Thursday, December 06, 2007
(Chap 11: The Waiting Game)
'Two weeks. Two weeks since I left.' Eiri stared out of the moving carriage hating every thing he saw. He knew he had to do it. He had to leave Shuichi and Bad Luck; he had to stay in Japan and convince Tohma to keep his hounds at bay, but that doesn't mean he has to like it.
Already the lonely feeling of loss had penetrated his chest and was now embedded in his heart. Walking up on that deck and taking one last look at Pleasure Port was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.
[flash back]
The scent of the ocean breeze had grown stale in his nostrils as Eiri took his first step on the soggy wooden planks of the dock. He wanted more than anything to run the other way. Run back to Shuichi.
A grizzly old man with four teeth slapped him on the shoulder. "Sonny, I put your luggage on your sleeping cot just like you ask." He smiled at the dreary Eiri in hopes of thanks. Eiri nodded in acknowledgement and quickly walked up the dock and boarded the ship.
He had prepaid everything. Shuichi hadn't taken away his money when he was first taken captive so he had saved a fair amount of cash. He found a ship leaving for Japan and paid the passage for one. Found a fellow passenger and paid him to take Eiri's knapsack of clothes and few belongings aboard earlier in the day and put them where they were meant to be.
Eiri didn't stop running up the dock till he made it to the opposite side of the deck facing the open ocean. The toothless man came up behind him and patted his shoulder. Eiri paid him no mind only watched as the sun began to creep over the horizon.
"Alright Smithy, lets get this ship on the ocean!" The captain hollered to his first mate.
Eiri smiled. No matter how much pain he was in at that moment he knew it was for the best. It was to save Shuichi. I had to keep Shuichi safe, any way possible. The ship began to sail toward the open ocean and Eiri turned his head toward the land for one last look at the still sleeping port town.
Eiri's heart clinched when he saw a blur of pink appear on the dock. It ran all the way to the end and stood there to watch the ship sail off. Shuichi... it was Shuichi. Shu threw an arm in the air and waved it once in farewell. Eiri felt a warm burning tear slide down his cheek as he lifted his arm in the air and returned the gesture.
"Good bye Shuichi, love, I will never see you again."
[end]
Since the beginning of the long and tedious voyage to Japan Eiri had, curiously enough, become friends with the old man. He had bought the man a pint of rum when they exited the ship in a small port town off the west cast of Japan. He and the old man had to go their separate ways.
Eiri chuckled to himself remembering the old man's words. "I hope you are reunited with your woman. Being separated from a woman is a thing no man should have to endure." Eiri of course neglected to tell him that Shuichi wasn't a woman.
Eiri was shaken from his fond memories by the abrupt halt of the carriage in front of an enormous mansion; the Seguchi mansion to be exact. Eiri sighed in annoyance and hopped out of the wooden box not bothering to use the foot latter. He paid the driver and was left in a thick plume of dust as the coach sped off down the road.
He coughed and covered his mouth so as not to ingest the polluted cloud surrounding him. After getting his lungs cleared he looked up at the ominous dark rot iron gate leading to the front drive. Fixing a horrid scowl on his brow he strode up to the gate and used all his force to push it open.
Following his long, uphill trudge up to the front door he was promptly intercepted by the Seguchi guards. "Halt! State your name and your business!"
Eiri was being wrestled to the ground when a jittery man with thick rimmed spectacles ran up and shouted at them stop. "What are you doing?! Let him up! Sacho will not be happy when he hears about this." The guards released Eiri and stood up to brush the dust off his already dirty clothes.
"Sakano-san, please don't tell Seguchi-sama we had no idea he was expected." One guard looked so scared he was about to piss his pants, much to Eiri's satisfaction. He turned toward Eiri and said, "Please forgive us Uesugi-san. We did not recognize you."
The nervous assistant began to yell in a high pitched squeal that only exacerbated Eiri's already painful headache. "Sacho will fire you for such impertinence! You won't-"
"Down boy, quit biting their heads off and take me to Tohma." Eiri cut in before Sakano had a chance to pop a blood vessel. Sakano nodded quickly and began to hurriedly walk back to the front door. Of course Tohma would have been informed the moment Eiri set foot on dry land. He had eyes every where.
Eiri had no problem keeping up with the shorter mans quick strides and just narrowed his mind on the job he had to accomplish.
