Author’s Notes: This is a Masa/Yoshiki/Kai chapter and it covers what happened after
they arrived in the States. I was really
tempted to combine it with Chapter 5, but I was afraid it would read like MASA…GACKT/CHA so I didn’t do that.
Instead, I give you two really short chapters for the price of one.
shat·ter (shăt’Ər)
As they stood in line at
customs, Kai alternated between rubbing her eyes and hugging her teddy
bear. Every now and again she would
sniffle and find something interesting to look at on her shoes.
Masa felt like shit, to say the least. The poor girl had no idea what was going on
and he couldn’t explain it to her without drawing attention. Glancing down at the top of the little girl’s
head he bit his lip and looked around in what he hoped was a casual
manner. No one around them looked like they were paying any special
attention to the two of them, but looks could be deceiving.
Swallowing hard, he knelt
down next to the girl and whispered, “Kai?”
She looked up and it broke his heart to see the tears welling in her
eyes. Reaching out, he stroked her cheek
with his thumb, hoping the gesture would calm her. “You’re being a very good girl – I’m proud of
you.” A tiny smile crossed her lips for
a split second. “But I need to ask a
favor of you, okay?”
He paused to figure out how
to phrase the next bit. The little girl
tilted her head to the side, which made her resemble her father to almost
creepy perfection. Switching to a different
dialect, he whispered, “We need to play pretend.” He paused to make sure she recognized the Okinawan vocabulary and patterns. When the confusion cleared from her face, he
continued, “We need to pretend – for Daddy – that I’m your Daddy okay? If you do a really good job, I’ll buy you a
present.”
Like all little girls, Kai
wasn’t one to pass up a free gift.
Smiling, she nodded with conviction.
“Okay, Daddy.”
With a silent relieved sigh, Masa hugged her – which she willingly returned – standing,
he held her free hand as they advanced in line.
*****
Yoshiki stood in the enormous receiving area/lobby in
LAX. His eyes darted sharply from face
to face to face but as of yet, none were who he was looking for. A little girl and a man. A little girl with a teddy bear
and a pink back pack and a man.
And then, out of the sea of faces, he found them. Throwing and arm in the air, he called, “Masa!”
The man jumped and looked
up. Catching the other’s eyes, Yoshiki saw the tension melt from the younger man’s
body. Walking towards them, they met
halfway and he took him into his arms in a friendly embrace. “How are you?
How was your flight?”
“Bumpy,” replied the little
girl at their side. She clung to her
teddy bear and was looking at him with the curiosity etched into her eyes that
he had come to associate with her father.
Kneeling down beside her, Masa told her, “Kai, this is Yoshiki-san. He’s one of Da—my friends, He’s going to help us while we’re here
in the
“Are we staying with him?”
“Just for a
bit.”
Looking around, the little
girl leaned forward and whispered, “Do I have to call him Daddy too?”
Yoshiki chuckled in spite of himself and Masa
smiled. “No, I’m Daddy. He’s just a friend.”
The girl nodded and waved up
at the standing man. Taking her hand, Masa nodded to the other man who donned his sunglasses and
led them towards the exit.
*****
The three of them were laughing as the
little girl continued to impress her elder care-takers with her talent in
finger painting. Spaghetti had been
decided upon as dinner and Yoshiki was busy juggling
three pots when the doorbell rang.
Masa and he locked
eyes and immediately went silent.
Sensing something was wrong, Kai looked between
them, her face betraying her fear that she had done something wrong. Turning off the burners, Yoshiki
ushered his guests quietly into the bedroom down the hall before heading
towards the front door. Making sure the
door to the other room was closed, he opened the front
door and came face-to-face with someone he hadn’t expected.
“I know you…”
“My name’s Juka. And I’m here--”
“Ah, that’s right – you used to be with Moi Dix Mois. Have you talked to Mana-san
recently? But who are your two
buddies? I don’t know them.”
The man clenched his jaw at the mention of
the cross-dressing guitarist. “Their
names don’t concern you.” Yoshiki wasn’t impressed.
He was sure his expression proved as much. Nevertheless, the man in front of him
continued, “We’re working with the Department of National Security in
Stepping outside, he closed the door, his
hand wrapped tightly around the doorknob.
“Really?
Who told you that? Because there’s no one of that description in my home.”
“A little girl, Kai Camui
– daughter of Gackt Camui – and a man, Masa Ichida, one of Camui-san’s
former bandmates.
We request permission to enter your house.”
“No.”
The younger man seemed to be mildly taken
aback. “Excuse me?”
“You asked permission to enter my
home. I am denying you.”
“This request comes from the Head of the
Department of National Security--”
“You’re a long way from home, little men.”
“Sir, we are acting on orders--”
“I don’t care. You’re not coming in my house.”
“With all due respect, sir--”
Yoshiki raised a finger
in front of the other man’s face, “Hold that thought,” and stepped back into
his house, locking the door. Crossing to
the desk in the foyer, he rooted through some paperwork before finding what he
was looking for. Stepping back to the
door, he unlatched it and stepped back outside much like he had before.
“You see this?” Yoshiki
said, holding up his open passport less than two inches from the other man’s
face. “This says ‘Citizen of the
He waited with baited while he leaned
against the door. A few moments later,
there was the revving of an engine – of an expensive car, by the sound of it – and
the sound of tires screeching as it pulled out of the driveway and left.
Closing his eyes, he sighed. Pushing his body away from the door, he
crossed to the bedroom and opened the door to find Masa
and Kai sitting anxiously on the bed. “I
think your welcome in the States just ran out.”
Masa looked away,
dejected. Kai’s eyes went wide, “You
mean we can’t have spaghetti?” The
little girl looked like she was about to cry.
Yoshiki smiled for her,
“No, no, no – we’re having spaghetti.”
The girl sighed, relieved. He
added softly, “I just need to get you guys plane
tickets…”
*****
They
strode quickly through the airport as Yoshiki talked,
“I’m getting you here purposefully late so that they have less time to question
you. The more pressure there is for take
off, the more likely they are to let you go.
And they don’t care so much if you’re leaving the country – even less
when you’re going to
Stopping
he turned to them both. Kai felt herself
halted suddenly and gave a little ‘oof.’ Masa rubbed the
back of her hand to soothe any complaint before it left her mouth. Yoshiki continued,
“I can’t go any farther than this. Don’t
stop for anyone. Don’t stop for
anything. You got the tickets?” Masa touched the
breast pocket in his coat and nodded. “Alright. I’ll talk
to you later.” And with that, he
about-faced and was gone, lost in the crowd.
Smiling
down at his charge, Masa pulled them onward to the
gate.
*****
Sitting on his bed in the
dark hotel room, Masa watched Kai sleep soundly,
teddy bear clutched to her chest, as the phone on the other end of the line
rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“We gotta
keep it short,” there was a warning in his voice that suggested that he was not
the only one who could hear him. The
thought made Masa shudder.
“I know,
I just wanted to tell you we’re here and we’re safe.”
“Good. Remember what I told you.”
“I will. Yoshiki…”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Take care.
I shall see you soon enough.”
Masa hung up and turned the phone off, tossing it on the
table. He looked down at the crumpled
piece of paper in his hands and ran his thumb under the series of numbers. He placed it on the end table with their
plane tickets. A bank account, an
escape…
A new life.
Closing his eyes, Masa collapsed back onto the bed and fell into a
much-needed deep sleep.