Chapter 84

The women barely noticed how time passed as they were so immersed in their planning that they almost completely tuned out their surroundings. The large dining table was scattered with various notes, containing endless scribbles that made it hard to keep track. Propped against the wall behind it, they had temporarily attached a corkboard where the most important things were pinned: the detailed schedule, the guest list of sponsors, Usagi's speech (which she had rewritten countless times), and another sheet with the most important phone numbers for the day.

"Phew... we're making good progress already. But what about taking a little break? I think it's time to grab some food," Makoto suggested, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Usagi's eyes lit up at the mention of food, and her stomach rumbled loudly in agreement.

"Yeah, I think that's a wonderful idea," Amy agreed, then proceeded to open the refrigerator. Her eyes scanned the limited contents, and she looked back at the other three at the table somewhat disappointedly. "I'm afraid we'll need to go shopping first. There are only two bottles of beer and an apple in here, and that apple seems like it's about to grow legs," she informed the others of her disappointing find. Usagi looked at Makoto with large, sad eyes.

"It's no use. I'll go with Amy to get some groceries... and you two stay here. As long as we don't know what's going on out there, it's safest for you to stay here. Do you have any requests for what we should bring back?"

The pregnant women grabbed an empty sheet of paper and hastily wrote down a list, which they handed to Makoto and Amy as they left the house. Since none of them knew how long they would be stuck there, they wanted to be prepared for anything and properly stock up on supplies.

They hadn't been alone for long when Minako noticed Usagi's interested gaze, which kept drifting towards the cellar door, and suddenly Usagi felt caught. "Do you know exactly what's down there?" she forced herself to ask, the question that hadn't left her mind since yesterday. Of course, she knew that both Seiya and Taiki had said she should stay away from that place, but still, she couldn't resist giving in to her curiosity, the temptation was just too great, and since everyone made such a mystery out of it, that only intensified the allure.

Minako regarded her newly acquired sister skeptically. She herself had never seen this ominous cellar live. She only knew from rough descriptions what he did there and could only imagine how he did it. However, it was clear to her that he did not handle his guests down there with kid gloves. Somewhat ponderously, the heavily pregnant woman fought her way to her feet and reached out her hand to pull Usagi along.

"Come on, let's take a look. I've been curious for a long time about what his workplace looks like down there. Amy and Makoto probably need a while longer until they're back, and the men are also busy enough. We can probably only count on seeing them by evening," she said. Usagi didn't need to be told twice, and soon the two of them were standing at the door, descending the stairs one after the other.

They stopped in front of a heavy metal door. Minako reached for the handle and felt her palms slowly becoming sweaty with excitement. Then she applied gentle pressure to the cool metal in her hand, but nothing happened. Minako shook it a bit, but the door remained locked. Hesitantly, Usagi tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a display on the side, embedded in the wall.

"Maybe we need to enter something there?" she whispered softly, even though no one was in the house, she felt the need to remain calm.

Minako's facial features looked strained, her forehead furrowed as she pondered possible combinations. She turned to face the small display where a code was requested. She typed on it confidently and confirmed her input, but the device only flashed "Error" in large letters. Another attempt ended in the same result. But the blonde was not about to give up, her fighting spirit was awakened. After four more attempts, she had deciphered it, and a green "Okay" lit up, simultaneously, a bolt clicked, and the heavy metal door was able to be pushed open.

Minako held her breath as she cautiously set one foot in front of the other. The hallway was narrow and sparse, illuminated only by a dim neon tube, and three doors branched off from it. One to the right, one to the left, and one was at the end of the corridor. Usagi was right behind her and cautiously pushed open the right door with her foot.

Their nerves were tense about what they would find here, but then Usagi suddenly seemed somewhat disappointed. Her gaze wandered through the room, where a lot of tools were hanging on the wall. A large metal table stood in the middle of the room, but otherwise, this tiled room seemed absolutely unspectacular in her eyes.

"Hm... and they made such a secret out of a workshop? My stepfather had all this stuff at home in the garage," she expressed her thoughts and was already turning to leave, but Minako took a few steps towards the wall.

