A/N: Hello everyone; I would first like to apologize for the late update. School has been out for a few days now and I was finishing this chapter. Honestly, I had a hard time writing this because I couldn't come up with any ideas. If you have some for me after this chapter, please let me know because I could use the help. Anyway, enough of my begging please enjoy the chapter.
Ice Chronicles
Chapter 43: Remembrance
"Dad, daddy; it's time to get up," I heard a soft voice say. I then felt someone kiss my cheek.
"Ren, it's time to wake up now."
My eyes fluttered open, letting me see my two girls. They gave me a warm smile.
"Good morning you two," I greeted while giving them a hug. Uzume kissed my cheek again while Chiho returned my hug.
"Did you two sleep well?"
"I slept great; it was very nice," Uzume answered.
"I slept like a baby," Chiho spoke up. "I also had a great dream."
"That's good," I replied. "What time is it by the way?"
"It's seven-thirty," Uzume responded.
"We've been up for about ten minutes," Chiho spoke up. The girls stood up.
"Let's go see if the others are up," Uzume suggested. I nodded and followed them downstairs where we only saw Akitsu preparing breakfast. She noticed us and bowed after giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"Good morning master, Uzume, and Miss Zonin; I hope you all slept well."
I gave her a good morning hug.
"Good morning Akitsu; we slept fine thank you. How about you?"
"Excellent, thank you master," she replied. "I almost have breakfast ready."
"Thanks Akitsu; I'll take it from here. You go rest now."
"As you wish," she replied. She kissed me goodbye and left the room with a bow. Chiho did tell her not to add the miss part with her name, but she gave up like I did in the beginning.
"Chiho, you and Uzume help set the table," I told them continuing from where Akitsu left off. I could hear the plates and utensils clattering as Uzume and her daughter giggled to one another. Soon, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and give me a strong hug.
"Good morning Ren," Musubi greeted happily. I couldn't help but smile at her cuteness.
"Good morning Musubi; did you sleep well?"
"I slept great. I had a dream where we all went to the beach like we planned and had so much fun," she replied.
"Soon Musubi, soon we'll go, just give it some time. I promise we'll all get to go eventually," I reassured her. "In the meantime, go gather the others so we can all eat breakfast."
"Okay," she complied running to smother Chiho in her ample chest in which Uzume had to pry her off. She then headed upstairs to fetch her sisters.
"I'm not going to get used to that," Chiho said.
'I think it's nice really, but that just my male hormones.' I replied to that in my thoughts.
"Ren, do you think we have to fight today?" Uzume asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
"I don't know. It all depends on Minaka. Did you have something planned?"
She nodded. "If we weren't going to fight today, I wanted to take Chiho shopping. She needs some new clothes."
I burst out laughing, knowing the girls are looking at me funny.
"You really are like a mother."
She blushed while Chiho giggled. Soon, the other girls showed up, well more like some dashed downstairs after hearing something.
"Did you say shopping?" Yomi asked. "Are we going shopping?"
"Uzume wants to bring Chiho shopping if we're not fighting today," I answered.
"Oh, we should have a girls' night out, take a break from everything that happened," Toyotama suggested.
"That's a great idea; we can finish preparations for our beach trip, as well as give our man a little preview as what's to come," Matsu said in a seductive tone. She put the images in my head and caused me to turn red. I averted my gaze and turned back to the food. Now, Chiho had to witness the jealousy that is Musubi and Tsukiumi. It was their turn to assist me in eating, but at the same time, the two glared at one another with happy yet angry smiles.
"Here Ren, say aah," Musubi said.
"Nonsense, Ren will partake in my offering, won't you Ren?" My water sekirei questioned. To avoid a war from breaking out, and show off my soothing skills, I accepted both offers and offered my own food in retaliation. After breakfast, Jason and his sekirei showed up to see the castings. My girls were waiting intensely for noon. Once it hit, neither phone went off, much to the happiness of my girls, whom explained their plans to the others. Jason's sekirei wanted to go with them, except Homura. She decided to stay and relax her own way; until Jason asked her out on a date and made her blush.
