Shifting Perspectives

Kyle made the train with seconds to spare, and after conferring with the conductor, he was placed in a seat that the man guaranteed would get him to Osaka.

Only then did Kyle allow himself to relax. He missed the entire experience of riding the train as he quickly fell asleep and slept the entire way. The conductor woke Kyle and helped the bleary-eyed man from the train.

Kyle was in Osaka, and it was roughly nine AM, but he still needed to get to the small village north of Osaka where Aiko lived.

But first, he needed a sim card for his phone that worked with a local telecom. He found a kiosk in the train station for a local carrier, and he picked up a card with a limited calling plan and a decent data plan and paid in advance. Once his cell was connected to the Internet once more, Kyle made his way outside.

The skies above were a dull grey hinting at the potential for snow, but nothing was falling now. He zipped his leather coat up all the way.

He found a taxi stand and did his best to find a driver who’d agreed to drive him to the address he displayed on his phone and accepted credit cards as Kyle had no local currency.

Once he found his driver, he settled back and did his best to relax.

He couldn’t believe he was in Japan. He couldn’t believe he was about to meet his father’s lover. The woman who put the final nail in the coffin on his parent’s marriage.

The thought stirred up his anger, but he had to make this effort to meet her count. He had to listen to her story with as open a mind as he could, as difficult as that was going to be.

He watched the city go by and caught sight of a large airport. He assumed this might be the one his father worked at while he was here. There was a series of large aircraft hangers with JAL emblazoned on them. He thought that was the airline he might have been working for.

City made way to suburbs, then he was in the countryside. The road wound its way through the hills until he exited into a wide, flat valley set up for crops. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, which made everything look fresh and new.

Then the taxi slowed to a halt before a laneway, but the driver was making no effort to enter it. He pointed up the lane, so Kyle nodded and paid him. He stepped outside into the cold air and shivered. Tugging his black leather gloves from the pockets of his leather jacket, he slipped them on.

He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and began trudging up the lane, the taxi’s tires crunching on the gravel as it headed back to the city.

Kyle continued up the lane and walked around a bend in the drive to see a low-rise home that looked like it needed a lot of tender loving care. Some patchwork repairs had been done, but serious renovations were required to bring it back to its glory. Or maybe just to a livable condition.

The weeds around the property were also out of control.

To the right of the main building and set further up the lane was a garage. It had a double-wide door for cars on the right and a people door on the left. Kyle saw greater care and effort were being taken to preserve this building.

He looked to the house’s front door, and there didn’t seem to be any point in knocking there. The snow was deeper by the door, and there were no tracks in it.

He turned to approach the garage, but stopped when he heard a car coming up the lane. Its horn blared as the car pulled around the bend. A tricked-out sports car stopped before the garage, and Kyle saw the faces of two youngish men sitting in the front seats.

Kyle noticed a sound coming from the engine, and it wasn’t a healthy noise. The engine was suffering.

The driver watched him through his window, then looked at the garage with a snarl and leaned on the horn again before shutting the engine off.

Kyle frowned at the obnoxious use of the horn. These guys seemed pissed, or at least the driver did. Kyle hadn’t gotten a good look at the passenger yet.

The car doors opened, and the two young men stepped out and gave Kyle a once over. He saw the driver was maybe eighteen, but the passenger, he still couldn’t say. The two walked in front of the car, and he saw they were roughly the same height and build, dressed in matching puffy winter jackets and tight black jeans.

The smaller door next to the garage door on the building opened, and someone stepped outside, completely bundled in layers of sweaters and shawls. These were not cutting-edge fashions like the two in front of the car. Ratty and stained were good words to describe them, and they seemed to match the house’s condition.

This new arrival also wore coverings over their face with only a slit for their eyes. Kyle couldn’t tell if the person was young, old, male, or female. Tall? Yes. Almost as tall as Kyle and definitely taller than the driver.

That man yelled something angrily at this person and pointed back at the car.

Kyle assumed that the person in the garage had worked on the car, and the driver was not pleased with their work.

The bundled person snapped a response, and Kyle immediately knew they were female and potentially young.

The angry young man didn’t like being talked back to and got physical. He jumped forward and back-handed the bundled-up female across the face, knocking her back against the door’s frame where she crumped to the ground.

Kyle dropped his duffle and moved forward quickly.

This was when the passenger darted toward him and flicked a blade out to warn him off. Kyle stopped and looked into the pretty eyes of a girl who might have been eighteen, maybe. She was obviously trying to protect her man. When Kyle slapped her hand, he heard the delicate snap of a bone, and the knife spun away to disappear in the snow as she screamed in pain.

The noise stopped the driver as he prepared to hit the fallen woman again. When he saw his passenger on her knees clutching her hand to her chest, he let out a shrill scream of rage, pulled a knife of his own, and charged.

Kyle lunged forward just as they closed, pushed the man’s knife hand outward with his left, and slammed his right fist into the center of that big puffy coat. Contrary to its appearance, the jacket provided no cushioning, and the man crumpled, gasping for breath.

Putting his boot on the man’s wrist, Kyle took his knife and pitched it into the snow as well.

Kyle moved to the woman by the garage, who was pulling her face covering back on. She pulled back from him, so he got no closer. She looked no worse for wear, so he peeked into the car and saw a Nitrous Oxide canister kit mounted in the back where a seat should be. He sighed. Dumb ass.

He went back to the passenger, who was still crying, and he knelt to look her in the eye.

“If you pull a weapon on someone, expect violence in return. Never do that again,” he said firmly.

She nodded as she looked at him in fear. So she could understand him.

He aimed his thumb at the wheezing fellow on the ground. “Does he understand English, too? Sorry, I don’t speak Japanese,” he said, and she shook her head with wide eyes.

Kyle sighed. “Okay. Tell him he’s going to need to rebuild the engine. He likely used an improper mix or too much too often. Either way, he’s an idiot. Go ahead and get back in the car. Tell him to drive it gently, so the engine doesn’t fail before he takes you to the hospital for your finger.”

“Fuck you!” a voice from the ground gasped.

Kyle looked at the punk. “So, you do speak English, or is that all you know?”

The driver said something sharp to him in Japanese, and the only word he recognized was Gaijin.

“Okay, fuck you, it is,” Kyle said. “Take her to the hospital. Do I need to break something of yours?”

That seemed to shut the punk up. He staggered to his feet as his girlfriend hustled to the other side, and they got in. The engine almost didn’t start. He rolled the car back down the lane and seemed to be nursing the engine. Maybe he could understand and listened to his advice.

Kyle collected his duffle then turned to the garage. The woman was no longer standing outside, and he was alone.

“Shit.”

He walked closer to the building and knocked. Silence.

“Hello? I’m looking for a woman named Aiko Okamoto. I was told she lived here,” he called out and waited. He didn’t know if the woman spoke English, but she might respond to the name at least.

“Go away!”

The voice through the door sounded frightened, but he was grateful she spoke his language.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you. I didn’t mean to. I saw you being hurt, and I just reacted.” Kyle paused as he realized he had just reacted without slipping into that numb state. That was progress again.

No response from behind the door. Shit. To have come all this way for nothing was unbearable. “Please, I need to speak to Aiko Okamoto. Can you tell me where I can find her?”

“Why do you need to speak to her?”

“I was asked to come. My father–”

The door opened a few inches and eyes peered out. They still looked frightened.

“Who are you?”

“My name’s Kyle. Kyle MacDenny.”

He watched her eyes widen, then roll up as she collapsed.

-=-

Kyle sat on a worn chair, gazing around the well-organized workshop. There was a lot of space inside, making it harder to warm with just the small woodstove against the left wall.

While the furnishings were old and threadbare, the tools were lovingly cared for and precisely positioned for easy access. Most of the hardware showed their age as well, but they were just worn from a lifetime of use.

There was a cot in the far-left corner by a deep sink. From the collection of toiletries and old towels, Kyle assumed this was where the young woman lived. Was she a squatter? Did Japan have squatters?

The condition of the main house must have deteriorated past the point of livability. He didn’t see a toilet, so could that be what the house was used for? Like an indoor outhouse?

He shook his head from the bizarre thoughts and turned to look at her resting on the tattered futon. When she passed out, Kyle rushed inside and ensured she was still breathing. Then he moved her to the nearby futon so she could wake gently. He closed the door, then added some wood to the small wood-burning stove. It was ancient, but it worked, and the room warmed up a little.

There was a suggestion of a kitchen at one end of a workbench with a kettle and a single element hot plate. He shook his head and wondered if she was suffering from malnutrition. That might explain her fainting. He watched her sleep. How hard did that punk hit her?

She stirred, so Kyle held still and tried to look unthreatening.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she took a moment to orient herself. She looked over at Kyle and jolted upright.

“It’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you. You passed out and fell,” he said gently.

She looked at him suspiciously. “Who are you, and why are you in my house?” she asked stiffly.

“Listen, I’ll leave as soon as you tell me where I can find Aiko Okamoto. This was supposed to be her house, but it looks like no one lives there. Maybe you recognize the name?”

The young woman was quiet, but her eyes were troubled. So maybe she was protecting Aiko?

“I don’t mean her any harm. My dad sent me a letter asking me to look in on her,” he answered awkwardly. He still didn’t know what he was supposed to do when he found her.

“Your father?”

He nodded. “Duncan MacDenny.”

She put her hand to her head and wobbled a little more.

“Are you okay? Do you need something to eat?” Kyle asked, and his own stomach complained at being empty.

“He said you would come, but I did not think you would. Then you didn’t,” she muttered to herself, but he heard.

He frowned and looked more closely at her. “You knew my dad? Who are you?”

Her eyes lifted to look into his. “I am Aiko.”

Kyle shook his head. No, Aiko was his father’s lover. She’d be… much older.

“Duncan-san took care of me after father died as he promised he would. He hired a live-in housekeeper, but she died when I was sixteen. Duncan-san told me you would come on my nineteenth summer, but you did not,” she said, her eyes holding his.

Kyle’s head was buzzing, making it hard for him to think. “No. No, my… my father left my mother for….” His words failed him as she looked up at him with such intensity. He noted her eyes were so unique and startling, one dark brown and the other light blue. This just made her stare so much more… powerful. “You’d have been… twelve?”

“Yes. He was sad, but he said he would pay his debt–”

Kyle lurched away from the girl and tripped over his low chair, falling on his ass as he stared at her in disbelief and shock.

She moved closer as she looked at him. “Why did you not come?”

Kyle didn’t hear her as his mind filled with the sound of his mother’s cries, her anguish over her husband having an affair. The pain she’d gone through! His dad was a monster!

