16. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Andy
We sit at the long table again: Chi, Mara, and myself on one end, and Akihito and his mother on the other, as has been the unwritten seating arrangement each time we’ve sat here. Cas is again in the back. The only difference is that I’m at the head of the table now. As the interrogator, it just makes more sense.
Akihito and his mother notice the change immediately and look at each other pointedly before they sit. I clasp my hands together and smile, but I’m sure they notice the sinister, murderous intent behind it, thinly veiled underneath the surface.
“Akihito. Mizuki. It is regretful that you must leave us so soon. But so much can be done in half an hour. So much can be discussed, and so many secrets can be shared.” I figure I’ll be going far off script today anyway, so I might as well start with it right up front. No use beating around the bush.
They look at each other uneasily again, but Akihito answers, as usual. “Yes, Andy-san. It has been a pleasure. We thank Chichi for her hospitality.”
“Yes, even though I have barely done anything,” Chi says, taking a neat sip of her tea. “I’m so disappointed we couldn’t find an activity to spark your interest. I’m even more disappointed that you had to seek out your fun elsewhere.”
Mizuki and her son sit in tense silence, tea untouched. Akihito must know that we saw him snooping around last night; he was trying to hide it from others perhaps, but he knows what security measures we have here. I’m certain he doesn’t believe he escaped the grounds unnoticed and that he was expecting for us not to be able to track him. I believe it went down just as he had hoped. The only thing he didn’t expect, I’m sure, is for us to confront him with it the way we’re doing now.
He stays cool anyway, as if he knew all along this would be our topic of discussion. He pushes his fingers together and looks at us calmly. “I’m sorry for your disappointment, sister,” he says, without a flicker of concern. His mother looks down at her tea without drinking.
Chi’s eyes narrow, turning from almonds to slits, and I’m pretty sure she’s about to take the antique sword off the wall and cut his head off with it.
“What caught your interest so much that you had to leave at one in the morning the day of your father’s funeral?” I ask, steepling my hands together. My face is just as harsh a mask as his, and suddenly I’m sure that every single one of his tense and uncertain looks at his mother was a ruse. He’s not tense or uncertain. He is proud and calm.
“I just had some business to take care of with an old friend.” He sips his tea before looking back up at us placidly.
“Business,” Chi parrots, and I can see the fumes start billowing from her ears. She’s pissed and not even attempting to hide it.
“You work even later than I do,” I say, pouring more tea from my personal pot. “I wonder who else works so late around here? And also, why didn’t we know about this meeting? As you know, Chi is the heir to her father’s business. Anything that needs to be dealt with at two in the morning should be filtering through her first. Or at least, in tandem with her. But…” I shoot her an overly curious glance. “I don’t think you’d heard of anything that needs your attention, have you Chi?”
She doesn’t even move her gaze an inch from him. “No. I haven’t.”
“Yes, very strange. Care to share with us what was so important, Akihito?”
“I would not want to burden Chichi with my personal business.”
I let out an audibly harsh breath, like I’m ready to pounce any second. “Did you have to go see anyone in the Kantoku-sha. ”
Akihito’s eyes flinch just ever so slightly, and then he blinks. Now I’m sure he knows about this organization, but how much information he has, I can’t tell. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says calmly.
I look to his mother. “Mizuki, would you care to share what your son was doing this morning?” I ask in a ruthless voice that sounds like a threat.
“She was not aware that I was leaving—” Akihito begins before Chi cuts him off with her hand.
“She is a grown woman, Akihito. You will allow her to speak here at my table.”
Chi’s mother blinks a few times and never raises her head from her cup. “He did not share with me that he was leaving,” she says in a quiet voice before finally taking a sip of what must be lukewarm tea.
“I must insist that my mother not be compelled to speak. She is not the one you saw on the cameras, correct? I know exactly what you saw, and I guess I am just confused. Are your guests expected to ask permission to leave the premises? I was not aware of this strange rule.”
Chi grits her teeth to stop from biting his head off. Of course we can’t expect him to ask permission. And everything he’s bringing up right now is why I was hesitant to approach him last night in the first place.
“Well, we just like to make sure our guests are being safe. You must realize too, running around in black and trying to dodge all of the security on the grounds is quite suspicious.” I don’t bring up the fact that he tried to break into his father’s office. The fact is, he didn’t go in. He can easily just tell me that he wanted to see the scene of the crime. Honestly, it would be his right to ask. What throws me off so badly is that he didn’t ask, even after he couldn’t get in.
Akihito points to the clothing he’s wearing right now and raises his brows. “I like wearing black. Are you about to give me a curfew and tell me how to dress every time I come here?”
“Akihito!” Finally Chi can’t hold it in any longer. She jumps to her feet, her long hair whipping behind her and coming to rest on her right shoulder. “You will tell us why you left last night, or so help me, I will ensure that things become very difficult for you when you get home. You know I have that power. Being locked inside your house for decades hasn’t exactly done you any favors, brother. The men we have in Japan know me from their time here as well, and they adored our father. They will listen to me. And so will you.”
I’m impressed at how far off script Chi is willing to go. I suppose she has nothing to lose at this point. She needs to step into her father’s shoes, and there’s no time better than the present to do so.
“Chichi. This is a grievous overstep.”
Chi tosses her hair off her shoulder with a swish. “I can step wherever I wish. Now, where were you?”
There is a tense standoff, during which Chi’s brother seems to be sizing her up to see if she’s bluffing. Honestly, I’m not even sure if she is. Finally, he gives his answer. “I was discussing business with Murata-san. You know him. One of the business partners that goes back and forth between Japan and America. He wanted to meet in the middle of the night because he wanted to talk with a man, and he knows I am knowledgeable about the product.” I know who he’s talking about; Botan Murata has worked with my father for years and is one of the largest meth suppliers in the area. If my brother is telling the truth about where he went, his story is feasible. Especially the part about wanting to meet with a man.
Chi’s cheeks heat and it’s fucked up, but I know she’s ashamed. Ashamed that she’s a young, short, innocent-looking little woman. And it burns me the fuck up.
“You know,” I say quietly, “she could kill you right now. And she’d be well within her rights to do so. You should not have left to discuss business without talking to her about it first.”
Akihito grits his teeth together. He knows I’m right but has something to say anyway. So I wait to hear what it is. “I was the best option to speak with him. People need reassurance, and they want it from men. That is the way it’s always been. I didn’t make these rules, and I wasn’t the one to break them. Father was.”
The clock chimes the half hour, and I know they need to leave. But I want a few more parting answers before they go. “You knew what I was talking about when I said that group’s name. Tell me who or what they are, now.”
He shakes his head, but there’s something more than just indifference there: some frustration or disappointment. As soon as I catch it, it’s gone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know of a group called Kantoku-sha .”
I seethe, but I know we’re not going to be getting our answers today. Mizuki and Akihito look at me, and I know they’re wondering if they’ll be getting out of here today with their lives.
They’re lucky. I don’t think killing Chi’s family would be beneficial to our cause at the moment.
“Okay Akihito. You’re free to go this time.”
He and his mother get up to leave, but Chi walks to the doors first, presumably to open it for them. Instead, she pauses just before they leave and blocks the way instead.
“You’ll need to do better next time I see you. I can play nice, but I can also kill, and I barely know you, brother. So you better not overstep . I’ll see you soon.” She gives a sinister smile that promises it’ll be sooner than they think. And that’s the truth. She plans to head to Japan in a week.
With that, she steps out of the way and lets the guards open the door.