Misconceptions

Chapter Fifteen:
Tithe

"Dad, I said I don't want a body guard—I don't need one!" Ayame argued.

"Ayame, there are some sick and deranged people in this world—"

"Don't worry. Hana isn't going to bother you anymore."

Burke suddenly laughed realizing it was a joke and an insult toward Hana. "Ayame, I'm serious. The people these are crazy. Their doped up everything under the sun and think its okay to violate others."

Ayame shook her head and pulled up a chair in front of his desk. She had a feeling they'd be there a while. "I was with Kouga. I doubt he'll let anyone kid nap or do whatever to me."

"Kouga . . . as in the reason Hana began torturing you in the first place?"

Ayame swallowed hard ad a small blush crept up her body. "It's not his fault he's related. Look, Dad, Hana is obviously paranoid. She thinks I seduced her son and I've but some kind of spell on him."

Burke sighed in surrender. "Fine," he agreed. "I won't stick a body guard on you. But I do have a favor to ask of you."

"Alright, I'll bite."

He nodded. "Very well . . . I'd like it if you didn't see Kouga anymore."

"What?"

"I know you're young. Young love is very beautiful, but it isn't worth a long life of strife and unhappiness. That's all I see in a future of you and Kouga. You'll be miserable together. I don't think it's written in the stars for you, Ayame."

"Dad, I . . . I honestly don't want to stop seeing him."

Burke reached over and took her hand. He gave it a good squeeze. "Ayame, I don't ever want to ask you to give up something you love, but I will if I know it'll pay off one day. Time . . . it heals wounds. It's the only thing that heals. In time, your wound of him will heal and you'll see a brighter life. All I want is for you to be happy. Please, I beg you to think clearly, Ayame. I don't want you to see that boy again."

Ayame saw the desperation in his eyes. She squeezed his hand back in response. She could see he had a point. Burke was right . . . a life without Kouga could eventually lead to more happiness. But one thing Ayame knew for sure: she wasn't going to let go of Koga that easily. She knew Burke was trying to offer her pearls of wisdom. He only wanted her to live happy, but maybe he was wrong.

"I . . . Alright," she agreed. "I won't see him again."

Burke stood up and walked over to her. He embraced her tightly. Ayame wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"I promise," she fibbed.

.o0o.

Ai walked through the door and took off her large aviators from her face. She sighed deeply and looked around the empty office. How could she tell him? What would she tell him? She had tell him something—anything before Hana kept her promise.

"I figured, I'd find you here,"

Ai gasped and turned and faced Kouga. "What are you doing here? Did you follow me?"

He smirked. "I lost you a minute ago, you're lucky your scent is pretty strong."

"Leave," Ai warned. "You have to go. This is important—"

"I know exactly what you're going to do, and I won't let you." He walked over to an empty chair nonchalantly and sat in it as he stretched. "Look, I know you're seeing this guy. D you like him?"

She scoffed and stood straight. "That's my business,"

"Do you like him?" He asked again, this time more urgent.

Ai sighed in surrender. "Maybe,"

Kouga chuckled. "Then what are you doing?"

"You know what I'm doing here. If I don't do it then I know your mother will. I think it's best if he hears it from me. Besides, I'm sure you stood there long enough to hear us arguing. Hana will do anything to keep us together."

"Then let's not let her."

"Are you crazy, she'll kill us? She'll skin us to death or something equally disgusting."

"You have to learn to rebel, Ai. You can't follow your parents' rules for ever. And why should you follow my parents' rules? They're nothing to you. We have to work against them. We both don't want this to happen."

"That's easy for you to say. Your parents are the royal Ookami-youkai. And I have four other sisters who would be more than happy when I'm disowned seeing that their inheritance would grow far larger."

"Then tell your parents I refuse to marry you—which I do. You don't have to break up with this guy. I say we work together to bring our families down."

Ai smirked and held out her hand. "You're on."

.o0o.

"Bin, I've got some news."

Bin put his glass down on the thick railing of his three story mansion balcony. He walked over to Will who held out a large yellow envelope. He grabbed it, ripped the seal, and spilled the contents on the glass table of his room. It was a bunch of paper and some pictures including two birth certificates and some legal papers. "What's this?" he questioned.