A horrible thought flashed through Kyle’s brain.

“You weren’t lovers?” he asked and saw the woman’s expression twist with revulsion.

“No! Why did you ask me such a terrible question?” she shrieked.

Kyle’s anger flared. “Because my father left my mother believing he was leaving her for another woman! He didn’t tell her you were a child!”

Kyle felt his rage threatening to explode out of control. He lurched back to his feet and rushed out the door. He didn’t want to lash out at the young woman.

He made it as far as the top of the lane, where he stopped as he felt he might explode. He turned his face to the grey skies and prepared to release the rage and agony in a mighty roar, but all that came out was a choked gasp.

Instead, he sank to his knees and fought to contain the waves of emotion crashing over him. Rage at his father’s abandonment, sorrow for the pain his mother felt, and the terrible vacuum of loss at his father’s disappearance from his own life.

It felt like he’d reverted to a child-like state again, struggling with emotions too powerful to control. Their strength came from their link to his parents and the pain his father inflicted, his mother endured, and he couldn’t comprehend.

He felt it all, and it overwhelmed him.

Kyle held his face in his hands, squeezing as if to keep his head from exploding from the pressures within it.

He didn’t know how long he remained on his knees in the snow, but he gradually noticed a hand on his arm gently tugging.

He realized all he felt now was confusion and despair. He allowed Aiko to get him back on his feet and back into the warmer and drier garage. He dropped himself back onto the low chair, and a shudder went through his body. His eyes went to the rows of tools.

His father had been here.

He’d been here instead of with his family. Kyle’s rage resurfaced out of the chaos in his mind. He grit his teeth in a silent snarl.

Aiko was watching him and froze. Her eyes roamed his face as if looking for clues to his thoughts. “Did… do you hate him?”

“Yes,” Kyle ground out between his teeth.

“This is why you did not come,” Aiko nodded as if she finally had her answer.

Kyle stopped himself from nodding. He was so angry he was ready to punish anyone. But Aiko, the one his father chose to be with… she didn’t deserve his hate. “No. No, I didn’t get his letter until a few days ago. I’d moved before the lawyer could deliver it, then they couldn’t find me,” he said wearily.

Aiko looked confused again. “You hate your father, yet you traveled all the way here?”

Kyle was frustrated that he couldn’t see the woman he was talking to, other than her eyes. “Take off the face coverings,” he growled.

She shrank back from him, her eyes suddenly frightened and worried.

Kyle held up his hands and closed his eyes as he fought for control. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to say it like that. I just want to see the person my father felt was more important to be with than his wife and son.”

She watched Kyle cautiously, then her eyes dropped as she lifted trembling hands to her face. She peeled away the coverings and unwrapped the shawl over her head.

Kyle was stunned to see how much hair emerged from the wrappings. He was also confused as the black hair was thick, kinky, and long! It was like a mane! His mind flashed back to Monique, but her hair had been straight. He shook his head to reject that thought.

Still, this was hair he’d expect to see on a black woman, not one from Japan. Her eyes had the epicanthic fold of someone of Asian descent, but….

When she moved her hands away from her face, Kyle finally saw what he originally assumed was a birthmark or shadows was, in fact, pigment. Her face showed a startling mix of pigments, dark brown and palest pink. Perhaps her mother had been black, giving her skin its beautiful deep brown tone, but this color was disappearing in areas over her face. Her full lips were encircled by the pale pink, and there were pink patches under her cheekbones, making them seem even higher. The markings around her eyes were uneven. Her blue eye was completely surrounded by pink skin, but the brown one was within an open crescent shape.

“I have Vitiligo. My father spoke to a doctor when it began on my hands,” she said quietly.

“One of your parents was black?” he asked.

Her eyes darted up to look into his, but she saw curiosity. Then they dropped down once more. “My father told me the story when my skin began to change. My mother became unhappy living here and ran away to the city. My father was called by the police as she had been attacked by a group of drunk men. Gaijin. She was at the hospital. Father brought her home, but she never spoke again. They discovered she was pregnant, but she died when I was born. At first, I was all this color.” She pulled off her mitts, and her slim hands were almost completely bare of pigment, as just a few tiny patches remained. She pointed to the darker skin on her cheek.

Kyle was stunned by her exotic look. There was an exquisite symmetry to her facial structure, yet this contrasted with her asymmetrical coloration. Her eyes were particularly captivating for Kyle, and he realized he was staring.

She put her hands up over her face. “You find me ugly,” she choked out.

“NO! Not at all! You’re lovely!” he insisted.

“Do not lie to me!” she shouted. “They tell me how hideous I am!” She gestured to the door.

“Who? Those punks who came to visit you?” Kyle guessed, and she nodded.

Kyle scowled. “They’re punks! They don’t know what beauty is!” he asserted.

“It is not just them. It is everyone in the village and customers who come to my shop. I see how they stare,” she insisted.

He shook his head. “You’re not ugly. Just different, and some people are frightened by different. I think your difference is amazing. Beautiful!”

She looked at him suspiciously, so he changed the topic. “You said this is your shop? You fix cars?”

She watched him for a moment, then nodded. “I can fix many kinds of motors. Father taught me. Duncan-san taught me, too. I also learned from watching movies on the internet.” She pointed to a beat-up-looking laptop by the cot. “The local farmers come to me to fix their small machines and their cars. Students too.”

Kyle remembered learning at his father’s side and knew the man was an excellent teacher. Her father must have been, too, as his father had befriended him.

His mind went back to the question unanswered all these years, why. His heart hurt.

“Why did my dad come back here when he was dying?” he asked quietly, his voice full of pain.

Aiko watched him with sad eyes. “There was an explosion at the airport hanger where they were working. Some dangerous chemicals were stored improperly inside the hanger, and one of the containers exploded. Duncan-san was unconscious as he was closest. My father pulled him from the building but went back inside to rescue others. The chemical was poisonous, and father became very sick. Duncan-san promised him he would take care of me. He did not know that he was also dying, but he went to a doctor when he became sick. The department manager tried to hide his mistake, but Duncan-san spoke to his superiors and got them to agree to send me monthly payments until I became an adult.”

“January tenth?” Kyle said quietly.

“Yes. I will be twenty, and they will send no more money,” she said sadly.

Kyle frowned. “They couldn’t have been sending you much if you’re living in your garage!”

She watched him for a moment. “It is enough. I moved into the garage after the housekeeper died. She was not good, and she took my money and bought alcohol with it. She was drunk most of the time, and I did most of the work and could not go to school. Then she got sick and died when I was sixteen. The money kept going into the account, but I did not know how I would survive once it stopped. It is less expensive to live like this.”

Kyle’s mind was reeling once more. His father had shown more attention to Aiko in that short period than he had to Kyle in his entire life. Once more, his anger flared, followed by an intense burst of jealousy, which he immediately forced down and rejected. He couldn’t tolerate that poisonous feeling. His problem wasn’t with Aiko, but his father, who was no longer alive to confront.

Honestly, he was in awe of Aiko for surviving alone like this for years.

But now he had a problem. How was he supposed to help her?

“My father wanted me to come here to help you, and I should have received the letter last summer to give me time to do whatever needed to be done. Except, he left me no information on what it is I’m supposed to do.” Kyle said. He saw the sadness in Aiko’s eyes, and something twisted in his heart. It was unbearable to see that emotion there.

“What do you want to do?” he asked gently.

“I want to leave,” she said with no hesitation.

Kyle’s eyebrows went up in surprise, then he held her eyes with his. “Where do you want to go?”

“Where do you live?” she asked timidly.

He froze as he could hear the loneliness in her voice. She wanted to go with him?

“I-I don’t have a home at the moment, and I’m trying to figure out where my life is taking me. All I have is the motorcycle my father left me.”

Aiko’s face lit up with a smile. “The 1988 Harley Davidson Softail Classic?” Kyle nodded. “Duncan-san told me stories of how he and you rebuilt it. Those were my favorite stories as he was so happy when he told them.”

That knocked Kyle off his emotional equilibrium. His throat tightened to the point he couldn’t speak for a moment. His eyes filled with unshed tears as he struggled to breathe.

When he finally got his control back, he looked toward Aiko and saw she was watching him.

“I am sorry I made you so sad,” she said contritely.

He raised a hand and cleared his throat. “It-it’s okay. I have a lot of difficult emotions when it comes to my father, but they’re between him and me, so you aren’t to blame.” They were quiet for a minute. “You may know him better than me,” he said with a snort, but a spike of pain went through him as well.

“Where will you live?” she asked, returning to the question.

He flicked a glance at her and thought about it. “I was thinking of moving back to where I grew up. Maybe a small town along the coast of British Columbia, just north of Vancouver.” He glanced at her again as he wasn’t sure if these place names meant anything to her. She did say she hadn’t been able to go to school. “Do you know where I’m talking about?”

She nodded and pointed to the laptop in the corner. “I have Internet from a neighbor’s open WiFi, and I have researched much about the places Duncan-san told me he lived. I also took online classes, but I know they don’t count.”

Kyle was impressed. “You speak English very well! Who taught you?”

Aiko’s eyes showed her sadness once more. “Father took lessons as he worked with engineers from the United States and Canada. He taught me.” Her eyes flicked to look at him. “Duncan-san taught me as well. He was an excellent teacher.”

Kyle fought back another surge of emotional instability and nodded.

“Would it be okay if I went with you?” Aiko was back to being timid.

Kyle opened his mouth and closed it again. Was this what his father was asking him to do? For that matter, did he want to be responsible for her? She seemed remarkably resilient based on what she’d gone through.

Then he realized why his father had built lead time into the letter delivery. Kyle was to make the arrangements for Aiko to leave. His dad might have guessed or known this was what Aiko would want. The lights went on behind Kyle’s eyes.

“You’ll need documentation, a passport–”

Aiko jumped up from the sofa with a squeak of excitement and rushed over to a drawer built into one of the workbenches. She pulled it open, grabbed a bundle of documents, and hurried back to Kyle with them. She handed the bunch to Kyle.

“Duncan-san helped me get these!” she claimed. This confirmed Kyle’s previous thoughts.

How his father knew Kyle would help her was beyond his understanding. Something his dad had written in the letter resurfaced in his brain. He’d said he knew his wife would raise him to be a good man. He’d acknowledged his wife would be the foundation of his values. He had faith in her. Another shock ran through his mind, and his hands shook as he closed his eyes. His father had become a complete mystery to him once more. His preconceived notions of how the man’s mind worked were being destroyed by each revelation forced on him today.

