Falling In Love Over Cake (A Super Junior FanFic)

Chapter 14

“There really isn’t that much to say,” Misa began, nervously. She hated being in front of everyone, being scrutinized and gaped at like some animal in the zoo. Kyuhyun was still standing, but had moved off to the side, his arms crossed firmly across his chest. He looked unhappy, which made her unhappy, despite her earlier outburst of anger towards him. “I moved to Japan when I was sixteen, got involved with the wrong people, got into some major trouble,” she added.

The other members had remained sitting on the floor, their circle now misshapen as some turned around to listen to her.“Why’d you go to Japan in the first place?” Sungmin asked, curiously. He looked nervously at Kyuhyun, as if wanting his permission to ask such a question, but his roommate kept his eyes glued on Misa.

“I won an academic scholarship for an exchange student program,” she answered. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I took it.” She looked at Ryuki then, who nodded encouragingly at her; Mikko, who had positioned himself on her other side, wordlessly put a comforting hand on the small of her back.

Yesung scratched his head, confused. “So, how did you go from school nerd to murder suspect?” he wondered out loud. Those closest to him slapped the back of his head.

Misa softly smiled at their antics. “I met the wrong people,” she replied, shrugging. “I became friends with a girl named Matsumi Yamamoto; she was in my class and seemed like a nice girl. She was pretty and popular, but very ditzy. She was also spoiled; she was the only child of a high-ranking government official.” She stopped for a second, remembering the girl who’d been her friend. “That was my first mistake,” she added, ruefully. “In the end, she really wasn’t a friend at all.”

“So, this all started with that Matsumi girl?” Leeteuk had thrown out the question and was now eagerly leaning forward to hear her answer, as well as the rest of her story.

“I guess you could say that,” Misa agreed, nodding slightly. “It was because of her that I met some…questionable people.”

“Like who?” Ryeowook and Kibum asked in unison. They glanced at each other in surprise, then grinned when Eunhyuk called out, “Jinx!”

Misa looked fondly at the trio for a moment before remembering where she was and what she was doing; she frowned a little. “Matsumi hooked up with this guy one weekend,” Misa continued. “His name was Araki Nanahara. He seemed okay at first, really charming and suave, but there was just something I didn’t like about him. It was more of an instinct, really, but I didn’t want to leave Sumi alone with him. So Sumi dragged me along whenever Araki called. That was how I got interested in drifting.”

“Drifting?” Eunhyuk repeated, his ears perking up in interest. “Like, in The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift?” His eyes were disbelieving.

Misa laughed. “You watch too many movies, Hyukkie,” she murmured, making him grin. “But, yes. Just like in the movie. Araki owned several cars that raced the underground circuit; he took Sumi and me to one of the races one night. I fell in love with the cars first, then when I saw what they could do, I was hooked.” Mikko murmured something inaudible to her, which made her stick her tongue out at him.

“So you learned how to drift?” This time, it was Shindong wondering out loud.

“Araki’s cousin was one of the top racers,” she explained. “He offered to show me. I spent most of my free time learning to drift after that first lesson. Soon I found myself begging Matsumi to call Araki up to take us to the races; I couldn’t get enough of it.”

“What about your schoolwork?” Heechul asked, frowning.

Misa shrugged. “It got done,” she answered, smirking. “There was a reason why I got the scholarship, you know.”

Heechul rolled his eyes at her. “Insolent brat!” he told her, but he was grinning.

“Once Araki saw how good I became,” she continued, “He offered to ‘sponsor’ me. He had me help his cousin fix up one of his cars, then ‘gifted’ it to me.”

“So, you became a racer?” Kyuhyun suddenly asked, shocked. It was the first time since she began explaining that he spoke, which did little to relieve her anxiety. He still looked angry with her, which was understandable. When she nodded, he added, “Isn’t it dangerous? Not to mention illegal?” He looked stunned as he stared at her.

Misa didn’t like the way he looked at her, as if he was seeing her for the first time and he didn’t like it. “What can I say?” she countered, inwardly cringing under his gaze. “I was sixteen and an idiot. I didn’t think about the consequences, I just knew I had found something else I was good at. I was moving up in the ranks and getting paid for it.”

“So, what happened?” Hankyung prompted, intrigued.

At this, Misa’s eyes clouded over. “About three months after I started racing, my car was stolen,” she answered, remembering. “I filed a report, thinking Araki would be furious, as I kept it locked and hidden in my grandparents’ storage unit, but he wasn’t. He told me not to worry about it, that he would take care of everything. I was so relieved that he wasn’t angry, that I believed him.” She shrugged.

“Three days later,” she continued, darkly, “I was arrested for the murder of Takashi Matsumoto.” She frowned at the memory, looking troubled. “Apparently, Officer Matsumoto was last seen leaving a club with a girl that fit my description, in a car that supposedly had been stolen.”

No one said anything. All eyes were one her as she nervously chewed on her bottom lip. “I can still remember the eyes of my classmates and teachers staring at me as I was led out in handcuffs,” she murmured, her eyes downcast. A soft sigh escaped her.

“I’ve read the transcript,” Siwon suddenly cut in, waving the document around. “The evidence was pretty solid against you.”

