Raising Family
The vibrating of his phone on the night-stand awoke Eddie, much to his dismay. Quickly and quietly, he reached over, enjoying the feeling and sight of Masane holding him close.
"Yea?" He asked half-awake.
"We need you down at the docks an hour ago." Hachi said. "Problem with the crew and shipment."
Perhaps it was the post-lovemaking haze, or the sight of Masane and Riko sleeping peacefully. Perhaps he was just plain lazy for once. Whatever the reason, Eddie did not want to do this
"Can't this wait?" He begged. "Got big plans for tomorrow."
"Why do you think we're only telling you now?" Yang sighed. "It's Fuzen."
Eddie sighed as he ran his hand over his exasperated face. That name alone made this whole thing 10 times worse than it already was.
"Fucking….Kami damned…Fine. I'll be there in two shakes."
He gave Masane and Riko kisses on the forehead before slipping into his working attire and sticking a note onto the mirror:
'I'll be home for breakfast, then we'll go shopping.'
He then slipped his gun under his coat's right breast pocket and made his way to the door.
"Daddy?"
Eddie froze mid-stride and looked over his shoulder; Riko was half-awake, her attention focused on him.
"Hey baby-girl." He cooed, pushing some of her hair out of her face after he'd made his way back to check on her. "What's up?"
"Where are you going?" She asked, rubbing some sleep out of her eye.
"Something came up at work." Eddie half-lied. "Don't worry, it'll be quick. Go back to sleep and I'll be back when you open your eyes."
"You promise?" The little girl asked with a sleepy smile.
"I promise."
Riko yawned again and laid back with her mother. Eddie gave his two loves one more kiss on the forehead before he left.
WBiD
Just as Hachi had told him, it was a shipment related problem. And as usual, it was on the part of that damn Fuzen.
Touji Fuzen was an ambitious and arrogant member of the Yakuza. Born into money and making even more of it through crime, he had been a smuggling client/ aide until the Big Quake, where he'd taken over a large part of shipments routes and sectors.
And he never wasted an opportunity to remind those around him of this. He was slickly dressed to match his slick personality: Touji surrounded himself with bodyguards and items that would cost Eddie at least half of his paycheques.
Why did he and Eddie hate each other? No one knew or cared. But when the Darkness user pulled up to the port and saw his gang in argument with the mad, he realized that things were about the same as they had been when he'd left."
"Ah, Edward." Touji noted. "It has been far too long."
"Eddie." The assassin corrected him as he usually did. "What's the big deal this time? I can think of at least 10 things I'd rather be doing right now, sleeping being involved with at least 6 of them."
"Ah yes, my belated congratulations on your marriage."
That took Eddie for a spin and put him on high alert. Touji was being nice? Not a good sign.
"How did you…?" Yang started
"It's my business to know, boy. Again, my sincerest blessings. She is such a lovely woman." The shipping boss mused. "Pity she ended up with a thug like you."
Yang and Ying growled, but Eddie kept his emotions reined in and held up a hand to stop them.
"I was just lucky." He admitted, motioning his 'rival' to lead them to the source of his need to be here.
"Shame she'll never know what a real man is like." Touji smirked. "Then again, with a form like she has, I imagine she does at least know how to please.
Okay, that pushed The Darkness user's buttons.
'YOU GOING TO RIP HIM APART THIS TIME?'
'I just might.'
"Just get to the point, Fuzen." He demanded. "We can both agree that the less we see of each other the better."
The ship that had come in was carrying a large shipment or drugs and weapons, all pre-paid.
"It really is nothing for the old man to have called you over for." Fuzen mused. "Just a pound or two and a couple of bottles missing, nothing that cannot be made up in other ventures."
"Long-Sama doesn't seem to think so." Eddie mused, emphasizing his boss' title. "According to the info Apachi gave me on the way over, this has become a recurring thing."
"T-things b-b-been d-d-d-down in this p-p-part of the w-w-w-woods." Wenders noted, a serious look on his face.
"Oh I don't know about that." Fuzen mused as he sat on a box. "I'd say we're doing quite well."
"Of course you would, wouldn't you? We used to control EVERY transaction in New Tokyo, now we're getting swindled by the nickel and dimers on the street." Eddie pointed out, Hachi and Apachi nodding in agreement. "That doesn't strike me as 'quite well.'"