Tohma was sitting behind his desk looking over the new maps K had dropped off earlier that day. K had also brought news of a ship docking in the harbor carrying an Uesugi son. Tohma had immediately scent out a carriage to intercept his wife from her shopping trip and bring her back to the mansion. One of her brothers had come home.
Seguchi was just making adjustments to the map holding coordinates of his fleet when a polite knock echoed through his conscious.
"Come in." He sat and waited with a plastic smile in his face for the interrupter to enter.
Eiri pushed the door open and leaned up against the door frame in a lazy almost tedious manner. "Hey Tohma."
Tohma sprung from his chair and immediately crossed the room to envelope his brother-in-law in a tight hug. Eiri returned it willingly. He had missed Tohma; regardless of how much he disliked the shorter blond. "Welcome home, Eiri." Tohma sounded on the verge of tears.
Eiri pulled away and smiled warmly at the shorter man in front of him. "How have things been going since I've been away?"
Tohma smiled brightly and stepped back to rub the back of his neck. "Mika-san is pregnant."
Eiri's smile wavered. "I'm sorry I could have sworn you just said Mika was pregnant."
Tohma laughed nervously. "Mika is two months pregnant." Eiri's smile appeared once again and he strode into the office and took a seat in one of the leather chairs opposite Tohma's desk.
Tohma took his seat in his chair and looked at Eiri expectantly. Eiri had something on his mind; he seemed changed somehow. "Eiri-san, where is Tatsuha? Why isn't he with you?" Tohma began to panic if one brother returned without the other something must have happened. Mika was going to kill him if that was the case.
"Tatsuha is still with Bad Luck." Tohma looked at him questioningly and waited for an answer. "Actually that's part of the reason why I came to see you."
"You didn't want to visit your sister and brother? You didn't want them to know you were alive?" Tohma played a pout that was eerie and disturbing.
"Don't give me that Tohma, I know you had us watched from the moment Bad Luck sailed away from NG." Eiri put on his business scowl and fixed Tohma in his hard gaze.
Tohma shrugged. "You know me too well, Eiri-san." Eiri growled he didn't want to play a game of words with Tohma he wanted to get down to business. "Alright Eiri, what is it you want to discuss?"
"I want you to call off your hounds."
"I can't do that." Tohma laced his fingers and leaned back in his chair.
"You can and you will Tohma. Call off your dogs and forget about Bad Luck and Shuichi Shindo." Eiri leaned forward in a threatening manner.
Tohma sighed. "Eiri, I can not forget about Tatsuha. He is your brother. Would you have him rot with that scum just to get your way?" Tohma was baffled. He would have thought Eiri would have wanted to pursue his captors and give them justice.
Eiri was beginning to lose his cool. How was he supposed convince Tohma to leave Tatsuha without telling the short blond that Tats was in love. "First of all Tohma, some of the scummiest people on this earth are on your pay roll and Tatsuha seems to have found some thing he is good at." That's partly true.
"Whether my employees have questionable back grounds is not on trial here. I can't simply forget about a member of my family. Frankly I'm quite surprised at you, Eiri. I would have thought you would be leading the charge against Shindo and his crew."
Eiri found himself growling in protest. "Shindo and his crew are good people." He spoke with finality. "They treated Tatsuha and I like part of their family and not like prisoners. I will not repay their kindness by feeding them to the wolves!"
"Regardless of being a good person, which many a pirate is, he kidnapped two members of my family and he deserves to be brought to justice." Tohma stood and began to pack up the maps as a sign that the conversation was over.
'No! I can't let Shuichi down.' Eiri stood and slammed a hand down on top of the map Tohma was trying to shuffle. "They have the whole of Pleasure Port behind them. Are you truly willing to spend hundreds of lives just to bring him to justice for treating Tatsuha and I like family?" Tohma looked into Eiri's eyes and squared his shoulders. Eiri could tell he hadn't convinced his brother-in-law yet. Then Rumiko sprung to the front of his mind. "Rumiko Shindo is putting all her force behind Shuichi."
Tohma's eyes widened the slightest bit, but the change was gone before it could make a noticeable difference. Eiri would have missed it if he hadn't been looking for it. 'What is Tohma's connection to Rumiko?' Tohma abruptly turned to face the ocean out of his windows.
Waving a hand in the air he called over his shoulder. "Well, Eiri, if you are so determined to let Captain Shindo go free then so be it. If I hear a single whisper of Tatsuha being mistreated I will order General K to strike."
