Chapter 7: The Search

"HE DID WHAAAT?!" shouted an infuriated Kushieda, almost causing her to lose balance of the large plate of food meant for a waiting customer. There was hardly ever a time that she was upset, but right now, I had to lean away from her so I wouldn't burn myself from the fire blazing in her eyes. Kushieda could seriously be scary when she wanted to be.

"You heard it, he completely cleaned me out. All of my funds that we were going to put into getting an apartment is gone." Said Taiga in an almost matter of fact tone. I knew that she was still upset, her expression was enough to know that, but since speaking with her the night before it seemed that she has been handling the situation much better. Kushieda on the other hand…

"THAT NO GOOD WRETCH OF A HUMAN! I SHOULD GIVE HIM A PIECE OF MY MIND, AND MY FIST WHILE IM AT IT! I-"

However she stopped when she realized most of the restaurants customers were looking at her with curious and concerned expressions. Her face turned about three shades of red before dropping her head and quickly going to drop off the food order that she was still holding to the waiting customers. Regular restaurant chatter among the people resumed rather quickly and Kushieda went to take her break, joining us at the table where she slumped down and laid her face on it, looking comically distraught.

Taiga let out a small giggle and pat the downed Kushieda on the head before saying softly, "I appreciate the concern, Minorin, and trust me I have a few things I would like to say to him to. But to be honest, I don't really care all that much."

Her statement caught my attention, and I looked over at her with a curious gaze.

"I mean, of course I am upset, this puts a damper on Ryuuji and I getting a home together. But as long as I am still with him at the end of the day, that's good enough." She finished, looking at me with soft eyes and that beautiful smile I had come to adore.

"Still" muttered Kushieda, barely audible with her face against the table, "Can't I just kick his butt a little bit?"

I chuckled at Kushieda, "Tempting offer, but not sure how well that would work out for us though. Perhaps in the immediate future that would have some satisfaction." I said to her in a thoughtful manner, earning a sigh from the red head. As much as I wished there could have been some kind of retribution as that, I knew there wouldn't be any good to come of it.

"But…" Taiga said, causing her friend to look up curiously from the table, "Ryuuji and I are looking to head to the town where the transaction was done, maybe we can get some idea as to where we can find him. Perhaps you'd want to-"

"HELL YES I WANT TO!" exclaimed a suddenly excited Kushieda as she sprung up energetically from her seat, standing with one foot on the table so she seemed like a triumphant conqueror. I had to stifle a chuckle for her sake, seeing how adamant she was on giving Mr. Aisaka what's for was rather amusing. I honestly didn't expect to find him, but something told me that if we at least went, it would be a step closer for Taiga to find some kind of closure.

"It's settled then" I said to the two of them, "we will head to the next town today, we can meet at the train station at around three, that way we can pack some things should we end up staying overnight."

"Aww yeah!" said an excited Kushieda, pumping her fist before hopping off the seat to clock back in for the rest of her shift. I shook my head and paid the tab for the lunch.

The train had shown up on time and before we knew it, the three of us were on our way to the next town, Kiriko. It was about a two hour trip, so I had made some rice balls as snacks for on the way, with the help of Taiga. I had to admit, she was getting much better at cooking, and I enjoyed the company in the kitchen. We were balling up the trash just as we arrived at the station, quickly making our way out before the doors got too crowded with people.

"Okay, I have the address to the bank right here" said Taiga, holding up the small slip of paper with the address scribbled down onto it. Following the road signs, we finally made our way to the center of the town, the bank was much bigger than the one we had back home, easily about fifteen to twenty stories tall. It was built of grey stone to about the third floor, then it was glass panels the rest of the way up. With a small sigh, the three of us made our way into the building, heading straight for the front desk.

"Excuse me" said Taiga, getting the desk lady's attention, "My name is Taiga Aisaka, and I am a member of this bank. I was wondering if my father had recently been in here."

