A/N: Hello readers! (aka peasants)

Do I have you flittering about in anticipation yet? Or I suppose, if you are not one to flitter, or flutter, perhaps I have you shaking your fist in vain, glaring in demand for the next update?

If either are the case- SPLENDID! Or AWFUL- depending on your standpoint. ;D

There are people who read my story more than once?! I'm so flattered! xD I love you and your support! Everyone gets hugs! *squeeeeze*

Now prepare yourselves, brave travelers of the written word. You are about to embark upon yet another chapter of the story... Proceed! (If you dare!)

Vocab/Idiom- white elephant: an extremely valuable gift that requires great expense for its care and protection; something that costs more to keep than it's worth

Chapter Thirty-Four. White Elephant

"We need to have a discussion about some things."

Just as Tora was entering his father's office, he was greeted by these words. Looking for a moment at the man sitting behind his desk, Tora turned around and softly closed the door behind him. When he turned back to face his father, his features were unreadable- his mouth a thin line, his golden eyes showing no emotion. He respectfully walked over to stand before his father, stopping at the other side of the man's desk.

He spoke in low, controlled tones, and stared his father right in the eyes. "And what have we to discuss?"

Mr. Igarashi furrowed his brow and pushed his hands together, folding his fingers over each knuckle carefully. "Your relationship with the Michiyo girl."

Tora's gaze remained unblinking, and his stance was perfectly straight. There wasn't even a quiver in his voice when he said, "I don't see how that would be something of importance to you."

The atmosphere in the room was tense, with one of the most powerful men in Japan sitting at his desk and frowning deeply, and that man's only heir standing directly across from him, with an aura of serious calm surrounding him that infuriated his father.

"Son, I'll only say this once." Mr. Igarashi ground out the words through gritted teeth. "You're getting both yourself and this family into trouble, whatever it is that you're doing with that girl. She costs more than she's worth."

Right after Tora had left the room, Mrs. Igarashi had eyed Akari, and nodded her head towards one of the seats to take in the room. Akari sat herself at the nearest couch, while the woman of the house, surprisingly, did not sit but walked to the wide bay window, at the end of the room.

Akari watched, curious, as Mrs. Igarashi stared outside at the soft and noiseless night. She herself could see nothing when she tried to look out the window- since the light was on inside the room, it was hard to see out into the darkened evening unless you were standing as close to the window as the Igarashi woman was.

In quiet tones, said-woman spoke. "The winter season is almost over."

Akari quickly responded, a bit nervous. "Yes, I can't believe it already feels like spring. The air outside has been unnaturally warm lately, for winter, though the nights have been cold."

Mrs. Igarashi nodded her head, the perfect picture of calm as she continued to look out the window. "That will change soon. I heard from one of the maids that it is supposed to snow sometime this week."

Silvery eyes lit up upon hearing those words. "That's good. I like it when it snows... it's very romantic."

Tora's mother looked over at Akari with her brow raised, and the girl turned red and quickly made herself more clear. "I don't mean romantic as in the sense of... love, and actual romance! I mean the other meaning of the word romantic... what I'm saying is, falling snow is very idyllic, and artistic." She bit her lip, feeling rather stupid at the moment. Her nerves were getting to her- what did this woman want from her?! It was driving her mad, waiting to know what the woman had wanted to speak with her about. Surely, it wasn't the weather.

"I agree. Falling snow creates a very romantic setting." If it wasn't Akari's imagination, the smile Mrs. Igarashi sent her was a sly one, very closely related to Tora's own smirk. "But I mean romantic in every sense of the word."

As Akari squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, Mrs. Igarashi finally walked over and took a seat herself, facing opposite the girl, on a different couch. "You must be wondering what I wanted to talk to you about?"

Silver-blue eyes met a champagne-colored gaze. "Yes, that's right."

Tora's mother leaned back slightly against the couch's cushions, and yet, she still managed to look elegant in such a position. "Well, I can see the worry in your eyes. You don't need to be so nervous, I simply want to talk about you."

