Someone by the name of 2lazy2think actually e-mailed me and yelled for me to "UPDATE, for heaven's sake!" because she/he couldn't bear the suspense. Whoa! Now, now, no need to get heated! The chapter's here! May it lessen the suspense (I still insist that this ISN'T a suspenseful story!)
Unchained: Me a cheerful person too, so I share Sendoh's temper! Ha ha!
White Meteor: 'About time Sendoh took action'? Whoa, I was kind of expecting reviews to be like: Sendoh? Punch? That's OOC! But you seem to be expecting violence! Ha ha!
Electric muffin: Sendoh and Porka sitting on a tree… KISSING….
Alexia: I forgot about Sendoh's rifle!!! *slaps own self* Never mind. Let's forget that the weapon existed! Ha ha! Me watched Two towers too and me liked it!
Akane: Continuing!
Fer-chan: It must be bad indigestion. ^_^
Reika zelon: nakaji's pissed because of a bit of both reasons you presented. Very accurate, reika-san!
Mystika: Thank you. I am very happy that you like this story. ^_^
Evil Within: I agree!
Tensaispira: *joins in* Yeah! Woo hoo!
Sll: Thanks! Keep on readinf sLL-san!
Metallic gene: Thank you!
Fiery-ice: I'm not going to tell you any answers. You're gonna have to read!
Jo: You're Joy, right? Next chapter's up!
Kkk: really? You've heard of 'Nakaji'? Darn, and I thought I created it! I hope it's not connected with animals!
Silver Leviathan: Aki's just a boy. I think he's cute. He he.
Tiran: I like it myself when calm, cheerful and cool characters flash their violent side! He he! Makes them all the more surprising and sexy!
Jo-sen7: Be thankful you're not Porka, because if you gladly died, then you won't be able to find out what this chapter's about!
r-yan: Thank you. And no, I will not change Porka's name. I remain unmoved and stubborn about it! Relax. Once you get used to the name, it'll actually sound cute! Ha ha!
Patty g: Would you like some pom poms to rival Rukawa's shinetai?
Silhouette Panther: He he. Read on!
Joy: Thanks for reading! Me glad you like the turn of events (there was a turn? Where?)
Crazy4u: Make you drool? Me? Nah, I leave it to the SD boys to do that. Nah, only Aki's name's similar to ayashi no ceres. I won't be writing any more fics, sorry. School's starting *wails* but I promise if I ever do, I'll try to make it Kogure X OC and dedicate it to you, okay?
Everybody gasped in shock at the attack and quickly cowed back a metre or so. Porka's eyes were wide and her face was pale. However, a smile was playing across her lips as she stared at the gurgling Nakaji who was on his knees clutching his face.
"Who…" Nakaji stammered, still trying to get in terms with the throbbing pain. "Who are you?? How dare you come here and –" he attempted a punch, but sorely missed as his vision wasn't quite all that clear yet.
Sendoh crouched down until they were face to face. "I'll have you know I don't appreciate people who cannot treat others with the least bit of respect," he said slowly. "If I evspect," he said slowly. "If I evperson, you'll get much more than a punch in the face. Now, I believe I'll relieve you of that burden over there," he jerked his head in Porka's direction, "and take her with me."
"Why, you –" Words couldn't describe quite enough what Nakaji felt then. Feeling a bullet in the head would be just fine to convey his message, he roared at his men to fight. "Kill him! I want his head!"
"What do you want to do with my head?" Sendoh muttered in amusement. "I know it's a very pretty one, but I don't think it'll make a suitable wall ornament."
"Kill him! Kill him!"
Sendoh glanced once at the advancing men and then sighed. "This man mistreats you and puts you down beyond your worth, and you still defend him?" he said a bit sympathetically. "Either you're absolutely loyal by heart, or incredibly stupid by nature."
A look of doubt crossed the faces of Nakaji's servants and slaves. They stopped suddenly as the words sank in their minds and looked at each other.