The lady thought a moment, looking through the computer before shaking her head with a frown. "I'm afraid he hadn't been in since yesterday, if you would like, I could let him know you were looking for him"

"Do that! And leave a little message for the old man." barged in Kushieda, her eyes intense and wide, making the desk worker lean back in her seat in surprise and concern, "Tell him the storm is coming, and it's coming straight for him! So he better watch out! Mark my-"

"Okay we are leaving now, thank you so much for your help!" I said hurriedly as Taiga and I grabbed the overbearing red head and dragged her out of the building, still shouting out things about storms and watching people's backs. We continued onward until we were a few blocks away from the building, stopping at a nearby bench where Taiga and Kushieda slumped down onto. I leaned against the bench on Taiga's said, looking at the two with a curious gaze as to what would happen next.

"Minorin, you're my best friend, but dear god you go off the deep end a little too much sometimes." Said Taiga, rubbing her temples to try and relieve the small headache forming in her head. Kushieda in turn sat down with a dazed look in her eyes, as if she had just come down from a high. With a sigh, she looked over at Taiga and gave a sheepish grin.

"Hehe, sorry…" she said in reply as she rubbed the back of her head. Her expression then went to that of deep thought as she began recalling her outburst. "To be honest, I don't even remember what all I said. All I know is I began to think about your dad… then everything just went red. Next thing I know here we are!"

I assume I should've been more worried about the red head when she said that, but at the moment, I was just relieved she didn't get security called on us or something worse. "Well, it's over now. At least we know we found the right place, so he shouldn't be far from here. Maybe we can walk around a bit and see if we can catch a glimpse of him somewhere."

This seemed to satisfy the two, and soon enough we were making our way to all the nearby shops and restaurants, looking for any sign of Mr. Aisaka. Eventually our hunger forced us to stop at a small café where we had a quick dinner. The sun was quickly setting and we decided to go on ahead and find a hotel we could stay at. We quickly paid for the tab and made for the closest hotel we could find and checked in. We settled into the tatami room, removing our shoes and getting to work preparing the futons for bed. Kushieda made her way to the bathroom to change into her nightclothes with Taiga following soon after. Before I had the chance to go as well, Taiga stopped me with a hand on my chest. Looking up at me with cute, pleading eyes, she said;

"Ryuuji~" she started, "Would it be too much trouble to ask if you could pick up some snacks? Minorin and I wanna see what movies are on but it won't be as fun without something to munch on."

"First off, yes, it is too much trouble. But I assume you will just keep bugging me until I gave in, so I honestly see no point in arguing." I said in a low, but humored tone. Taiga beamed a bright smile at me and pulled me down to place a gentle peck on my cheek. Realizing I had no choice in the matter, I made my way back out and into the street. A few blocks down, I noticed a small convenience store and made for it as quickly as I could. I was only in there a few minutes before finding everything that I knew the girls would like. It suppressed a gag at all of the junk food that they would eat regularly. I mean seriously, how can you eat this stuff and not be sick? I paid for the food and as I waited for the clerk to count my change, I caught some movement from the corner of my eye. I looked over just in time to see a figure walk by the store window, and had just long enough of a glance to cause my heart to drop out of my chest.

Without hesitation, I made my way out of the store and followed the man. He didn't seem to notice as I followed, as he didn't change his pace or look back at all. I didn't know what it was that compelled me to follow, but something in my gut said I needed to at least try. He walked down a few more blocks until he came to what seemed like an old apartment complex. The building itself was pretty run down, the upkeep slim to none at all. Eventually the man stopped at a nearby door and began to fiddle with a small set of keys, now was my chance before he would walk in and disappear. With some reservation, I called out to the man; "M-Mr. Aisaka?"

The man stopped just as he had fitted the key into the lock, frozen in place as if time for him had stood still. After a few painstakingly long seconds, he turned around to face me, and what I saw made my heart drop to my stomach. It was most certainly him, well… what was left of him anyway. What used to be just a small amount of facial hair had turned into an unkempt mess of a beard, his hair just as neglected. He wore tattered clothes that seemed to hang on him, making him look almost frail. His eyes were still the same though, that same sad look in them that were there the day I first met him, but this time they seemed… sadder, heavier.

