Author's Note: Hello! Thanks to everyone who's read and special thanks to all those who left reviews last chapter! Shout out to Aerl who's been a constant reviewer, crazykatz411 who binge read the story, TheBloodyArrow who is another loyal reviewer, phixxfan100 who, if I'm not mistake, has been around since the beginning, and all the anonymous guests and others who have reviewed.
Please continue to support me in this endeavor, I'm enjoying writing it and reading it for myself and I like knowing others are enjoying it too.
Disclaimer: I only own characters like Suzumi, Haruka, and the Osiris Brethren. The rest are owned by Voltage, INC.
This isn't violence this is just a war in my head,
I give it time but it never seems to end.
I feel a fire in the back of my throat,
So let's get covered in flames and play some games with the smoke
Smoke - Pvris
Fourteen.
Suzumi frowned, confused at Soryu's harsh words. None of her business? Her life at this point revolved around the Ice Dragons and she told him as such.
"But I am here because of the Ice Dragons. I am here because of you. I've told you things, I'm trying hard to remember information to help you get rid of an enemy. Is that still nothing? Does that mean it's still none of my business?"
"What the Ice Dragons do at the end of the day, regardless of any information you give us, is still unrelated to what you should know." Soryu sighed and his frown deepened. "You're undermining the work I have put into protecting you. How can I possibly keep you from Taichi if you insist on meeting him head on?"
"What good am I locked up in a gilded cage? This hotel is over the top in lavish decoration and service, it has incredible security, and it has six psychopaths running black market auctions in a subbasement!"
"Stop being dramatic," Soryu barked. But Suzumi continued.
"No! What good am I if I can't mentally mess with that asshole? I am technically a dead woman. I'm being kept in a fancy bird cage and thrown treats in the form of clothes or human contact with people like Samejima. But I want more. I can do more for you! I'm smart, damnit, I'm willing!"
"Enough!" He reached out for her shoulders, but found his hands knocked away.
"No!" She pushed against his chest, a small part of her satisfied when he let out a soft grunt of pain. One palm smacked against him again halfheartedly and he was surprised to see her hands grab at his shirt and fist the material between her fingers. Looking closely, he could see her eyes wet before she bowed her head and hunched her shoulders.
"Suzumi?" Soryu said quietly, unsure. Laying a hand on her shoulder, he could feel her shaking softly.
"Let me help you. Let me do this." It wasn't a plea, it wasn't begging. It was a demand. Her voice was thick and Soryu knew that he had made her cry, but he was surprised at the conviction that came so strong from her. He squeezed his hand on her shoulder gently to calm her, worried when the shaking didn't stop.
He sighed. "Why is this so important?"
She looked up, red eyes meeting his. She didn't try to let go of his shirt, but instead stood up straighter. "I want control over him. I'm not asking for a gun so I can shoot him on sight, I don't know if I could shoot someone like that. I want to show him who I am now, I want him to remember me as anyone but the woman he kicked around before throwing me out and sentenced to a watery grave."
Soryu and Suzumi locked eyes and stared at one another, a battle of wills seemingly ensuing. Suzumi's fists stayed locked on his chest and after a few moments, Soryu let out another sigh and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.
"I'm not saying yes yet. But we need to have a solid plan. If we have a plan that I can agree with settled that keeps you safe and has little headache, then I'll probably say yes." He moved his hand from her shoulder to sit on top of her head. "Can you agree to this?"
Suzumi bit her lip. "Yeah. It sounds fair." She looked down again and took a step back. When Soryu took a step forward, she started.
He laughed softly. "You can let go of my shirt now. You basically won." He frowned, but his voice lacked any real bitterness.
Suzumi flushed, realizing she still had a tight grip on him and immediately let go. She flexed her fingers to regain some feeling in them. "I didn't realize I was holding on so tightly. I'm sorry."
"You've picked an odd time to suddenly be meek," Soryu quipped, smoothing out some of the wrinkles she'd created. "Let's go to the meeting with the others."
"But they left ages ago, won't we have missed stuff?" she asked, confused as he beckoned her to follow.
"No," he sighed. "Those idiots are probably gossiping right now. They'll pretend to have been talking the whole time when we go in. Ignore any teasing."
Suzumi nodded and followed close behind.
