Hexus

~33~ Consul

[6:43PM, November 17, UTC +09:00]

 “…I’m your grandfather”

Sakaki raised an eyebrow.

What is this; elderly Star Wars?

He laughed aloud. Ayako gave him a stern look and turned back to the man.

“You’re not our grandfather,” she said hesitantly. “He died, three years ago. From stomach cancer. And our other grandfather is still alive.”

The man seemed dumbstruck. Sakaki’s eyes once again drifted to Yuriko, whose expression had been tense since the man came into the room. He found it strange, because she almost never showed any reaction to anyone or anything. Her jaw was clenching, creating a twitch in her cute little mouth that…

He blinked and looked away. Damn. I’m staring again. But he couldn’t help it. He was pulled to her. Every time she looked at him, he felt lightheaded and warmth tingled in his chest. And it didn’t help that she was drop-dead gorgeous when she smiled. Then there was her long dark brown hair which hung behind her like a beautiful lustrous cape when she walked. He quite often imagined playing with it for hours. Her coolness and calculated reasoning perfectly complemented his exuberance and impulsiveness, and everything about her was so polished and reserved that his term of endearment, ‘princess’, seemed hardly like a compliment anymore.

And I’m in love with her.

People spent their entire lives searching for that special person, their ‘other half’. She was his.

Literally.

 “So… she remarried,” the man said, snapping him away from his thoughts. “Not surprising. It’s not like she could wait for me forever.”

“Why are you so sure you’re their grandfather,” Yuriko asked. Her tension had risen, and she looked like she was waiting to explode.

“Everything points to it,” he said, smiling sadly. “This is the Yamamoto residence, correct?”

“Yes,” Ayako replied.

“So she put my name on the birth certificate, for your father.”

“Yamamoto is a common surname,” Yuriko countered.

“Then there is her hatred of chrysanthemums.”

“Which you brought along.”

“She used to love them. It’s one of the many things we had in common. We were flower-crazy. We even travelled to China, for the festival in Tongxiang. She held pink chrysanthemums on our wedding day. My favorite.” He raised the bouquet as if to show his point. “I suppose she hated them because they reminded her of me.”

“Why?”

“I left her,” he said with a bitter sigh. “She was pregnant. But I had to. My job doesn’t allow family. We all had to leave the ones we loved behind.”

“What kind of job is that?” Sakaki asked. “Are you a secret agent?”

“In a way.”

“Really?”

“So why did you come back now, after so many years?” Yuriko cut in.

The old man sat up straighter and looked at her.

“Because of you.”

“You just met me. There is no reason I would be the objective of your visit.”

“But you are. The main reason I know I’m their grandfather is you.”

Yuriko gave him a dead stare.