“So am I.” His smile softened. “You want a normal life. I get it.”
“I just want peace.”
“I think you’re letting your emotions run wild. Someone made a reservation under Reina’s name. Maybe as a prank. It could’ve been an employee who worked at the House of Sakamoto. They’re out a job and blame you. Who knows. But the more you chase this, the more power you give them. Whoever it is, this is what they want. They want to see you crack. Don’t give them that.”
“It’s not just the reservation… I’ve had numerous sightings. More than I’ve admitted to you.”
I grabbed my phone from the coffee table and pulled up a map of Kyoto. “Look, each star marks a place I saw her, sometimes more than once.”
Jiro leaned in. “Akiko… there must be over a hundred stars on this thing.”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you. I knew you’d think I was crazy. But I’m not tracking hallucinations,” I said, making air quotes. “I’m tracking patterns.”
“And… is there one?”
“If there is, I don’t see it yet.”
I took a small notebook from my purse and handed it to him.
Jiro flipped through the pages. Sketches of Reina’s face. Scribbled notes. Locations. Dates. More sketches.
“Akiko… there’s got to be fifty pages in here.”
“There’s another notebook at the restaurant,” I said quietly.
“Do you really believe all of these sightings were her?”
“It’s always just a flash, a glimpse across a platform or through a crowd—but yes. I know what she looks like, Jiro.”
He closed the notebook slowly and placed it on the table like it might explode. “Okay. First thing, we throw this away. And second, I think you need to get back into therapy. While I’m happy to sit here and listen, I don’t know how to help you anymore.”
“You think I’m imagining it?”
He hesitated. “I’m sorry, Akiko, but it’s hard not to.”
I looked away.
“I’m not saying you’re making it up,” he said, gentler now. “But there’s a chance it’s not her. It could be someone else. Maybe even a Sakamoto relative. That dynasty came crashing down hard. Someone’s bound to still be pissed off.”
We sat in silence, deadlocked. After a moment, Jiro leaned back, rubbed his palms over his face, then cleared his throat.
“I have an idea. You probably won’t like it, but keep an open mind. Okay?”
I nodded, bracing myself.
“I’m thinking about contacting my father.”
I jerked upright. “Why?”
“For starters, he’s connected. Really connected. If this is someone from the Sakamoto orbit, he can find out.”
“And then what?”
“I don’t know. We take it from there.”
“But your father disowned you. Because of me.”
“No, Akiko. I made a decision. He didn’t like it, and he wanted to punish me. But what happened between us had nothing to do with you.”
