殺人者
SATSUJINSHA
by 江島ひとみ

Chapter Twenty Eight
Crossroad

Clutching his backpack closer to himself, Makoto put a hand inside his pocket as he silently walked down the sidewalk on his way home on a late Tuesday afternoon. The setting sun was a dark orange hue in the horizon, reminding him that he should be hurrying home. Supper would be soon and his mother would only get mad at him again for arriving late.

Makoto inwardly sighed and kept his gaze to the asphalt ground. It had probably been three weeks since his last encounter with Akemi. He tried not to think about her as much as he could, but the reminder of all he had told her the last time he had spoken with her nagged him like a constant pain in his gut. The guilt and anger at himself hit him as soon as the realizations set in. His best friend would no longer be there for him. She would never be his. She was with another man now, and it would stay that way forever.

He tried to live each day like nothing had ever happened, like she had never existed in his life, but no matter how hard he tried, he would always remember her face, her voice... Her presence had become like a ghost that haunted him wherever he went, even in his sleep. His school, his room, places where she once used to be... all the memories of them together would constantly flash back in his mind, always reminding him that she was gone from his life now and would never come back, and it was all his fault.

He had been so angry then, he thought he could almost hurt her. It had felt like the biggest betrayal of his life, as if everything had forsaken him the moment he found out she was already married to that bastard Ryuuzaki. He knew deep down she had thought of none else but them, but he didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want any of it to be true. He couldn’t stand the thought of her with somebody else.

Akemi chose Ryuuzaki over him. Him, who was the best friend, him, who had been together with her their whole lives, him, who had always been there for her, waiting, hoping, loving her more than he ever should have...

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, Makoto silently cursed himself. He had accused her of all the things she would never do, driven her so far away from him even he didn’t think he could ever reach her again.

He loved Akemi. He wanted her back. He missed her too much that it hurt. He had thought of only himself, of his pain and rejection. Now he was left hating himself more, and longing for her more by the day. He would sell his soul to the Devil just to turn back time, but he knew, there was nothing more he could possibly do.

Traveling his gaze to the road ahead of him, Makoto sighed heavily to himself, feeling another ton weighing down his heart as he continued on his way.

xoxoxo

Akemi could hardly stand all the stares and the whispering the following Wednesday afternoon at lunch break.

The brown-haired lass fought to keep her face blank and almost ended up stabbing the slice of strawberry shortcake that her friend Chiharu had made for her. She was in her designated chair by the window in their classroom, with Chiharu occupying the seat in front of her. Her friend had turned her back to the rest of the room, and had her worried gaze fixed only on Akemi.

“I can barely stand this,” Akemi hissed through gritted teeth. “I swear, if all of this keeps up I’m going to scream.”

“Akemi-san, you have to calm down,” Chiharu sighed, ignoring her own slice of cake completely. “You might get into trouble again.”

Akemi heavily sighed and averted her gaze to the window. She stared at the trees outside. It was a calming sight.

“I just can’t believe all these people,” She shook her head. “They just bought Sayaka’s story like it was the word of God.”

“Well, she does have a lot of influence on people,” Chiharu frowned. “And you can’t really blame the students after what Kusanagi-sensei did for you...”

Akemi looked at her friend again. Chiharu was now idly playing with her fork. There was a small frown on her lips.

“Do you believe Sayaka too?”

The girl quickly looked up. She suddenly looked almost apologetic, until the frown on her face returned.

“No...” she murmured. “But you do seem pretty close to Sensei...”

Akemi heavily sighed and fought not to pull her own hair. “What makes you say that?”

“I mean, he’s always so distant to us students,” she quietly said. “And he suddenly goes out of his way just to clear your name even when the Principal’s decision was already final. If you think about it, it sort of makes sense...”

Akemi stared at her friend. She quickly opened her mouth to speak, until she realized that she really couldn’t blame her. Chiharu knew nothing, and often openly told her about how much she liked their Russian History teacher.

Akemi slowly put her fork down and stared at the surface of her desk. “If I tell you something, do you promise not to tell anyone?”

