Temper: Deliverance: Book Three of the TEMPER Saga, page 25
Lana chuckled. “Right, well, my name may have been on the dojo wall, but let’s wait until I actually get the belt, all right? I can’t believe I had to be sick on the day the certificates came.” Gabriella laughed, grabbed the plates and bottles, and headed outside the kitchen. Yuki landed a soft kiss on her wife’s neck and cupped her cheek.
“Gabriella san is right, amore mio. Today is the perfect day to celebrate your beautiful performance. Belt or no belt, you passed, don’t feel shy about it. We are all proud of you, my father included.” Lana closed her eyes and basked in this impromptu sweet moment with her wife. “I can’t wait to see everyone gone, there’s something I want to tell you, but it’s best we wait until we’re all alone,” Yuki chuckled in her ear, and Lana couldn’t help herself; she gave her companion a long and deep kiss, full of promises.
“Everything is set, we are waiting for you. Is there anything that I can help you with?” Honda’s head appeared in the kitchen doorway. Taking in the scene of his wives embracing each other, he threw them a wry look. “That is, if you are kind enough to let me.”
The three of them laughed good-naturally, and Lana checked the oven again. “Ah yes, we’re done! The pizza is ready, please wait a minute.” She took it out and cut it into slices.
Honda looked at the luxurious dish topped with various kinds of grilled vegetables and fresh basil. “It smells very nice.”
Lana stopped in her tracks. “I’m sorry, goshujin sama, did you actually say that my Italian dish smells good? Did you hit your head at practice this morning?” Honda grumbled but didn’t bark, and Yuki failed to stifle her laughter. “If I see you eat even just one bite of this today, I think that I will tweet about it,” Lana sing-sung.
“I will deny everything, insolent woman,” Honda towered over her, but his body language was relaxed, and his lips upturned.
She stood on her tiptoes and her mouth brushed his ear. “Oh, I’ll take pictures, you can bet on that,” she teased. He deftly grabbed her hands and twisted them hard enough that it hurt a little.
“I am not sure you can use your smartphone with swollen wrists, can you?” he asked with a toothy smile, mouth hovering above hers.
Not minding the pain, she gave him her own sharky smile and shook her head. “Oh, nothing would stop me from recording this. Isao has to know about this one day…”
Yuki laughed out loud. Honda’s smile turned large and warm, and made Lana’s heart skip a beat. For a moment, right there, she tried to capture that perfect feeling flowing between the three of them. With a quick move, she freed herself by counter-attacking with a mock kotegaeshi; a gentleman, he easily conceded defeat.
Lana was still grinning widely when the three of them joined their guests with the last batch of dishes. Nakazawa sat outside the dining room, on the engawa, and showed the little boy the joys of fresh snow; as for baby Maria, she was happy to stay indoors and listen to her father reading her a story from her favorite book.
When everything was set down on the long table, Hiromi raised her hand. “Lana san, you need to explain to me what is in all these exotic dishes.”
“Yes, of course. This is pizza alle verdure - pizza with grilled vegetables and ricotta cheese; be careful please, it is still very hot. You can eat it with your fingers, but I recommend using those napkins there. Over there, you have bruschette, grilled bread with tomato, basil, olive oil and garlic on top. And those are melanzane alla parmigiana, grilled eggplants with tomato sauce, caciocavallo and parmesan cheeses, oven baked. Finally, here are some penne al pesto, but with a Japanese touch, as we used shiso leaves instead of basil, mixed with pine nuts, olive oil and garlic. This is all Gabriella and I prepared; the rest is of course Yuki sama’s delicious handiwork.”
Honda’s elder sister handed her plate to Lana. “Well, give me a little of everything, please. I like vegetables, although I know next to nothing about cheese. Naruhito, how lucky you are. I imagine that you eat all of this regularly?” Lana kept her eyes on what she was doing to hide her mirth.
Honda sighed. “I am learning to… acquire the taste for it, onee san.”
