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The World is Surely Small

Chapter 8 – Koji’s First Kiss

Koji dropped the drawing pen on the table and flexed his arms, to relieve tension from his shoulders. The borrowed office was dark, save for the small lamp on the corner of the desk. It cast a yellow shadow over the hardwood table he was using. Koji studied the drawings spread out on the table. Each one a true render of the scenes from Maki’s memory. Every blade of grass, nails on benches, the swings in motion, kids running, parents talking, the drop of ice cream falling from a little kid’s cone…many scenes.

A moment stopped and immortalized on the sheets of paper on the table, approached from different angles, as Maki’s gaze swept the park. Before Sakura’s disappearance, then right after the realization of her disappearance.

A soft knock on the office door broke into his bubble, then the door swung open without his response. Koji blinked when the lights came on and he looked up to see Tomoyo standing right at the desk.

“You need sleep.”

“I’m missing something. I’ve refined Maki’s memory, drawn it a few times until it is just right. Something out of the ordinary should have appeared already.  I can’t see it, I’m too close. ”

Koji shifted drawing sheets, seeking matching scenes. He tried to align them on the desk, but he didn’t have enough space.  Koji stood and gathered the drawing sheets, heading out of the private office.

“Koji?”

“Saya’s investigators brought fancy equipment with them, didn’t they?”

Koji hurried toward the dining room.

“Do you think they have something that can project these sheets on the wall?”

“It’s late. We can do this in the morning. You should get some sleep,” Tomoyo said, when they reached the dining room.

He couldn’t sleep right now. He felt so close to the breaking point. So close.

Hisao sat at the dining table, busy typing at his laptop, uncaring that it was almost two in the morning. Beside him, his partner sat at a chair, head resting on his arms, deep asleep.

Koji ignored Hisao’s curious gaze, and headed for the table laden with office equipment. He rarely spent time in offices, so all of it looked complicated. Tomoyo was no better. Her specialty was the kitchen, present her with the most advanced kitchen equipment and she took to it like water. Office equipment, not so much.

They both stood staring, stumped.

“What do you need?” Hisao asked, coming up behind Koji.

Grateful that he had thought to put in his earplugs earlier, so he read nothing from Hisao. Koji handed over the drawings to the amused Inspector.

“Place them in order and project them on the wall,” Koji said, moving to lean on the large dining table.

Hisao worked fast, the drawings appeared on the wall, and Koji sighed in relief.

Koji folded his arms against his chest, moving closer to the lighted wall, pointing at drawings, so that Hisao arranged them as he wanted.

The result was a panorama of the park as Maki saw it the day Sakura disappeared.

Koji searched the scene, taking in each face, each movement and action.

“This is incredible,” Hisao said, coming to stand next to him. “Look, there is Sakura, playing on the jungle gym. How is this possible?”

“It’s a memory,” Tomoyo said, standing next to Hisao. “Maki’s memory, as she sat to answer her phone. Look, everyone in the park is dressed down, laid back, enjoying the day.”

“What about the two men in combat boots and green jackets.”

Hisao pointed them out on the screen. They were walking into the park as Maki sat. They carried gym bags, as though they were walking across the park to their destination.  The shoes were wrong though for a gym session.

Koji had noted the two men, but he had seen them in the memory after Sakura’s disappearance. Never paying them mind because those two—

Koji moved around Hisao, finding the two men in combat boots, in the memory where Sakura has disappeared. They were crouched over a manhole in the middle of the park. The duffel bags missing.

“Hisao-san,” Koji touched the two men in the drawing.

“Yes?”

“Where do you think their duffel bags went?” Koji asked, studying the two men.

They were crouched on the ground, their heads bent, and their bags missing. Nothing in the vicinity to suggest they had placed them down on the ground.

Hisao hissed and hurried back to the dining table. Getting his phone, he dialed the team leader and in minutes, most of the investigating inspectors came into the dining room.

