Monday, December 10, 2007
(Chapter 13: Leaking Blood as the Hunt Begins)
An important meeting was being held in the captain's cabin of Bad Luck.
"What are we going to do?" Ryuichi clung to Tatsuha while he clutched Kumagoro with a death grip.
Maiko was busy sharpening her tools of torture and cleaning her pistols while Hiro and Suguru looked over charts and maps trying to decide who could have taken Shuichi. They didn't have the supplies or the connections to take on the near impossible task of hunting down an unknown ship with an unknown captain. They didn't even know where to begin.
When every thing was beginning look bleak Rumiko burst through the door. She looked ready for battle. A thick leather holster with a pair of golden gripped pistols and a golden hilt sword were securely fastened to her waist. Her hair was pinned up in a tight pony tail and her eyes held a stony resolve. Everyone looked at the normally dainty Madame with apprehension.
Rumiko pulled her dagger out of her right boot and stabbed it into the table between Hiro and Suguru. "I have a plan."
Eiri awoke with a start. Sweat was drenching his undershirt and he his heart was beating a mile an hour. He had never had a dream that frightening before. He couldn't stop his heart from racing and his chest was pained.
He couldn't explain it, but he knew Shuichi was in grave danger. He had to get to Shu. He had to save his Shuichi.
Rumiko burst through he doors to the Seguchi manor. It had been years since she had been back and it broke her heart to be back on such unhappy circumstances.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a scrawny man with thick rimmed spectacles racing toward her. "Excuse me. Who are you and how did you get passed the guards?" He halted mid step and fainted.
Rumiko lowered her gun and looked down at the twitching man. "You must be Sakano-san."
Just then a baritone yell from at the top of the stairs caught her attention. "Rumiko-san?" Eiri raced down the steps and ran toward the group of pirates picking Rumiko up and twirling her around in his arms. He set her down and addressed the rest of the party. "What are you doing here? Has something happened to Shuichi?" Eiri looked desperate; he knew that dream was real.
Rumiko looked at the tall blond in surprise, "How did you...?"
Just then a cool, but slightly nervous voice echoed down upon the group at the bottom of the stairs. "Rumiko... It's been a long time."
"So let us get this straight, Rumiko is your half sister from a different father?" There was stunned silence in the room as both Tohma and Rumiko explained the situation to their confused audience.
Mika rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Didn't you ever wonder why Tohma kept his top left hand drawer locked all the time?" Eiri and Tatsuha both shook their heads while everyone else looked on in curiosity.
Tohma nodded then glanced at his pregnant wife in surprise. "Mika, how did you know about that?"
Mika pinch the bridge of her nose and glared at her husband. "I'm your wife, I know every thing." Everyone in the room except for Rumiko, Maiko, and Mika gave a visible shudder.
Tohma then recovered from that scary realization and flicked his hand in the air. "Well, that's beside the point." Rumiko nodded and Mika plopped herself down in the desk top to relieve the pressure on her bladder. "My mother and father... didn't exactly get along. So like all high powered couples that don't like one another my mother took on a lover, the gardener, Shindou-san."
Rumiko smiled a bit. Man, did her father have it bad, he loved Tohma's mother more than life. Tohma glanced at her and continued on with his story. "My mother soon became pregnant with Rumi-chan here." He gestured toward Rumiko while Eiri and Tatsuha snorted in laughter.
"Rumi-chan?" Tatsuha was clutching onto Ryuichi's shoulder trying to hold himself up from his laughter. Rumiko strode over to him and smacked him on the back of the head. "Ow!" Tatsuha rubbed the offending bump.
Tohma cleared his throat, "As I was saying. My father kept my mother's indiscretion quiet and allowed her to give birth to the baby." He intertwined his fingers together in front of his face. "My mother wasn't allowed to keep and raise the baby. So, Rumiko's father took full custody of her."