Chiharu looked at her in confusion. Akemi’s gaze flickered to her surroundings and still saw those stares, but they seemed far enough from earshot. She lightly drummed her fingers and looked at her friend. The girl looked half-afraid, half-resigned, as if she was already readying herself to face the fact that the rumors were indeed true. Akemi suddenly found it almost funny.

“The reason for why Kusanagi-sensei did that,” She lowered her voice and creased her forehead. “Was because he had to.”

Chiharu’s eyebrows met. “I don’t understand.”

Akemi lightly sighed again and leaned back to her chair. “You probably think this is crazy, but do you remember my uh, uncle?”

The girl blinked. “Yes, what about him?”

“Let’s just say that um,” she uneasily smiled. “My uncle asked Sensei for that request.”

“Eh?” Chiharu stared at her in growing perplexity. “You mean your uncle asked Sensei to look in on Sayaka’s story for you?”

Akemi stiffly smiled. It wasn’t like she was lying. She was actually telling the truth, even, albeit in another way. So why did this seem so difficult?

“Yes, if you notice, my um, uncle can get pretty... angry sometimes,” she slowly continued. “So he wanted to double-check on things for me. He didn’t take my suspension very well.”

Chiharu’s face slowly began to clear in part shock and amazement. “Yes, your uncle does seem to be like that kind of person. But why Kusanagi-sensei? Does your uncle personally know him?”

“Uhm, I don’t know much about the details, actually...” She had to end up lying after all. “I was pretty surprised myself when my uncle told me.”

Chiharu slowly nodded and worriedly frowned. “Your uncle’s really pretty scary.”

“Oh,” Akemi let out a small laugh and almost meant it. “You have no idea.”

“Which reminds me, I’ve always wanted to ask,” Chiharu sat up straighter, looking significantly more chipper at the realization that she and her teacher in disguise really had nothing to do with each other. “I’ve only seen your uncle a few times, though I never really saw his face. Is he blonde?”

Akemi suddenly felt a knot beginning to form in her stomach. “Uh, yes? Why do you ask?”

“Is that his natural hair color?” she asked.

“Um, no,” she quickly replied and flashed her a hard smile. “Like I said, my uncle’s pretty crazy. He does all sorts of things to himself.”

“Your uncle dyes his hair blonde?” Chiharu laughed. “That’s actually a pretty cool uncle. He looks young too. If I knew any better I’d say he looked like Ryuuzaki Takeshi from afar.”

Akemi felt herself stop breathing for several seconds. The smile on her friend’s lips slowly faded from her lack of reaction.

“That’s really funny,” she blurted with another forced laugh before Chiharu could open her mouth again. Her friend merely giggled once more. Akemi picked up her fork and began poking it again, more passionately this time.

“Oh, I haven’t noticed that before,” Chiharu said. Akemi glanced up at her again and saw her looking at her left hand. She trailed her gaze to it and realized she was referring to the platinum band around her finger.

It took her about three seconds before she seemed to start breathing again. Akemi uneasily cleared her throat and began poking her cake once more.

“I bought it in the mall last Saturday,” she carefully smiled. “Do you like it?”

“It’s simple but it’s nice,” Chiharu looked at it more closely. “Is it real silver?”

“Yeah...”

“Cool,” Chiharu giggled. “It’s almost like a wedding ring.”

Akemi laughed. “A girl can dream, can’t she?”

Chiharu cheerfully nodded and took another forkful of her cake. Akemi lightly sighed again.

She wasn’t going to be surprised if she suddenly had a heart attack one of these days.

xoxoxo

Takeshi was busy typing his report on his laptop when his secretary's voice buzzed over the intercom on his desk.

"Ryuuzaki-sama, Mr. Ikeshita from securities is on line one," The woman said. Takeshi creased his forehead at the phone.

"Thank you, Aya," he said, pressing on the blinking, red button. He leaned away from his laptop. "Yes, Ikeshita-san. How may I help you?"

"Mr. Ryuuzaki, this is Ikeshita from the building's security," A man spoke on the other line. "We'd like you to come down to the basement parking as soon as you can."

