Riding Life's Currents
Chapter 3:"I'm afraid we don't cater to dirty little punks like you."
By Kiyoko
"Where are we going?"
"There is a very nice café down by the coast that I used to go to with my mom to often when I was young. I think you'll enjoy it." Toshiro gave her a smile before heading down the coast.
"So…" Kira began, "have you lived in Sanc all of your life?"
"Not really. I was born and raised here but when I was twelve I was sent to boarding school to get a better understanding of the world and other cultures. I've stayed on four different colonies and have been to five different countries. Sad to say I was kicked out of every single one for fighting. My mother was furious at my father for teaching me martial arts and weapon proficiency. My cultural tour ended when I was sixteen. You said that your dad was here on business, where are you from?"
"I'm from the colonies."
"Which one are you from?"
"Colony L4 X-17774."
"Really? That was one of the colonies I stayed on when I went to boarding school. It is one of the nicer colonies I have been on. The colony is so clean and beautiful thanks to funding from the Winner Corporation."
"Yes, the Winner family believes in a proper environment to live and raise a family in. They contribute millions a year to restoration and education."
"You seem to know a lot about this." Kira unconsciously smoothed out her skirt before she replied ," Well you see when you live on a colony, you begin to know a lot about the business keeping it going."
"I see. Well then, what do you think about the Earth?"
"It's beautiful, " the blonde starred out the window toward the sea and smiled at the view, "I think that someday I would like to live here. My friend has been trying to talk me into going to a boarding school here in Sanc."
"You should listen to her. Personally I think Sanc is the best place in the universe. Anyway, you keep mentioning this friend of yours, does she have a name?" Kira turned her attention back to Toshiro, her cheeks flushed, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I suppose when I keep saying 'my friend' does get a little annoying. Her name is Jordan." Startled, Toshiro snapped his head toward the girl in the passenger seat.
"Jordan? Jordan Maxwell? How do you know her?"
"Oh so you know her too? We used to go to the same school on L4 about a year ago. After she left we kept in touch. How do you know her?"
"We used to go to the Accipiter Academy together here in Sanc until I got kicked out. We went to a few show together."
"I think she might have mentioned you once before. Did you see Good Riddance with her?"
"Yeah, that was a few months ago. It was a great show." Kira bounced in her seat a little as Toshiro pulled into a parking lot across from the restaurant and hopped out. She opened the door then slid out gracefully onto the cement below. The boy came around the side then shyly grasped her hand to lead her to the restaurant next to the sea. Kira looked around at her surroundings noticing they were in the downtown of New Port City. The building she was being led looked somewhat Victorian, the two doors leading into the place was made out of dark mahogany. Toshiro opened the door for Kira then escorted her to the hostess podium. The hostess eyed them warily the moment they walked in and continued to as they approached her station.
"How may I help you?" the hostess asked.
"Two for lunch please."
"I don't know if you are aware or not young man but we have a strict dress code that we up hold. I'm afraid your attire does not fit in here. I have to ask you to leave."
"Not even on the patio? Can I please speak to a manager?" Toshiro said calmly. Kira began tugging him out the door, but he held firm when he realized what she was doing.
"C'mon Toshiro lets go." She pleaded with him. Kira had only barely known him for two days, but she already knew that he wouldn't give up. "We don't want to start anything."
"It will be ok Kira, I just need to speak to a manager." Toshiro turned back to the hostess, who was glaring at the boy.
"I'm asking you to leave sir. We don't accept your kind here."
"What do you mean my kind? I'm flesh and blood just like everyone else. It hurts me that you would assume something about someone you don't even know."
"I know a delinquent when I see one. All you will cause here is trouble. Now leave."
"May I please speak to a manager? I only need a moment of his time. I'm not here to cause trouble." Quickly the woman stalked off toward the back of the restaurant and entered a little office.
"Excuse me Mr. Jackson but I have young man that requests your presence. You might want to call the police, he might be trouble. I tried to get him to leave but he refuses." The man scrunched his nose up in distaste at the though of having to deal with such a young man.
"Alright, I'll be along in a moment." After the woman left the office Mr. Jackson phoned the New Port City Police Department. Ten minutes later the man headed to the front of the restaurant. Toshiro and Kira had been led through a large doorway into a waiting room, which was currently empty, next to the entrance. Mr. Jackson looked at the boy waiting in the room and frowned. This would not be good at all.
"Hello, my name is Mr. Jackson. The hostess told me about your situation, please leave."
"You can't seat us out on the patio?"
"I'm afraid we don't cater to dirty little punks like you."
"Who are you calling dirty buddy? I showered this morning. What's with all the hostility? I have been very respectful, there is no need for rude comments."
"I don't believe you know how to be respectful. Trash like you need to learn your place." Toshiro's fists clenched at his sides as he tried to douse the anger flaming up inside of him.