Akari made a sound of surprise before speaking. "You want to talk... about, me? What about me?"

"I haven't spoken with you in quite some time. Let's start with the simplest question I have - how have you been?"

While Akari's mouth opened and closed, as she was trying to come up with some sort of answer to that, Mrs. Igarashi stared at her with those unwavering eyes, the same unwavering eyes that Tora had, except they were lighter in color.

Although the atmosphere in the room was comfortable and cozy, and the conversation was just simple small talk and nothing worrisome, she had a sneaking suspicion that Tora didn't get all of his cunning from just his father... Mrs. Igarashi was like a wild cat in the forest, sitting so patiently, waiting until the timing was just right and she could pounce a much bigger and harder-to-answer question on Akari.

"Well..." Akari tried her best not to sound worried, but she was. "I've been doing well, actually." She smiled, albeit uneasily.

The Igarashi woman's eyes flashed as she heard her question answered with a lie. "There is one thing you should know before this conversation continues, Akari."

She looked up at the woman and carefully asked. "And what is that?"

"That you can't lie to an Igarashi and get away with it." Mrs. Igarashi said in a smooth tone, with a small smile.

Tora felt, that under that man's gaze, the room's temperature had dropped a staggering twenty degrees. Nonetheless, he maintained his solid composure, not even a single chill traveling down his spine.

"She costs more than what she's worth?" He repeated slowly, meeting his father's dark gaze with his own golden-hued stare. And then, he smiled. Not the kind of grin that expresses the emotion of happiness, and not the kind of smile that reaches the eyes and expresses genuine feelings of warmth- no. This smile was tight-lipped, and not meant to appear pleasant. "You have it backwards, I'm afraid."

Mr. Igarashi raised a brow at his son. "Oh, have I now?" His tone lowered, and there was something in his voice that was akin to the sound that gravel makes when crunched underfoot. "Do not seek to aggravate me, boy, or this will not end well for you."

"I understand we aren't very close, but I at least know how to recognize an empty threat." Tora said, flatly.

Mr. Igarashi temporarily looked shocked, angry, and conflicted. He struggled for words, making small sounds and opening and closing his mouth in order to attempt to sputter something useful, but he had no comeback. It was true, what Tora had said. Despite the fact that the two weren't close, any threats the Igarashi man made towards his son were usually meaningless- due to the fact that there was one woman who happened to have some control over the man, and she happened to like their son a great deal. Therefore, threatening Tora would also mean Mr. Igarashi would be posing a threat to his wife.

It was a situation that never ceased to frustrate him. No, it did more than simply frustrate him. Not being able to properly discipline and threaten someone, especially his own son, near infuriated the man. He liked to have control over every situation he found himself in - but then, so did his son.

No wonder the two didn't get along.

The next time Mr. Igarashi spoke, his voice was quiet - so very, very quiet - that it seemed threatening and deadly. "Getting back to the original issue at hand..."

"I am not interested in what you consider to be the original issue at hand." Tora said, lazily drawing his words out now, as if he were growing bored of the conversation.

And his father was set to explode at any second. The man's face was gradually gaining more and more shades of furious red to it, and he growled at Tora, "Then find interest, damn it! There are things that need to be done about what's been going on between you and Michiyo's daughter!" His voice had steadily gotten louder and louder as he spoke, and he finished his sentence almost yelling in his son's face.

But Tora on the other hand still remained altogether unaffected, and he spoke in low, emotionless tones. "If you have nothing of interest to say to me, father, then I'll be leaving now."

Right as he turned to take a step away from his father, the man spoke up in a voice that roared this time-

"You will leave, when I say that you can!" He stood from his desk, slammed his hands down on the surface of it. Obviously, he had been treated with more than enough disrespect from his own son for one evening.

When Tora looked back around, he had the audacity to smirk. "Is that the quick temper I supposedly inherited from you? Is it supposed to make me feel threatened?"

