Upside Down – Alternate Destiny

Dad turns his attention to me. “Sora, as your Mom said, you’ve done nothing wrong. We just need to tell you a few things.”

He’s trying to ease my nervousness, but even so, I’m still extremely tense.

Chinatsu, as always, seems to notice. She moves behind me and slips her arms around my waist. Then she pulls me against her and rests her chin on my shoulder.

It always amazes me how her being close to me eases my tension and allows me to relax. Smiling, I reach down to entwine my slim fingers with hers.

Much more at ease, I return my attention to our parents.

“So, you already know we adopted you. Your mother told you that much at the hospital. It wasn’t merely so that we could legally make medical decisions for your care while you were in a coma. Nor was it simply to stop the court from awarding custody of you to a relative, or even to stop you from being placed in an orphanage. Though we assumed you wouldn’t want that either. We did it because we love you, and you have always been a part of this family with, or without, a piece of paper that says so, understand?”

“Of course, Dad. Mom already told me earlier today.”

He nods, glances at Mom, and returns his attention to me. “I’m a little hesitant to tell you this, but you have the right to know. Sora Ito is legally dead. We had a friend of mine, the director of NTI Medical Center, issue his death certificate. I then asked some friends in the government to change your identity. We chose Noriko Tanaka, a relative of your Mom’s from Fukuoka as a starting point to set up your new identity. Noriko and her mother died in a fire earlier this year, but I had my friends change Noriko’s name on her birth certificate to Sora, and then they removed her death certificate.”

He stops for a moment, seeming to give what he just told me a chance to sink in. “When we adopted you, we could have left your surname as Tanaka, but we thought it best to change it to Kobayashi since it would also help to further obscure the trail of your new identity. I also asked them to change Noriko’s school records so that they would show you as having attended there. I also had medical records drawn up for you. Are you following me so far?”

I should probably be a little freaked out because he just told me I’m legally dead, but for some reason, it doesn’t bother me. Maybe I already expected it. I don’t know, and at this point, it doesn’t really matter, now does it?

“I understand. Thank you for everything you’ve done, I’m sure having all of that done couldn’t have been easy. Regardless, I’d rather be Kobayashi than Tanaka. After all, I’m your daughter now, so that makes much more sense to me.”

Dad’s lips twitch as if he’s trying to suppress a smile, whereas Mom smiles openly. Her eyes almost seem as if they’re glittering.

“It wasn’t all that hard. I have a lot of contacts, and there are a lot of people who owe me favors from my time in the JSDF Special Forces. Anyway, you’re going to have to tell people this story if they ask about your background. Your mother’s name was Etsuko and your father, Kenji, died when you were still too young to remember him. You were born in Fukuoka and attended Fukuoka National Academy up until the fire. After you had to jump out of a window to save yourself, you hit your head, and were in a coma for almost a month.”

He pauses once again, looking at me intently. “Once they released you from the hospital, we adopted you. We then withdrew you from Fukuoka Academy and brought you here. Due to the length of your coma, you lost a lot of muscle and now have to build up your strength and stamina before you can go back to school.”

He pauses for a few moments. “I have notes about all of this, which I’ll give you to memorize, but you can keep the details vague. If anyone presses you for them, you can simply tell them that your memory of the incident hasn’t been very clear since you hit your head. It’s the easiest and best option to divert them. Does this make sense so far?”

“Yes, it does. It sounds like you went to a lot of trouble for my sake. Thank you.”

“Sora, you don’t have to keep thanking us. Your mother and I did all of this because we love you.”

I smile again and merely nod at both of them in reply.

Dad then continues from where he left off. “Which brings us to now. Unfortunately, there is no other option except for you to return to Tokyo National Academy, but I think you probably already know that much. It won’t be anytime soon since you have to get back your strength before you can attend. Speaking of which, do you want to go to physical therapy?”

“I… umm… I hadn’t given it any thought. The doctor recommended it before I was released, but with everything that’s happened, I haven’t even had a chance to think about what the doctor told me. I suppose they would know best how to help me. Don’t you think so?”

He blows out his breath. “Truthfully, it worries me a lot. Right now, you aren’t comfortable with yourself and your new identity. It would be far too easy for you to slip up and accidentally reveal who you are, but I believe they would be the best ones to help you. All I’ll ask is this: do you think you can do it while staying in character? If you believe you can, I’ll be happy to send you.”

“Dad, why don’t we set up the appointments for the late afternoon? I can go with her then,” Chinatsu says from behind me.

“Hmm, that might be a good idea. Would you like her to go with you?”

I squeeze Chinatsu’s fingers in thanks, laugh lightly, and smile at Dad. “Knowing me, do you even need to ask that question?”

Mom cracks up as if what I said was the funniest thing she ever heard, and even Dad chuckles for a few moments. Chinatsu just tightens her arms around my waist. Of course, she already knew what I would say before I ever even gave it a single thought.

Dad nods and looks at Mom to ask her, “Would you mind calling the hospital to make the arrangements?”

“Not at all. I think this is the best option for Sora, and with Chinatsu there, she can keep an eye on her as well.”

“Don’t you think swimming would help too? It’s a great way to improve strength and endurance. Plus, Playland is easy to get to. We’re only two blocks from the station, and then it’s a short walk there from the station. They have some nice pools and a spa center with hot tubs and saunas. The sauna and hot tub would help with her soreness during all of this. I think it would be a lot more fun for her than physical therapy alone. Even if we simply played in the water, it would be a workout and help build some muscle. What do you think?”