"I think you owe me an apology, that was uncalled for."
"I don't owe you anything. If anyone owes anyone anything, it is you who owes it to this great country for you to leave it." Unable to keep his rage hidden any longer. Kira saw Toshiro lift his arm.
"Toshiro, NO!" but it was too late, the boy launched his fist into the mans face. The man staggered back until he fell to the ground with a 'thump'. Toshiro flexed his finger once he brought his arm back, a satisfied look on his face.
"I will never abandon my country. Not ever." Mr. Jackson pulled himself off the cold marble floor then proceeded to brush off his pin-striped slacks.
Relena Peacecraft walked out the board room exhausted, Aya and Quatre at her heels both eager to be away as well.
"I though they were never going to agree to my policy." Relena said as she let out a little sigh.
"How could they not mother? Your persuasion skills are superb."
"Aya is right. It was only a matter of time until they agreed."
"Thank you both. How about we go out for lunch to celebrate? My treat." Relena gave her two companions a genuine smile while she waited for their responses.
"That would be great Relena, I'm actually quite hungry."
"I will go anywhere you want to mother." Aya said and gave her mom a hug.
"Perfect, I know this great little restaurant by the sea…"
Ten minutes later Relena's black limo pulled up in front of the entrance of the restaurant behind two police vehicles. Puzzled, she led the trio into the building.
"I'll have you arrested for assault!"
"You had it coming old man. Don't ever judge a person on how they look." Toshiro extended his hand toward Kira, which she took into her own. The two teens began walking toward the doorway when three officers walked in.
"We were called about a disturbance."
"Yes! Arrest them! They refused to leave, then I was attacked by the boy." The lead officer noticed the thin steam of blood coming from Mr. Jackson's mouth, he then nodded to the two officer behind them and they seized Kira and Toshiro. He saw the officer grab Kira roughly and looked up to see her flinch in slight pain.
"Hey, let her go, she didn't do anything I swear, she isn't a part of this, let her go!" Toshiro yelled at the officer. He then watched as Kira began to pull back from the officer, but he only jerked her harder. Slipping out of the officers grip, Toshiro easily plucked the officer off of Kira. Deciding it was best to leave the girl the two officers grabbed Toshiro by the arms and began to drag him out into the entrance hall.
The hostess goggled at Relena, then at Quatre Winner as they walked into the room.
"Good… good afternoon, how many for lunch?" The woman nearly stuttered. Suddenly Relena's attention was pulled elsewhere as someone addressed her.
"Hey your Majesty what's up?" Relena's eyes nearly popped out of her head she saw her son come out of a room escorted by two officers.
"Mind picking me up at the PD in a couple of hours? Have a good day!" Her son grinned at her as he was shoved out of the door. Her attention was immediately directed at the man who had followed her son out of the room.
"I demand to know what is going on!" Relena nearly screamed. Mr. Jackson tripped on the floor before muttering out, "You're Highness Queen Relena, Mr. Winner, good afternoon.
That delinquent wouldn't leave, don't worry rubbish like him will be taken care of." The woman turned on her heel and quickly headed for the door.
"Is everything ok with her Majesty Mr. Winner?"
"Hopefully."
Kira starred as the officers escorted Toshiro out of the room followed closely by Mr. Jackson. She had to find a phone so she could call her dad. Hopefully he would be able to get Toshiro out of this mess. She doubted the restaurant would let her use the phone. A little sigh escaped her lips before she headed out of the building. Walking into the entrance room Kira nearly cried for joy at the sight before her. Right in front of her very own eyes was her savior, the one who could fix everything: Quatre Winner her father.
"Daddy!!!!!!" Quatre heard someone scream then watched as his daughter hopped into his arms. Mr. Jackson paled to a very unhealthy color.
"Kira sweety what are you doing here?"
"Daddy, you have to help me! That man had my friend arrested!" Kira said pointing at Mr. Jackson giving him an evil glare before continuing, "He didn't do anything, you can't let them arrest him!" Quatre nodded and led his daughter by the hand out of the building followed by Aya, who was smirking the entire time. When they stepped out into the street Quatre saw Relena talking to her son so he decided to stay put.
Her father stopped but Kira moved to go forward only to be held back.
"Let Relena handle this." She gave him a little nod and did as she was told.
"Let him go." Relena commanded, but the officers still held tight to Toshiro.
"It's ok your Majesty, let them take me. It will be better for the both of us if they do." Toshiro raised his voice a little more in order to get him to where he wanted to go.
"I GUESS THAT ASSASINATION ATTEMPT WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER TIME." Relena smiled sadly at her son, before turning to the officer on her right.