The atmosphere in the room was somber and became sedated. "Three years later my mother conceived me with my father." Tohma sighed. He didn't like is father, but there was nothing he could do about that now that the old man was dead. "Rumiko and I grew up together believing we were best friends and nothing more. Till one day it slipped some how that Rumiko was actually the first born and would inherit my mother's fortune. Needless to say my father didn't like that one bit."
Rumiko gave a dry laugh. "Well, at least I found out that my best friend was actually my brother, for that I'm thankful." She patted the top of Tohma's bowler hat and gave her little brother a warm smile.
Tohma returned the smile with a surprisingly genuine one of his own. "My father banished Shindou-san and Rumiko." The smile was gone and he was back to business. "I knew not where they went, but I got a letter from Pleasure Port a year after they left. We kept correspondence for a few years after that, then..."
Rumiko frowned. "Then you stopped sending letters you little prick."
Tohma gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Rumi-chan! My father found out and forced me to stop." He looked on the verge of tears. Something no one expected to see on his business like face.
Eiri turned to whisper to Tatsuha. "I thought Mika was the one that was supposed to be emotional during the pregnancy." Tatsuha snickered earning both brothers a withering glare from their strong, angry pregnant sister.
"Your father was indeed a dick head." Rumiko didn't normally cuss, but the memory of that man brought out the worst in her.
Tohma smiled up at her from his seat behind the desk. "Tell me what happened to you in Pleasure Port."
Rumiko smiled brightly and began to bounce. "Oh, Tohma-kun you will never guess. I am the most powerful person on the peninsula. I'm Madame of The Chicken Ranch and I have two beautiful children!" She grabbed Maiko's hand and dragged her forward. "Say Hi to your uncle Tohma."
Tohma looked slightly scared. He remembered all to well Maiko leading the charge on his ship. "Hello Maiko-chan, Nice to see you again."
Rumiko looked from her scowling daughter to her little brother. Then a light bulb clicked. "Oh, that's right. Shu-chan stormed your ship!" Just as her bouncy nature appeared it vanished quicker. Her face grew grave and Tohma noticed the resemblance between their mother and her. "Tohma, speaking of Shu-chan I need a favor."
The platinum blond looked a little weary and worried. "Rumiko, what happened?"
"My son, Shuichi, has been abducted by another Pirate. He was taken from us and we need your help to track him down and get him back." Out of the corner of her eye she could tell that the little color that was in Eiri's pale face had drained out.
Tohma also noticed the look on his brother-in-law's face. He glanced at Mika for help. She looked saddened as if she knew something he did not. Instead of questioning it he turned to Rumiko. "I will help you. I'll do it for you and Eiri." Both Rumiko and Eiri smiled and thanked Tohma profusely.
Mika smiled at Tohma and grabbed his hand, holding it in hers. He placed his other hand on her severely swollen belly and whispered so only she could hear. "I'll get K in here. I know he has been following Bad Luck since I told him to quit the hunt."
Shuichi felt horrible. He had the worst head ache known to man and could feel dried blood all the way down his neck and shoulder from the head wound he had suffered. When he regained consciousness it took a few seconds to bring back the events of the day before.
"Taki... that bastard!" The moment the words left his mouth he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. That was when he realized he was chained to the wall of the cabin and didn't have a stitch of clothing on him.
"I see you're awake, Shuichi." A cold menacing voice drifted from a dark corner of the room. Shuichi turned his face to see his captor smirking evilly at him.
Shuichi was pissed. How dare this prick take liberties with him? "Taki, I swear to God you better unlock my hands and feet or I will kill your sorry ass." Taki only smiled and walked toward the chained Pirate King.
He reached out a hand and caressed Shuichi's dirty and bruised cheek. "Now Shuichi how do you plan on killing me when you can barely defend yourself. I must say when I say the state you had let yourself revert to I was some what disappointed. I thought you would put up more of a fight."
Shuichi snarled at the sadistic pirate before him. "Once my crew finds out about this you will be on hell of a bind. They will come for me and they will rescue me."
Taki grinned. "You are rather sure of that, but what they don't know is that I have an ally on my side; one very close to Eiri Uesugi."