"I don't know about you," Sendoh continued gaily, smiling now as he untied Porka from the pole. "But if it were me, I'd have kicked my unfair master in the butt, especially since I've got quite a number to kick along with me."
They pursed their lips.
"Think about it. I'm sure sooner or later you'll see it my way."
Nakaji's face was turning horribly pale, and he started lashing out orders in desperation. His men and slaves however, ignored him, and instead stared at him with speculative looks on their faces, looks that said they had unpleasant things in mind for him. Nakaji yelped once, and quickly scrambled to his feet before jumping onto his horse and galloping away.
"Well then," Sendoh said brightly as they watched the man and horse disappear. "I suppose you're all free."
"Not yet," one of them said seriously. "But we will be once we burn our contracts." Then all of them scrambled away to find their contracts and destroy it.
Porka, freed now, unabashedly threw her arms around her saviour. "You are so great!" she squealed delightedly, the image of Nakaji running for his life playing over and over again in her mind. "That was just a fantastic thing to do! First time I ever saw Nakaji running," she beamed proudly at him. "Have I ever told you how wonderful you are?"
He gave her a wry smile. "No, the only words I was privileged enough to get from you were bull-head, yellow-bellied chicken, idiot – just to name a few." He put on a serious face. "You've got some explaining to do."
"Oh, hush. Let me just celebrate for a little while before you spoil it, all right?"
"Explain, Porka."
She sighed at him. "Spoilsport," she muttered, taking a step back to break the intimacy. "Nakaji was my fifth master, before Inando. I … kind of ran away from him – without returning his money, you see, and Nakaji is one man who does not forget people in debt. He almost caught me a few months back in Talak, but I managed to escape." She paused. "However, several people got killed in the process and the entire village was burned down to the ground –" her voice hitched. "Nakaji's men aren't very patient people, as we all know by now."
"Who was it?"
Porka raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"You lost someone in that fire," he explained briefly. "Someone you care about, it seems. It's obvious from the look on your face."
She stared at him and then coughed uncomfortably. "Well, no, he wasn't – well, he wasn't related to me or anything – we didn't … we didn't –" she took a deep breath. "He was five-years-old." She began again, steadier now. "Onra – that's his name. We were stopping at the village – Inando used to stop at every village we came upon – and he wanted to buy me." She suddenly smiled. "He only had a flower to offer. You don't make business with flowers, so both Inando and I rejected it. But he kept on coming around and we… we became friends." Her smile widened fondly. "He was just so cute. It's not like I don't have other friends," she said hastily then. "But sometimes one person could mean a lot more to you than others. And then Nakaji's men came," he face darkened. "I was sleeping over at his house – his mother's a terrific woman – and Nakaji's men found out and – well, they put the house on fire."
Sendoh could picture it pretty well. He'd seen a few of those incidents happen.
"He was in the bathroom," Porka continued. "And we couldn't save him and he just …" she trailed off, looked as if she was about to break down but then quickly brightened up, apparently practiced at it. "Well, you'd know what happened to him."
"I guess I do."
"So when I heard they were in this area, I had no choice but to leave." She looked apologetically at him. "Aki kind of reminded me of Onra. I didn't want history to repeat itself." She grinned. "And you have such a nice house, I didn't want it to turn into ashes."
He almost laughed. "You're worried about the house?? What about the people in the house?"
"I was worried about the people in the house too, of course." She assured. "Aki, Ayako, everybody else…" She gave him a pointed look. "And you, though I suppose you already know that."
He didn't reply. "Let's go back home."
She stayed where she was. "I'll remind you that I've returned your money, and that therefore, I'm no longer part of your property. Thanks a lot for chasing Nakaji away. It's been nice working for you, Sendoh."
He looked at her. "Akira." He corrected almost absently. "I'll buy you out."