Kyle looked back at his hands and saw some kind of resident card with Aiko’s photo on it. There was also a passport, which was thankfully still current. Then there was an envelope which contained some official-looking papers. He held them up for Aiko to read.

“What are these?” he asked.

She’d seen his hands shaking and was watching him cautiously. He forced a smile onto his lips, and she looked and pointed to the documents as she described them. “This is the deed to the home, and that is my father’s will,” she said, then gestured to the passport.

“I saw my passport was going to expire before my eighteenth birthday, so I went to Osaka to renew it. It was scary, but I did it!” Aiko said excitedly.

Kyle nodded with an impressed smile as she’d done all this on her own, but he was feeling a little overwhelmed.

To help him focus, he looked anywhere but at Aiko. He cast his eyes around the room, absorbing the significance of what he was seeing. He knew this was below even his minimalism standard. She had to be living beneath the poverty line, and he had to get her out of this.

With that realization, he felt a weight lifting from his shoulders and felt a hint of his mother’s approval. He knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that she would have done the same for Aiko. Maybe he really did have his mother’s moral compass.

He saw she was looking at him expectantly. He took a deep breath.

“Okay. Okay, we can do this, but there are some details we’ll still need to work out.”

“Thank you, Kyle-san!” she gushed, and her smile derailed his brain. She was so incredibly lovely! She looked away bashfully as Kyle got control once more.

He nodded. “First thing we need to do is pack. You aren’t staying here tonight. I’ll need to find an inexpensive hotel in Osaka which we can use as our base of operations to make our plans. I need to know what you want to do about your home.”

“You can do whatever you feel is best,” Aiko insisted, and Kyle blinked at her in surprise.

“It’s your home–,” he began.

“Since Duncan-san died, it has been my prison. I no longer want to be here.”

Kyle nodded to her as he thought about that. “Okay… I guess we’ll try to sell it. What items do you want to keep?”

Aiko walked back to the workbench and pulled an old wooden chest out from under it. She opened the lid and pulled out a photo album and a few bits of jewelry. She looked up at him shyly. “These belonged to my mother. I had to hide them from the housekeeper.”

Kyle smiled and nodded to her. “Do you have a suitcase or a bag like mine you can put your clothes and items into?”

She thought for a moment. “Maybe in the house?”

“Let’s get it,” Kyle suggested, and she pulled her mittens on before heading outside. Kyle followed, and she walked around the side of the house instead of going to the front door. She fussed with a panel before it slid aside, and they stepped inside. Kyle pulled out his cell and turned on its flashlight feature. He saw Aiko’s eyes lock onto the device, and he made a mental note to get her one when they got back to Canada.

That thought crashed his brain for a moment. He really was taking her home with him, a girl he’d just met. That was hard to get his head around, but somehow, he knew the decision was right.

He realized Aiko was waiting for him since he was the one with the light. Embarrassed, he handed her the cell, and she accepted it with a look of delight. Then she was off, heading across a room with a few dusty pieces of furniture.

“Be careful where you step. I have been using bits of the house for firewood,” she said. They carefully walked down a central hall, and he spotted rooms that had nothing inside, their floors pulled up and cut free.

Eventually, they found a storage room, and Kyle held the light while Aiko dug through the items until she pulled out a sturdy canvas duffle bag. She held it up with a smile. “This was my father’s when he was in the army. He got injured and had to leave, but he learned to be an excellent mechanic.”

Kyle nodded and looked around. A lifetime of acquiring stuff filled this room. “Do you need anything else?”

She shook her head, so he led the way back to the exit.

As they walked back to the garage, he looked toward the lane as he heard the distant sound of a car driving by. “I meant to ask you. Should we be expecting additional trouble from the two who came to rough you up today?”

Aiko looked at him in question.

“I mean, are they in a gang, or are they from a wealthy or important family, and we’ll see someone come back to get revenge?” he explained.

She giggled as she covered her mouth with a mitten. “They are high school students, not members of the Yakuza.”

“Ah. Okay,” Kyle said, feeling a little silly.

They went back into the garage, and he saw how little she was putting into the duffle. After she added her toiletries, she had almost no clothes, and the clothes she was wearing under the ratty layers should probably be burned as they likely hadn’t seen the inside of a washing machine in a long time. He was going to have to buy her some clothes.

Her photo album and her mother’s jewelry went inside the bag.

Kyle looked at the tools. There was everything a mechanic would need, but none of them were in excellent condition. He gestured to them, but Aiko shook her head sadly.

“They are not good,” she said.

Kyle nodded. “We can discuss life plans once we get to a hotel. You have some excellent skills, so we can look at getting you in a course to get your certification if you want so you can work as a mechanic anywhere… if that’s what you want.” He shook his head and grinned. “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me find a hotel I can afford.”

“I have money, too,” she said.

He looked at her in surprise, then looked at how she was living.

“I did not want to spend the money as I did not know how long I would have to make it last,” she explained. “I paid the bills, so they would not throw me out of my home. Taxes and utilities must be paid. I spent money on food when the farmers did not pay for repairs with produce. All other money was saved in the bank,” she explained.

“How much do you have?” he asked.

She rushed over to her laptop and booted it up. Kyle wandered over as he watched the clunky machine grind its way to the desktop interface. “My father and Duncan-san helped me get the bank accounts set up and all payments coming from it. It is a normal account since I turned eighteen.”

She logged into the secure site and displayed the balance. At first, Kyle’s eyes widened in shock, seeing multiples in the millions, then he realized the number was in Yen. He looked up a conversion rate and saw she had the rough equivalent of fifty-seven thousand Canadian dollars in the bank. Not enormous amounts of money, but a good nest egg to begin her investing with.

“This is good! Having the bank account set up this way will hopefully allow you to withdraw the money when you leave Japan.” She blinked at him, then nodded as the thought settled in her mind. “It’s something we’ll need to look into. We’ll also need the account to handle the sale of the home. From what I saw of the shape of the home, I don’t think you’re going to get much for it.” He glanced at the basket of bits of wood he now recognized were from the home’s floors.

“Let’s use your PC to look up hotels,” he suggested.

They spent the next thirty minutes trying to find a place with a decent rating and a good price. Kyle didn’t know how long it would take to settle her affairs before they could leave. An extended stay in a hotel was not in his budget, and he didn’t want Aiko to eat up too much of the nest egg she’d worked so hard to save.

“We don’t have to get two rooms,” Aiko finally suggested. She was also very aware of the increased cost of living with the hotel.

“Uh, that’s not–” Kyle began

“A single room with two beds would be much less expensive. You will be a gentleman, won’t you?” she said with a little smile.

He gaped at her. “Yes, of course, but that’s not the point! We just met today! Sleeping in the same room–”

“Will save us so much money!” Aiko insisted. “Any of these hotels are nicer than living here, so you can choose any of them, but choose one room.”

Kyle frowned at her. He knew she was right. It would be half price if they shared, and even the two-star places they’d seen were a vast improvement over this. He sighed.

He ran some searches as he knew he needed a nearby mall to get new clothes for her and found a big mall with nearby hotels. He checked their prices and discovered that he could get a much nicer four-star room for only a few more dollars a night. The prices were surprisingly reasonable! Of course, there would be meals on top of that. He called the hotel on his cell and made a reservation for the week beginning tonight. He specified two beds for two guests, and they said they would see him soon.

“We need a taxi to pick us up,” Kyle said. He did some more searches online and called a few before finding one that was willing to pick them up in an hour, and the price was higher than his lift here as their destination was further south.

“Okay, we have a little time before they get here. Please take another look around and make sure you have everything you want to bring with you. If there is anything in the house you need, now is the time to collect it,” Kyle said to her firmly. She nodded and spent some time looking through the drawers and boxes in the garage, and she only added a couple of small items to her bag.

“There is nothing in the house. Anything in there I needed, I moved to the garage. The only thing I will miss is my bicycle, but it is too big to bring with us,” she said.

“Can you show me?” Kyle asked with interest.

She smiled and went to the other side of the garage, where she threw back a tarp that covered an old Fuji racing bicycle with a plastic crate bolted to a rear rack and a basket strapped to the handlebars. It was a decent enough racer, but it had been turning into a workhorse.

“You enjoy cycling?” he asked curiously.

She grinned that dazzling smile at him again. “I run all my errands on this bicycle and ride as much as I can.”

Her grin was infectious, and he smiled back at her. “That’s something else we have in common. I love cycling too, and I really miss it. When I let go of my apartment, I had nowhere to keep one. If I do set up home in BC, we’ll definitely get bicycles.”

Aiko was almost shivering with excitement.

“We should put out the fire,” Kyle suggested.

She spun and ran to the sink to get a cup of water to toss on the fire. Then she closed the wood stove’s door.

She looked at him in concern. “What if customers come up to the garage?”

“We could pull a chain or string across the drive with a closed sign to keep people out,” he suggested.

Aiko nodded and collected a long piece of rope and the closed sign from the garage door. They picked up their bags and stepped outside so she could lock the door. They walked down the drive to tie the rope across the driveway to warn people not to enter.

They waited twenty minutes and were thinking of heading back inside when the taxi arrived. Kyle got Aiko and her bag into the back and slid in next to her. He gave the driver the address, and they were on their way. He smiled at Aiko, who was back behind her wrappings once more. He wanted her to feel comfortable to take them off, but baby steps. She was already leaping out into the void with this enormous change in her life.

The drive into the center of Osaka didn’t take long, and Kyle enjoyed watching Aiko’s reaction to seeing the sights.

They left the cab after Kyle paid and made their way into the hotel. Kyle smiled as he saw how excited Aiko was. Then he stopped as he considered what their arrival might look like to the check-in staff. If she was all giddy and excited, they might think she was young, inexperienced, and being taken advantage of by this strange foreigner. That could be problematic.

He gestured for Aiko to follow and moved to a rack of brochures. She got closer, almost too close.

“Aiko, I’m going to get our room, and I need you to do something for me.”

“Yes?”

He thought of an example and tried it out. “When that punk we met today came to you to fix his car, how did his girlfriend act?”

Aiko blinked in surprise at the question, but thought about it. “She was not interested, so she played with her phone.”

“She was bored?” he asked.

Aiko nodded as she remembered that.

“Can you show me her expression on your face?” he asked, and her eyes darted to the front counter, where three staff members could be seen behind the counter. They were serving a guest.

Kyle knew she was nervous about showing her face, but he needed her to get past that. “You should probably remove the face covering as they might need to see you are who you are, but we’re going to play a little game on them.”

Aiko’s eyes immediately locked on his. “A game?”

