Chapter nine The 28th of September

James sat in the restaurant de Italica a few days later, the table was booked for eight but he had arrived half an hour before and was now sitting on the sofa by the bar waiting for Akiza and the twins to arrive. He wore a nice shirt and trousers for the occasion and sat there with a drink in his hand contemplating..."I've been asking myself this so much and I still don't have an answer, why did Vicky pick me for this job and what is she gonna get out of it?" "Akiza's not a business woman and she doesn't hold any big stock"...his thoughts however seemed to warm as he thought of that girl, "well it's not all bad...my work with Vicky will hopefully be over after this and who knows maybe it can continue afterwards on my own terms"...

An hour past and James was now on his second drink beginning to worry, "I do hope she's not got cold feet or if something's up with the twins he thought...or maybe it's something Yusei has done, God! If I was dating Akiza I would buy her flowers everyday and take her out for nice meals and"..."James are you okay, you seem a little out of it" said Akiza with a smile as she walked in the restaurant..."oh no no its fine said James a little flustered, now let's go and get our table"...

The night passed very well between the group with nice small talk going all around...Luna later on sensed that the two wanted to be alone for a while and convinced Leo that they should go to the late night drug store to buy some chocolate for afterwards..."I don't mean to pry or anything, but why were you guys late this evening Akiza? I hope nothing's wrong"..."oh don't worry it's no problem Akiza said having a sip of her wine, it's a combination really, I didn't want to drive here tonight so I had to ring round trying to book a taxi and neither of the twins could agree on what to wear...but there was one other thing though she said as her face dropped, I went to the hospital with Yusei today"..."wow James thought, she never talks about Yusei with me, if I ever mention him she asks to change the subject...what did you go for"? James asked. "Well it's no secret anymore but Yusei's been suffering from depression lately, at least that's what the doctor says, he's been drinking allot as well, whenever I go to his apartment I find drinks in the most obscure places as if he's trying to hide them from me...and then he gets all touchy saying that I'm not the boss of him and all that jazz...but last week we had a long talk about it and he finally admitted that he was having some issues. He said that he kept having blackouts and feeling really emotional all the time (not like him at all really) and so he needed to have a drink to help stabilise it"...

"He apologised for treating me badly and promised he would make amends"..."where is he now?" James asked quietly, "he's resting at home at the moment Akiza said, he didn't feel up to going out tonight, but please don't judge him James, Yusei is the most wonderful man in the world and he's the love of my life"...James sat there unsure of what to think but seeing some sparkles of hope in Akiza's eyes at the thought of her and Yusei's love made him happy..."look Akiza he said squeezing her hand gently, I don't know Yusei but what I can see in your eyes is your love for him and I know that he loves you too"...

"Thank you so much James Akiza said squeezing his had back, I've been so down lately and its friends like you who make all this bearable"..."Yeah...said James, hey why don't we go and find the twins and we can pop back to mine for a coffee, you could phone up Yusei while you're there if you like?" "Sure sounds good, Akiza said happily"...

The group after reuniting outside the drug store walked the few blocks back to James' apartment and sat there on his sofa happily snuggled up with some coffee and hot chocolate for the twins..."Ahh this is bliss" James thought...when suddenly the silence was broken with a loud knock at the door, followed by another and then another..."I better go and see who that is said James so he disentangled himself from the others and went to the door.

He opened it and was greeted with a strange sight..there was a man standing there in a blue biking Jacket and he had spiked hair with yellow hair dye running down the streaks, the man stank of gin and numerous other concoctions, but despite this his eyes were eerily focused gazing intently beyond James into the next room..."I know she's here don't deny it, Akiza!" He shouted. "Look man said James gazing sternly at him, If you are who I think you are you know full well that Akiza is out with some friends tonight, we've had a lovely time and I'm not going to let you spoil it for her"..."oh your all talk aren't you big man said Yusei squaring up to him, why don't we see if those big words of yours are as good when you're talking out the other side of your face! Akiza!" He shouted again.

This time Akiza came to the door and put a hand to her mouth, "Yusei what are you doing! This isn't like you!" She said half shouting, "Don't talk to me yusei snapped...oh wait yes do talk to me because i want to know what the hell is going on here!" "Look Yusei! Said James placing himself between him the two, this is my property and if you're not going to go away quietly then I'll call the police!" "Look James Akiza said her voice shaking, let me talk to him for a few minutes"..."are you sure?" asked James looking concerned..."yeah I'm sure thank you", she walked off into the kitchen and Yusei followed banging the door shut...

James hadn't heard the exact words of the conversation, only the two involved knew that but they mostly relied on terms such as witch, black rose and drunk obscenity...but he had heard the impact, James had immediately lead the twins away when they had started arguing and considered intervening when it got more violent, but then he saw a bright red flash erupt from the under the door followed by a crash...James stormed in expecting the worst and saw Akiza, her hair flying like an angry bird panting, her eyes glowing red and tears streaming down her face..."Yusei! she said rushing over to him I'm so sorry I didn't mean too"...Yusei was lying on the floor with a seeping wound on the back of his head, James immediately left the room and phoned for an ambulance, his mind was all over the place, he didn't know what to think, "had she lashed out at him or was it in self defence I don't know!"...he thought to himself as he dialled 999...

The present

James throughout his whole tale seemed to go into a kind of trance as if he were reliving the events all over again, when he had finished he looked out into the room again, everyone seemed to have their head in their hands, Jack and Crow sat there completely silent gazing at the floor, Akiza's parents had been moved to tears and were being comforted by Carly and Jasmine. It was like an emotional explosion had gone off with everyone feeling the impact; even Yusei had lost his cold glare and looked rather pale as he relived his own version of events in his mind. The only person who seemed to be unaffected was Vicky who sat there with a slight smile, "how can that woman sit there like this Michael fumed"...

"Thank you James said Kia for your account you may step down now, (for he had been standing up there still for a few minutes) oh..right..yeah he said and he walked away. "Now then Kia said I hope all of our witnesses here have painted an adequate picture for you, here stands Yusei fudo a man admired by so many and yet he was able to fall from grace to a state of darkness, how may I ask did someone with such love and beauty in their heart turn to this state"...

"I think I have an answer for that said Ms Astrid who now stood up, it is indeed a very good picture you have painted for us...I mean it makes MR Fudo out to be a bit of a monster doesn't it...but let me tell the jury now that the facts can stand up for themselves...Mr Fudo has for example never caused any public stress and as you say is admired by many. Your client on the other hand along with the rest of the arcadia movement have numerous convictions, enough to spend a life time in the facility in fact, but you've always been able to slip away like snakes, back into your hideout! Your total disregard for the ordinary citizen Ms Izinsci has frankly been barbarian in nature, but anyway...she said quickly I would like to call my final witness now"...