~Chapter Thirty-Six~

Persistence

If I Don't Need You, Then Why Am I Crying On My Bed?
If I Don't Need You, Then Why Does Your Name Resound In My Head?
If You're Not For Me, Then Why Does This Distance Maim My Life?
If You're Not For Me, Then Why Do I Dream Of You As My Wife?

I'll Never Know What the Future Brings,
But I Know You're Here With Me Now.

~ If You're Not The One, by Daniel Bedingfield

Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.

After I had pulled back, breathing hard with exertion and lack of oxygen, I stared straight at him with bright blue eyes, an earnest expression on my red, flushed face. I cupped his cheeks in my palms and stubbornly insisted, "I love you."

My boyfriend reached forward and brushed his lips against mine yet again, this time more insistently, and then smiled widely at me. "I love you, too, sweetheart," Takashi whispered, his silver eyes shining brightly.

I insistently tugged at his sleeve, tugging him down to my small height, about twelve inches below his mouth. With a small smile of absolute bliss, I leaned forward and kissed him again. And Takashi kissed back.

Takashi's P.O.V.

For the last month, Sammy and I danced around and around and around each other in a mating ritual older than time – I, Morinozuka Takashi, was courting Samantha May Steel. I would hold her hand with gentle fingers, Sammy would affectionately hug me, and I would stifle the need to place my mouth to hers in a passionate kiss. Claiming her in front of the entire student body did seem logical because of the number of other single men – my rivals – in the school, but when I tried going further with the courtship, Sammy would shy away and blush furiously behind her curtain of blonde hair. She hated drawing attention to our relationship, especially while at school, but I wanted the entire world to know that Sammy was mine.

Our first date was not perfect, but I smiled whenever the memories of Sammy and I calmly walking through the zoo, smiling and holding hands, came to mind. I quietly laughed at the thought of the small blonde female following the animal footprints painted to the sidewalks, her blue eyes glittering with happiness and lips parted from the force of another of her famous fits of giggles and snorts. Sammy, I learned, loved animals just like I did, and relished spitting out facts and random references between the Hosts and the exotic creatures living at the Ueno Zoo. I also remember watching her lips – soft, pink, plump lips – open and close to form the words.

Groaning, I narrowed both eyes and pictured her pink lips, which tasted both sweet and salty, like chocolate covered pretzels. I inhaled sharply, clutching the steering wheel of the silver and blue Lamborghini Veneno – a nice present from father for my eighteenth birthday last year – so tightly that my nails and knuckles turned white from the strain. Thankfully, I was stopped at a red light and closed both silver eyes when I remembered kissing her passionately for the first time, her lips beneath mine, warm and soft and willing.

Above all else, I remembered her soft but stubborn declaration to me, and I could almost hear a sweet voice singing my name. Takashi. No one ever referred to me without honorifics, with the exception of close family and friends, and I could feel both hands twitch and tighten around the steering wheel again. My tanned cheeks flushed lightly with warmth, the red skin less obvious than normal in the darkness of late evening. Three little words, sweet and sincere, were whispered into my ears now. My heart fluttered in my chest like wings. I love you!

Beep! Beep! Beep! BEEP!

Caught off guard, I startled at the sound of the various horns blaring all around the Lamborghini – the other drivers were seemingly frustrated with the fact that I did not drive forward when the red stoplight changed to green – and I hastily shifted the gear out of Park and intoDrive. My beautiful sports car immediately jumped to life and eagerly zipped through the next ten streets without stopping once. I passed dozens of expensive restaurants, movie theatres, night clubs, dance halls, and beaches on my way, all of which could be the perfect spot for our next date. Pink lips came to mind again, threatening to consume me alive, but I warily blinked the nice images away and concentrated only upon returning home, to Morinozuka Manor.