Kyle grinned and saw her relax a little as if his confidence was feeding her own. “Yes, we’re going to pretend to be celebrities, important people. Hotels love them. So, we approach them like this is the millionth hotel we’ve been to. We’re friendly but bored by the entire experience since we’ve done it so often. You make the bored expression of the girl you saw at your shop and smile politely at the staff when they look at you but slip back to the bored look as if even smiling is boring.”

Aiko’s eyes were nervous but twinkling as she was definitely interested. “You have done this?”

“Oh yeah, especially in fancy hotels where they see my leather jacket and wonder what a rough guy like me is doing in such a fine hotel. I act all bored and famous, and soon they believe I’m famous and suddenly they’re bending over backward to help me. It’s fun!” He said with a grin.

“O-okay, I will try,” she said nervously.

“Okay, beautiful. Let me see your bored expression,” Kyle said, and she froze for a moment, then blushed.

“I didn’t say sweet. I said bored,” he insisted playfully.

She worked up the nerve to pull the face-covering away and looked timidly at him.

“Channeling the bored girl… now,” Kyle prompted.

Her expression suddenly went almost lifeless. Kyle couldn’t stop himself from chuckling with delight. Her face slipped back into nervousness.

“I did it wrong?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“No! You were perfect! Absolutely brilliant! You had me convinced!” he assured her, and her smile returned, eyes twinkling. “Let’s go. It’s showtime!” He slipped on his own bored expression, and she grinned behind her hand, then returned her face to the bland, lifeless stare of the terminally bored.

Kyle pulled the Rolex from his inner jacket pocket and put it on his wrist. Aiko’s eyes widened in surprise. “Just a little bling to sell the image.” She nodded, then schooled her expression again as she followed Kyle toward the front desk. Kyle put his bag at his feet and smiled politely at the man behind the desk.

“Hi, I called earlier. Kyle MacDenny.” He rested his left arm on the counter, the heavy watch thumping the counter as his right hand dug out his wallet and passport.

He pulled his credit card from the wallet and handed it to the gentleman behind the counter with his passport.

“Yes, Mr. MacDenny. You have booked a room with us for one week?” he asked.

“Yes, though we might need to extend it for a second if the fashion shoot takes longer. Would that be an issue?”

The man looked at Kyle, then his eyes went to Aiko and widened.

Before her nerve broke, Kyle leaned forward to speak quieter. The man leaned in, seeing Kyle’s intense look. “We’ve been traveling incognito as the press has been an issue. You don’t allow paparazzi into the hotel, do you?”

“No, sir! And the extension shouldn’t be an issue.”

Kyle leaned back in relief. “That’s good. When her issues hit the newsstands, it’s going to be impossible to get privacy.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said as he returned to processing Kyle’s room. His eyes were flicking to Kyle and Aiko every chance he had. The two women behind the counter were watching the proceeding with intense interest.

He handed Kyle two electronic door keys and returned the credit card and passport. “Is there anything else, Mr. MacDenny?”

“Yes. In about forty minutes, we’ll need a taxi to take us to the nearest shopping mall, preferably one with an excellent selection of women’s clothing shops. She needs some new outfits. Simple but stylish.”

“Yes, sir. I will make the arrangements,” the man said with a smile.

Aiko smiled politely at him, and his smile increased as his eyes widened.

They grabbed their bags and sauntered over to the elevators. Kyle got them inside, and they were on their way up. Aiko went to say something, but Kyle touched her hand to make her wait.

When they were in their room, he relaxed and laughed. Aiko grinned at him.

“That was fun, but what did you tell him?” she asked.

Kyle dug his cell out and did a quick search on it. “I told him we were trying to avoid paparazzi as you were a fashion model and were about to become very famous.”

She looked at him in shock and dismay, so he handed her the cell phone. Her eyes moved to the screen and froze there.

Kyle had searched in a browser for vitiligo female models and had it display images. There were many images, and some were covers to famous fashion magazines.

“Don’t for a second believe any of the crap you’ve been told about being ugly. You are beautiful! Your beauty is bold and fierce, and that may frighten some people, but that just shows their weakness.”

Kyle studied Aiko’s face as she looked at picture after picture. “Have you never searched for people with vitiligo? There is no shame in it. You may get a lot of unwanted attention, but again, only the fearful or weak-minded would fail to see how gorgeous you really are.”

Aiko handed him back his phone, and her eyes were filled with unshed tears as she gazed at him.

“Now, I also told the fellow downstairs that we’ll be going out to a mall to get you some new outfits. Before that happens, I want you to go take a shower and get freshened up. You’ll be trying on clothes, so shower and dress in something clean from your bag.”

She looked sad once more. “I have nothing clean.”

He frowned and tried to gauge her size. She was almost as tall as he was, which gave him an idea. He opened his duffle and rooted around inside it until he felt the soft fleece of his new London tracksuit. He pulled it out and handed it over to Aiko.

“Put this on after your bath. It’s gonna be big, but it’ll do until we can get you some better clothes,” he said.

She held it up to her cheek with a trembling smile. “Thank you.”

“No time for tears! Off you go!” he insisted, shooing her to the bathroom.

She squeaked and rushed away with a smile on her lips.

While she was making water sounds in the bathroom, he was standing before the two twin beds he’d asked for. They were a little too close together, but they were on platforms that didn’t move.

He sighed.

Thirty minutes later, Aiko came out of the bathroom with the tracksuit on, and Kyle finally got a better view of who had been hiding under those layers of rags. The clothes were too large for her as her diet had been insufficient for so long. She was only two inches shorter than Kyle.

It was the volume of hair that stunned Kyle. She had it pulled back and tied with a thick ribbon, and that seemed to have it under control. He smiled at her. “Feeling better?”

“It has been a long time since I had a proper bath!” she said with a sigh.

“We’ll do some shopping, then we’ll get dinner,” he suggested, and she nodded. Then she looked worried. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“We are going to be in a place with many people,” she said hesitantly.

He held her eyes and waited.

“They will stare. They will think–”

“Let them. Remember what we did downstairs. Remember how good it felt. I’m going to be with you, and we’re going to draw a lot of attention. That’s fine. No one’s opinion matters but ours. We’re not going there for them. We’re going there for us,” Kyle said with a smile. “If you feel a little nervous, just look into my eyes.”

She nodded and flashed a wide smile at him.

“You have an amazing smile!” Kyle said, enjoying the happiness in her eyes. Kyle couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been for her to be isolated within her own community. So many people failed her. Kyle could almost sense his mother’s heart going out to her.

“I have never gone shopping for clothes in a mall, as my clothes all came from the temple donation center,” she said quietly. “And I haven’t been to a restaurant since my skin changed.”

Kyle took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “This is the beginning of your new life where you get to decide where you want to go and what you want to do. No one else gets to define or limit who you are or what you can do.” He believed her father did her a major disservice by changing their lifestyle when she began to show. It validated her perception that she needed to hide her shameful coloration. He kept this opinion to himself.

He put on his leather jacket and saw her pick up the layered garment she’d been wearing.

“This is the first item we’re going to replace. You need a new warm winter coat,” Kyle insisted.

They left the room and went downstairs. As the elevator approached the lobby, he looked over at Aiko. Her face was completely exposed now, and she looked very nervous.

“Channeling the bored girl….”

“Now,” she said as her eyes lifted to his with no expression.

He smiled at her in admiration. “Damn, girl! You’re so good at this! I gotta pick up my game!”

She snorted, then got control when the door opened, and they marched through.

As they approached it, they saw there were more people in the lobby now. Aiko hesitated, so Kyle took her hand and looked into her eyes as he gave her a confident grin. She picked up his energy and lengthened her stride to match his. They stopped before the reception desk and caught the eye of the clerk they’d spoken with earlier. He rushed over and handed Kyle a slip of paper with a short number on it.

“The taxi outside with this number will take you to the mall,” he said to Kyle.

“Thank you very much,” Kyle said with a nod.

He turned and glanced over at Aiko. “Chin up, beautiful,” he whispered to her.

Her eyes flicked to his, then her chin came up, and he nodded to her as they strode out of the lobby to find their taxi. Kyle raised a hand to catch the driver’s eye, and he pulled the car around to let them in.

Kyle held the door for Aiko, then got in beside her. The taxi immediately got underway, so Kyle leaned back in his seat as Aiko leaned against his side.

“You did very well,” he whispered to her, and she turned her face to look into his eyes.

“No one looks at me like you do,” she insisted.

He grinned. “I have a few very beautiful friends, so I’m used to being in its presence, and I can appreciate it without losing control or acting like an idiot.”

She leaned her head closer to Kyle’s shoulder. “You make my stomach flutter when you say such things.”

He tilted his head and watched her face. “I’m just saying the truth. Perhaps you haven’t heard it enough. When was the last time?”

“Duncan-san was the last person to tell me I was pretty,” she said quietly.

Kyle snorted quietly. “Finally, something he and I agree on.”

Aiko giggled gently.

Kyle smiled at the joyful sound. Inside, his heart was breaking. She shouldn’t have had to endure seven years without a kind word. He understood he’d didn’t know it was happening or that his father had intended for him to come to her last summer, so he couldn’t really blame himself for not being there for her, but he wished he’d received the letter earlier.

Then his thoughts turned to how much he’d changed in the past year. If he was honest with himself, he wondered how responsive he’d have been to the letter if he’d received it back then.

Maybe… maybe it had to happen this way. That didn’t mean he couldn’t regret it.

He knew he could make sure she was happy now.

“You’re going to have to help me with dinner. I don’t know what foods are good or even what they are. I won’t be able to read the menu,” Kyle said, and she nodded with another twinkle in her eyes.

They quickly arrived at what looked like a sizable mall. Kyle paid the driver, and they headed inside. He stuffed his gloves into his pockets, and after he looked at her, she also put her mitts in her pockets.

There were throngs of people walking through the wide concourses. He offered his elbow to Aiko, and she looped her arm through and held his arm.

Kyle found a mall map and asked Aiko to point out a shop that might sell winter coats. She pointed the way, and they headed directly to a large sporting goods store. There were winter coats of all kinds, and Kyle helped her find one that was warm and went down to mid-thigh. He grabbed her some matching mitts.

He also had her try on several pairs of ankle-high waterproof boots until she found a comfortable pair.

Next was trying on running shoes to replace the torn ones she had on. When she found a pair that fit, he told her to leave them on and followed the salesperson to the cash to purchase them and the rest of the items they picked out. The salesperson then dumped her old coat, mitts, and runners into their trash.

The mall was warm enough for her to walk around in the tracksuit, so Kyle had them put the new jacket into a large bag with the rest of her stuff for him to carry.

