139 I'm Sorry and Thank You

"Your ID card, Sir?" One of the female guards who was guarding the prisoner cells asked him. With his silver suit and red tie, Rei Ishii sighed inside, he took out his ID which he got from Ta and showed it to the guard. The person checked the card wisely and stamped it, it was valid.

"You can come in, Sir." She said, but before she could finish explaining him the rules, Rei Ishii already walked further from her to the prison, instead to prisoner visit room. "H-Hey, Sir!" She was trying to warn him, yet he ignored her shouted.

Striding his legs through the gray corridor, looked at his surrounding. He was trying to search for his sister's room number. He heard the news about his sister was 'found' according to the reports from Han's subordinates.

Fixing his glasses, he lifted his head and halted his step. He stood in front of the door her sister prison room. He was hesitating. Clenching his palms tightly, suddenly heard the female guard who was shouting to him a while ago. "Sir, that's the wrong way, it's right this way." She reminded. He glanced at her, turning around and followed her. He walked to the prisoner visit room.

He sat down while looking in front of him. "Where's she?" He asked impatiently.

"She'll be arriving soon." The guard saluted and stood far behind him. After a few minutes later, the door from across was opened.

He looked at her whole. The orange outfit she wore, short hair, pretty face, sharp eyes, and pale lips. She was Hina, no, she was Aiko. She lifted her head and noticed the person in front of her, she opened her eyes wide shockingly, standing there staring at him. 'Brother?' She thought inward. The guard behind her pushed her and scolded her to sit down, and she did what the guard said.

Her hands were handcuffed so she placed it on her tights. The siblings were gazing at each other, silence in a small booth and glass partition separating between them.

He said, "It's been a long time. You've changed so much, even I don't recognize you anymore. But your voice is still the same." He traced her thin body and sharp jaw. The slight chubby girl he knew back then was gone. Her former slanted eyes were changed to round eyes with a double eyelid, her long hair was cut like a boy, right now it wasn't the plump pretty girl anymore, instead, she turned to the beautiful thin woman.

Aiko fixedly staring at his eyes, "B-Brother..." She nervously said that. Her palm was sweating cold and her heartbeat beating rapidly. She heard him saying straightforwardly, "It has been six years, I don't know anything about your life before, I must say, it doesn't look good. Mom and dad miss you, I miss you, please go back home with me, Aiko."

Her eyes turned teary, she chocked while saying, "Brother..." Rei Ishii looked at his sister with ash face, he bit his lower lips and muttered, "When you were gone that day, I wasn't there beside you. I'm sorry and please forgive mom and dad. They didn't scold you because they hate you. They were worried because they were afraid that your boyfriend was fooling you. Your boyfriend was too old, even older than our uncle."

"Raiga is not a liar! He loved me as who I am! He never touched my cross line, we just date with a pure relationship!" Aiko raised her voice scolding at her brother, she didn't want to accept someone was bad mouthing him, even it was her brother herself.

Rei Ishii looked at her sharply, "That man eloped with you and ran away together. His action proved his words, he's not a good man, do you want me to say the 'pedo' words? Don't tell me you two didn't do anything in those time?"

"No! We didn't! He's pure kind heart man! He agreed with me because I just want to get away from the family! I really planned to get back to Kobe after we spent a few days abroad! But, I can't!! I can't go back again... I can't." Her voice turned to quite in the last line. Rei Ishii's face was complicated. She didn't have to say it, Rei Ishii knew her full story from the report criminal statement. Her motives and so on and so on.

"Do you still love him? Do you still think that he still alive from all of this year you've been enduring, Aiko? Do you think Mr. Gobi's a 'keeping promised' man you believed?" Rei Ishii questioning her. Her face suddenly turned paler than before, her body trembled, she was gasping with her eyes shaky. He continued with a quivering voice, "All this time, you were near me, but I never realized you were one of Mr. Gobi's eyes. I was shocked, until now too. I can't believe I'm stupid not to realize it sooner. This the first time I question my intelligence."