There was a pause, a waiting period for Tora, who simply stood a few paces in front of his father's desk with both hands in his pockets and the hint of a smirk on his otherwise unreadable face. He enjoyed seeing that he could enrage this man - after all, when he was very young, Tora experienced a strange mixture of both respect, and fear, mainly fear, because of his father. Tora used opportunities like this to get back at the man for all of that.

"That girl," Mr. Igarashi spat, once he had attained more of a sense of calm about him. "Is nothing but trouble. Her family continues to pester me-"

"'That girl' has a name, and I suggest you start using it." Tora's voice was no longer smooth and cool, but was now rough and clipped at the end. Repeating the same words his father had spoken to him, he stared unblinkingly and matched the same fierce look that man had in his eyes. "or this will not end well for you."

With just that one sentence this woman spoke, the room's atmosphere went straight from cozy to unsettling.

"I..." Akari tried to meet Mrs. Igarashi's gaze, as best she could manage to, while being this nervous. "I apologize for underestimating you. I should have known better than to lie."

Mrs. Igarashi sighed, but she didn't seem all that upset about Akari's attempt at lying. More like - surprised. "I would have thought Tora had told you already that we Igarashi's can always tell a lie from the truth."

The smallest of smiles flickered across Akari's face, as she thought sarcastically. Oh, he has mentioned the skills of an Igarashi many times before. But, realizing all the things she was beginning to remember, all her thoughts momentarily revolving around just Tora, she quickly got rid of her little grin. That damn tiger... Was what she was now thinking. He had somehow, miraculously become embedded in so many of her memories now - that idiotic - smooth-talking and gorgeous, sure - but that idiotic bastard!

Seeing the conflicting emotions crossing the young girl's features, Mrs. Igarashi allowed a sly sort of smile to loosen her lips a bit. She held a hand to her mouth when Akari's eyes flashed over to her, and once the smile was gone, she smoothly attempted conversation again.

"I'll repeat my question a second time, and I expect you to answer honestly." She tilted her chin down slightly, gazed right across the room and into Akari's widened eyes. "How have you been, Akari?"

Akari felt a lump collect in her throat - it wasn't as if she was about to cry or anything - she just wasn't entirely at ease with a gaze so similar to Tora's boring into her, as if reading all of her secrets before she could even say a word aloud. Her body wasn't physically allowing herself to speak freely it seemed, and that was probably because she was afraid to speak about the onslaught of feelings this woman's son had been making her feel since the first day she moved into this god-forsaken, hellish mirage of a paradise.

There were some things, you just didn't tell other people. And one of those things was definitely telling someone about her confusing arrangement of feelings and emotions. Which, for a long while now, have been revolving around Tora... yeah, that was something she just wasn't ready to get into. No, she did not want to talk about the way she felt about that infuriating young man.

Like the way his smile made her feel both excited, scared, and as if molten magma was warming her insides. And the way his golden-eyed gaze made her entire world spin out of focus.

The way she liked it when his blonde bangs fell haphazardly into his face... and also, the way his gaze became thoughtful and uncharacteristically warm for just a short moment after he kissed her...

And, that one thing that had never ceased to both thrill and confuse her- the way his eyes would zero in on her, focus intently on her, study her quietly for himself, as if she was the sole person in the entire world who he truly was interested in.

"I see." Came the sound of a woman's quiet, yet firm voice.

By the time Akari snapped out of her daydreams about Tora, Mrs. Igarashi had already seen the look on the girl's face, and now knew (more or less) what it was she had been thinking about, and feeling. The thought of Tora's mother understanding things like that made Akari's cheeks redden in deep, deep embarrassment.

"Sorry, I... my mind left me for a moment." Akari coughed, trying to cover up what had just happened. "So, to answer your question -"

"There's no need for that now," Mrs. Igarashi closed her eyes, giving Akari a rest from that intense gaze. "it's clear to me that you've been feeling torn between trusting your feelings, and fighting against them."