Eiri nodded and turned to leave. He reached for the door and pulled it open before he turned back and said in a low voice, "Thank you, Tohma."
Before Tohma could turn around to look at his brother-in-law Eiri had already walked out the door and shut it softly behind him.
He walked over to his desk and sat down with a sigh placing his head in his hands. Tohma lifted a hand to remove his bowler hat and set it softly down on the desk. After running his hands through his hair several times he leaned back and sunk deep in the plushy leather.
His gaze drifted toward his top left hand drawer. Fishing a key out of his jacket pocket he placed it in the lock and slowly, almost apprehensively, unlocked the drawer. Pulling it gradually open a small wooden box came into the light. He drew it out of the drawer and placed it on the desk in front of him. Tohma's hands began to shake as he carefully lifted the lid up to reveal its contents with in.
Inside were a number of letters and pictures. Beside the stack of papers was a dried and withered Mountain Loral blossom. Tohma carefully lifted the fragile blossom out of the box and underneath it laid a curved lock of bright pink hair tied in a creamy white ribbon. The blond gently stroked the hair, quickly withdrawing his hand, he moved onto inspecting the stack of paper.
He shuffled through the letters to get to the pictures at the bottom of the box. He looked through the pictures seeing the Seguchi mansion in its old glory, children playing in the garden and tormenting the long since dead family dog. A small genuine smile graced Tohma's face when he came upon a picture of a little boy with his arm around the shoulders of a young girl.
The little boy wore a bright happy smile with platinum blond hair half hidden under a mini bowler hat. The young girl had a sundress and a wide brimmed straw hat that was unsuccessful in hiding her wide grin. Her bright pink hair cascaded down her shoulders to flow in front of her.
Tohma felt a warm tear slide down his cheek as he stared at the old and battered picture. He sniffled and wiped the tear away. "It has been a long time, Rumiko."
Hiro sighed in frustration. They had been at sea for a week and Shuichi still didn't seem like himself. A few days after Eiri-san had disappeared Shuichi had insisted on setting sail for the farthest ocean.
Tatsuha was doing little better than Shuichi; he had been spending an increasingly long amount of time with Kumagoro. Ryuichi had tried numerous times to cheer his lover and his friend up, but to no avail. Tatsuha was taking the sudden separation from his brother very hard, but not as hard a Shuichi.
"What do you think we should do?" Ryuichi sighed and leaned up against Tatsuha letting the younger man wrap his arm around the saddened pirate.
Hiro and Suguru glanced at one another while Maiko was busy tossing a sharpened knife at the ship's wall repeatedly. Eiri's absence had made an impact on the whole ship. When Shuichi wasn't happy neither was his family and if they weren't happy the rest of the ship suffered. It was a never ending cycle that all came back to Eiri's sudden disappearance and Shuichi's withdrawn reclusive behavior.
"I say we go hunt the bastard down and drag him back here." Maiko stabbed her knife rather viciously in the table top of the crew dining chamber.
Hiro drew a hand through his hair and placed his elbows on the table top. "Maiko, you know we can't do that. Seguchi would just kill us all on the spot. You heard what Shu said: Eiri-san went back to help us, to save us."
"We didn't need stupid Goldilocks to help!" Ryuichi crossed his arms over his chest with a shove and pouted rather cutely prompting Tatsuha to place a loving kiss on his temple.
"He had no choice." The pouting and knife flinging stopped as every pair of eyes fell on the calm and solemn Suguru. Suguru's eyes flitted to Hiro and he continued to speak. "Shuichi did the unthinkable. He raided an NG ship and he kidnapped members of Tohma's family."
Tatsuha sat up fully, displacing Ryu. "I came on my own accord! Ryu honey didn't kidnap me!"
Ryu snorted, "Tat-kun, I beat you in a game if swords and I succeeded in tying you up without breaking a sweat!"
Tatsuha smirked mischievously. "Looked like you broke a sweat to me, and I would have followed you without being tied up."
Hiro slammed his fists on the table creating a dull resonating thud to end the couple's argument. "Shut up! Let Suguru finish." He withdrew his fist from the table and turned to give his attention to the overly calm accountant.
Suguru ignored the out burst and continued on. "As I was saying; whether you would have come on your own accord or not Tohma will still blame Shuichi for kidnapping Eiri-san and steeling his cargo. I know Tohma better than all of you, I grew up with him, and he wouldn't have stopped until he had killed us all and gotten his brothers-in law back."