/*\
Soryu hadn't been wrong in the slightest. Ota and Baba naturally lead the pack in their assault, Eisuke throwing in a taunt with a wide smirk before calling the meeting back to order. It was plain to see he was satisfied with the mortified look on Suzumi's face, even with Soryu threatening to pull out his gun from his jacket.
"How long do we have?" Ota asked, looking up from a stack of photographs, items going through authenticity checks.
"About two hours max," Eisuke said, sitting back in his chair.
"Two hours before what?" Suzumi asked, confused. She couldn't follow their line of conversation.
Baba smiled and gestured to the group. "Haruka. Her shift ends in about an hour and a half. She hates the auctions and just pouts and frowns the entire time we plan if she's present. So we opt to work when she's working when possible."
"Eisuke hasn't trained her properly," Ota smirked.
"I'll do what I wish with my woman. She's come a long way," Eisuke said, glaring.
"True. Remember when she tried to stop one?" Kishi let out a plume of smoke from his seat on the couch. "She hasn't done anything like that since. Now she just glares at us."
"Why does she hate it so much? Who cares?" Suzumi asked, sitting next to Soryu on the couch with Eisuke.
"She's got a strong sense of right and wrong. She's very black and white with no grey in between." Soryu picked up a stack of papers in front of him and began thumbing through them. "She's the ultimate moral compass, but unfortunately she learns lessons the hard way because of that, too."
"And she gets along with everyone still?"
"She's a good woman. Very earnest and honest to a fault because of that moral compass. I think of everyone, she can't get over me being a thief, " Baba answered.
"She's none too pleased with me bein' a cop doin' this, either," Kishi added, smirking.
"And yet I make her come to the auctions," Eisuke said, matter of fact. "However, she won't be at the next one. I want my focus on you and Souma and she can be a handful." To the others, he said, "Let's cover the usual business before we move on to our extracurriculars."
"Is it okay if I make myself some coffee?" Suzumi asked, pointing to the table to the side.
"Do as you please."
"Hold still! I have to check it like Luke told me to!" Suzumi chastised Soryu from her position on the couch. He stood over her, frowning as he examined his now mostly healed wound. He held back the grimace that wanted out as she directly poked the old bullet wound.
"I feel like you're doing more than you need to, " he bit out, wincing. He did a double take at the smile on her face.
"Don't know what you mean," she said pleasantly. Her smile remained.
"You're enjoying this."
"I enjoy many things in life. You're set, Soryu."
Suzumi pat him on the arm and let him go, watching the mob boss as he stalked to his room to grab his shirt, smile never leaving her face. After he disappeared around the corner, she began the cleanup of his discarded bandages. After two weeks, and a slight infection caused by Baba, Soryu was allowed to now to forego bandages and leave the Tres Spades to continue his work on site. Judging how fidgety he'd been during her exam and disinfecting, he was eager to get back to the Ice Dragons' office. Phone calls to his group both in Japan and in Hong Kong and meetings with Inui and Samejima were not as effective, he lamented after each one finished.
"Can I come with you to the office?" she asked when he came out of the bedroom, throwing on his jacket.
"Why?" Soryu asked, skeptical.
"I have a theory and I would like to talk to Samejima and Aki about it. You've had them doing recon, right?"
Soryu weighed his options, trying to ignore the hopeful face the woman was giving him. Each theory and hunch she'd had since arriving in his doorstep had been correct, she'd already proven herself more than worth the money he'd paid for her. His main concern was a possible rival attack on their way to headquarters. While not common on a daily basis, any number of rivals could attempt an attack and he wasn't sure if he would be able to protect both himself and Suzumi.
As if sensing the cause for his hesitation, she said, "Samejima taught me ways to double back and keep myself inconspicuous. If you're worried because I'd be with you, I could go a little ahead or behind."
"Absolutely not." Quick to shoot down the thought of her being alone, Soryu glared but Suzumi wasn't phased. "Stick with me or you don't go at all. Go get ready, I'm leaving in ten minutes."