"All respect, Estacado…" Touji smiled, no respect clear. "You been….out of the picture, for a long time. That and business was never your trade. I've been making the Yakuza a great deal of money since the Great Quake. So great in fact, that Long trusts me to handle expansion and deduction. Now, why don't you go home and leave me to make sure things go according to plan?"
Edie's brow furrowed.
"You wouldn't know a plan if it was pounded up your ass with a jackhammer and took a shit down your intestines."
"That's an image…" Ying muttered under her breath, Hachi irking in disgust along with her.
"Ah, Touji." Yang pointed out, taking out some product and shining a special light on it. "The light should have turned this as blue as a bruise. Shit's been cut."
And the confidence the man had been showcasing vanished.
"Are you shitting me?" The man demanded a thug who was unloading. "Fuck. Well, it isn't happening on my end."
"Of course it's not." Eddie sighed, his patience wearing thin. "Touji? How long have we known each other? Four, five years?
"At least four." Touji mused.
"We've had drinks together, swapped dirty jokes." Eddie noted, getting a nod.
"Like just earlier?" Fuzen mused with a smirk. "Again, you are a lucky bastard, Estacado. What I wouldn't give to have a woman like that bend…"
A gun clicked and met his forhead.
"Choose. Your next words. Carefully." Eddie growled. "You pompous money-humper."
Hachi and Wenders suddenly pulled out pistols shot two of the bodyguards before aiming at their boss.
"Did you really think you could cheat Long-sama?" Eddie asked.
Touji didn't seem the least bit intimidated.
"Yang found out something interesting from our Columbian friends." Ying cheered as she played with one of the dead bodies, her eyes sparkling with adoration towards her brother. "Wanna guess?"
"W-While E-E-Eddie was g-g-gone, you started to take an extra p-per-percentage." Wenders frowned.
"…And we should care, why?" Fuzen mused, his confidence returning.
"Apachi?" Eddie asked his largest friend.
"Yeah?"
"How long was I gone?" Eddie asked
"Six years, two months and a week." Apachi answered perfectly.
"Two shipments a week, each shipment worth about 6 million, give or take, six years….How much does that equal?"
Apachi motioned his old friend/ boss to lean in.
"This much."
Eddie's eyes widened at the number his friend whispered, then furrowed.
"Um…guys?"
They looked over to see Ying pointing at a window on the boat.
"You…might want to see this."
The fact that she was reluctant to bring this to their attention put them on edge, as did Fuzen's reluctance.
"Edward, you'd have to understand that as a businessman, you have to provide what customers want.."
"Not with Lo.."
Eddie's words vanished from his mouth.
Inside the room was, there was a mass of children, none of them older than Rihoko. Many had tearstained cheeks and bruises.
…..
….
"Hit the lights." Eddie commanded.
His gang seemed reluctant to do so, and this made Fuzen raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"Eddie, let's think about this." Hachi begged.
'Yeah, we can just call Long-sama and…"
"Cover that window. And hit. The. Lights." He repeated.
Ying gulped, but did as her boss ordered. Hachi and the others followed before dashing away.
And with that, Eddie was out, both in terms of being there and away from the sight of all.
"FOOLISH, PATHETIC LITTLE MAN." The Darkness chuckled all around Touji and his men. "YOU THINK YOURSELF A GRAND KING USURPING ANOTHER KINGDOM. YOU ARE BUT A FLEA CHALLENGING A DRAGON… NO, A GOD. AND FOR YOUR ARROGANCE I GET TO PLAY."
The familiar tendrils and snake-like creatures suddenly burst from the darkness, splitting one man in half and tearing out the larynx of another. Another did the infamous 'chest-buster' scene from Alien proud as a pair of clawed hands emerged and smacked or punched heads off.
The men began to understandably panic and toss anything that they could get their hands on. Some tried to flee, but feel to the ground dead before taking a few steps.
"Been nice knowing ya, Touji!" Ying cooed from her hiding space as a humanoid form began to materialize in front of Fuzen.
The Darkness then let itself known to all, and Touji grabbed a gun and unloaded an entire clip into the demon that had replaced his rival. The creature simply chuckled as it made its way to Fuzen, its tentacles and the Darklings having all the fun.
The man pulled out his gun and emptied the contents into his attacker's face.
"OH, NOW THAT'S ADOREABLE. YOU THINK YOUR LITTLE GUN CAN HURT ME."