Tomoyo’s phone beeped and she hurried off to answer it, after giving Koji’s left shoulder a squeeze. Koji listened as the investigation now focused on the two men in the middle of the park. Their identities, the reasons why they were in the park. The manhole.

“We’ll take it from here,” Hisao said to Koji when the team leader finished with assignments and the investigators left the dining room with renewed energy.

Tired, Koji sat on the closest armchair, and closed his eyes. Tension drained from his shoulders, and he was asleep in a millisecond.

***

Andre and Leon tried to get a room at Hotel Mume, only to discover that the hotel was fully booked. Desperate to stay close to the investigation, Andre talked Tomoyo into finding them space for the night. Leon bunked in with Ogun, while Andre got the couch in Koji’s suite.

Andre fell asleep waiting for Koji to come upstairs to rest, and only woke up when the suite door opened with a small bang at around five in the morning.

Sitting up, he stretched his arms above his head, and stared at Ogun who looked frantic, his gaze on Koji’s empty bed.

“Where is he?” Ogun asked, staring at him.

“I—I don’t think he came up.”

Andre got to his feet, when Ogun left as fast as he had arrived.

Wiping sleep from his eyes, he grabbed his jacket from the armchair and hurried after Ogun. Taking a stick of gum from his jacket pocket, he popped it into his mouth, the taste of mint chasing away his morning breath.

Downstairs was chaos. Investigators hurrying in and out of the dining room, excitement heavy in the room. Ogun had stopped in the reception hall, talking to Tomoyo who was still in the clothes from yesterday. They looked deep in conversation, so Andre ignored them and entered the dining room.

His gaze found Koji the second he entered the dining room. Sleeping in an armchair set by the wall, undisturbed by the jumble of activity around him. Andre walked to his side, and crouched before him, staring.

Dark hair a mess, falling over his forehead. Andre reached up and gently pushed it away from a smooth forehead. Eyes closed, eyelashes forming a half-moon on soft skin. There were dark shadows on the delicate skin there. Koji was not getting enough rest. Andre’s gaze dropped to parted lips, a smile filling him up at the soft breaths Koji took. In and out, his chest moving in gentle motion.

Koji shifted, and brought his hand up to rub at his nose before settling in again. Andre frowned when a dark smudge was left on the tip of Koji’s nose. Wiping it off with a finger, Andre took Koji’s left hand and stared at the black charcoal coating Koji’s fingers.

“From the drawing,” Tomoyo said, startling Andre.

He looked up to find her leaning on the wall a step away from the armchair. Her arms folded against her chest. He had not seen her join him.

She nodded to her right, and he followed her gaze to a panoramic drawing of a park on the overhead screen.

“He found the culprits,” Tomoyo said.

“Did he draw that?” Andre stood, staring at the picture. The details so clear, it felt as though the swings the kids were using would start moving in a minute. Was this–,

“When did he do this?”

“Through the night,” Tomoyo answered. “He’s obsessed with Sakura and after talking to Maki, he thought putting her memories on paper would help him find a clue.”

“Is she found?” Andre asked, hope blooming wide.

“She will be.” Tomoyo winced when Koji shifted in the armchair, trying to get comfortable. “We can’t move him. He always wakes up with one touch from Ogun or me. How you’re able to touch him without waking him is a mystery.”

“I can take him upstairs,” Andre offered.

Tomoyo frowned, her gaze on Koji as he shifted again to get comfortable. She looked indecisive, and then with a sigh, she nodded and walked away as though trying to stop herself from refusing him.

Andre’s gaze returned to the drawing on the overhead. The details so clear, almost as though he could step into the scene and listen to the children playing. To have done all this so quickly, and from just talking to Maki, Andre looked at Koji a bit stunned. Andre leaned down and picked up Koji into his arms. Koji’s head resting on his shoulder as he carried him out of the busy dining room.

