Shin Sawada's Story

by R. J. Cold

I do not own Gokusen or any of the characters. I do own Ruby Jewl Cold. Shin's life has taken a turn for the strange. This story is about the road to marriage. Set from the P.O.V. of Ruby.

Short StoryBrianna Cole

Shin Sawada's Story

Chapter 1

"But Ruby, you promised!" Cried Shin exasperatedly. And it is true. I had promised Shin that I would take him out to dinner and a movie tonight. That was before I had a client call in and demand an emergency meeting with my self and the board of directors. I was less than pleased to say the least but there was nothing that I could do. I could tell him no, and that he should go home and fuck his wife, but to do so would most likely end badly for me. "I know Shin, but there really isn't anything that I can do. Really." I grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face me. It was apparent that he was not in the mood to reason with me. "Damnit Ruby. You're always telling me to trust you and then you go and pull something like this. How can I trust you?" I pulled him closer to me and rested my face in the crook of his neck. He would not reciprocate the hug. "Really Shin. I am so sorry. I had no intentions of blowing you off and you know that! It isn't something that can be helped." Giving in slightly Shin placed his hand on my shoulders. "Will you at least be back in time to watch a movie here? With me?" I let go of him and took a step back. "I have no idea sweetie. It all depends on how much of a monster Mr. Chan wants to be today." He looked away from me and I adjusted my stance so that the upper half of my body was bent into his field of vision. "Shin." I said smiling at him. "What?" He asked turning his head to look in the other direction. I readjusted myself so that I was standing upright again and tilted my head to the side coyly. "Why don't you head back to your world for the night? You know, spend some time with your friends or something." The effect was immediate. His eyes shot open and he looked at me dead on. Smiling. Smiling was something that I am certain only I can make Shin do. Certain.

"Can I really Ruby?!?" He asked gripping me by the shoulders once again. "Yes Shin, of course you can. Why would I have mentioned it if you couldn't silly? "But I want you back by 2:00 A.M." I said placing my hands on my hips sternly. He pulled me into a hug I thought would crush the air right out of me. "Ok. Ok. I get the point you're happy already release me man! I have to go now, but I will send Xellos in to create a portal for you to take there." "Now Shin, do you remember the password to re-open the portal on your side later?" I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't get stuck over there and force me to go and retrieve him. That would assuredly (after this meeting anyways) piss me right the hell off. "Bubblegum right?" He asked stepping away from the wall. In a nutshell the whole thing goes: You stand close to a wall and say bubblegum and a portal will open up from the other sided. It is a common misconception that a portal will open on this side if you do, but it won't. I don't know how many times people have walked head on into walls after randomly spouting bubblegum… It gets a little crazy around here let me tell you! "Ok Shin, I really have to go now if I don't I'll be late and he will give me guff." I picked up my brief case and looked at him. He walked over to me and sweetly kissed me on the cheek like he is supposed to. "Good boy, now have fun and remember to behave. I swear if you get arrested I will skin you alive!" I said with a glare. Xellos walked nonchalantly through the wall and into the room. "Ruby, you really must go, I have a car waiting for you outside as we speak." I turned to him and smiled. "Thank you Xellos." And with one final glance back in Shin's direction I walked through the wall and out into the garage.

Chapter 2

I strode over to the Limousine and the door magically opened for me. Of course, what would my life be like without magic. Other than tedious… I got in and settled myself in for the short ride.

Needless to say, we arrived without any complications at our preset destination. This was perhaps one of the biggest buildings I had ever seen in my entire life! And at 4,000,000,005 years old, I have seen plenty of buildings! I quickly trekked over to the elevator and zoomed up to the 40th floor where the meeting room was. I walked over to the door and nonchalantly knocked. It was most important that I made sure not to seem too desperate about all of this. I knew that if he sensed any weakness at all, it would be all over for me. He was a devil businessman if there ever was one. And that suit really didn't help!

The door was opened and there he was. Sitting in MY SEAT! I always sit at the head of the table and he knows it He was just trying to tick me off! The board members were all in their pre-arranged seats and looking worried and bleary eyed. "Good evening Mrs. Cold." Mr. Chan said standing up and bowing ever so slightly to me. I bowed just as slightly back. "It is Ms. Cold, and no, it had been a good evening and then I received a very troublesome phone call." I slammed my briefcase down in the table to emphasize my point. A few board members jumped, Mr. Chan however seemed more than slightly amused. "Come now, Ms. Cold, there is no need to act so childishly." He pulled his chair back and sat down. I did the same. "I was unaware that my actions were childish in the least, I am though a little bit upset that my future husband and I were unable to have a nice dinner together tonight seeing as tomorrow morning I am to leave for Hawaii as I have a meeting there as well and will not see him again until the day before the wedding! But, let's get down to business shall we?" I asked flipping open the latches on my briefcase. "Yes. Let's." He retorted doing the same. The board members looked on in bewilderment, they knew of course that this was going to be one hell of a meeting!

