************************************************************************

Part 1: Around the World

Chapter 8: Lawsuit

************************************************************************

The next day the three of them went to meet Tsukasa's lawyers who had flown in to Germany from Japan. They met at the Germany branch of Doumyouji Enterprises. It was the best place to talk in private. The brick building was very tall (at least 20 stories) and elegant. It stood out from all the other buildings on the block, which were short and dull in color. The doorway was arch shaped.

They entered and was stopped by the guards, "ID please."

Tsukasa took out his wallet and showed the guards his ID. He was annoyed that they didn't recognize him. If he was by himself, he'd give them a reprimand but he thought Tsukushi wouldn't appreciate him making a hassle right now.

The guards saw the picture ID Tsukasa showed them, but they didn't recognize it as their own. They read the name on the card, Doumyouji Tsukasa. "Doumyoji?" They slowly looked up. They saw that Tsukasa was starting to get mad. "Gomen!" They bowed low. "We didn't know it was you. Please right this way." They were brought upstairs to the top of the building.

********

{Meanwhile, upstairs in the building}

"Saikawa-san!" said a man who barged into the office. "We have a problem. Doumyouji Tsukasa is in the building.

"Doumyouji? Here? Are you sure Tatsuki-san?" said the man. He was sitting on a chair behind his desk. He was in his forties; you can see wrinkles and a tinge of gray in his hair.

"Hai, a guard downstairs reported this to us." He paused, and then said worriedly, "Do you think they suspect us?"

Saikawa looked up at him. "How could they? We've been covering our tracks carefully." Then he got up and walked towards the door. "Let's not worry ourselves and go greet our guests."

*******

Tsukasa and co reached the top floor and was greeted by Saikawa and Tatsuki.

"Welcome Doumyouji-sama! What brings you here?" said Saikawa.

Tsukasa looked down at the man who was a head shorter than him. Tsukasa's eyes were cruel. "It doesn't concern you. Just give us an empty room." Tsukasa commanded.

"Hai!" Saikawa brought them to the spacious conference room. When Tsukasa disappeared from his sights, he tightened his hand into a fist, "That man was looking down at me like I was an insect. Let's see if he'll look at me the same way when I sabotage his company and make him a poor boy."

"All in time. At least it doesn't seem like he came here because he suspects. It seems like it's of a personal nature."

"But we still have to be careful, just in case."

******

{Inside the conference room}

The lawyers sat on the left side of Tsukasa, Tsukushi on the other side with Ryoko next to her.

"To tell you the truth, the situation regarding the contract looks bleak. It's very precise, down to the last detail. There are no loopholes." Ryoko was visibly depressed. Her shoulders sagged. "There is something we want to ask you though. How old are you?"

Ryoko blinked. "16 like Tsukushi."

"Contracts are not legal with minors and you are still a minor until you're 18." He looked back down to the contract he held in his hands. "I'm surprised they didn't look into your background before they accepted you."

Ryoko remembered why. "I have a friend that knows how to alter records. The first job I applied for required me to be 18 so she helped me change my background info. And I came to this job with a recommendation I think that's why they only checked the surface."

"I see. We'll change back your records and contact your boss' lawyers. This matter should be settled quickly. I don't think you'll need to go to court for this." The lawyers got up.

"Thank you so much." They shook hands. Tsukasa, Tsukushi, and Ryoko left the building and went out for lunch.

"Ryoko?" Ryoko looked up to see her. "What's wrong? The lawyers just said you'd be able to get out of the contract. You should be happy."

Ryoko shrugged. "I don't know. I get this nagging feeling that it's not going to be this easy. I told you I met Funakoshe-san. He didn't seem like the type that would allow these things to get in the way of what he wants."

"You think he's going to do something?"

"I don't know, but he might."

"Don't worry about him. We won't let anything happen to you," said Tsukasa.

"I don't know how I can ever repay you two."

Tsukushi smiled. "I told you before, don't worry about it." But she understood the need to repay debts. "When you become rich and famous, you can give me discounts."