Kyle then targeted shops that sold women’s clothes. There was a casual wear shop that sold tights, light, comfy blouses, and sweaters. He had her try on outfit after outfit. Aiko kept her eyes on Kyle, and he made sure she received the praise she deserved for getting past her fears of being in such a public space. She was still nervous, but she could function as long as Kyle was nearby to give her confidence.

One of the most difficult things Aiko had to endure was getting fitted for a bra. Kyle couldn’t join her in the change room with the sales clerk who took the measurements. He let her pick up an excellent selection of lovely bras and matching panties as a reward.

Stomach rumbling because of the scents wafting down from the food court, Kyle led them up to the restaurant level. He wanted a place with a private booth, as he could see Aiko needed to unwind after being on display for so long.

“You pick the restaurant,” he told her, and she immediately tugged him toward a secluded place at the end of the corridor. They got a table near the back of the restaurant, and once they were seated with all their bags stuffed into the booth with them, he could see Aiko sag as they were no longer so visible.

“You were so amazing! I’m very proud of you!” he said to her, and she gave him a weary smile. “We’re done, so we’ll head back to the hotel after dinner,” he said, to her relief.

Aiko nodded as she picked up the menu and scanned it with her eyes. He could see them widening as she items she liked.

“You’ll probably upset your stomach if you overeat, so select some of your favorites, but only a little more than you’d usually eat,” Kyle suggested, and her eyes flicked to his as she nodded.

“I can’t handle really spicy foods, so if you can find items I might like, please order for me as well,” he asked, and she nodded.

The waitress arrived and froze when she saw Aiko.

“Good evening!” Kyle said, pulling her out of her daze. She looked at Kyle as he reached across the table and took Aiko’s hand to give it a squeeze before releasing it. “We worked up an appetite tonight. I hope your food is very good,” he said.

The woman smiled and nodded.

Aiko began listing the dishes they wanted, and the woman nodded as she jotted it down. With a smile for Kyle, the waitress rushed away when Aiko indicated she was done.

“I may have ordered too much,” Aiko admitted quietly.

Kyle snorted in amusement. “Just don’t eat it all, and we’ll bring the extra food back with us for a midnight snack.”

It didn’t take long for the first items to arrive, and Kyle smiled as he saw the gleam in Aiko’s eyes.

“Pace yourself. Small amounts of each dish, and you can tell me what they are,” Kyle cautioned.

She nodded and moved two dumplings to her plate. Kyle did the same. He dipped one in some soy sauce and popped it into his mouth. Immediately, his taste buds did a little dance of joy. He smiled at Aiko and nodded as he chewed slowly, savoring the flavors. She smiled and closed her eyes as she enjoyed the food as well.

Dish after dish arrived, and Kyle looked at the apologetic expression on Aiko’s face. He just grinned and shook his head. They’d better have takeout containers, as this was going to be breakfast as well.

After they’d eaten their fill, Kyle had to tell Aiko to stop. They asked for containers, and the waitress brought them and the bill. Kyle paid as Aiko dumped the leftovers into a stack of containers to go. These went into another bag for Kyle to carry.

He pulled her new winter coat out for Aiko to wear and the winter boots and mitts. She put her sneakers in the bag, so Kyle had less to carry.

Kyle could tell Aiko’s confidence had improved as they walked through the mall without her dipping her face downward or away from approaching people. That might also have been from the satisfaction of having a belly full of yummy food.

He was very aware of every pair of eyes that turned in their direction, but he kept a content smile on his face as he carried all their shopping bags in one hand as she held the other.

They took a cab back to the hotel and nodded to the front desk clerk with a smile as he lifted the bundle of shopping bags to thank him for his help. The man smiled widely and bowed his head toward them.

When they got to the room, Aiko stripped off the winter coat and hung it up in the closet with her mitts in the pockets. Then she ran her hands over the slick surface, which would repel snow and sleet. It was a lovely deep red, a very bold color for a shy woman. She turned to see Kyle setting down all her shopping bags. When he turned to walk back to the closet to put away his jacket, she rushed forward and threw her arms around him.

“Thank you so much!” she said against his chest.

He gave her a hug as well. “You’re welcome. This is just day one, and we have a lot of work ahead of us.

She suddenly yawned, and he chuckled.

“The next order of business is getting a good night’s sleep. We forgot to pick up sleepwear for you so you can sleep in the tracksuit if you like,” he suggested, and she nodded with a little smile. “Let’s brush our teeth,” he said.

They stood together in the small bathroom as they prepared for bed, sharing smiles.

Afterward, Kyle collected the t-shirt and shorts he planned to sleep in and sent Aiko from the bathroom while he got changed. When he came out, Aiko was standing in the middle of the room, looking at him. “What’s up?”

She dropped her eyes. “The tracksuit is too warm to sleep in.”

“Ah…” Kyle said as he tried to come up with an alternative. He dug through his duffle and pulled out one of the wicking shirts Louise bought for him. It was pretty long, so it might work as a nightie for her. He held it up for her. “You can try this,” he suggested, and she nodded happily as she took it from his fingers. He watched her rush away to the bathroom to get changed.

He drank the water from a courtesy bottle, turned off the lights except the one between the beds, and crawled under the sheets on one of the single beds. It seemed comfortable enough, but his head spun a little. He realized just how exhausted he was, both physically and mentally. Emotionally, he was wrung out. Sleep was what he needed most.

The bathroom door opened, and Aiko came out carrying the tracksuit neatly folded with her pretty bra on top. The new t-shirt clung to her figure, and the bumps of her nipples were unmistakable. The t-shirt was just long enough to cover her ass, so her long slim legs were bare and on display. Here too, her pigment was gone in patches. It looked like she was wearing tall pink sports socks and the pink streaks ran up the inside of her thighs.

Kyle’s eyes lifted to see Aiko watching him cautiously. “Ready for bed?” he asked, and a relieved smile flashed across her face. A test had been passed, but Kyle wasn’t sure who was being tested.

Aiko rushed to put the clothes on top of her bag, then she got under the covers of the other bed.

“Another busy day tomorrow. I’m zonked,” Kyle moaned.

“Zonked?” Aiko asked curiously.

Kyle snorted. “Completely exhausted. Probably jet lagged, too. I’d better set the alarm, or I may sleep all day tomorrow.”

Aiko giggled at the faces Kyle was making, and he smiled over at her. “Goodnight, Aiko.”

“Goodnight, Kyle.”

He turned off the light, closed his eyes, and faded immediately.

Zonked.

-=-

“You’re leaving? Again?”

“Where to this time?”

“Will you be coming back?”

“Did you ever love me?”

“Do you even know how to love?”

The anger in her words seemed muted this time as Kyle floated above his mother’s hospital bed, watching her sleep.

This was how life ended for her, and a wave of rage/frustration/despair rushed through him because it wasn’t fair.

She was such a good woman who didn’t deserve the shit life threw in her way: an emotional eunuch for a husband, a troubled child, the pain of being abandoned, and finally, cancer.

Kyle watched her and saw the impression of himself sitting by her bedside. He recalled the hours he spent there, wishing they were both somewhere, anywhere else.

Her eyes opened, and she looked at him, the floating him, not the one by her side.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Did you give me cancer? Don’t get so full of yourself,” she said with amusement in her weary eyes.

He snorted, as she always called him on his shit. He loved her for it.

“I met her, mom,” he said.

“Did you?” she asked weakly as her eyes closed.

“She wasn’t what you thought!” Kyle said desperately, but she’d already faded away. She’d never know his father hadn’t left her for another woman. That pain could never be erased.

Kyle’s grief swelled up and overwhelmed him.

“Kyle-san… Kyle-san, wake up.”

He blinked his eyes, but he couldn’t see properly as everything was a blur in the dim light. He lifted his hands to his face and discovered it was wet with tears. The pain of his mother’s loss hit him again, as his emotions were so much sharper at night. He put his hands over his face and tried to stifle a sob that tore from his chest.

“Why are you crying?” Aiko’s voice asked him cautiously.

He forced the pain deep and took slow breaths. When he felt his control returning, he tried to see Aiko, but his eyes were still too blurry.

“S-sorry.” He took another deep breath. “I was… dreaming of my mother. I was trying to tell her….” He couldn’t finish.

“She must have hated me,” Aiko said quietly, but her voice was full of sadness.

Kyle cleared the lump from his throat as he wiped the tears from his eyes. “No! No, she wouldn’t have hated you. She didn’t know… sh-she never will.”

The grief hit Kyle once more, and his hands went over his face to contain his tears, but his body shook.

He suddenly felt a soft and warm body slide under the blankets with him, and his head was pulled against her breasts. Hands gently stroked his hair, and a soft voice made soothing sounds.

Kyle was stunned that Aiko was offering to comfort him when she’d gone through so much pain herself. At first, he felt a little ridiculous and awkward, but it was such a relief to be held and soothed when his emotions were so out of control.

He felt his breathing slow, and his trembling quieted. When he had control of himself once more, he pulled back from Aiko’s chest to look into her eyes the best he could in the darkened room.

“Thank you, Aiko. That… was a powerful dream, and I can’t believe how hard it hit me.”

Gentle fingers held his face as her thumbs wiped the tears from his cheeks. He sighed, since her hands felt good on his face, too.

When Aiko’s lips touched his, Kyle froze. Her kiss was soft and tentative, trembling slightly with her fear of rejection.

Kyle’s intellect was telling him he had to stop her as it was too soon! They’d only just met!

His emotions desperately wanted this connection to another soul after his little meltdown.

His intellect scorned that as terribly selfish!

Casting the tie-breaking vote, his body returned her kiss.

-=-

When Aiko woke to the sound of Kyle struggling to breathe, she instantly tossed her blanket aside and moved to kneel next to his bed. In the dim light, she could see Kyle was crying and moaning quietly.

Instantly, her self-doubt reared its ugly head, and she was afraid that Kyle would have second thoughts about taking her with him.

She looked closer and saw his eyes were closed as tears ran down his cheeks. Aiko called out for him to wake, and he did.

When she learned he was dreaming of his mother, she realized how strong his relationship with her had been. She envied him that, but now she was worried this would be the reason for him leaving her here, alone again. That thought terrified her. Kyle was the only one who looked at her without fear or disgust. He thought she was beautiful!

She thought he was beautiful, too. She could see his muscles when he came out of the bathroom in his tight t-shirt and shorts, but he was so casual and comfortable with her.

When the dream threatened to return, she acted. She slipped into his bed and held him close to her and recalled how Duncan-san once calmed her tears when she’d had a bad dream.