Takeshi's eyebrows met further. "Is there something wrong?"

"Sir, it's about your car," The man began to hesitate. "It's been attacked. We're currently assessing the damage, but..."

"What?" The blonde replied, as if unable to comprehend his words. "My car's been attacked?"

The surprise on Takeshi's face immediately dissipated in the middle of the man's frenzied explanation and was replaced by a grim frown. "Very well. I'm going down there now."

Takeshi rose from his seat and quickly straightened his suit with a scowl before swiftly making his way out of his office.

xoxoxo

Takeshi's Corvette, a sleek, silver sedan that was his current favorite drive, was now reduced to a shattered mess. Its windshield, headlights, and all its windows and mirrors were smashed, leaving shards of glass all over the place. The hood was left with three deep dents, which he presumed suffered from a mallet or some other heavy, blunt device. The sides were scratched with thin, long lines, which he figured most probably came from a pocket knife.

As Takeshi continued assessing the damage that his car had taken, he began to feel more irritated than outraged. It looked like a prank pulled off by some punk or brat, or whichever amateur. Considering he was being followed lately, this hardly posed as a real threat, but if this was a joke, it wasn't very funny at all.

The moment he had arrived at the basement parking, building security had already flocked around his car. Ikeshita reported to him that they had caught four masked men in black on surveillance, and that massive damage had already been done before any of them could arrive at the scene to stop them. Takeshi had watched the captured video himself, and he knew they were professionals the way they moved quickly and efficiently. Still, to pull off an annoying prank such as this...

Just as Ikeshita excused himself, the cellphone in Takeshi's pocket began to ring. He took it out and flipped it open, and frowned at the masked number on the screen. He brought the phone to his ear and warily answered, "Who is this?"

"Ah, Ryuuzaki-san, we finally get to talk," It was a young man's voice, a voice he had never heard before. "How did you find my little present?"

The blonde's gaze fell idle on his car. "Lacking in decorations, in my opinion."

"Aw, and I feared I'd overdone it," The man feigned a sour tone.

"I presume you’re the same bastard who’s been following me," Takeshi drawled in a low voice as he turned his back on the scene. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"You want answers, yes?" The man asked. His voice was annoyingly pleasant. "See, I'm not a man of patience, Mr. Ryuuzaki, not when I've been waiting this long."

The blonde creased his forehead. A young man, and yet someone who's been around for a long time?

"Let me cut the theatrics. I'm not very fond of games anyway," The stranger said. "Would you like to settle this today, Mr. Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes, the sooner the better," he muttered.

"Good. You should bring your wife along."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "How the fuck did you know about that?"

"Ah, please don't underestimate me," The man softly chuckled. "But I must say, I was quite surprised to find out about her. I didn't know you were the marrying type."

The blonde bared his teeth in a vicious snarl. "If I'm your problem, stay away from her."

"Oh, don't worry, I haven't done anything," The stranger replied. "So, what do you say, Mr. Ryuuzaki? Do we do this today or not?"

"We do this now," he snarled. "Where are you?"

"A little suspense," The man laughed. "Six o'clock. I'll let you know where. I'll call again soon."

The call ended without another word. Takeshi hissed and almost felt like smashing his phone to the ground. He looked at his watch. It was two in the afternoon.

He flipped his phone open again and quickly dialed a number.

"Yamazaki," he growled. "I need my Aston here at the office now. It's urgent."

xoxoxo

Akemi had only been viewing the changing scenery outside her window when Kusanagi answered his cellphone in the passenger seat before her.

“Yes sir, we’re already on our way home,” he said. Akemi stared at the back of his head in curiosity.

“I leave her in your care, Kusanagi,” Takeshi said as he drove his Aston Martin down the highway. “See to it that she is safely sent home. I’ll call again when this mess is over.”