I continued to calmly drive down the familiar and busy streets of Tokyo, Japan, focusing intently upon what I would be asking my parents – and rather soon. My gray eyes were now glued to the digital clock embedded deep within the console of the car, and I could not help but feel like the blue numbers were meanly glaring at me. Annoyed, I glared back at the clock, frustrated with the fact that I could feel this nervous about asking for what I already considered to be both my duty and right as the firstborn child – the heir – of the Morinozuka Clan. It was a matter of personal choice, and yet…

How will I ask him for this boon, I grimly realized, lifting my right hand and nervously running my sweaty fingertips through thick locks of black hair, when I know that Otou-san will likely refuse before I even open my mouth?

Thirteen minutes later and I still could not find the answer. Instead, I could only steer the silver Lamborghini down the paved driveway that circled the front gardens, curved off to one side, and ended at the garages. I was intent upon completing the quest that I would be undertaking within mere moments. My frazzled mind whirred constantly, much like a computer in overdrive, while I tried desperately to contemplate the possibility of this dream, the bright, beautiful future that I desired, being approved.

Would I be able to stay with Sammy, or would I be ordered to let her go?

The photograph clipped to the mirror, in which Sammy and I were standing together, arm in arm, and focused only upon each other, called to me. Hey, Takashi-kun! I smiled faintly, grateful for what – and who – I was given by Kami, and reached out to trace the lines of her face, her eyes, and her lips. My Sweetheart was, as expected, grinning widely at me and curled into my side, her cheeks flushed red with happiness. And I could be seen returning her grin with my own small albeit affectionate smile.

The nice photographer at Ueno Zoo, who appeared to be in his early fifties, noticed this, as well. He chuckled fondly and stubbornly insisted that Sammy and I would always be together. We were soul mates, Yoshi-san said. But I could not be so sure. What will happen to us now?

One word could begin the destruction of all that Sammy and I worked to create with one another throughout the last several months, from becoming friends to falling in love. Otou-san could end all of that, and much more, simply by refusing to grant the favor that I would ask of him. Now, I could be forced by my parents to break the courtship given that Sammy was a commoner and her bloodlines were not of noble origins. I grimaced at the thought. If Sammy did not exist in my world, I think that I would actually cease to exist, too. My heart would break in two pieces if Sammy and I were not permitted to see one another again.

"I would die for you," I whispered to the picture, once more running gentle fingertips down her smiling face, memorizing the illustrated lines of her lips, teeth, and smile, "but I would die without you, as well…"

The locked gates slowly creaked backwards at my arrival, and I slowly removed the fingertips from the vivid photograph of Sammy and myself. I flashed the bright headlights twice, signaling that I would be parking the expensive sports car in the second of the three garages, and the night attendant stationed at that building quickly jogged out to retrieve the keys from me. My key set chirped softly when I turned the ignition off and the driver side door clicked right open with yet another press of the button. I gracefully turned to exit the car, grateful to be home, and I lifted two strong and muscled legs to move me up and out into the open.

"Welcome home, Takashi-sama," Yuuji quietly stated, before bowing low to me and entering the vehicle with my approval – and the keys. His black hair and lightly tanned skin vanished behind the tinted glass but, after rolling the windows down, Yuuji smiled at me, somehow sensing my chilling feelings of distress, and kindly added, "Have a good night."

My heart warmed at the sincere greeting and words, but I only nodded at him in return, feeling that it would not do to open my mouth when I could start nervously spitting out the details about my date and what I wanted to ask Otou-san tonight. Yuuji, however, did not seem offended in the least and, before parking the Lamborghini, nodded back at me and casually rolled the open windows up. Orange, red, and yellow taillights flared brightly and zipped into the night.

Our staff did not expect me to speak often, but Yuuji was one of the few who did not attempt to coax me into conversing with others. It was very well known within the Morinozuka Clan that I generally remained silent until the point in time that I needed to speak. Otherwise, I would only explain myself with simple gestures and actions – unless Mitsukuni was present and willing to translate, anyway. The matter must be serious indeed before I would speak with anyone about the situation. This situation, for example, demanded that I speak – and to my parents, who would likely be eating dinner at this time of night.

