Good Morning, Mr. Hyde, Today I’m Gonna Rock Your World - Chapter 9A
Title: Good Morning, Mr. Hyde, Today I’m Gonna Rock Your World - Chapter 9A
Author: Mayonaka no Taiyou/ unare_haineko
Pairing: hyde x tetsu
Rating: R-ish overall
Summary: What started of as Hyde having marital problems and Tetsu finally deciding to exploit the opportunity to address his longtime obsession with Hyde has turned into the multi-chaptered epic journey of the exciting and passionate relationship between Tetsu and Hyde.
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Good Morning, Mr. Hyde, Today I’m Gonna Rock Your World - Chapter 9
“Good morning, Ken-chan,” waved one of the nurses cheerfully.
“Good morning, Nozomi-chan,” greeted Ken as he walked down the hospital corridor. “Have you seen Mama-san?”
“She should be just about done checking on Mr. Omoto. Oh, there she is coming out now.”
“Mama-san, good morning!” waved Ken greeting the day shift senior nurse as she came out with a clipboard.
“Good morning, Ken,” she said pleasantly. “I’m just about to go on break. Care to join me on the roof?”
“Sure.”
The two made conversation as they walked to the elevator and up until they reached the roof. As soon as the elevator opened, Ken changed the subject.
“So, how’s he doing?” asked Ken, sitting at the bench hidden by a bunch of bushes.
“To be honest, not good,” replied the head nurse, sitting down next to him and taking out her coffee thermos. “I think the patient’s body is healing rather nicely for someone comatose. We just finished the reconstructive surgery at the insistence of his wife.”
“How does it look?”
“We got the best and I think it’s safe to say that if he does wake up, you should notice very little difference. They normally do a good job. But as you requested, I’ve been watching Ogawa-san. Ken, he’s not doing well. I think Takarai-san has a better chance at life than him. At least Takarai-san has the feeding tube running through him. Ogawa-san, he just spends most of his time in that room either staring out the window blankly or staring at Takarai-san guiltily.”
“What about work?”
“Sometimes he takes out some documents and reads them. But I think he reads the same paragraph at least a hundred times a day. I think he’s still on page 41 after about 3 days of staring at that green binder.”
“Does he go home?”
“He does when we tell him to. But he pretty much lives in that room. Doesn’t really eat or sleep.”
“Do you think he’s traumatized from the accident?”
“It’s possible that having witnessed such a horrific event has rendered him depressed or at least given him a good case of insomnia.”
“And of course, when you try to bring it up, Tetsu denies having any problems.”
“Right.”
“Bastard hasn’t changed….”
Ken lit up a cigarette and offered one to the nurse.
“No, thanks,” she declined sipping her coffee.
“Can you be honest with me?”
“Sure.”
“You’ve seen a lot of cases, right?”
“I have.”
“How’re things looking for Hyde?”
“Well, it’s been nine weeks-“
“Already nine weeks, huh?”
“I’ve seen patients who die within minutes of completing surgery. I’ve seen patients who die or worsen after two to three weeks. I’ve seen patients who exist for years and years on life support and never wake up. But I’ve also seen patients who wake up after years of being comatose-those are the lucky ones.”
“And Hyde?”
“His body is recovering quicker than expected, but his mind…”
“What?”
“At this rate, it would seem like he would wake up, but it’s hard to say…the fact that he hasn’t woken up by now would make it seem as though it’s his mind that’s the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“It might be his brain that needs the fixing, not his face…”
“Oh…”
“See, someone who was conscious or at least had all their marbles in a body that was broken up would be easier to fix. We have far more reconstructive techniques that we can employ to fix a problematic body. But we cannot fix the human mind. We’ve made so many advances, yet we still know so little about the human brain. At this point, I think that it’s only fair for me to warn you that if he wakes up, lack of mobility, motor skills, even difficulties with basic logical thought processes may be a possibility. Not to mention he may be blind or partially blind…”
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Meanwhile, in a spacious law office in Tameike-sannou…
“How much is the policy on Hideto?”asked Megumi, filing an acrylic nail slowly.
“1 billion yen,” replied a young clean shaven man in a dark suit.
“Are you sure?” asked Megumi.
“I am. I read the documents three times.”
“Who is the beneficiary?”asked a serious woman in a perfectly pressed pin striped suit.
“Well, if Hyde has any biological children, then those children would be the immediate beneficiaries-“ began the younger man.
“Hold on, so I get nothing?!”interrupted Megumi, slamming down her file.
“That’s correct-”
“Otherwise, the beneficiary is…?”asked the career woman.
“Hmm….” The man in the navy blue suit adjusted his glasses and flipped the pages. “Ogawa Tetsuya.”