His sister threw him a piercing look that reminded everyone around her of somebody else. “Really? When someone puts so much effort into cooking, the least you can do is try it.” Lana bit her tongue and dutifully filled Hiromi’s plate. “By the way,” her sister-in-law continued, “Akiko chan sent me a message; the traffic is impossible, she is stuck on the highway. She tells us to start, she will join us for dessert.”
Everyone happily dug in to the incredible amount of food that had been prepared and basked in the relaxed mood that filled the room.
“So, Nakazawa san,” Gabriella said while she fed Maria pizza bites. “My aunt tells me she’ll be here in April, but that you plan to go to Milan already two weeks from now?”
“Indeed, that’s the plan!” A beaming Nakazawa replied, raising his glass of beer. “Scala di Milano, here we come. We already have the tickets for La Traviata.”
“Isn’t it already the third time you’ve gone there?” Lana asked while helping herself to a second serving of penne. She was so hungry these days!
“The fourth! And it’s the third time for Claudia san to come all the way here. Daughter, I intend to bring her to our home in Shizuoka this time and throw a dinner with your brothers and their families. Please come as well. Of course, Gabriella san, Yamamoto san, you are also invited.”
Yuki blinked and smiled. “Of course, otoh sama. It will be a pleasure to gather with everyone. But so, does this mean…?”
Her father made a dismissive gesture. “No, no wedding for us. We’re well past those kinds of things, and it would only complicate matters. We both agree that we don’t need this to express our mutual appreciation.”
Lana bit her tongue to refrain from making a comment that would have been much too direct and familiar given his status.
“Well, I’m glad that our Italian lessons have proven so fruitful, otoh sama.” She started to pick up the empty plates and dishes to make room for dessert.
“They’re so useful and precious! I can’t begin to express my gratitude, especially in light of all the work you’re already doing for the company. It seems I have less difficulty picking up Italian than Claudia san Japanese. It’s not a problem, Italian is such a pleasure to speak. You should try, Son,” he said with a smirk, not bothering to hide his satisfaction at poking at Honda. “Now that you’re finally learning to appreciate the food, it shouldn’t be hard, right?”
Barely repressing an eye-roll, Honda cleared his throat and made a point not to react to his father-in-law’s banter.
“Lana san, let’s wait a while longer before bringing in the dessert. Akiko should arrive anytime now. In the meantime, could you please put on your dogi and go to the dojo?”
“My dogi, now? Uh, goshujin sama, maybe later, when everyone has gone home?”
Honda quirked an eyebrow and gave her a long-suffering look. “Lana san, will you please do as I say?”
Gabriella snickered. “Gosh girl, you’re so dense sometimes...” To Lana’s confusion, everyone was watching her expectantly, trying hard to keep a straight face.
She shrugged. “All right, dogi it is…”
In her bedroom, she changed clothes and tied her hair in a ponytail, before heading for the dojo, wondering what this fuss was all about. On the threshold, she stopped in her tracks, trying to make sense of what waited for her in the room.
Everyone had gathered and sat in seiza in line, waiting for her. Honda and Yuki but also Nakazawa and Hiromi: all of them had put on their respective martial arts outfits and had their weapons at their sides. A bit further in the back, Gabriella and Yoshiro watched over the children who were remarkably quiet, apparently aware something special was going on.
To her even greater shock, Inoue sat in front of the group.
Gulping down hard, she went on her knees to offer salutations to the kamidana, then to all in attendance. They returned her gesture, faces serene. She hastened to join them at the end of the line and offered again silent greetings to her grandmaster. From where she sat, she caught sight of what was on his left side: a certificate and a black belt.
Emotions rose and threatened to overwhelm her, not only because of what those items meant, but also at the thoughtfulness of everyone who had gathered around her. She tried to breathe through her nose to avoid hyperventilation.
“Mokuso!” Inoue ordered, and all turned immobile and quiet, centering themselves to clear their minds. “Rei!” he instructed next, and everyone bowed to the kamidana. Finally, he faced their group again and took the certificate. “Lana Martin san!” he called out. As often, she was surprised by the power such a frail-looking mind still projected.