I shrugged both shoulders lightly, done with that particular train of thought, and warily began walking through the dimly lit rooms, my gray eyes searching for traces of human life. Once, I stopped to gently ruffle the downy feather of Piyo, my pet chicken. He chirped softly, pleased, and situated himself in my shirt pocket with mild confusion. His usual perch was in my jacket pocket, but I'd practically demanded that Sammy continue wearing the coat when I finally noticed just how short her dress was – and how many guys were checking her legs out.

My eyebrow twitching faintly, I started climbing the steps and entering the foyer, which I found, thankfully, to be empty. Upon meandering down the long hallways and entering the dining hall, however, I did not see anyone at the dinner table, with the exception of – "Hi, Taka-nii-san!" – my younger brother, Satoshi. My lips curled into a small smile, although I truthfully did not want to sit down and listen to him chat incessantly right now. He and I were very close, so I would not risk hurting his feelings because I was not in the mood to listen to him talk.

"Hello, Ototo," I softly said, before turning my attention from the empty seat at the head of the table to face the smaller and skinnier version of myself. Satoshi looked remarkably like I did at his age, with small shoulders, longer hair, and little (noticeable) muscle to speak of. "How are you?"

"I'm good!" Satoshi chirped, flashing both his bright smile and the classic peace sign at me, and then gestured to the empty seat directly to his left. "Have a seat!" His smile faltered faintly when I obediently walked forward, moved the chair back, and practically dropped to the cushioned seat with a groan. "You look tired, Taka-nii!"

Silver eyes opened and turned to stare at him, amused, and then closed again. Why does Satoshi always feel the need to end all of his sentences with exclamation points? I thought, snorting in exasperation to hide the fact that I wanted to start laughing uproariously. Quietly, I bit back a sigh, to which Piyo chirped softly in concern. I rubbed his head between my index finger and thumb. Man, I am really tired…

Ignoring the fact that I did not want to talk, and mainly because I could feel how incredibly tired I was at the moment, I nodded quickly in agreement, rubbing my ear into the lace tablecloth. I blinked and then yawned into my open palm, before wearily responding, "Yes, I am."

Ever the dramatic Morinozuka, Satoshi wilted like a rose and pouted at me with this utterly adorable expression glued to his face. "How was your date, then?" Satoshi worriedly asked, hurriedly pouring a cup of hot tea and pushing it in my general direction. "Good?"

"Ah," I mumbled in response and carefully lifted the expensive china set – from Paris, Oka-san gushed – with both hands. Suddenly, Piyo poked his head out from within my pocket and unceremoniously dipped his beak into my cup. I sweatdropped.

"'Ah.'" Satoshi repeated blankly, his black eyes empty of emotion, and stared – first at me, and then the chicken. "You either really like that tea –" Here, Satoshi gestured to the cup in my palm "– or you enjoyed the date." His lips twitched into a small, teasing grin and his eyes glittered with laughter when I sheepishly moved the cup aside and grabbed another. "Which is it?"

Tentatively, I sipped at the hot tea and savored the bitter taste of dark black tea rushing over my tongue and into my growling stomach, soothing the beast. "Sammy-chan and I visited Ueno Zoo this afternoon." I smiled faintly at the memories swimming in my cup of tea. "We really enjoyed ourselves, too…"

My little brother immediately perked back up and loudly exclaimed, "I'm so glad that you and Sammy-nee-chan had fun, Taka-nii!" He smiled happily, oblivious to the fact that I was openly staring at him, surprised at the fact that Satoshi referred to her like his sister when Sammy and I were not engaged.

"Thank you," I slowly responded, the wary pause in my words almost audible, and continued to swirl the black tea around and around the china cup. When I noticed Satoshi's maniacal smile widen, however, I sweatdropped and added, I think…

Satoshi sipped at his own cup of tea and hummed pleasantly in the back of his throat, clearly enjoying the taste of the tea – and the obvious discomfort that crawled into my gaze. He smiled again, white teeth almost blinding in the dark room, and turned back to stare at me with wide black eyes. Innocently, Satoshi blinked in a strange fashion and asked, "You kiss her yet?"