Mr. Chan: 42 years old, excellent businessman, ungodly rich, unmarried, no children, witty, charming at times, sadistic, and a very good poker player. I knew that this was going to be tough! This was the man that everyone worried about. If Mr. Chan wanted to become a business partner for one of your corporations it was best if you just handed over the keys. I don't think so! I give in to no one!

I can honestly say that it began much like any other meeting would. The board members took turns saying why we were there and giving individual praises to one of us or both at times. And then we went over the financial fluidity of the company because Mr. Chan wanted to make sure that he was getting a good deal. And when all of this was done, it was debate time. I knew that Mr. Chan would fly in with an excessively lucrative offer to tempt the board members into making him Chairman, and from there he would petition them for President of the company. That was my role, always was and always will be. I had no problems with him sticking a finger or two in the pot to get a couple bucks off of the company, but if he dared to reach in and try to take it, I would crush his hand with the lid!

I never saw it coming…

Chapter 3

"I would like to petition the board members to become the President of this company. I know, I have not even been accepted as a partner yet, but I do believe that Ms. Cold here does not give enough individual time to each of the companies that she owns and is therefore doing a gross disservice to this company and yourselves!" My jaw hit the floor. He was good! But luckily for me, he had just buried himself!

"How dare you ask for such a thing!" The Board director shouted. He pounded his fists on the table in Mr. Chan's direction. Chan looked quite bewildered to say the least. "Ruby has been the President of this company for over 35 years, ever since the moment she bought it to tell the truth! And NOTHING is wrong with the company as we have shown you ourselves. We are running at the optimum level and there is no way we could possibly improve! How dare you Mr. Chan! How dare you!" The other board members nodded in agreement and I just squirmed in my chair in delight. I knew the board members would have turned him down in a few months when he petitioned them for the Presidency, but this was more perfect than anything I could have asked for! I didn't really need a partnership with him. It would have been nice seeing as he is a very influential man, but as of right now I think that I would much prefer to deal with whatever problems do arise from this situation than accept Mr. Chan into the folds of our company!

"Well Mr. Chan, I guess that was a big NO. Is there anything else that you would like to say before we discuss whether or not to accept you as a company partner?" I asked drumming my fingers on the table in mock boredom. Mr. Chan was seething, literally! "Are you kidding me?!? No one speaks to me like that and gets away with it! How dare YOU!" He said thrusting an elongated digit in my direction. "Mr. Chan!" I said standing up and facing him down. "I do believe that the other board members and I have come to a conclusion. All in favor of rejecting Mr. Chan's proposal to become a company partner?" All 12 hands including mine raised. "All opposed." No one. "Then that, is that Mr. Chan." I pressed the button on the intercom in front of me. "Lauralie, please send security in right away, I do believe that Mr. Chan is about to become, quite violent." And boy was I right!

In a split second Mr. Chan was on the table and right in front of me. It was all I could do to deflect him above the chair members. He flew through the air and crashed into the wall and then down to the floor. That didn't stop him. "You bitch! I am going to kill you!" He screamed lunging for me yet again. Luckily for him, security had entered the room and quickly apprehended him before I was forced to do some serious damage. Security practically dragged him out of the room screaming like a Banshee. "I am going to get you! I'll make it hurt too! You will give me this company by the time I'm done with you!" And ten he was gone around the corner. We could still hear his shouts, but by now they were totally intelligible.

"Well then ladies and gentleman, thank you for taking time out of your precious evenings to come here and handle this business tonight. You're continuous support of this company and of myself is highly appreciated. I don't know how to properly thank you…" I trailed off and clicked my briefcase shut. "Ruby, don't you dare thank us you little brat!" My head snapped in the direction of the sound. It was our eldest female member. "You have done so much for us for so long that we thought that it was about time that we got off of our rumps and did a little something for you! Now go and save your evening!"

Chapter 4

Save my evening… Could I? Or would I just be ruining things with Shin more. I allowed him to go and see his friends for the night, if I intruded I would only make things worse and he may never forgive me… That, I cannot handle. But right now I am floating on air. That meeting could not have ended better. (Unless he had gone through the wall perhaps…) But I digress… Back in the car now, heading back home. What in the hell am I going to do when I get there?

The car pulled up to the house and the door opened. I sat there for a second before I even realized the door was open. Home. My home. The house that I built with my own hands has become my home and the home of over 300 people. All but one of which are males. And this is why I am so pissed off so often. You would be too if there were always a couple of hundred guys that all wanted to get into your pants at once!!!

"Ruby!" There's one now… I turned to see Kyouya running towards me. "Ruby! God I haven't seen you in weeks! I've missed you soooo much!" He piled into me and lifted me up into a bear hug. "Kyouya! Put me the hell down right now." I gasped. He did and I gently whacked him in the arm. "So, Kyouya." I said silencing him with my hand. "What are you doing right now?" I looked at him longingly, not sexually but because I was very lonely. "Oh, I have lots of studying that I have to get done for a test tomorrow. I had to do so much with the Host Club this past weekend that I didn't have sufficient study time. Why?" "Crap, I was just hoping that you would be free to spend a little time with me." I said giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You mean like having sex?" He asked grabbing my arm. I took a hold of his hand and pulled it from my arm. "No Kyouya. I do not mean like having sex, I simply would have appreciated your company. BUT as you very well know, the most important thing right now is that you study for your exam!" I said firmly pointing in the direction of the Harem. "But Ruby! I could always study in the room with you!" He said pleadingly. "No Kyouya, you know that if we are in the same room as each other you will pay far too little attention to your studies and far too much attention to my body! Now go!" I said giving him a push and a smack on the rump. "Ow! Ok! I'm going!" I smiled for a moment. Sex is all that was ever on their minds those damn teenagers!

