My Dear, Omega

by evilbunnygirl93

Reita went from living a life of fighting to having a chance at freedom and being in a real pack. He even found a mate, something he never even dreamed of. However, this new life quickly proves how broken Reita really is and he's fighting to stay together. It doesn't help when another omega is after his mate and that his new home may not be as safe as he thought it would be.

16. Threat

"What do you plan on doing with him?"

Reita woken up to the sound of people talking. His body was sore and he couldn't remember why. He raised his hand to scratch his neck, but found something metal wrapped around it. He froze in the spot as the men near him kept talking.

"I don't know yet. I was considering the sex ring, but he's a carrier." The older man spoke. Reita slowly moved his head up and found himself in a familiar cage. Standing outside of it was Dogma and one of his lackeys. "I was also thinking about putting him in the Cage."

"Either way you'll have to get rid of his uterus first." The lackey said. "Don't want him getting pregnant. Then again, you could put him in the Producers."

"Nah, I have plenty omegas making me pups." Dogma turned and smiled down at him. "He'll replace the omega that just died in the Cage. Get him prepped for surgery and start him on the drugs. Akira, you come from a strong bloodline. You'll make me a hefty sum in the Cage."

"Don't forget, Dogma, omega's can grow their uteruses back."

"Akira won't, not after I'm done with him."

Reita opened his eyes slowly. The room was warm and was bright from the sun shining in. He could tell it was well past noon by the position of the sun. He sighed. He's been sleeping later and later. At first he himself barely noticed it, but now he was sure Kai took note of it. He slowly raised up, hissing from the pain in his wrist. He looked down at the bandage that was wrapped around his hand and arm. He gripped it with his other hand held it close to his chest.

The last thing he had remembered was slipping through Kai's fingers and falling. When had woke up, Toshiya and Yoshiki were carrying him inside. They said he was lucky to have landed in a loosely packed pile of snow. His only injuries from the fall were a bad sprain wrist, a bruised back, and a cut on the back of his head. Plus his hands had been scrapped from the concrete of the balcony and cut up from Nao cutting his hands with the knife. All of this happened two weeks ago and they still hadn't found Nao. He had simply disappeared.

Reita felt awful after that. Everyone did. They lost a member of their pack. Takeru was gone and they would never be able to see his bright smile again. They had a funeral for him the day after the incident and Reita nor Kai were able to attend because they were bedridden. Reita felt it was his fault even though everyone including Kai told him otherwise.

Reita wasn't allowed to be alone anymore. No matter where he went or did he had to have someone with him. Kai was free to move around, but he hadn't left Reita's side. The alpha's injuries weren't as bad as they had thought. Nao only sliced into Kai's side and the second time he stabbed Kai wasn't that deep of a wound. He bleed out a lot, but nothing serious was damaged.

The blonde looked over to see the futon next his empty. He found it odd because since the incident, Kai wouldn't leave the room until he had woken up. Reita carefully stood up and walked to the door. He opened it up to foyer to look around. They had been staying on the first floor instead of fourth because of their injuries. As he walked out, he found his body still sore, but not as bad as it was the weeks before.

He found Yoshiki walking straight up to him with a concerned smile. He returned the gesture as the alpha approached him. "You shouldn't be up and moving."

"I was looking for Kai." Reita mumbled. "Do you know where he is?"

"He woke up earlier and went to the kitchen to make you something to eat. It's nearly noon so he figured you'd be hungry."

The Reita sighed. "Not really."

"You worry him." Yoshiki said softly. "By not eating properly. He doesn't want to force you to do something you don't want to do, but he will if it means you're healthy. He's not the only one. Shinya's been pushing for you to eat more too. You won't get stronger unless you get some calories in you."

Reita placed his hand over his stomach. "I just don't feel hungry hardly ever. When I do eat I feel nauseas."

"Have you told Shinya this? How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know." Reita mumbled. "A while now. I got like this back when…I was fighting. It would last a few weeks then go away. I was hoping it would go away on its own like before, but…"

"It's not?" Yoshiki asked and Reita shook his head.

"It's gotten worse actually."