“Why has he left everything to Tetsu?! He’s the beneficiary of the life insurance, he’s got durable power of attorney, and he’s the only one who knows the life sustaining procedures-“
“I can see why he didn’t leave anything to her,” muttered the woman to Tetsu, who was just taking in the conversation.
“You’re the insurance guy!”Megumi shouted, grabbing him by the lapel. “Explain this!”
“Well, I wasn’t the person who wrote up this policy,” he said as Megumi shook him several times violently. “I’m just reading and interpreting what is written here. Help, Fujitani-san!!”
“Oishi-san, let’s all be professional here. This is not middle school,” said Hyde’s lawyer sternly, taking out a pen from her blazer pocket. “Where is your legal counsel?”
“He’s stuck on the Chuo line. Someone jumped off again this morning, so he’s waiting for them to clear the area,” pouted Megumi.
“Can’t you tell him to get off and take a taxi?” asked the female lawyer, looking at the clock impatiently.
“It’s not his fault the Chuo line has been delayed-“
“I think we’re getting off topic here,” offered the insurance company representative nervously.
“Yes, do go on, Muraoka-san,” said Fujitani, cutting off Megumi with a wave of her hand. “Tell us more about Takarai-san’s policy.”
“As I was saying, the policy is for 1 billion yen. The beneficiaries are any biological children he might have. Now, does he have any biological children?”
Muraoka and Fujitani looked at Megumi.
“Of course, Rei-“
“Is Rei a minor?” asked Muraoka.
“He is. He’s only in elementary school.”
“Then if said children are minors, then Ogawa-san is to act as fiscally responsible until they achieve adulthood, which is at the age of 20.”
“WHY?!” shouted Megumi. “I’m his mother.”
“While it doesn’t say explicitly in this, but it has been my experience that it is not uncommon for children of celebrities to have different mothers or fathers. I am guessing that at the writing of this policy, which I believe was in 2000 or 2001, he did not have any children. I am thinking that he thought that in case his first marriage did not work out and that if he were to remarry, I think he wanted to ensure that his children were taken care of regardless of their biological mother.”
“He anticipated that he was going to cheat on me?!”
Fujitani slapped herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand and ran it down her cheek in irritation.
“Don’t be so daft,” snapped Fujitani. “At the writing of most of his legal documents, he had no responsibilities. He was obviously intending on living past the ripe age of 40. There’s no way he could have foreseen that he would be in a freak car accident standing outside of a convenience store. In case you haven’t figured it out, the mother of his children was never any of his concern. It didn’t matter if the mother was you, me, or some slut from Kabukichou. He was just making sure that he was taking care of his responsibilities. He believed that he had a duty to his children, regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock-if that kid had half his DNA, he wanted to make sure he or she was taken care of.”
“And you know this because…?” asked Megumi with her arms crossed.
“I’m his personal lawyer. I’m not the lawyer for Hyde, that’s someone else. That lawyer has to do with his occupation so he falls under Ogawa-san’s authority. I’m the personal lawyer of Takarai Hideto. Of course he would tell me all the intimate details of his life that were relevant in the event of his passing. He wanted to make sure that his wishes were known and explicit to avoid the pandemonium that often results with an unexpected death. I was informed of his marriage to you, but the pre-marital legal documents that were created were never updated-“
“But I’m legally his wife-“
“That doesn’t matter. When he created these documents, you weren’t his wife, so as far as the law is concerned, you don’t exist.”
“I don’t exist-“
“Let me rephrase that….your opinion doesn’t matter,” Fujitani said enunciating every word.
“Well, why did he appoint Tetsu of all people then?” asked Megumi staring at Tetsu, who was currently pressing the pads of his index fingers together repeatedly.
“You really are as dumb as you look,” commented Fujitani. “First, Tetsu would be a neutral party-good mediator in the event that there was more than one woman claiming paternity. But let’s put that aside and think about the circumstances here. Time line is set at what, 2000, 2001ish? His parents have died in a car accident. They lived in the house that belonged to his grandparents. Shortly after their sudden death, his grandfather who holds the deed to the house kicks the bucket and there is no will. His uncle comes in from who knows where, puts his grandmother into a nursing home and makes a claim to the house. While Takarai-san’s fighting to get the house back for his grandmother, she dies heartbroken from the loss of her husband and her son and daughter-in-law who have taken care of her and the grandfather for many years after their retirement. At just over 31, Takarai-san has lost his parents and his grandparents to extremely unfortunate circumstances. He hates his uncle and has no siblings. He isn’t married and has no children. He fears the repercussions for his survivors should he pass on suddenly. Since he’s can’t predict the future, he does the next best thing that people in this situation do. They think about a general scenario, think about what is most important in the event of their death-in this case his responsibility to any biological children he might have-find someone they trust, and make them the executors of whatever post mortem duties and responsibilities need to be fulfilled.”
