Fifty Words for Rain(109)

Akiko guided her into a chair and knelt at her feet.

“My God!” she exclaimed again. “Let me look at you. Such a beautiful young woman you are. And if you aren’t the image of your mother.”

Nori inclined her head. “You’re very kind.”

Akiko’s face was streaked with tears. “It is so good to see you. Alive and safe and well. Thank God.”

Nori smiled and said nothing.

Akiko grasped her hands. “I wish I could have . . .”

“I know, Akiko-san.”

“I prayed for you,” she whispered. “Every night I prayed . . . and then I heard that the young master had . . .”

“Yes,” Nori cut her off sharply. She couldn’t hear his name. That was the one thing she really couldn’t bear.

Akiko fell silent. She knew this.

“And I have a daughter now,” she said, wiping at her face with her stained apron. “She’s twelve. Her name is Midori.”

Green.

Nori managed a small laugh. “That’s lovely. I’m so happy for you.”

Akiko reached up to press her palm against Nori’s cheek.

“I tell her of you,” she whispered. “I tell her all the time.”

Nori bit her lip. After all these years, in front of Akiko she felt like a lost little girl again.

“Thank you.”

There was a commotion in the other room, and Akiko shot to her feet.

“And these are your third cousins,” she said rapidly, in a low voice. “They will explain everything to you. I’ll be just outside.”

The look on Nori’s face must have betrayed her, and so instead Akiko retreated into the corner, silent but there.

Nori rose to her feet. Two gentlemen, both in dark suits, came into the sitting room and bowed.

There was an air of mockery about it that she did not like.

“Noriko-sama,” the first one said. He had an L-shaped scar on his right hand. “It is my great pleasure to welcome you back to your ancestral city. I am Hideki. And this is Hideo.”

He gestured to the man beside him, who smiled but did not speak.

“You wrote me the letter,” Nori said, ignoring the pleasantries. “Didn’t you?”

“Indeed I did,” Hideki said smoothly. “And may I say how pleased we are that you chose to come so promptly.”

Nori clenched her fists behind her back. “There was no need for your veiled threats,” she said flatly. “Now, please give me whatever it is that you need me to sign. I do have to be getting back soon.”

Hideki bowed his head. “I did not mean to threaten, my lady, of course. Your grandmother gave clear instructions that you were to be treated with all due respect.”

“So give me what I asked for, please.”

He exchanged a bemused glance with his cohort.

“We were told you were a shy, stuttering mess.”

Nori raised herself to her full height. “I was. Now, the papers, if you please.”

Both of them bowed simultaneously. “You must forgive us again, little princess.”

She felt a cold wind blow. “Why?” she said, through numb lips.

“Your lady grandmother gave strict instructions. It was not our intention to deceive you. Please know that we take no pleasure in it.”

There was a high-pitched whirring sound in her ears. The ceiling and the floor swapped places for a solid five seconds.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your grandmother will explain everything.”

The faces around her began to blur together like a grotesque watercolor painting.

“My grandmother is dead,” she whispered.

“Alas, no, my lady. She is upstairs, waiting for you.”

Nori felt it then. The sick fear that told her she was, indeed, back where she belonged. This was her true homecoming.

Once again, she was caught in the spider’s web.



* * *





AKIKO



She is horrified, as I knew she would be. I was vehemently against the plan to deceive her, but then, what I think has never made a difference.

I show her to one of the guest rooms, and I sit by her side as she collects herself. As she begins to calm down, she looks more annoyed than anything, and I smile at her defiant spirit.

She starts to ask me something, but then her mouth twists and she leans over the side of the bed and vomits into the trash can.

I fetch her a damp towel to clean herself with and frown. “Let me call a doctor.”

“I’m fine. Damn airplane made me nauseous.”

I take her in. Her face is flushed and her hands are shaking. Something in my gut tells me she’s not fine.

“I’m calling a doctor,” I declare.

She starts to protest again, but then she smiles ruefully and sighs.

When the doctor arrives, she answers his questions with a minimum of fuss. When he is finished with her, he crooks his finger at me and we retreat to the doorway.

“She’ll be all right,” he says, wiping at his sweaty face. “But I must advise against any undue stress. It’s not wise in her condition.”

I look at him blankly. “Condition?”

He frowns at me. “Well, yes. The lady is expecting.”