“Yes!” she answered with a steady voice that impressed her given how loud her blood beat in her ears. After approaching him in shikko, she bowed to her folded hands. Inoue copied her gesture and read aloud the certificate, before handing it to her along with the black belt carrying her name written in katakana, with another low bow.
“Heartfelt congratulations.”
With hands that shook a little, fighting back tears, Lana accepted them, bowed again and quickly joined the line under warm applause. From afar, she heard joyful congratulations and felt hands clapping her back, but she could only stare at the black belt in her hands.
“Can you believe it now?” Yuki asked in her ear.
“Ah… I mean… yes… But…”
“Given that you missed the actual graduation day and because this is a special occasion, I agreed with Honda san’s suggestion,” Inoue explained. “You deserve it, in more than one way, Lana san, and it is my deepest honor to be the one to offer you your black belt.”
Lana bit her lip and gave him a shaky smile, along with another grateful bow. Words failed her.
“Oh, and let’s not forget this! This is from goshujin sama and me,” Yuki handed her a package wrapped in deep purple silk paper.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Lana took out a black hakama also embroidered with her name in silver stitches that matched the katakana on the belt.
“Ah you will be so graceful and dashing in this!” an excited Gabriella said, clapping her hands. “I wish I had one!”
“Well, you know what you have to do!”
“Ah! Forget it. I don’t have the grit for going through all of this! Well, everyone, champagne and chocolate cake await us! Let’s continue this wonderful day in the best fashion.” Everyone cheered and followed her outside.
“You will have to excuse me,” Inoue told Lana. “I cannot stay much longer. I have a meeting at the Aikikai headquarters. Lana san, once again, congratulations… and my gratitude,” he added, locking eyes with her before offering her a deeper bow than usual.
The trio bowed in return, and Yuki accompanied him to the house entrance. By a tacit agreement, Lana and Honda remained behind in the now silent and empty dojo.
“Thank you for your demanding and relentless training,” Lana said softly after a few minutes spent collecting herself and her wild train of thoughts. She couldn’t take her eyes off the belt. “I wouldn't have achieved this without you."
“Oh, you would have, but maybe another instructor would have found it less rewarding given your temperament and tendency to question half the things you are being told to do. Less enjoyable, for sure.”
“Less enjoyable?” Lana frowned, her feelings hurt. “What are you–”
“Lana san, I am talking about your aikido training here, not us,” her husband chided her. “By now, you should understand that I dissociate the two? And yes, I enjoy being at your side while you progress on this path. I have from the moment you joined my dojo. It is an instructor's greatest pleasure to see someone achieve their potential.”
“This is only the beginning though.”
“Yes, it is. Shodan: first rank. Now that you know your alphabet, you can start reading. And one day, you will write your own book.”
“Hopefully, you will like what I come up with.”
“Knowing you, it will be creative and highly irreverent. I can already see you throwing the rules out of the window and coming up with your own solutions. Efficient, beautiful, but anathema, making O’Sensei laugh from above with approval, and the keepers of our art howl in despair.”
“You don’t seem appalled by the idea.”
“Quite the opposite: I cannot wait to see the day. I only hope to be still around to witness this.”
Lana bowed to express her gratitude wordlessly but also to hide her emotions at this sudden reminder of their age difference. It wasn’t something any of them had discussed, but barring another catastrophe, she and Yuki would outlive him for many years. She wasn’t ready to face this now, not when it felt like they had only just begun their life together.
“Come now, let’s change and join the others. Time to inundate Isao with the mountain of gifts waiting for him. We have to be careful, this boy is getting spoiled.”
Back in their regular clothes and in the dining room, Honda and Lana found the tables cleared from dinner dishes and covered with sweets. On top of a chocolate cake decorated with two big yellow candles, there were also a large bowl of fruit salad and several cream cake rolls. Lana went to the kitchen to fetch more spoons and almost collided with Akiko in the main hall.
“Oh, hello Akiko san! Excellent timing, we were just about the serve dessert.”