"When Shinya gets here I'm going to tell him that you need a check-up tonight. You are going to tell him everything you told me." The alpha ordered.

Reita nodded his head and looked down. Before he could speak anymore a soothing sensation filled his chest. He looked up to see Kai walking to them carrying two bowls. His alpha was shirtless, but had bandages on his side and no doubt one on his upper back and well as one on his upper arm. As the brunette stepped forward, Yoshiki took his leave.

Kai smiled. "Let's sit down."

Reita followed him slowly to middle of the foyer to sit on the statue. Once situated, Kai handed the bowl over to him with a smile. Reita took a whiff of the cheesy potato soup.

"I hope you like it." Kai said softly. "You need to eat it all. If you want more afterwards I'll get you another bowl."

Reita's ears twitched at the underline order. He gave a small smile before nodding. He couldn't refuse an order from his alpha. His omega instincts wouldn't allow him to, so Reita slowly ate the bowl of soup.

'I would have killed to have this when I was with Dogma. So why can't I seem to stomach it now?' He thought as he continued to eat. He caught Kai's worried stare and gave him a reassuring nod. "It's delicious. Thank you for going through the trouble of making it."

Kai reached out and rubbed his mate's cheek. "Anything for you. Eat it all."

It was a gentle order, but an order nonetheless and Reita had to follow it. Kai watched anxiously as the blonde ate another spoonful. He could feel Reita's discomfort and he felt terrible, but he couldn't stand and watch his mate starve any longer.

Across town at that same moment a young woman entered the very stylish salon. She smiled as she walked up the register. The blue haired employee greeted her happily. The woman looked around. "I don't see Tsuzuku. We had an appointment."

"Oh, um, he had an unexpected visitor. It's kind of an urgent meeting about the salon. Something serious came up. He's in the back room, but it may take a little while for him to finish. I don't mind working on your hair for you."

The lady sighed. "No offense, but I really only like him. Well, I don't have any plans so I can wait."

The blue haired woman gave the client a forced smile and waited for her sit before going back to work.

In the back room Tsuzuku slammed in his hands on the table and gasped out. He let out a low moan as Ryoga thrusted harder into him. The blonde had walked into the salon with a pervy smile and Tsuzuku noticed the strong smell of musk coming from him. He of course guided Ryoga to the back room where they had proceeded to lock the door and throw off all their clothes.

Ryoga had a good grip on the brunette's hips as he pushed harder. He loved hearing the omega moan and begging for more. Tsuzuku gasped as he felt Ryoga's hand wrap around his hard member and start pumping it. The blonde leant over and bit into Tsuzuku's neck while pushing a steady amount of from pressure on him. The omega closed his eyes as his body began to float. Nothing else mattered except feeling the alpha inside him. He reached up and clenched Ryoga's hair.

He gasped out. "Cum in me."

Ryoga hummed in delight as he kept pushing and working Tsuzuku's body. He pulled off with a lick. "You'd like that, my cute little omega?"

Tsuzuku moaned "Yes…"

"You'd like for me to fill your belly with babies?" Ryoga asked with a smirk.

"Yes!" He cried out.

Ryoga sucked on his neck once more before pulling of and whispering in his ear. "You want me to claim you? Mark you as mine?"

Tsuzuku moaned out squirting his cum all over the floor. Ryoga milked him some more before pushing more pressure on him. Tsuzuku dropped onto the table as his body was continued being pounded into. He closed his eyes feeling his body float into the air. He felt so good, so relaxed and happy. All he could think was his alpha was pleased. Then he felt soft kisses on his neck and shoulder.

His eyes opened and he slowly back down from his high. He felt Ryoga pulling out slowly. He sat up on shaky legs, but the blonde held him in place. Tsuzuku turned with a smile earning a kiss in return. Ryoga sat the omega on the chair before pulling his condom off and tying it. He tossed it in the trash can before gathering up their clothes. He turned to see Tsuzuku laying his head on the table staring at him.

"What?" Ryoga asked.

"Have you thought about staying?" Tsuzuku asked.

The blonde sighed pulling up his pants. "No" He lied.