At first, he was stiff, and she thought he might be offended by her touch, but he quickly relaxed and accepted her embrace.

She enjoyed the sensation of his body against hers.

She’d never been with a man, but she’d watched some adult movies on her computer over her stolen internet connection. The men usually weren’t attractive, and some had frighteningly large penises, but she had a few videos she returned to repeatedly. She’d discovered how to have sex by herself, but it looked more intense when done with someone else.

She held Kyle’s face in her hands, and with her heart in her throat, she kissed him.

Would he be revolted? Would he push her away?

Aiko sucked in a quick breath as she felt Kyle’s lips caress her mouth. He was kissing her too!

Sparks exploded throughout her body, and she wanted more! She climbed onto his body and kissed him harder. His body felt so good, the sparks were spreading and intensifying, and she needed him so much. When his hands settled on her body, she moaned against his mouth.

-=-

Kyle’s need for Aiko was going off the rails. She’d slid herself up onto his body and was grinding against his quickly growing erection, with only his shorts and her panties separating them.

An image of Èlia beneath him flashed through Kyle’s head, and it was like a splash of cold water in the face. She’d had unprotected sex with him for the specific purpose of having a baby. He doubted Aiko was on birth control, and he didn’t think he had any condoms in his duffle bag.

He had to put the brakes on the passion before it got… any more out of hand.

He gently took Aiko’s face between his hands and lifted her face from his. Her eyes opened to look at him.

“What is wrong?”

“It-it’s going too fast. We’re going too fast,” he managed, desperately trying to ignore how good she felt grinding against him.

“You want this! I want this!” She paused, then her voice became quiet and timid. “Do you not want this?” Her motions slowed, then stopped.

Kyle saw the doubt and loss of confidence in her eyes.

“Yes, I want this–” She smiled and pressed against his cock more firmly. “Wait! Oh god, that’s good! No, wait, wait, wait,” he gasped.

“Why?” she asked.

He eased her off to rest next to him. “I want this, but tonight isn’t when it should happen. My emotions are raw from the nightmare, and you’re starting a new life. We just met today, so we should get to know each other first, and neither of us has protection against pregnancy. Are you on the birth control pill?”

She gazed into his eyes, then slowly shook her head.

“I don’t have any condoms. As good as this feels and as much as I want to be with you, we need to stop and give ourselves time. There’s no need to rush,” Kyle said as he caressed her cheek with his finger.

“You say that when you touch me and make me want you more!” she complained softly.

Kyle chuckled softly. “Sorry. I just wanted you to know how I felt about you.”

Aiko was silent as she watched him. Finally, she sighed. “Tomorrow, we buy condoms,” she said with a pout.

Kyle laughed and immediately felt better. His emotions were settling down, and Aiko seemed to be comfortable with him once more. Maybe too comfortable.

“Perhaps you should sleep in your own bed,” he suggested.

“But I like being here with you,” she pleaded.

“Aiko, it’s too tempting!” he said with the same pleading tone.

She giggled, then huffed. “He is on to me.”

Kyle laughed and immediately felt a burst of joy at her clever words. He grinned at her, and she slipped from under his sheets to move back to her bed.

“Aiko?”

She looked back at him.

“Thank you for being there for me tonight.”

She smiled at the sincerity in his voice. “You are welcome. Thank you for coming to Japan to help me.”

As Kyle closed his eyes and did his best to will his excited body parts return to their normal state, he heard Aiko sigh from her bed, obviously dealing with her own cooling down issues.

Kyle experienced a moment of clarity just before sleep took him and felt his mother’s love touch him.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, but this one was from relief and joy.

Chapter 19

In the cool light of day, the morning after their first night together, they mutually decided to take things much slower. They had time and were going to use it to get to know one another before they gave in to their lust. Aiko said kisses, hugs, and holding hands were exempt from the restricted activities, and Kyle agreed.

Kyle wasn’t sure what exactly it was about Aiko that attracted him most. Certainly, her unique and startling beauty took his breath away, but the innocent delight she displayed when exposed to living in the world outside her parent’s home tugged at his heart.

As for Aiko, he’d catch her watching him, and she’d blush and look away, but her smile would remain.

They were discovering their mutual attraction was a powerful force.

As Kyle had promised, he had a call to make, but he waited until late afternoon to reach out to Reginald Dunsfield. Aiko was soaking in the tub, so Kyle had the bedroom to himself.

“Dunsfield Estate.” It was one of Reginald’s staff.

“May I speak to Reginal Dunsfield, please? This is Kyle MacDenny,” Kyle said.

“One minute, please.”

Kyle held the line and wondered how much this call was going to cost him.

“Kyle! Is everything all right?” Reginald’s voice asked, and Kyle smiled at the concern in his voice.

“Yes, I’m in Osaka. I went to find Aiko Okamoto in the small village north of the city and made a surprising discovery,” he said with a smile.

“Don’t keep me in suspense!” Reginald complained.

“Sorry. Aiko is nineteen years old and turns twenty on January tenth. She was twelve when my father left my mother and me to return to Japan to take care of her. He was repaying a debt to her father for saving his life during an accident. Aiko’s father was killed by that accident.”

The older man was silent for a moment. “So, your father wasn’t having an affair? Why didn’t he tell your mother that?”

Kyle ground his teeth as his anger flared. Then he took a deep breath, and Reginald probably heard that.

“I’m sorry for bringing up such a painful memory, Kyle,” he said contritely.

“No, it’s fine. I’ve been asking myself that question since I met Aiko. I-I can’t get a grasp on how his mind worked. Why he thought our hating him was better than knowing he had… a noble reason.” Kyle felt more conflicted about his father than ever.

“I’m glad you called, Kyle. It’s a relief to hear you found some positive news,” Reginald said kindly.

“Thank you. It is a relief. Now, all we have to do is make arrangements for Aiko to join me in Canada,” he said.

“She’s leaving Japan?” the older man asked in surprise.

“Yes, she’s been basically alone for the past seven years and wants to leave. She’s asked if she can come with me, and we’re working out how we can do that,” Kyle explained.

“Good luck to you in that effort,” Reginald said with a smile in his voice. “Oh! Before I forget, do you know a Father O’Kean? Cormag O’Kean? Maybe your father mentioned him?”

Kyle frowned as he failed to recall the distinct name. “No. I’ve never heard of him. Who is he?”

“He contacted me, or rather the nurses at the hospice in Scotland he’s in did. They said he saw the news story of us at the Boxing Day Parade. He claims to have known your father, and he told the nurses he needed to speak to you.”

“Damn,” Kyle sighed. He knew his father was from Scotland, but as the man had shared nothing about his childhood at all, Kyle had no idea where in Scotland he’d grown up or if this priest had known him.

“Sorry to add this to the issues you’re already dealing with,” he said, in regret.

Francis suddenly came on the line. “Our ulterior motive in mentioning him was to bring you back to visit us again.”

Kyle smiled as he got a little choked up. He cleared his throat, but his voice was rough when he spoke again. “I’d really like that, but I’ll have to see if we can get inexpensive flights. My getting to Japan was an adventure and thankfully cost me nothing as I basically flew as freight, but that won’t work now that there are two of us. I’ll let you know what I can work out.”

“Thank you, Kyle,” Reginald said. “Take care, Kyle,” Francis added.

“You two take care of yourselves as well! Goodbye,” he said, then hung up.

Kyle was feeling a little overwhelmed, so he took a moment to gather his thoughts. He could hear Aiko singing to herself in the bathroom, which brought a smile to his face.

It also brought a little peace to his mind.

-=-

Before Kyle could bring Aiko back to Canada with him, they had a few details to take care of. The most critical one was the sale of her parent’s home. Over the next few days, Kyle reached out to Stephen’s Japanese agent, Daniel, who was pleased to help liquidate the family home. The man knew people, and they were grateful for his help.

As Kyle suspected, they were told she wouldn’t get much for it when it sold. Daniel explained the market wasn’t very strong for properties in the countryside, even those relatively close to an urban center. Plus, there was the sorry state of the home. While homes weren’t built to last more than thirty years in Japan, Aiko had finished hers off with her wood collecting activities. Daniel found a property agent, and they got the transfer started.

While they waited for the paperwork to be completed, Kyle took Aiko to a local doctor to have a complete physical. It would be some time before they could get her switched over to the Canadian medical system.

The results weren’t too surprising. She had some vitamin deficiencies from her poor diet. Her vitiligo had thankfully not affected her eyesight in the eye, which had lost its pigment, so that was a relief. Outside of being a little underweight, she was in good shape. They added this medical report to their collection of paperwork.

Kyle finally got to see the photos in the album Aiko brought with her. There was an image of a gorgeous but petite woman in a ceremonial wedding dress. Aiko had her mother’s perfect symmetry and beauty, but the woman’s expression seemed sad in all the photos. He wondered what had stolen her happiness. It seemed such a tragedy for her to have remained that way until she died giving birth. He thanked the stars that Aiko knew how to smile.

They decided not to buy condoms yet as the availability of these would just weaken their resolve. While Aiko began taking the birth control pills the doctor prescribed for her, they wouldn’t rely on that immediately.

Kyle and Aiko made an appointment to speak to someone at the Canadian Consulate in Tokyo about bringing Aiko to Canada.

They checked out of their Osaka hotel and took the train to Tokyo the night before their appointment. The new hotel was equally nice and relatively inexpensive, but Kyle once more ensured the room had two beds.

The morning of the appointment, they dressed in their most respectable clothes and took a cab to the consulate. Making their way inside, they sat in the waiting room until they were called in. Aiko reached out to nervously snag Kyle’s hand, and he led her into the office.

Kyle was surprised to see the consulate worker was a tall and slim Caucasian woman in her thirties, with straight red hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore large, dark-rimmed glasses perched upon a strong nose, and she smiled widely as she stood to shake their hands. Her blue eyes dipped down briefly to note Aiko’s grip on Kyle.

“Good morning, I’m Janice Kensington. I understand you have questions about immigrating to Canada?”

Kyle returned her smile and nodded. “I’m Kyle MacDenny, and this is Aiko Okamoto. I’m a Canadian citizen, and she’s Japanese but looking to live in Canada.” Aiko nodded with a smile for the woman.

“When were you planning on getting married?” she asked.

Kyle blinked in surprise at the woman, and Aiko made an involuntary squeak noise.

The clerk blushed as she saw she’d made an incorrect assumption. “I’m terribly sorry. I assumed this was your intent as you look like a couple.”

Aiko’s bashful smile threatened to split her face, but Kyle was still a little unbalanced by the question. “W-we just met for the first time a little over a week ago.”