Maiko scoffed and resumed the knife tossing. Suguru looked toward her and rolled his eyes. "If he had General K on his side there would have been no way we would be able to escape. That guy is... for lack of a better word, crazy. He was trained in the western continents and applies ruthless tactics in battle. He is practically unbeatable in a head to head battle. We wouldn't have stood a chance."
"Yes, but why did Eiri leave without Tatsuha?" Hiro asked as he ran his finger over a deep groove in the wooden table.
Suguru looked down at his hands clasped together in his lap. "Isn't it obvious? Eiri went because he was trying to keep Tatsuha and Ryuichi from being separated."
Tatsuha spoke up, but this time his voice portrayed sadness and bitter sweet thankfulness. "What about Shuichi? I know he never admitted it, but he has feelings for Shu. Why did he sacrifice his and Shu's happiness for me and Ryu?" Tatsuha could feel his throat begin to close up. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to leave your lover to save someone else from the same fate. Ryuichi leaned up and kissed Tat gently on the cheek when he felt Tatsuha begin to stiffen with the struggle of keeping his emotions at bay.
Suguru looked from Tat to Ryu. A longing look crossed his face before he brushed it away and clarified. "Tohma thinks very highly of Eiri's opinion. If any one was going to convince him to abandon his hunt for Shuichi it would have to be Eiri. I guess he felt it was better to live without Shuichi than to risk his death as well as others just for his happiness. He sacrificed his happiness for Shuichi's life."
A somber silence fell over the group seated at the table. The only sounds that could be heard were people above deck scurrying about and the creaking of the ships hull as the waves swept along the ship. Shuichi leaned against the wall outside the dining chamber listening to his friends discuss the events that took place a week ago. He silently pounded his head into the wall letting tears flow freely down his cheeks.
Hundreds of miles away...
"Alright, I'll tell you! Just please, kill me already!" A bloodied shell of a man screamed and whimpered in the corner of the captain's cabin aboard ASK.
Taki rubbed his crimson dripping hands together hungrily and smirked at his torture victim. "Thank you. You have been a mighty big help." He pulled out his hatchet and proceeded to hack at the man's neck till his head came lose sending screams and blood through the air. Turning toward his first mates he sneered at them. "Set course for Bad Luck. I want to trail them at a reasonable distance till the time is right. We're going to take them by surprise."
Ma-kun and Ken-chan looked at one another apprehensively. They had never seen their captain with such a mad glint in his eye before. It seemed obvious that he had something extra dastardly planned for Captain Shindo when they finally struck. Neither man wanted to be around to see it, but they knew it was unavoidable.
If it weren't for the threat of pain and death they would have abandoned ship long ago. Ever since Captain Aizawa had learned a little secret that Shindo, himself, didn't even know Taki had been obsessed with finding out where Bad Luck was and capturing Shuichi himself.
Things did not bode well for the pink haired pirate king.
Three months later...
Eiri sat in the Seguchi's parlor half listening half dreaming about a pink haired man sailing the ocean. Mika was rambling on about something having to do with nurseries and baby things that Eiri wouldn't have understood even if he was listening.
He finally turned his full attention to his sister when she pegged him in the head with a crystal flower vase. "Fuck, Mika! What the hell did you do that for?"
Mika was standing with one hand fisted and propped on her hip, the other laid over her swollen belly. "Eiri, I just told Tohma wasn't the father of my baby to see if you were listening and you just continued to stare out the window like a possessed man." Eiri scowled back out the window ignoring his hormonal sister.
She sighed, her expression softening. She waddled over to the couch Eiri was occupying and sat down next to her little brother. She leaned forward and rested her head on his broad shoulder. "Eiri, you've been different ever since you came back to us. What happened aboard that ship?"
Eiri allowed her to lean on him, but ignored her question. If he were more of an emotional man he would have admitted that her contact was comforting. Of course, he was stubborn as a horse and attributed his lenience to her "condition".
Mika circled an arm around her brother's waist and tried again. "Eiri, please talk to me."
Eiri was still silent. Mika was about to give up and leave, she looked up at her brother's face to see tears twinkling in light golden eyes. She sat up and stared bewildered at him. Carefully she placed a warm dry hand on his cheek and guided him to look at her. "Eiri?"
