Exi 5, 8105 (2 Years Later)----
(Kenta Kobayashi"s POV)
22 years…
I"ve spent that long in prison. I was locked away at 19 for a crime I didn"t even commit. I"ve had so much time to talk and all I learned was that having money meant you could f.u.c.k over as many people as you"d like for no apparent reason.
Everything in prison made so much more sense and I"ve only been released for 3 hours now.
However, I have a goal in mind. I want to visit what"s left of my family while I"m free. So, it took some time, but I managed to find my younger sister, Fumiko.
She was the one who sent me the majority of the letters while I was gone alongside our mother.
From what I gathered, my parents had a divorce but got remarried, Fumiko met a man, got married then divorced, my older brother left for the military and came back a hero after the Demon War, got married and currently has 2 kids.
Everyone grew up.
Now, here I am…
Outside my sister"s business because I have nowhere to go.
When I stood just in front of her door, I felt my hand get clammy and for a moment, I became nervous.
What do I say?
What do I do?
It"s been forever since she last saw me, what if she doesn"t recognize me?
No, I didn"t wait all these years to chicken out!
I turned the k.n.o.b and entered the bar as the bell rang. n.o.body was in sight and I called out to the empty bar.
Kenta: "h.e.l.lo? Fumiko!"
Fumiko: "Sorry, the bar is currently closed, but…"
She entered and instantly froze once she saw me.
My younger sister is no longer a teenager. She"s 39 now and looks like it. Us Nekomatas usually don"t get wrinkles, but Fumiko has laugh lines. At the very least, she looks better than I do.
Fumiko: "Kenta..? Kenta! Is that really you!?"
Kenta: "Ya can"t recognize yer older brother?"
She runs around the counter and leaps into my arms. It still saw my little sister through it all and I remember the days she replied on me well.
Kenta: "Yer"all grown up now, Fumiko, but still acting like we"re kids."
Fumiko: "Like you"re one to talk. Time in prison made you look like dad."
Kenta: "Really? I only turned 41…"
Fumiko: "And you still have dad"s accent! Come on in and have a seat. I"ll get you something to drink."
I sat down on one of the stools and looked around Fumiko"s bar. She told me she wanted to work at a place to make people smile and talk with them. Didn"t ever think she"d open a bar to achieve that. The place was warm and welcoming and had a distinct vanilla smell.
My sister poured me one of her expensive drinks and rested her head on her palm staring at me expectantly.
Kenta: "What"s the look fer?"
Fumiko: "You"re not going to tell me what you did in prison? Is it like they say? Where there"s people getting stabbed left and right?"
Kenta: "Ya."
I raised the gla.s.s and took a sip.
Fumiko: "Does it taste good?"
Kenta: "It"s definitely better"n the p.i.s.s they forced on us. What is it?"
Fumiko: "It"s a Demon blend of rice wine. I made it and sat on it for 20 years now."
I"m getting the feeling that Fumiko waited for this moment.
Fumiko: "Brother, was it true about why you were arrested?"
Kenta: "What"re they say"n about me?"
Fumiko: "You raped a n.o.ble from House Hisakawa."
It"s such a heinous crime that"s not even remotely true…
Fumiko "I know you would never do that! Tell me it"s a lie!"
Kenta: "Definitely a lie."
She sighs, relieved after 22 years of doubt.
Fumiko: "I knew it."
Kenta: "What? You "n dad was always second-guessing me?"
Fumiko: "For the first 16 years…"
She goes under the counter, pulls out a wooden lockbox, and reveals a letter that has been opened up.
Fumiko: "When I got this… I mean, I always had a gut feeling you were innocent… but, after this was sent to me, I figured out the truth."
Kenta: "The envelope is ripped."
Fumiko: "I"m sorry… I opened it when I shouldn"t have."
Kenta: "Well, it"s fine… let"s see who"n sent it."
