Chapter 3: The Rivalry

I cut him off with a shake of my head. He had let go of me and I sat in the back seat with him, although making sure to keep some distance from him…meaning about roughly 3 inches between his body and mine…which wasn’t all that hard considering that the car was pretty big for a sedan. I still couldn’t see his face very well, as the windows of the sedan were tinted to the max, making me feel like I was in a box. There was a separator between the back and front seat so it was impossible to see where the hell we were going. The inside of the sedan was built like a miniature limo and again, I wondered, exactly HOW rich the Tofukuji family was.

But why was he talking about Dad? How did he know about my father?

“See…I’m not sure why you’re bringing up my father, but he died three years ago in a car crash.”

Even now, the memory of his death brought a twinge to my soul. Dad had been…wonderful. Always treating me like a princess…but tough on me when I had done something wrong. When Dad died, my mother was in the hospital for a few days for shock and I was sent to live with my distant relatives whose home smelled like seaweed and greasy noodles. It had not been pleasant. When my mother was released from the hospital, it was a relief to know that my dad had a small inheritance that was passed down to us. Sure, Mom still had to work, but we were comfortably off.

“Hitomi…that car accident…” He paused for a moment and then sighed, as if telling me was physically hurting him. Why should it? He didn’t even know me!

“Just…let me talk for a few minutes, but don’t butt in until I’m done, got it?” He said quietly. I nodded and waited for him to continue. In the back of my mind, I was still thinking about my mother. Was this all a joke? If so, it was quite elaborate.

But there was a seriousness surrounding Tsubasa that made me wonder about the actuality of this situation. What if…Inwardly, I shook my head. No. I wouldn’t deal with hypothetical questions. All they would do was just cause me to worry more…and god knew that I needed a clear mind to deal with this.

“Alright…your father should’ve listened when people around him told him not to mess with the Tofukuji’s business. Or more precisely, not to mess with Tofukuji Hiro. Unfortunately, your father was stubborn and went ahead to buy a failing electronics company. This was five years ago. Your father had amazing business acumen and he raised that company so high that it started to compete with my father’s company. My father didn’t like that. He was the one who operated the car crash that killed you father and for the past three years, right under your mother’s nose, he has taken out the people who were loyal to your father, and replaced them with his own men. He paid money to the government so that they’d look the other way as this was going on.”

He stopped and then turned his head to look my way…to gauge my expression. I stared at him though the dimness and then felt a smile curving my lips. This really was a joke!

I laughed and I could’ve sworn that I saw a note of disconcertion cross his stunning face. I never felt so relieved in my life! Electronic company? What electronic company? My father was a telecommunication’s director for a phone company!

“You’re kidding, right? Wow…you had me really going there for a moment!” I said, trying to get a rein on my laughter.

“Really.” His voice was void of any kind of emotion and in the silence that followed, I managed to stop my laughter, although I couldn’t do anything about the little burbles of giggles that spilled from my lips.

“You must have the wrong person, Tsubasa! My dad used to work for a phone company! I mean, don’t you think that --.”

My voice caught in my throat and died as he pulled something else from his pocket, sighing as if this was all just one big bother. It shone through the dimness and I felt a wave of nausea rising
in my body.

“Yes…I thought you’d recognize it. Isnt’t this your father’s wedding ring?”

The thick golden band with a single sapphire glimmered in the dark and I clapped a hand to my mouth, suddenly feeling like I was going to vomit all over the black leather. Bile rose in my throat and hot tears began to course down my face.
The ring…I remembered the day when he left and never came back…I remembered that day like it had only been yesterday. He had left the ring on the kitchen counter and I had tried in on, but of course, it was too big for any of my fingers and when he emerged from the living room, Mom helping him with his tie, I had handed him the ring and he smiled at me as he slipped the ring on his finger. It was the last time I got to see that smile.

“How…how…did you…”

The blonde shrugged. “My father needed proof that Tamae Masaki was dead. Before the driver jumped out of the car, he beat the shit out of Masaki and snatched the ring off his finger as proof.”

He made to stick the ring back into his pocket but I stopped him by reaching out a shaky hand and grabbed the hand with the ring. My mind was whirling around with the thoughts that Tsubasa had provoked and I looked up into his bitter-sharp brown eyes, trying to see the truth. There was no need to look for anything though…the ring had been truth enough.

“Your father…killed…mine?”

“Well…figuratively, yes. After all, my father isn’t the type of person to dirty his hands with blood. He’d just as soon as get one of his men to do it.” He said, settling back into the seat, my hand still grasping his. I could feel part of the ring on my hand, the metal warm from Tsubasa’s body heat.

“Did…did my mother…” I was still in shock, not completely out of it to form coherent sentences.

“Did your mother know about this? Yes, she did. She was the acting president at all the board meetings. But as you can probably guess, the board members were all loyal to my father and your mother never knew what hit her.” He said dryly as if this entire affair bored him to no end. I could see how it would. After all, this hardly affected him, didn’t it? If so…why was I in this car with him…? Would anyone please help me figure everything out?!

“But….she never told me…” I said, half to myself and half to Tsubasa. Perhaps…he could help with deciphering the mystery that my parents had suddenly become. After all…he seemed to know more about them than I did.

“Ah, and therein lies the smartness of your father. See, he was stupid in that he tried to challenge my father…but he was smart when it came to his family. Your father knew the danger of challenging my father and also knew that my father would strike it where it would hurt him the most. So…he never told anyone about his family. At the beginning, everyone though that he was just a bachelor with no family. And a good thing…or else, you and your mother would’ve been killed a long time ago. And when your mother came into the office right after your father’s death, I have to say that it struck quite a blow to my father’s pride.” A brief smirk alighted on his lips, but it was too dim to be completely certain. “So after Masaki was dispatched, it was your mother’s turn.”

“My mother…is…is she…” I couldn’t ask the question. I just couldn’t. Partly because I was still in the grasp of Shock and she wasn’t going to let me go without a good fight. But mostly, because I was afraid that I would hear the one thing that I did not want to hear. My mother was the only person in the world with any ties to me. She was the only person keeping me on the earth…like the earth holding down my dandelion stalk. Without her…I would just blow away with the slightest wind.

Tsubasa was quiet for a moment and then sighed again.

“My father killed her.”