"W-wait… y-you're… Ryuuji aren't you?" he asked me in silent disbelief. I can understand his bewilderment, certain he didn't expect to see me of all people in a place such as this. For some reason, the words could not escape my mouth, so the most I could manage was a curt nod to answer his question. His eyes searched all around me, like he was taking in every detail to make sure that I was real and not some illusion. When he finally seemed satisfied, he asked me with a tentative tone, "This is… unexpected. What… what are you doing here?"

"You mean you don't know?" I asked quickly in response, suddenly able to find my voice, and a bit of my anger. "Mr. Aisaka, I understand you had made a transaction yesterday? Out of the joined account between you and Taiga?" I continued, and as I said it, I could see the color drain from his face and he almost seemed to falter in his stance. He seemed at a loss as to how he would respond, but I didn't give him time to do so. "You realize that what you did impacted Taiga in a very negative way right? How on earth could you do that to her? She has been shaken ever since she found out her funds were empty, not knowing that you of all people had done it."

"I know that! I don't need a punk like you to remind me!" came the shouted response of Mr. Aisaka, taking me by surprise. His eyes held a fair amount of anger, but that soon diminished, leaving behind an expression of exhaustion. "Come inside… there is a lot you need to hear…"

The inside of his home was almost as disheveled as he was, dished piled into the sink, clothes draped over furniture that I didn't even know were clean or dirty. Trash littered the floor everywhere I looked. When I was invited inside, I considered calling Taiga, but he asked me not to… something told me he didn't want his daughter to see how far he had fallen. Mr. Aisaka made his way to the living room where he sat down on the couch, motioning me to take a seat where I wanted. As soon as I did, he began to speak.

"I know there is a lot to explain… but in order to really say it, I need to start from the start, when my company was shut down." He said, his voice low and gruff. He took a deep sigh and leaned back on his couch, beginning his story:

"After the company had lost its funds, everything had gone downhill pretty fast. One bad investment and the next thing I knew we were up to our necks in financial debt. Left and right people began leaving the company, and without employees, less business could be made. I was stubborn. I held fast, hoping at some point we could pull through… but those hopes were shattered when we finally declared bankruptcy. It hit hard, but what happened after hit even harder… my new wife had left me when she learned about the company, took half the belongings, the whole nine yards. Had to sell what I had left just to pay what bills I had… I couldn't show my face around my town anymore after that… so I disappeared. I was homeless a few months until I found a small job and got enough to get this place. But even with what I'm getting, I'm still months behind on rent, not to mention the rest of my bills… I needed something to help pay off what I had. I still knew about the account… but I held off as much as I could… hoping something would happen and I could make my payments… so the bills kept piling up… now I'm facing eviction and threats of arrest warrants if I don't pay off what I owe… I got desperate… so I did the only thing I knew I could do…"

"You stole from your daughter" I said, finishing his sentence. Looking at him now, he looked even less than the Mr. Aisaka I had first met, nothing more than an empty shell. What I said seemed to have struck a blow, because for the longest time he didn't speak. He sat there with his hands folded on his lap, his eyes staring unblinking at the floor. Then in a sudden instant, he began to shudder, and before I knew it, he was crying.

"Never i-in my life would I ever th-think that I would d-do such a thing… any man wh-who would steal from their own child… i-isn't a man at all… I can't go a single day without looking into my mirror and feeling nothing but disgust!" he said in a flood of emotion. He buried his face in his hands and at that moment, I felt something in me change.

All this time, I thought he had done this just to spite Taiga, a last ditch effort just to try and prove some kind of point. I still had my reservations about him, still finding it hard to forgive him after what he did to Taiga. But at least at this moment… I could tell he was being genuine.

"I am a terrible father, I know this. There is nothing in the world that could redeem me for what I had done to her. I never showed it when I needed to… but I love my little girl… that is something I will never have the chance to say to her…" he said, his tone defeated and tired. If there was ever a time I felt bad for the man, it would be right now, seeing him as nothing more than a shell. I didn't know what to say to him, so I stayed quiet until he looked up at me, his eyes red, and asked "How is she?"

