This pain was suffocating in many ways but Hikari kept thinking of her own ignorance at being so naïve. She had promised herself that she would work to get better, that Kei and Aiko needed her to use her common sense a bit more and yet she felt like she was unable to say no to threats pushed against her. As the pain stopped and she slid to the ground, she could see her husband struggling on the ground but he was unable to get up and she could see that some kind of curse was taking over him.

His body seemed to be decaying and all that she could do was watch in horror as he endured pain that she had never thought that she'd see him in. He must have given something for her. Reaching into his jacket which was halfway between them she nervously called for an ambulance begging that it wouldn't be too late. She was losing consciousness herself but she heard him trying his best to not show Aiko his own pain.

He really had always been a good father. Aiko ran to her and Hikari felt her eyes slide closed, she managed to choke out the address before collapsing onto the ground. She hoped she had been in time to save him.

Chapter Two

Hikari hummed as she still hugged him knowing that she had to be the strong one right now. She knew that Kei would argue against her and act as if nothing was wrong and he hadn't lost his abilities to worsening health and a frailer body. She held onto his hand, feeling the loose skin and saw Aiko watching them/

"We're a family, right?" she asked and saw Kei's sadness.

"There needs to be a restructuring of the entire Takishima company and all of the connected businesses," Kei said and Hikari looked at him. She knew that she could be clueless sometimes and would ignore the real problem but focusing on work wasn't what mattered most right now. What was most important right now was making sure that Kei's health was okay and that they could provide a suitable change of life for him.

"I don't think that this is the best time to think about that," Hikari tried to persuade him and Kei held onto her hand. He closed his eyes softly and drew some deep breaths.

"It's what is most important," he said before shaking his head, "no, what's the second most important thing. Most importantly, are you okay? Are my girls okay?" he asked as Aiko held his other hand and leaned against him. Kei gently wrapped his arm around her in a loving embrace.

"Aiko's okay and I can take care of myself. I don't need for you to worry about me," she said before seeing the weak smile. She knew that it would kill her if he told her to leave him again. So what if he bore more of a resemblance to his grandfather, he was still the same guy on the inside. She got up and stood in front of him, taking in the weariness but still seeing the same guy behind the aged physical attributes.

"So, first you think that we should try to change the Takishima business. I mean, what do you mean by that?" Hikari asked before frowning, "Though, it should be easy to do. I mean, you do manage the -"

"I don't manage it any longer," Kei told her and Hikari froze. He had been the main individual to promote the company and run what it did, he was responsible for all of it and had been for years. She didn't know what he was talking about. He was still the CEO despite his age, age didn't matter, why did age matter? "You're forced to retire once you reach the age of seventy," Kei told her and Hikari paused.

"That's why?" she asked and Kei shrugged.

"I guess so but there are other ways of getting the company or at least trying to steal the market share. I don't know what I have got to do with it," he said although Hikari was more than aware that because of Kei's power and influence in Japan he brought a lot to the company, a company that he could no longer run but Satoru could. Hikari looked at him concerned.

"So, you say that we have to change the company guidelines?" she asked and Kei looked at her and shook his head, "How about if it's renamed?"

"It has to be transferred to another company, maybe even liquidated but definitely sold," he said and Aiko let her head rest on his lap. Kei stared at his hand and then turned to Hikari. He knew what the next step should be but he hated to ask for it. His situation right now wasn't one which he hoped to share with others.

"I need to talk to my father," Kei said and Hikari nodded slowly. "I need for you to not tell him anything. I need to speak to him alone," he requested and Hikari knew that Satoru-ji would love his son but Kei had to let him in to do so.

…..

…..

Satoru looked down awkwardly as he went to the hospital room which Hikari had asked him to go to. He didn't know what was happening but she had said that something had happened to Kei and Kei had requested he go and speak to someone who would be able to help the company. Even though she had spoken in a cryptic fashion, Satoru was worried about what that meant. Meeting with this man didn't seem at all important if Kei was in danger.

He got to the room and knocked on the door before slowly opening it. He could see a man in his mid-seventies asleep in the bed. Satoru looked at him and felt a sting of shock in him. Was this…Midori's cousin or an uncle or something, he definitely shared similar traits to his wife but he had never met him. He didn't even know that Midori had an uncle he had never met.

He walked over to him before seeing the wedding ring on his finger and his eyes widened. What did this mean? Was this his son? Satoru took a step back as he examined him. He loved his son and felt that he would know him anywhere but he hadn't believed that he would see his son in the body of an old man. Satoru slowly sat down in the chair, his eyes wide with shock.

This shouldn't be happening. Curses weren't real and black magic shouldn't be real. All of Kei's ability were from him being able to access more of his brain than a regular person. This type of body transformation was only in stories, fiction, it couldn't be happening.

Satoru very slowly brushed the man's hair back, feeling his forehead. If he wasn't correct in this being Kei then he would apologize, blame himself for losing it and hope that the stranger understood the truth but if this was Kei then he needed for his son to be cared for.

As the elderly man turned to him and opened his eyes, Satoru's own eyes widened. His eyes were Kei's eyes. As much as Kei might try to protest, Satoru knew his son and the eyes really were something different on each individual. These were his son's eyes, there was no doubt about that.

"What happened?" Satoru asked as he looked at him and Kei pulled back.

"Hello?" he croaked as he attempted to sit up but Satoru immediately grabbed some pillows and pushed them against the wall to offer his son more support. He didn't understand this. Nothing of this nature had ever happened to Satoru before but then it would have been very strange had it. "Who are…"

"You know who I am," Satoru said as he nervously reached for the clipboard. "What happened?"

"How?" Kei asked as he stared at him, wanting to know what he had done wrong and how his father had been able to learn. Did Hikari tell him? He didn't know whether to trust in the fact that his dad could figure it out himself. Because of his boyish face and personality, some people didn't consider him as intelligent as Kei had always known he was.

"Do I need to provide an explanation for how I can recognize my own son," Satoru asked in shock. He closed his eyes and attempted to steady his breath before getting up. He pushed his hand through his hair a number of times. "I don't understand," he said as he turned around to face Kei but then heard the older man cough painfully and was at his kid's side instantly.

"What is it?" Satoru asked and Kei looked at him again, watching him. "What hurts?"

"I need for you to help me with something," Kei said and Satoru nodded weakly, not sure what words would express his compassion and his love and support for his much older son. He wanted to take care of Kei, take him home and figure out how he would be most comfortable. Most of all though, Satoru needed to make sure that Midori was aware of this as well. She might want to stay in Australia though. Taking care of an older family member was a bit of a commitment.

"Someone is trying to take down the Takishima company. We have to stop it from," Kei began but sharply coughed and Satoru rubbed his back unsure of how best to help his child.

"Don't worry about it, okay?" Satoru asked as he pulled up a chair and held onto Kei's hand. He didn't want to show his fear right now. Kei needed him to be a lot stronger than he currently felt. "We'll get through this. I'll tell Mama, okay?" he asked and Kei sighed.

"You need to stop the operations or someone might get hurt," Kei told him. "If that person was you or Mom or Sui then I won't forgive myself. You're all my family."

"And you're our family," Satoru said before ruffling his son's hair and saw the pain and exhaustion in his face. "I'm going to be right back," he said, "Mama should know about this. Don't worry, we both love you unconditionally," he said and Kei paused.

"Dad," Kei said weakly and Satoru stopped in the doorway, "Please, stay?" he asked.

Satoru stared at him before nodding. "Okay," he said slowly. "I'll stay."

End of Chapter Two

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated