Heartaches
Chapter 42
By Kellyq
Two days had passed, and things had not changed. Nothing came of the tape, but they suspected that the surveillance had a glitch. Jack and Mina hardly saw Godwin and his sex partner Jaeger. It didn't bother Jack, but it concerned Mina. She called a few times, leaving a message on every call. The young housekeeper sat at the kitchen table staring at her phone, wondering if she should call Jeager herself. I'll do it! Mina went through her contact list and found his number. She put her cell phone to her ear, and waited. After the second ring, it went straight to voice mail.
Mina grumbled a little. "This is Mina, checking in on some things. Send me a text message or voice mail, so I know that Godwin's all right." With another deep sigh, she hung up.
I guess I shouldn't let it bother me, Mina thought, getting up. She made her way to her room to get ready for her date with Trudge. Mina didn't really know what to call her outing with him, but she was never left unsatisfied, and neither was Trudge.
Yusei sat on a stool next to his red motorcycle, cleaning and repairing all of its many detailed parts, and contemplating why Godwin and Jeager would not be around. He was so occupied with thinking that he failed to realize that someone had walked in. His silhouette moved right behind Yusei and glanced over his shoulder.
Yusei's blue eyes shifted over his shoulder to see that it was an old man. He had light gray hair that feathered out on each side of his head. His eyes held awe in them. The outfit the old man was wearing was just a plain dark gray kimono, and a yellow vest. Yusei didn't pay any more attention to the rest of his appearance. He didn't really want to be bothered, so he went back to work.
The old man, however, grabbed a stool (it was on wheels) and sat next to Yusei, watching him. After being stared at for about three minutes, Yusei paused and glanced at the old men.
"May I help you?"
The old man's face lit up as he gasped with joy. "Ah! So, the pretty lad speaks! And a hot one at that!" he said, after taking in Yuseis appearance for those minutes in silence. The old man took Yusei's gloved hand, running his thumb along his knuckles and wrist. The name is Yanagi! And Im assuming that the pretty and kinky lad has a name, too?
Yusei closed his eyes for a moment and looked the other way. He wasn't in the mood to deal with some bored and perverted old man, but he didn't want to be rude either. "It's Yusei."
Yanagi smiled. "Well, Yusei, it was nice to have met you."
He pushed his stool backwards, but rolled it too fast for the slow, grey-haired man. It glided effortlessly across the room toward a blue and white motorcycle that was propped up in the corner. Yanagi's body fell forward as the stood came out from beneath him and as a result, he landed on his back, and the stool hit the motorcycle hard, before toppling over and landing on its side.
Despite Yusei's dislike of this annoying old guy, he couldn't help but react to the fact that he was now lying on the floor helplessly. Martha had raised him well; Yusei immediately bent down to see if Yanagi was okay.
"Are you okay?" Yusei asked, mustering as much concern as he could in his voice.
"Ah, well, now would you look at that. I went and made a mess of myself here, falling on the ground. How embarrassing for us both," Yanagi explained. "I wouldn't give up a chance to be helped up by a boy of your beauty, though."
"Well, then, stand up. Here we go, get your feet under you," Yusei instructed, trying hard to avoid the comments this old man was saying, as well as how close he was putting his body to Yusei's. I just need to get him to his feet then he'll be all right, Yusei thought. Then maybe he'll get outta here.
Just then, Tanner came through the door. Yusei was bent over Yanagi, straddling him with both legs, trying to get him to stand up without falling again. Admittedly, the scene looked bad, but Tanner wasn't focused on them; he was looking at his motorcycle.
"What the hell happened here!" Tanner demanded to know. "Who scratched up my motorcycle like this? There's going to be a heavy price of hurt to pay for whoever did this!"
Finally, Yusei had Yanagi to his feet. "Well, well," Yanagi said. "What do we have here? Another piece of eye candy, huh?"
"Who is that? What are you doing here, old man?" Tanner asked, a deep growl of resentment coming up from the back of his throat.
"Calm down, beefcake. I accidentally hit your motorcycle with my stool here when I fell over. It was an accident. You wouldn't be mad at an old man, now would you?"
"Damn right, I would! Look at this damage! The entire side panel is ruined thanks to you and your clumsiness," Tanner yelled without thinking. "You are going to fix this, or else!"
"Or else what?" Yanagi replied calmly, a wry smile making its way to his lips. Yusei could almost see the dirty thoughts forming in the old man's head.
"Or else we'll have to take this outside and clear it up once and for all," Tanner threatened.
"Well, unfortunately, I don't know the first thing about motorcycles and there's no way I'm going to be able to fix whatever's wrong with yours, even if I spend the next three years trying."
"I don't care! You're going to fix it and you're going to fix it now!" With that, Tanner started to come at Yanagi with his hands balled into tight fists at his sides.
By this point, Yusei had moved behind Tanner, placing a firm hand on his shoulder, after which he kicked his foot underneath the taller man's legs making Tanner land on his side with a dull thud. He grunted in and looked to see that Yusei was standing in front of Yanagi.
"What's going on here? You're on this old geezer's side, now, huh?' Tanner said from the floor.
"No, I'm not on his side, but I'm certainly not going to stand idly by and let you pummel him like some angry ape," Yusei explained, without raising his voice in the slightest.
"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll have, then," Tanner offered from the floor as he was propping himself up with strong arms and an awful look on his face.
"I don't want a fight. In fact, I have a better plan. I'll fix your motorcycle for you if you promise to leave Yanagi here alone," Yusei suggested. "Deal?"
"Hummm," Tanner replied. "I prefer fighting then wimping out like you're doing, but I guess I'll let you humor me. Let's see what you can do with the bike," Tanner said, a laughing sort of smile spreading across his face.
"Ok, then," Yusei said.
Tanner stepped back, allowed Yusei to grab his toolbox, and went over to Tannner's motorcycle. They both watched Yusei work. Tanner's green dull eyes observed the whole thing closely, making sure that Yusei was doing things right. Yanagi glanced at the two, but his eyes were mainly set on Tanner.
"So, how does your body feel when you're on the motorcycle? Have you ever given anyone a ride? What's your name, anyhow?"
"It's Tanner "
Yangai gasped. He thought he recognized him when he walked in. "As in Bolt Tanner? I'm your biggest fan! And I've always had a crush on you!"
Tanner made a face.
"I really do!" Yanagi went on. "It's true!"
"Why not try and be friends," Yusei spoke up, glancing at the two.
"Why would I be friends with a perverted old man like him?" Tanner asked, thinking that the idea was odd.
Yanagi looked hurt. "I'm not that bad, am I? What's wrong with liking someone?"
Yusei gave Tanner a hard look. "Give him a chance. You never know, something better may come out of it."
"So, you don't think it's odd that I like Tanner?" Yanagi asked Yusei.
A small smile made its way to Yusei's lips. "Of course not. If that's how you feel that's how feel."
Tanner sighed. "Fine. I'll give it a try."
By this point, Yusei was almost done repairing the damage.
Yanagi's face lit up and he squealed like a schoolgirl. "Do you want to ride out on the town tonight?"
"Sure. Whatever," Tanner grumbled. He glanced at Yusei. "You have a name too, right?"
"It's Yusei. Yusei Fudo," he answered calmly.
The name rang a bell. "Wait. You're Jack's partner in drag racing, aren't you?"
Yanagi's eyes widened for a moment. "You mean the Jack Atlus? The blond wonder? That's so romantic!" he said, picturing Jack on a white horse and coaxing Yusei to climb on so they could ride off into the sunset together.
Yusei rolled his eyes and went back to work.
To be Continued ...