Hidden Secrets

Chapter 8

Earlier in the evening.

Seiya leaned against the window of his office, losing himself in the colors of the sunset over the ocean. The event at the Tsukino residence was already in full swing, but his interest in his brother's fiancée was minimal. Why bother meeting her tonight? After all, Taiki would marry her, and nothing could change that.

Instead, his thoughts revolved around Usagi, the girl from the streets with her radiant blue eyes. A significant part of the afternoon had been spent searching for her on the streets of Tokyo, but without success. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth.

When the door to his office suddenly opened, he turned around in surprise to see who would visit him at this late hour. When he recognized his visitor, his expression brightened slightly.

"Haruka, what are you doing here?" he asked, and a woman with short, sandy-blonde hair casually took a seat on his sofa. At first glance, her appearance could suggest she might be a man, but she had been Seiya's best friend since childhood.

"Picking you up," she said, grinning.

Seiya, who was still standing by the window, gazing at the sunset spectacle, didn't move. "Did Taiki send you?" The assumption was likely, as his brother had repeatedly emphasized the importance of his presence at the event in recent days. Seiya, however, had hoped to get around it.

"Yes, and to be honest, I'm quite curious about where Kenji suddenly conjured up this daughter. Don't you want to know who she is? With Minako, we didn't have to worry about her poking her nose into our affairs, but this one is a complete stranger."

Seiya snorted in annoyance. He knew Haruka wouldn't let up until he was in her car. "Fine, let's go and check out the girl. But just for a drink; I have other important matters to attend to."

"Oh, is it about the woman you met?" Haruka probed further as she got up and opened the door invitingly.

Seiya sighed and grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. "How do you know about her?"

"Yaten," Haruka answered with a grin. "Tell me about her. What's she like? When do I get to meet her?" she asked curiously on their way to the car.

Seiya took the passenger seat. "You probably won't meet her because she disappeared."

"Oh, that explains your mood. I think this is your new record for scaring off a woman. What did you do this time?" Haruka laughed and started the engine.

"Surprisingly, nothing. That's the problem. She comes from difficult circumstances, and I wanted to support her. But before I could make her the offer, she had already vanished, and no one has seen her since."

"Why don't you ask Yaten to use his connections to find her? He'll probably locate her in no time."

Seiya waved it off. "I'll find her without his help. Yaten is too curious. As long as I don't know what happened and whether there's a future between us, I don't want to involve him. You know him – he'll either find a hundred reasons for a wedding or a thousand reasons to break it off immediately, with the latter being much more likely. I just wanted to get to know her first and see what develops. She was somehow different from the others, you know?"

Haruka gave him a sidelong glance. "Oh man, you've really fallen for her."

"That doesn't help me if I don't know where she is. So, can we please change the subject? I've been thinking about it all day and could really use a distraction. What do we know about Taiki's fiancée?"

"Nothing. Just that her name is Serena Tsukino. Yaten was beside himself since no one has ever heard of her before, but the paternity test was conclusive. She is Kenji's biological daughter."