Faye turned around to look at Daisuke in the back seat.He had fallen asleep. It was 6 pm in the evening and René was going to drop her off at her old apartment to see unami. He was still upset about her going back to Tokyo and he'd frowned about it all through the helicopter ride, all the way from Hakone to Tokyo.
"He's asleep. Are you sure you still want to take him with you?" She asked, still smiling. She had been smoking ever since they left the villa in Hakone, René's childish silent tantrums were too cute for her not to find amusing.
"Yea.. i think he'll have more fun with me than you" he huffed and she giggled. Why was he acting so cute right now?
"oh please…" she rolled her eyes, still smiling. Her cheeks could start to hurt any minute from now on. "He loves me more"
"I still have a very uneven feeling about this." He complained as the car came to a stop at the old run down apartment. The streets were busy and noisy. Everyone went about their business not minding other people's presence.
"It's going to be fine…unami is harmless" she kissed his cheek as she exited the car.
She had been so happy these past few weeks that coming back here suddenly hit her with a wave of nostalgic memories. It was overwhelming and she held open the car door for a few minutes looking at the apartment building.
"Tell me you changed your mind" René moved close to whisper in her ears. She was standing with her back to the car door.
She laughed "and if I did?" she turned around to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him in for a kiss.
"Then I'll abandon everything and drive us straight home to safety" he kissed her again and again not wanting to let go. He really had a bad feeling about this.
"I won't be here for long, I promise. It's just going to be half an hour and then you can take us home to safety" she let him go and he groaned.
She moved away from the car, slowly backing her way towards the apartment. René had a meeting with his board of directors and had offered to take Daisuke with him.
She turned around to wave good-bye to the boys. Daisuke had woken up and moved to sit in the passenger front seat with René, sleepily rubbing his eyes. She blew them a kiss as René started the ignition and drove away. She turn around,looked at the apartment building one last time,sighed and began to walk towards the entrance.
"Himari!!" An older lady who was a next door neighbor and would look after Daisuke whenever she and unami were unavailable waved at her. She turned around and rushed towards the lady.
"Hello grandma" she bowed as a sign of respect and age difference between them.
"Aiii where have you been? Where Daisuke?" The older woman asked excitedly,she had really missed them. Out of all the other tenants in the apartment building,the young lady was the only one with a pure and kind soul. For the past three years she had known her, the young woman was the strongest she had known. She had been through alot and Everyone around her had treated her terribly but she never gave up.
"Uhm grandma… it's a really long story but Daisuke is doing very well" she smiled as the older woman enveloped her in a warm hug.
"How is grandma doing lately and the business"* she asked as they both disengaged from the hug.
"Oh business is a little slow these days and I'm getting old too so sometimes i have to stay indoors like the doctor advised" the woman smiled. She had a kind smile and had been the only kind soul faye had come across in the last four years. She had taken care of her and Daisuke like they were her family.
"Oh! grandma before i forget, i have something for you" she said dipping her hand into her pockets and producing a few wads of shinny cash notes.
"Ahh it's okay child. You don't need to pay grandma, I gave it for free" the woman vigorously shook her head, refusing the money.
"Oh grandma, I'm not trying to pay you back. I'm appreciating grandma's kindness" she laughed. This woman was so kind. she'd almost forgot she was supposed to meet unami in a few hours.
"Oh shoot! Sorry grandma, I'm meeting unami now.. I'll come back later okay" she hugged the older woman again and the older woman nodded, waving good-bye.
Faye rushed into the apartment building and up the stairs to unami's door. She stopped at her old room and stood for a few minutes considering whether to go in or not. She held the door knob stopped halfway and decided to knock on unami's door. There was no response but she could hear hushed voices and when she made to knock the second time, the door flung open and unami's face popped up in between the door's open space.
"Himari? Is that really you?" She asked, smiling. Faye could see her smile was strained and suspicious. But she just waved it off as maybe she had been hosting a male visitor before her arrival.
"Come in" she opened the door wider and stepped aside for faye to get in.
"Thanks." She entered the room suddenly feeling uneasy. She turned around to scan the room, not much had changed and she sighed sitting down on one of the worn out chairs in the room.
"Uhm so why did you call me here?" She asked awkwardly.
"Uhm" unami was fidgeting while still standing at the door.
"You suddenly left and i got worried about you and Daisuke " she said, constantly turning to look over at her shoulders.
"Well it's a long story but.." faye was cut short by a knock on the door.
Unami quickly opened the door and a short chubby old man in a black suit walked in followed by four other younger men behind him.
"I'm sorry…'' Unami said apologetically. She hadn't realized until now that what she was doing was so wrong but it was too late now. She was in too deep. Faye had never wronged her before. She was a good person but there was no way she could back out now.