The library! I'll get myself a glass of red wine and take it into the library and read a few good books! That's the ticket! A good old wine to calm me down a bit! So, I traveled on down to the wine cellar to find a nice wine to take up with me. I could easily finish off a bottle or two over the course of a few hours. Seeing as alcohol doesn't effect me at all! I finally settled on a nice Merlot from back in the time of the American Civil war, aged perfectly for my tastes! Then it was up and into the library.

When I got there Vlad was just leaving. "Ruby! I was just grabbing a book on the Packers." He said giving me a kiss on the cheek. "In for a long haul?" He asked referencing to the wine bottle. I looked at him and smiled, he may be half ghost, but he was still a man. "Yes and no and since when do I have books on the Green Bay Packers?" I asked taking the book from him. "Since I ordered them a few weeks ago." He replied. I handed the book back to him with a sigh. "Ok, whatever. Goodnight then Vlad." I said with a wave. I walked over to a table and set the win down. I raised my arm into the air and a book on the Civil War flew into my hand. If I was going to drink about it I might as well read about it! So I sat down, uncorked the wine, took a sip, and opened the book.

Chapter 5

I had finished my second book and the entire bottle of wine. Tonight had been a pretty good night overall. I looked down at my watch. 2:15 A.M. already. "Mmmmmhh! Bed!" I grunted stretching my arms above my head. I sent the books back to their place and stood up. Just a quick run to the recycling bin and then to the bathroom, and then to bed.

When I walked into the kitchen Sanji was there. "Sanji?" I said tossing the bottle into the bin. "What are you doing down here?" He turned around and smiled at me. "I'm just down here for a late night snack. "That's ok isn't it…" He asked. "Of course it is Sanji, you live here and cook for all of us! You have the right to a snack every now and then." I walked over and wrapped my arms around his waist. "What are you making?" I asked trying to peer around him. "Just a sandwich." He responded turning back around while still in my arms. I know had him from behind and felt much more comfortable pressing up behind him. "Sanji, with you it is never just a sandwich. There is always something special about it. What is it?" I tried to playfully grab at his hands. "You had better watch yourself, I have a knife here. And it's the oregano." I let go of him and leaned up against the counter. "Ooh, I love oregano. Can I have a bite?" I asked giving him the puppy eyes. "No, Ruby it is after 2:00 in the morning and you have to catch a plane in about eight hours. You need to get to bed." He tapped me on the nose with his index finger and kissed me on the cheek. I hugged him and headed off to bed.

I was almost there when I remembered to go to the bathroom. After that was done…. I decided that bed was a great idea. I walked in and was greeted by a wonderful surprise! "Shin!" I exclaimed. There he was, spread out in all of his glory on the bed in front of me. I decided that the best way to handle this, the best way for me anyways, was to act aloof. So I walked over to the bureau and took off the necklace I was wearing and pretended to mess with the clock there. "So, did you have a good time out with your friends? I bet you went to the karaoke place didn't you. I remember the time you guys took me…" He was right behind me. "Shin?" I asked. "Ruby, I want you. I want you so badly." He said pressing into me. The one thing that I hate the most about men is how their arousal is always evident, and pressing into your damn thigh… "Shinohara Sawada! Get off of me right now! You know better than to do something like this." I turned around and faced him. Thankfully he had moved away a bit. "I told you, not until we are married, and you promised that you would wait!" I menaced in his direction. He sheepishly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact. I walked over to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "How about you put on some underwear and we go to bed. Or would you prefer to sleep in the nude?" He laughed and walked over to his dresser to grab a pair of underwear. I opened the drawer to mine and took out some pajamas. I spelled them on and walked over to bed. Sleep. He crawled in next to me and curled into me. "Goodnight Ruby, I love you." He said kissing my neck. "I love you too Sawada." I said. Sleep.

Chapter 6

Morning. "Yargh." I said sitting up and stretching. "Mmm?" Shin said rolling over and flopping his arm across my lap. "Don't go…" I laughed at his nonchalant way of restraining me. I took a hold of his pajama sleeve and moved his arm over on the bed. "Shin, I will see you before the wedding. I love you." I said with a kiss to his forehead. And then I teleported to my room. Shin looked around the room and slammed his fists down on the bed. "Crap!"