Scoffing, he redeemed his feeling. He regretted it. He regretted he didn't try harder to find her. He only waited for the people to deliver their reports, but there were always zero results along years. At that time he had a plan to give up on her, but Han's statement last year, resolving him to find his sister once again. He mocked laughingly at himself for his obliviousness to search for her overseas, yet stupidly, he didn't know she came back to Japan and stay within the year.

Chuckling, he couldn't believe the truth that she was right beside him all along. She was with Mr. Gobi! She was with that damn man, the same man that he tricked! Was this karma?

Heaven graciousness, his sister was being used by that fu*king bastard Gobi more or less than five years!!! She was close to him, yet why, why he didn't detect it all this time?

Freaking damn it.

Now what? He succeeded to find her in the end but, he didn't feel satisfied with it. Was it because she was in jail, right now?

He observed her reaction, her tears, her red eyes, sighing he said, "I will free you soon, please wait for me, and tell me you wanted to come back to Kobe, to meet our parents again. Don't worry, I will accompany you to apologize to them."

"Hiks...uwu...I...can't...brother... I can't..." She started to wail, she held her head down, and cried hysterically, along with her crying she continued, "I...I don't need you to help me. Please let me stay in here until my time in this prison is over. I can't go outside again. I'm a murderer! I'm a kidnapper! I'm a prostitute! Prostitute to that 'man'!" She referred to Mr. Gobi. "My body, my hands were all sullied, I can't face mom and dad! I changed my face! I'm not Aiko anymore!! My name is Hina! My name is Hina now!!!!!"

"Brother, just forget about me. I can't be your so-called sister anymore. Please just treat me I'm a stranger. Brother, do you want to know the truth?" She said with her hoarse voice.

Rei Ishii was silence and listen to her words. She continued, "I noticed when you visited at the port few times, I never showed up in front of you, afraid that you would know. I avoided you, I don't want to see you. Yes, all this time, I was with Mr. Gobi just because I want to save my boyfriend. But there was also one reason."

She curved her smile up, "I can't stop killing." She saw her brother slightly opened mouth, his reaction was something she expected. "That's why I need to stay here, for you and for the family safety. I'm not in good condition to roam freely."

Rei Ishii closed his mouth tightly, suddenly the air around them turned colder, he said to her, raising his voice, "What 'truth'? Stop lying! Do you know how long I watch you?! Your eyes weren't telling certainty! I know you are being forced doing that thing, I don't need your excuse! Just tell me you are not ready to face people! I know it was a sin, but you can start over again after this."

"No matter what crime you committed before, no matter what you become, you are still my sister! I will do what you want, you want to stay here? Fine. It's okay, I can wait until your time is over. I will visit you often! I'm not giving up on you just because you like to kill people?" He snorted, "Then, does it mean I should not roam freely too? Because I like to torture people until it kills them!"

The female guard behind him was coughing, judging him with her eyes oddly, but she couldn't comment on his remarks. Who was she? She was just a female guard. She told him, "You have five minutes until it's over." Rei Ishii glanced at the guard and turned his head again to see Aiko. He heard her abrupt giggling.

She said, "You're still the same, Brother." Her glib tongue brother. She suddenly reminisced the time they played together as a child. He always knew when she lied or not. Just like the time she took his money to buy ice cream. She told him that it was her mother who took it, but Rei wasn't a fool. He knew it was her.

Rei Ishii gave a slight smile, "I hope after you get out from this, you will start over your life. This time I will accompany and protect you. I will not let you astray again. I will make sure you are happy. Can I hold your hands?" He said with his hands was protrude toward the small round hole.

"Brother, you almost like proposing to me." She chuckled, lifting her chained hands she held his palms with her. "Your hand's huge." She couldn't help to praise it. But her eyes became teary again, she still reminded her to not forgive herself. Although her brother was helping her and kindly wanted to wait for her, yet she didn't want to feel relieved. Her past deed was too much, she needed to pay it back twice or more.

"Your hand's just too skinny than me." He said, he held her hands until the time was up.

