The weather forecast had predicted a clear and pure night. Without traces of clouds that would prevent the moon from offering hope with its light to the fervent who go to the temple, as every year to give thanksgiving. But inside that limousine, what should be a warm and jovial atmosphere was nothing more than a silence that was uncomfortable for the family chauffeur.
Glancing sideways through the rear-view mirror, one could see an overshadowed Yoshino, an image that was not at all what in years past could be seen with each visit to the temple. But no one could blame her for feeling miserable and miserable. Without a single word from Albert and with the date already proposed for her wedding day to Hiroki, any attempt to cheer him up would not only be unnecessary for her, but could be the last push she needs to commit suicide.
"We have arrived ladies" - The car stopped right in front of the entrance to the Meiji Jingu shrine, which was surprisingly strange for Yoshino. Since that sanctuary is usually visited in the first days of the new year and not on the day of eve.
"I thought you would prefer a quieter place sister, I hope you don't mind" - Shizu said this while she tried to look away from her younger sister. It seemed that she was indisposed to have an argument as things were.
But Yoshino found it convenient to be in that sanctuary, away from the crowded sea of people that usually occurs in some more popular ones during the bells of preparation for the new year. So without giving major importance, she crossed the arches she was outlined to go directly to the offering box. The wooded path that characterizes the shrine forest seemed alien and distant when compared to the memory of the cherry trees of Hamarikyu. That park where she first saw the only man she could hold in her heart.
"If only Albert could be with me, he would have enough strength to resist and escape from this fate. Even with Shizu who is my dear sister, I feel desolate in the face of this adversity" - Deep in thought Yoshino collides with her feet on the step of the altar of offerings, while Shizu holds his shoulder to avoid falling in his distraction. Looking at her with serenity and compassion, as an offering to what she looked like a goddess held captive by an ogre.
A few coins are thrown into the amphora, while the two sisters pray to their ancestors. Unlike Yoshino, who acted only out of mere commitment, Shizu flared in fervor as she in her thoughts cried out that her mother could help him in the task of making her sister happy.
Two slaps, then raise his head in reverence and return to the limousine without prompting anything else. Yoshino did not intend to do more than what she had done at that time, she only wanted to return and prostrate on her bed to lose herself in the middle of dreams looking melancholy for Albert's face.
"No sir, at least you will accompany me to hang these little ones" - In her right hand Shizu held two fortune ballots that she had obtained a few hours before with one of her friends who worked as a priestess of the sanctuary. Both contained messages of good fortune and prosperity, that following custom it was necessary to tie them to the branch of one of the trees that were ready for such activity. Leading her by the hand like a child who refuses to go on the first day of school, Yoshino protests a bit angrily at her sister for her outburst. But she, that tantrum, soon becomes an indescribable amazement when she contemplates a piece of cloth that was tied to one of the branches of the tree.
"The handkerchief I gave Albert!" - She couldn't get out of her amazement, it was him, she repeated to herself. Albert, who had not heard from him for a long time, was somehow there at that moment. Turning to see Shizu's face, she was grinning at him from ear to ear like a goblin who has played a prank in the temple.
"Our father gave the order to destroy all the correspondence that had to do with you, but he did not count on that Taiki is a good friend of mine and has been my accomplice with many things" - Raising his hand with a sign of love and peace, the A blushing chauffeur smiled at Shizu as she returned the gesture with a subtle and flirtatious wink. As he approached to pick up the handkerchief, a note fell from it, on it was written in his own handwriting a message from Albert: "I know that you have the right to hate me, but I must explain many things to you before you can completely remove me from your life. If I still have a chance, meet me at the Shibuya subway station, I'll be there waiting for you until 12:10 am "
Looking at her watch, Yoshino realized that it was only 10 minutes to 12 at night, but she couldn't leave her sister alone or they might be suspicious. To which Shizu pointed her index finger at a person with identical clothing and arrangement to hers. She was the friend of the temple, which would cover Yoshino long enough for her to be alone with Albert.
With no time to say goodbye, Yoshino set off as fast as he could to Shibuya station. On a normal day he would be talking about a 10 minute walk, but being almost New Year's Eve, the streets would have a lot of traffic and his shoes did not help him much to run.
His breath hitched as the cold night air drew in, his eyes clouded over from the heat he was giving off from the exercise as he struggled not to fall into the crowd. Arriving at the entrance he looked everywhere with his eyes, faces came and went but none was the one he wanted to find.
It was then that in the midst of her despair he saw those blue eyes, like sapphires of incalculable value to her. With a slightly grown beard and somewhat worn clothes, but it was him; that Albert who left her side that night was finally there. Running pushing people to make way, she was finally able to hug him and shed tears of happiness. Tears that for several months were bitterly contained, now felt like sweet honey in that long-awaited reunion.