Ogun and Tomoyo followed him, hovering, Andre paid them no attention as he headed to Koji’s room. Upstairs, he laid Koji on the large bed. Glancing at his hands, Andre hurried to the bathroom and returned with a wash cloth wet with warm water.

Ogun and Tomoyo sat at the chairs in the small living area. Andre frowned at their over concern. Well, he hoped they would leave him alone with Koji, if only for a moment. Taking Koji’s left hand, he concentrated on wiping away black charcoal from Koji’s hands.

Andre took Koji’s right hand, cleaning black charcoal from his palms, then his fingers, smallest to index finger. He passed the damp cloth over a gold ring with blue stones intricately embedded on its surface. Light shimmered over the large blue/green stone set as the centerpiece and Andre frowned, leaning over it, turning Koji’s hand to the light. When the shimmer disappeared, he thought it a play of light.

Finishing with the cloth, he placed it on the bedside table, pulling the covers over Koji, he sat on the side of the bed, simply watching Koji sleep.

***

Koji woke to silence. A first in his life. Even with every device Saya and Tama had installed into the house to help him cope, there were always distant whispers. Distant, niggling at the back of his head, so very consistent.  The silence was a welcome blessing.

Opening his eyes, he stared at Andre. The French man was comfortably sitting on his bed, reading an English copy of Norwegian Wood. Koji shifted on the bed, so that he lay facing Andre, openly studying him.

Andre was handsome in an enticing, aristocratic way. His features calm as he read away, quite comfortable leaning on the headboard in his tailored slacks and shirt. His hair combed away from his face, Koji wondered what it looked like disheveled. What did Andre look like without his neat, tailored clothes? Koji thought he would love to paint that. Andre in dishabille. Did Andre ever lose his temper? Koji imagined he would love to see that too. Would that be the time when Koji would get to see what Andre was thinking?

Andre turned the page, clearly immersed in the book, and Koji closed his eyes, enjoying the silence. It was so effortless, so unexpected, he never wanted it to end.

His stomach growled and Koji rubbed it opening his eyes to find Andre watching him.

“Hungry?” Andre smiled.

“A bit,” Koji answered, not wanting to move.

Andre closed the book and placed it on the bedside table. Koji wondered if Tomoyo and Ogun were in the little living area. That he wondered was a marvel, not knowing was new.

“Tomoyo and Ogun are downstairs,” Andre said, as though reading his thoughts.

Koji smiled.

“I’m sure they’ll be up here soon. They rarely leave me alone.”

“It’s very inconvenient.”

“Is it?”

Andre shifted, sliding down on the bed until they both lay facing each other. Andre’s eyes were brown. Koji stared into them, wanting to commit them to canvas. Their color deep, he would have to mix paints to get the right shade.

His fingers moved to trace the dark stubble on Andre’s chin before he knew what he was doing. His index finger tracing Andre’s chiseled chin, the stubble rough against his fingers, up to the sides, and right under Andre’s bottom lip. Even with touch, the silence remained, no whispers, no inner thoughts, no images, Koji met amused brown eyes and his fingers stilled.

“You are tempting me,” Andre said, taking Koji’s hand. “Don’t fault me for this.”

“What?”

Andre leaned closer and before Koji realized what he was up to, soft lips brushed his in a soft, gentle kiss. His eyes wide in shock, Koji almost forgot to breathe. Warmth spread through him, and Koji leaned into the kiss, wanting more, his heart racing when Andre sealed their lips into a proper kiss.

Koji clutched Andre’s shirt, eyes closed, his body tingling with sparks and heat. Andre’s kiss tasted of mint, and dark chocolate. Koji pressed closer, wanting more, only to have Andre end their kiss, leaving them both breathing hard. Koji hid his face into Andre’s shoulder, and tried to still his heart. His body trembling, he closed his eyes when Andre held him tight, offering comfort.

His first kiss left him shaken.