The clerk nodded and pulled out a binder of paperwork. “Let’s see what options are open for Aiko then.”

They nodded, and Kyle caught Aiko watching him with a guarded expression. When he faced her directly, she turned to the woman and ignored his gaze.

They spent over an hour reviewing the options, and several times, it became apparent the option of marriage was one of the best routes.

Their appointed time was up, and they collected the documents Janice provided to them and thanked the woman for her time. She wished them success, then they left the building.

They decided to walk for a bit, and Aiko looped her arm through Kyle’s. They didn’t speak as there was so much information to process.

Kyle spotted a small café and led them inside. Aiko ordered tea and pastries for them, and they found a table next to the windows to soak in the sunlight.

They sipped at the tea and nibbled the desserts, but they remained silent. After a time, Aiko spoke. “I understand if you wouldn’t want to be married to someone like me,” she said quietly.

“What?” Kyle said, drawn back to the present by the tone in her voice. When he saw the pain in her eyes, he rushed to correct her. “Aiko, the marriage issue has nothing to do with you. It’s me.”

She frowned and locked eyes with him. “Do not lie to me, Kyle.”

He shook his head. “I’m not. You’re amazing! Me? There’s something inside me I must deal with before I could even think of getting married. It was in my father too, and it destroyed my mother. I can’t inflict that upon anyone!”

She stared at him in confusion. “What was in Duncan-san?”

It was Kyle’s turn to frown at her. “You never saw the cold, emotionless monster?”

Aiko’s eyebrows rose in shock. “No! Duncan-san was always good to my father and me.”

Kyle turned his face away to hide the flare of bitter pain that shot through him. His father could have normal human interactions with others, but not his own family? What the hell?

“I have not seen you be a cold, emotionless monster. Maybe it is not in you at all?” Aiko suggested gently.

He looked at Aiko and saw concern in her eyes. His anger faded, as he didn’t want to upset her. He took a deep breath. “No. I’ve experienced moments when I feel his influence rise over me and I feel disconnected from the emotions of others. I’m capable of great violence in those times.”

“Have you injured anyone innocent?” she asked.

He frowned. “Physically?” She nodded. “No, I’ve only beat up… bad guys. But I have badly hurt the feelings of a woman in Montreal because I took her for granted. I disconnected from her emotionally and wasn’t even aware I was hurting her. I need to apologize to her.”

Aiko was quiet for a moment. She then shook her head slowly. “Duncan-san never behaved like that in front of us. He could be quiet for long periods, but he always had a smile for me, and he was a very patient teacher. I am sorry he behaved differently for you and your mother. He didn’t talk about his past, so I don’t know what might have made him act like that. Does he have any brothers or sisters you could speak with?”

Kyle shook his head. “He never shared his past with us either.” He paused. “When I was speaking with Reginald, he told me about an old priest who said he knew my father.”

Aiko’s eyes lit up. “You must speak with him!”

Kyle sighed. “Ultimately, we need to fly back to Canada, Montreal specifically, and stay there until late spring so I can get my motorcycle out of storage for our ride across the country to Vancouver. According to my research, it would be cheaper to fly to London first, then Montreal. If we could stay with Helen or the Dunsfields while we’re there, that would save us some money. When we get to Montreal, we’ll have to find a cheap place to stay while we wait for spring.”

“Kyle, we can use my money to buy the tickets. This is what the money is for. To help me escape to a better life,” Aiko insisted.

He looked at her excited expression and smiled. “These flights won’t be comfortable, and there will be long waits in the airport for connecting flights.”

Aiko’s excitement would not be hindered by silly details like facts. It was all new to her, and Kyle quickly realized he was defeated.

“Let’s go talk to a priest,” he sighed.

Aiko burst into giggles.

“About my father!” Kyle clarified.

She stuck out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout, but her eyes were twinkling.

He swooped in and sucked that luscious lip between his in a kiss, and her eyes immediately softened with joy.

The store owner took offense to their public display of affection and yelled something at them.

Kyle pulled back from Aiko, and she smiled at him. “We are not welcome here,” she whispered, but her smile would not be denied.

“Huh. Well, we’re superstar celebrities who’ve drunk tea in finer places than this! Let’s blow this pop stand.”

Aiko blinked at him in confusion.

“That means, let’s go,” he said. He rose to his feet with dignity, assisted Aiko to her feet before they gathered their belongings, and calmly left the shop, heads held high.

They had flights to schedule.

Chapter 20

The trip to England with the stopovers and cramped seating did nothing to dampen Aiko’s enthusiasm. It was like she was on her way to another world. Even the terrible food on the plane and the three-hour wait in the terminal for the connecting flight were a new adventure for her.

Kyle had a bit of luck sitting on the other side of a large planter of some businessmen indiscreetly discussing a new venture their company was about to embark upon. While they spoke, he did a little online research on the company, checked for any economic or political factors which might impact their plan, then picked up some stock with his trading app while they waited for their flight. He’d find out if this was a good bet by the time he reached Heathrow, as one of the men had mentioned the deal was being announced in the news that morning.

Helen was delighted to hear he was returning to London but dismayed that she couldn’t be there to pick him up or host him at her place. She was going out of town on a brief business trip for a management seminar, and Skye was on a retreat with her class.

Reginald and Francis stepped up and invited Kyle and Aiko to stay with them for their brief visit to meet with Father O’Kean. They even said they’d come to the airport to pick them up.

When Kyle and Aiko walked into the arrivals area with their duffle bags, he spotted the smiling faces of his hosts. He saw their eyes widen in surprise when they saw the tall beauty on his arm, looking back at them with a nervous smile.

“Reginald, Francis, please allow me to introduce Aiko Okamoto,” Kyle said with a smile. Aiko bowed to them respectfully.

“Enchanted, my dear,” Reginald said with his crisp accent, and she flashed a radiant smile at him.

“Kyle, you never told us how lovely she is!” Francis chastised Kyle playfully.

He looked at Aiko’s delighted expression and knew the young woman was a little overwhelmed by their kindness after fearing rejection. He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Aiko, these are my good friends, the Dunsfields, Reginald and Francis.”

“It is so nice to meet you!” Aiko said, and the older couple’s smiles widened.

“You must be exhausted from your flight. Our car is waiting outside. How long did it take?” Reginald said as he gestured for them to follow them.

“The trip took almost a full day, but we had a three-and-a-half-hour layover in the Abu Dhabi airport,” Kyle explained.

“My goodness! That must have been terrible!” Francis said with sympathy.

“It was my first time on a plane, so for me, it was not so bad,” Aiko offered. “I had Kyle to guide and protect me.”

Reginald glanced at Kyle in question.

He shrugged. “Three shady characters in the terminal were eyeing Aiko suspiciously. She never left my side, and we stayed by the gate with a security team nearby. The men left when they saw we were preparing to board the flight,” Kyle explained.

Francis reached out a hand and gripped Aiko’s hand. “How dreadful!”

Aiko smiled bashfully at Francis.

“I contacted the hospice to let them know you were coming to visit Father O’Kean. They were very grateful, as the man wasn’t doing well. The news cheered him up,” Reginald said.

Kyle looked at the other man with concern. “Should we go to see him immediately?”

Reginald patted Kyle’s shoulder. “I’ve been assured you have time. You can see him tomorrow.”

They went outside, and a lovely old Rolls Royce limousine pulled up to the curb, and the driver came around to open the door for the Dunsfields. The man carried the two duffle bags to put them in the trunk, then closed the door after Kyle and Aiko entered the back and sat facing the older couple.

“Whereabouts is the hospice?” Kyle asked.

“It’s in Glasgow. The Father was from a church a little farther north, along the western coast. That’s where your father was from, I’m told. Unfortunately, that’s all I was told,” Reginald explained.

Kyle nodded and frowned. “I hope Father O’Kean has his faculties and can tell us more.”

Reginald nodded. “The nurses say his mind is still sharp. It’s the rest of his body that’s failing.”

Kyle glanced over at Aiko, whose eyes were wide and looking everywhere inside the car. He grinned. “The Dunsfields earned their lifestyle from Reginald’s global business empire. They enjoy a comfortable life with these luxuries.”

“Is this very different from where you were?” Francis asked her curiously.

Aiko nodded timidly. “I lived in the garage of my parent’s home when the housekeeper died. That was four years ago. I salvaged the wood from the home’s flooring to heat the garage in the winter.”

Kyle saw Francis had her hand over her mouth in shock as she looked back at Aiko with glassy eyes. He had to nip that in the bud. “Aiko was exceptionally resourceful. My father hired a housekeeper when he discovered he was dying. Unfortunately, she wasn’t very good and drank herself to death over the course of three years. Aiko had to be very careful with the money she had coming in from a deal my father made with the airline after the accident. She managed the account carefully and didn’t make any unnecessary expenses. Much like my minimalist lifestyle but taken to the extreme. The money stopped coming in on the tenth. She is also a skilled mechanic and made some money working on repairing farm equipment and cars.”

“Very resourceful, indeed!” Reginald said with a smile. “Most impressive, my dear!”

Aiko smiled and nodded to him in thanks.

They passed some landmarks that drew Aiko’s eye, and Francis took over the tour guide job by mentioning the names, history, and significance of the sights they passed by. While Aiko’s attention was diverted elsewhere, Reginald looked into Kyle’s eyes with questions in his. Kyle could only nod, as the answers would have to wait.

“Our chef is preparing a light meal of sandwiches for lunch, and we’ll have a roast tonight,” Reginald said. “You two should rest up. Tomorrow, we’ll fly to Glasgow on a jet I’ve chartered. That will only take a bit more than an hour as opposed to the six-hour drive or five-hour train.”

Kyle looked at the man in shock. “I wasn’t expecting you to–”

Francis interrupted his protest. “We know Kyle, but Glasgow isn’t nearby, and we want to do this. Tomorrow is likely to be an emotionally challenging day for you. If we can lighten your load by providing a means to get you there and back and be there to support you, we want to do it.”

Kyle struggled to control his emotions and nodded stiffly. The older couple just smiled at him, their gentle smiles telling him they noticed his state. Finally, he was able to speak.

“I-I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve such thoughtful and generous treatment, but thank you!” he said through a tight throat.

“Thank you for being so good to Kyle,” Aiko said with a sweet smile on her face.

The couple just nodded as they smiled happily.

Aiko gasped as the limo pulled into the driveway of the estate. Her eyes grew wider as they drove up the circular drive to stop before the vast front doors, where a man waited to open the car door for them. The driver moved to the other rear door.

The Dunsfields were quite enjoying the look of wonder on Aiko’s face as they were assisted out of the limo.