"Ruby, are you ready? I'm coming in." I looked to the door to see Xellos peer around the corner. "Yes Xellos, I am dressed. And yes I know we're late." I said tucking my shirt in. I walked over to the door and he held it open so that I could pass. Outside the limo was waiting for us to travel to the airport. I usually don't care for flying, teleportation is much faster and much less dangerous. But I was to have a conference via satellite with another client while on the plane. He was unable to see me in person at the time, so it was the best opportunity for me.

We made it to the airport without incident. And boarded the plane quickly so as to avoid the hoards of screaming fans. As I boarded Xellos came running up to me. "Ruby, Mrs. Smith will be unable to make your conference and would like to reschedule for sometime later this month." I looked down to him from the top of the stairs. "Ok, I'll just sleep." I said and walked onto the plane. And sleep I did!

Back home, everything had gone into overdrive to prepare for the wedding. There was hardly a room in the mansion that was not bustling with activity. Shin, was at a loss. He was literally being shuffled around by everyone. Being asked random questions he didn't know the answers to, asked to taste things and being congratulated on his marriage to me. "Shin, over here please." Said Xellos. "We need to fit you for your tuxedo. Xellos grasped Shin by the arm and led him into a room where he was instantly mauled by four fitters. "But I don't want to wear a tuxedo to the wedding!" He said Everyone stopped moving. "Pardon?" Xellos asked with a little laugh. "No tuxedo? Right, nice joke Shin. Now just hold still." He finished by motioning to the fitters to continue. "No really! Shin said swiping the one man's hand away from his groin. "I thought it would be cool if I was married in my school uniform. Don't you think?" He asked Xellos. Xellos looked down at him and gave a slight chuckle. "Kid, I don't think that you and Ruby have had enough time to interact in the whole master/slave mode now have you? She would skin you alive and then put a tuxedo on you! Not to mention that she would kill me as well. School uniform is not an option." He said giving the fitters the nod to continue. They did and Shin angrily beat them away. "That isn't fair! I want to at least ask her myself! Please!" He cried exasperatedly. Xellos sighed and placed a hand on Shin's shoulder. "Kid, there is no way to contact Ruby until the day of the wedding. And you need to get used to it being like this. Ruby is hardly ever around, and that is just the way it is. Now remember, no school uniform. Ok." Shin nodded. The fitters once again went back to work this time to finish.

"Ms. Cold, please wake up now, we have arrived at our destination!" I opened my eyes to behold a very excited flight attendant. You see, this was her vacation. "Thank you Melissa. Hawaii here we come!" I shouted grabbing my stuff and racing out of the plane and down the steps. "Five days of sun sand, and the inside of a conference room!" I shouted. What could possibly be better than that? Nothing I tell you! Nothing. So, I walked over to the limo that was awaiting me and got in. I was promptly whisked away to the first conference meeting of many that I would have over the course of the next five days.

Once there it was one headache after another. The elevators didn't work, the people were being held up in traffic and the air conditioning in the room was broken! I stood there next to the water cooler in the hallway while the tech team worked on the air conditioner in the conference room. The temps that had originally come over to the water cooler to socialize with each other were slowly moving farther and farther away. I do believe it was for fear of being scorched. "Excuse me Miss?" One nice but terrified young man in very loud tie asked me after being pushed forward by the rest of the group. I turned and shot him a death glare. This was not how I had hoped the start of my vacation to be. "What?" I demanded. "Are you… Um.. Alright? You seem a touch angry. Is there anything I can?... Oh my God you are Ruby Cold!" He shouted clasping his heart.

Instant inner monologue (Crap! Rabid fan!)

"Miss Cold I am so your biggest fan ever! I have sent you over 500 letters and emails! Have you gotten them? Do you even read your mail?" H was jumping up and down slightly with his hands clasped tightly together. I had to stop him before I was forced to kill him. "Yes, I am sure that I have read your mail, I read all of my mail. And no offense but if we can get this over with quickly I would appreciate it. Do you have anything that you would like me to sign?" I knew from experience that signing something got fans off of your back faster and if they were truly annoying you could always send them off on a wild goose chase for a pen! "OH MY GOD YES!" He screamed jumping up and down more. If that is even possible. "Hang on I will be right back!" He screamed and ran off to get something for me to sign. "Don't forget a pen!" I yelled after him. I folded my arms across my chest and backed up against the wall. I noticed that the other workers were still huddled together looking at me. "What are you looking at?" I snapped. They all jumped and ran off in their separate directions. "Heh!" I said smirking. Maybe today wouldn't be as bad as I had originally thought.

About an hour later everything was back in working order. Young Mr. Dennison had a notebook signed, a shirt signed and a hat signed. The consulates had arrived and we had air conditioning! So I waited until everyone else had entered the conference room and was seated. Then I made my grand entrance.

"Mr.Sawada." Xellos said entering the room. "As was to be expected, Ruby is running late. Her flight hit some major turbulence on their return and she as forced to land. She will not be arriving until tomorrow." Xellos watched Shin very carefully, knowing first hand that the boy could be quite explosive when the time was right. "Meaning that she won't be here until just hours before the wedding, right?" He said surprisingly calmly. "Right?" "Yes Shin. But she will be here then. I promise." Xellos smiled at the boy and walked over to the door. "Promise? What can I expect from a promise?" Xellos turned to see Shin looking out the window. "Don't worry boy, she never misses a wedding." He took one final look at Shin and exited the room. Shin looked out the window at the stormy sky. "Never misses a wedding huh? Hm."

