Birthday Girl

Mika tossed and turned in her bed.  Her one bedroom apartment in Manhattan seemed to close in on her.  She couldn't get the thought that something was terribly wrong at home out of her head.  Home for Mika Kaneko was Tanabe,Wakayama, Japan. Her half brother, Sebastian, would have called if something was terribly wrong, wouldn't he? 

Mika rolled to her back and lay staring at the ceiling.  She sighed, there was no help for it, she had to call home.  She prayed it was just her imagination running wild and everyone was okay.  However, there had been no answer the last time she'd called her best friend Tomomi.  That was strange, Tommi had told her she needed to tell her something but it could wait until the next time they spoke.

Mika sat up and looked at the clock.  Eleven hours separated them so it would be noon there.  Reaching for the phone, she squealed when it rang.  It must be Ren, only he would call so late.  But then she looked at the caller ID.  It was her brother's boyfriend's number.  Not a good sign at all.

"Jae?  Jae is Sebby okay, what's wrong with him?"

She heard a sigh before he answered her.  "There's nothing wrong with Sebby.  Mika, you need to come home, for good this time."

"Jae, what's going on?  If it's not Sebby then who is it?"

"Mika, I don't know the entire reason you left Japan to work in New York, but now it's time to bring your work home.  You can design from here as well as you can there.  We all need you home."

"Now you're scaring me.  Jae, what's wrong?  Who's injured?"  She cringed when she thought of her father.  "It's not dad is it?  He's okay right?  You'd tell me wouldn't you?  Why didn't Sebby call me?"

"Sebby wanted me to talk you home instead of telling you."

"If this is some elaborate prank to get me home I'm going to be highly pissed at you two."

"It's no joke Mika.  I don't know what happened between you and Tommi, but now is the time to put it in the past."

Mika felt her eyes fill with tears.  She and Tommi had fought over something really stupid and Mika had decided they would do better apart until the wounds could heal.  That was a year and a half ago. 

"What happened to Tommi?"

 

When there was no answer, she yelled into the phone, "Jae, what happened to Tommi damnit?"

It was then she heard the tears in his voice he could no longer control.  "Mika, I'm so sorry.  I'm really sorry."  There was a pause as she heard him try to catch his breath and keep the tears at bay while on the phone with her. 

"Tomomi is dead.  They found her in her apartment this morning.  Come home Mika, we all need you."

Chapter 2

An hour later Mika sat on the side of her bed trying to pull her thoughts together enough to do what needed to be done.  She had called her best friend, Ren, as soon as she'd hung up with Jae.  Ren was on his way over.  She didn't need to move until he got there.  He'd come in and snap her back to reality.  He knew her better than anyone else and he knew what Tomomi had meant to her.

Tommi had been her sister, her confidante and her best friend.  She could tell her anything and she had, which is what led them to being separated for so long.  Mika thought about the night in question and realized she'd been in the right that time.  She'd never been one to lie about anything and she'd always spoken what was on her mind.

She had that night at the club when their favorite band had shown up.  Tommi had been the lucky one, she'd been introduced through a co-worker to the then drummer, Jun Masashito.  Since then, Jun had been replaced because of a really awful drug habit that had gotten him in trouble.  If people thought America was tough on drug users, they didn't know what would happen to someone in Japan.  Jun had been caught and she and Tommi had not spoken of him since then.  Though Mika had a really bad feeling that Tommi had been with him this whole time and just not told her.

Jun had joked with Tommi that her friend would be perfect for Tadashi the vocalist for The Roses.  Tommi had gotten upset because even though they were friends, they were both mad about Tadashi-sama.  Tommi had only been using Jun to get close to the vocalist before Mika had a chance.  Tommi had an inferiority complex.  She thought Mika was simply beautiful and elegant, no make up needed.  Mika's five foot two, one hundred two pound frame had always made Tommi self conscious.  When Tadashi-sama had walked up to the group of three, he had never once looked away from the blue eyes that Mika inherited from her half Japanese, half Greek mother.  When he walked away, that's when the fight had started. 

Tommi accused her of flirting with Tadashi-sama and using her natural beauty to lure him into her web.  Mika had laughed and told her she was just being herself and she couldn't help it if he had seemed interested.  But one thing was for certain, he'd more than likely wanted to get her in bed but she wasn't like that.  Tommi didn't believe her, but then Tommi was drunk.

Jun had then asked them both if they liked Tadashi-sama and they both replied yes.  Jun had  said that he was interested in Tommi but Mika seemed like a straight arrow who wouldn't let anyone get near her unless it was for a real and steady relationship, which he wasn't looking for at the moment.  Tommi fit what he wanted for the time being.

Mika had left then and later found out from her brother that Tommi had left with Jun.  Though she wasn't happy Tommi had done so, there was nothing she could say to change the fact that she had slept with him.  Tommi was grown and knew what she was doing.  But she had also done it to prove a point to Mika.  There was nothing she wouldn't do to get up close and personal with Tadashi-sama.  Even going so far as to sleep with one of the band members.

 

Now Tommi was dead and Mika had a feeling once she got home, more ugly truths would reveal themselves and she would more than likely be left picking up the pieces of Tommi's life and putting them back together in order to find the truth.  It was not something she was looking forward to doing. But being Tomomi's friend was one thing she'd always treasured.  If this was the last thing she'd be able to do for her, then she'd find out the truth and get justice for her because if one thing was for certain, she knew Tommi would never have taken her own life.

In Progress

              

Liadan Brodie

  Author of paranormal and romance