Letter: "Dear dad,
It"s me. Though, you don"t know my name, you can understand that I"m your daughter. I"ve been wanting to meet you for a couple of years now, but every time I ask mom, she gets elusive and says you just disappeared. I don"t know what she means by it because she always talks about you positively. I think that you wouldn"t run away unless something super bad happened. I hope anything like that didn"t happen. I wanted to meet you and show you all the cool things around Everhand. I"m a top student in my school and I could even get in the new Mage"s Academy they"re building here when I turn 17, I"m currently 15.
I guess that"s all there is about that I could think of. What about you? What kind of person are you? Are you amazing like my mom says?"
Kenta: "Her writing"s all over… Am I really a pa? I got a daughter?"
Fumiko: "I don"t see why anyone would send a letter like this. She must be."
Kenta: "d.a.m.n… she didn"t write her name down."
Fumiko: "She wrote it on the back."
Letter: "Sincerely, Kanna Hisakawa."
Kenta: "Hisakawa…"
Fumiko: "I don"t know where she sent it from. All I know is it came from Everhand 6 years ago."
Kenta: "15 years… 6… so she"s 21 now?"
Fumiko: "That, or 22."
I haven"t been out of prison for one year and already I"m being smacked left and right with surprises.
Kenta: "This is heavy… I have a fully adult daughter I never knew about?!"
Fumiko: "Uhm, if I could ask… could it be the Yuuna woman?"
My past already caught up to me!
Kenta: "I missed out on raising a kid "n it was all because Yuuna"s daddy was possessive."
Fumiko: "I don"t know about possessive anymore."
Kenta: "Kiki finally visit him?" [1]
Fumiko: "Yuuna left for Everhand and completely cut almost all her family off. Her father tried to save face and disowned her."
Kenta: "That don"t make me feel better… I"m a homewrecker!"
Fumiko: "Don"t say that. She wasn"t married when you 2 were seeing each other."
Like it makes a difference…
Fumiko: "Takeo Takahashi pa.s.sed away while you were away."
Kenta: "And the funeral was huge like all things Takahashi."
Fumiko: "And the drama that followed it."
Kenta: "Sounds fair."
Fumiko: "Yuuna wasn"t even allowed at the funeral."
Things only got worse with time. I bet if I started snooping around House Hisakawa, I"d get killed instead of arrested again.
Kenta: "Old Man Hisakawa is the only one I reckon"s f.u.c.ked enough to go "n do that."
Fumiko: "And what"s more, it split the entire family in half. All of the people that pulled all the money migrated to House Hiyashi or Omeo. So now, House Hisakawa is struggling."
At least there"s good news.
House Hisakawa deserves to fall after what that crazy old man did to me.
Kenta: "House Hiyashi is the top house, but who are these House Omeo folks?"
Fumiko: "They"re relatively new. They"re a house that originated in Everhand, but they expanded into Feles Isle. What I do know is that Yuuna has joined them.
Houses from out of country can never establish a hold on Feles Isle. The 4 Old Houses will always come together and squash the compet.i.tion.
At least, that"s how it worked 22 years ago.
Kenta: "If Yuuna is House Omeo then does that mean her daughter is too?"
Fumiko: "I don"t know for sure, House Omeo is very secretive about their members."
Kenta: "Then how you know if she"s"n House Omeo?"
Fumiko: "It"s what a lot of people were saying."
I rested my head on the counter and started hashing out a plan.
House Omeo is probably my biggest lead in Everhand if I"m going to look for my daughter. Maybe I could also meet Yuuna since they"re both in Everhand. Can"t see much of a reason for them to be separated from each other.
Fumiko: "You"re not going to search for your daughter?"
Kenta: "I want to at least batter this in. It"s too much."
Fumiko: "You"ve been locked up for 22 years, it"s to be expected."
Either way, I remember that Yuuna loves alchemy and she might have a shop open out there. I could find it if I asked around. If not a shop, then maybe an open stall at a market.
Fumiko: "Do you want to stay for the week? It"ll be hard to get on your feet."
Kenta: "No thanks, lil" sis. I think I know what I want."
Fumiko: "And what"s that?"
Kenta: "I"mma find these House Omeo folk and my daughter. Maybe now you could meet your niece. I"ll be sure of that."
She smiles.
Fumiko: "You haven"t changed a bit, brother…"