A/N: Hi all! Big thanks to all of you that reviewed! It means the world to me that you like my characters and support my random brainstorms when something random like this comes up. From the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate it (especially because I love love love writing Takasugi. He's tough but so fun, and knowing that other people like the way I portray him is huge inspiration to keep writing him). It's gonna have to border poetic and actual coherent story line (so please bear with me, this is a new style), but I have a lot planned out for this story. Like... A lot a lot. There's crazy drama and everything already planned and partially written. You can probably tell where this is going after this chapter already, but it's gonna be fun even if you can, I promise. So without further ado, please enjoy, and if you have the time, R&R for author affection whore. :D
Initially, everything was set in motion by Takasugi's default drive. Governmental overthrow. Complete domination and destruction of the system that had wronged him. It wasn't a benevolent endeavor; he couldn't care less about the other people that had been injured. Forever scarred by the ebb and sway of security and stability that had proven to be a mere illusion of the past. Anything went. If there was a single person he could get to and execute, he would have done it for the sake of his personal agenda. But the big wigs, and even the moderate wigs, were carefully guarded. Cozy in their plush little homes with their bouncing families and fat children rolling around in the metaphorical mud while men like him were banished to a land of eternal mourning.
Memories of what had been and never would be again.
In childhood, he'd envisioned a different path. As all foolish, unmarred children did. He'd thought that his life had been difficult, and that he'd experienced hardships at that tender age of sneaking to a school he didn't belong to. Now, he saw those memories for the joke that they really were. He was wiser. Stronger. More capable than ever a man had been; when he put his mind to it.
This mission, long term as it may have been, was one of those time he invested every ounce of his energy. The plan had been a decade in the making, and this was the time to harvest the blooms of fruition.
One more step, and the next shogun would be his. Puppets were indispensable. Especially major figure heads. Checkmate was in sight, and all he had to do was claw his way to the meeting room, tactfully, of course. His presence during the initial step would be more than enough. Momentum to the still pendulum that would swing in his favor and bring success.
Unconventional requests never debased Takasugi anymore. He was prepared for anything. Amanto goods, pleasure houses, drugs, it was all at his dispense, and nothing would catch him off guard. Or so he thought. His need for access to the Nobu Nobu meeting drove him to contacting an old acquaintance. Long time business partners was an overstatement. He'd known the man for years, yet only sought him out for an overflow sale that he needed to dump before it got too hot. Amagi Seiji was the man for odds and ends. He could find a use for anything. Takasugi was convinced that it he had a shipment of a thousand paperclips, the Amagi family would turn it into a business venture and buy them all. Swing their losses into stupidly large profits in the span of twenty-four hours.
And he was just the man that could get Takasugi into the assembly hall without batting an eye.
By the ring of the older man's pinky finger, he could legally get an AR-15 into the Shinsengumi headquarters and use a few of the underdogs as target practice. Make them thank him before he left in his stretch limousine; still firing rounds skyward and sloshing champagne out of a glass flute.
"It's possible." As Amagi spoke, Takasugi stole a drag of tobacco. They sat on floor cushions, around their usual table in the Amagi mansion. Possibly the only traditional room of the hundreds in the entire building. "I could work something out, of course." Amagi's trademark grin was flashed at Takasugi. Not mirrored in the slightest. He wanted to hear the hows, but it became apparent that he would get no such luxury. After the positive note, a favor was immediately requested. Typical, the one eyed man thought to himself, but he refrained from showing any sign of the inconvenience. Handouts weren't expected. At his right hand, Kawakami perked up at the request, and even Matako, to the left of him, sat straighter when Amagi delved into his issue.
Family funds. They were one of the richest families in Japan, the Amagi clan, but the man before Takasugi was being cut off. Limited. His daily allowance, which was more than most people saw in their entire lives, wasn't enough for him, and unless he could settle down and prove to his father that he was a mature, changed man, he wouldn't have unrestricted money. Even with the silver streak of his jaw-length chestnut hair, he was considered a child.
No doubt, it was because the prostitute parties and savage beating of his enemies, but Takasugi wasn't one to judge. If some rich brat wanted to form an impromptu gang and recruit mindless teenagers, who was he to preach morality? Hadn't he done something similar?
Everything boiled down to a simple task. One request that was unlike anything Takasugi had heard.
"I need a wife." Amagi said. His grin lessened to the point that his eyes finally opened, and for once, Takasugi was almost struck dumb. Match-making wasn't his forte, but he needed Nobu Nobu far more than he needed normalcy. "Father has been on about pure, true love. Those damn soap operas have corrupted him. So maybe a vagrant. To show him how generous I am."
"A wife?" The word was stretched in disbelief. Takasugi could have laughed it if he wasn't already running through the burden of the hunt in his head.
"Is there... anything in particular that you're looking for?" Kawakami was the first to speak after a pause that could have swallowed the world.
"I don't really care. Pretty, obviously. Make her smart too, that'd entertain the old man. And humble. Not one of those poor people that go on and on about their tragic pasts... But a tragic past might make her more realistic. Make it bad enough that the only reason we'd be together is the red string of fate, you know? Soulmates."
Like Takasugi was mixing ingredients up to create the perfect tramp. He hardly took mental note of the list. Figured Kawakami would remember it all, and find the appropriate woman through his own connections. A gold digger would be well enough.
The next woman he met, he resolved; weren't they all the same?
Aside from Matako. She was an exception. Brain-dead; fumbling over him and following him into life or death situations without a second thought. Matako probably would have done it if he asked, but Takasugi didn't want a life time of longing glances and hopeful, emotional letters detailing her faithful wait for him to rescue her like a damsel in distress. He couldn't speak to her as he did Kawakami for fear that she would pounce on him and turn it sentimental or romantic when there was no place for such emotions in his life.
Takasugi only saw one thing.
Revenge.
"Do you have an age preference?" The woman in question had taken out a notepad and was scribbling Amagi's demands down. Making herself useful. It was welcomed, and a good idea.
"Something realistic... No, young. Younger women are more fun, that could be nice. Early twenties?"
Early twenties Takasugi's ass. That was too young for Takasugi, and this man was clearly in his forties, maybe fifties. He'd take whatever Takasugi could give him. Poor, pretty, and smart was enough.
If Takasugi told him that a random librarian that wore cheap cherry blossom perfume was up for it, Amagi would have to accept her.
"Looks?" Matako prodded, and the older man sighed.
"Oh, I don't know. Green eyes? Brown hair? Kind of plain, but not so much. And no moles or anything. They bother me."
That was the end of it. Takasugi and his group had their job, and the one eyed man was determined to knock it out as quickly as possible. There were two months before his time was up and he'd have to make it on that ship for the meeting. That was plenty of time to find a woman to marry a complete stranger. Probably.