Feeling exposed, Akari tried to remain as calm as possible. She took great care with her words. "I guess I have, but, I would like to not get into that -"

"You harbor strong feelings for my son, correct?"

"Th-that's a rather abrupt change of topic -"

Light gold eyes opened up again, revealing themselves so that they could again settle a stare on Akari. "The topic was not changed. Your emotions are a big part of my first question of asking how you have been, and since my son has a strong effect on your emotions - well - it's all related then, isn't it?"

Akari sucked in a quick breath. "Mrs. Igarashi... if it would be alright with you, I'd like to change the topic." She avoided the woman's gaze- it wasn't pleasant, feeling this exposed, and it was starting to frustrate her. "Could we instead-"

"No."

Akari finally met that intense gaze. "No? No as in, you are not going to allow the subject to be changed?" Her throat had constricted a little bit as she tried to rein in her rising temper, and her words had come out sounding forced. She just wished this conversation would end soon... because this - what was happening right now - this was a whole new level of uncomfortable.

But the woman was just as relentless as her son! "I am a patient woman, Akari, dear," Mrs. Igarashi's quiet tone suddenly rose, and there was a certain stern note to her words, like a mother reprimanding her child. "But I'm sure you know that this talk wasn't going to be one that you necessarily wanted to have with me. However, we are discussing this now, before you do something rash because of your conflicting emotions."

Akari's gaze hardened. "Hey just wait a second -" She stopped, waiting to be interrupted again, but Mrs. Igarashi merely raised an eyebrow at her. "Just... what would I do that would be so rash? I don't have any idea what you mean by that. I've never done anything rash up until now."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Yes, up until now. And specifically, we're speaking about this evening." Seeing the bafflement on Akari's face because of such a comment, Mrs. Igarashi smiled, a bit more kindly than the first few times she had before. There was a light filling her eyes, as if something was funny. "Do you not think I don't have ears in this house, people who listen in for me, and report back all the important things?" Upon seeing Akari's cheeks slowly being tinted with pink, the woman laughed - and the sound was light and lovely, almost melodic - and somehow, that sound was comforting. "Don't worry, I'm not always listening..."

Again, embarrassment made its way in color onto the younger girl's cheeks. In a desperate attempt to move on with the conversation, she quickly spoke up. "I still don't understand. What decision might I ever make in the future that has you so concerned?"

In all seriousness, Tora's mother gazed at Akari and spoke clearly, and firmly, "Well, you could end up running off with that Fuirutsu boy, for starters."

"Her father is being a nuisance, as is her brother!" Mr. Igarashi barked. "For weeks, they've been arguing with me, there's been attempted blackmailing, submitting fake stories to the press about us kidnapping her..." He spoke hurriedly under his breath- "Thank god we got that taken care of before the worst happened..."

And then his eyes landed on Tora again, and he was angrily forcing more words out. "The point I'm making is, you're getting this family into trouble, and I imagine you have already gotten yourself into trouble as well - and is something like some girl really worth that? No!" He was shaking his head, seemingly at his wits end. "She may stem from a wealthy family, but their reputation is a mess! She'll bring you down, son, she'll bring us all down, and I don't care how pretty, how intelligent, or how nice of a person she is - that girl is attracting too much trouble!"

Tora's eyes flashed dangerously. "She has a name. As I said before, use it."

Mr. Igarashi sighed in a somewhat helpful attempt at calming himself again. "Honestly..." He was shaking his head again, and he relaxed slowly back into his seat behind his desk. "Alright." His tone had changed completely from what it was a moment ago, and the atmosphere in the room now seemed like the calm that comes after the storm has come and gone. He let out another sigh, striving for patience. "That - Akari -" He eyed his son carefully. "comes at a price too great for the likes of her. Do you understand that?"

Tora raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were only going to say that once?" He replied coolly.

His father glared. "You have two ears and one mouth for a reason, boy."

"And I see you do as well," Tora took a step forward, shrugged in a nonchalant manner that didn't quite fit in with the room's serious atmosphere. "perhaps it's your turn to use your ears, and not your mouth. I think I've been listening to your useless talk for long enough." His lips were melding into that taunting little smile of his. "It's my turn to speak."