“Yes sir,” The bodyguard said on the other line. Takeshi flipped his phone shut without another word and continued on his way with a grim frown. He looked at the black sedan before him and the one behind him from his side mirror. The mysterious man had called him an hour ago and told him he would be “guided” to their meeting place. He still didn’t have a clue who that man was. His young voice was unrecognizable, and as far as he was concerned, he didn’t entertain children. Still, this one had quite the back-up. He found himself considerably perplexed.

Takeshi gripped the steering wheel more firmly in his hand. The sooner this was over, the better.

xoxoxo

The black Lexus that was taking Akemi home had just entered the highway when Kusanagi noticed the black sedan behind them from his side view mirror.

He kept his careful gaze on the vehicle and found it easy not to let go of its sight, because it remained following them even as they took the exit on their way home. It continued trailing behind them, from the main roads downtown to the secluded path leading to the foot of the mountains.

Kusanagi looked at the rear view mirror. Akemi seemed unaware, together with the driver Yamazaki.

With a small frown, he dialed a number and brought the cellphone to his ear once more.

The moment they exited the highway, Takeshi grimly realized the moment the trees got thicker and the roads got smaller, that he had been led to foot of the mountains where his mansion was.

He flipped his cellphone open when it began to ring. He saw Kusanagi’s name on the screen and assumed with relief that Akemi was safely sent home.

“Ryuuzaki-sama,” Came the bodyguard’s low voice. “A car is following us. It has not left our tail since we arrived at the highway.”

Takeshi fought back a curse and clipped with narrowed eyes, “Where exactly are you?”

“We’re on our way uphill,” Kusanagi said. Akemi impulsively found herself looking at the rear window the moment she heard her bodyguard say those words. There was a black car closely trailing after them, even as they now approached the dirt road down the small patch of woods.

“Keep driving,” Takeshi muttered in a low voice. “Get to the mansion as fast as you can.”

“Ryoukai,” Kusanagi answered.

The car in front of Takeshi made a right turn and slowed down in front of a clearing. He ended the call without another word as he began to pull the car over when the vehicle behind him stopped as well.

“Kusanagi-san?” Akemi worriedly asked as the man ordered Yamazaki to step on the accelerator. “What’s going on?”

“You have nothing to worry about, Ojousama,” he said, his face unseen from view. “We’ve got you covered.”

“Who’s following us?” she restlessly said. She had only turned around to look at the car again when it suddenly bumped their trunk, sending Akemi yelping in surprise.

“Shit,” Kusanagi hissed, taking out the gun from the back of his waist. “Yamazaki, keep driving!”

The driver stomped on the accelerator, throwing Akemi back to her seat. Still, the car began to overtake them, bumping them on the left side. It sent them derailing on their path, perilously leading them to a tree. Yamazaki quickly steered right, pulling over in front of a clearing, where three other cars were already there.

“Fuck,” Takeshi said in a low growl inside his car the moment he saw the Lexus arrive. “You really want an audience, huh?”

xoxoxo

“Ojousama, are you alright?!” Kusanagi barked the moment the car halted.

“I’m fine...” Akemi winced, putting a hand to her head. “What the hell’s going on??”

One of the cars surrounding them finally opened its doors. Two men in black stepped out. Takeshi watched another foot step out of a car. He was wearing a gray suit.

Ryuuzaki Group of Companies Chief Financial Officer Kawakami Kunio stepped out of the car and straightened his suit.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Takeshi muttered under his breath. He took out the Smith & Wesson 645 pistol from his compartment, checked its bullets, and placed it under the shirt at the back of his waist.

He got out of his car without another thought. The two men looked at each other.

“Hello, Ryuuzaki-kun,” Kawakami smiled. “Surprise, surprise.”

“What happened to the young man I was talking with on the phone?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.

“Yes well, the wonders of technology and voice manipulation,” The man shrugged. “You know my voice well, Ryuuzaki-kun. I would’ve given everything away.

“What’s Takeshi doing here?” Akemi whispered the moment she saw her husband and the other man step out of their cars. “Who’s that man?”

“It’s best that you stay in here, Ojousama,” Kusanagi sternly said as he eyed the rest of the back-up step out of their cars. There were about six of them. “This will be over soon.”