"Hm?" I said in response, "Oh, she is doing well. She is back in my town now… staying with my mother and I… we um… we are planning on getting married…"

Those last few words piqued his attention, and for a brief moment, there was something other than the empty tired look in his eyes… a small spark of emotion. He lowered his head once more, but I could see the small curve of a smile on his face as he responded "Is that so? Taiga… is getting married…"

With a small sigh, he looked up at me, this time some purpose behind his words as he spoke; "Ryuuji, I know that I have made far too many mistakes in my past to ever be a proper father to her, but right now, at this moment, I want you to promise me something. Seeing as I am no longer a part of her life, I have no say in what she does, so denying you two to marry would not have any effect. What I would like for you to promise is that you will treat her in every way that I should have done. Let her know she is a special, strong, amazing young woman… During this past year, I got to do a lot of reflection… and if there was something I could ever change, it would be to let my daughter know that her stupid bastard of a father still does care…"

He spoke with genuine care, that much I could tell. Perhaps this time he has had, the hardships he endured finally showed him just how much of an asshole he was. He still had a long road ahead of him, but something told me it would ease some of the burden if I promised to do as he said.

With a nod, I stood up and looked him in the eyes, "I promise." I said to him with confidence. Again he gave another smile, something he probably had not done in the past year, and nodded in satisfaction to my answer.


"There you are! Where the hell were you? I was worried sick you idiot!" came the exasperated voice of Taiga as I opened the door to the hotel room. She had bumped me in the chest in annoyance as she said this, almost making me drop the back of snacks I had gotten for the girls. Kushieda watched from further inside the room, deciding to not be directly involved where Taiga's anger was directed.

"Heh, sorry about that" I said as I rubbed the back of my head, handing off the snacks to Taiga to promptly took it and walked to Kushieda with a huff.

"I don't even know what could have happened that would have taken you so long. Maybe a pack of crazed street puppies carried you off somewhere" she said in her angered tone, but I had been around her long enough to know she was only giving me crap for the fun of it. She continued to tear open one of the pastry snacks and quickly devour the sweet as I laid next to her, flipping through the channels on the television.

Kushieda began to giggle childishly next to us on the separate bed, "crazed street puppies" she muttered to herself.

"To be honest, I am kind of glad we didn't see my dad." Said Taiga as she finished her pastry. I looked over to her to hear her continue, not sure whether or not I should tell her about my encounter. "Knowing my dad, he will most likely show his face when I least expect it, hopefully at least then I can get some kind of explanation for what he did."

"You don't sound angry" I said thoughtfully, causing her to look over at me then back to the television.

"Well… I'm still upset… but not exactly angry. Staying angry won't do anything for me, it won't make me find my dad and it certainly won't bring back the money I had lost. And it's like I said before… as long as I have you, I don't really care about what else happens." She said to me, giving me a warm smile before leaning down to plant a soft kiss on my lips.

It was easy to see how much she had matured this whole past year, no longer going after things as gung-ho as she used to, but taking the time to actually think it through. I returned the kiss and began to nuzzle into her when we were distracted by a gagging sound by Kushieda.

"You guys are so mushy gushy it makes me wanna barf!" she said in joke disgust

"Awe is Minorin jealous that Ryuuji is getting attention?" asked Taiga teasingly, she had begun to move to a crouching position, like a tiger getting ready to pounce, "Well then how about this!" she said, springing from our bed to Kushieda's, the red head yelping in surprise as the small girl landed on her and began to tickle her into submission. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the two wrestling, and soon enough, we spent the rest of that night acting like the complete idiots that we always were, with nothing to worry about.


Hey guys! I am soooo sorry for not updating in forever! Life multiplied by me changing jobs as well as some severe writers block has seriously done a number on me, but I swear to you all I have not forgotten this story or the awesome people who are following it! I know this chapter is kind of short, but I wanted to do as best I can without dragging it out, so I hope you enjoy it! Also, come this monday, because of my new job, I will have to be under the radar again for about seven to eight weeks, I am sorry for this but this job requires my full attention for the training and I will not have personal internet access for that time. But do know I have not stopped on this!

Love you all!