There was a steady silence that filled the room after the comment about Orochi was said. The silence was there to give Akari's temper time to rise- there was the usual, tell-tale signs of her distress and anger - her face flushed bright red, her eyes shining more brightly than before, and her lips pressed so firmly together that they were nearly turning white.

Finally, on account of her temper reaching its boiling point, the quiet in the room was broken by Akari's half-yelled comment; "I would never in a million years run off and marry that snake!"

But Mrs. Igarashi was ready with an answer to that. "They why did you suggest to Chiyo that the four of you - Tora, her, Orochi and yourself - go on a date all together? Each with your own designated fiancée?"

Akari was getting more and more flustered. "I - I don't really know -"

"You are aware that, because of that, you acknowledged the Fuirutsu boy as your fiancée? The man you are to someday wed?"

Silver eyes narrowed down to slits. "Of course I realize that now!" Her reply was filled with anger, but mostly at herself. She was just directing it at the closest person to her at the moment, though. "Could you not do this to me right now? Your son already did a pretty good job of pointing these things out to me himself!" She sat back against the couch, folding her arms and feeling very belittled.

In a surprising and unexpected movement, the Igarashi woman stood up in a showy movement of long, elegant dress skirts. Her eyes locked with Akari's, and in those eyes, there was a clear warning.

"I suppose we will end our discussion now." The woman said, not coldy, but not with any sort of warmth in her voice either. She had her thin lips in a tight line, a look bordering on a frown. "I will leave, so long as you tell me you will not break my son's heart. Every person only has one of them, and he is at his most vulnerable when he is around you."

Akari blinked. She sucked in a breath, and slowly tried to let it out. She blinked again.

Tora Igarashi's mother was staring her down - all tall and elegant and thin and royally beautiful - and she was asking Akari for a favor (although it was voiced as more of a command). But still, normally, it was painfully obvious that the Igarashis always held all the cards. But this time around, Akari was the one who had all the options. She could simply ignore Mrs. Igarashi, or she could take the woman's words to heart. It was all up to her what she did.

Akari thought it was so strange, though. This request. It was just... strange.

Strange because, she knew that everyone had a heart, even those who can appear heartless, like Tora. She had pretty much always known he had a heart, just like everyone else does, and that he feels and has emotions, just like everyone else does. But never, probably ever in her life, would she have thought that his heart would have the ability to break.

One simply does not associate Tora Igarashi with the words 'fragile', or 'vulnerable', or 'broken'.

Not only was the request itself strange though - what it implied was even more impossible! If Akari had the ability to break Tora's unbreakable heart, because he actually is the most vulnerable when it comes to her, then wouldn't that mean that he... that he really, truly, does - love - her?

"But..." She had been denying it for so long, so unwilling to trust him, that it was taking way too long to actually register in her brain. Stupidly, and with a blank look on her face, she began to stutter. "B-but... I- but.. that... he- I-"

But... that's impossible! But he's a liar! And I don't know what this means for us, even if it is true! But- and that's just unthinkable! He... can't possibly know how to actually love and show affection! I- I don't know what to think!

A hand was placed on her shoulder. It was warm, and it was soft, and it helped her to calm down, cool her head, and come back to reality. When Akari looked up, she saw Mrs. Igarashi standing beside her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder and smiling a smile that actually reached her eyes, and looked kind and lovely and real. It was a smile that was nothing like any of the forced, fake, perverted or mocking smiles that were all that Tora knew how to show people. It was a smile that Akari had missed seeing- she had missed seeing a real gesture like that.

"It's alright, Akari." There was a certain gentleness, now, to the Igarashi woman standing before her, that made Akari realize for the first time that this lady was, indeed, a mother - not just a strong-spirited, wealthy, and beautiful woman - but also a mother. Her tones were softer than before, as if she could sense all of Akari's conflicting emotions, and now wanted to show some form of sympathy for her. "I do know you would never intentionally hurt him... and that is enough for me to be reassured."