"Would you think about it?" Tsuzuku asked shyly. "I'd like for you to stay here…with me. If we talk to Kyo, he'll be extremely pissed, but he'll let you stay. He may hate you for a while for taking me without his permission, but…" He stopped talking when he noticed Ryoga's blank stare.

"I'm leaving next week."

"What?" Tsuzuku gasped sitting up. "Why?"

Ryoga shrugged. "I already quit my job. I'm bored with this place."

"Bored…with me?"

The blonde looked away. "I couldn't be bored with you. I thought about asking you to come with me. We could start our own pack. But this is your home and you wouldn't leave. So I didn't bother."

"Wait…didn't bother…you were just going to take off without telling me weren't you?" Tsuzuku gasped with tears in his eyes. "You weren't going to tell me."

Ryoga slipped his shirt on and smiled. "I told you from the beginning that I didn't want a relationship. I just wanted to have fun. I told you I would be leaving."

"I know, but…I didn't think I'd…"

"Like me?" Ryoga asked. "We can't be mates. As much as you want us to be, we can't. I don't belong to a pack. I don't belong to you. I've always been a lone wolf and I always will be. I wanted to take you out one last time, but maybe we should part ways here."

Tsuzuku held back his tears as he stood up. "I thought we had a connection…I thought you were potentially a mate. That's way I went through all this again. I thought I would try one more time. But it looks like fate missed me when assigning mates."

"Tsu…"

"Get out." He ordered. "And don't ever show your face to me again."

Ryoga felt his chest twist. He felt the sadness Tsuzuku was going through, but he nodded grabbing his wallet and walking out of the room. The omega sat there quietly wiping his tears away before putting his clothes on. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the break room.

Kyo sat a few plates down on a guest's table before saying thanks and returning to the kitchen. As he did the waitress he was covering for came back from her break. She took over her tables so he snuck to the break room and went to his locker. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes before stepping out the back door. He spotted Kaoru there with Aoi next to him. The alpha had insisted on training Aoi in the restaurant as a host and he was doing a good job except when Kaoru wanted to pull out to the back for some alone time. Kaoru took a drag from his cigarette and smiled as Kyo lit his own.

Kyo let out a deep breath and glanced over at Aoi, who was trying to hide behind Kaoru's body. Kyo licked his lips before walking over to get a look at the raven. You would never guess by his looks that he would be this shy.

"Aoi." He spoke making the omega flinch. "I won't hurt you. There's no need to be scared of me or of the pack for that matter. I know Kaoru will protect you, but so will we. We want you to feel comfortable around us and at home."

Kaoru smiled and nodded to his leader. "See, I told you Kyo wasn't that bad."

"Well, well, well look at what we have here."

Kyo's ears perked at the voice and he felt a sudden anger wash through his body. He growled turning around, his body starting to change form. Aoi whimpered hiding behind Kaoru's body. They looked at the man standing there with long braided hair. Kaoru looked around and noticed the four accompanying wolves nearby. Kyo seemed to have notice too because he didn't straight up attack Hiro.

"Hiro." Kyo growled. "Do you want to die?"

Hiro laughed and waved his hands in the air. "I didn't come here to fight. My little pup there seemed to have gotten lost. I just came to take him home before he caused too much trouble."

"I don't know who you're talking about." Kyo snapped. "Now get off my territory before I rip out your throat."

"Not without Aoi. Come here, Aoi." He called. "Come on back and everything will be okay. You won't be in trouble, I know you just got lost."

Aoi dug his head into Kaoru's back and whimpered. The alpha let out a low growl. "He's not going anywhere."

"Always ones to pick up strays." Hiro laughed. "Aoi, get over here now. That's an order."

"You have no business here." Kyo growled, his hair standing up and his nails sharpening.

Hiro smirked. "How's Shinya doing, Kyo?" The leader froze wide eyed. "After losing his pup the way he did? I'm amazed he managed to live. After all you did fail in protecting him."

"I will kill you." Kyo's voice broke as he cried out.

"Give Aoi back and I'll leave Shinya alone. Give him back right now and I won't kill your omegas."