“And that is why he chooses Tetsu?”
“Better Ogawa-san than Camui Gackt,” shrugged Fujitani, looking over a copy of the policy. “While it wasn’t his intent to ever make Camui-san the beneficiary of anything, Camui-san was the first choice for executor, but I felt that it was my responsibility to advise him against that and to choose someone more responsible, prudent, and someone who preferably didn’t have a record for violations and misdemeanors as long as the Nile River.”
“The policy stipulates that basically Ogawa-san is responsible for seeing that Rei is taken care of using the money from the policy,” added Muraoka.
“Can he do that?” asked Megumi.
“It’s a custom policy. He paid an extremely high premium to have it set up like this,” explained Muraoka, turning the page. “Normally this sort of power is given to the mother of the child, but I suppose anything is possible.”
“Does anyone not see a problem in all of this?” asked Fujitani. “Ogawa-san, you’re the key to most of the issues that would come up in the event that Takarai-san did pass on. You haven’t said a word. What do you think?”
Tetsu straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. He rubbed the ring on his finger as he spoke slowly.
“I think the key in all of this is the word ‘biological’. I’m not considering anything until she submits Rei to a paternity test.”
“Tetsu, you can’t mean that!” Megumi sputtered. “He’s raised Rei from birth-“
“It’s only fair, Megumi,” Tetsu said, staring at her. “All the documents list ‘biological children’ as the beneficiaries. If Rei is not Hyde’s biological child, this money is not going to him. I can only give him what is rightfully his.”
“Can he do that?!” demanded Megumi.
“Yes,” responded Fujitani and Muraoka in unison.
“His job is to ensure that what is written is executed,” explained Muraoka.
“Megumi, there is nothing that rightfully belongs to you, so you have nothing to worry about,” Tetsu said, turning the ring around his ring finger counterclockwise.
“But-“
“Nothing personal. It’s on a completely legality basis. Your name does not exist anywhere, so there’s nothing for me to give you. And in Rei’s case, he’s only entitled to it if he’s Hyde’s biological son. Now, if he were truly Hyde’s son, you would have no problem proving his paternity. Unless you have something to hide…?”
“I do not! What are you insinuating, Tetsu?”
“Nothing. Just stating the facts. There’s nothing more to it, Megumi. If Rei is Hyde’s biological son, then we have no argument. You’re the one that seems uncertain of his paternity. I have no problem. I don’t need the money. I will gladly give Rei what is due to him if he is due anything at all. All he has to do is prove it. I’ll even pay for the testing.”
“No…thank…you,” Megumi said, gritting her teeth.
“But more importantly, Hyde is not dead yet, in case any of you forgot,” Tetsu pointed out.
“What?”
“He’s not dead, Megumi, he’s comatose. There is still a chance that he’ll wake up.“
“How long do you plan on waiting for him to wake up?”
“Why, are you in a hurry?” asked Tetsu raising an eyebrow.
“No, I’m just asking.”
“I dunno-“
“Well, isn’t his health insurance gonna run out or something?”
“If it does, the band can pay for his hospital bills. I can write it off as maintenance expense or something-“
“Maintenance expense?”
“Well, it’s part of operations for our business-“
“Whatever, Tetsu,” Megumi said disinterestedly.
“We can wait as long as it takes. It’s been 9 weeks…we can wait more, you know,” Tetsu said slowly, observing Megumi’s expression. “Weeks…months…years in fact…You could say that he’s a pretty sizable investment-“
“Enough with the business talk-“
“I’m just saying, Megumi, that we can wait for years for him to wake up,” Tetsu said indifferently.
“YEARS?! And what am I supposed to do for YEARS of my life? As he lies in that hospital bed, am I just supposed to put my life on hold?”
“No, you can take care of Rei and still be faithful to your husband. It’s not a crime to spend time with your son. You do love your husband don’t you? Did you not take a vow, ‘though sickness and in health’?”
“I’m just saying that years would be a long time to wait.”
“People do crazy things in the name of love…”
“Whatever. So what are you saying?”
“Megumi, I have enough resources to keep him alive on life support for years. Can you wait that long?”
All eyes were on her. Muraoka eyed her curiously, Fujitani and Tetsu were staring her down.
“How long are we talking?”
“More than ten years.”
“Ten years is a long time…”
“Penelope ring a bell?” asked Tetsu.
“Penelope Cruz?”
“Wife of Odysseus…Oh, never mind.”
“Anyway, are you saying that you will keep him alive just because you can?”
“Why not?”
“Because…it’s…it’s not right!”
“No, not believing in him and pulling the plug on him at this point would be not right,” Tetsu said seriously.
“So what do you want me to say, Tetsu?”
“You want me to level with you? Fine. Here.”
Tetsu pulled out a packet of papers folded into thirds from his jacket pocket.
“What’s this?” asked Megumi.
“Divorce papers.”
“What? Don’t insult me.”
“I have three copies, identical, filled out and signed by Hyde,” Tetsu said, ignoring her. “You may take this copy, one of three existing copies, and do whatever you want. You can sign it, burn it, give it away... I don’t really care. But Hyde said to make sure that if he ever is comatose and there is a question of what to do with his wife, that I offer this option to her after three months of being comatose. It hasn’t been three months yet, but I feel you are getting restless, so against my better judgment, I will offer this to you. You can take it to your lawyer and have it scrutinized.”
“What does it say?”
“Basically, it frees you from your commitment to Hyde. He left it up to me to decide the terms based on the situation of the time.”
“Which means?”
“I set the terms for how the assets will be split and you can choose to accept or decline.”
“What are the terms?”
“You can have whatever he has in his bank account, I think he has around 30 or 40 million yen in his savings account, and whatever personal effects you have in the house. Whatever is clearly his, you don’t touch.”
“What about the house?”
“You can have the house if you buy him out.”
“Buy him out? Why would I do that?”
“Well, the mortgage is not paid for yet. He’s paid about 40 million yen of the 80 million yet it is worth. You’re actually entitled to nothing, since he bought it under the band, but if you want it, I’ll transfer the mortgage over to you in return for 20 million yen or half of what he’s paid so far.”
“What about the car?”
“I don’t think you want his car. It’s a luxury car and really expensive to maintain. I think he has to order parts custom for it. It’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.”
“What about child support?”
“I’ll pay it as long as he’s alive, provided you can prove his paternity. I’ll pay you from his business account-“
“Hold on, I don’t get anything from his business account?”
“No. Is your name Takarai Hideto? No. Are you one of his biological children? No. Are you a member of the band? No. So no, you’re not entitled to anything from the business account.”
“Is that legal?”
“The account isn’t under Takarai Hideto or Hyde. So legally, he owes you nothing. Do you accept?”
“What happens if I decline?”
“You will have a very big expense that will run you into the ground in about five years. I’d say his care would run in the millions of yen annually even after insurance. You still have your living expenses too. Also, he wouldn’t be producing any income either.”
“No income?”
“It’s part of his contract. If he’s not active in the band for more than six months, he loses his salary. And after one year of inactivity, he’s terminated. These are conditions he signed on when we brought on Yuki and updated all the contracts. He would essentially be like caring for an elderly person, except without compensation. At least the elderly have pensions that pay out every so often. Agreeing to stay married to him would be an extreme act of love. I can tell you, that there is absolutely no merit or compensation for that matter in staying married to him. You thought he was useless when you were married? If you choose to stay married to him, you will learn the true meaning of a ‘useless person’. That is my honest opinion.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I promised Hyde that I would explain the ramifications of a decision not to divorce. I’m not to sway you in any particular direction, just give you all the facts so that you can make an educated and informed decision.”
“Is this true?” Megumi asked Fujitani.
“Yes. You would be strapped with the responsibility of caring for him and if you were unable to pay for his care, Ogawa-san can financially step in for as long as he is willing or able to support Takarai-san.”
“Let me just tell you, Megumi, you’ll be married to Hyde for the next ten or more years if I step in,” said Tetsu. “Hyde represents a considerable investment on my part, so naturally I don’t want him to die. Actually, I can personally afford to keep him alive for the next fifty years if I wanted to. I just made a killing off an investment I made abroad and the profits after taxes would be more than enough to pay for his care. Money is no issue for me. It’s only a tool. But it’s up to you.”
Tetsu stood up and pulled a stray strand of hair off his pants.
“You can let me know what you decide,” shrugged Tetsu. “Just know that the longer you wait, the less you’ll get. After a certain point, it may actually start to cost you money as what you receive will no longer cover the legal fees you will be assessed to divorce him.”
Tetsu walked over to the door.
“Fujitani-san, you staying?” he asked opening the door.
“No, I’m leaving with you,” she replied following him.
“I’m so sorry I’m late-“ panted an older gentleman, bowing profusely to Megumi..
“It’s all right, we were just on our way out,” said Tetsu holding the door open. “Megumi, you know where I stand. It’s only been 9 weeks. Consider this offer an act of benevolence on my part.”
“Time is of the essence,” said Fujitani exiting first.
“Time…is money,” Tetsu said, exiting after her and closing the door behind them, leaving Megumi with Muraoka and her extremely late attorney.