The Darkness ripped the arm off the arrogant man and smacked him with it before using his snakes to remove the man's leg and letting him fall to the ground before delivering a brutal punch to the stomach that made him cough up blood.
Eddie was now back. He whipped out his pistol and sent the arrogant man to the floor then whipping out another gun and aiming at the crowd of surviving/ smart enough to hide henchmen.
"Now…where is the money?"
"The bank on 2nd!" Touji confessed, tears streaking his face. "I have an account, take it all!"
"Oh Long-sama will." Eddie assured the grovelling man, gagging him with the barrel of his gun. "And that's all he'll take. But me? I seem to recall your lewd comments about my wife…What were your words again? Going to make her bend over and take it, was it?"
Touji tried to deny, but Eddie, his eyes taking a yellow hue, manifested his clawed hand and tore off what made the man at his mercy a man.
"Hard to do that now huh?" Eddie smiled, then pulling the trigger. And soon he was without one less hated person.
The workers were now rounded up, his subordinates holding their guns to their heads in anticipation of the order.
"Waste anyone with no family. Have the rest report to Long-sama to decide their punishment." He ordered Hachi and Wenders, who nodded
"And the kids?" Apachi asked
"Return the ones with families to their homes. Time-locked scholarships and secret trust funds for the rest."
It wasn't much, but it was the best Eddie could do and it'd keep the kids safe. The Darkness user returned to his car in low spirits and, remembering his own daughter, made a few stops.
WBiD
"Guess who brought breakfast…!"
Masane and Riko stirred at Eddie's tone-deaf voice singing happily as he plopped down a coffee-holder and two bags of food.
"I got coffee, milk, juice, apples, miso, rice balls, pork and bean buns…!"
Riko gave her daddy a big hug and helped herself to some breakfast. Eddie made his way over to Masane, offering her a bottle of milk as she held the blanket to her form.
"Good morning, beautiful." He smiled.
"Good morning, handsome." She cooed, giving him a kiss before accepting her favorite drink. "What has you up so early?"
"Just a little trouble at the office." He told her as Riko handed her parents each a bowl of soup and bun each. "Nothing to worry about. On the bright side, I have one less a…"
He remembered his daughter was in the room and tried to come up with a kid appropriate word.
"….jerk to deal with, and you ladies get me and my wallet all day today." He recovered. "Now, you eat up while I take a shower, I'll meet you downstairs."
WBiD
Yusuke Tozawa was not in a good mood. He had no leads on the pulveriser-murderers, had spent the last few days in a jail cell with the cold sweats…needless to say he was exhausted when he finally got back, and not in the mood to do anything expect eat.
He then noticed Rihoko was still at the café.
"You still hiding?"
"My parents and I moved in just yesterday." The little girl explained as her mother joined her after texting Eddie to hurry up or they'd leave without him. She tehn spied the man who ahd helped her baby out and went over to thank him.
"Thank you so much." She said genuinely with a bow. "I'm Rihoko's mother. My husband should be down shortly, but I really can't thank you enough. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Melony." The half-awake journalist mused.
"…Melony?" Masane asked, as Mari and her daughter began to laugh.
"That's a good one…" The owner smirked.
"Cause your bobbies are big like melons!" Riko giggled along with Mari.
"Rihoko Amaha…" Eddie chastised his daughter making her feel sorry about laughing at Masane. "That's no way to talk to your mother…even if it is an accurate nickname."
The air went cold and Masane suddenly glared at her husband.
"….I said that last bit out loud, didn't I?" Eddie realized.
Everyone nodded, before Yusuke's eyes shot open.
"Hey, I remember you! You're the chick who disappeared from her jail cell!"
"A WITNESS!" The Darkness called with his mind. "SILENCE HIM!"
'Not here, too many witnesses and Riko's awake!' Eddie reminded his power. 'Sides, he probably doesn't even know half of what we know…."
That being said, Eddie did not like how this man seemed to have more of an idea of how Masane had gotten to Doji then his own wife, as he began to question her about what had happened the night she had escaped, making her and Riko uncomfortable. He was just about to get violent (which he felt he was completely in the right to do) when this punk had the gall to grab his wife by the shoulder
"Hands off! I already answered your question. I didn't see anything. And you!" Masane pointed to the Darkness user, making him cringe before raising an eyebrow when he saw her smiling. "Did you enjoy last night?"
