a help."
Yori sighed. It was the liquor speaking. "You can't just close yourself up in this room. You need to be around others who care about you."
Ichiro raised his eyes. The blue pupils looked dim and lifeless. "You mean you?"
"Regardless of what we've been through in the past we are still family."
Ichiro just sighed and took another sip of his drink. "Sure we are. Let me put it this way. I can't concentrate on writing songs any more. All my energy is taken up trying to find..."
He paused.
"I understand," Yori said. "But if you change your mind please come down."
"I won't," Ichiro said dismissing him.
Yori turned to leave but halted. "If it means anything to you, I miss her too. But not the way you do. She was my friend and my world is a little better because she was in it."
He stepped out of the office, walked back through the bedroom, and stepped out into the hallway. He heard the porcelain cup shatter against a wall as he closed the door.
Yori sighed. An intervention was definitely in order whether Ichiro agreed or not.
Satoshi waited for him in the foyer. "How is he?"
"Not at his best," Yori replied. "He's sitting in Shaundra's office drinking sake."
"Drunk?"
"Pretty much so and in need of grooming. I don't think I've ever seen him so bad. He cared about his appearance ever since he reached puberty. He hasn't even combed his hair."
Satoshi looked startled. "But it gets tangled if he doesn't comb and brush it."
"And he looks as though he's slept in his clothes."
"Baby has hit rock bottom," Satoshi said with a sigh.
Yori nodded. "We have to do something...get him out of the house."
"Clubbing?" Satoshi asked.
"Maybe. He needs to get out and get some fresh air. He needs to get his wife out of his head for a couple of hours."
Satoshi agreed. "I'll speak with him tomorrow, and I'll throw him in the shower and dress him if I have too."
"And comb his hair," Yori ordered.
"It will be my pleasure."
Yori shook his head. "I know it will be."
Satoshi ignored his comment. "I'll get Tak and Kenny to go out with us. We haven't all been out since..."
"Don't remind me," Yori said. "No women this time. Just us guys like we used to."
"I hope I can get Takumijo to go. He's been busy making that drama since Osamu moved back here."
Osamu Nakaumura was Takumijo's best friend, a famous Japanese actor and he had been trying for years to get Takumijo to give up singing and make a feature-length movie. So far Takumijo hadn't agreed to anything but to join him occasionally in a drama.
"Maybe we should invite him too."
Satoshi frowned. "You can't be serious."
"I most certainly am. We've gone clubbing with Yi-jun before and he's your best friend. I fail to see the difference."
"Oh, there's a big difference," Satoshi said in the defense of his childhood friend who at the moment was in the United States filming a movie. They're publicist, Cristal Gentry, was there with him for moral support. "Okay, invite him too. This isn't about Osamu. It's about Ichiro." He paused. "You think we need to tell Ich about Harper?"
Yori shook his head. "Not just yet. Let's not build up his hopes. We'll tell him when we get some credible evidence."
Yori headed to the front door.
"Where are you going?"
"Home to my wife," he said. "I told her I was just coming over here to check on you guys. She's cooking dinner."
Satoshi grimaced. "She can cook?"
Yori shrugged. "Surprised me too. She also keeps house and washes windows."
"Amaya?"
Yori nodded. "She tries her best to make me happy."
"I'm glad," Satoshi said. "At least one of us is content."
"Now if I can only get her to cut those apron strings with her parents my life would be complete." He left the house.
Satoshi's phone rang just as he headed toward the den.
"Hello."
"Hello, Mr. Hayashi. This is Tanaka."
"Yes, Mr. Tanaka." It was one of the investigators he hired.
"I think I might have found something."
Satoshi hurried into the den closing the door behind him.
"What is it?"
"I think she's alive," the investigator said.
Satoshi's heart flipped in his chest. "What?"
"She was in a hospital during the time of the earthquake and tsunami but she was saved by an anesthesiologist and then taken to Tokyo. Her trail ends there momentarily but get this, the anesthesiologist is working in Osaka."
"Where?" Satoshi asked excitedly. He reached for a pen and pad on the desk.
"Osaka General Hospital. His name is Keiichi Wantanabe."
Satoshi copied the information down. The