>>> Chapter 9B
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Navigation | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3A | Chapter 3B | Chapter 4A | Chapter 4B | Chapter 5A | Chapter 5B | Chapter 5C | Chapter 5D | Chapter 6A | Chapter 6B | Chapter 7A | Chapter 7B | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9A | Chapter 9B | Chapter 9C |
Author: Mayonaka no Taiyou/ unare_haineko
Pairing: hyde x tetsu
Rating: R-ish overall
Summary: What started of as Hyde having marital problems and Tetsu finally deciding to exploit the opportunity to address his longtime obsession with Hyde has turned into the multi-chaptered epic journey of the exciting and passionate relationship between Tetsu and Hyde.
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Good Morning, Mr. Hyde, Today I’m Gonna Rock Your World - Chapter 9
“Good morning, Ken-chan,” waved one of the nurses cheerfully.
“Good morning, Nozomi-chan,” greeted Ken as he walked down the hospital corridor. “Have you seen Mama-san?”
“She should be just about done checking on Mr. Omoto. Oh, there she is coming out now.”
“Mama-san, good morning!” waved Ken greeting the day shift senior nurse as she came out with a clipboard.
“Good morning, Ken,” she said pleasantly. “I’m just about to go on break. Care to join me on the roof?”
“Sure.”
The two made conversation as they walked to the elevator and up until they reached the roof. As soon as the elevator opened, Ken changed the subject.
“So, how’s he doing?” asked Ken, sitting at the bench hidden by a bunch of bushes.
“To be honest, not good,” replied the head nurse, sitting down next to him and taking out her coffee thermos. “I think the patient’s body is healing rather nicely for someone comatose. We just finished the reconstructive surgery at the insistence of his wife.”
“How does it look?”
“We got the best and I think it’s safe to say that if he does wake up, you should notice very little difference. They normally do a good job. But as you requested, I’ve been watching Ogawa-san. Ken, he’s not doing well. I think Takarai-san has a better chance at life than him. At least Takarai-san has the feeding tube running through him. Ogawa-san, he just spends most of his time in that room either staring out the window blankly or staring at Takarai-san guiltily.”
“What about work?”
“Sometimes he takes out some documents and reads them. But I think he reads the same paragraph at least a hundred times a day. I think he’s still on page 41 after about 3 days of staring at that green binder.”
“Does he go home?”
“He does when we tell him to. But he pretty much lives in that room. Doesn’t really eat or sleep.”
“Do you think he’s traumatized from the accident?”
“It’s possible that having witnessed such a horrific event has rendered him depressed or at least given him a good case of insomnia.”
“And of course, when you try to bring it up, Tetsu denies having any problems.”
“Right.”
“Bastard hasn’t changed….”
Ken lit up a cigarette and offered one to the nurse.
“No, thanks,” she declined sipping her coffee.
“Can you be honest with me?”
“Sure.”
“You’ve seen a lot of cases, right?”
“I have.”
“How’re things looking for Hyde?”
“Well, it’s been nine weeks-“
“Already nine weeks, huh?”
“I’ve seen patients who die within minutes of completing surgery. I’ve seen patients who die or worsen after two to three weeks. I’ve seen patients who exist for years and years on life support and never wake up. But I’ve also seen patients who wake up after years of being comatose-those are the lucky ones.”
“And Hyde?”
“His body is recovering quicker than expected, but his mind…”
“What?”
“At this rate, it would seem like he would wake up, but it’s hard to say…the fact that he hasn’t woken up by now would make it seem as though it’s his mind that’s the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“It might be his brain that needs the fixing, not his face…”
“Oh…”
“See, someone who was conscious or at least had all their marbles in a body that was broken up would be easier to fix. We have far more reconstructive techniques that we can employ to fix a problematic body. But we cannot fix the human mind. We’ve made so many advances, yet we still know so little about the human brain. At this point, I think that it’s only fair for me to warn you that if he wakes up, lack of mobility, motor skills, even difficulties with basic logical thought processes may be a possibility. Not to mention he may be blind or partially blind…”
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Meanwhile, in a spacious law office in Tameike-sannou…
“How much is the policy on Hideto?”asked Megumi, filing an acrylic nail slowly.
“1 billion yen,” replied a young clean shaven man in a dark suit.
“Are you sure?” asked Megumi.
“I am. I read the documents three times.”
“Who is the beneficiary?”asked a serious woman in a perfectly pressed pin striped suit.
“Well, if Hyde has any biological children, then those children would be the immediate beneficiaries-“ began the younger man.
“Hold on, so I get nothing?!”interrupted Megumi, slamming down her file.
“That’s correct-”
“Otherwise, the beneficiary is…?”asked the career woman.
“Hmm….” The man in the navy blue suit adjusted his glasses and flipped the pages. “Ogawa Tetsuya.”