As soon as she left the room, he had an overwhelming urge that he'd been played. Sighing, he checked his phone and idly waited for her to change. He moved the idea of giving her self defense training to the top of his list again. Baba still owed him and was was going to need it before the auction in less than two weeks. Given any percent that she could be separated from him in the melee that was the I.V.C., he wanted to ensure she had the opportunity to run or incapacitate someone until he or the other Ice Dragons arrived. Now that he was mostly healed, he could take part in certain lessons as well. This was something he was very pleased with, it ensured she would get proper lessons.
Right as ten minutes were up, he began to call out for Suzumi, but stopped short when she walked out of her room, another smile on her face. She stopped in front of him and gestured to the door.
"Are we going now?"
"You're awfully pleased with yourself, aren't you?"
"I'm just behaving like I was told to," she laughed. She waited for him to head to the door first.
"Like you were told to?"
"Well, besides just listening to you… Luke said I should be a little more open. So I'm trying to be a little more honest with what I think." She played with the fringe of her shirt nervously, the only sign she was unsure.
Soryu smirked and nodded in understanding. "A lot makes sense now. You're very bold today."
Suzumi's smile faded slightly, but was still present. "This is how I used to be."
Laying a hand on her head, Soryu ruffled her curls a little, getting the annoyed squawk of protest he'd been hoping for. "That's a little terrifying. Let's go."
A half hour later, the two entered Ice Dragon headquarters, surprising many of Soryu's subordinates. The surprise seemed to be a happy one, as the men all gathered around their boss with cheerful greetings and questions about a business trip they all thought he'd been on. Once things settled with brief answers from Soryu, the men started greeting Suzumi as well.
"Hi there, Suzumi!"
"Hey there, boss woman!"
"Princess!"
Suzumi froze at the last one, the smile she was giving the others turning brittle. "Oh no…'
Inui bulldozed through the other men and reached out to grab Suzumi's hands, but was shut down by Soryu.
"Inui, enough!"
Like an admonished dog, Inui backed up and frowned. The other men laughed, joking about how the kid was trying to take the boss's woman. Suzumi looked between the seemingly infinite sad eyes of Inui and the narrowed eyes of Soryu who stood next to her protectively. With a sigh, when spoke to the young gang member.
"Hello, Inui. Good to see you today. Let's just keep it down a bit today, okay?"
Inui's frown disappeared as he began looking pensive. "Princess, you're very kind. I went overboard, didn't I?" He hung his head sadly and bowed. "I'm sorry."
Suzumi waved her hands, gesturing for him to stand. "It's fine, don't bow. You just need to tone it down a bit."
Inui nodded. "Samejima was saying something about that, but I thought he was trying to tease me."
"Just behave," Soryu said firmly. "We'll have our meeting in an hour. I'll be in my office until then. Suzumi." Soryu began walking towards the back of the building, not bothering to see if she followed. He knew she was just a step behind him.
The other Dragons in the room poked fun at Inui as they walked away, a few admonishing the younger man for his over enthusiasm. When both Soryu and Suzumi made it to his private office, Soryu locked the door with a definitive click and pulled out a thick Manila file.
"Look these over for any patterns. Use a notepad to jot things down. Include anything you know that could help that isn't mentioned. If you're one hundred percent certain it's viable information, include it directly into the paperwork."
He sat down and pulled out a second folder, one not as thick but had plenty of place markers and spare notebook paper jammed inside.
"What's in that one?" Suzumi asked, pulling her chair up to the front of Soryu's desk. She watched as Soryu tapped the cover of the folder pensively.
"Information that's been intercepted from Osiris Brethren foreign offices. Transcripts, recorded conversation, emails, et cetera. We need to try and decipher it soon, but I'm having trouble finding people who can read through them smoothly."
Suzumi blinked, confused at what she was hearing. "Soryu, I'm a communications major. I could probably do those for you."
He shook his head. "Focus on what I've given you. I'll find a translator."
"What languages?"
"No."
"Soryu, for a man who found out so much about me when he came into possession of me, you're acting very ignorant. Did you not find out how many languages I speak? The odds that I speak what you have in that folder are very high. Granted, I don't speak aboriginal or any tribal languages, but I know quite a bit of the major world languages."
Soryu's eyes narrowed. "How many?"
"Total including basic concepts are about eight or nine. Fluently, about five outside Japanese." She didn't skip a beat, crossing her arms at the incredulous look he gave her.
