He looked at me suspiciously.
"Yes?" He asked. I took a big breath.
"Are you Fujitaka Okuda?"
"Yes . . ."
"And am I correct in assuming you were romantically involved with a woman named Kudou about 23 years ago?"
"What do you have to do with Kudou Megumi?" He was now very suspicious of me. The cold stare on his face was evidence enough.
"Just before you left her, she became pregnant, are you aware of that?" I pressed on.
"Yes. now identify yourself, young man!" He raised his voice, gripping the door handle, just itching for an excuse to slam it in my face.
"I will if you answer one last question." I risked.
"And what's that?" He took the bait.
"Do you know what became of the child?"
I got his attention. He stopped and thought for a moment. His gaze averted, and his grip on the door handle loosened.
"No. I don't." he decided.
"Fujitaka-san, my name is Kudou Yohji, and I am that child."
The man's eyes grew wide, and the colour drained from his face. But before he could respond, the woman in the back called again.
"Okudaa! Who's at the door?"
"NOBODY!" My father replied. Then he lowered his voice and hissed at me. He sized me up as if assessing my claim. Once he had made up his mind, a stern look came to his face.
"That affair ended 23 years ago. I have nothing further to discuss with you." He hissed. From the back of the house, more footsteps could be heard. The woman in the back was coming to the door.
"Kindly leave me and my wife alone." He insisted as his wife appeared from behind him. She seemed somewhat curious.
"Okuda, what does he want?" She asked.
"Nothing important." My father answered.
At this point, I lost what little respect I still held for my dad. He's a total asshole; for leaving my mother, for having an affair, for pushing me aside like I was nothing to cover it up. I decided to play along with his game until I could make my exit.
"Well, thank you for your time. If you ever reconsider, you can contact me here." I said, producing a Koneko business card through sleight-of-hand and giving it to him. Then I turned to walk away, giving his wife a feeble smile as I did so.
When I got back home, I collapsed on the couch in the living room, and lit a cigarette. I couldn't believe it. If my father had any decency at all, he wouldn't BE my father, and I'd never have been born. A lot of people would still be alive, and a lot more would still be happy. Even lifting the cigarette to my lips seemed to take tremendous effort. I just let it hang there between my fingers. I lied there for a good hour until someone noticed me.
"Oh, you're back Yohji. I didn't notice you come in." the guy said. I was too dazed to compute just who was speaking to me. It wasn't Aya, that much I was sure about. I don't think he would have cared this much.
"Yohji, are you okay?" Either Ken or Omi said. I ignored him. Mom was right. I should have left well enough alone. Now I've gone and gotten this guy all upset, and he's gonna snap at his wifey-poo. It made me sick.
"Yohji! What happened? You look terrible." Either Ken or Omi asked. A body approached me, and I just stared right through it. I just didn't care about anything anymore.
"I'm the product of an affair." I said bluntly. "My father's married and has been for longer than I've been alive, from what I've seen." That was it in a nutshell. If ever I felt more unwanted, I don't remember it, and that's probably a good thing. "I'm. . . not wanted. Never was."
Funny. Talking about stuff like this is supposed to make you feel better. I still felt like shit. Tears started welling up in my eyes, and I turned around, burying my face in the cushions. Nothing from the guy standing behind me at first. Then, I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder, another one pushing aside my hair, and then either Ken or Omi gave me a little kiss on the neck.
Wait a minute... A kiss on the neck? Just who WAS the guy standing above me? Why was he trying to cheer me up so much? I forced myself to turn around and look the guy in the face. I'm not sure who I was expecting, but who I saw wasn't it.
When I originally posted this to fanfiction.net, I asked for people's opinions as to who is trying to cheer Yohji up. The results are in the next chapter.