Upside Down 52 Chapter 50: Mayumi

[Friday, May 29th]

It's 7:30 when the girls leave, which doesn't leave a lot of time before Mitty will show up for our evening walk.

Before he does, I want to change into something I can wear my sports shoes with, since I seriously doubt I can do this in heels this evening. So, lavender hot pants and a yellow, sleeveless babydoll blouse it is, along with some ankle socks. In case you're wondering, yes, I have several pieces in purple and yellow for clothing. They're great colors for me. However, variations of orange are a huge no-no for me. h.e.l.lo! Redhead, remember? Those colors make me look ill.

At 7:55 the door intercom chimes. Chinatsu and I head down to go for our walk only to find there is no one at the front door. Confused, I poke my head into the living room to ask about the door and see Mama, Dad, Honoka and Mitty sitting down.

"Good, perfect timing Sora. Mitty has something to tell you." Honoka tells me.

'Please, no more bad news. I've had all I can stand.' runs through my mind. Nodding, Chinatsu and I enter the living room. Once we take a seat on a floor cushion, Mitty looks at me as if he's trying to figure out how to tell me something.

"Mitty, you have something to tell me?" I prompt him after he sits there looking at me for a couple of minutes.

He sighs. "Sora, it's good and maybe some bad news. I received a visit from a couple of people. One from the Ministry of Justice and one from Public Security. They have taken over the trial. Good news, Akiyama's trial starts Thursday. The maybe bad news, which isn't truly bad I suppose, the government has filed additional charges against Akiyama. It's now a closed trial and there will be no lay judges. They are bringing in six other judges in their place. He will still be tried for two counts of murder, a.s.saulting a fertile female, two counts of conspiracy to a.s.sault a fertile female, attempted abduction, embezzlement, fraud, and several other charges."

He takes a breath and then continues, "The charges the government has added are treason, espionage, and crimes against humanity. The crimes against humanity is coming from Daiki and Ai being murdered. They were considered an a.s.set to the world and the best hope for solving the fertility issue. They closed the trial to protect you and keep your nanites and transformation a secret."

He stops again and stares intently at me. "Sora, you are going to be required to testify, which you already knew, but this is a whole new ball game. There's a chance the lead judge might just throw out the a.s.sault charge. I don't know to be honest."

"Mitty, it would be nice if he was charged for a.s.saulting me when I was six, but truthfully, as long as they hang him for murdering my parents, I don't really care."

"Either way he's going to be charged with conspiracy since he ordered the house attacked and your abduction. Since your mother was attacked as well it's two counts and they carry the same penalty. Six of the charges against him carry the death penalty."

"Thank you for telling me, Mitty, but as I said, if they hang him for murdering my parents the rest of it is just icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. I'm not upset and you shouldn't be either. He's going to get what he deserves by the sound of it, so I'm satisfied. Is that everything?"

"Yes, that's all."

"Okay, then what do you say we take our walk?"

"Sora, how can you be so blasé about this?" he asks me with a puzzled expression.

I sigh and shake my head slightly. "Mitty, I'm not being blasé about this. I'm very concerned about all of this because I know if he somehow weasels his way out of it, he'll be coming after me. He won't stop until he either gets me or he's dead. Airi has me working on dealing with all of this. She gave me ways to work through it. The first step is always admitting you're anxious and worried. I'm simply refusing to let those feelings control my life. Yes, I'm concerned, but he's been arrested and you've stopped him from being able to order more people to come after me. Dad also increased security around me. I have my sister to protect me as well."

He looks at Honoka. "Sister?"

Honoka chuckles. "Yes, sister. Chinatsu and Sora are my little sisters now. My name is Honoka Kobayashi and I'm listed in the Kobayashi family register. I'll tell you about all this later. As Sora said, shall we take our walk?"

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

[Sat.u.r.day, May 30th]

My alarm goes off at 6, rousing me from my sleep. Groaning, I slap it to turn it off. I don't want to get up and do anything today. I'd much rather snuggle with Chinatsu in my soft bed and sleep some more. Of course, my legs are hurting again. The walk last night must have been a little too much on top of the PT. Thank G.o.d I didn't wear heels for our walk like I normally would.

I reach over and shake Chinatsu. "Chinatsu? Wake up."

"She yawns and rubs her eyes. "Morning, Sora."

"Good morning Chinatsu, could you ma.s.sage my legs for me? They're hurting again."

She smiles at me. "I'd be happy to."

Sleeping in the nude has its benefits. In this case, it means I don't have to move around to undress so she can do this. She sits up and pulls my legs onto her lap to begin ma.s.saging them. It takes her twenty minutes, but thankfully, she loosens them up and they no longer hurt.

Afterward, I give her a good morning kiss and tell her I love her, so we can get this day started. She heads to her room to get some clothes for the day while I do the same here and then head to meet her so we can bathe.

Forty minutes later, we're bathed and dressed and I'm in the kitchen helping Mama cook breakfast. Mama looks a little pale again this morning. I know she can't be sick, the nanites don't allow for that.

Concerned, I ask, "Mama, are you alright?"

"I'm fine sweetheart, just some nausea. Morning sickness is all it is. I shouldn't have it too much longer."

"If you aren't feeling well, why don't you go lay down? I can finish everything here."

"Are you sure?" she asks me. When I nod she says, "Okay. I'll do that, thank you."

"Mama, I told you before, I don't mind helping out around the house. If you don't feel well, then I'll do whatever I can. I'm not as good at cooking as you, but I can cook. I can help clean and do the laundry too. Chinatsu will help as well. So, you just rest for a bit. I'll come get you when we have to leave."

"Thanks, sweetheart."

