Chapter 57 - I only wanted to disappear

The statement about Takeuchi Rie keeps repeating on the news channel. The Kamiyama family has decided not to sue the girl for breaking the contract and let go of the girl for emotionally blackmail as an act of kindness. The old madam of the Kamiyama family has made a big announcement.

[Hashimoto Chisa and Kamiyama Kiyohira are engaged.]

"Aish!" Chisa shakes her head and laugh. "I didn't even get a ring yet. They have already announced it. They must be desperate."

Her stepfather will take any chance to fix her marriage with Kiyohira, the eldest son of the Kamiyama family. Kiyohira's grandmother seems desperate too.

"Rie hasn't appeared in T city yet." Miwako hangs up the phone and tells her, "Where did she hide this time?"

"Kiyohira knows where she is. We will find her soon." Chisa looks at her perfectly manicured nails. "Miwako, if my chosen prey wants to take away my toy and my toy is luring my chosen prey away, how should I punish them both?"

Miwako sits down on the floor and massages her feet. "Take away your toy from your chosen prey and give a lesson to your toy for luring your chosen prey without your permission."

"You are smart. That's why I like you, Miwako." Chisa tosses her credit card at Miwako.

"Thank you, Chisa. You are too kind." Miwako's eyes gleam with happiness when she sees the black credit card. If Rie comes back to Chisa, she is sure that Chisa's mood will become better. "When are we taking your toy back?"

"Let them play a little more and relax."

***

"Little one, why do you not believe me?" Dr. Umezaki scowls at her. "He's my student."

"He looks like an evil man who escaped prison." Rie is still using Ren as her shield to block Kiyohira's view. "He is looking at me like he wants to kill me."

Yuhara Kozue, who is peeking from the door at the woman, glances at Kiyohira. Kiyohira's penetrating gaze is fixed on Rie. Yuhara Kozue flinches and hides behind the door. He agrees with the woman.

"Kiyoshi, can you stop staring at Rie chan?" Ren asks Kiyohira awkwardly. Even he is getting goosebumps in his body because of Kiyohira's intense stare.

Kiyohira closes his eyes and leans back. If this makes her comfortable, he will stay like this.

"See, he's not an evil man. An evil man won't close their eyes to make other people comfortable." Dr. Umezaki grins at her. "Little one, what were you doing before you fainted?"

Rie peers at Kiyohira. He looks better when his eyes are closed. She doesn't let go of Ren's arm. She still doesn't trust that Kiyohira is a good man. Evil people are expert at pretending to be good.

"I was traveling on a train."

Umezaki blinks at her. "Train? Where were you going?"

"I didn't have any destination. I only wanted to disappear."

Kiyohira wants to look at her, but he keeps his eyes closed. She told him before that she was going to disappear. Why that wish?

"How you were going to disappear?" Umezaki prods her a bit.

"I don't know." She sounds sad. "How do I erase my existence? I wanted to die, but I promised Ren that I wouldn't do something like that. So, I decided to find a place where nobody knew my name or past. I didn't want to be found."

It's progress, Umezaki Yushiro thinks. She is speaking about her wishes. But, how much she remembers? Not being able to recognize Kiyohira means that she is still afraid. She is extremely scared of someone. That person must be linked to Kamiyama Kiyohira in some way. "Little one, who was the person that wants you back?"

Her breathing becomes erratic. She squeezes her eyes and shakes violently. "It's no one. I lied. No one is bullying me. I am not hurt by anyone. It was me who likes to bully them. I did it. I stole the question papers from the teacher's office. Those drugs are mine. I hid them in their bags. I was the one who wanted to **** that boy in the storeroom. The prostitution rumors are true. I did it to earn cash."

She pushes Ren away and laughs hysterically. "I did it. I did it."

"Rie chan, calm down. It's not a school. We already dropped out of school, remember?" Ren strokes her back. "See, I am here. That's Dr. Umezaki, my uncle."

Her breathing calms down as her eyes become clear. She stares at Kiyohira. "Who is that?"

"This guy is Ichihara Kiyoshi. He is also my uncle's student." Ren holds her to keep her steady on her feet.

Kiyohira gets up abruptly and walks out of the room. He can't watch it anymore. He punches the wall that scares away Yuhara Kozue. He is the source of her deteriorating condition. After a minute, Umezaki Yushiro comes out.

"It's not good. Tell me how did you become her trigger. She is extremely afraid of you."

He lets out a breath. "Is it because I forced her to come with me?"

"I don't think that she turned out like this because of that." Umezaki Yushiro guides him to his study room. "She isn't afraid of seeing you. Rather, she is afraid of going back with you. So, there must be something that is linked to the place where you are taking her."

Kiyohira thinks hard. She has told him repetitively that she doesn't want to go back with him. She even kneeled... He doesn't want to remember that.

"Who did she meet before she passed out at your home?"

The servant pours tea for both of them. Kiyohira recalls her expression when she saw Chisa that day.

"Hashimoto Chisa."

But, they don't know each other. Rie also told him that she didn't know Chisa. She must have lied.

"I have checked Chisa's records. She never went to Rie's school."

A few years ago, Chisa's father wanted Chisa to marry Kiyohira. Back then, he had read all of her information about her because his father wanted to know whether he was interested to marry Hashimoto Chisa. Her record was clean. Her background was good. She went to elite schools before she moved to T city after her mother remarried her stepfather. She was fine for a marriage of convenience. But, Kamiyama Hitomi strongly opposed the marriage. His father also changed his mind. So, he let it go.

"Before Chisa's mother remarried, she was living in M city. She went to an elite school there. Chisa didn't step into T city before her mother married her stepfather."

Umezaki Yushiro scratches his chin. "We can't be sure if it was Chisa who triggered her. It can be a situation that reminded of her past or Chisa's clothes or her name or her appearance. Chisa might look like someone Rie knows."

He has to find Takeuchi Miwako first to confirm things.