Will began to sort out some of the papers. "These are most of the documents that I could find on Vorena and that girl, Ayame. It turns out she goes by Tanaka Ayame. She is a Japanese native."

"Why are you telling me what I already know?"

"Well, that's just it. That was pretty much all I could find. I got some of my best men on the case, too. All I could find was some documents of an orphan. She's from the Rainbow Hope orphanage outside of Tokyo."

Bin shook his head and scratched his head in confusion. "That's not possible: she told me her father came down on a business trip—of course unless she lied."

Will nodded. "I thought that too, but I did some research on flights in and out and found that Ayame had been traveling with her father. It's Burke."

"Burke? Burke is her father? Are you sure, Will?"

"Yes, trust me it's not a coincidence. I even searched down that too and it turns out Burke did have a daughter. His wife gave birth to Ayame after she filed for divorce and ran off while pregnant. Burke never found her and after giving birth she died. She did all in her power to make sure Burke would never find Ayame. That's why she was marked and orphan."

Bin felt all the information rushing to his head all at once and sat down on the white chair behind him. He began rubbing his temples. "So this means that Ayame is . . . it's a wonder Vorena never said anything about it. How much older was Vorena anyhow?"

"She was about five years older than Ayame. That means Vorena and Ayame—"

"Yea . . . I know where you're getting at now. Now I think I'll have a little chat with my old friend Burke."

.o0o.

"Grandfather, I'm home," Ayame announced.

The old man stepped out of the art room with his cane in hand. "Ah, I see that. How was your trip?"

"It was great. I actually got in a while ago. I'm sorry I couldn't drop by before but I was so busy with class. I called but one of the kids got a hold of the phone—I'm guessing it was one of the toddlers. You know how they like to get themselves into trouble." She put down the arms-full of groceries on the table and gave a sigh of relieve. "How's everything around here?"

Unexpectedly, two children came out of the large hallway screaming at each other as the one in front had underwear of his head and toilet paper tangled all over him. The one behind him chased him in an attempt to help, but it was lost hope.

Ayame bit her lip, resisting the temptation to laugh. "That bad, huh?" she taunted.

Grandfather waved his hand in dismissal. "Ah, let the kids have fun." With out warning, a glass crashing on the floor was heard. Grandfather only closed his eyes in agitation and took a deep breath.

"Alright," Ayame called out. "Who ever cleans up, eats. Who ever doesn't . . . can just starve."

Yumi pulled on her skirt. "You wouldn't do that? Would you?"

"Try me,"

With that said the kids sprang up and began running around. Some got the groceries into the kitchen, and the rest worked on fixing the place up with out a problem. Ayame walked over a kid and pulled the underwear off his head. "I never want to do that . . . again, okay?" She handed him the underwear and he ran off.

"See, I'm back and I'm ready to work, Grandfather."

"Good . . . I needed the help. Now, tell me about Korea. It's strange. However . . . I swear I saw Carissa the other night."

"What do you mean?"

"You went to Korea with her, right? At least I think you told me that . . . I'm so old my memory can't be counted on. Any how, I thought you said you went to Korea to accompany Carissa while her dad did some business."

Ayame pondered over her thoughts for a moment. "Oh, right, I did say that. Well it must have been your eyes playing a trick on you. Anyway, Korea was great. I had a good time and I saw a lot of things. It's beautiful but I think Tokyo is right for me."

"Good, the kids and I cant' afford loosing you," he joked as he rested in a seat nearby.

The moment was ruined by the trill of Ayame's Motorola. She groped for it in her bag and put it to her ear. "Hello . . . now? Where are—okay I'll be out in a second. . . no you can . . . I shouldn't have to! Whatever, bye." She smiled at her grandfather. "I kind of have to go."

He raised a brow. "You came in my life only to be taken away," he teased. "Where are you heading off to? I assumed you'd spend the rest of today with us. The kids miss you and frankly they don't like to obey me."

Ayame bit her lip and jumped when she heard a knock at the door. She rushed to the door before any of the kids could cause havoc and cracked it open just enough so that she could stick her head out. "What are you doing?" She asked in a scolding voice.

Kouga scratched his head in confusion. "You just told me to come out here."

"Well I didn't really think you'd do it!"

"Well I'm here now!" he countered in a testy voice. "You yelled at me to come out and I'm here. Can't I do anything right?"

