By Any Other Name

By Any Other Name
PsychoChick

Note: Sequel to "Falling From the Tree"


"I know. Yes, I know. You *told* me that already. Dammit, Chen, shut up!"

Takatori Shuuichi heard his secretary and lover slam her phone down, and winced. She'd been doing that for three days. In fact, she'd been doing that since he had announced his intentions about Mamo-- About Omi, his nephew-cum-newest-subordinate. Never mind the boy was five. Never mind that he couldn't remember anything beyond a thunder storm(which was a plus, in Shuuichi's book). The boy was in Kritiker to stay, for better or worse. And listening to Erika curse, Shuuichi decided that Now was one of the worst times.

Without knocking, the redhead entered his office, and threw a stack of papers onto his desk.

"They want you to change the boys name. They want you to kill him. They want you to take him back to his father. They want you to put him up for adoption. They don't want him here, and they sure as hell don't want him to be an agent!"

Takatori's eyes raised in surprise at her vehemence, and Erika's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you give me that look, Persia! That boy would have been less trouble if you'd have named him something else, anything else! Why Omi's name? Why his code-name? Anything else would have been preferable."

Shuuichi thought for a bit, then sighed. "Manx, Omi was my friend. You know that. Everybody in the agency knows that. He would have wanted me to help this boy. As I'm doing, by--"

"By what?" the redhead interrupted. "By using a name that everybody associates a corpse with? What good will that do the boy? Instead of being *just* a prodigal, he is now the prodigal with Omi's name!"

Persia straightened up and met his lover's eyes. "Tsukiyono Omi was one of the best agents Kritiker had. And that boy will be, too."

"Dammit, Takatori," Erika hissed, and the man tried to hide his flinch. "The boy is five. Five! He might possibly be the prodigal you're trying to achieve, but he might also be the most incompetent boy anybody's ever seen! And don't give me any of the 'He's a Takatori, he'll be fine,' spiel. His being a Takatori's what got him into this mess in the first place!"

The man frowned. "He'll be fine," he said. "He's learning fast."

Enlightenment appeared in Erika's eyes. "He's only been here two and a half days! How much have you tried to cram down his throat?"

Persia flushed. "I have Wushi with him right now. For the rest of the year, probably."

"Wushi?!"

The red haired woman stormed from his office, sending the door to a crashing halt.

With a sigh, Takatori Shuuichi picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"Wushi?" he said, when the answering machine picked up. "If you're training the boy to screen calls, don't. Manx is on her way. Be prepared."

With another sigh, and the realization that he'd been sighing too much lately, the leader of Kritiker set his phone in its cradle, grabbed his coat and wallet, and went to lunch. He would deal with the organization --and Erika-- later.


*Owari*