“My apologies for being so late, I’m so sorry to have missed almost everything! But Lana san,” Akiko said, slightly embarrassed. “There is a foreign lady who arrived at the same time as me. She says she is one of your relatives and has traveled all the way to Japan to see you. She does look a lot like you, so I let her enter; she is waiting outside, by the gate.”
An icy chill crept up Lana’s spine. “A relative? I don’t know who this could be. Did she give you her name?”
Akiko shook her head. “I apologize, I couldn’t understand…”
Stumped and with a vague feeling of anxiety stirring in the pit of her stomach, Lana trotted to the house entrance to put her shoes on. Stepping outside in the alley, she came to a brusque halt and nearly crumbled on the cold ground.
Nothing could have prepared for what awaited her there. The world seemed to open under Lana’s feet, and a black veil momentarily blinded her as blood left her face.
Her worst nightmare, in all her sophisticated and terrifying splendor, stood by the gate.
“Ah! Finally! Here you are, little tramp. After all these years, I could track you down,” Isabella del Ponte called out.
Her cold voice hadn’t changed. It was the same one that had whispered insults and snickered in contempt in the back of her mind whenever Lana felt at a loss or despondent.
A quick glance told her Isabella hadn’t changed in over twenty years. Her shoulder-length bleached blonde hair was kept in place by what had to be the most expensive hairdo possible. Taller than her daughter, her body had the same unhealthy thinness as in Lana’s memories. A tailor-made fur coat ended at knee level and revealed a dark gray skirt and 7 cm-heels.
Stylish, impressive, incredibly beautiful. No wonder men crawled at her feet.
Lana was staring at a distorted mirror, a repulsive image of herself. A few telltale marks around the eyes and mouth betrayed the fact her mother still went regularly to her favorite surgeon with the hope of defying time. Blue eyes burnt with such a malicious hate and disdain that they seemed black. A red-painted mouth was stuck in a sneer.
Deadly, manipulative, treacherous. The root of all of her sorrows and pain.
When Isabella strolled with haughty confidence toward Lana – still rooted on her spot – her daughter could only wonder if her smile had also been set in stone by some scalpel.
“Why doll, no proper greetings for your Mamma? Come on, give me a hug, after all this time. It was so hard to find you and such a long trip to come to this wretched place crawling with small ugly people. So, is it true? A little bird told me you’ve been naughty again!” Her smile turned even more malicious. “Opening your legs to everyone taking pity on you. How many brats have you spawned by now? That little boy on those pictures is almost cute, that is, if you don’t mind half-bred bastards with flat faces.”
Each heinous and ugly word stabbed through Lana’s guts, and a whiff of the heady perfume that had always followed her mother everywhere filled her nostrils. A wave of nausea made her gag and she couldn’t help it; she took two steps back, a low whimper escaping her.
It was worse than facing the onryo. More frightening than confronting the evil fox. Her world was crashing down. Isabella stopped right in front of her daughter and threw her an overall look filled with scorn and disgust.
“You’re still as dull as ever, gaping like a fish out of water! Anyway, I’m not here to talk. You owe me something, stupid cow, and it’s high time you pay your due.”
The sound of running feet behind her announced the arrival of Honda and other members of her family.
“Lana! Lana san! Is this–” Her husband stepped in front of her, face dark with worry and mounting fury.
Seeing him in her field of vision instead of her living nightmare shook Lana out a little, but not completely. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Her tongue had turned to ash. Her guts were being torn out of her belly. She tried to focus on him, his face, eyes, mouth, on all the little details she knew so well and loved. She wanted to be elsewhere, anywhere else, somewhere safe.
This is supposed to be a safe house!
But old and powerful spells only worked against demons and couldn’t keep crazy mortals away.
“Yes, it is,” Lana replied with a dead voice she didn’t recognize.
“Is this your sugar daddy?” the cursed voice called from behind Honda’s back with a chuckle. “How can he even stand touching you with this funny face of yours? I guess he never keeps the lights on! Ever heard of foundation?”