"Ren, we'll see you later; don't wait up," Toyotama said. They gave us ashikabi a kiss goodbye and left; but then realized I had transportation and begged me to let them use it. Their weapons were a pouting Kusano and Musubi, but my weapon was a seven-headed hydra that could only be matched by certain people. Jason, was the only one present.
"Come on Ren, pleeease?" Uzume begged. I stood my ground, mostly because I wanted to see how far they will take this. Jason caught on and started snickering.
"Jason, you can withstand his demon so ask him for us please," Yomi told him.
"I'm not the one asking for it," he pointed out. My girls consulted one another and then formed an idea. They pushed Chiho forward and told her what to do. She faced me with a nervous demeanor.
"P-Please let us use the limo father, pretty please?"
The girls looked back and forth, but I had to laugh.
"I was going to let you have it anyway, but I just wanted to have a little fun."
I phoned Stephanie and told her the situation. I told the girls; especially Tsukiumi to trust her and that they would have to pay for her services. When they asked me, all they got was another hydra. Jason covered Chiho's eyes so she could avoid it.
Now that they were gone and Jason went out with Homura, it was just me. Carmen provided excellent company, but I didn't want to stay cooped up in the house. Despite telling the girls I would never stroll alone, it was a great day for it. Carmen found a loophole and gave me an earpiece that's connected to her, basically meaning I can leave the house and she'll be monitoring me. I didn't waste time and headed out, taking in that fresh air.
My first destination was to head to the hill where Tsukiumi and I exchanged wedding gifts, but when I arrived, I found Ryan and Sai there as well. It didn't take them long to notice. Sai was seated in his lap his her back against his chest.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Ren Zonin," Ryan said. Sai kept looking at the horizon.
"Ryan, Sai; it's nice to see you again," I greeted back.
"Likewise," he replied. "So what brings you up here?"
"I was just taking a little stroll. My sekirei and daughter are having a girls' night out event," I answered. He laughed a little.
"So you took the girl in as your daughter. How very kind of you."
"So you know about it; I'm surprised you weren't there," I pointed out. He rested his chin on Sai's head.
"I was doing something else when it happened. When I got word of it, I just laughed."
"I see. Now what are you doing?" I questioned. He tickled Sai a little, causing her to giggle and nuzzle against him.
"As you can see, I'm spending time with my girl here. The others are relaxing at home."
He gave Sai another tickle.
"I can tell you want information. Am I correct in saying this?"
I crossed my arms.
"Actually yes, but I know there's a catch."
He chuckled and kissed Sai.
"Wait for me at home okay? This is a man to man talk; we'll finish our date later, okay?"
She nodded and hugged him tight. She gave me a skeptical look before her presence jumped away. Ryan hand sprung up. He dusted himself off and crossed his arms.
"So, what do you want to know?"
"That depends, how much are you willing to tell me; and what's the catch?" I inquired. Ryan smirked and chuckled again.
"No catch; I have nothing to gain from you. As for how much I'm willing to tell you, well that all depends on the question."
"Is that so? Then answer this; why is someone like you working for Higa?" I interrogated.
"What do you mean someone like me?" He asked back.
"I've noticed how much you care for your sekirei. You care deeply for them, to the point where you'll gladly die for them. I know because I'm too like that, but what I don't get is that why would you work for someone like Higa?" I repeated my question. He smiled.
"I have my reasons; and no, I wasn't blackmailed into working for him. Why do you have a grudge against him?"
"For one, he sent you to attack me when the sekirei plan first started; his sekirei ambushed my Uzume, attacked my friend and his sekirei twice, he blew up my house, and tried to kill my daughter. But no, grudge is such nowhere close to what I feel about him," I listed.
"Whoa, that's quite the list," Ryan commented. "Guess that answers my question. As for yours, I suppose I can tell you. I'm going to say it again, I wasn't blackmailed or anything, but I'm merely repaying what I owe."