Porka's eyes widened in surprise and bafflement. "Why, Sen– Akira," she murmured. "You were supposed to jump in joy and run off to Eri's place and drag her off to be married. Why do you want to buy me again?" Her mind clicked. "I see. Aki wants me back."
"He's not the only one."
Porka smiled ruefully. "Oh, I bet," she said. "I just bet Ayako couldn't wait to get her hands on me and scold me to death."
Sendoh slapped his forehead and groaned.
Porka didn't understand what that was supposed to mean, but shrugged it off. "I'm sorry," she said then, very, very firmly. "But I've decided I couldn't possibly come back."
His eyes snapped to hers. "Why not?"
"There's a problem between you and me," she explained plaintively, surprised that he asked. "I'm blindly in love with you, and you're not, and it's like banging my hand against the wall. Your wall. It's a bit tough being under the same roof with you now, so unless one of us moves out, nothing'll change." She gave him a pat on the shoulder. "And since the house is yours, its unlikely you're the one to move away. So I'm taking the honour of doing it."
His fingers curled around her wrist. "I want you to come back too."
She smiled at him. "That's a nice attempt," she congratulated him. "But we both know you don't have any feelings for me – you made it quite clear several times, as a matter of fact – and you don't have to pretend you do just because Aki –"
He simply cut her off. Before she knew what hit her, she was clutching at the front of his shirt with her fists, her mouth under his. He lingered there long enough to take her breath away from her and then pulled back slightly. "Does that in any way convince you?"
She shook her head to get rid of the haze in her brain. "Of what?"
He smiled pleasantly. "I didn't know it myself," he said then. "Didn't want to know it, actually. But when you disappeared just like that, it kind of hit me right in the stomach." He looked down at her. "I broke my favourite blue vase when I couldn't stop thinking – and worrying – and cursing – about you."
"That huge, gorgeous one? The one you refused to let me touch and vowed to protect with your life?" She couldn't stop the beaming smile. "Why, Akira. I'm shocked."
"I don't know when it happened," he continued, "or how, but I'm in love with you, and I guess there's no changing that."
"Say that again."
"I'm in love with you, and there's no changing that."
She released a blissful sigh. "I wouldn't doubt the number of girls whom you have swooned with that statement."
He thought about it. "Not many," he confessed. "Including you, there was only one person that I've ever said that to before."
For some reason, that sounded even better. "I'm convinced," she declared, touching her lips to his. "And I love you too."
"I know," he grinned. "Name your price."
The look she gave him was mischievous and he unconsciously gripped his purse. "Well," she started, deceivingly light-hearted and warm. "Since I matter so much to you, I'm guessing you'll pay any amount for me."
What a dangerous statement. Sendoh gulped. "Yes, I will." His face grew pained. "As long as my wallet can stretch."
"To make me your slave again, you'll have to –"
He held up a hand. "Hold on. I want to add another contract to that."
She raised an eyebrow. "Your wallet's going to stretch even more." She mused in amusement. "What sort of other contract?"
The look he gave her was peculiar. "A marriage contract," he said slowly. "A permanent one."
He watched Porka react, how her eyes widened and her jaw fall. How an unidentified sound erupted from her throat and how her hand groped around for balance. "Oh my," she murmured quietly, her heart swelling like a full-blown balloon. "Oh my." She lowered her head for a moment, allowed the tears to fall before hastily wiping them away. She looked back up with a cheery and undoubtedly soft expression. "That's going to cost you dearly."
He gripped his purse again, and then laughing quietly at himself, released it. "I'm willing to match up to it." He assured. "What are you going to cost me, Porka?"
"Endurance. And whole platoons of patience."
The smile spread. "I think I can manage that."
"Good."
ATTENTION! *nothingtodo furiously waves her arms in the air* ATTENTION!!
This is NOT the last chapter.
Sendoh (or shall I say, Akira?) still has one more enemy to go head-to-head with: AKI!! ^_^