A smile crossed Eddie's face as he remembered last night; hot water pouring down naked forms, lips locked, hands tracing, noses nuzzling, the uttering of the best four letter word in the universe…
Oh yes, he did enjoy last night. So he nodded.
"Good." She then motioned to her form, a smile on her face. "Because this?"
Eddie nodded in understanding.
"You're not getting any of it for a week."
There was literally a shattering in the air as Eddie's jaw dropped and he felt smething inside him break. If his life were an anime, this is where all color would vanish from his form, a dark cloud would float over him and he'd burst into tears as a violin played.
"Come on baby, we'll hail a cab." Masane announced as she gave Riko her hand. Her daughter followed after demanding Yusuke stop harassing her mother, who, just to remind Eddie, made a few of her steps sensual.
With those steps, all humorous depression left and Eddie glared at Yusuke with all the hate in his form. If looks could kill, the journalist would've fried, decapitated, eviscerated, chopped up, fried, flung into space, devoured, passed….and those were just the first ideas that passed through the assassin's mind.
"The signs point to bad times…" Naomi noted
But the assassin had priorities, so his vengeance/ hate fuelled fantasies would have to wait. But he sated his anger with a growl:
"You better hope no one ever puts a bounty on your ass."
He then marched out of the building after dropping a wad of cash onto the bar, the kanji for rent on top.
….
…
"Did I….?" Yuske started
"YOU JUST COCK-BLOCKED A MAN!" Mr. Chou shouted. "A man with a hot wife! And a kid!"
"The signs point to bad times…" Namoi repeated herself, this time for all to hear. "Watch your back….watch your back!"
And suddenly the oldest resident was glad Eddie seemed to tolerate him at the least….as was Mari when she saw Eddie had dropped enough cash for a whole year's rent.
WBiD
Shopping was something Eddie normally dreaded, even more so once he married Masane.
Back when he was a bachelor, Eddie had lived relatively cheap; he ate mostly ramen or cheap sushi if he felt like splurging, and his alcohol intake was limited to whenever Long-sama had him perform bodyguard duty. Give him tea anytime and he'd be happy. He'd go to the cheapo theatre for second-run movies if he wanted to catch a flick, and made use of libraries for reading materials.
Upon marriage, he was introduced to the terror that was clothes shopping, accessorizing and other things.
But he was happy for this shopping excursion for the sole reason of it being the first time in a long time he and his two girls would be together.
First, they'd shopped for kitchen utensils, with Riko taking charge of that department and headings straight for the knives.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Eddie stopped his daughter. ""Nuh uh, little missy! You may be the chef, but you are NOT handling anything sharper than a pot-lid! I'll take care of this, you help mom find the other things we need."
"But dad…" Riko started.
"Sweetie, daddy grew up in a place where sharp metal was as common as birds in trees." Eddie assured his baby girl. "I think I know a thing or two about knives."
To say nothing of just how he got all the money he and his girls were now blowing.
"Let daddy handle this one, baby." Masane cooed, pointing to some other necessities. "You can help me find the rest."
With some reluctance, Riko took her father's word and moved to inspect pans, eventually choosing a good set. She also approved the set of knives Eddie had chosen.
Then they did the bit Eddie hated the most; clothes shopping.
"Ta da!" Masane stepped out in a jogging suit that had caught her eye. "So? Thoughts?"
….
….
No. Just….no. Eddie paid no attention to fashion, but even HE knew that those clothes did not work with his wife.
"Forget it, I'll pick something." Riko crossed her arms in disapproval, her father nodding in agreement before she turned her attention to him. "And daddy? Please try and find something that's not green."
"No promises." Eddie stated. He ended up buying a couple of white button-up shirts, some dark pants and a t-shirt or two.
The family then explored a bit before Masane made a….personal stop. A stop that made Eddie cringe and spin around to avoid eye contact with the store.
"Daddy, why are you not looking?" Riko asked her father
"Because a gentleman does not stare at or enter such a place!" Eddie said a little quicker than he should've, fighting the urge to peek at the store's contents and imagine his wife wearing any of it's products.
Hey, it was one thing to enjoy the sight while making love or at the beach (on that note, he made a note to schedule a beach date for him and Masane). It was something else entirely different and wrong to just stare. That, and it made him remember the men who had stared at his mother.