***

Andre was unhappy when Ogun and Tomoyo returned to Koji’s room. The door opened and Koji pulled away from him too fast, not giving him time to accept that he could let go. He sat up with a scowl, watching Koji hurry to the bathroom. Clearly running away.

Andre sighed and slid out of bed, his socked feet firmly on the floor, yet he felt he needed to hold on to the bed. His heart still racing with the thrill of kissing Koji. How he wanted more, how he wanted to feel Koji shift into his arms, how he wanted to wrap Koji in his arms and not let go.

“Andre? Are you alright?” Tomoyo asked. She was busy arranging plates of food on the coffee table. Ogun, already seated, held the day’s newspaper, a frown playing on his forehead.

“I’m fine.”

Andre straightened to his full height, adjusting his shirt. His gaze on the closed bathroom. Koji was hiding. He smiled. He wondered how long his baby would stay in there.

“Any news?” he asked, moving to join Tomoyo and Ogun at the table.

Koji had slept for five hours since this morning. Glancing at his watch, it was ten-thirty.  He nodded in satisfaction.  Koji would at least look rested now.

“Yes.” Ogun picked up his cup of coffee. “Investigators found the two men in Koji’s drawing. One is dead after trying to put up a fight with police, the other is in custody. He says an unknown man hired him for the afternoon. His job was to get the girl, Sakura, to a storehouse a few blocks away from the park. They’re checking out the storehouse.  We think he is lying about knowing who hired him.”

“Koji will want to talk to him.” Tomoyo shook her head. “I wish this ends quickly. He’s overworking. We can’t expect Andre to watch over him as he sleeps each time.”

“I don’t mind it,” Andre said, taking the cup of coffee Tomoyo placed before him and sipping it without looking at them.

When they both stayed silent, Andre glanced up to find Ogun and Tomoyo looking at him. They shared a glance, then Tomoyo sat opposite him, her gaze on her own coffee. Ogun cleared his throat and smiled at Andre.

“Once the investigation is over, we’ll leave first, and head back to Koji’s home. You two will not see each other again.”

“Who says?” Andre asked, not sure what Ogun was trying to say.

He liked Koji.

After their kiss on the bed, he imagined Koji liked him too. It was a long time since he felt this kind of attraction. Truthfully, he tended to be very choosy with his partners. Always wanting more from his partners than they dared give, when they did give the more, it felt flat and he was disappointed. So he tended to walk away first.

Yet with Koji, he felt caught in a web, unable to cut away. Two days of knowing Koji and he wanted to unravel the mystery of him. Each part he discovered only led him deeper into a bigger puzzle. Koji was intriguing, and enticing…Andre doubted he could walk away now.

The bathroom door opened and Koji came out looking refreshed. He had taken a shower, his hair still damp. Dressed in jeans and a grey t-shirt, Koji walked to them, rubbing his head with a towel. Andre placed his coffee mug down, and started to get up to help, only to have Tomoyo beat him to the task. She took the towel from Koji and went to the bathroom. She returned with a hairdryer.

Koji stole a glance at Andre, and he shrugged as Tomoyo got to work drying his hair.

Andre was surprised by the surge of jealousy that filled his chest. He sipped his coffee watching Koji fit hearing aids into his ears, carefully pressing a tiny button to turn them on.

“Koji, I noticed those hearing aids before. Not to sound rude, but can I ask why you are hard of hearing?” Andre asked.

“You can,” Koji said with a grin.

Andre grinned.

“I’m asking,” Andre insisted.

“He was too young to remember,” Tomoyo answered for Koji, after turning off the blow dryer. She returned it to the bathroom, and Koji grinned back at Andre.

“It’s not something to worry about,” Koji said to Andre. “They are now part of me, so I don’t think about why I need to wear them.”

Andre frowned, wanting to know, but clearly, this was a topic no one wanted to discuss. He would have to wait until later to know the truth. Until Koji trusted him.