After I finish cooking, we eat, and then clean up. At 9:20 I wake Mama, so we can go to our appointment with Dr. Sato. To make it easier on her, I called the driver Dad hired and we'll be letting him take us.

I'll give you the highlights version of our appointment with him. We all had blood taken. We had a 3D ultrasound done as well. Dr. Sato showed up around twenty minutes later. He handed Mama a picture of our little sisters and said they are perfectly fine. Chinatsu's and my ultrasound showed no problems, not that I'd expected there would be. Chinatsu's and my hormone levels were high and he had no explanation for why. Other than that he said we are all in perfect health. (Ya, we aren't talking mentally for me. I'll get there though, hopefully.)

One nice thing Dr. Sato told us is that my nanites break down an hour after they're taken from me. That's why they've made so little progress with finding out what they are programmed to do. An hour is a long time when you are talking about potentially infecting someone, but very little time to do much when reverse engineering them.

As an aside, Dad told me never to talk to anyone outside of the family about the report he gave me a copy of. He said, "For now, it would be best if we keep this under wraps." I don't mind at all. If he thinks it's best then it probably is. He might be wondering who we can trust with the information. We'll be going back there tonight to make a copy of everything on the computers and wiping them. We'll also be destroying the nanites stored there. Dad thinks they're dangerous and I agree with him. I'll have a copy of what my parents did and how they did it, so destroying everything doesn't bother me. I don't even want to imagine the chaos that could be created if someone like Akiyama had his hands on those nanites.

The good thing is this didn't drag on like it has before and we make it home by 12:30. I ask Chinatsu to help me and we make some chicken alfredo with penne pasta for lunch. It's actually quite easy to make and it's delicious. Mama said she was fine, but I wasn't hearing any of that and made her go sit down and rest. Yes, I know, I'm being overprotective. Women have been doing things like this while pregnant throughout history. Anway, we eat and clean up.

I asked Mama if I could meet up with Mayumi this afternoon and she said yes. So, here I am, calling Mayumi.

"Hey Sora."

"Hi Mayumi, are you busy?"

"No. I'm just sitting at home relaxing."

"Do you want to do something? I'd like to talk to you."

"Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"I've never thought beyond wanting to see you. I'm not sure I can do a whole lot of physical activity. I've got a s.a.d.i.s.t for a physical therapist."

She chuckles. "Want to get go to a cafe then? We can talk and have some sweets and tea."

"Umm… No. We can't talk about what I need to there. There are too many others around. I hate to ask, but can you come over? That would probably be best. We can have some cake and tea here."

"That's no problem at all. I'll be there in about an hour."

"Mayumi?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. See you soon. Love you."

"Love you too Sora."

I end the call. Now to get some cake. I head up to Honoka's room and knock on the door. She calls out, "Come in."

"Nee-chan, can we go buy a cake? Mayumi is coming over. I'd bake it myself, but baking isn't something I'm all that good at yet."

"Sure, Sora. Now?"

"Yes please. She'll be here within the hour."

"Okay. Let's go."

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

We haven't even been back ten minutes before the door intercom chimes. It's barely enough time to start water heating for tea and set the cake on a serving platter.

Heading to the door, I open it. I immediately pull her into a hug. "Hi. I missed you."

"Hi yourself Sora. No diving attack today?"

I smile. "Nope. Come on in."

I take her hand and lead her into the living room to sit down and get comfortable.

"h.e.l.lo Mayumi, nice to see you again." Honoka tells her.

"Hi Honoka. You as well."

"Hi Mayumi. Would you like tea and cake now?" Chinatsu asks from the kitchen.

"h.e.l.lo Chinatsu. If everyone else does, sure."

I nod and head into the kitchen to help. Once we return, we pa.s.s them out to everyone and for the next hour Mayumi catches us up on what she's been doing since we last saw her.

"So, Sora, you wanted to ask me something."

I nod. "I do. Mayumi, do you still want children?"

She smiles. "Don't tell me you're volunteering?"

I chuckle and shake my head. "No. No, that's not it, but I wouldn't mind if you were my mother. Though you didn't answer my question. Do you want children?"

She smiles sadly. "Everytime I see a mother and daughter together I get jealous. So, yes, I do. I wish I didn't."

"Okay, umm… You know I'm adopted." She nods. "My birth parents were researchers. I won't go into all of it because it doesn't matter, but my parents developed a way to help make infertile women fertile again." She starts to say something and I hold up my hand to stop her. "Let me finish first, okay?"

She nods at me. "It works, but only 30% of the time. Now, the CEO of TGR is awaiting trial and since he's no longer able to legally run TGR, I'm the CEO." Her eyes widen in surprise and I smile at her. "Mayumi, I can provide the treatment for you, if you want it."

"How? Ahem~ How did that happen?"

"My parents owned 47% of TGR which made them the second largest shareholders. I now hold their shares, making me the CEO according to the bylaws. So?"

"Sora, I could never pay for the treatment. I make decent money as a nurse, but something like that… I'd never earn enough to pay for it."

"Mayumi, you're my friend and I love you. You've taken care of me, stayed with me, held me while I cried my eyes out more than once, snuggled with me while I slept and taken a bath with me. I'd never ask you to pay for something like this. If money is required, I'll pay for your treatment."

I lean forward and take her hands. "I want to do this for you. As far as I'm concerned, money is a means to an end. It should be used to make you and the people you love happy. I want you to be happy and helping you would make me happy. Like I said, there's only a 30% chance of this working, but I'm willing if you are."

She suddenly begins crying and I pull her against me. "Am I to to take this as a yes?" I ask her quietly. She nods against my shoulder as she continues crying.