The four men moved forward and grabbed faye.
"Unami what are you doing? What's happening" she asked, struggling to escape their hold.
The old man walked forward and covered her nose in a handkerchief that had been soaked in chloroquine. Unami looked away as Faye struggled until she finally gave up and slowly closed her eyes.
One of the men lifted her up,flung her over his shoulders and walked out if the apartment
"Good girl!" Akio patted unami's shoulder as he walked out followed by the rest of his men.
René sat in the board meeting room feeling uneasy. He occasionally looked down at his son who was soundly sleeping in his arms. He had this uneasy feeling churning in his tummy, he felt like something had happened to Faye and no matter how hard he tried to wave it away, it wouldn't go.
He forced himself to concentrate on the meeting's agenda and barely succeeded. He continually tapped his fingers on the table in front of him making everyone in the room exchange glances.
Tanaka, who was standing behind him, walked to his side and offered to help carry the sleeping child but he declined.
After the meeting ended and everyone left the room, Fuyichiyo walked in.
"Boss,her phone was going straight to voicemail but a text just came in" he handed the phone in his hand to René.
René read the message but still wasn't satisfied. The message looked like it was written in a hurry and some words were missing a letter. René had asked Fuyichiyo to try reaching out to her.
He stood up to his feet and gently carried the sleeping child on his shoulders. He was so grateful for the type of child Daisuke was, he didn't throw tantrums,he composed himself in public and didn't mix with people much. He only allowed His mom, René or Tanaka to carry him. That child's attitude was a replica of his father's.
René walked out of the board room to the elevator. He suddenly stopped at the entrance and turned to Tanaka.
"Go to her old apartment on Nakano Broadway and check it out " he said as Tanaka bowed respectfully and they all got into the elevator.
When they walked out of the building, a bullet flew right past Tanaka's left shoulder hitting René in his right shoulder.
"Take cover!" Tanaka shouted as René quickly shielded Daisuke in his arms and hit behind the car.
Everyone in the streets scampered for safety. Tanaka returned the shots fired from the opposite streets and when it became too hot their opponents quickly drove away .
"Are you okay boss?" He asked as he returned to René's side. He was bleeding yet he held tightly to the child who had already woken and was clinging onto his father.
"Yes, let's go" he said, getting into the back seat of the car.
"Are we driving back to Nakano Broadway or back to Hakone?" Tanaka asked, getting into the driver's seat.
"No take us to The penthouse" René said, taking out his phone to dial Faye's line again but it only took him straight to voicemail. He clenched and unclenched his fists. Why didn't I listen? Why was she so stubborn? Something had definitely happened to her and he could feel it.
"Daddy!" The child called. René looked down at him surprised. It was the first time Daisuke was calling him Dad.
"Hmmm? " He answered as the child looked up at him.
"Are we not picking mama up?" He asked and René sighed.
"We'll go to the penthouse for you to get some rest first, then I'll come back for your mama okay?" He assured the child when he didn't even know where his mama was.
Faye woke up in a ridiculously decorated, meticulously arranged and expensive bedroom. The moment her eyes fluttered open, she immediately sat up,her brain having registered she was in danger. She quickly scanned the room and climbed down from the large king sized bed. The room overlooked a large balcony.
The door suddenly creeped open behind her and she spun around to find a handsome young man dressed in an osbourne colored suit tailored to perfection. He had curly hair and piercing gray eyes.
"Long time no see" he said walking closer to her with his hands in his pants pockets. She stepped back until she hit the foot of the bed and sat down in it conscious of her situation.
The young man walked over and bent forward placing his hands on either side of the bed, trapping her in his arms. They both stared at each other for a few minutes.
"I'm back for you coffee" he smiled at her, an enchanting smile indeed. He had the aura of a dangerous man and the demeanor of a show biz idol.
"Coffee!" That name snapped something in her head and her brain began to search for the origin of it.
"K-kenji-san?" She stuttered slowly like she was having a hard time remembering who he was.
Without warning, he captured her lips in a gentle kiss that sent a violent message. She pushed at his chest. She didn't want to be kissed by any other man apart from René.
Oh René! Would he be looking for her by now? But how was he supposed to know she was in danger and needed to be saved.
She pushed him off with all her might, sprang up from the bed and ran to a corner of the room.
He chuckled, her actions were cute and amusing. She looked like a wet, scared puppy.
"I'm not going to hurt you" he reassured her. Of course he wasn't going to hurt her but he really wanted to make up for lost time with her. What he wasn't understanding and accepting is that she belonged to someone else now. She never belonged to him from the very beginning.
"Are you kidding me? I was kidnapped and brought here against my will" she said calmly. She should have really listened to René. Coming back to Tokyo was a bad idea. Their lives were already in danger and she had just added one more on the list.