“Why don’t you tell me more about this man they found, Ogun-san?” Andre asked instead. “Why would he agree to take Sakura?”

“Money,” Koji answered before Ogun could, staring into his coffee. “I’ll find Sakura today.”

“You sound sure,” Andre said with a frown.

“Yes.”

Koji looked up then, a small smile on his lips, though it hardly reached his eyes.

Tomoyo sighed, and arranged dishes before Koji. She knocked his head with her knuckles, and Koji reached up to rub his hair.

“Before you go overworking, have food. Your stomach is probably growling in protest. One of these days, it will jump out and eat you in revenge.”

“You’re so frightening,” Koji said in response.

Andre couldn’t help the chuckle watching Tomoyo push chopsticks into Koji’s right hand. The bowl before him had chicken and eggs on rice, a bowl of miso soup to the side. Andre was still getting used to the idea of eating full on meals in the morning. Tomoyo was a great cook, and Andre loved her food, so maybe he didn’t mind a huge breakfast too much.

Although, Tomoyo bulldozing Koji into eating all his food was infinitely more entertaining.

An hour later, Andre sat in a waiting room at the police station they had first visited, with Leon keeping him busy authorizing various project payments. Koji was inside talking to the arrested suspect. Andre paused in the middle of authorizing repairs for a warehouse in Manila, his gaze shifting to the door.

“He’s only been gone twenty minutes,” Leon said, with a chuckle. “You should be worried about what he’s going to say about you finding Sakura for her mother. Do you think Seiren will keep her promise?”

“Even if she doesn’t, I got Koji to promise to help clear Leon’s name,” Andre said, with a sigh. “I’m more concerned with what happens after.”

“After?” Leon frowned.

Andre looked at Leon.

“I want him.”

“Who?” Leon asked, confused.

“Koji,” Andre said with a small blush. “He—

“Lives in Japan, and you live in the French Riviera,” Leon said. “Worlds apart, Andre. Don’t get your heart broken. Now, let’s concentrate on work.”

Andre sighed, and returned his attention to his business.

***

Koji sat in the interview room with the man named Tonsu. Early thirties, fit, he looked like he worked hard for the look. His hair cut close to his head. His hands in fists on the table. Koji kept his gaze on the tight fists, his thoughts on Andre and their kiss this morning.

The pleasure that exploded through him at the simple touch of lips, it was like nothing he had ever experienced. Clinging to that warmth, he reached into his ears and pulled out the hearing aids, turning them off and slipping them into their box. He held it tight and focused on Tonsu.

Tonsu’s thoughts were a mass of fear, anger. Refined anger, so profound it made Koji shudder under its onslaught. Bordering on rage, he thought, trying to push it off. Tonsu’s anger was born from a struggle to survive. He was responsible for the care of his mother, and five siblings. Their father unknown. Tonsu was the sole source of income. The number of jobs he had tried since he turned sixteen staggered Koji. Fourteen years of working double time, not ever doing what he wanted, the money earned ending up with the family.

Tonsu was exhausted. So, when his friends asked him for a simple favor, and gain a large chunk of money, Tonsu did not hesitate.

“Your choices led you here,” Koji noted, meeting Tonsu’s dark gaze. “You could have walked away.”

“You look like a rich brat to me. What would you understand about me?”

“A lot,” Koji said. “You have spent so much time being angry that you don’t take time to enjoy what’s important. Tonsu-san, your anger will be the end of you.”

Koji closed his eyes, focusing on the day Tonsu and his friend stole Sakura from the park. Tonsu was the one to stuff her into his duffel bag and lower it into the manhole where his friends waited to take the bag. They closed the manhole and walked out of the park minutes later.

