A bridge.
On either side, pale pink cherry blossom trees grow. Petals fall to the ground, like fragments of a dawn sky. The river glints like a ribbon of silk. There is a crimson Japanese monument above the bridge, and behind it, the sun is almost setting.
This is . . . this is beautiful, I breathe.
I used to come here before, Veah tells me quietly, as we look over the bridge into the still, starry lake. Beforeshe must be talking about when she wasn’t in any Mafia. When she wasn’t the boss of the Yakuza. There are still things you don’t know about me, Kaya. But I love you, and one day, I will tell you everything. But today is our perfect date, and I won’t ruin it.
I watch as a single petal from the cherry blossom tree twirls onto the surface of the water.
I want today to last forever.
And if only it could have. If only this happiness hadn’t been stolen.
There was no way I could have known how it would end.
Let’s play the game, I finally say. The truth game. I ask a question, you ask a question. But nothing serious.
What’s your favourite colour ?
I once answered this question with yellow. But now, I say, Grey. But not grey like ash or dust. Grey like that moment when the sky is lit up, when thunder swirls just behind the clouds. The moment before lightning strikes. The grey that is bright and invincible and electric.
Another petal ripples the river’s surface.
What’s your favourite colour ? I ask.
I can’t decide.
What ? That’s not an answer. Don’t tell me you’re already chickening out.
Veah looks down into the water below, leaning over the bridge. Her jaw tenses, a sharp line. I can’t decide between green, like a forest in midsummer, or red. But not bright red. Red like gold, red like fire.
Slowly, her eyes slide to mine. She slips a lock of my copper hair around her finger, twirling it.
Your hair . . . it’s like gold, she told me in that dark tunnel beneath the church.
Heat warms my cheeks. Fine, you get a pass. Who was the first person you ever kissed ?
A boy named Hideo Hattori. He was shy, and very kind. It was in an empty classroom when I was twelve, and we were caught by one of our teachers. My parents got a letter sent home. By then, I had figured out it wasn’t boys I wanted to be kissing. She pauses at my wide-eyed expression. What’s your favourite memory with Cassie ?
At this one, I laugh. One time, when I was maybe sixteen, I caught Cassie trying to dye her hair with Kool-Aid. She has this thing for Kool-Aid, by the way, in case you ever want her to like you. I found her in the bathroom, dipping her pretty hair in this green kiwi-flavoured juice, and I freaked out. The stuff wasn’t coming out, and I didn’t want her to get in trouble alone, so I dyed my hair with Kool-Aid, too.
Veah holds back a grin. What colour ?
Blue-raspberry flavoured. It didn’t come out for a whole year, you knowhey, stop laughing ! It’s not funny !
In the distance, I see the pink sky darkening. The cherry blossoms sway in the breeze.
Ready to go eat at a five-star sushi restaurant ? Veah asks.
Actually . . . I pull her close to me, kissing her. I can’t get enough of it. I can kiss her anytime I want to, and it’s . . . amazing. What if we stayed in ? Ordered take-out and watched a movie ?
Let’s watch something scary. A horror movie. Veah kisses me hungrily, and I respond to her with a desperation of my own. How does that sound ?
I feel like I’m floating. As long as we can have sex on the kitchen counter, I’m good.
Then give me a second to call Maiko and Ren so I can kick them out. Veah winks at me and adds, I guess I know what we’re having for dessert now.
And for that matter, against every surface of your entire apartment.
Done, Veah says. But our plane leaves first thing tomorrow, so be ready. We’re going back to New Orleans. You’ll be able to see Cassie again.
Perfect, I say. I miss my sister. But in the meantime . . . we have a whole night to ourselves.
It’s cold nowI am beginning to shiver.
Oh, I suppose we do. Veah slips off her leather jacket, draping it over my shoulders. And then she offers me her arm, the perfect gentleman. Come on now, Kaya. And tell me . . . what do you think about a honeymoon ?
What should I order ?
Anything, I say, kissing her at the doorway. As long as you bring me back a cinnamon bun. And I don’t care who you have to kill to get it.
My beautiful, violent wife, Veah says. Have I created a monster ?
I’ll show you what a real monster looks like if there’s no cinnamon bun when you come back.
Veah holds her hands up in surrender, backing out of the apartment. I love you, Kaya.
I lean against the doorframe, watching her go with a smile that I don’t even realize is still on my face. I love you, too.
Once she is gone, I close the door behind her and look out into the enormous windows. Behind the glass, there is a neon city, a world vibrant with light. Vitality pours off the streets below, making the entire landscape seem surreal from a distance.
I hate that I’m leaving tomorrow.
For a moment, Okami’s words send a chill through me. Leave Tokyo city. Leave and don’t come back.
She was crazy, I tell myself. And I’m safe with Veah.
Some voice inside of me whispers, But Veah’s not here right now, is she ?
A shiver crawls down my back.
It’ll probably be awhile before Veah returns with the food, so in the meantime, I should probably pick out a movie.
While I am debating between Saw, Escape Room, and Taken, there is an urgent knock on the door.
It’s only been half an hour since Veah left. I get to my feet from the carpet of the living room, and I make a quick decision : Taken, the one with Liam Neeson in it.
Just so you know, I call out, as I make my way to the door, if you don’t have a cinnamon bun waiting, I’m going to handcuff us together again !
I open the door.
It’s not Veah.
There are two Japanese police officers, looking entirely too grim.
Are you Kaya Lee Rivers ? one of them asks.
I hesitate. Do I lie ? Yes, I finally say. I am. Why ?
You are listed as Heaven Tanaka’s emergency contact.
What do you mean ?