"Godamnit!" I yelled. Instant crack of lightning in the background. I looked up to the sky. "Sorry…" I said. I peered out at the other occupants of the airport from behind my sunglasses. So many people and potential maulists… "Ms. Cold, I have the flight information!" An attendant yelled running over to me. "Mmmh, good. Thank you." I said taking the paper from her. She bowed to me and walked away.

"Now, when can I get off this damn… What the FUCK???" I screamed, looking around at the people who were looking at me in bewilderment. The paper said that I would be unable to leave until tomorrow morning and that the airport would be paying for the Emperor Sweet in the airport hotel. But if I didn't leave until tomorrow morning, I would only get home 3 hours before the wedding! "Aaaargh!" I yelled up to the sky. "Why in the hell is this happening to me NOW!?!"

"Shin, let me… Oh you look nice. And yes I am so totally saying this from a bisexual perspective." Xellos said propping himself up against a wall and staring dreamily at Shin. Shin looked warily at him. "You really need more sex, and not with me." He turned back to the mirror and tried to straighten his tie. "Damnit, this thing will not stay on straight. Is Ruby here yet? " Xellos stood up and walked over to help Shin straighten out his tie. "No, no yet kid." "What?" He raged. "Not yet! It's an hour before the wedding!" Shin knocked Xellos' hands away from him and stormed over to the table. He sat down with a huff. "She isn't going to make it on time is she Xellos?" He looked up at Xellos with a tear in his eyes. "Hey now! Don't cry kid, you'll make me cry too. She'll be here. Look, you want me to get her on the phone right now so that you can talk to her. I bet that she would like that!" Xellos pulled a cell phone out of his tuxedo pocket and began to dial my cell number. "Really?" Shin asked wiping his eyes. "Yeah kid, hang on a sec." The phone rang once, twice, and then cut out. "Crap! I can't seem to get the call to go through, let me try it again." And again he did try. And again, the cell phone rang twice, and cut out. Shin looked as if he would begin to cry again. "Hey kid. She'll be here ok. She NEVER misses a wedding. NEVER, and she has been in situations like this before too. Really." Xellos was doing his best to calm the kid down, there was no sense in him being all teary eyed when he told the guests that the wedding would be moved to another date. For the fact of the matter was that nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I was never completely out of contact. To tell the truth, I had never been gone prior to a wedding before either. I was always just there. But with 45 minutes left until the beginning of the wedding, I was no where to be found.

Chapter 7

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed to the sky. I had spent the night (restlessly) in the hotel. My flight had been delayed for another two hours and then had crash landed on a tiny little pissant island! I had no idea where we were, I could not get a hold of anyone (my cell phone was gone forever) and I could not contact Xellos with thought speech. No one else had survived the crash either. Technically, I hadn't survived the crash, but being immortal does have it's benefits. I gave the remainder of the bodies a proper burial, and sat down to think/cry. "Why God? Don't you want me to marry Shin? Or is this your way of telling me that I have too many husbands already?" I looked down at my watch. It read: 11:08 A.M. The wedding was in roughly six hours. "God, I do need to speak with you, right now." I waited, and nothing happened. How in the world (this one or any other) was I out of contact with God? Was I being shunned? What did I do????

I paced. For the next half hour all I did was pace back and forth. How to get off of this damn island and get back home in time for the wedding. I had to make it back in time. There was no way I could do this to Shin or to myself. "I DO NOT MISS WEDDINGS!" I shouted to the sky. It instantly began to rain. "I hate this!" I screamed and fell to my knees. "Is there something I'm missing?" I sobbed into my hands. All of my emotions had run down to the fine tip of a needle and had exploded out of the end like ink from a pen. I cried. For the first time since I lost my insect love to a place with the renewed name of a county, I cried. I didn't even bother to find shelter. I just knelt there in the rain and cried for the longest time. I cried for so long that all of my fingers turned into little wrinkled ones and my hair was plastered all over my face from the wind. Eventually, it even stopped raining. But there was no sun.

I did stop crying, and I looked up into the darkened sky, and then down at my watch. 4:55 P.M. I was too late.

Xellos looked around nervously. "Where are you!?" He tapped his foot incessantly on the ground. "Xellos." Shin said walking up behind him. "She's here right?" He smiled hopefully. "Um, yeah. She got here a little while ago, but you couldn't see her because it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Everyone knows that. You should go up now and take your place, it is almost time to begin." Xellos patted Shin on the shoulder and sent him in the direction of the main part of the church. "This is a disaster Ruby, where the hell are you?"

I looked at my watch once more. "Hmph!" I said noticing that it had given out from water damage. "Be like that then!" I shouted throwing it away from me.

