Chapter 70

Restlessly, Seiya paced back and forth in his office. It was late in the evening, and progress was slowly being made. Shortly after his call to Taiki, a special unit of Yaten's men appeared at the harbor, and his brothers also arrived shortly thereafter. Haruka took on the task of escorting the men to the archive and informing them of what to look for, while Seiya continued to try to figure out what was in the missing containers. Taiki only gained a rough overview, cursed his father-in-law, and soon bid farewell, as he had other matters to attend to. The eldest seemed to be equally agitated as Seiya when he left the harbor.

Yaten, on the other hand, seemed to be the epitome of calm. He lay casually stretched out on Seiya's couch, blowing smoke rings into the air. "Hey, Seiya, go home. Your tension is unbearable. I've got this under control, and I'll call you when we're done," he called out to his brother, reaching for the ashtray.

"And then? Do you think I can relax at home? Just for the fact that all the lists don't match, they could accuse me of tax evasion or smuggling of any kind. Do you know how long I could go to jail for something like that?" the black-haired man protested.

"Finally calm down. Downstairs, there are not only members of the special unit. After I found out what it's about, I naturally ordered accountants and lawyers as well. They'll make sure to make adjustments so they can't pin anything on you. So please, just do me the favor and go to Serena's, distract yourself, and give me some peace here. Taiki left hours ago already. I've got this under control," the silver-haired one grumbled back. That he liked to work quietly was nothing new to his brothers, and he hoped that Seiya would finally leave. After all, he had more on his agenda, and Seiya didn't need to know everything before it was finalized.

Skeptically, Seiya crossed his arms over his chest. "Under control? You're lying here on the couch while there's chaos downstairs."

Yaten snorted irritably and straightened up. "Either you leave now, or I will. I know exactly how to allocate people to make it work, and I'm afraid you don't even know most of their names downstairs. Leave it to me. Tomorrow your problems will be a thing of the past. Go to Serena's and relax a bit."

There was a brief staring contest between the brothers, but then the older one finally gave in. He grabbed his jacket and snorted once as he walked through the door. A victorious grin spread across Yaten's lips after the door closed behind his brother. Finally, he had his peace.

Usagi sat with Taiki in their apartment. Amy had withdrawn to give them the opportunity for an open conversation. Usagi urgently needed to talk to him about her encounter with Minako and was relieved that Yaten seemed to be occupied elsewhere. After all, she had promised Minako that he wouldn't find out about anything. Thoughtfully stirring her tea, Usagi pondered how best to broach the subject. Her husband watched her patiently, sipping his coffee.

"So... it's like this. Mrs. Chiba is actually my sister," she began hesitantly, without looking up.

Taiki nodded in agreement. "I assumed as much," he said calmly, continuing to scrutinize his wife. Amy had already told him that Usagi and Makoto had disappeared into a back room after their presentation, so it was likely they had encountered Minako there.

Usagi took a sharp breath. He needed to know, she told herself. "She's pregnant, very pregnant," the blonde woman now blurted out, keeping her thoughts on paternity to herself for now.

The brown-haired man stared at his wife in utter shock. It was clear that this fact came as a complete surprise to him. It was a revelation he hadn't seen coming. Of course, he had already anticipated a secret, but a pregnancy hadn't featured in any of his scenarios. Usagi waited for a moment and then added to her statement: "She's already in her seventh month, which means she had already passed the critical time at the supposed time of her accident. Her decision to keep the child likely led her to fake her own death."

Taiki's grip on his cup tightened, his facial features tensing noticeably as he forced himself to breathe evenly. "Could you please repeat that?" he asked politely, although his request was more rhetorical in nature.

Having already spoken the words once, it was much easier for her to repeat them now. "You heard correctly. Minako is seven months pregnant. Even if she wanted to, she could never fulfill such a marriage contract as we had to sign," she underscored her revelation.

Taiki's fingers ran over his eyebrows, coming to rest at the bridge of his nose. "Do you know who the father is?" he asked after a few minutes, as a sinister suspicion began to form in his mind.

Usagi nervously chewed on her lower lip. She was somewhat unsure whether she should tell him about her speculation or not.

"Serena, do you know who the father of her child is?" Taiki now asked more urgently.

"No, no, I'm not certain. But as much as she resists meeting Yaten, it's possible that he could also be a contender. I even had to promise her not to tell him... although I don't know her well enough to make a judgment, and since I don't know exactly what happened back then... it's even more difficult for me as an outsider," she finally expressed her thoughts.

Taiki observed her thoughtful expression closely. He sensed that there was more, and he wanted to give her the time she needed. Oppressive silence settled between them until Usagi continued: "As I said, I don't know what happened back then, but as far as I could tell, Mamoru did want to marry her... or rather, he did marry her in the end. That would put him back in focus as a possible father... I mean, why else would he walk her down the aisle if the child isn't his..."

"Yes, I see what you're getting at," murmured Taiki thoughtfully. "Did she say anything else?"

"No, just that the four of us should meet to discuss everything further... I cut off the conversation when she wanted to talk to me about preventing pregnancy..." she said, looking down at herself.

The knocking on the door silenced their conversation, and they both turned their heads as it slowly opened. Seiya peeked his head in, the strain of the day clearly visible on him. "So, here you are, sweetheart. I've been looking for you all over half the tower."

Usagi nodded at Taiki, smiling, and then walked to the door. "I'm coming. We've just finished up here too... But you don't look well at all. Were you able to resolve the issues with the documents?" she asked as they made their way to their apartment together.