Ayame rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic—"

"Ayame," Grandfather's voice interrupted. "What's going on? You shouldn't be so rude to your company—invite them in!"

Ayame hesitantly opened the door wide enough to let Kouga past her. She slowly slid it shut. "Grandfather . . . You know Kouga."

"Of course, he's just in time. Why don't you two stay here a while, maybe the kids will listen to you two."

"Grandfather I don't think—"

"Good . . . I guess we best get started on dinner, shall we?"

.o0o.

Ayame fiddled with the strap of her seatbelt as she tried to get comfortable in the luxury car. The traffic had been unbearable for the past five minutes. They had barely moved an inch and the silence was killing them.

Kouga grunted as he slammed the back of his head into the seat. He rubbed his temples in impatience.

"Do . . . do you want to have sex with me?" She finally asked, killing silence like a scene in Hostel.

His eyes widened and for a second he began coughing as if he choked on his own salvia. "What? You want to do it . . . now?"

She jumped in surprise. "What—no! I mean . . . from what I hear you're like the Casanova of Tokyo University. Plus, Bankotsu said you'd try to sleep with someone you like. But so far you haven't exactly tried much of that . . . and even if you have, then I have to tell you, you're horrible."

Kouga rolled his eyes and shook his head as he moved the car forward a bit. "I don't get it—I thought you wanted me to prove something to you."

"Of course, I want you to prove that there's more to you than a bad temper and . . . good genetics—"

"Whoa, was that just a compliment you dished out?"

Ayame rolled her eyes and attempted to hide her smile. "That's not the point! It's a simple yes or no question, Kouga: Do you want to have relations with me."

Kouga pondered over his response. Would anything he could say be right? "The more you say it . . . the dirtier it makes it sound. Look, Carissa assured me that you were more than a late night call. You look for more . . . I just didn't think you'd bring . . . sex up."

"Well, I do . . . and you're still ignoring my question."

"Fine . . . okay so I've thought about it . . . a few times."

Ayame suddenly arched a brow. "Pervert," she chastised under her breath.

"Hey," He snarled trying not to run over the car in front of him. "You asked me. I just told you the truth."

Ayame nodded slowly. "Okay, you're right. So . . . what kind of . . . thoughts did you have?"

.o0o.

"Ayame," Landon called into the empty hallway. "Ayame," he called again, this time with annoyance. He sighed and knocked on the door to the guest room down the hall before barging in. "Ayame, I've been calling you."

She bit her lip nervously as she put down her cell phone. "Sorry, what is it?"

He held out the house the thin, portable house phone to her. "Someone's on the phone for you."

She grabbed it. "Who is it?"

Landon shrugged.

Ayame rolled her eyes—typical Landon response! "Hello," she spoke into the receiver end. She waited a moment before speaking again. "Hello?" The line suddenly went dead. She took the phone away from her ear and stared at it confusingly before handing it back to Landon. "No one was there," she explained.

He took and shrugged. "Whatever—who're you talking to?"

"Mind your business," she scolded playfully.

Landon suddenly smirked. "I thought you were supposed to be studying," he noted. "In

Fact, you said Carissa was going to study with you."

Ayame's eyes widened. "Landon, shove it! If Dad hears you—"

"He'll what . . . find out you're really talking to Kouga."

"How did you know?"

"You just told me." He laughed. "Don't worry, I won't tell him. However, I suggest end thing before everything starts turning to shit.

She tilted her head to the side not understanding. "What do you mean?"

Landon shrugged. "I know you promised him never to see Kouga again, but remember, all good things come to an end. I'm sure there's a good reason he didn't want you seeing Kouga again."

Ayame put her cell phone to her ear. "Call me back," she said before flipping it closed. "Landon, is there something that you that I don't?"

He shook his head. "No, but trust me, I know enough. You take my warning, okay?"

"Landon . . . I still don't understand why everyone wants me to stay away from him. What's going on?"

.o0o.

Jin sat at the dining room table as she swallowed a spoon full of her hot cereal. She flipped a page of the news paper. She lifted her eyes to look at Bin who only stared at his breakfast as if he wanted to use his telekinesis to make it explode. "You're behaving so unhealthily. You haven't eaten anything in weeks."

