Tokyo Deception

51

The air was crisp and had a mild bite to it that morning in November. The weather was still very tolerable, but the weather had change on its mind and any day now it would be turning colder in preparation for winter. Mimi also had change on her mind. She had desperately tried to put Shigure behind her but no matter how hard she tried she just could not shake him. He lingered in her heart and mind like the last vestige of a bad cold that you just cannot get rid of, and no matter what you tried or did to free yourself from it, it just lingered. Mimi had made a decision at the beginning of the week and had put most of it in motion. However there were just a few more things that needed to be taken care of before everything was ready.

Mimi knelt in front of Isamu's grave cleaning the headstone. The hot water from the bucket steamed a little as Mimi drew the flannel out of the bucket and rung it out. Isamu's grave was very easy to clean because of Kyoko's weekly visits, and even though it did not need cleaning Mimi still wanted to do it. As Mimi finished wiping down the headstone she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. As soon as she saw who it was she smiled warmly.

"When I woke up you weren't there I looked in all your usual spots. Then bumped into the driver and he told me where he had dropped you off" Hatori said.

Mimi put the flannel back into the bucket and wiped her hands on her jeans as she stood up. She took Hatori's hand and tenderly held it as she asked "When is the last time you came out here?"

"It's been a long time. It still hurts to come here so I don't." Hatori replied softly looking at the grave.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't strong enough to protect our baby. I would have given anything to be his mother." Mimi said as tears ran down her face. It was the one thing she regretted the most but she also knew that there was nothing she could do to change it and that she was finally ready to release herself from it and move on.

"Stop that, I've wanted to say this for years but I have been too much of a coward. The night that I left and wouldn't tell you where I was going," Hatori was referring to the night Mimi lost Isamu and paused for a moment.

Mimi instantly knew what he was talking about and nodded her head to let Hatori know she knew what he was referring to.

Hatori took a breath and continued, "I was going there to end things with her. I am the one who should apologies to you Mimi and I am sorry."

Mimi's heart began to ache, "It's all in the past and I want it to stay there." Mimi gave Hatori a hug, and said, "There's a lot I need to talk to you about and I think this is the right place to do it."

Mimi sat on the ground in front of Isamu's grave and patted the ground next to her and waited for Hatori to sit down. "I love you Hatori. I have loved you since I was nineteen but I have finally opened my eyes to the fact that we are no good for each other. You are like a drug to me, and I am an addict and it's not healthy. I know I'm the same for you and it's time we broke this cycle."

Hatori tried to say something but Mimi stopped him. "Please just let me finish before I lose my nerve." Mimi said then paused for a moment to gather up her courage. "It's time you knew the whole truth. I told you I had been in love with someone else for a long time."

Hatori stared at Mimi then nodded. He didn't like where this was going but he knew Mimi needed to get this off her chest; and he also knew he needed to know so that they both could move on.

"You need to know who that person is and when it started. That person is Shigure," as soon as Mimi said his name it felt right and she continued, "I can't say when it started exactly because my feeling for him had been slowly growing and changing, and I didn't even know what it was back then. It's only now that I can see it."

Mimi could see Hatori was trying to follow what she was saying but was having a little trouble. "If I was to pinpoint a time when everything changed it would be the first time I went up to Shigure's to help him after he broke up with Kaname-san."

Now Mimi could see Hatori was following her and she continued talking. "That night you came back from America, shortly before you turned up at Shigure's house, Shigure and I kissed each other. We didn't plan it and it wasn't t like I went up there for any reason other than to help Shigure."