Her fingers slowly and reverently stroked the long blade of the bone saw. The amputation knife felt heavy in her hands a little later, and even the needle-nose pliers she examined closely. Goosebumps formed on her body as she thought about what Yaten had all this down here for.

"Serena, this is not a workshop. This is one of the interrogation rooms," she said monotonously and continued to examine the belongings Yaten had accumulated here with a pronounced interest.

Usagi swallowed and paled as she realized what all these tools might have been intended for. Slowly, her steps moved backward until she reached the door. In this room, she had seen enough, and she hoped that the other rooms offered something different. The door at the end of the corridor was her next choice. Ignoring the fact that Minako was not yet behind her, she felt nausea at the thought of what her brother-in-law was doing with these things.

The room she was now peeking into seemed inviting compared to the rest of this basement. A shabby sofa, long past its prime, stood in front of a television. Directly behind it was a desk with six monitors on it. On one of the screens, she could now see Minako, who had taken a large dark bottle from a shelf. On another was the entrance area. Her eyes wandered over the different screens. The underground garage of the Kou Tower, the harbor, Taiki's outdoor office. All places she knew and whose surveillance she had not noticed before. Then her gaze shifted to a shelf where many storage media were piled up. The lower rows were filled with cassettes, while CDs were stacked on top. At her eye level was a kind of folder, into which she curiously glanced. Inside were small cases, each containing a USB stick, and behind them was a note. Usagi pulled one out, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized what she was holding in her hands.

Name: Tellu Ito Interrogation duration: 2 days

She was unsure if she really wanted to know what Yaten had done to her former stylist, but without a doubt, she had been here, as he called it, his "guest."

"What do you have there?" Minako asked, who seemed to appear out of nowhere behind her, and Usagi jumped. "Records of some interrogations," she muttered and handed Minako the folder. Interested, Minako now also flipped through it, and only a few pages further back, their eyes caught something interesting.

Just the name alone was enough to catch her attention. In a flash, she freed the stick from its case and inserted it into a free slot on the computer.

Zoisite was one of Mamoru's men, a confidant, and should never have found his way here for an interrogation. Her thoughts circled as she opened the file. She inwardly prayed that this was a mistake, but then she saw it. Zoisite was alive. His jet had not crashed, as reported, or at least not when he was in it. He had been down here, in the room they had just inspected, and Yaten had not been gentle in his approach.

Drawn by the agonizing screams from the video, Usagi now glanced over Minako's shoulder. In the video, Yaten was in the process of burning large patches on his victim's arm, and meanwhile, he kept asking the same questions: Who is Mrs. Chiba, and where is she? But Zoisite remained silent, his face contorted in pain but he revealed nothing.

Usagi couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't bear these torture videos, her nerves were on edge, and her curiosity about the third room suddenly disappeared. With hurried steps and without explaining herself, she disappeared back upstairs. She had seen enough and preferred to ignore this dark side of her brother-in-law. She would rather see him as the loving brother-in-law and the sometimes peculiar little brother of her husband. This new side that had just been revealed to her deeply repelled her, and she just wanted to suppress what she had just seen.

Minako, on the other hand, was plagued by guilt and was frozen in place. She was transfixed, still staring at the monitor, unable to tear her gaze away. She felt responsible for what had been done to Zoisite, that he had to endure all of this at all. If he hadn't brought her the wrong passports to America, Yaten probably wouldn't have noticed him, or at least Zoisite wouldn't have fallen into his net. Every single minute, she forced herself to look, and just before the end, when she was expecting to experience the death blow, Taiki and Amy entered the frame. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Amy tending to the seriously injured man and then taking him away. Resolutely, she took the small USB stick with her. She would ask Yaten about Zoisite's whereabouts, that was clear to her. That was the least she owed him.

Usagi had been lying in bed for a while, still trying to push the discoveries in the basement out of her mind, when Seiya gently pushed open the door of the small improvised bedroom. She switched on her bedside lamp and looked expectantly at him.

"Oh, sweetheart, you're still awake," he remarked, loosening his tie in the process.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. The bed feels so empty without you, and on top of that, I've been going over all the important things for the opening tomorrow. Nothing can go wrong... But that's beside the point. Tell me, how did the meeting with your father go? Is that Kunzite guy still alive?" she asked him, sitting up a bit. Distraction was exactly what she needed right now.