Taking her by her shoulders and staring at her, Albert contained himself in her desire for her. He had been through so much and so much had to be said. Holding her hand firmly, Albert leads her to the taxi rank and asks her to accompany him to the guest house where she is staying, about 30 minutes from the sanctuary.
Without offering any resistance, as a maiden who is rescued by a charming prince, she agrees to accompany him without further question. Inside the taxi he clings firmly to her arm and seeks to fill her with the scent of her, so much time has passed for her that it seems like an eternity and she wants to make up for every second lost away from him.
Arriving at the guest house, a gentle old woman opens the door and gazes at the happy couple. "Wow, it's true what young Albert told me so much. She really looks a lot like the goddess Amaterasu" - Blushed by those words and with Albert hiding his shame, they enter the house and sit in the hall while the old woman goes for some tea.
"In these months many things have happened to us and in my heart I cannot compare your suffering with the things that have happened to me. Nor do I intend to justify myself, but you more than anyone have the right to know why I had not communicated in all these months" - When Albert's family found out that his girlfriend was Japanese, they deeply angered him. Due to his racist ideas, they could not bear the fact that a member of the Worthington family mixed his blood with what they considered inferior. Faced with Albert's refusal to end his relationship with Yoshino, the family made the decision to disinherit him and expel him from the house. Not without first destroying any chance of getting a job in London.
With a degree in literature, Albert had struggled to get some money to support himself. His only belongings were some clothes and an old typewriter. With which he wrote letters for people who did not know how to write which he paid to send to family and friends.
Everything seemed to be falling apart, but he kept Yoshino in his mind and heart. There was no place for another woman, nor did he want her love to be trampled on by his family. Until one day he by chance of fate he met an old friend from college. Johann W. Lippershey, an eccentric German playboy who spent more than studying between parties and drunkenness. But he had developed a sickly affection for Albert and seeing him in his situation invited him to join his publishing house in Berlin.
With a new home and some extra money outside of his expenses, he began to save for the cost of the plane tickets and finally return to his beloved Yoshino.
It all seemed like something out of an old television drama to her, but she faithfully believed Albert's word, who had never given her a reason to doubt him. Taking his hands and looking into his eyes, she told him that she did not care if she was rich or poor, only she wanted to be with him and that was enough to be happy nothing else.
Both excited about that reunion, they devised the preparations for their flight from the country. The wedding with Hiroki was scheduled for the first days of August of that same year. There was not much time left and it was imperative that nothing was left to chance.
The old night gave way to the new night, and with the movement of the hands of the clock, the pages of the calendar fell like the leaves of the trees. Carrying these memories until July 25, 1992.
At the Yamaguchi house, Hiroki and Chief Hayate were drinking in one of the many rooms of that mansion. In another, the bridesmaids were fine-tuning the details about Yoshino's dress, who no longer paid attention to the details or the wedding. Well that same night she would run away with Albert and they would take a flight to Germany. Nothing else mattered to her, everything was perfect at that moment, so much so that he could forget the unpleasant fact that Hiroki was under the same roof. She, too, was not paying attention to the weather report that was being announced on the television in her room.
The announcer warned of the proximity of a Typhoon that she would strike in the early morning of the next day, an event that went unnoticed by the euphoric Yoshino, who did not realize how dangerous a wolf could be near a herd of sheep.
It was 8 o'clock at night, Chief Hayate had fallen exhausted with the fine sake that Hiroki had brought to celebrate. There was no one inside the house except for the guards who surrounded the perimeter and the maids who were serving Yoshino.
The calm ended with the sound of a bottle falling to the tatami without breaking, letting some of that intoxicating nectar escape. "Get out of here, you sluts, leave me alone with my fiancée" - With a clumsy tone of voice and tangled tongue, Hiroki gave insults to the annoying and fearful maidens who proceeded to leave the room.
As soon as he crossed the threshold and closed the sliding door of the room, he walked slowly towards the young woman who, surprised, did not know how to react to that situation. She was in a panic, as even though her father was a heavy drinker, she had never seen an impertinent drunk like Hiroki.
The liquor vapor emanating from her throat was very strong, as he brought her face close to hers and looked directly into her eyes. Sticking his tongue out of her like a snake tasting a helpless rabbit about to be eaten. He threw her on the floor while he put her hand over her mouth so she couldn't scream.
The electrical current was suddenly cut off by the storm that was entering with force, leaving only the lightning bolts as the only light that illuminated the place at times. Hiroki's panting seemed that of a beast brutalized by alcohol, as he unbuttoned his pants while spreading Yoshino's legs, who desperately bit the palm of Hiroki's hand trying to get rid of that vile act of cowardice.
That scene was suddenly interrupted by the sound of the sliding door of the room, the figure of a woman was glimpsed between shadows and an intermittent flash of lightning. Shizu clutched with her right hand what appeared to be a makeshift envelope, her anger seizing her as she searched for a way to contain the desire to jump on him and rip his throat out.