Oh, Kami! I twitched in disbelief and debated throwing my cup of (incredibly hot) tea at his forehead. My teeth clenched tightly together, I leaned back, crossed both arms over my wide chest, and sternly reprimanded, "Satoshi!"

"What?" Satoshi whined like a puppy, obviously immune to the stern glare burning holes in his youthful face. Gray eyes opened wide, Satoshi channeled his inner puppy and started the (fake) waterworks. He loudly wailed, "I'm just concerned for your sudden love life, Taka-nii!"

I initially considered telling him to (just fuck off and) keep his questions to himself; however, I eventually gave in to his cute puppy eyes, reminded of both Mitsukuni and Sammy. Blushing, I sighed in defeat and then nervously rubbed at my neck. "Ah…"

"Awesome!" Satoshi cheerfully bellowed, beaming at me in approval and clapping his hands together. His gray eyes suddenly glinted with mischief, and I started sweating nervously at the sight of the positively evil smile plastered to his lips. "So when are you and Sammy-nee-chan getting married?"

Needless to say, I did not expect this question and, having taken a sip of tea at that exact moment, began to choke lightly on my mouthful of tea. I coughed to clear my scratchy throat, which burned, and turned to halfheartedly glare at my sweet, innocent, conniving, and evil little brother. I really wanted to scold him for deciding to ask that blunt question, but in all honesty, I needed to confide in someone, as well. Who better than my ototo?

"I do not know," I honestly responded, flashing gray eyes in his direction and permitting him to see my inner turmoil. Marriage was not something to be taken lightly in our world and, while I did not think it problematic that I'd fallen in love with a commoner, it would likely bother our parents.

Exasperated, Satoshi lifted his hands in the air and demanded, "Why not?" A piece of pork fried shrimp exploded from his fork as a consequence, but the overdramatic male remained oblivious to the occurrence.

The maids will find it eventually, I suppose. I frowned into my cup and blankly stared into my murky reflection, taking note that I appeared both happy and exceptionally worried, which I admittedly found to be a strange combination on me. Will I find the answers that I seek?

"Well," I slowly said, sipping at the hot drink to rid it of the weird images swirling within the black tea, "I want to, but…" Then I trailed off, subconsciously petting Piyo and letting the words in my mind fall into empty silence.

Like Mitsukuni, however, Satoshi could understand exactly what I wanted to speak without my actually having to voice the words, and gently asked, "…but you're afraid that Otou-san won't approve of her, right?"

I sadly nodded at him in agreement, focusing on my nearly empty china cup, which I noticed seemed to be swimming suspiciously before my eyes. Hastily, I reached upwards to my nose and pinched the slender bridge of cartilage between my now wet fingers. Attempting to hide the fact that I was near crying did not work with Satoshi, though, and I could feel his hand – smaller than my own and yet bigger than I remembered it being a year ago – on my shoulder. He smiled gently and squeezed his hand, momentarily increasing the pressure, and then let go. I missed the comfort almost immediately.

"Takashi, I want to know," Satoshi started the question and then stopped, his gray eyes serious now and not curious or mischievous, like usual. He sucked in a small breath of air, released it, and turned to inquire, "Are you going to talk to him tonight?" There was no need to ask who Satoshi referred to, either.

"Yes," I responded slowly, almost hesitantly to be honest, because the earlier nerves were now returning in full force, bouncing up and down in my stomach like jellybeans. Thankfully, I decided not to eat the cookies to my right and settled for drinking only tea.

Like a curious dog, Satoshi cocked his head to the side in thought. He stared at me, opened his mouth to ask another question, and then pushed his pink lips together, shaking his head back and forth. His eyes softened, and Satoshi kindly said, "I'm really happy for you, Taka-nii-san."

"Thanks, Ototo," I whispered the endearment, before reaching over and ruffling his hair in a soft and teasing manner. My brother might be younger than I, but I realized with regret that Satoshi was growing up right before my eyes. "I appreciate your support."