Shin stood up in the front of the church. He was very nervous. So nervous in fact that he had to keep wiping the sweat from the bridge of his nose. He looked behind him at his best man, Uchi for reassurance. Uchi smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Shin looked at the priest and instantly wished that he hadn't. The priest was very stern looking and glowered at Shin. Xellos was in the back of the church frantically trying to get in contact with me. It was not working. The hymnal march music began to play. The wedding had begun. It was all over.

"It's all over isn't it? Well, I guess that I will just take what I get then huh God." It was really more of a statement. I knew that God couldn't hear me. I had been shut of from the graces forever for some wrong I had committed without knowing. I looked around. "Mmmh, sun?" I asked shielding my eyes from the light. And indeed it was the sun. It was one of the most beautiful sun sets I had ever seen in my time on this planet. And then, there was a loud white noise inside of my head. "Gyaaaaaah!" I screamed right before everything went black.

Chapter 8

Xellos ran, as fast as he could up to the front of the church to his seat. It had been decided that when the doors opened and no bride entered, the guests would be ushered into the dining hall and served dinner anyways, and then sent home.

The doors opened and the little bridesboys (two of my sons) came out and spread flowers around tying their best not to grimace as they did so. When they had made it to the front of the church and had taken their places, the music changed. Everyone turned to look except Xellos. He was too frightened. He waited, waited for the murmering of discontent. It did not come, instead he hear the crowd gasp. "She's here!" He cried in a whisper and flung himself around in the seat. And indeed, there was a figure in the doorway. "Hi guys! What's going on? You didn't think that you could start this without me did you?" The smile on Xellos' face grew, it was too good to be true. And indeed it was. Spike S. came staggering out of the shadows of the doorway. "It's not polite to start a wedding without all of your guests!" He was completely drunk. The organist stopped playing. A friend ran over and dragged him into one of the back pews to pass out. "Oh God. Why?" Xellos said shrinking down into his seat. He quickly stood up and faced the crowd. But not before taking a quick glance over at Shin. He was mortified. He looked pleadingly down at Xellos who cast his eyes downward and then at the guests. "Everyone, may I have your attention please. I have an announcement to make. There will be no wedding here today. It seems that Ruby has been lost somewhere and we are unable to contact her at all. Therefore if you would all please accompany me into the dining hall, you will be fed and then you are welcome to stay for drinks and chatting until midnight." Everyone was in shock. Ruby had never missed a wedding, never been late before either. "Oh well. Time to eat!" Someone shouted from Sawada's side. Everyone chuckled lightly. "Not just yet!" came a voice from the back.

The organist began to play again. "Ruby!" Shin cried. And I was indeed there. Gown and all, smiling as if nothing had happened. I had made it and that was all that mattered. Everyone applauded loudly and returned to their seats. I began the slow procession down the isle. Flashes of light were blinding me from all sides as people snapped countless photos of me. Finally, I made it to the front of the church. Shin looked at me and smiled. I thought I would die, or at the very least that my heart would explode form the cuteness! "And now, we shall begin!" The priest said with a smile.

"I do." I said. Giving a smile. More snap shots from the crowd. "Well then, you may now kiss the bride." The priest said with a wave of his hands as if he was pulling us together like a couple of marionettes on strings. I smiled at Shin, and we shared our first kiss as a married couple. The crowd, went, nuts. Pictures and cheering and yelling of all kinds went on. When I finally pried Shin off of me I looked over at Xellos, he had not moved and still had a very confused but happy expression on his face. I flashed him a thumbs up and thought spoke: Don't worry, I'll tell you later!

Later on in the dinning hall everyone was a bustle of activity and speech. "She looked so beautiful!" Said Reamus. "Yeah, but she always looks beautiful!" Interjected Captain H.. "But can you believe that she was late? She is never late!" Said Palad. "Well now!" I said walking into the room. "There is always a first time for everything now isn't there?!" Everyone cheered. I looked over at Shin. He was surrounded by all of his friends and the H. P. boys. He looked as if he had just won the lottery. "Hey there sexy!" He shouted. Everyone laughed. As much as I wanted to shoot a stern glare in his direction, I decided that today was not the day.

I walked over to the table and he pulled the chair next to him out for me. I smiled and sat down while everyone around us let out a simultaneous: "Aaaaaaaawwwwww! How cute." I died a little bit inside then, the cuteness was far too overwhelming. "Ok everyone. I would like to make a toast." Xellos said standing up and raising his glass. Everyone quieted down and turned their attentions to him. Shin and I smiled at each other. "To the happy couple. May the rest of his life be one of blissfully happy servitude to the woman that he loves. May she make you the happiest you could be, and you her. And Shin, may you get over the fact that you're too young to drink the champagne at your own wedding! Cheers!" The crowd laughed and responded. "Cheers." Everyone over 21 and myself drank down our champagne and laughed at those that were still too young. I leaned over and kissed Shin on the lips. "It's ok. I'll let you have a little later tonight ok." I said with a wink. He smiled.

