Sins

Sins

Chapter 6

All eyes turned towards the doors of Studio 2 when Suguru and K entered. No one knew what to say or do to console the youngest member of the group. Suguru knew that the events of the day before were still fresh on everyone's mind, and he needed to get some things out of his system before any work could be done. "I don't know how I could have handled everything if you weren't there." He turned to each member of the ensemble to address them individually.

He looked at Shuichi and smiled."I know it's really difficult for you to keep anything from Eiri-san, but I appreciate your silence in this matter. Mika will talk to him when the time is right, and be sure there is no fall-out because you kept her secret.” Shuichi nodded knowingly, but said nothing.

“Hiro, Sakano-san, what can I say? You were there when I needed true friends. Thank you.”

Lastly, he turned around to K. “You saved Mika’s life and I will be forever in your debt. You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you did. Babysitting my little cousin all night…” Suguru’s eyes were welling with tears at the remembered events and he couldn’t continue.

The awkward silence that filled the room when Suguru was done speaking grated on everyone’s last nerve. Something needed to be said or done before the entire day would be ruined by the flood of tears being held back. K looked at everyone’s solemn face. This was not his happy-go-lucky band and he was going to bring the mood up or everyone would die in the attempt.

Taking out his hand-sized cannon he waved it in the air, threatening to pull the trigger and blow out all the overhead lights, like he had done several times before. “Ok, enough of this moping around. Are we a rock band or a rock garden? I want to hear singing and music – NOW!” Heads shot upright and everyone scrambled to their assigned places.

After a slow start, the studio finally was filled with the sounds of Shuichi’s voice and the guitar and synthesized accompaniments. The rest of the day went fairly smoothly and by early evening, K and Sakano were satisfied that the newest recordings of Greatest Hits, Volume 1 could be burned into a master disc.

Quitting time rolled around at dusk and everyone headed out. Shuichi was going home to Eiri, Hiro had a date, and K and Sakano needed to get drunk. All in all, pretty much a routine end of a recording session. Only Suguru had nothing going on that night. After all the months of sneaking out to be with Mika, he regretted the idea of going home alone. Seeing the forlorn look on Suguru’s face caused Hiro to offer to cancel his date and spend some time with the keyboardist. K and Sakano offered to pay if Suguru wanted to get plastered at their favorite bar, all offers were declined graciously. Bidding farewell to his friends and guaranteeing he would be much better in the morning, Suguru headed for his apartment.

Entering the darkened dwelling, Suguru kicked off his shoes by the door and walked over to the couch and plopped down. He let out a heavy sigh as he reached over and turned on the table lamp next to the phone. A hand hovered over the phone and pulled back several times before he finally picked up the receiver and placed it to his ear. Dialing the phone number to the Uesugi shrine, Suguru waited for the connection to be complete. A familiar male voice answered on the third ring. Tatsuha’s voice was calm and unassuming when he spoke. “Moshimoshi, Uesugi Shine.”

“Hi Tatsuha, it’s Suguru Fujisaki. May I please speak to Mika-san?” A shaky voice betrayed Suguru.

Tatsuha debated if he should bother his sister. He knew was she wasn’t feeling well and their father said she needed to rest. Still, she had said Suguru called, she wanted to know. “I’ll see if she’s awake. Can you hold for a couple of minutes?” After getting an affirmative answer, Tatsuha placed the cordless phone on the table and walked to Mika’s room. He softly knocked on the closed door and waited to hear his sister’s acknowledgement.

Mika was awake and got up to answer the door. She stared blankly at Tatsuha until she heard him say, “Fujisaki-san is on the phone for you.” A smile brightened her dull features as she all-but-ran to the hall and grabbed the phone off the table.

Placing the phone to her ear, she shooed her baby brother away so she could talk with a bit of privacy. “Su-kun, is that you?”

“Mika-love, are you okay?” The question flew from his lips, as the need to hear her voice became his all encompassing desire.

He closed his eyes, trying to imagine what she looked like as she spoke. “I’m doing well. Father has been taking excellent care of me.”

A hesitation in her voice caused Suguru’s eyes to open and he stared at the wall in front of him. “Mika, what’s wrong? Maybe I shouldn’t have left you earlier today.”

A cleansing sigh escaped her lungs. “Father found your note before I woke up. He knows about the two of us, and I’m glad. I told him I love you. Tatsuha knows too, and he is happy for me.”

For the first time since Mika became ill, Suguru felt a mixture or relief and joy. He was relieved that the affair was no longer a secret, and joyous that Mika felt proud enough to tell her family she was in love with him. “I want to see you, tonight if possible. We finished the recordings today and I am off until Monday, so I won’t be missed.” He couldn’t hear the nodding she was doing and got a bit dejected. “Mika, did you hear me?”

Realizing he couldn’t see her nodding, she hurriedly said, “Of course. See you soon.” With that they both disconnected the call. After throwing some clothes into his bag, Suguru drove at break-neck speed to see his true love.

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The car came to a screeching halt outside the shrine as Suguru pulled up behind a familiar Rolls Royce. His heart dropped into his stomach as he mouthed his thoughts. “What’s Tohma doing here now?” He jumped when there was a tapping on his side window. Looking sheepishly towards the noise, he sat back in his seat when he saw it was Tatsuha. He rolled down the window to see what Tatsuha wanted.

