XXIX

“That went about as well as I expected it to go,” Amanda said as she closed the door behind her once she and Nobuo had entered the office.

“She didn’t seem to believe us,” he said, sitting in the chair Amanda gestured to.

“No,” Amanda replied sitting opposite him. “But that’s ok, she doesn’t have to believe us. She just has to question herself.”

“I’m not sure what the point of this is,” Nobuo replied uneasily. He’d seen Akari Kitamura many times on the TV but never imagined he’d get the chance to meet her in person. She was even more beautiful than he envisioned.

“In warfare, psychology is as surely as much of a weapon as a gun,” Amanda replied with a smile. “You just need to play the part you’ve been paid to play. That’s all. I’ll handle the rest of it.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the role as it’s been laid out,” Nobuo said, shaking his head.

“You are getting paid, and paid well, might I add,” Amanda admonished him. “I don’t want you to hurt her. Only scare her.”

“Of course,” Nobuo replied. “I understand our arrangement.”

“Good,” Amanda replied. “You’d best get some rest yourself. You’ve got a long day tomorrow.” Nobuo stood and bowed again.

“I suppose so, yes,” he replied and retreated.

“Akari,” Amanda whispered to herself. “What a foolish name.” Midori had chosen it after some actress she admired rather than the name the father had told her smugly his daughter needed to be called. Father, Amanda scowled at the thought. That man, that creature who had taken away everything from her was simply biological material. He’d been nothing initially, just some boy following after Midori like a puppy. Midori had many puppies that followed her wherever she went. It couldn’t be helped. She was beautiful, kind and considerate with an air that seemed to speak of royalty rather than just a girl from a backwoods town. I had been one of those puppies at first, too, Amanda thought.

But he had been persistent. Far more than Amanda had counted on and had finally won her consent to a date. One date was all Midori had agreed to. One date was all he needed to ruin her. She was bruised and battered and sobbing hysterically when she appeared on Amanda’s doorstep that New Year’s Eve. He never faced prosecution for his crime. The police had been reluctant to pursue charges against someone so well-connected.

Amanda had raged and screamed at the prosecutor but Midori just sat in her chair quietly, her belly already swelling beneath her school uniform. Finally Midori stood and bowed to the prosecutor and, taking Amanda’s arm, retreated from the office. The matter was dropped.

She had always been like that; Amanda shook her head, remembering. Sweet and kind and clueless to the way Amanda knew the world worked. She decided to keep the child, though not entirely willingly. Midori’s parents, still alive at that point, had insisted she keep it, brow beating her until she acquiesced. And so, when Akari drew her first breath Midori’s life effectively ended. Not able to continue high school she had dropped out. Her parents died several months apart and Midori had come to live with Amanda.

Though she was only a couple of years younger than Amanda, Midori’s dancing was light years ahead of anything Amanda had ever accomplished. Amanda had been very good in America before the drunk driver took that away from her, but no matter how good Amanda was before the crash Midori was better. She was fluid and graceful, natural in her movements. Deliberate and radiant as she twirled through the sunlight like an angel come from heaven.

Once the child was born it changed. Midori became moody and irritable. Her weight decreased and with it her dancing became erratic. She would sit in her room, sometimes for days and cry; then would seem to recover for a time and return to being the Midori of old before the pattern repeated once again. Amanda had supported her through it all. She had cared for the child when Midori was unable to. She began to teach the child how to dance and she took to it naturally. And then…

“No,” Amanda snarled quietly to herself, shaking her head. Those thoughts were useless. But Akari, yes she was still useful, even after everything.

Akari was a beautiful ornate vase with no intrinsic value except as assigned to it by those observing. Amanda saw her value but Akari was fragile, Amanda thought to herself, sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes as rain began to fall lightly. It wouldn’t take much, just a light tap here and there in the right areas to shatter her completely. Then, once she was in pieces she would be much easier to mold into the shape she needed to be to take what should have been Midori’s place on the center stage.

A place Akari had stolen by being born. But, as with a vase, it had its use, and once rebuilt would be stronger for the experience. It would simply take time and Amanda had time to spare to make sure the job was done properly. Well, she had time once the annoyance in Tokyo was properly dealt with, she corrected herself. That one could be troublesome, she thought, but, hopefully, not for much longer.