Seiya unbuttoned his shirt and casually tossed it into a corner. Next, he undid his belt and let his pants drop to the floor. "Let's talk about that tomorrow, please. I spent nearly 8 hours with my old man, my brothers, and the Chibas. Haruka eventually got kicked out so she could take care of other stuff. Lucky her," he murmured, leaning down to steal a kiss from her.

Usagi chuckled slightly. She could imagine how exhausting such a meeting could be, and she was grateful to Taiki for excusing her. Seiya slipped under the covers and pulled Usagi close to him. "Since you mentioned the opening, Father and Hiroshi will also be joining. Taiki and I tried everything to dissuade them, but no chance. It would be good to show the bond between the families... and if possible, have Rei up front since she organized part of the funding."

Her hand ran along his chest. "I had actually thought about that with Rei. But... Your father... Don't get me wrong, but I don't know... there's something off about him," Usagi confessed.

Seiya's chest rose and fell beneath her head as he began to laugh. "Off is still a charming way to describe him... oh, before I forget, you need to sign a waiver for your Chiba shares, but Tai will explain that to you tomorrow... and since the explosives issue has been resolved, we can return to the tower tomorrow. Yaten hasn't quite finished with the new security system yet, but he'll wrap it up soon. So, enough of that now... I don't want to hear anything about meetings or my father for the next few hours," he said, rising from the bed and leaning over Usagi. His blue eyes sparkled enticingly, and soon his warm lips met hers.

Usagi tried to push her worries aside to enjoy the moment. His kisses were intoxicating and almost took her breath away. His hands roamed over her body, exploring every corner with curiosity. She had missed feeling his rough hands, and a contented sigh escaped her as they slid up the inside of her thighs. Her hands began to search as well, but suddenly he stopped and placed his hand over her mouth. "You need to be quiet. There are still others here, and the walls here are as thin as cardboard. We don't want them to get the wrong idea," he whispered, making her smile. "Are you afraid your brothers will hear us?" she asked with an amused tone, propping herself up on her forearms. "Not afraid, but they don't need to know everything," Seiya replied with a wink.

Minako sat with her arms crossed on the bed, waiting for Yaten to return. She wanted to vent her anger. How dare he lay a hand on an ally? The rules and agreements in this regard were clearly defined, and he should be glad that Mamoru didn't know about it. She still had his image before her eyes, fighting back tears when he learned of his friend's death.

Finally, the silver-blonde hair peeked through the door, but his expression was serious too. His green eyes glared angrily at her, and an icy atmosphere arose between them without a word being spoken. Yaten leaned his back against the door and fixed Minako with a stern look, which she defiantly met.

"Why were you in the basement? I've made it clear multiple times that this area of the house is off-limits for you... And denying it is futile. I know both of you were down there," he asked accusingly, waiting for an explanation. But Minako had no intention of apologizing. Instead, she jumped up, hands on hips, accentuating her baby bump even more. "Explain to me what this means!" she demanded, waving the USB stick in front of his nose.

With a smooth motion, he took it back from her. "That's none of your business. Everything's settled," he said evasively, tucking the stick into his pants pocket. But Minako wasn't about to give up.

"Where is Zoisite?" she asked more forcefully, getting so close to him that their noses almost touched. Yaten seemed absolutely annoyed and distant; his patience was already stretched thin after this long session, and Minako was well on her way to testing it further. "In a hospital," he replied curtly, hoping that would satisfy Minako for now.

"In which hospital, and how is he?" she continued to inquire. She needed to know for herself in what condition her former ally was and if there was any way she could still help him.

Yaten had no desire to be held accountable, because he knew why he had done it, and if she were to ask him now, he would do it the same way again. He took a few steps towards Minako, pressing her against the door. He forcefully placed a finger under her chin, lifting it up. "In a hospital in Yokohama, and he's alive. That should be enough information for now, and don't you dare go down there again," he whispered in her ear.

Minako pulled away from his grasp and grinned provocatively at him. "Then you need a more secure password. My birthday isn't very imaginative," she teased, and suddenly his lips were on hers, silencing her.