"What you owe?" I repeated. He nodded.
"Believe what you want about Higa, but to me, he's the one who saved me when I needed help most. I won't tell you my story, but just know that it was Higa who saved me. So I planned to repay what I owed; and if that meant obeying his every order, so be it. I've got beautiful women by my side and won't hesitate to save them. He thinks he can threaten me by using them, but he doesn't know who he's truly messing with. On to you though, I honestly don't know what his grudge against you is, but I know that you are at the top of his list."
"Is that why he sent you to attack me that night?" I asked.
"You are just full of questions. Yes, he noticed how fast you were growing and considered you a threat. As his best fighter, it was up to me to stop you; but you know how that all ended. I'm still pissed at you for what you did to Himeko. Anyway, it mostly happened because you winged two single number sekirei in such a short time. Then you winged two more, including another single number," he explained.
"I guess I should thank you for drawing them to me," I responded. "And I apologize about Himeko."
"You should; she was a nice girl and I loved her a lot, but my other sekirei helped me get over it. All my sekirei are nice, but she didn't deserve to die," he stated.
"Sorry," I repeated. "Wait, do you have a Jinki?"
"Yeah, obtained it just today actually," he answered. "The fight ended before it even began. Why do you ask?"
"You can use the Jinki to bring Himeko back to life," I told him. He wasn't even remotely surprised.
"I can't do that to her. Do you honestly think M.B.I would just allow me to revive a fallen sekirei? Even if I did do it, we would have to escape the building without getting killed first; and I don't want to revive, just for something else to happen."
"Maybe I can pull a few strings. I happened to be familiar with people working at M.B.I," I told him. He shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. Do you want to know anything else or is that it?"
"Is Higa planning something?" I asked the million-dollar question.
"Unfortunately, I don't know the full details, but he clearly wants the Jinki for whatever reason. I don't know, nor do I care; as long as my girls stay safe. Word of advice, keep a closer eye on your Jinki; he might come back for you," he said. "If you're done questioning me, I'm heading home to my girls. Do whatever you want with the information."
He started walking passed me, but stopped right beside me.
"Also, I would suggest watching your back. You won't know when you'll be attack; and at the pace you're going, I'd say it's only a matter of time."
With that said, Ryan left the hill and left me alone with Carmen analyzing the information. I continued my stroll and arrived at the park, sitting on the same bench I met Akitsu. Speaking of Akitsu, I wondered how she and the other girls were doing. I had Carmen phone them up and waited for one of them to answer.
"Hello Ren," multiple girls greeted. They let out a happy giggle.
"Hey girls, how's your girls' night out?" I asked back.
"We're having so much fun. Right now, we're at the spa, unwinding ourselves for the beach trip that's coming up," Yomi answered.
"I see. So while you all go out and unwind, I'm all alone," I retorted.
"Awww, do be like that Ren; a lady needs her beauty time," Kazehana said.
"You're already beautiful," I replied. I heard them giggled again.
"What are you doing anyway?" Uzume asked. I smiled.
"I'm out on a stroll."
"What?" The girls said. I laughed at their outburst.
"You promised not to go out on strolls without one of us," Tsukiumi pointed out.
"You're all gone; I was not waiting at the house for you to return," I retorted. "And besides, it's the perfect day for it. So while you girls are getting more beautiful, your husband here will be enjoying the outside world."
"Ren, what are they even talking about? I don't get the problem," Toyotama spoke up.
"Hey Toyo, what we're talking about is an agreement we made in the past. You were still reacting to me at that time so you didn't know; but basically, I'm not allowed to go out on my daily strolls without my sekirei or friend with me," I explained.
"Oh, should I warn you about Tsukiumi's anger right now then?" She asked. I laughed again.
"No, let her be angry. She'll calm down eventually; and if she doesn't, I know how. Just continue to have fun and I'll see you when you all return."