He let a single tear slide down his cheek before he pushed her hand away and stood up turning his back to her. Mika's hand came back to cover her mouth as she watched her brother's shoulders tremble ever so slightly. She hadn't seen her little brother cry since their mother died so many years ago.
She stood up and gingerly wrapped her arms around his middle holding him from behind. Eiri turned in her embrace and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. He pressed his face in her honey scented hair like he used to do as a child when nightmares plagued his sleeping mind. She lifted a hand to stroke his hair. "Eiri? What happened?"
He sobbed softly. "Mika, I left them. I had to leave them." 'I had to leave him...' His grip tightened around her shoulders, but her swollen belly would only allow so much closeness.
Mika just held her brother as he wept into her styled hair. Deep down inside her she could feel there was more to it then just leaving "them". She had her theories, but she was a smart woman and wouldn't mention any of them to Tohma or Eiri. She could surmise a great deal from the bit of conversation she heard from behind the door those three months ago. There was something in Eiri's voice every time he mentioned Shindo during his conversation with Tohma that hinted at more than just a captor/captive relationship.
Shaking her head she pulled back from her calming brother. "Do you feel better?" She received a deep glare. "Good. Now, go clean your self up. We are having diner with Father tonight." Eiri growled, but withdrew his arms and began to walk toward the door.
His hand was on the door and it was partially open with he turned to glance back at his sister. "Mika?" She looked up from rubbing circles on her belly. "If you tell Tohma-"
"I wouldn't dream of it." She gave him a reassuring smile.
Eiri returned it rather half heartedly. "Thank you, Mika." Mika watched her brother walk out of the parlor and close the door behind him.
She collapsed onto the couch and huffed out a tired sigh. She glanced down at her belly and watched her fingers tracing patterns on her designer maternity blouse. Mika's mind was just working out all the pieces of the puzzle. Suddenly it hit her. She turned her head and stared out the window.
"Eiri, what have you gotten yourself into?"
Dinner at Father's house was always interesting. Old Man Uesugi never complimented and only complained. He never commends, but always lectures on how to better his children and if he were to do something it would be much better than how it is now. What the old codger doesn't realize is that all three of his children have generous shares of NG Trading Company, his daughter in particular being the second largest share holder next only to Tohma.
So to say the least Tatsuha wasn't missing anything particularly interesting being on Bad Luck and not at Uesugi mansion listening to Old Man gab on about stalks and bonds, two things he doesn't know the first thing about.
Needless to say Eiri was downing Cognac as if it was water and Mika was busy staring off into space while caressing her belly. Tohma was the only one that seemed to be listening to the old badger. "That's quiet an interesting take you have on international trade, Uesugi-sama. Now explain to me again how trading with other countries is high treason."
Not only was Uesugi ignorant about the business world he was also naive in terms of foreign affairs as well. If it weren't for the fact that all three children held a resemblance to him some would think his beloved wife had been looking for companionship in places other than her marital bed. It was a mystery to all who knew the couple how such an intelligent and savvy woman such as Darling Uesugi could have fallen in love with a man like Old Man.
Nonetheless she did and in turn produced three of the smartest and most stunning children in Japan, not that she ever bragged.
Eiri lifted the decanter to pour himself another glass of Cognac just as he realized he had drained it. "Father, I'm going to the kitchen to get more Cognac." Though Eiri knew how to hold his alcohol, tonight was not a night to be fighting inebriation.
Old Man waved a hand in dismissal and continued to yak at an undeserving Tohma without batting an eye.
Eiri shuffled his feet down a stair case in the familiarly cold house he grew up in and found his way to the kitchen. After getting a star struck servant to fill the decanter he stumbled his way back up to the sitting room.
Upon reaching the dreaded parlor Eiri halted abruptly when the words being said inside drifted to his intoxicated ears on the other side of the wall.
"Why aren't you hunting down that bastard pirate? He has my son!" Old Man was drilling Tohma as if he just now realized his youngest was not amongst the party present.
Tohma maintained his plastic smile when he responded to the half heartedly concerned father. "Eiri informed me that Tatsuha saw pirating as a rather lucrative business opportunity and decided to stay aboard Bad Luck to further his experience in the field."
It never ceased to amaze Eiri how Tohma could turn any situation into a business deal. Regardless of the blatant lie it suited the purpose of getting the codger onto a different subject; although it happened to be of a less desirable nature than Eiri would have liked.