Koji saw Tonsu follow his friend into a black sedan. They drove to a storehouse near Katsura River. The meeting point. There were five others on the team. Their conversation spotty as Tonsu’s nervous nature kept him from paying attention. Koji heard them discuss fourteen children on a list, and realized Tonsu had been assimilated into the team last. The team leader needing a new face, after suspicion arose as the fourteen children went missing in the same area.

Koji grabbed a pencil from his pocket and pulled the drawing book Tomoyo placed on the table for him. It took a moment to get a clear picture of the storehouse where Tonsu and his friends took Sakura.

Koji leaned closer to Tonsu, and touched Tonsu’s fists with his left hand. Koji’s right hand moved fast over the drawing book, sketching the dozen faces in the storehouse. When he was done, he sat back and Tonsu gave a startled shout at the color of Koji’s brilliant blue eyes.

On the drawing book, Koji had drawn Tonsu, talking to his friends after they received their share of money from a man with a scar on his left cheek.

The door into the interview room opened, ushering in Tomoyo, Ogun and Hisao. They all stared down at the drawing book.

“Daye Chang,” Ogun said in shock, touching the scarred man’s face. “Why is his face damaged?”

“Are you sure this is him?” Tomoyo asked, looking at Koji.

“I cut him in Kobe.” Koji dropped his pencil on the table, his gaze still on Tonsu. “When I was helping you save the children and diverted to escape on the motorcycle. He attacked me, and I swiped his face with my dagger.”

“You didn’t mention this,” Ogun said, in irritation.

“It was a small thing,” Koji said. “Tonsu’s buddies were responsible for the other fourteen too. They took them to the storehouse, and Daye took over from there. Now we know who has the children. If we don’t find them first, they’ll end up on the black market.”

“How did you know?” Tonsu asked, also staring at the drawing book. “No one knows—

“Sakura is eight.” Koji stated. “Her grandmother is worried sick. The girl who took her to the park is breaking apart because of you. You have much to be sorry for, not to mention your family that will now have to do without you. How will you atone for this?”

Tonsu looked away, his fists clenching tighter.

“They said she would not be harmed. Sakura was a bonus. She was going to be used to keep her mother in line—

“Her mother?” Koji frowned, studying Tonsu. “A bonus?”

“She was not in the original list,” Tonsu elaborated.

Koji blinked and stood. Andre’s presence in this investigation finally making sense. Koji left the interview room and hurried to the waiting room where Andre and Leon worked. Flinging the door open, Koji stared at Andre.

“Sakura’s mother,” Koji said, his gaze on Andre, his heart beating too fast. “What is her name?”

“Seiren,” Andre answered, handing the tablet he was using to Leon. He stood up, facing Koji full on. “She works at an underground club called the Blue Dragon. She asked us to find Sakura so that she would give us information to clear my brother, Henri.”

“Do you know Daye Chang?” Koji asked.

“I met him once, when he was looking for investors. I declined his offer, but Henri jumped in and that is how he is now tangled in with Daye Chang’s terrible business. Why?”

“Daye Chang has the children,” Koji said, studying him. “If only you had told me Seiren’s identity when we first met. We would have found those children much faster.

“It—

“Secrets,” Koji sighed in disappointment. “More harmful than actual poison. It is your turn to make a statement, Andre Lacome.”

“Koji—

“The faster you get it done, and you take us to this club, the faster we can end this,” Koji snapped.

Andre sighed as Koji left the waiting room angry.

Koji hurried out of the police station, needing to be outside. Needing to breathe unrestricted. He wished for the open grounds of the Sukiyama Estate. What he wouldn’t give for a run right now. Just to clear his head. This wasn’t Andre’s fault. It wasn’t, yet, after their kiss, he felt Andre should have told him the truth. Told him why he was looking into Sakura, and his involvement with Daye Chang.

Why was the world so small?

What were the odds that the man who could silence his mind, fill his head with peace, also knew Daye Chang, that devil who loved to enslave the innocent?

Koji slid down the side of the building and sat on the pavement, his head filling with whispers of Gion city.

***