“I think that’s a great idea, Chinatsu. I’d like to go as well.”

“Chinatsu? When did you start calling her that?” Mom asks me with a puzzled expression.

“Well, after our talk in the clothing store, I thought about it. I’m the only one who’s ever called her Chi, and that would be announcing who I am. So…” I answer Mom and then let what I was saying trail off when Chinatsu hugs me tighter.

“Mhmm, that does make sense, especially since you were the only one she would allow to call her Chi. She had a fit when I tried to do it once,” Mom says with a smile, then picks up the conversation from where it got sidetracked. “Anyway, I don’t mind if your dad doesn’t, and Sora needs to have some fun, too. Just as long as you keep an eye on her and don’t ever leave her alone, I’m fine with it. What about you, honey?”

Mom then looks at Dad for his opinion. It sounds like a lot of fun to me because I’ve always enjoyed swimming, and I especially love the beach. So, I hope he allows us to go.

“Nnn~ I suppose it’s okay, but as your mother said, don’t ever leave Sora by herself for any reason,” he says and then turns to look at Mom. “I know we agreed that we wouldn’t get Chinatsu a cell phone until she got into high school, but things have changed. Take them to the cell phone company tomorrow and get whatever phones the girls want. I don’t care about the cost, just make sure it has GPS functionality. That way, they can call us or the police if something happens.”

He turns back to look at us with a serious expression. “You will never leave the house without your phones. If you forget them even once, you will not be leaving the house without either me or your mother with you until you get into high school,” he pauses for a second, then continues, “Maybe not even then, understood?”

“Yes, Dad,” Chinatsu and I answer in chorus, causing us to giggle.

“I promise we won’t. I remember what Mom told me at the store all too well,” I tell him.

“Good, see that you do. Oh, I’ll be turning on and locking the GPS tracking feature on them. It isn’t to spy on you girls, it’s a just-in-case measure. I’m sure your mother told you that there are people in this world who would do anything to solve the population problem.” I nod. “Okay, that’s settled then,” he says, then leans back on the couch and turns the TV back on.

I’m not trying to sound ungrateful when I say this because I love spending time with Chinatsu and Mom, but it’s pretty boring being cooped up in the house with nothing to do. So, I’m looking forward to going to Playland with Chinatsu.

Although, now that I’m allowed to go to Playland with Chinatsu, it brings up another issue.

“Uhh, Mom?”

“Yes, Sora?”

“I don’t have a swimsuit.”

“Okay, after we get you two your phones, we’ll go shopping to get you one?”

“Okay, sounds good to me.”

Even with my budding fashion sense from all the shopping we’ve done lately, another opinion about the right swimsuit for me is welcome.

Now that that’s settled, some other things occur to me. What about my house and the money I inherited? I don’t care about the money, but the house holds a lot of memories for me.

“Dad?” I say to get his attention. When he looks at me, I continue, “Do you want the money I inherited? I know the hospital bills and everything you’re having to buy me is expensive.”

He laughs, glancing at Mom, as if saying, ‘I told you it would happen,’ then looks back at me. “No, sweetheart, that money is yours. Use it for college and anything else you want within reason, alright? I know it’s expensive, but we’re far from poor. You don’t think we could live in a house like this otherwise, do you? Trust me when I say that paying for all of this hasn’t hurt us financially at all.”

He pauses as he reaches into his back pocket to take out his wallet. Opening it, he removes a debit card and holds it out to me.

After I take the card, he continues, “That’s yours. Make sure you don’t lose it. I put the majority of your money in a few low-risk funds for the moment. I put ¥5,000,000 in a bank account for you, and that debit card is connected to that account. You’ll need to log into the bank and set your biometrics for the card. That should be enough to last you until you graduate high school. Don’t go wild with it, or I’ll take it away from you.”

“Okay, I promise I’ll be careful with it. Umm, what about my house since I’m living here now?”

“That’s a little more complicated. We tried to go into the basement to see if we could find out more about what was happening to you, but we couldn’t get the door open. We need your help since you were able to open it. Knowing how security-conscious Daiki and Ai were, if we’d tried to force the door open, everything in the basement would have been destroyed, and we need to know what they did. I want to know if the nanites will keep making changes to you. Regardless, we won’t be doing anything with the house until we can safely remove everything from the basement. Even then, if you want to keep it, you can. After all, it’s your house.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that. I don’t know if I can get the door open for you, but I’ll try. I’d like to know the answers to a lot of questions that I have about them myself, so let me know when you want me to do it.”

Mom looks a little distraught when she clears her throat to get our attention. “Alright. That’s enough of that subject for now. Girls, go take your bath.”

I nod, and Chinatsu says, “Okay.” Then we stand up and walk out of the living room.

As we’re walking down the hall, I hear Mom’s concerned voice. “I know I said it was alright, but do you think it’ll be okay? The company knows about her already. Aren’t you the least bit worried that that man may try something? I’m already afraid to let her out of my sight as it is.”

The company knows about me? What company? What man? Try what? What does she mean? Could she be talking about a company or people who want to hurt me? That said, I doubt she would explain it, even if I asked.