"Which?" He did little to hide the sudden excitement in his voice. The growing smirk on his face only encouraged her own.
"English, Chinese, Italian, French, and Russian. I was working on Spanish, which if I get back to that sooner than later, I can say I'm fluent by the end of the year. I have basic concepts of Portuguese, Arabic, and German."
Soryu fought to keep from gaping at her. "How…"
Suzumi shrugged. "I've always been good with words and language. It's why I went to school for communications and the like. I'm terrible at math, but I make up for it in being able to insult people nine different ways."
"Did Souma know about this?"
"Doubtful. We didn't do a lot of talking. And I met Ren by chance just the once in a bookstore. Taichi had very little interest in me so long as I never got pregnant." She snorted disdainfully.
Soryu let out a laugh, deep from his belly. The sound startled Suzumi for a moment, but she relaxed when she realized how hard he was laughing. Sitting in confusion, she waiting a full minute before his undignified laughter tapered off into wheezing. He attempted to get his breathing under control while the woman in front of him squirmed.
"What's so funny?"
"Those idiots had no idea what they had."
"I don't follow."
"Suzumi," Soryu finally calmed down and leveled his eyes with her own. "You are probably one of the greatest assets we have ever had. You have a sharp mind, mind-boggling skills, and are tougher than most women. I will regret the day our deal is done, for a multitude of reasons."
"I'm glad I can be a useful tool," she whispered, looking down. There was a pause in the room, one that suddenly felt awkward. Before it could drag on, Suzumi reached across the desk and yanked the folder from Soryu's hands. "Leave both of these to me. I'll have them done before I have to go back to the hotel tonight."
"Suzumi," Soryu began, but was cut off by a knock on the door.
Striding over to the door, he unlocked it and swung it open to see one of his men, Kaede, bowing in apology. "What?"
"Boss, Samejima came back and dropped off more foreign documents. He told me to get them to you, as he left again for another task." Kaede handed Soryu a thick folder.
Before Soryu could crack them open to skim through, Suzumi slid up next to him and grabbed the folder.
"Thank you, Kaede. I needed more to do." She put on a grin and waved the folder. Ignoring Soryu's narrowed eyes, she calmly walked back to her chair and sat in it gracefully. Oblivious to the tension, Kaede gave a friendly wave back to Suzumi and a respectful bow to Soryu, leaving quickly.
"I'm going to the meeting. Stay here."
"Fine, fine. I've got plenty to do here." Suzumi waved off Soryu who still stood by the door. She didn't raise her head from the folder she was skimming.
"We're going over other Ice Dragon business so you won't be necessary. You'll have a lot on your plate, being so over eager." He eyed her dubiously. "Are you sure you can handle it?"
Suzumi nodded. "Piece of cake. This top document is in a form of English and French. It's an American dialect called Creole. It's tricky but I can handle it."
Soryu nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Waiting until she heard his footsteps fade down the hall, Suzumi let out a sigh. She sat down the folder and stretched her arms, letting out the tension that had built up in her shoulders and muscles.
"Something is different," she muttered, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
She was unable to put her finger on it, but something had shifted and it was nagging at her, begging for attention. Since she had cried openly in front of Soryu, the atmosphere between the two of them had changed and she was unable to decipher to what was so different. It reminded of of their first few weeks around each other, awkward glances and dancing around one another. But even that had felt different than this somehow.
Sighing again, Suzumi shook her head and pulled close her notepad and the Creole document, ready to translate. Pen hovering over the paper, she took in the words and allowed her hand to make the necessary movements, the new words scribbling across the once blank page.
A/N: Thanks again for reading, please let me know your thoughts. You should have picked up on the change, like Suzumi has. What you've all been asking for is now developing, but this isn't just an in and out story, we're developing a fine wine. So savor it!
Last chapter, I asked which character(s) other that Soryu were your favorite. Now, which character is your least favorite? This doesn't just limit you to the original five, but the others, Luke and Shuichi from season 2 as well. I tend to go through phases when I go back to play the game. Right now, I'm not a fan of Mamo, but his season 3 was just released so that may change. I just got over my Ota phase and after the Anniversary event Voltage gave us, I'm digging Eisuke again. I need more Luke in my life, though.
Anyway, thanks for reading, leave me some words!
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