But he didn’t have time to contact Tamai Construction right away. After he was done writing the messages in ash, he received a call from his mother-in-law, Michiyo Umehara. She said the exam was over and he could see Miyoko over at the hospital.
“Just to be on the safe side, she’s going to be admitted for now and undergo another exam tomorrow. She asked for a change of clothes and things, but would you mind bringing those over for me?”
She probably didn’t want to make a round trip. Mitsuhiro’s mother-in-law acted like everything she did was out of the goodness of her heart, but the truth was that she tried to make people do things for her instead of doing anything herself, which often angered her daughter.
Mitsuhiro wanted to tell her that he was busy taking care of Sae, but he just said “All right” in response. If he asked his mother-in-law to do something, she’d berate him later about all the trouble he was putting her through. Besides, Mitsuhiro wanted to give Sae a chance to see that her mom was fine so she wouldn’t worry. Of course he wouldn’t say no to that.
“Let’s go to the hospital and see Mommy.”
Sae was overjoyed to hear the news. Mitsuhiro got a change of clothes for his wife and put them in a bag. He didn’t change his own, just threw his jacket over his shoulders as he left home with Sae.
They took the bus to the hospital, where the front desk told them that she was in a four-bed room in the OB-GYN ward. When they went in, all the beds were surrounded by curtains. Mitsuhiro checked the name tags to make sure he had the right room, then walked over to one of the beds.
“Miyoko, are you there?”
“Oh, is that Daddy? I’m right here.”
Miyoko’s voice came through the curtain, and Sae pulled it back and rushed inside.
“Mommy!”
When Mitsuhiro entered, he saw Miyoko sitting up, leaning against the back of the bed, with Sae clinging to her.
“Where’s your mother?”
“She had an appointment with someone from the neighborhood association.”
Mitsuhiro shrugged and barely kept himself from rolling his eyes and making a snarky comment.
“I’m sorry I made you leave work early. My dad’s out, too. I know your mother would’ve come, but I’d hate to make her come all the way over from Hachioji in her condition.”
“Sae was off school today, too,” he added, hoping to convey that he thought this was just supremely bad timing for everyone. He was frustrated that his in-laws wouldn’t even watch their own grandchild at a time like this, but for now, all that had to be shunted aside. “What did the tests say?”
“Nothing so far. They said it’s probably just severe morning sickness.”
“There was a smell that made you feel sick?”
Miyoko’s face darkened. “I think we should throw away that microwave after all.”
Sae’s head snapped up. “Mommy, the house doesn’t smell bad anymore! Dad did a magic trick!”
“A magic trick?” Miyoko repeated suspiciously.
“Yeah, just a little one.”
“He lit a charm on fire and wrote a spell with it!”
“What did he set on fire?”
Miyoko frowned at Sae’s proud explanation.
“It was a fire-prevention amulet. I did it to make Sae feel safer. Kind of like you and your ‘power spots,’ right?”
“No, not really. You’ve never done anything like that before.”
“I learned it at work. It was all done safely.”
“What if Sae tries to copy you?”
“You won’t do that, will you, Sae? Not unless Mommy or Daddy’s around, okay?”
“Okay! But, Daddy, why did the fan catch fire?”
“Wait, what?”
Miyoko was visibly startled. Mitsuhiro hurriedly explained what had happened after he got home. He had come here to help reassure her, but instead he had made Miyoko more fearful than ever.
“There was almost a fire? When Sae was home alone?”
“No, it wasn’t big enough for the fire alarm to go off yet. I think someone from the manager’s office would have come running if it was.”
“It could have been too late then!” she said, her face white with fear.
It ultimately took Mitsuhiro about an hour to calm her down, and after that, the three of them went to the hospital cafeteria for an early dinner.
“I’m so glad you’re all right.”
Miyoko kept hugging Sae, until Sae herself realized that she had been in serious danger after all, which made her anxious. Mitsuhiro had to keep talking about complaining to the fan manufacturer to distract them from their feelings.
He discussed tomorrow’s plans with Miyoko, and by the time he took Sae home, it was past sunset. He put Sae in the bath and then to bed, then took a bath himself, feeling wholly drained. After getting out, he poured himself some sparkling water in the living room and picked up his phone, intending to message Miyoko that he was going to bed.
He found several notifications waiting for him, from Twitter and from his call log. Holding his breath, Mitsuhiro opened the Twitter app. There was a reply to his direct message.
I have nowhere to go, so I’m looking for a place in Jingu-dori Park to sleep tonight. They’ll kick me out of there during the day, so I’m doing day-labor work until it gets dark. Mom said I should. Tell me where else I can sleep, please.
The sender was, of course, Mole Unit-01. He had reached out after all. The trains were still running. If Mitsuhiro picked up the company car from Shimaoka, he’d be there in a flash.
Okay, I can be at Jingu-dori Park in about an hour. Let’s meet there.
Mitsuhiro hurriedly sent his reply, then realized just what he had done. He’d be leaving Sae behind. He tried to delete the message, but it was too late.
Thanks. I’ll be waiting.
Mitsuhiro groaned when he saw the immediate reply. Should he send a message saying that he’d have to do it tomorrow night after all? But if he hesitated, Mole Unit-01 might think he was just screwing with him and stop replying.
As he stared at the screen, hesitating, someone else suddenly spoke to him.
“Go ahead. Your dad’s watching.”
Mitsuhiro spun around. Kosuke was standing next to him.
“Your dad’ll watch over Sae. You’ve got important work to do. Get to it.”
“All right. Thanks a lot, Dad. That really helps.”
“Don’t forget the voicemail,” Kosuke reminded him. “There might be a message there, too.”
“Right,” Mitsuhiro said, figuring he could check it on his way to the station.
In a hurry, he got changed, grabbed his bag, and quietly left the condo, locking the door behind him. On his way to the station, he checked his phone and saw that he had a call from an unknown number. Just as Kosuke told him, he had some voicemail to play back.
“I apologize for calling so late. My name is Sota Araki from Tamai Construction. I had something to discuss with you regarding Yoshikazu Hara, and I’d appreciate if you could call me back when you hear this.”