"Take him to Preventer HQ for questioning. Ask for the Director of Security and Special Ops. Take the boy away." Toshiro grinned at his mom one last time before being roughly shoved into the back seat of the patrol car. The car sped off, but Relena just stood there until it disappeared down the street. Not being able to help her son was painful, but he had insisted they let him take him. He understood so completely she wanted to cry. Toshiro held so much honor most of the time. A single tear tumbled down her soft cheek and she wiped it away hastily before turning around to face Quatre.
"We had better go Quatre, Lunch will have to wait until another time." Quatre nodded and walked to meet Relena, his daughter stuck tight to his side.
"How could you let them take him!?" Kira blurted out, "He didn't' do anything!"
"I'm sorry dear but it had to be done this way." Relena replied sadly as she entered the black limo.
Heero Yuy was not pleased to be called into Head Quarters on his day off, oh no, he was not pleased at all. Couldn't these idiots handle anything on their own? When Heero entered the building he was immediately assaulted by a man in a blue Preventer uniform who gave him a quick salute.
"This had better be good Riley, I don't appreciate being called in on my day off." Heero said as he glared at the man next to him.
"Apparently there was an assassination attempt on her Majesty's life today at a local café in New Port City. She requested he be brought here for questioning. Apparently she wanted this taken care of right away." Heero followed the familiar corridor down to the confined room used for questioning.
"We couldn't get a name out of the boy. We finger printed him but nothing came up on our records. We thought was odd since everyone's finger prints are registered when they are born. Maybe you can make something of it sir."
"That's easy Riley, it just means that he wasn't registered at birth. It's rare, but it has been known to happen."
"Anyway, the culprit is already waiting in the room." Riley said as he open the door and held it open for Heero. Once his superior entered he quickly followed him in closing the door behind him. Heero smirked at the blue haired boy in front of him, while the boy returned an identical one.
"Ready?" Heero asked the boy, who in return the boy twirled the open handcuffs around his index finger.
"Yep, lets go." Toshiro replied before he slamming the cuffs on the table.
"Forget what you saw here today Riley, I'll take care of the paper work." Heero told the man walking out the door closely followed by Toshiro.
"This is the third time in Two months. What happened this time?"
"The man at mom's favorite café insulted me, he deserved it. I gave him plenty of chances to apologize."
"Hn." Heero shifted uneasily for a moment before talking again. "You're mother won't be pleased."
"Don't worry dad she knows. She walked in after the incident happened." Heero let out the breath that he was unaware he was holding. Even though Relena was a pacifist she could be very frightening. Ten minutes later they pulled into the gates of the large Peacecraft Palace. Heero raced down the long drive way then screeched to a halt in front of the entrance. He got out and tossed the valet his keys before Toshiro had barely stepped foot outside the car. When he got out he saw Jordan sitting on the front steps still in her school uniform which consisted of a short black pleaded shirt and short-sleeved way too tight dress shirt. The shirt was un-tucked in a stylish fashion. Jordan had refused to get a new dress uniform that year. What was the point when you already had a perfectly good one? As he approached her a huge grin appeared on her features almost identical to the one Duo had given him that morning.
"Heard you got into a little bit of trouble today." Jordan stood up from the marble steps and dusted her skirt clean.
"I was waiting for you in your room, but your mom said you wouldn't be home for a while."
"Um yeah, I punched a manager at a café down in New Port City."
"What did he call you."
"A dirty little punk. Then he started rattling on how I didn't belong here. I think it's safe to say neither mother or I will ever be going back. Some people can be so judgmental." Together they walked up the finely polished marble steps and began the long trek to his bed room.
"Man, you should have seen my dad. A normal person wouldn't have noticed but man, I saw the fear in his eyes. He was so happy when I told him mom already knew." Jordan let out a laugh. She knew Heero Yuy was not someone to cross, but everyone has a weakness and the pacifist Queen was his. When they got to his room the door was already open and his sister Aya was sitting on his bed with that all familiar look of disgust on her soft features.
"What do you want Aya?" The girl looked up from the pile of clothes she was eyeing warily then got up to meet her brother at the doorway, carefully stepping around the various items littering the floor.
"I just wanted to see if you were ok. Mom was so sad after they took you. I though she might burst in tears right then." Aya said, a serious look on her face.
"Don't worry about it sis, I'm ok." Toshiro said then pulled his sister in a tight hug for a moment. She gave him a wide smile before pulling away.
"Um do you think I could, uh hang out with you and Jordan today?" He looked at his sister quizzically before responding, " Where's mom, why don't you hang with her, or what about Ryu?
"Ryu and Lavender went with Uncle Millardo remember? They won't be back from Florence until tomorrow afternoon and…and I want to spend some time with you." She gave her older brother a hopeful smile praying inside that he would let her. Not that she would let anyone know but she held a deep respect for her brother. He dressed how he wanted to and acted how he wanted to. He didn't care what anyone thought about him, he made his own rules and went where he wanted with them. She envied his freedom.