"Well, I wouldn't call myself close I'm just his father." The baritone voice came from the door as a tall, old, bald man walked through the door.
Shuichi's eyes grew to the size of half dollars. The obvious family resemblance was frightening. Both Eiri and Tatsuha were almost carbon copies of this threatening, smiling man that was now looking the naked chained pirate up and down. Shuichi squirmed under his gaze and tried to cover himself up as best as he could, given his current state of restraint.
"Why are you doing this?" Shuichi's voice sounded more frightened than he wished it to be.
Old Man Uesugi frowned and stepped closer to Shuichi sending chills of fear racing up the pirate's spine. "I'm doing this because no one denounces me as family. I will do the denouncing and I will do the disowning." Shuichi looked at the man whose face was still a breath away from his own in confusion. "Eiri denounced me as family after I suggested that all pirates are scum and should be hanged." Shuichi gasped. "I must be in control. I must have the power. He finds you more family than me then I will just destroy that." He gave a maniacal laugh that even Taki seemed slightly disturbed by.
Taki shook off his shudder and stepped forward. "Uesugi-san, if you would go get your ships ready I would like to have a little chat with Shindou-san here." Uesugi sneered at Shuichi, spit directly into his face before standing back up, walking toward the door and disappearing.
Taki smirked and stepped up to take a seat directly in front of Shuichi in a cum stained chair covered in dried blood. Shuichi sat in the most dignified position he could possibly muster while still having saliva drip down his cheek. Taki lifted a hand and whipped the spit off of Shuichi's soft cheek then wiped it on the chair adding to its rustic appeal.
Shuichi glared at him. "Don't touch me." Taki laughed and ran his hands through Shuichi's hair causing the naked pirate to become even more irate.
"As much as I would like to begin torturing you I didn't bring you here solely for that purpose. I brought you here to reunite you with your long lost family." Taki stroked the back of his hand along Shuichi's jaw line.
Shuichi jerked his head to the side to avoid the touch. "What are you talking about? I know my family. They are probably on their way here right now."
Taki ran his hand down Shuichi's chest and stopped directly over his naked belly. He pulled his arm back making a fist and slammed it into Shuichi's vulnerable stomach. Shuichi's breath was knocked out of him as his head jerked forward and his body tried to crumple into its self, but was unable to. His hands strained against the chains pinning them above his head as he coughed and desperately tried to make the pain in his stomach dissipate.
Taki brushed his fingers over the quickly forming purple bruise and smiled. "Now, what was I saying? Ah, yes; your long lost family." Shuichi continued to cough and strain against his bondage.
Taki sat back in his chair to watch the pirate king struggle while he told him a little story. "When I was a small child my father left on a voyage that ended up in Pleasure Port. When he returned he told me of a beautiful specimen there that was playing hard to get." Shuichi froze, this sounded strangely familiar. "He returned to Pleasure Port not long after coming home to visit. It was then that he took what he wanted."
Taki smiled in a nostalgically creepy way that made Shuichi nauseous. "My father painted a beautiful picture of blood, screaming, and tears. I couldn't have been prouder of the old man." Shuichi really did think he was going to vomit now. This guy was sick beyond belief and it seemed to run in the family.
Captain Aizawa smirked at the green tinge on his captive's face. He leaned down and drew his dagger out of his boot. His twirled the blade around in his hand. Shuichi watched the shining blade wearily, but before he could even react Taki had swooped down and sliced Shuichi's left arm from wrist to elbow causing blood to gush out of the laceration.
Shuichi screamed in pain as he shut his eyes against the blinding shocks of agony rushing through his arm. Taki chuckled and leaned forward on his knees. He looked directly into Shuichi's pained and frightened eyes as ran his tongue up the open wound and savored the taste of his warm blood.
He looked back at Shuichi to disgust reflected out of the deep, angry violet eyes. Taki licked up the stray blood on the side of his mouth and ran his fingers over the wound. "You see my dear Shuichi, soon after my father took his woman he was killed by a raid the imperial army had on pirate ships in the western seas. I never got to see my father again and sadder still his second born son never got to meet him."