“Why has he left everything to Tetsu?! He’s the beneficiary of the life insurance, he’s got durable power of attorney, and he’s the only one who knows the life sustaining procedures-“
“I can see why he didn’t leave anything to her,” muttered the woman to Tetsu, who was just taking in the conversation.
“You’re the insurance guy!”Megumi shouted, grabbing him by the lapel. “Explain this!”
“Well, I wasn’t the person who wrote up this policy,” he said as Megumi shook him several times violently. “I’m just reading and interpreting what is written here. Help, Fujitani-san!!”
“Oishi-san, let’s all be professional here. This is not middle school,” said Hyde’s lawyer sternly, taking out a pen from her blazer pocket. “Where is your legal counsel?”
“He’s stuck on the Chuo line. Someone jumped off again this morning, so he’s waiting for them to clear the area,” pouted Megumi.
“Can’t you tell him to get off and take a taxi?” asked the female lawyer, looking at the clock impatiently.
“It’s not his fault the Chuo line has been delayed-“
“I think we’re getting off topic here,” offered the insurance company representative nervously.
“Yes, do go on, Muraoka-san,” said Fujitani, cutting off Megumi with a wave of her hand. “Tell us more about Takarai-san’s policy.”
“As I was saying, the policy is for 1 billion yen. The beneficiaries are any biological children he might have. Now, does he have any biological children?”
Muraoka and Fujitani looked at Megumi.
“Of course, Rei-“
“Is Rei a minor?” asked Muraoka.
“He is. He’s only in elementary school.”
“Then if said children are minors, then Ogawa-san is to act as fiscally responsible until they achieve adulthood, which is at the age of 20.”
“WHY?!” shouted Megumi. “I’m his mother.”
“While it doesn’t say explicitly in this, but it has been my experience that it is not uncommon for children of celebrities to have different mothers or fathers. I am guessing that at the writing of this policy, which I believe was in 2000 or 2001, he did not have any children. I am thinking that he thought that in case his first marriage did not work out and that if he were to remarry, I think he wanted to ensure that his children were taken care of regardless of their biological mother.”
“He anticipated that he was going to cheat on me?!”
Fujitani slapped herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand and ran it down her cheek in irritation.
“Don’t be so daft,” snapped Fujitani. “At the writing of most of his legal documents, he had no responsibilities. He was obviously intending on living past the ripe age of 40. There’s no way he could have foreseen that he would be in a freak car accident standing outside of a convenience store. In case you haven’t figured it out, the mother of his children was never any of his concern. It didn’t matter if the mother was you, me, or some slut from Kabukichou. He was just making sure that he was taking care of his responsibilities. He believed that he had a duty to his children, regardless of whether they were born in or out of wedlock-if that kid had half his DNA, he wanted to make sure he or she was taken care of.”
“And you know this because…?” asked Megumi with her arms crossed.
“I’m his personal lawyer. I’m not the lawyer for Hyde, that’s someone else. That lawyer has to do with his occupation so he falls under Ogawa-san’s authority. I’m the personal lawyer of Takarai Hideto. Of course he would tell me all the intimate details of his life that were relevant in the event of his passing. He wanted to make sure that his wishes were known and explicit to avoid the pandemonium that often results with an unexpected death. I was informed of his marriage to you, but the pre-marital legal documents that were created were never updated-“
“But I’m legally his wife-“
“That doesn’t matter. When he created these documents, you weren’t his wife, so as far as the law is concerned, you don’t exist.”
“I don’t exist-“
“Let me rephrase that….your opinion doesn’t matter,” Fujitani said enunciating every word.
“Well, why did he appoint Tetsu of all people then?” asked Megumi staring at Tetsu, who was currently pressing the pads of his index fingers together repeatedly.
“You really are as dumb as you look,” commented Fujitani. “First, Tetsu would be a neutral party-good mediator in the event that there was more than one woman claiming paternity. But let’s put that aside and think about the circumstances here. Time line is set at what, 2000, 2001ish? His parents have died in a car accident. They lived in the house that belonged to his grandparents. Shortly after their sudden death, his grandfather who holds the deed to the house kicks the bucket and there is no will. His uncle comes in from who knows where, puts his grandmother into a nursing home and makes a claim to the house. While Takarai-san’s fighting to get the house back for his grandmother, she dies heartbroken from the loss of her husband and her son and daughter-in-law who have taken care of her and the grandfather for many years after their retirement. At just over 31, Takarai-san has lost his parents and his grandparents to extremely unfortunate circumstances. He hates his uncle and has no siblings. He isn’t married and has no children. He fears the repercussions for his survivors should he pass on suddenly. Since he’s can’t predict the future, he does the next best thing that people in this situation do. They think about a general scenario, think about what is most important in the event of their death-in this case his responsibility to any biological children he might have-find someone they trust, and make them the executors of whatever post mortem duties and responsibilities need to be fulfilled.”