“Better move the car around back and come with me. Tohma got here a few minutes ago and he’s talking to father now.” Tatsuha motioned where Suguru should park the car and walked over to the side of the building to meet him and show the way into the back of the shrine.

Once inside, both young men secreted themselves in the darkened shrine and listened behind the sliding screen to the conversing older men. “I told you Tohma, the baby and Mika are sleeping and I don’t think you should disturb them. If you had called first, I would have saved you a trip tonight.”

Tohma wasn’t going to be dissuaded. He wanted to see his wife and child and no one was going to stand in his way. “The baby is a sound sleeper and I won’t make any noise. But I want to see for myself. Mika just coming up here without giving any advance notice doesn’t sit well with me.”

The elder priest used all his practiced patience with Tohma, but wasn’t getting anywhere. He finally gave in and with a sigh, told Tohma he would get Mika. After excusing himself from the room, he made his way down the hallway and tapped on the door.

Mika expected to see Suguru standing there when she enthusiastically opened the door. The look on her father’s face told her there was trouble. “What’s wrong?”

Apologetic eyes met her face. “Tohma is in my office and insists on seeing you and the baby. He won’t take “no” for an answer.”

She knew Tohma wouldn’t leave until he was certain his precious heir was alright. Mika turned to the crib beside her bed and gently gathered her sleeping son in her arms. She praised whatever gods were watching over them for keeping him asleep as she made her way to meet with her husband. Using all the skills she learned over the years, Mika put on her practiced smile and walked in to greet her husband. “Tohma, what a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you to come up here to be with us.”

The seated blond rose from his chair to meet the gaze from his wife. He walked towards the woman carrying their child. He merely acknowledged her presence and spoke more to the sleeping babe in her arms. “Ah, there he is.” Tohma reached out to tickle his chin but met with resistance. He glared at his wife as she held little Shin close to her chest.

“I finally got him to sleep a little while ago and you are not going to wake him. Do you understand Tohma?” Mika’s voice was quiet but emphatic. “I wish you would stop fawning over him like that.” A gurgle from the baby brought their eyes to his sleeping form. Fortunately his tiny eyes remained shut and their talking didn’t wake him up.

Tohma backed up a few steps. He didn’t want to wake the child and he certainly didn’t want a confrontation with his wife in her father’s presence. Trying to defuse his wife’s anger, Tohma calmly asked her why she decided to visit her father on such short notice.

Accustomed to giving false answers to her husband, she merely said, “I wanted to see father and since he hasn’t seen the baby in a few weeks, I thought it would be a nice treat. Do you have a problem with that?” She nodded to her father to take the baby, which he quickly did and returned the sleeping child to his bedroom.

How could he answer that question? Denying a grandfather access to his only grandchild was not something one did, at least not in this family. When the Uesugi’s wanted something, they got it. “No, I have no problem. I was just concerned at the suddenness of the visit. Usually you tell me ahead of time if you want to come here.”

“Well, you were out of town and I did leave a message on your voicemail. If you checked that thing more than once every couple of days you would have known.” Mika was getting more than a little perturbed. “Actually, I should be the one questioning you. Why didn’t you say anything to me the other night about a business trip? After the party, you dropped me off at home and went to Ryuichi’s place. That’s the last I saw of you.” Little bells silently rang in her head. “Tohma, you didn’t pack anything before you left that night and you left town without telling where I could find you in case of an emergency. Just where was this meeting anyway?”

A flush covered his face as he tried to find a suitable answer. He knew he was caught. Rather than lie, he decided to be candid. “I was with Ryuichi.” No other explanation of where they were was given and he refused to say anymore.

A smirk found its way to the lovely features of her face. “Ryuichi. I should have known. Well Tohma, I think you should go back to your Ryuichi and leave us alone.”

A momentary flash of anger appeared on Tohma’s face before he gained control of himself. He wasn’t going to dignify her insinuations with a reply, even if those insinuations were justified. Taking his hat from the table and placing it on his head, he started to leave. Turning towards his wife, he stated, “I expect you to return home in a few days, with our son.”

Mika chuckled. “Don’t worry, Tohma, I won’t keep Shin away from you.” With that she pointed towards the door. “You better get going.” Tohma left without saying another word.

As he drove off the property, Mika turned towards the darkened shrine behind her. “Okay guys, you can come out now.”

The sliding screen opened and Tatsuha and Suguru entered the office. “How did you know we were back there, Sis?” Tatsuha was really confused. They had been silent and never moved once.

Mika fanned the air with her hand. “Tatsuha, your cologne gave you away. I’m surprised Tohma didn’t smell it and figure out you were there. Maybe he did, but it wouldn’t have been so bad to have his brother-in-law listening to the conversation. But no one knew that Suguru was there until the screen opened, not even me.” She looked at the stunned facial features of her lover as she walked over to him and gave him a chaste kiss. She whispered, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Tatsuha knew he was not really wanted, and bowed out gracefully leaving the two lovers standing there gazing into each other’s eyes. Mika smiled sweetly and Suguru started beaming from ear to ear. He knew that there could be no repercussions from their affair. Tohma knew his wife was aware of his own clandestine trysts with his lead singer, and anything she did could now be justified. He took Mika’s hands in his own and pulled her close. As he wrapped her arms around his waist, he reached up and placed his arms around her neck. With an air of superiority, he continued looking into her beautiful eyes when he said, “Paybacks are Hell.”

Owari