He got off from his seat when Aiko suddenly said, "Brother!" He halted his movement, he heard her saying, "I will try my best." She would try her best to rearranged her mind, her whole being. She didn't want to let down her brother and also her boyfriend. Or should she say deceased boyfriend now?

When she tried to leave the room, the female guard behind her said, "It's not yet finished. You still have one visitor." When Aiko heard that, she felt confused, who could it be? She waited for a while, unaware that a boy with blue clothes and black jeans came inside. He sat while facing her, his hands were holding a certain flower in front of his chest.

"Hina...I mean, Aiko-san. How have you been?" Hikaru asked her awkwardly. His face was muddled. He didn't know what to say and what to do at that spot.

Aiko wiped her stained tears, she said indifferently, "You already know the truth. So, why bother?"

"I heard indeed about you. You must be thinking that I'm an annoying person, a crazy boy who fell over heel over you. You neither want to see me nor hear about me. But for this time, I promised you it's the last, can you, please, listen to me." He placed a sweet pea flower on the table. Aiko fell silent and was waiting for his next words.

"After thinking for a month and readjusting my thought, I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not knowing your circumstance, I'm sorry for never listening to your words, I kept forcing myself to be the man you like, yet I didn't know you have someone else already. It is unrequited love, I know you will never accept me and will never consider me in your men list."

"I brought you this flower as a parting gift. I know I'm here already become a burden to you, and my other confession is something useless, yes I realize. That's why I want to say I'm sorry, I will stop liking you. It was nothing because of your acts or your status in this jail. Because I'm tired in this hopelessness."

"You are special, you are my first love, that's why I want to properly confront this feeling you. Thank you for all the good memories we've been together. I hope you will happy life."

After he ended his words, he stood up and walked outside without turning his back. Aiko looked at his departing figure which was slightly rushed. She didn't know what to comment, his words were deep and it touched her heart. She knew about the boy feeling, but she felt ashamed to trick him all this time. So she just rigidly staring at the flower in front of her without any intention to stop him.

She reached her hands to take it to her side, she could smell the good fragrance from it.

...

In Han's estate, Private Garden.

His hair was fluttering from the cold breeze, the snow was piling up outside the garden. He went inside the rooftop garden, strolling while looking at the various flowers which still blooming brightly in this freezing weather. It was slightly weird, but he had no time to care about that.

He suddenly stopped, dazedly looking at the particular flower, it was the flower he gave to Aiko. Sweet Pea. The flower which Akira researched recently this past month. In flower language, the flower meaning was 'separating to someone we love'. He gave it to her because it suited his situation.

Out of the blue, a little girl came to his side, she tilted her head and asked, "Why are you looking so sad, Brother Hikaru? Did something happen to that girl again? Right! How is it? Did the plan work on her? Did she finally love you back?" Kumo asked curiously. She never got his progress report after they had planned all the list so the girl he liked to like him back.

He was slightly startled from her sudden appearing, but it quickly diverted away, "I think the plans are useless now." He stated without looking at her. His feeling was complicated, it was started two months ago, after witnessing and knew there was something wrong with her. Turned out she was one of Mr. Han's enemies. It was so conflicting that made his mood down all the time.

He didn't know what to do. In the end, he chose to shut his mouth tightly. He chose to ignore her in school or even the news she was quitting at that moment. He didn't tell Mr. Han either about her.

Hikaru genuinely liked her, yet he knew it was pointless love. So, why should he pursue something that he would never get it? It wasn't about enduring, patience, and time. It was something about the opportunity. He knew the chance was slim, zero percentage. His confession was bluntly rejected. That was what he thought.

Kumo blinked her eyes as if there was something wrong with her hearing, she profoundly looking at him, to make sure he wasn't joking. "It's the truth." He said. He knew her thought, judging from her frowned face.

Kumo fell to silence, 'Did they fought?' She asked innocently inward. She didn't know what was happening but, she could feel his sad vibe. She held his right hand and lifted her head up to see him. Hikaru finally saw the little girl round eyes, he heard her saying, "You will get better."

"Thank you." He uttered the words quietly while responded to her gripped tightly.