"Mom's driving you nuts isn't she? I told you not to spend so much time with her. Anyway you can stay, but I'm warning you, you might get bored." The girl nearly started dancing, but if she had her brother would definitely kick her out.
"Yeah, mom has been very concerned with this new law she has been trying to pass with no luck. Her policy on Diplomatic Responsibility passed today so now she is concentrating hard with her next project."
"I dunno if little miss Princess is up for it or not, but tomorrow when Lavender gets back we're going ice blocking down Beacon Hill if you want to come."
"Well I'm not sure, isn't Beacon Hill Restricted?" Aya said lowering her voice to make sure no one heard. Toshiro thought she was being paranoid.
"That's true, but it has the best hill in the whole kingdom. I mean c'mon , what is the worst that could happen?"
"What if we get there and the Preventers are doing maneuvers late at night?"
"You are so paranoid Aya, I checked the schedule and everything. Tomorrow night will be clear of all disturbances." Aya looked a little more sure about the idea before smiling and announcing that she was in. Jordan smiled at Aya approving of her decision.
"But," Jordan added," you most certainly can't wear anything like THAT!" she said pointing to Aya, uniform looking attire. "Oh and make sure whatever you wear you don't mind getting dirty. It rained a couple of days ago so I have no idea what condition of the hill is in." Aya nodded, this was her chance to get a little freedom of her own and do something forbidden. She bounced over to her brother's bed flopping down on her stomach, kicking her feet back and forth. Jordan followed suit and sat down next to the younger girl.
"Oh my god I almost forgot, Jordan do you think you could take me to pick up my truck, I left it at the restaurant." Toshiro pleaded to his purple haired friend. Another thought suddenly popped into his head, "Oh my god Kira got left there, I hope she is ok. What if she got lost or something?"
"Don't worry Toshiro, she is fine. She is with her father right now. She was so worried after they took you away. Mom assured her that you would be ok. I don't think she believe her."
"Well I don't exactly think she knows Relena is my mother." Aya squinted at him weird for a moment.
"How could she not know? He father is…" Jordan suddenly pinched Aya hard on her forearm.
"ow…" Jordan looked at the young princess giving her a suggestive look. Toshiro looked at the two girls for a moment, something odd was going on.
"Her father is what?" Aya suddenly looked panicked unable to come up with something. Thankfully Jordan bailed her out.
"He father is rich."
"I don't know if being rich qualifies for being known. My existence has been keep fairly confidential, well at least what I look like has been."
"I think that Aya thought that most aristocrats know the faces of royalty."
"You are her friend right Jordan, do you know where she is staying or even a number I can call her at? I need to know if she is ok." Jordan nodded to the almost frantic boy grabbing his portable phone off of his cluttered night stand and dialing a quick number, then tossed the phone to him. Toshiro caught the phone with ease then placed the receiver up to his ear to hear the dull ringing of the tone. After a few rings the phone picked up and a light female voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Kira…"
"TOSHIRO!!!! Are you ok? I was so scared!" Toshiro smiled at the sound of her worried voice on the other end.
"Don't worry about it babe I'm fine. My dad came and picked me up. No charges have been filed." Kira let out a sigh of relief. She let a smile creep across her lips. He was ok.
"I'm so glad, I tried to get my dad to do something but he couldn't do anything."
"Aw, that's so nice. Its ok though, I got out of it ok. That's the third time in two months though, I'm not sure what will happen if I get arrested again. I'll probably get stuck with community service or something." Jordan snorted from her position on the bed. Toshiro and community service? Yeah right. Toshiro glared at his friend from where he was standing by the window and then stuck out his tongue.
"Oh, you should be more careful then. Anyway, how did you get this number?"
"Jordan's here, she dialed the number for me. Hey are you busy tomorrow?" Toshiro asked hoping she had nothing to do.
"I'm having lunch with my dad, but not anything after that."
"Would you want to go ice blocking with us?"
"When?"
"Tomorrow night around twelve."
"I don't know, that's kind of late. I don't think my dad will let me go out." A serious look came over Toshiro's face as he began pacing on the soft black carpet.
"Hm, let's see here, there has got to be away to get you out. Can you just sneak out after your dad goes to bed?"
"He stays up pretty late." This was getting more frustrating by the moment.
"I got it!" Toshiro said as he came to a dead stop from his pacing.
"Why don't you spend the night at Jordan's?" He looked over to his friend and she simply nodded her head at the idea, "Here you can talk to her and you two can settle the details."
Toshiro tossed the phone to Jordan who caught it in her right hand.
End of Chapter 3
Disclaimer~ I do not own Gundam Wing