A Demon's Lapse

Nora was helping the maid clean around the house when she was called into the office. As she walked up the stairs, she saw a man coming down. He looked at her and gave her a grin.

"Hello, Miss, I'm Hideyoshi, Kiyohira's younger brother," he said as he grabbed her hand and kissed it. Nora pulled away, though. She saw the resemblance but he was the total opposite of Kiyohira with his flamboyant style.

"Hi, I'm Nora," she replied nervously. He was most likely as much of a mobster as his brother. She gave him sleaze vibes. He nodded and walked down the stairs.

She entered and saw Kiyohira at his desk, wearing thick black-framed glasses. He took them off as he looked up at her, telling her to close the door behind her.

"You wanted to see me," she said.

"Last night never happened. You are never to talk about it to anyone ever. I made a mistake and it will never happen again," he said tactlessly. Mistake? That hurt. She thought the same thing, however, hearing it come from him hurt.

"You're right. If I could turn back time I wouldn't have ever done it either," she told him. He stared at her blankly.

"I am merely your servant and nothing else, was this all you wanted to see me about? I'd like to get back to work," Nora said, maliciously complying.

"No, there's something else," he said.

"I'm letting you go."

"What do you mean?"

"You're free to go back home. I've forgiven you and your sister."

Nora was taken aback. She should've been ecstatic but instead she felt sad.

"You're letting me go? Just like that," she asked.

"What more do you need me to say? You've caused me nothing but trouble. Make sure your sister never crosses me again," he said, "I never want to see you ever again." Those words cut Nora deeply. She took her leave.

Tears began to roll down Nora's face. Why was she crying? This was for the best. She went to her room. She didn't want anyone to see her in this state. She locked herself in the bathroom and cried. She thought about Kiyohira. Even though he had done awful things to her, there were times when he had shown that there was some good in him. She admitted that she was attracted to him and she wanted to get to know him better. Lately, he was all she thought about. Her chest tightened when she did so. Did she like him? No. There was no way!

Nora was confused. She had been through so much lately. She still couldn't get him out of her mind. She remembered how gentle he was with her the night before. That calm expression he had when she traced the scar on his face. He had a faint smile back then. She just closed her eyes and wept.

Cutting things off with the girl was the most sensible option, Kiyohira thought. Still he couldn't shake off her cold attitude when she left his office. Her agreeing with him that last night was a mistake bothered him. Whenever he thought about her he got angry. He had never rescinded a vendetta before. He knocked things off of his desk in frustration and walked over to the window. Lighting a cigarette he stared out into the ocean. Ever since she appeared in his life, nothing had gone his way. He needed to stay away from her. He didn't like what she was doing to him.

Nora washed her face and came out of the bathroom. She saw the clothes that she wore when she was brought here and her other belongings on the bed. After changing, she bid the house farewell. She didn't want to see Kiyohira because it would've just hurt her, angry at his nonchalance. She left the house and stepped out into the cool evening wind. Was someone going to give her a lift, right? Or did Kiyohira want her to swim all the way back to San Francisco? Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the man from earlier appear, smoking a cigarette.

"We meet again," he said and bowed. "I'm surprised that Kiyohira is letting you go just like that," he continued.

"How did you know I was leaving?" Nora asked.

"Well you have your things with you, unless you're going on vacation somewhere," Hideyoshi joked.

Nora looked at herself and felt pathetic.

"Need a ride?" he asked her. Even though she didn't know him at all, she did not want to stay here any longer. She nodded. As Nora followed Hideyoshi, Kiyohira looked at them from the window above.

Nora stared out the window, looking over the friendly skies of Hideyoshi's private jet. She called Rosie earlier and told her she was coming home. She was happy that she would be reunited with her soon but she still felt empty. She had resented Kiyohira's cold treatment. Why, though? They come from different worlds and were brought together by dire circumstances. In an ordinary situation, they would've never even met. He was her first kiss and her first time. She had such an intense feeling in her heart.

Hideyoshi sat across from her.

"You sure turned my brother's world on its head," he grinned. She snapped out of her daze.

She looked at him, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"No one who has defied him ever lived to tell about it. You're the first. What did you do to him," he asked.

"Nothing. Everything that I did was to protect my sister and myself. Everything else was his choice."

Nora didn't trust this man so she wasn't comfortable with this interrogation.

"You don't have to be afraid, I'm not like my brother," he told her. That still didn't make her feel at ease.

"What happened to your guys' mother," she asked. Hideyoshi looked surprised. He didn't expect her to ask him questions.

"I'm actually his half-brother; we have the same father but different mothers. I assume you're asking about his. I don't know much about her other than that she died from an illness when Kiyohira was just a kid. Two years later my father married my mom and then they had me. Kiyohira never liked me though. Our father made us rivals," he explained. Rivals? Nora never understood why some parents did that to their children.

"What happened to your father?" she asked.

Hideyoshi inhaled deeply.

"Kiyohira killed him," he said. Nora's eyes widened in shock. She presumed him to be a murderer, but his own father? She remembered that the details of the Kimura Group succession were vague.

"He wanted control of the company so he took it. He turned everyone against our father and he finished him off in a battle," Hideyoshi explained. Kiyohira was so hateful and power-hungry that he killed his father. She, too, felt guilty. She had taken the best course of action. Maybe he did have an ounce of goodness in him to let her go instead of keeping her. She just wanted to forget everything. Nothing made sense to her anymore.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked Hideyoshi.

"I like to help people, that's just who I am," he said, smiling. Nora raised an eyebrow.

"Tell you what, think of this as a favour," he added.

"What do you want in return?" she asked.

"Don't know yet, I'll let you know," he smiled, leaning back in his chair.

Nora wasn't sure how she felt about that. She didn't want to have anything to do with the Kimura family ever again.