With wide, silver eyes, Akari looked back at the woman. "I'm sorry that I don't -"

"You don't have to know your feelings quite yet. The time will come for that later, when you are completely ready to admit it to him." Mrs. Igarashi pulled away, and started to walk for the door. Her tone was teasing when she added on, "And don't worry, I'm sure you won't be stuttering quite as hard when it happens, as you were just now."

Akari wanted to tell the woman that she did know her feelings. She had developed very strong feelings for Tora which, yes, could be called something like love. In fact, it was love. Yes, she knew what she felt for him, at this point. But it was him and his feelings that she was worried about. She still didn't know whether to believe him, when he said that he did love her. Was that just what he so claimed? Or could it possibly, miraculously, be the truth?

It wasn't until she knew the sure answer to that, that she could possibly tell him something as important as 'I love you'.

Looking up, and seeing now that Tora's mother was just about to walk through the door and leave the room, she snapped out of her thoughts once more and moved on to more simple matters - simple matters, like easing her sense of natural curiosity.

"Can I ask you something before you go?"

Mrs. Igarashi turned around, golden brow arched high. "Yes?"

"What did Tora's father need to speak with him about?"

"...I don't know."

Akari balked, her mouth dropping open. "Huh? But you acted as if you knew earlier!"

The tall, thin woman shook her head lightly. "I mentioned to my husband that I was going to talk with you, and he told me to bring Tora to him. What goes on inside that man's head is beyond me." She sighed. "I do hope though, that he's not causing any issues. I don't want him discussing things with Tora that he doesn't even understand himself."

She started to walk away again, out the door, but right before she disappeared from sight Akari could hear the last bit of her sentence, "Matters of the heart are my department, not his. When will he learn to just stick to his business affairs?"

"It sounds to me like you've been able to handle Akari's troublesome family with ease so far." Tora started, voice dark, yet cool.

"Yes, but -"

"And we both know that once I start with something, I always feel the need to finish with it. So if you are asking me to give up on her and send her back to her family, then I, of course, refuse."

"What?"

Tora just continued as if his father truly understood him. "And she is -" He paused, looked up in thought, and fought to keep a grin from his face. "Interesting, isn't she?"

Mr. Igarashi had no response to that. He didn't want to waste his breath, trying to make sense of his son's antics. The man was glaring, with a burning frustration in his eyes, at Tora. The glare was altogether stern, angry, and powerful.

Tora noticed the glare, in fact, he owned that very look- it was one of the things he had learned and acquired from living with this man all his life. And he decided that, though he enjoyed giving other people that look, he did not entirely find joy in receiving it from someone else.

"Tell me, father." Tora's voice was sharp and cold, like steel, as he leaned forward enough to place a hand on his father's desk. His other hand stayed safely inside the pocket of his pants, and a few locks of blonde hair fell into his face as he redirected that signature, Igarashi glare, right back at his father. "Had someone ever tried to keep you from loving my mother, would you have stopped? Had someone ever tried to take her from your side, would you have permitted it?"

His father looked quite taken aback. His eyes widened, and his face seemed to almost swell up in shock. "...Well, I -" He cut himself off and paused, a long pause, as if he was debating whether or not he should tell his son the answers to those questions. But eventually he gave Tora a very solid answer. "No."

Tora's eyes flashed, the golden hues catching with the lighting in a mesmerizing way. Slowly, he removed his hand from the desk's surface, and pulled back. Straightening up, he looked sharply at his father. "Then we've reached an understanding."

With that, he turned on his heel, and without so much as a goodbye, swiftly exited the room.

A/N: I had a lot of fun switching between the different viewpoints in this chapter c: what do you think, did I do a good job? I crave your critique!

I'll update when I can ^.^ this one came a lot sooner than the last few updates, so... I did good this time? Yes? The last update was only 17 days ago (I counted) not too shabby, ay?

CK :*