After a few hours of food and dancing the party had winded down and the only people left were the Harem occupants and the drunken guests. Xellos and I were doing our best to escort the drunken ones through portals and back into their homes. Of course, I was still in my wedding dress so I was quite a sight. Every time I came back through a portal and caught a glimpse of Shin, I made sure to shoot a smile in his direction. He was having a great time with all of his friends, partying and watching the slideshows and mini-movies I had made of all of us. We had taken fifteen people home already and there were about six left.

I walked back through the portal after taking Mr. Sanches home and bent over for a moment. This was very exhausting! "Ruby." I looked over to see Xellos staring at me. "Go home with your new slave. Have some fun. I'll take care of the rest of them. Really." I smiled at him. Xellos was the one person I knew I could trust to get everything done right. "Thanks Xellos." I said giving him a kiss on the cheek.

I crept over to the video room and peered inside. The boys were there, watching a film I had made of us when we went to the beach a few months ago. It was to the part where a giant wave had hit me just right and popped my top off. "Hehe." I chuckled to myself. I could almost feel them all tensing up to see some naked woman action. Not gonna happen though! I had censored it! Bwahahahahahahahaha! "Damn!" Was the single word they all cried in unison.

"Ok boys. Time for bed!" I said walking in on them. The television was promptly shut off as if they had been caught in an act deserving of punishment. "What? Bed, no way!" Minami said standing up and walking over to the food table. He grabbed a pastry and began to engulf it. "Yes way. All of you. Now. No questions and no moaning, you all have school in the morning." I said pointing in the direction of the stairs. "Damn, not fair Ruby." Noda said giving me a light kiss on the cheek and passing by. "Uchi… No matter how hard you try you are physically incapable of hiding Kumai behind your back. Goodnight Kumai." He came slowly out from behind Uchi. "Sorry man." Uchi said punching him lightly in the shoulder. "No problem, hey Shin. Congratulations man." He said and walked out of the room. "Thanks Kumai!" Shin called after him. Kumai didn't need Xellos or myself to get him home, he knew very well how to make a portal and use it properly. Uchi, Minami and Shin all walked over and kissed me lightly on the cheek in procession. "Goodnight Ruby." They said one after another. I grabbed Shin as he tried to pass me. "Where do you think you're going hot shot?" I asked smiling at him. "Umm. I was gonna go and get something to drink. Maybe some champagne?" He grinned devilishly at me thinking that maybe I would allow him a bit of alcohol. "Nice try there killer. The drinking age in the U.S. is twenty one not nineteen." I pulled him in close to me. "Idiot, stop talking about it or I won't let you!" He leaned in and kissed me and I almost melted in his arms until I heard the laughter. I broke my upper half away from Shin and glared over my shoulder. Shin's mother and father and little sister were standing there. I could tell from the way that she hid her face that the laughter had come from the little sister. I sheepishly let go of Shin and walked over to his parents. He did not move. "Mr. and Mrs. Sawada how are you this evening? I do hope that you enjoyed yourselves?" I asked shaking both of their hands and nodding towards the sister. She nodded back and ran over to Shin. She then proceeded to drag him into the other room. "Ms. Cold." I snapped my head back around to look at Mr. Sawada. "Yes?" I asked smiling at him only momentarily. The mother's eyes were downcast in classical Japanese wife submissiveness and I knew that what he was about to say was not going to be something that I was going to like.

Chapter 9

"Ms. Cold I do hope that from what I have heard about you, you will be the final driving force in the boy's modification." He said peering at me over the top of his glasses. "Excuse me?" I asked folding my arms over my front. I could feel Shin and his sister. They were standing right around the corner listening. They had learned over the years that out of sight out of mind really was effective. "I mean that the boy is a complete social misfit. Not that it is our fault of course you know very well that ours is a very prestigious family and that we have done everything in our power to try to subdue the boy's…. animalistic nature." I quirked my head for a moment. "Animalistic?" I asked unsure of what he meant. "Yes, he only worries about the base needs. Food, sex, pleasure of other natures, and of course we can't forget the fighting." Mrs. Sawada stood next to her husband, head still bowed yet bobbing slightly in agreement. Whether she truly agreed with him is not information I have been privileged with. "From what I have heard about you." Mr. Sawada continued. "Is that you run a very strict schedule here. There is no fighting, no drinking, no wild behaviors of any kind. For Christ sake you regulate their schoolwork! I do believe that he is going to become a much better person for having been here." He finished finally with a light smile. I could feel the anger boiling up inside of me and I knew that if I allowed him to say anything else I might have to ruin that million dollar smile of his. "Mr. Sawada, what do you think I am? Some sort of boarding school marm? Shin is not here to become a different person! He is here to be loved for who he is NOW! I love him for his wild and unruly animalistic behaviors. I like the fact that he doesn't take orders from people he doesn't care for. Like…. Um…. Oh yeah, YOU!" I tore the little veily thingy out of my hair and chucked it across the room. I'm pretty sure that it took some hair with it but oh well. He looked as if he was about to launch a retort but I silenced him. I was not quite finished. "Mr. Sawada Shin is now of legal age to live on his own. He no longer needs anything from you. I'm sure that he would still like to see his sister every now and again and I do hope that whatever feelings you now harbor towards me will not impede in him doing so. But I am forced at this juncture to tell you that you are NEVER welcome in this house again. And I do believe that I speak for Shin as well as myself when I ask you kindly now to leave."