Ryoko smiled back, "Of course!"

Tsukasa didn't say much during lunch, which was rare. When he's with Tsukushi, he's always teasing her. This time he was content to observe. He was glad she had someone she could talk to. As long as it isn't a guy he was fine with it. Tsukasa looked at Tsukushi. She was no great beauty certainly not like his sister, but there was something alluring about her that he couldn't put a name to. He didn't understand how this small girl had such a powerful hold on him. In a few short months, she changed him. Life before her had no meaning or joy. The only time he felt alive was when he was beating someone. She took him out of that world, simply by being there. He was scared, scared at the amount of power she held over him. But honestly he wouldn't have it any other way.

Tsukushi didn't notice Tsukasa was looking at her. She continued talking to Ryoko.

"Have you thought about what you plan to do in the future? Are you going to stay on as a masseuse?"

"When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being a beautician. I have a lot of books on how to apply makeup and style your hair. I thought it would remain a dream but now with my job I can take beauty classes and maybe train under someone."

"I think that's a great idea! It's great to have a goal."

"What about you Tsukushi?"

"I don't know yet. I've never given it much thought because I never had time. I'm always working or going to school. I don't have any major interests."

"You must have something you really like to do."

Tsukushi shrugged, "I don't have any hobbies."

"So what do you do on your free time?"

Tsukushi thought about it. "When I don't have work, I hang out with friends or I just stay home and rest." She paused then said, "I do like to look at homes."

"You mean the architecture?"

"No, the interior. I love looking at the way the furniture is arranged, the color used, and the whole atmosphere of the place."

"Have you ever thought about becoming an interior designer?"

Tsukushi had a surprised look. "Me? N,o I've never even thought about it. I just like looking at pictures. Besides I'm not artistic."

"How do you know if you've never tried it? If it's something you like to do, then you should look for a job in that area."

"I don't know. It's too sudden, but I'll think about it."

They finished lunch in two hours. Tsukasa excused himself, saying he had things to do. In actuality he didn't have anything to do, but he felt it would be better if the girls spent time on their own. So he wandered around and decided to go to the casino. He went to the black jack table. His luck was good and he started piling up chips.

"Excuse me Doumyouji-sama" Tsukasa turned to see who was talking to him. It was a waiter who looked to be in his 20s. "Tachizaki-sama told me to give this to you." The waiter gave Tsukasa the note.

It read: Let's continue our game from last time. This man will bring you to the room.

Initially Tsukasa had no idea what this person was talking about then he remembered the last time he was at the casino on the ship and the old guys he played. He figured this person must be one of them. At first he was going to tell the waiter reject to it; however, he decided not to since, he didn't have anything else to do. Beside he was getting bored playing blackjack. So he followed the waiter, who led him through the casino to the private section.

Tsukasa entered the room. The walls were dark red and there were classy paintings of women on it. There were no windows or clocks to tell time. The room was very simple with a round table in the center.

The man, who is sitting down next to the table, got up when he saw Tsukasa enter. "I'm glad you can make it. My name is Tachizaki Asada." He offered his hand. Tsukasa looked at it, but made no move to offer his. He sat down on the empty chair across from where Tachizaki was sitting.

Tachizaki curled up his hand into a fist. He thought, "How dare he look down at me! Like I was some insect. No respect for elders." Tachizaki sat back down. "No matter, I'll win his money and recoup my losses." He snickered softly, "That'll show him."

They were playing stud poker. After a couple of hours it was apparent that Tachizaki was winning. If one counted, Tsukasa was down 300 million. It was a small sum to Tsukasa. {Ring Ring} Tsukasa felt his phone vibrate inside his pants. He excused himself and went outside to answer it. He looked to see who was calling: Soujiro?

"What do you want?"

"Is that any way to greet a friend you haven't talked to for 3 ½ months?" He paused, "Unless of course we're interrupting something."

Tsukasa didn't answer him; instead he hung up on Soujiro.

[Soujiro]

"That bastard hung up on me!"