She was like a wolf who had found one of her cubs being attacked by an invader, the gnashing of her teeth harmonizing with that blood-lit gaze as she made her way into the room. Throwing the envelope in the face of that vile scoundrel that all the value that he had charged for alcohol, he had lost in a matter of seconds. For he had never in his entire miserable life witnessed a woman so imposing to the point of chilling his blood.
"What would the men of your clan say if they knew that their current leader conspired to take the life of his own father" - In his investigations Shizu discovered that Hiroki had met with the Tanaka clan, staunch enemies of the Tojo clan. In order to help him get his father out of the way and rise to power. In exchange for giving up control of part of the control over the gambling and drug trafficking businesses in the port.
Even though she was a woman in a world where men were dominant and despite her illness, she Shizu never considered herself weak worthy of hurt. Over the years, thanks to her beauty and intelligence, she was gaining unconditional allies in different factions of the mafia, being even within the Yamaguchi clan that some lieutenants who were faithful to her father, saw her as a worthy successor to be head of the clan.
"Take your hands away from my precious Yoshino and return to your dunghill with those of your kind pig" - He exclaimed in a defiant tone and with a look of contempt towards Hiroki, who, wounded in his pride, took out from his clothes a bit and raised the Helpless Yoshino, he held her tightly as he placed the blade right on her neck in a menacing manner. This was an unexpected twist of fate, since every visitor who had a meeting with Master Hayate was duly inspected in order to avoid an attack against him. Which showed a clear sign that within the Yamaguchi clan, Hiroki's networks of corruption had broken through.
"I like whores like you Shizu, if it weren't for you being a broken doll. I would have chosen you first over this insipid trash" - The tension grew with every moment, that was a battle to save Yoshino's life and maintain the clan in one piece. Shizu felt that she was gasping for air, her heart was beating erratically manifesting the symptoms of her illness condition.
"Think about it Hiroki, you are ambitious but I doubt you are a stupid man. You are close to becoming a successor to the Yamaguchi clan. Will you throw everything away in this outburst?" - Shizu pronounced these words trying to contain the irrational anger of that man. Her younger sister's life hung by a thread, her happiness and her future were at stake. Everything depended on Shizu's intelligence to cajole a man with delusions of grandeur.
"I will make a deal with you Shizu, destroy everything you have relating to the Tanaka clan. I will wait for you here patiently accompanying your sweet little sister that you adore so much, you will not talk to anyone because the moment you do I think I will give her a beautiful necklace like present to Yoshino "- Knowing himself master of the situation, Hiroki had a trump card that he was willing to manipulate at will.
Shizu felt her legs tremble in time with the brandishing of that threatening razor against her precious sister's neck. Yoshino's eyes were a sea of overflowing tears, held back by the choked echo of her breath as she bit her lips in anguish. Without giving more time to the pressing situation, Shizu ran to her room with heavy breathing and holding her chest, rummaging in her rooms the papers that were on an old mahogany desk, taking them all and throwing them into the paper shredder. The pain dug deeper into his chest, making each gasp of breath difficult. With his trembling hands he opened a small glass vial that he was carrying in his yukata and proceeded to take what appeared to be the medicine with which he treated his illness.
Back staggering back to the room where she had left them, she watched in horror as that despicable being passed the point of that knife over Yoshino's naked body. She who was drowning in a sea of tears and misery at feeling tainted, vulnerable and at the mercy of Hiroki.
Just praying to the heavens that her purity was not taken from him, that purity that she had reserved only for Albert, her true love.
"You may seem like an irresponsible and greedy drunk perhaps. But I have never been a stupid man Shizu, everything I have done so far to get where I am, was something I thought very carefully about in the future. You are an intelligent woman. and sagas, I like that a lot, so much that I feel excited just thinking that there is a copy like you among so many toys. I have your father in the palm of my hand and now I have your sister right here. "
The wolf had shown its jaws, with a claw smashed Shizu's strategy, as if it were a paper doll. There was no place to rationalize the situation, that woman had played all her cards in a single movement as a result of her despair when she saw that her beloved sister was subdued. "I just don't want to lose you too" - Was the numbed thought in Yoshino's senses.
That turn of events was the beginning of the tragedy in the remainder of his life. As the clock announced 10 o'clock at night on July 25, a cry of pain broke the silence of that room.
"There is no time, soon it would be the time that Albert and I agreed to meet" - It was the thought in Yoshino's mind, who, desperate for a bite, almost ripped a piece of skin from Hiroki's hand. How blinded by fury, she cut the inadvertent Yoshino's face with a cut. A wound that would scar her for life.
"Yoshino, run away please. Get out of here run away" - Almost losing his breath, Shizu pleads with her sister to preserve her life at any cost. Him watching her run bloody, fearful like a rabbit that has been mortally wounded. Losing himself in a storm that grew raging with each passing second.
That July 25, 1992, destiny had been written with the blood of betrayal, there was no home to return to, leaving behind the only person who could consider her family.