I turned to see Shin and his sister come out from around the corner. He ushered her over to his parents with a look of remorse that only meant one thing. I knew that he would do anything to get her out of that house, but I knew that there wasn't anything that I could do… She just wasn't old enough. "Mother, father, I agree with Ruby. We would like you to leave now." Mr. Sawada looked as if his head was going to pop off. I hoped that he tried something so that I could hit him… He just needed it, badly. "Fine then. Come we're leaving." He didn't even look at his family as he turned and stormed out of the room. Shin's sister smiled at us and ran after him and his mother glanced quickly up at me. Her face was completely emotionless. We really needed to get Shin's sister out of that house, before she turned into a reflection of her mother… "Ruby. Can I have that drink now?" I laughed. The sound echoed through the room like thunder and I smiled up at the ceiling knowing God was watching… Shin looked up as well, trying to figure out what I was looking at. "Forget the drink. How about we go and consummate this thing?" I whispered the last part in his ear and watched as it turned bright red. No matter how much of a stud he tried to make himself out to be I knew that he was still a virgin. "You go and get ready and I will be right there." I kissed him lightly on the cheek and even though I knew that he didn't want to let go of me, I also knew that he wanted nothing more than to be waiting naked in the dark when I got there. With a smile he let go of my arms and ran off. I smiled back and chuckled a bit to myself. "Xellos." I called. He appeared at the doorway in the middle of a slow clap. "Leave it up to the GREAT Ruby Jewl Cold to make an entrance like that. Let me guess, you planned the Spike thing didn't you?" I leaned back against the pillar to the staircase and smiled. "Of course I did. Spike isn't nearly coordinated enough to pull something like that off when he is drunk." Xellos laughed and walked over to me. "So, what in the hell happened? I couldn't get a hold of you." I looked down at the floor. "Just recently Pope John Paul the 2nd wrote on the problem of evil. He gave three examples and I find that one of them fits perfectly into my problem. That was the case of Job. He inflicted all sorts of bad things on Job just to prove to JOB that he was being as faithful as possible." Xellos looked utterly confused. "Meaning that even though I was the devil that proposed the idea to God, and might I mention here that God doesn't give a damn what the devil thinks, God felt that it would benefit Job as a believer to be given sufferings. John Paul took that and said that therefore suffering is a teaching tool to help make us better people." Unfortunately I could tell by the look on his face that he as still not getting it. "Good…. Oh wow. Xellos by always saying why me why me I was loosing the thread. I was disconnecting myself from God. And then when I couldn't make the link, I blamed God. I should have been blaming myself, and only when I finally did blame myself did the connection re-open. Through suffering, I was shown my errors and shown the way back. Do you understand now?" He looked up at me with a tear in his eye. "Ruby that was either the deepest most applicable thing you have ever said, or the biggest load of bull I have ever heard." I do believe that it exceeded a total of three minutes that neither one of us were able to either stand up straight or put together a full sentence. "Xellos you ass… Don't be like that. You know, I passed out when it happened too! The whole connection thing does that. When it happens quickly like that anyways." I really didn't want to admit it, but it had to be done. "I lost it for a time there didn't I?" I sat down on the bottom step of the stairs after dragging my dress out of the way. "Oh Ruby, don't be like that. Go, have a night that young boy will never forget!" "You know what, you're right. It is no good to dwell on things of the past." I stood up again and kissed him gently on the cheek. "What the?" he asked touching the spot. "Don't worry about it." I said patting him on the head and running off towards my room.

Shin sat nervously in the dark. "Where the hell is she?" He muttered to himself. He flopped back on the bed and waited for his eyes to adjust to the moonlight that was pouring in through the sky light. He sat there motionless for a few moments, his mind pouring over the events of the past few days. In truth, it was all very Ruby like. In and out, here and then not here, but always chaotic, always lovely. "Hey there tiger." I said stepping out from the shadows. "GYAH!" He screamed frantically trying to cover himself up. "Relax silly, it's just me." I said sitting down on the bed next to him. "Oh my GOD Ruby you just scared the hell out of me." I laughed and crawled over to him. Pulling him to me I kissed him like I had never before. "This is going to be the best night of my life Ruby. And it is all thanks to you." He pushed the hair behind my ear and leaned in to kiss me again. BOOM! Shin and I were both knocked clear off of the bed and onto the floor in quite an unceremonious manner. Before I could remove my upper lip from the carpeting Xellos had burst in through the door. "Ruby! Luke and Kyle are at it again! They blew up the tennis courts and are moving their way to the…" BOOM! "To the pool area." He finished trying to use the doorframe to hold himself upright. I looked over at Shin expecting to see an angry little boy. But instead, I was graced with a smiling man. He looked me right in the eye (something he had never done before) and laughed out loud. "Go on. Go and take care of it. I'll be waiting." I looked from Shin to Xellos and back again. This was going to be a long night.