No Proof, No Bail

Erika was still staring at the year book and after a while, she glanced at Kairo. "You.... are so dead."

"Wait! I demand an explanation! I don't understand where you're going at!"

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about!"

"It's because I don't know what you're talking about! SO WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO ARGUING ABOUT?!"

That voice is enough for the couple to stop bickering. It is the voice of the almighty and they had to stop their argument real quick.

"SORRY MOM." Erika said with a broken voice of a trembling child.

"GOOD! NOW GET DOWN HERE! IT'S LUNCH TIME!" Ah, Sachiko's voice is really scary when she switches on her dark side. Kairo was petrified, trembling in fear since it was the first time he heard Sachiko actually shout. On the other hand, Erika sighed and stopped fixing her books for now. "You heard the boss. Let's go."

"I still deserve an explanation." Kairo said while pouting.

"And I'll give you plenty of it." Erika smirked as she went ahead of him. Kairo let out a sigh and placed the dirty rag on top of the shelf before he followed Erika.

It was like they were descending towards hell since the two felt the atmosphere become heavier and thicker. It must be because of Sachiko's foul mood at that very moment. As the two walked together downstairs, their steps become slower and weaker.

"You go first."

"NO, YOU GO FIRST. You're the biological daughter, aren't you?"

"What does it have to do with walking first?!"

"You have to be scolded first---"

"You two will be scolded at the same time so it doesn't matter. COME. OVER. HERE." Sachiko's voice was calm, but it was never a good thing since the calmer the voice, the scarier the vibe actually is. With lowered heads, the two slowly went towards the dinner table and sat on their designated seats. After the word of thanks, the topic was immediately reopened.

"So, what are you two talking about?" Sachiko started the conversation and at this point, Erika was the one who's supposed to answer. "It's about Kairo Moriyama, you know my classmate in middle school?"

Sachiko paused moving and she had to glance at Erika. "You don't actually think that the Kairo-kun back in middle school is the Kairo-kun we have right now, do you?"

"What are the odds of me meeting two Kairos in my lifetime, mom? It's seems to be fated. It appears to be so."

"Still though, don't you think they only have the same name?"

"His picture in the class year book was eaten by termites so there is no way I could figure it out by appearance. Also, usually boys got hit by puberty when they reach high school, so he might be the person!"

"Daughter, you know that is baseless assumption."

"A woman's instinct is never wrong, don't you agree mom?"

"Well if you put it that way, then it kind of makes sense."

"We met unusually at the bus. It's probably destiny's will for that to happen."

"You're right. That's too much of a coincidence."

Kairo shifted his gaze back and forth at the two conversing women but there is no way he would be able to read the situation with that alone. He is fidgeting restlessly since he is the one being talked about and it seems like he got into some serious shit. "I'm at loss here. Somebody enlighten me."

"Kairo Moriyama was an old classmate of Nee-san in middle school, Kairo-nii-chan." interrupted Akito who was just eating his fried fish.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"That Kairo Moriyama had been Nee-san's slave from second year middle school til the first semester of the third year."

"How.... the hell did that happen?!" The story was too complicated for Kairo to digest. "So I am allegedly a slave?!"

"Yeah. You see, Kairo #1 kinda sexually harassed Nee-san back then. He hid a camera inside her shoe locker, steal some of her things like eraser and fallen pencils, stalked her while walking from home to school and vice versa... and so many other bizarre things." Akito said casually.

"So I am not just allegedly a slave, but also a pervert and a stalker?!" Kairo slammed the table because of the sudden insight he is receiving right now. "No. No. No. I AM NOT THAT PERSON! This is a huge mistake!"

Erika slammed the table as well and even stood up from her seat. "I know there is that phrase that says 'innocent until proven guilty', but your crimes are beyond comprehension, you need SERIOUS punishment!" But then a strong smack on the head was received by the two all of a sudden. "DON'T SLAM THE TABLE!"

"I'm sorry..." Kairo and Erika said at the same time.

"When Erika found out the real culprit for those issues, she immediately confronted Kairo #1. Oh yeah, Kairo #1 was a son of a major electronics company's president that's why the negotiation went privately." Akito continued. "Kairo #1 offered Nee-san a certain amount of money for her silence, but since we are not in a financial crisis at that time, she declined. Instead, she said that Kairo #1 will serve Nee-san as her slave. She said that as long as he's within Nee-san's 1km diameter, he'll serve her."

"What the hell?" Kairo couldn't continue eating because of this story. "How'd the guy react? I mean, if he has enough pride for himself, considering he's from a prestigious family, he must've declined right?"

"Oh no. On the contrary, he actually liked being Nee-san's slave." Akito said straightforwardly. To which the guy couldn't help but display a face of disgust towards the guy.

"It seems that their relationship turned out to be commensal. However, various gossips have been spread all throughout the campus because it was noticeable how Kairo #1 and Nee-san suddenly got close in a short amount of time, to which the attack focused on Nee-san. If there is gonna be an article headline about that, it'll be "The Girl who Leaches the President's Son" or something like that since he is rich. It is stereotyped that rich people in this school are somehow credible and well-mannered. The moment when the gossips reached Kairo # 1's father, he had him transfer to another school when they reached 3rd year, second semester just because he couldn't bare the controversy his son has been involved into. Things happened without the real deal being exposed."

Kairo shook his head in disbelief. There is no way he could continue eating after hearing this. "That's one hell of a story."

"You did me wrong numerous times. There is no way I would let you off now that you're here." Erika said bitterly while staring condescendingly at Kairo. Her continuous stabbing on the poor fish with a fork doesn't help easing the situation. Not at all.

"Like I said... I am not that guy!"

"PROVE IT."

"I'm just not that type of guy!" Kairo argued, in the verge of snapping out of humiliation.

"No proof, no bail." Erika casually said. "From this day forward, you are my slave."

"No no. I wouldn't agree on this. No." Kairo said while shaking his head rapidly.

"It doesn't matter if you agree or not."

"What's your birthday, Kairo-kun?" Sachiko simply asked while eating.

It took some time before Kairo answered. "September... 12, 2002, ma'am."

"Akito, can you get the year book upstairs? The one they were talking about?" Sachiko said as she looked at Akito, to which the child obeyed, getting the book in a minute. "Here mom."

Sachiko flipped the pages of the book to the part where the students have some of their data included. Upon looking closely at the birthday of the Kairo Moriyama there, she squinted her eyes. "It says here that Kairo #1's birthday IS September 12."

Nobody can paint how Kairo looked like the very moment he heard those words. It was an expression mixed with shock, trauma, restlessness and hopelessness. With a detail such as that, he couldn't think of any way on how to bail himself out of the accusation. Moreover, the judgmental stares of the 3 members of the family pinned him down to a corner, entitled: Kairo Moriyama, the slave, the stalker and the pervert.

"Like I said.... You're getting the wrong idea." Kairo said in a high-pitched voice. Any second now, he'll start crying.

"Kairo #2.... shut the fuck up." Sachiko said. He wouldn't be able to get out of the situation anymore. The noise of argument a while ago was now replaced with dead, intimidating silence.

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