I looked at the pile of listings again. This was supposed to be just a selection? There were easily thirty offers. I pulled out the first one and skimmed through it.

150 square meters, 2 bathrooms, 5 rooms, recently renovated in a good location - it looked promising. Then my eyes landed on the last page: purchase price. He wanted to buy an apartment? I had assumed we were looking at rental apartments, which were already expensive enough. When I saw the price, I swallowed hard. I would never be able to afford that amount in my entire life. It would probably take my great-grandchildren to pay off such a property, if I ever had any. I looked at the price in the next listing, and it was similar.

Uh, you want to buy? Do you know how expensive the apartments here are? I messaged back.

Yes, Taiki says that apartments are a good investment. Just choose what you like he replied.

Okay, if he said so. I still had a good week to make a selection. I slid the listings back into the envelope and put it in my bag. I pulled out my calendar and added for next Friday: Apartment viewings. Then a message from Mamoru popped up.

Hey Bunny, my stuff will arrive next Friday with the moving company, probably in the early afternoon. Motoki is aware.

Internally, I rolled my eyes. Why did these things always have to happen on the same day?

The days flew by, and I had selected the four apartments from the exposés that appealed to me the most. I had scheduled the viewing appointments for tonight. Seiya was still busy with work, so it worked out well. Now I stood in front of Mamoru's apartment, feeling slightly nervous as I fumbled for the key in my pocket. Motoki was already sitting in the kitchen, holding out a milkshake to me. The apartment felt empty, and it was strange being here without Mamoru. I took the milkshake from Motoki.

"Is this a peace offering or an attempt to bribe me?" I asked, teasingly.

Motoki grinned. "You can choose whichever you prefer."

Since my last visit to the Crown, Motoki and I hadn't spoken to each other. He had been avoiding me. But now he couldn't escape.

"I'd prefer it if you told me what Mamoru is hiding from me," I said.

Motoki turned his head to the side, fixing his gaze on a point on the wall.

"I can't do that. I promised him. Usa, if you want to know, ask him," he replied.

I pouted. This wasn't getting me anywhere. He was quite stubborn with his principles today.

"Tell me at least if it's something bad," I pleaded.

Motoki's lips curled suspiciously, and I could see him wavering. He just needed a little push. I could sense that I was close, but then my phone suddenly rang. Furtively, I glanced at it. It was Diamond. He hadn't contacted me since his abrupt departure. This could be important.

"Motoki, I have to take this call," I said, and I could see his relief. I went into the bedroom and closed the door.

"Well, finally. What took you so long?" Diamond growled from the other end.

"Hello, Diamond. Nice to hear your voice too. Thanks for asking, I'm fine," I countered, a bit snippy.

"Cut it out, Usagi." Oh, he was angry.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back in Tokyo next week. Stay cautious. There's still no sign of Saphir. They found a body, but I managed to confirm yesterday that it wasn't Saphir."

A shiver ran down my spine. I had managed to push this whole thing out of my mind quite successfully. At least I wasn't alone. Motoki was with me now, and Seiya would be back later. But despite that, I suddenly felt uneasy.

"Alright. When next week?"

"I don't know yet. I'll get back to you, and then we'll talk."

Damn it. Had he maybe interpreted the photo with Seiya correctly? That could explain his anger and his absence last week. Or did he really just want to talk about his disturbed brother? Diamond never liked to talk much. He preferred to let his body do the talking. I responded with a soft "Okay." Then the call ended. To avoid further interruptions, I put my phone on silent mode.

As I opened the bedroom door, Motoki was already waiting for me with a questioning expression on his face. The movers were already bustling around, bringing Mamoru's boxes and furniture back one by one.

"Well, what was so important?" he asked curiously. Interrupting his interrogation seemed to have piqued his interest.

"Oh, it was just a demanding client from work," I tried to sound indifferent, but apparently failed.

"You're off work, so why is he calling you on your personal phone?" Motoki continued to pry. Now he had managed to turn the tables. Great.

"Because he's a rich snob who doesn't care about my personal life and expects me to be available 24/7. Plus, he's one of our best clients. If I alienate him, I'll have to find a new job," I tried to stay as close to the truth as possible. Technically, everything I said was true. I just left out the part about us having amazing sex and his missing brother trying to kill me. Does omitting things count as lying?

Motoki didn't seem entirely satisfied with the answer. "And why did you run into the bedroom then? You could have talked to him in the kitchen."

Well, now I knew how he must have felt, but I hadn't interrogated him as much as he was doing to me now.

"Privacy," I grumbled back.

Finally, two men carried the sofa inside. With a gesture, I showed them where to place it, and I plopped down on it.

"Usa, is it possible that you're hiding something from me too?" Motoki continued to provoke.

"No," I muttered annoyed and took a sip of my milkshake. It was enough that Minako knew about Seiya. Motoki and Mamoru were good friends; he wouldn't be able to keep something like that to himself, or maybe he would? No, Motoki was a good guy, and he also realized that I had as little interest in this conversation as he did in the initial questioning. We agreed to a truce and coordinated with the movers. My goodness, Mamoru had a lot of stuff.

Exhausted, I sank back onto the sofa, and Motoki received the last few boxes. I took the opportunity to check my phone. Two messages from Seiya, one missed call from Mamoru. Everything seemed to be going wrong today. The whole last week had been so nice, and now all three of them wanted attention.

First, I opened Seiya's messages.

Hey, darling. Are you still at work?

The real estate agent called, the first viewing is in an hour. Should I pick you up somewhere?

I checked the time when Seiya sent me these messages, 20 minutes ago. I wouldn't make it home in time.

Yes, that would be great. I had another appointment. I'll send you the location shortly.

Motoki had just sat down next to me on the sofa when I checked my voicemail to listen to Mamoru's message.

"Hey, Bunny, I just wanted to hear how things are going with you guys. Have my things arrived yet? You must still be busy. Please let me know when you're done."

I replayed the message, this time on speaker so that Motoki could hear it too. I didn't want to start again, but I couldn't help myself.

"Do you hear what I mean? No 'I miss you,' no 'I love you,' no 'I'm looking forward to being back soon.'"

Motoki rubbed his forehead with his hand and sighed. "You know how he can be sometimes. He's probably just busy at work."

I decided to call it quits for today, took a picture of the many stacked boxes for Mamoru. He could unpack them himself. Then another message blinked on my phone. Seiya.

Darling? I'm at the location now, but where are you?

I had to refrain from grinning with joy. Motoki was still skeptical.

I'll be downstairs in two minutes.

"Um, Motoki, I have plans with Minako. Would it be okay if I leave now?"

"Yeah, of course. Everything's pretty much done here. I'll just rest for a bit before going back to the Crown."

Seiya had rented a black sports car again and was parked right in front of the building. As soon as I saw the car, a pleasant flutter went through me. I took one last glance over my shoulder at the apartment. Oh damn, this couldn't be happening. Motoki was standing at the window, and I already had the car door handle in my hand. Damn it, things were getting really tight for me. Luckily, this time I had a bit more time to come up with a believable excuse.