"I lost my appetite," he responded robotically.

"You're a liar," she scolded softly.

This got his attention enough to take his gaze of his meal and looked at his cousin. "Excuse me,"

"You've barely eaten a full meal since we met Ayame. I know she brought back a lot of painful memories for you, but she only looks like Vorena . . . it doesn't make her the real thing." Jin grabbed the napkin from her lap and dabbed at her lips. "It kills me to see you like this. It kills me to see you so vulnerable."

"I said I lost my apatite," he said again.

"What are you going to do with yourself, Bin? Ayame is gone. She's been out of Korea for weeks now and I doubt she's ever coming back. You have to let go of the past. We don't even know this girl! Al we now is that she looks like Vorena."

"The Gods have cursed me," he finally spoke."

"What?" Jinn looked at him with confusion and fear.

"They send me this girl . . . who looks exactly like Vorena. They send an innocent girl into my life that looks just like Vorena . . . haven't you ever thought about how odd that is? Do you ever think how odd it is that they both look so alike?"

Jin shook her head. "Where are you getting at, Bin?"

"I found something out."

"What—what did you find? Bin, what is going on?"

"What if I told you I told you that I found a direct link between the two?"

Jin stood up angrily and grabbed her purse off the ground. "Your obsession is unhealthy, Cousin. It's going to eat you up slowly until you're as dead on the outside as you are on the inside. Stop it now, Bin. Stop everything and forget about Ayame. Forget about what happened to Vorena. Forget about everything. I hope by lunch time you'll actually eat something and be at the office."

She leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Stop dwelling in the past. I can already tell it's eating at you again."

.o0o.

"Hey, Bitch," Carissa greeted Ayame lovingly as she hugged her and slapped her behind. "Why does it feel like you're a stranger?"

Ayame rolled her eyes. "I only stayed at my dad's for two days."

"I know . . . but it feels like years! Anyway, I wouldn't go into the kitchen if I were you: Kagome is in serious cooking mode and I have to admit, it's a bit scary!"

Ayame laughed. "I bet,"

"Okay, I'll be back. I have to go finish setting the table or else I'm afraid Kagome will fry my hand instead of the rice."

Hideki grabbed Ayame, suddenly pulling her out to the balcony. Her eyes were wide in surprise. "What's going on?" She hissed at him.

Hideki looked around as if he were being spied on a leaned in closer. "I'm making a bust tomorrow with my guys."

"EW, what you and Carissa do on your own is none of my business—"

He raised a brow. "What . . . no, Ayame get your mind out of the gutter. I'm being serious. Look my guys and I are raiding the dock tomorrow on . . . one of your father's shipments."

"Hideki what are you talking about?"

He stared at her blankly. "Y-you don't know . . . do you? Whatever, what father tells you is your business, but the last thing I need is Carissa mad at me for doing my job. You have to warn your father about tomorrow."

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Look . . . I know your dad is . . . smuggling drugs into Japan. That's why he's such a powerful man. Anyway, my men and I got a tip yesterday about a shipment landing tomorrow. You have to warn him or else I'll have to arrest him.

"Excuse me?" Ayame couldn't believe her ears. Her father . . . one of the most honest men she'd every met in her life . . . no, it couldn't' be! It just couldn't be! "Why are you saying this to me?"

"Ayame . . . don't choose now to be stubborn. You have to tell your dad before it's too late."

"I think you're lying," she finally spoke. "I think you're lying and I don't know why."

Hideki shook his head. "Ayame, I don't have time for this, but you better make up your mind. If you don't want to believe me, that's fine, but you'll have to face the fact that your father isn't who you believe him to be. And if you don't tell him about tomorrow then you'll lose him . . . again."

.o0o.o0o.o0o.o0o.

A/N:

Thanks for all your support! Sorry for the long wait!! Well here's this chapter. I wanted to make this chappy long but it didn't work out cuz I've been slacking and I sort of lost passion in this chapter. but i'll work harder next chappy. sorry. and many thanks!

Spoilers…sort of: Okay, now Ayame knows about Burke's REAL business…will she stand by him? And I reveal the real reason Ayame and Vorena look so much alike. And Bin comes into Burke's and Ayame's lives again…will he be welcomed or shunned? And find out what Burke chooses when it comes down to Hana's threats!