"Okay, we'll see you later," she replied. There was a commotion in the background.
"Dad?" A familiar voice called out. I smiled at the voice.
"Hey Chiho; are you okay?"
"Mmm-hmm, I'm fine. Mom and I were just talking about the beach trip. She said that you will be spending time with both of us during her allotted times," she said. I nodded to myself.
"Okay then, did she say anything else about it?" I asked back.
"No, that's all; we were all thinking of fun games to play while we're there," she said.
"Alright then; you have fun with your aunties. Tell them and your mother I love them," I stated.
"We love you too," they stated. We talked some more before ending the call. I smiled to myself and walked through the park, thinking of all the adventures I went through. Starting with meeting Akitsu to the operation with curing Chiho. I thought back to the enemies I've fought and the friends I've made. That's when Blake's question letter and the he asked popped into my head.
"What choice did you make for all of this to happen? Out of all the choices you had to make, which one sparked your journey to becoming Ashikabi of the North?"
I thought about the question long and hard. As I made my way home, I asked Carmen to call Akitsu for a private call. She picked up in no time.
"Yes master?"
There were no giggles this time.
"Akitsu, are you alone right now?"
"Yes master, the others are doing their own things at the moment, and I am just tending to myself," she answered.
"Okay, that's good; we need to talk about something," I told her.
"What is it? Did something happen?" She asked.
"No nothing happened; I just wanted to talk to you," I calmed her down. "I've been doing a lot of thinking."
I took a detour and sat in the more secluded areas of the park.
"I know I've asked you this many times before, but do you remember the night we first met?"
"Of course, and it was the happiest moment in my life. That night will always be a cherished memory; I'm glad I chose you as my ashikabi," she stated. I smiled at her declaration.
"I'm glad too; you've been with me since the very beginning and I've loved every moment we have spent together. At first, I was a little scared; but not because of the game, but because I feared that my weakness would take you away from me. You helped me get over it though."
"Master, what are you trying to say?" She asked. It was quiet for a moment.
"Do you want me to be honest?" I broke the silence.
"Yes please," she said.
"Well, what would you say if I told you that I wasn't originally planning on going to the park that night?" I asked back.
"What do you mean?" She questioned. I let out a soft chuckle.
"I mean that heading to the park wasn't my intention. Originally, I was going to stay at home and just watch the snowfall; but I felt something tugging at me. It pulled me towards the door before I noticed what happened. At that time, I was determining what to do; and when I made up my mind, I bundled myself up and headed out to the park. That feeling was the real reason I went out there. So really, if I didn't listen to that feeling, you would most like be Mikogami's sekirei instead of mine."
She was silent for a moment.
"So it was really your curiosity that brought us together."
"Yes," I replied standing back up. I resumed my journey homebound.
"I don't care," Akitsu stated all of a sudden. I was completely surprised by her statement.
"I don't care at all. The fact that you still met is good enough. To be honest, I too felt something calling out to me; it was calling to my heart, but I just ignored it. I thought no one would want me, but then you showed up and made that feeling return. After hearing you speak so kindly to me, I knew right then that you were my destined one. I wanted to be with you, but at the same time, I was scared because I feared you wouldn't want me anymore at one point."
"I would never get tired of you Akitsu. No matter how long we stay together, I will always be happy with you. When I saw you that night, all I saw in your eyes were loneliness, sadness, and pain. I knew I had to do something to help. It was when we were so close that I was completely mesmerized. I've never saw such a beautiful woman. You looked so beautiful, but I saw nothing but pain resting inside you. You won't believe how much I just wanted to hold you in my arms until the pain disappeared," I responded truthfully. I arrived at the street our house was located.
"Sometimes, I still have nightmares about the past. I called out to you, but I could never find you. I was all alone. When I woke up, I just wanted to cry and run to you, but I didn't want to keep worrying you about me so I kept it together," she told me.