"Of course," Satoshi chirped brightly. He lifted two thumbs up and offered his trademark cheesy grin, which I recently learned aggravated Yasuchika – brother of Mitsukuni – to no end. "I'll always be here for you, Taka-nii!"

Rolling my eyes in amusement, I smiled because Satoshi was sincere. The fact that his special exclamation points had returned to his speech only served to further amuse me. My raw nerves calmed briefly, falling beneath the waves of determination that roared to life at his supportive and kind words. I calmly moved the chair backwards and returned to full height, standing tall beside Satoshi, who I noticed smiling widely at me now. So I returned the chair to its rightful spot and, after affectionately ruffling his hair again, I left Satoshi to finish his meal of shrimp, broccoli, and rice in peace and quiet.

Walking down the hallway towards the other end of the house, I noticed that each bedroom, bathroom, living room, and office remained black and silent and empty. I ignored the icy cold feeling that settled in my stomach, attributing it to the chill in the air. My eyes wandered to the pictures nailed to the walls of the seemingly endless hallway, and recognize the noblemen and noblewomen in the paintings as married couples from generations past. At the end of the hall, however, I found myself face to face with the most recent of the long line of paintings. My parents smiled down at me, and I smiled back.

One day, I realized suddenly and without fear, that picture would be added to the collection of old but restored paintings that lined the halls leading to this large office. This particular painting would be replaced with the picture of the newest Lord Morinozuka. I would be beside my own wife. And I wanted that wife to by Sammy.

My girlfriend, Sammy – because I could only call her 'girlfriend' at the moment – would always be sweet and innocent in my eyes. I loved holding her close to me and kissing her until I could not breathe but, being a mature male, I secretly desired to make love to her, too. The desire to see and touch her naked skin was almost overwhelming. I sighed inaudibly. If Sammy ever realized and reciprocated these feelings, I would not be able to hold back and would likely succumb to the temptation to have sex with her.

She was not mine yet, however, and I did not to risk besmirching her honor – and mine – by taking her before marriage.

Raising my closed fist, I knocked firmly at the wooden door before me and, when the current resident grunted in approval, entered the office belonging to the head of the Morinozuka Clan. I raised both silver eyes and stared straight at the man who I called Otou-san. Morinozuka Akira was very strong, tall, fast, and built like an ox. His black hair was coolly slicked back with rich gel and the ends of his short ponytail rested at his nape, tied together with blue cloth to bring a more noticeable color to his gray eyes. My mother said that I looked just like him.

My father was a martial artist, like the rest of the males in the family, and immediately sensed that I was staring at him. He lifted his steely gaze up and from his pile of paperwork, slowly putting his pen aside. Raising his brow to his hairline, Akira turned to me and asked, "Yes?"

"Otou-san," I immediately greeted the older male and, wasting no time in getting to the point, seriously added, "If you've the time, I have something vitally important that I wish to discuss with you."

Curious, Akira remained quiet but narrowed his eyes in consideration, obviously wondering why I would speak this formally while at home and in his presence. He slowly raised himself from the chair and walked forward to stand in front of me. "What is it, Takashi?"

To his surprise, I dropped into a rigid and formal bow, which served to indicate just how serious I was now. I stared at the granite tiles without blinking, feeling both excited and fearful of his impending reaction to my request. I inhaled sharply and prayed to Kami that the deep breath would calm me. And I blurted –

"I want to marry my girlfriend, Samantha May Steel."

***Author's Note***

After much debate, and reading through the reviews, I have decided to continue this story! Takashi and Sammy still want to hog the spotlight, I guess! :)

Please read and review. I know that it has been months since I last updated, but I would love to read those good ol' reviews. Maybe I could get around 430 reviews? That would be a nice "Welcome Back, Shadowsammy!" :D I'm just kidding. Not really...

Yeah, I need to sleep now since I have to get up at six and then observe in a classroom for four hours, scavenge around for lunch, and then head off to work. I am depriving myself of sleep to give you all the chapter that I should have uploaded five months ago! I MISSED YOU ALL! ZZZzzzz...