"Good, good, he's getting some experience in different businesses then." Mika rolled her eyes as her father continued. "So, what are you planning on doing to that bastard of a pirate that kidnapped my sons?" His tone was gleeful no doubt expecting something involving corporal punishment or even the gallows.
Tohma took in a slow breath trying his best to remain calm. Though violence was sometimes necessary in his line of work Tohma tried to avoid it at all costs. "We have abandoned the search for Captain Shindo and his crew. It would not be prudent to arrest and punish the very pirate captain Tatsuha was working under." He tried to take soothing breaths, but sometimes the old man was just too much for even Tohma's nerves.
Eiri was clinching his fists just outside the door. The thought of his Shuichi being whipped or hanged made his blood bowl and his eyes darken.
"That may be Tohma, but that scum needs to be punished." Old Man reached over and nearly had his fingers around his glass of Cognac when Tohma snatched it away.
"Don't you think you have had quite enough? If you continue you will be unable to continue our fascinating discussions." Tohma knew when to schmooze and taking alcohol away from Uesugi was definitely one of those times.
"Right, right, well I still believe that Shindo-san, or whatever, should be punished. Can you not find another band of outlaws to let Tatsuha play with?" The thing Old Man excelled at was insulting his children. Their intelligence, their looks, you name it, it was fair game. He didn't think very much of his youngest and didn't hide it from anyone.
Mika decided to cut in seeing as her husband's plastic smile was beginning to turn into an angered snarl. "Father, Tatsuha is now working under the most civilized pirates on this hemisphere. It wouldn't be smart to find him a position on another ship. He would be taken advantage of on any vessel other than Bad Luck."
Eiri smirked the slightest bit. Bad Luck was the only pirate ship he knew of that had employed Tohma Seguchi's former accountant to organize their finances. In fact they were the only pirate ship that kept records of their "income".
Old Man was getting rather upset. He was an egocentric man and having his daughter tell him that he was wrong and unintelligent was infuriating. "That may be, but all pirates should be taken out and hanged for their crimes. They are nothing, but worthless vermin that pollute the majestic seas and add blemishes to our otherwise flawless world."
Eiri had enough. He burst through the door and smashed the Waterford decanter against the wall filling the air with the small of alcohol. His fists were clinched and his heart was pounding so loud he was going to go deaf. His glare was so piercing that Old Man Uesugi seemed to shrink away from his raging son.
He marched up to his father and hauled him out of the antique chair and shoved him up against the wall ignoring his lacerated hand from the shattered crystal. Pinning his father he pressed his face so close Uesugi could only see angry gold eyes in his line of vision.
Eiri spoke in a stiff shacking voice. "The only vermin I see is you. Do not ever say a thing like that about Shuichi Shindou or Bad Luck ever again! That ship was more of a home than this goddamned place ever was!" Eiri loosened his hold on the old man when he heard his sister whimper with fright behind him. He dropped the man on his feet and took a step back still shaking. "Shuichi and his crew were more like family to me than you ever were."
He slowly stepped backwards toward the door not making eye contact with Mika or Tohma. Tohma had his arm around Mika's shoulders and as she reached a hand to touch Eiri's arm she whispered, "Eiri..." His head snapped in their direction then suddenly a stricken look crossed his face and turned and fled out of the room, out of the mansion, out of the grounds and down the lane, into the night.
Uesugi-sama rubbed his throat and stood up straight glaring after his son. "What a son I have raised. I have half a mind to have him arrested and whipped for such behavior!"
Mika felt her anger rise. No one... no one threatens her brothers, not even their father. She stomped over her father, raised her right arm and slapped the man across the cheek causing his head whip from the force of the blow. "Don't ever speak about Eiri that way! If you ever do anything to jeopardize Tatsuha or Eiri, God so help me, I will-"
"Now Mika darling, remember what Dr. Obvious said regarding your temper? Think of our baby." Tohma stepped forward and took hold of Mika's elbow to guild her away from the stunned old man before she ended up spilling his blood. When he had Mika safely out of the room he turned to the still frozen Uesugi patriarch and put on his most business like smile. "Uesugi-san, watch what you say to and about my family. Mess with them and you will wish you had never spoken a word in your life." Tohma turned and strode out of the room and to the carriage where Mika waited still fuming.
A/N So intense! I was on the edge of my seat! Just kidding. I finished this in two days! Aren't you proud of me! I hope you liked it. I'm excited about the next chapter but I wont give you any hints, *evil smirk*. I hope you enjoyed! Read and Review!
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