Besides, his baby girl was there and he didn't want to risk Masane extending his punishment any longer.
"I'm sorry," The clerk apologized after taking Masane's size. "But we don't carry a size that large."
Masane let out a sigh
"Guess I could go without it…"
"No way!" Riko ordered, voicing Eddie's thoughts as crossing her arms in disapproval again. "They'll sag."
'I should be worried that my 6 year old daughter knows that….' Eddie mused. 'But I'm too relieved to care.'
They ended up finding a close enough replacement before heading over to a megastore, passing thtough the toys and entertainment section.
"Oh, can I get this?" Masane asked as she held up a stuffed animal that had caught her eye.
"Put it back." Riko said without looking as she pushed the cart along
"Put it in the bottom." Eddie whispered. "I'll distract her."
True to his word, Eddie patted Riko's shoulder and pointed at a DVD set of her favorite TV show.
"I did say any three things you wanted…." He reminded her, feigning reluctance when she saw the 'high' price.
"Please, daddy?" Riko begged hopefully. "Please, please, please? I'll make sukiyaki for dinner tonight!"
Eddie had already put the set in and was smiling at his daughter.
"While I would like that, let's take it easy and order in one more night, okay baby?" He cooed, getting an enthuastic hug from Riko. With the grace and ease of a good parent, he picked her up and went to join his wife in another aisle.
The family then stocked up on toilet paper and towels, window shopped for a pet to get later on and explored the rest of the mall. Eddie managed to treat himself to a few good books on sale, and spied that Masane had slipped in something rather…risqué into her purchases, filling him with hope her will in keeping his punishment was failing….
A few hours later, the trio sat down at the food court. The two parents were exhausted beyond words and more than happy to take a late lunch/early dinner, but Riko remembered something they'd forgotten:
"I forgot aprons! Be right back!"
"Take daddy's card!" Eddie weakly raced after his daughter, making sure she could actually pay for what she needed before returning to his wife.
"Where do kids get all that energy?" She asked
"And when or why do we lose it?" He replied.
A cup of coffee was then placed in front of them
"Care for some?"
Yusuke then invited himself and explained that he was a journalist looking for a big scoop to be his meal-ticket, and he was pretty sure he had found it, placing something onto the table.
It was a picture of Masane in her Witchblade form
"HE KNOWS…..!" The Darkness smirked, giddy at the prospect of its host going on a slaughter-fest. But it was paid no mind.
Eddie paid the conversation his wife and the journalist were hving little mind, his anger at being relieved of his husbandly duties clouding his mind. This anger only increased when Yusuke unknowingly called Masane's Witchblade form a monster
'You call it a monster.' He thought as he decided to get invovled. 'I call it beautiful.'
"Hey, asshole." Eddie snapped. "Don't forget about me."
Yusuke broke away from questioning Masane to see the other person at the table.
"Pete?" He asked. "What happened to you hair?"
"You mistake me for my baby brother." The Darkness user glared at the man, making his hate for him clear. He was more than tempted to at least slash his face off when a familiar voice brought him out of his fantasies.
"Eddie?"
The trio looked over to see Riko being escorted back to the table, a bag of aprons in one hand and the other in the free hand of a familiar face.
"Hey mom, hey dad!" The little girl beamed. "I got us all matching aprons and ran in to uncle Petey!"
Masane ignored Yusuke to examine her daughter's purchases, rubbing her end.
"Hey Pete." Eddie smiled at seeing his half-brother again. "Thought you said you'd be working."
"I am." Peter explained, pointing to the two women that joined him. "This is Hope Pezzini and Cyan Fitzgerald."
The two women that ahd accompanied Peter seemed to focus their attention on Eddie, which made the darkness user go on the edge
"So, you're Eddie Estacado?" Hope asked, taking a sip from her own coffee and getting a nod in response as she bent down to get a good look at him. "Huh. You have his eyes, only….gentler."
"..Whose?" Eddie asked.
"My dads. Jackie Estacado. We have the same father."
To be continued….
Read and review would ye kindly?
This was supposed to be in chapter 3, but I figured that with Eddie's backstory, it was better to give this its own chapter.
Next time, the first fights start, Eddie learns a little about his father and a familiar face shows up. Hint; the Darkness II game trailer. And the NSWF might lose a prominent member while the Amahas gain a powerful ally.
Keep reading on and be safe