“And that is why he chooses Tetsu?”
“Better Ogawa-san than Camui Gackt,” shrugged Fujitani, looking over a copy of the policy. “While it wasn’t his intent to ever make Camui-san the beneficiary of anything, Camui-san was the first choice for executor, but I felt that it was my responsibility to advise him against that and to choose someone more responsible, prudent, and someone who preferably didn’t have a record for violations and misdemeanors as long as the Nile River.”
“The policy stipulates that basically Ogawa-san is responsible for seeing that Rei is taken care of using the money from the policy,” added Muraoka.
“Can he do that?” asked Megumi.
“It’s a custom policy. He paid an extremely high premium to have it set up like this,” explained Muraoka, turning the page. “Normally this sort of power is given to the mother of the child, but I suppose anything is possible.”
“Does anyone not see a problem in all of this?” asked Fujitani. “Ogawa-san, you’re the key to most of the issues that would come up in the event that Takarai-san did pass on. You haven’t said a word. What do you think?”
Tetsu straightened up and ran his fingers through his hair. He rubbed the ring on his finger as he spoke slowly.
“I think the key in all of this is the word ‘biological’. I’m not considering anything until she submits Rei to a paternity test.”
“Tetsu, you can’t mean that!” Megumi sputtered. “He’s raised Rei from birth-“
“It’s only fair, Megumi,” Tetsu said, staring at her. “All the documents list ‘biological children’ as the beneficiaries. If Rei is not Hyde’s biological child, this money is not going to him. I can only give him what is rightfully his.”
“Can he do that?!” demanded Megumi.
“Yes,” responded Fujitani and Muraoka in unison.
“His job is to ensure that what is written is executed,” explained Muraoka.
“Megumi, there is nothing that rightfully belongs to you, so you have nothing to worry about,” Tetsu said, turning the ring around his ring finger counterclockwise.
“But-“
“Nothing personal. It’s on a completely legality basis. Your name does not exist anywhere, so there’s nothing for me to give you. And in Rei’s case, he’s only entitled to it if he’s Hyde’s biological son. Now, if he were truly Hyde’s son, you would have no problem proving his paternity. Unless you have something to hide…?”
“I do not! What are you insinuating, Tetsu?”
“Nothing. Just stating the facts. There’s nothing more to it, Megumi. If Rei is Hyde’s biological son, then we have no argument. You’re the one that seems uncertain of his paternity. I have no problem. I don’t need the money. I will gladly give Rei what is due to him if he is due anything at all. All he has to do is prove it. I’ll even pay for the testing.”
“No…thank…you,” Megumi said, gritting her teeth.
“But more importantly, Hyde is not dead yet, in case any of you forgot,” Tetsu pointed out.
“What?”
“He’s not dead, Megumi, he’s comatose. There is still a chance that he’ll wake up.“
“How long do you plan on waiting for him to wake up?”
“Why, are you in a hurry?” asked Tetsu raising an eyebrow.
“No, I’m just asking.”
“I dunno-“
“Well, isn’t his health insurance gonna run out or something?”
“If it does, the band can pay for his hospital bills. I can write it off as maintenance expense or something-“
“Maintenance expense?”
“Well, it’s part of operations for our business-“
“Whatever, Tetsu,” Megumi said disinterestedly.
“We can wait as long as it takes. It’s been 9 weeks…we can wait more, you know,” Tetsu said slowly, observing Megumi’s expression. “Weeks…months…years in fact…You could say that he’s a pretty sizable investment-“
“Enough with the business talk-“
“I’m just saying, Megumi, that we can wait for years for him to wake up,” Tetsu said indifferently.
“YEARS?! And what am I supposed to do for YEARS of my life? As he lies in that hospital bed, am I just supposed to put my life on hold?”
“No, you can take care of Rei and still be faithful to your husband. It’s not a crime to spend time with your son. You do love your husband don’t you? Did you not take a vow, ‘though sickness and in health’?”
“I’m just saying that years would be a long time to wait.”
“People do crazy things in the name of love…”
“Whatever. So what are you saying?”
“Megumi, I have enough resources to keep him alive on life support for years. Can you wait that long?”
All eyes were on her. Muraoka eyed her curiously, Fujitani and Tetsu were staring her down.
“How long are we talking?”
“More than ten years.”
“Ten years is a long time…”
“Penelope ring a bell?” asked Tetsu.
“Penelope Cruz?”
“Wife of Odysseus…Oh, never mind.”
“Anyway, are you saying that you will keep him alive just because you can?”
“Why not?”
“Because…it’s…it’s not right!”