Seiya shook his head. "No, but Yaten's men are on it. He's brought in specialists. If all of this had come out in an audit, you could have visited me in jail for the next few years. Let's hope they can really fix everything... And how was your presentation?"

"Very good. The presentation went exactly as planned... and then I met Minako..."

Seiya put his arm around her and grinned down at her. "And? Is your big sister everything you imagined her to be?"

Usagi blew a loose strand of hair out of her face and pushed open the apartment door. "I have no idea. I've never really thought about how I imagine her to be... She seems nice at least and knows exactly what she wants, but... Seiya, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, you can ask me anything, you know that," he replied, noticeably more relaxed now as he took her hands in his.

"Seiya, did Minako really have something with Yaten? I mean, not just kissing and holding hands... you know what I mean..." she stumbled, and an amused smile appeared on the man's lips.

"You want to know if they had sex?" he asked, visibly amused that it was difficult for his beloved to say these things outright, as Usagi's cheeks flushed as soon as the word was uttered.

"Yes..." she murmured softly in confirmation.

Seiya wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. "Honestly, I have no idea. But I mean, look at Yaten, he's certainly not one to shy away from that sort of thing. Ask some of Chirus's ladies; I think there are few he hasn't pleased... On the other hand, Mina was always something special to him in that regard, even though they were solidly together... I've only ever seen them exchange shy kisses... But why do you want to know now?"

"Because Minako is heavily pregnant, and I just wondered if Mamoru really is the father or if Yaten could also be a possibility. I don't know her well enough to ask her directly, so I thought you could help me out."

Seiya's expression changed from amused to surprised, and then his hand moved to her small belly. "Even though Yaten doesn't show it often, he's a real family man. If he had known that Minako was expecting his child, he would never have allowed her to marry Chiba. He was already on the brink of losing it because he didn't believe she was dead... and honestly, I still curse the day you married Taiki, and I just stood there motionless. Maybe our lives would be very different if I had openly talked to Father after your engagement party..."

She placed her hand on his and gave him a gentle look. "Seiya, everything is fine the way it turned out. Of course, I would also prefer to be officially married to you and would love to show myself with you, to tell the world that these two wonders are yours. But things are the way they are, and I'm really glad we could sort it out so well between us. Taiki is happy with Amy, and they lead their life up there, and we lead ours down here, as well as we can in secrecy. As long as we know who we belong to and who our hearts beat for, everything else is incidental."

He returned her smile tiredly. "I know that very well," he whispered lovingly in her ear, and then he lifted her into his arms with a swift motion. Usagi began to laugh heartily and playfully kicked her legs. "Hey, what's this? Let me down. I'm way too heavy," she giggled as Seiya headed straight for the bedroom. He needed a distraction from all these problems that cast their long shadows over him. Even though he was completely exhausted, his energy would still suffice.

Yaten had meanwhile taken his place at Seiya's desk. His usual cloud of smoke surrounded him as he meticulously went through the changes his accountants had made. He couldn't deny that the three individuals had done a thorough job. Not only had they made Kenji's manipulations unrecognizable, but they had also directly corrected other minor issues they had encountered.

Whatever Kenji believed he had in his hands, Yaten had snatched that trump card right from under his nose, and it gave the silver-haired man a sense of satisfaction. No matter what else was happening around him, he had decided that Kenji Tsukino would be his next target. Too much suffering stemmed from this old man who held far too much power in Tokyo. There was still no way to get to Usagi's sister, which was one of the points that bothered him the most.

Patience was clearly not his strong suit, but he couldn't think of a way to expedite things without putting Chibiusa in danger. Setting a fire had been his first thought, then they would have had to bring the girl outside, and he could have easily picked her up in the ensuing chaos. But if something had gone wrong, the girl would have been in uncontrollable danger.

A special unit was also out of the question, as heavily armed people were inside the building, and he couldn't rule out the possibility that they would harm the girl under such circumstances. Intercepting her during a change of accommodations had been attempted several times, but the endeavor had failed each time. Kenji always had a different approach, and that made devising a precise plan immensely challenging.

He needed a plan first to free Chibiusa, and then he could destroy Kenji, and he would relish every single second of it. He had long harbored very clear ideas about this, which he continued to refine. He would initiate the end of the Tsukino family with a wide grin.

As he looked up, he suddenly saw one of his new agents standing before the desk. He had been so lost in thought that he had hardly noticed him. "What's up? I thought everyone downstairs was done and already on their way home," he asked, sensing that there was something urgent he needed to know.

"Boss, we found something," the man in the black suit began.

Yaten rolled his eyes irritably. He hated it when employees beat around the bush. "Get to the point. What is it?" he snapped impatiently, drumming his fingers restlessly on the desk.

"Today was the ladies' event again, and I was assigned to gather information," he began, but the silver-haired man promptly interrupted him with a hand gesture. "Skip ahead. What did you find out?" he hissed, and his green eyes scrutinized the visibly nervous man.

"One of the waitresses was quite talkative... A pregnant woman in a conspicuous red dress had mingled with the guests at the opening, initially unknown to anyone. Once the presentations began, Rei Chiba booked one of the back rooms and brought the pregnant woman there. However, no one had seen the lady again during the rest of the afternoon. The staff speculated that this woman was Mrs. Chiba's sister-in-law, the American who married Mamoru Chiba."

Yaten was frozen, it took a while for the words that reached his ears to register in his consciousness. Laboriously, he put two and two together, then he panicked, grabbing the car keys and running off.