Shuichi's head was spinning, he didn't know whether it was from the loss of blood or the realization he just had.
Taki continued to speak. "My father impregnated his conquest and she soon had a little boy. Do you know what her profession was?" Shuichi fought to keep his eyes from rolling back into his head. "Do you know what she named her son?"
Shuichi's head lolled back and forth with fatigue. 'Too much; this is too much. It can't be...' Shuichi was pleading to any deity that could hear him that what Taki was saying wasn't true. Before he completely lost all hope his last thought was, 'Eiri... please save me.'
Taki watched as Shuichi's eyes shut and he fought back tears. He bent down and licked Shu's cheek before whispering into his ear. "She was a prostitute and she named him Shuichi."
He couldn't hold it back any more. Tears freely began to flow down his cheeks as he sobbed. "No; that can't be!"
Taki gave him a fake pout as he began to run his hands up and Shuichi's naked torso spreading the blood dripping from his arm. "What? Shuichi wasn't happy to find out I'm his older brother?"
Lights inside the Seguchi mansion were blazing in the mid night hour as K briefed everyone on the plan ahead.
"I have heard from my intelligence that Shuichi was indeed taken by the Twelfth Pirate King, Captain Taki Aizawa of ASK. He is one sick bastard." Everyone in the room gasped. Taki's reputation was notorious in all of Asia. K frowned and looked at his wife Judy who had been comparing instruments of torment with Maiko.
Judy seemed oblivious to his stare till he cleared his throat. She jumped up and looked around the room. "Right, well, I will be in charge of K's forces while he is in charge of Seguchi-san's forces. We have Taki's planned heading and we also have some other rather interesting information."
Tohma frowned, 'That doesn't sound good.' Mika growled, 'Shit, this is going to give me a head ache,' she could tell. Judy glanced toward Eiri and gave him an apologetic smile. "It seems that Aizawa has joined forces with Old Man Uesugi."
The air in the room became tense as Mika, Tatsuha, and Eiri began to growl like wild animals. The other members of the group looked at the three siblings with scared and apprehensive glances. Mika slammed her fist on the table top while her other hand held onto her belly. "I'm going to kill that old man with my own bare hands."
Tohma looked frightened. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and tried to keep his tone in a neutral business voice. "Now, Mika think of our child. What would it think if it heard that its mother murdered its grandfather; however idiotic he may be." He muttered the last to himself, but everyone heard and began to scowl in rage.
Tatsuha kicked the table and snarled in anger. "Tohma, if your kid found out that Mika killed its grandfather it would think she was the best mother ever." He slammed his fist down in the table in frustration. "Mika, I swear to God if you don't kill him first I will. No one hurts my big brother like this."
Eiri had reigned in his anger and placed a hand on each his sibling's shoulders. "Mika, Tatsuha, no one will kill that old fart. Our first priority will be to get Shuichi." He sighed and gave Tohma a resolved look. "Tohma, get your fleet ready we're leaving now. I won't let that bastard, Aizawa, harm my Shuichi any more than he already has."
K clapped his hands together and yelled in English, "Lets Go!" then he wrapped an arm around Judy's waist and began to walk toward the door. He turned around when he noticed no one was following. He looked at all their angry faces and smiled. "Are we leaving now or do you want to wait for Shuichi to die?"
No one said word just grabbed their respective weapons and jogged for the front door to the mansion.
Eiri had only one thought while he led the charge toward the dock where the NG and imperial ships were docked. 'Hold on Shuichi. I'm coming for you.'
A/N I finished this in one day! Snaps for me! So, what do you think about Shuichi being Taki's little brother? Scary, huh? Uesugi-san is one horrible father. Personally I would love to see Taki's blood splattered across the deck of Ask but we will just have to wait and see if that happens. Surprise after surprise in this chapter! I hope ya'll didn't get too confused. Review, I want to hear from my lovely readers!
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