Misa glanced at him, her eyes blazing. “That’s because I was framed!” she told him, sharply. Everyone jumped at the sudden change in her voice. “That transcript tells only pieces of the story, not the whole thing!” she added.

“Can you prove it?” Taeyeon asked, coolly. Everyone glanced at her, surprised at her question, as well as her tone.

Misa glared at the other girl, who merely glared back. “I did prove it,” she answered through gritted teeth. “Or rather, Ryuki did.” She gestured to her brother. “It turns out the man that was murdered was a dirty Tokyo police officer working for Araki’s uncle, his mother’s brother,” she explained, “Ryuki dug deep and was able to connect Araki to the Yakuza through his mother’s side; Mrs. Nanahara’s family involvement went back to her grandfather’s time. She grew up in that environment, but kept that from her husband.”

“So, why was that officer killed?” Ryeowook shakily asked, pointing to the gruesome photo that lay on the floor, his eyes averted

“Officer Matsumoto had been skimming off the profits for one of the drug rings for too long,” Ryuki explained for his sister. “To the Yakuza, that was unacceptable. His greediness got him killed.”

“How did you fit into that?” Donghae asked Misa, eerily feeling like he was reading some sort of action/mystery novel.

It was here that Ryuki took over the story. “They needed someone to take the fall,” he explained, shifting into his lawyer mode again. “Araki’s father worked for the government, a really well-respected man, very popular; if he went down, then so would his mother, and Araki and his uncle couldn’t have that.”

“At least they have family loyalty!” Leeteuk commented, sarcastically. The others scoffed.

“That’s where Misa came in,” Ryuki continued. “She was new, young and a bit foolish.” He gazed sadly at his sister. “It didn’t take much for Araki to convince Matsumi that Misa needed to take the fall instead of him; he knew how to manipulate girls through seduction. So despite the fact that Misa had been with her at her house the night the murder took place, Matsumi told the police that she had actually snuck out to be with Araki that night and left Misa all alone in her house.”

“Every piece of evidence that could’ve helped me suddenly didn’t exist,” Misa cut in, shaking her head. “The police report I’d filed for the stolen car couldn’t be found; the servants at Matsumi’s house couldn’t remember seeing me around the house; the surveillance camera for my grandparents’ storage unit turned out to be tampered with, the original tape missing. On and on, the list went.”

“So, how did you get out of this?” Heechul wanted to know. The others nodded, their eyes glued to the girl that stood nervously in front of them.

“Araki’s father came to my rescue,” was the answer. “As a government official, he prided himself on upholding the law and keeping a good image. He knew Araki didn’t feel the same way, and he’d always had his suspicions about his son’s extracurricular activities, so he did his own research. Turns out, Araki’s mother wasn’t as removed from her Yakuza family ties as everyone thought her to be. She spoiled her son and thought he could do no wrong; she bribed the dirty cops within the police department to cover up Araki’s tracks.”

“During his own investigation, he came across a list of his wife’s secret contacts,” Misa continued, glad the end was coming soon. “The majority of them turned out to be police officers on the Yakuza payroll. Mr. Nanahara’s evidence led the police to the home of one of the cops listed, they found the missing evidence still boxed up and taped in his garage. It still had the original seal and everything. Inside was the missing storage unit security tape, clearly showing Araki breaking into the storage unit and stealing the car; an unidentified woman was with him. There was also the copy of the police report in there, as well as other evidence proving my innocence.”

“And, if we were to do a search on the web, we’d find what you’ve told us?” Siwon asked, but he looked at Kyuhyun when he said this. The latter was still staring at his ex-girlfriend, but his stance had relaxed a bit and he was no longer crossing his arms. Siwon took it as a good sign.

“Since Misa was a minor at the time,” Ryuki cut in, “her name would be left out. But yes, you’d find the rest of the information about Araki Nanhara and the corrupted cops on there, including the investigation and trial that was held.” He then turned to his sister, giving her a proud smile. He knew it must’ve taken a lot for her to admit this and put out her shameful past for all to see, but she did it.

Misa, however, was sadly staring at Kyuhyun. He’s never going to forgive me for this! she thought, miserably. It’s right there in his eyes; he’s too hurt. She turned away from him, hiding her face in Ryuki’s shoulder. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulders, heard Mikko whisper, “It’ll be okay, sis.”

“Wait, so who sent this stuff to Kyuhyun?” Donghae suddenly asked, gesturing to the pile on the floor. “If Misa was a minor at the time, I’m assuming her file would’ve been sealed, making it hard to gather this kind of information.”

“Hmm, that’s a very good question,” Ryuki agreed, “How indeed?” His eyes shifted from Donghae and blatantly settled on the two SNSD girls standing slightly off to the side of Kyuhyun.

Everyone noticed his actions, as well as the way Mikko glared at Taeyeon and Seohyun, or the way Misa shifted her eyes away.

“Wait, why are you looking at them like that?” Kyuhyun asked, giving voice to the question everyone wanted to ask. He, along with his members, looked confused.

Taeyeon gaped at the Park family, her eyes blazing angrily. She opened her mouth to protest, but Seohyun beat her to it.

“It’s because Taegoo-unnie sent Kyuhyun-ah those pictures,” she answered, quietly. “She’s been blackmailing Misa.”

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