“What do you want, Kawakami-san?” Takeshi impatiently asked. “We don’t have to resort to this.”

“I know, but I thought of going with a little bang,” The man replied. “I’m an old man. I miss the suspense of things.”

“Yes, and you just had to bring an audience along,” Takeshi coldly narrowed his eyes. “I told you to leave my wife alone.”

“Yes, your wife,” Kawakami repeated with delight. “Up to now it still leaves me in surprise. I never thought you were the marrying type, Ryuuzaki-kun.”

“Leave her out of this,” Takeshi warned.

“Oh, I just want to meet her in person,” Kawakami frowned and looked at his bodyguards. “Could we see her?”

Two men suddenly made their way to the Lexus and opened the doors. Kusanagi had only pointed a gun at one of the men when another was already pointed at his face. Akemi froze in panic at the man that grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the vehicle.

“Ouch, let me go!” she exclaimed as she tried to struggle. “Wait, it hurts!”

Takeshi reflexively put a hand to the back of his waist, until he felt a gun already pointed at his side. He inwardly cursed, not noticing the man that had moved behind him.

“Ah, there we go,” Kawakami smiled. “Ryuuzaki-kun, could you kindly introduce me to her?”

Takeshi gave a long look at his wife. She looked at him in confused fright, but he kept his face calm and passive.

“Akemi, it’s alright,” he quietly said. “This is Kawakami-san, our company’s chief financial officer.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, dear,” The older man delicately smiled. “I can’t express enough disbelief that you’ve managed to make a husband out of our little prince. You must really be quite something.”

“But I’m also surprised,” He mused at her uniform. “You’re still a student? My, you like them young, don’t you, Ryuuzaki-kun?”

“That’s enough, Kawakami-san,” Takeshi quipped. “What do you want?”

The man dramatically sighed.

“You know what I want, Ryuuzaki-kun,” He blankly looked at him. “I want you out of the company.”

“You’re like a weed,” he said in growing animosity as he began to pace back and forth in front of his car. “Sprouting out of your just as awful father. You grow so fast, you’re practically unstoppable! Surely you can’t blame me for resorting to such drastic measures now, do you?”

“I have been working in this company for more than thirty years,” Kawakami spitefully hissed. “And some cheeky youth such as you suddenly comes in, taking over everything we’ve worked so hard for! You know nothing, boy! You don’t deserve to be in our company!”

“Kawakami-san,” Takeshi idly drawled. “You have my father to blame for putting me in a position which even I don’t like. I’ve expressed enough distaste having to sit with you miserable old men at the Board while he lounges away in his petty travels.”

“However, if you are questioning my performance,” he continued. “You are free to complain to my superiors. That is, if you can prove I am incompetent and have no merit in this company.”

“Oh, you can do a splendid job at what you do, and I wouldn’t care,” Kawakami hissed. “You think I’m the only one? Many of us have wanted your head cut off for years. Call it jealousy or even sheer intimidation, but I have no plans of giving up a company to a child!”

“That’s quite far off, Kawakami-san,” Takeshi raised his eyebrows. “Aren’t you getting a bit too ahead of yourself?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter, you have your father and that idiot Sawamura on your side,” The man snarled. “That man favors you so much, it’s sickening. I’ve had enough of it!”

“So what do you want me to do, resign?”

“Yes, from the Board, and from the navigations company,” he said. “Just be a good boy and blow off all your father’s old money, like every dumb heir is supposed to do.”

Takeshi found himself smirking in amusement.

“You think this is funny?” Kawakami spat out in rage. “You really are a fool, aren’t you? You don’t know how serious I can get!”

He pointed a finger at Akemi’s direction. A gun was suddenly pointed at her temple. The girl froze in fright. Kusanagi tried to move beside her, but a man kneed him hard in the stomach and sent him to the ground.

The smile on Takeshi’s lips disappeared in a dangerous line.

“Good, now do you understand?” Kawakami laughed. It was manic and sinister. “I’m serious when I say it, my boy. Leave the company, or your pretty little wife’s going to be in trouble.”

to be continued