"Don't do that Akitsu; don't keep your emotions bottled up. If you do, things will only turn out far worse. You remember Yamato right? He was a manifestation of my bottled up emotions; however, it was you who first helped me. You helped me in more ways than you know," I stated. "Now let me help you Akitsu. Let me be the one to comfort you. I don't care how long it takes or how much you cry, I will help you through it all. Don't be afraid Akitsu; you know I will never turn you away."
I made it to the door and smiled.
"Because you know full well Akitsu."
I opened the door, only to see Akitsu standing inside with tears streaming down her face.
"No matter what, I will always be there for you; and with all my heart, I will always love you, for now, and forever."
I walked in and closed the door. More tears streamed down her face as she ran to me and buried her head in my chest, her arms wrapping around my waist. I brought her in a tight embrace and rubbed her head. She let everything out and cried her past away. The entire time, I held her close to me as she told me everything she wanted me to know, my grip never straining. I kissed the top of her head.
"It's okay Akitsu; you're not alone anymore and you will never be alone. I will always be with you, just like how you'll always be there for me. You can count on me to be there for you, and I will do everything within my power to make you happy."
"Master, I love you," she declared. I tightened my hug.
"I love you too Akitsu. I love you so much."
She looked at me and allowed me to wipe her tears away. I cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead and then another one on her lips. Her snowflake-like wings sprouted and fluttered about. She pressed up against me and hugged me tighter as our kiss deepened. After a while, we separated to get some air. She blushed and averted her gaze from me.
"Master, I – I know you said to until the circle is complete; but do you think you can an exception, just this once?"
I turned her head back to me.
"Don't be scared to tell me what's on your mind; I will always listen to you."
She nodded slowly and gripped my shirt.
"Master, will you make love to me again?"
I kissed her lips.
"Just for you Akitsu; I will only do this for you. In return though, you can't tell the others."
She nodded in compliance.
"And you also have to stop calling me master and use my name or a nickname."
She blushed. "As you wish mas- Ren; but I can't get used to it though. Can I call you Ren when we're alone and stick with master when around others?"
I nodded to her.
"If that's what makes you more comfortable."
She nodded and pressed her lips to mine. I picked her up bridal style and carried her all the way to my room where I laid her on the bed gently and captured her lips in another kiss. She wrapped her arms around me requested entrance into my mouth. Our tongues met their partners and danced their long awaited dance. I played with her breasts, eliciting a muffled moan from her.
Over the next few hours, we spent that time together making love and confessing our love. Once we finished, Akitsu and I sat in the tub as night soon rolled around. I was washing her back, but she straddled my waist and kissed me.
"Thank you Ren."
I kissed her forehead.
"Akitsu; don't tell the others, but you are the only one I will be making exceptions for. That doesn't mean to take advantage of this, but I will only look the other way for and only you."
"Thank you Ren, but why just for me? That wouldn't be fair to the others," she pointed out. I gave her another kiss for her observation.
"Like I said, don't tell the others; but it's because I love you the most."
She gasped as her eyes widened.
"Ren, you really mean that?"
I answered that by giving her one last kiss.
"I do."
She smiled beautifully and sparked another few hours of lovemaking, her moans echoing throughout the bathroom, consisting of my name and statements of I love you. In the end, our bond became even stronger and our love deepened. We used the shower to wash ourselves quickly before the girls returned. We waited downstairs for them and saw them carrying a ton of shopping bags that I'm now glad I didn't have to carry. They did ask Akitsu a couple of questions, but she didn't pinpoint them to the several hours of lovemaking we did. We were still in the clear. Knowing that, I assisted the girls in the final preparations for the beach. The entire time, the girls never caught on to Akitsu sliding her hand across the carpet to grasp mine and intertwined our fingers.
A/N: And here you go guys, yet another chapter for your pleasure. Please tell me what you think in a review or PM. Again, I'm sorry for the late update; but it's been hard to come up with new ideas. If you would please send me some to use for next or later chapters, I really could use the help. With something to think about, this has been MalevolentDarkness16 and I will see you all next update. BYE.