"Who could blame him? He's on a trip with the woman he loves. There are things he'd rather do than talk to you," Akira said.

"That's right! He's probably doing 'something' with Makino."

Rui was also with them but he didn't say anything. He thought they were being stupid.

{Inside the casino room when Tsukasa was talking on the phone}

Tachizaki saw Tsukasa leave the room. He was annoyed that Doumyouji didn't shut off his phone.

"I'll just win all his money."
He looked down at the money he won so far. He knew he was up about a few hundred million. He needed at least 500 million dollars in order to revive his company. He made a few bad investments, which looked really good at the time. He should've known it was too good to be true. And then to recoup his losses he made a few bets in sports games. He bet 50 million dollars on a team that would've won if the star player didn't twist his ankle. His luck was horrible this year; he came on the cruise because he heard a lot of rich businessmen were going to be on it. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to win back his losses.

Tsukasa came back into the room minutes later. They resumed playing with a new deck. Tsukasa knew the old man was cheating. No way he could be getting such nice cards through out the night. Besides he had been taught a couple of years ago how to spot cheaters. He could change the cards too but he's never found the need for it. Money was never important enough for him to cheat.

But nobody, absolutely nobody, cheats a Doumyouji. Tsukasa knew there was no way to win without cheating. He was starting to recognize the signs as to when the old man switched cards. He would rub the ring on his left thumb. He didn't bet a lot when he saw this. When the old man wasn't cheating Tsukasa switched his cards. Slowly he was winning back his money. An hour later Tachizaki was losing 100 million, but he didn't realize his money was dwindling. He was too caught up in the game to keep track.

Tachizaki bet his last dollar. Tsukasa knew the old man could get more money so he decided to end it with this hand. It was already 6:45. He wanted to eat dinner with Tsukushi and Ryoko. "Let's end this game with this hand. I'll raise you everything I have now, $600 million. Either fold, call, or raise."

Tachizaki looked at his hand. There was still one more card to be dealt. He had 9 of diamonds, J of spades, and Q of diamonds out in the open and a hidden K of spades. He looked at Doumyouji's hand, three 10s (diamonds, clubs, spades). Tachizaki doubted Doumyouji would have the 10 of hearts. Doumyouji is just bluffing, he thought. So he called and asked if Doumyouji would accept a check. Doumyouji accepted it. He didn't know Tachizaki didn't have the money to back up the check. Tachizaki didn't think that was relevant since that check wasn't going to be cashed anyways. He was going to win this hand.

The next hidden card was dealt. Tachizaki received an eight of hearts. He changed it to a 10 of hearts and was about to bet more money when Tsukasa put up a hand. "Before you do anything unnecessary I'll show you the card I just got." Tsukasa turned it.

A 10 of hearts! Tachizaki was astonished. He couldn't believe Doumyouji was dealt 4 tens. Nobody ever had that good a hand, not without cheating. Now that Doumyouji revealed his 10 of hearts Tachizaki couldn't do anything. They didn't play with wild cards and it wasn't possible for there to be two 10 of hearts in a normal deck.

Tsukasa stood up while Tachizaki was still in a daze. He called someone to pack up the money then he left to find Tsukushi.

Tachizaki still couldn't believe he lost. He sat alone in the room. The bigger problem was the money. He lost all of the $300 million he brought onto the ship. He had no more hard cash to gamble with and high rollers (gamblers with a lot of money) they only played with cash. Tachizaki realized he was ruined. There was no way he could come up with any more cash. He had borrowed money from banks to gamble in the sports and when that failed he borrowed money from loan sharks. He was now up to his neck in debt. If he didn't think of something quickly, he wouldn't live to see next month, much less his next birthday. There was still another month and a half before they go back to Japan. He had to act now. The only one on the cruise with enough money to pay all his debts is Doumyouji. He heard about the girl that's always seen with him. At this point in time he was not above breaking the law. He needed cash fast.

************************************************************************

o.O more problems are heading their way. Everyone's worried I'm going to twist the plot but rest assured I'm not going to do that. They'll be together to the very end. I love T&T!