Aiko followed Francis, and Kyle exited behind Reginald. Then they all walked towards the home as the driver opened the trunk for the doorman to get their bags.

When they were all inside the vestibule, Francis turned to Kyle. “We’re prepared two bedrooms for you upstairs. Your bags will be placed in the rooms, so you’ll see them when you go up.”

Kyle smiled at her assumption and nodded. “That’s perfect, thank you.”

Aiko tore her eyes away from the grand entrance to glance at him, but he just nodded, so she turned to their hosts. “Thank you!” she said to Francis.

“Why don’t we go relax in the sunroom while lunch is prepared. I believe Reggie wanted to speak with Kyle about his motorcycle or something.” Francis gently took Aiko’s arm and led her away toward the back of the mansion. Aiko peeked back at Kyle, who just smiled and nodded, assuring her all was good.

Reginald’s questioning eyes were back, but he held off until he guided Kyle through the familiar hallway to the garage. Once they were alone, he looked back at Kyle.

“She’s not what we were expecting, but I suppose she wasn’t what you were expecting either,” the older man said.

“Sorry for the surprise at the airport, but I’ve been with her every minute since I found her in that garage. I couldn’t think of a way to prepare you. Maybe it was better this way,” Kyle acknowledged.

Reginald’s brow furrowed with concern. “She’s not your typical Japanese woman.”

Kyle couldn’t help but snort softly, then his expression became serious. “Her mother had a terrible encounter with a group of gaijin who sexually assaulted her. One of them was obviously dark-skinned. She died giving birth to Aiko. The vitiligo showed up in later years. It sounds like her father was a good and honorable man who did his best for her. I believe he home-schooled her up until the accident at the airport, which ultimately killed him, then my father. She’s been alone with no one who understands how beautiful she is. She’s such a lovely person, inside and out. It hurts to think about how neglected she’s been. I-I wish I’d gotten the letter earlier.” Kyle locked eyes with Reginald. “Thank you so much for talking me out of my idiotic anger!”

Reginald patted Kyle on the shoulder as he looked into Kyle’s eyes. “It’s not just pity, is it?”

“No! No, I-I’m more than a little attracted to her. She’s such an amazing person and so positive! Aiko balances the dark side of my mind. It just feels… right.”

Reginald smiled. “Like my Francis does for me.”

Kyle blinked in surprise, then nodded shakily. He cracked a crooked smile at the man. “I-I must be a little tired from the flight. I might take a nap after lunch if that’s okay.”

Reginald chuckled as he guided Kyle back towards the house. “Of course it is, Kyle.”

-=-

The evening meal was taken in the grand dining room once more as the three Dunsfield children and their spouses were in attendance. When their parents mentioned the young man who saved their father from a beating was coming back to visit, they insisted on meeting him.

Jeffery Dunsfield was the eldest at fifty-five and had his father’s slim build and serious disposition. His wife Haisley was plump and pretty, with a constantly cheerful expression. She tended to giggle, another wife who balanced out her spouse.

Lawrence Dunsfield was quiet and thoughtful, his keen intelligence visible in his gaze. He was a little heavier than his older brother and only a year younger. Katherine was a foot shorter than her husband and perhaps a decade younger, but equally sharp-minded and quick-witted.

The Dunfield’s youngest was their daughter, Susan McGillavry who was at least five years younger than Lawrence. Her bubbly personality made her seem younger than Katherine. She was petite and had her mother’s slim physique, which made her almost disappear next to her husband. Kirk was a Scot and a big, solid man, nearly as wide as he was tall. He’d worked his way from the ground up until he owned his own construction company. He also competed in the Highland games, which was where he’d met Susan.

Jeffrey’s and Lawrence’s kids were grown and preparing to leave the nest, but Susan’s were home, old enough to be alone without a babysitter.

The three couples were seated across the table from Reginald, Francis, Aiko, and Kyle, who sat in that order.

Initially, none of them could take their eyes from Aiko, but a word from Francis reminded them of the rudeness of staring.

“Sorry for making you feel uncomfortable, and please pardon me for asking, but you look nothing like any Japanese woman I’ve ever seen,” Kirk exclaimed.

Aiko smiled and shook her head, flicking her eyes to Kyle. He picked up that she’d feel more comfortable if he responded. He nodded slightly, and she smiled in relief.

“Aiko’s mother became pregnant after an unfortunate encounter with some men one night while she was in Osaka. She carried Aiko to term but passed away during the birth. I’ve seen photos of the woman. She was petite and exquisite. Aiko inherited her beauty, but her height and distinct skin tone were not Japanese,” Kyle explained gently and held Aiko’s hand as he did it.

Katherine looked at Kyle closely. “How did you two meet? I thought I heard you were in the Seychelles, and then you went to Japan?”

Kyle looked at Reginald in question

The older man looked a little embarrassed. “I may have mentioned my sister inviting you to join her there.”

Kyle nodded and looked back at Katherine. “Yes, I was there when Reginald contacted me about a lawyer from Vancouver trying to reach me. He had a letter from my father, written seven years ago to be delivered last summer, but I’d moved, and they couldn’t find me.”

Kyle paused as he recalled how angry he’d been when he heard of the letter. How ignorant he’d been. “I was so… outraged, but Reginald talked me into calling them back.”

He saw the woman’s curiosity hadn’t been appeased yet, so he continued. “I had a poor relationship with my father. He’d left my mother and me months before he wrote the letter. He went back to Japan to take care of Aiko, but we didn’t know she was only twelve at the time, and he was a surrogate parent after her father died. We thought she was the other woman… his lover, and he didn’t even try to convince us otherwise. I don’t understand my father. A letter out of the blue after so long….”

“I am happy Reginald convinced you to call,” Aiki said softly, and Kyle saw the relief in her eyes.

He felt ashamed. “I almost didn’t go after I read the letter. It didn’t explain who you were, just that he expected me to go. Louise, Stephen Dartmoor, and his daughter Liandri helped me get past my outrage and anger. Stephen arranged the craziest route on cargo planes to get me to Tokyo for free. Then I took a train to Osaka and a cab up to the village where Aiko’s home was. I still didn’t know I was going to meet a young woman.”

Aiko looked to Katherine. “I did not know who this big man dressed in leather was, either. He was in my lane when an angry client brought his damaged car to me. This client blamed me for the damage and began to hit me. Then this strange man beat them up!”

Kyle shook his head in embarrassment. “Beat them up is a bit of an exaggeration. I took their knives away and convinced them to leave. They were just high school students.”

“I hid in my garage and told him to go away,” Aiko said with a grin.

“I wouldn’t go until she told me where I could find Aiko. She passed out when I told her my name. My father told her I’d come last summer, but I didn’t show. She didn’t think I would.”

The couples across the table were frozen with anticipation. “What happened when you found out who Aiko was?” Haisley gasped.

Kyle nodded with a wince. “I didn’t take it well. It completely knocked me from my moorings. The image I’d had of my father having an affair was gone. In its place was a man taking care of a child on the other side of the world while his own son desperately needed him? In my mind, he was incapable of caring for another, but… he did. Just not me or my mother.”

Reginald saw Kyle was slipping into darkness, so he stepped in. “Tomorrow, we’re flying up to Glasgow to speak to a priest who said he knew Kyle’s father and wanted to speak with Kyle. He also saw the BBC story on the motorcycles. The man is dying, so this is his last wish.”

Reminded of the reason for wanting to meet Kyle, Jeffrey spoke up. “Speaking of the parade, Kyle, I just wanted to express my heartfelt thanks for protecting our father from those hooligans!”

“Yes! Thank you, Kyle!” Lawrence chimed in. “Thank you!” Susan added.

Kirk looked curiously at the others. “Kyle fought someone at the parade?”

“Kirk, how have you not seen the story!” Jeffrey exclaimed in surprise.

The big man looked defensive. “I’ve been concentrating on my workout routines of late. Do ya have it?” Kirk asked.

Katherine immediately offered her cell, which had the vid queued. Kirk and Susan watched the small screen, and Kirk’s eyebrows rose as he watched Kyle’s moves.

“Ay, ya noo a thing or two about fightin’ dirty,” the big man said slowly as he watched Kyle carefully like he’d suddenly discovered a poisonous snake near his foot. His accent was getting thicker as his emotions rose.

Kyle nodded. “Against superior numbers, fighting quick, dirty, and to win is the only way to survive.”

Kirk nodded in agreement, and a look of respect seemed to pass between them.

“I take it you didn’t grow up with a silver diaper on?” Kirk asked Kyle, who chuckled at the image. He caught the frowns on the faces of some of the others.

“No. My parents weren’t wealthy, and when dad wasn’t there, Mom and I struggled to make ends meet, but we weren’t unhappy. She was a wonderful woman,” he said with a smile.

“Ya lost yer mum, too?” Kirk asked quietly.

Kyle nodded. “Yes. A brain tumor took her quickly. Roughly six months after he left us.”

“Damn,” Kirk sighed.

Kyle looked at the sad expressions around the table and smiled. “Hey, she’d kick my butt if she knew I was making everyone gloomy. It’s not all bad news! I’m hoping I’ll get some insight about my father tomorrow. I find it odd to think of him knowing a priest. He never made any mention of going to church or suggested we should.”

Reginald smiled at Kyle, then made a hand signal, and the servants began to bring dinner into the room to serve the family.

Kyle exchanged a quick look with Kirk, who grinned as he tapped a beefy finger on a small silver spoon next to his place setting.

Message received with an answering smile.

Aiko watched in wonder as the servants brought in dish after dish of delicious smelling food. Once everyone was served, the family had the dining room to themselves once more.

Aiko followed Francis’ example as she delicately tried the different foods on her plate. This was the first British meal she’d experienced, and everything was new and exciting.

Kyle knew she would adapt well to any environment she moved into as she had the perfect attitude.

As he reflected on his own recent trials, he realized how true that was. Attitude was everything.

He’d have to keep that in mind tomorrow.

Chapter 21

Resting back against the plush seat in the limo, Kyle closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth seeping into his left side as Aiko leaned up against him. Her soft hip fit so nicely against his, and he sighed happily.

After a wonderful dinner and delightful conversation with Reginald and Francis and their family in the study afterward, he’d had an excellent night of sleep.

The Dunsfields were truly lovely people. Reginald also broke out his stash of that delicious scotch and Kyle was careful about his intake. He confessed to the older man that he was well and truly spoiled for all other scotch. This made the man chuckle evilly.

After the kids and their spouses headed home, they retired to their rooms, and Kyle dropped off into a dreamless sleep.