“No, not believing in him and pulling the plug on him at this point would be not right,” Tetsu said seriously.
“So what do you want me to say, Tetsu?”
“You want me to level with you? Fine. Here.”
Tetsu pulled out a packet of papers folded into thirds from his jacket pocket.
“What’s this?” asked Megumi.
“Divorce papers.”
“What? Don’t insult me.”
“I have three copies, identical, filled out and signed by Hyde,” Tetsu said, ignoring her. “You may take this copy, one of three existing copies, and do whatever you want. You can sign it, burn it, give it away... I don’t really care. But Hyde said to make sure that if he ever is comatose and there is a question of what to do with his wife, that I offer this option to her after three months of being comatose. It hasn’t been three months yet, but I feel you are getting restless, so against my better judgment, I will offer this to you. You can take it to your lawyer and have it scrutinized.”
“What does it say?”
“Basically, it frees you from your commitment to Hyde. He left it up to me to decide the terms based on the situation of the time.”
“Which means?”
“I set the terms for how the assets will be split and you can choose to accept or decline.”
“What are the terms?”
“You can have whatever he has in his bank account, I think he has around 30 or 40 million yen in his savings account, and whatever personal effects you have in the house. Whatever is clearly his, you don’t touch.”
“What about the house?”
“You can have the house if you buy him out.”
“Buy him out? Why would I do that?”
“Well, the mortgage is not paid for yet. He’s paid about 40 million yen of the 80 million yet it is worth. You’re actually entitled to nothing, since he bought it under the band, but if you want it, I’ll transfer the mortgage over to you in return for 20 million yen or half of what he’s paid so far.”
“What about the car?”
“I don’t think you want his car. It’s a luxury car and really expensive to maintain. I think he has to order parts custom for it. It’s probably more trouble than it’s worth.”
“What about child support?”
“I’ll pay it as long as he’s alive, provided you can prove his paternity. I’ll pay you from his business account-“
“Hold on, I don’t get anything from his business account?”
“No. Is your name Takarai Hideto? No. Are you one of his biological children? No. Are you a member of the band? No. So no, you’re not entitled to anything from the business account.”
“Is that legal?”
“The account isn’t under Takarai Hideto or Hyde. So legally, he owes you nothing. Do you accept?”
“What happens if I decline?”
“You will have a very big expense that will run you into the ground in about five years. I’d say his care would run in the millions of yen annually even after insurance. You still have your living expenses too. Also, he wouldn’t be producing any income either.”
“No income?”
“It’s part of his contract. If he’s not active in the band for more than six months, he loses his salary. And after one year of inactivity, he’s terminated. These are conditions he signed on when we brought on Yuki and updated all the contracts. He would essentially be like caring for an elderly person, except without compensation. At least the elderly have pensions that pay out every so often. Agreeing to stay married to him would be an extreme act of love. I can tell you, that there is absolutely no merit or compensation for that matter in staying married to him. You thought he was useless when you were married? If you choose to stay married to him, you will learn the true meaning of a ‘useless person’. That is my honest opinion.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I promised Hyde that I would explain the ramifications of a decision not to divorce. I’m not to sway you in any particular direction, just give you all the facts so that you can make an educated and informed decision.”
“Is this true?” Megumi asked Fujitani.
“Yes. You would be strapped with the responsibility of caring for him and if you were unable to pay for his care, Ogawa-san can financially step in for as long as he is willing or able to support Takarai-san.”
“Let me just tell you, Megumi, you’ll be married to Hyde for the next ten or more years if I step in,” said Tetsu. “Hyde represents a considerable investment on my part, so naturally I don’t want him to die. Actually, I can personally afford to keep him alive for the next fifty years if I wanted to. I just made a killing off an investment I made abroad and the profits after taxes would be more than enough to pay for his care. Money is no issue for me. It’s only a tool. But it’s up to you.”
Tetsu stood up and pulled a stray strand of hair off his pants.
“You can let me know what you decide,” shrugged Tetsu. “Just know that the longer you wait, the less you’ll get. After a certain point, it may actually start to cost you money as what you receive will no longer cover the legal fees you will be assessed to divorce him.”
Tetsu walked over to the door.
“Fujitani-san, you staying?” he asked opening the door.
“No, I’m leaving with you,” she replied following him.
“I’m so sorry I’m late-“ panted an older gentleman, bowing profusely to Megumi..
“It’s all right, we were just on our way out,” said Tetsu holding the door open. “Megumi, you know where I stand. It’s only been 9 weeks. Consider this offer an act of benevolence on my part.”
“Time is of the essence,” said Fujitani exiting first.
“Time…is money,” Tetsu said, exiting after her and closing the door behind them, leaving Megumi with Muraoka and her extremely late attorney.
>>> Chapter 9B
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