Fifty Words for Rain(56)

She nodded, as if making a note.

Then she sat in the smaller chair, allowing her husband to take the larger one. But the way her slim body was angled forward left no mistake as to who was in control of this conversation.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Nori was sure that everyone could hear her heart beating frantically inside her chest.

Then Yuko smiled. “Honorable grandson. I have missed you.”

She gestured for the servant standing in the corner to pour her some tea.

“I’m happy to see that you are well,” she continued, and anyone who didn’t know her would think that this was nothing more than a friendly social call.

Akira inclined his head. “Grandmother.”

He nodded to their grandfather, who nodded in return.

“Now,” Akira said smoothly. “Shall we talk some business?”

Kohei stirred in his seat, and when he spoke, he had a voice like a low rumble of thunder.

“Listen, boy. This has gone far enough. You are coming home with us. Today.”

Akira didn’t falter. “I will not.”

Yuko fluttered her fan. “Now, now, anata. Akira-san has made it clear that he wishes to remain in Tokyo. I think we can allow this for a few years. He is a young man. He should be allowed a certain degree of freedom.”

Nori’s hands began to shake. She tucked them into her sleeves and out of sight.

“I understand,” she went on, “that you think we have acted unfairly as far as the girl is concerned. You have gone to great lengths to acquire her—indeed, you have shown remarkable cleverness. I clearly underestimated you.”

Akira’s brow knitted in a frown. “You don’t think you acted unfairly?” he asked, his voice cold. “Even now?”

Yuko waved her hand. “I did what had to be done. Indeed, it is because of my soft heart that the matter is still not resolved. I should have been more careful.”

Nori could feel her temper boiling over. She had not expected an apology, but to know that the only thing her grandmother regretted was not sending her far enough away was galling.

Her grandmother turned to face Nori, those pensive eyes appraising her in one glance. It was clear from her small smirk that she had found nothing of value. Again.

“You are a kind boy, Akira-san,” she said. “But this really is such a waste.”

Akira bristled. “I don’t require your approval. Just your word that you will leave us alone.”

Yuko narrowed her eyes. “So this is really it, then? You are determined to go down this path?”

Akira crossed his arms. “If you came here to change my mind, I am afraid you’ve wasted a trip.”

Nori could not restrain a grin. It did not go unnoticed by Grandfather, who shot her a look so ruthlessly cold that it froze on her face.

Her grandmother sighed. “Very well, then. You may stay here, in Tokyo. But you must return to Kyoto during the summers, starting after your twentieth birthday, for your education. You have much to learn.”

Akira tapped his fingers against the wooden table. “Twenty-fifth birthday.”

Yuko didn’t miss a beat. “Twenty-first.”

Akira hesitated. “Fine,” he said reluctantly. “Twenty-first. And just July and August.”

“And you must marry,” Yuko insisted. She dropped a spoonful of sugar into her tea. “As soon as I can find a suitable bride.”

Akira’s upper lip curled. This was clearly his least favorite part of the agreement.

“Might I ask you not to pick an eyesore?” he asked dryly.

“Of course. She must be pretty and well-mannered. Halfway intelligent, enough to read with the children—but I don’t want a scholar. I won’t have a woman getting above herself.”

“Fine. But I won’t marry for years yet.”

Yuko tapped her chin. “I was married at your age. Your mother—” She broke off. “It would have been better if she had married young instead of going off to Paris. She was corrupted. She learned immodest ways. The French are notorious. But that too was my weakness.”

Akira did not react. “I will marry at twenty-five. No sooner. And she’ll stay here with me, in Tokyo.”

Nori could not imagine her brother married. Akira was entirely uninterested in anything but his music.

Yuko accepted this stipulation without a fight. “And of course, the girl must go. No well-bred girl will agree to share a house with a bastard.”

Nori’s breath hitched in her throat, and she peeked out from behind Akira’s shoulder. For just a moment, she forgot her orders and she started to speak, but Akira was one step ahead of her.

“Nori stays,” he said simply.

Yuko snapped her fan shut. “I will pay for her to have an estate of her own, somewhere abroad. She will have servants to look after her. I understand now that you feel responsible for her—wrongly, of course—but I understand it. Your mother failed you terribly; she has passed you her burden. But now I can lift it from you. You want her to be safe. I can provide this. You need not be troubled by her any further.”

Akira did not even pretend to entertain this suggestion.

“Nori stays,” he said again.

“For the next few years—”

“For as long as she likes. She stays.”