"I won't let you come near my pack again." Kyo warned. His body was emitting waves of pressure, his emotions were getting the better of him.

Aoi sniffled before pushing away from Kaoru's body and stepping forward. Hiro smiled at him and waved for him to come closer. Kaoru went to grab Aoi's arm, but he pulled out of the grip. As he moved closer, Kyo pressed his hand against the omega's chest stopping him in his tracks.

"He's my omega now. He doesn't belong to you anymore. Touch my pack and we will go to war again."

Hiro smirked. "Very well. Keep an eye on your new puppy. What was his name? Akira?"

Kyo growled "Stay away from him!"

"No guarantees. Aoi, I'll give you twenty-four hours to come home."

Aoi moved to take another step forward, but Kaoru gripped his arm and pulled him back. The alpha stood in front of him and glared at Hiro. "Aoi will not go back to you. He's not some sex slave for you to abuse. He's not yours, he's mine."

"Oh but you think he belongs to you? You hear that Aoi, he wants to own you."

Aoi shook his head. "No." He whispered. "Not Kaoru."

Hiro held his anger, but looked back at Kyo who had stopped transforming and going back to his human form. "Very well. I'll see you soon."

Tsuzuku sniffled as he walked into the factory. He wiped his eyes as he stepped into the warm room. He decided to leave work early and head home. He walked into the foyer to find Reita and Kai sitting cross legged from each other. They were holding hands with their eyes closed, but Reita's eye shot open and he gasped. He fell forward into Kai's arms. Kai was grasping his mate, petting his back.

"It's okay." Kai whispered. "It's okay."

Tsuzuku walked over to the wall and sat against it near them. Koichi had spotted him when he came in and ran over to sit by him. Kai sat Reita back up and swiped his hair out of his face. He leaned in and kissed the blonde's forehead.

"Stay here and rest. I'll go heat you up some more soup."

"You don't have to. I'm not even hungry." Reita said with a smile, but Kai stood up anyways.

"I'll be back." Kai said ignoring him.

The blonde sighed and looked over as Koichi wiped Tsuzuku's face. Reita moved and sat by them. "Hey Tsuzuku, what's wrong."

He smiled and sniffled some more. "You know those days I would go hang out with my coworkers and sometimes stay the night with them."

"Yeah, Kyo almost had your ass last time you did that. He's not very happy with you right now." Koichi said.

"Yeah well, I wasn't with them. I was…I was with an alpha. A traveling lone wolf. He'd been staying here and he took an interest in me like I took one in him. We hooked up and started a fling. Well he decided he wanted to leave town to do his lone wolf thing. I asked him to stay, but he said no. We split today…"

"Oh Tsuzuku…" Koichi sighed.

"I felt a connection between us. Hell, our last couple of dates when we made out or had sex…he sent me into a pressure sphere. It was so amazing and I fell for him. And he left me…" Tsuzuku whimpered. Koichi gripped his friend's hand.

"He was an asshole. He had something amazing and he will forever regret it."

Tsuzuku smiled. "I lost something amazing too."

"Maybe…he'll change his mind." Reita mumbled. "You said he was a loner. It's difficult to change lifestyles suddenly. Trust me. He may just be scared is all? If he comes back, I would give him a second chance."

"He won't come back."

"He might." Reita said softly. "If you felt something then he probably did too. He'll come back for you."

"Please. Don't even try to get my hopes up." Tsuzuku said with a smile.

"Yeah, besides there are plenty of others who can send you into a pressure sphere." Koichi said nudging his friend. "Like Toshiya. He's still unmated."

"A pressure sphere? What's that?" Reita asked getting wide eyes stare from them.

"You've never heard of pressure sphere?" Koichi said. "What rock have you been living under?"

"One with a cage?" Reita tried to joke, but got sad stares. At that moment, Kai had stepped up with a tray of bowls. He sat down before passing them around to the omegas. He looked at Reita who was looking at his food with disinterest.

"Eat Reita." Kai ordered and the omega nodded.

"Anyways!" Koichi said pointing his spoon right at Kai. "Why doesn't Reita know about pressure spheres, Kai? You're not doing a good job with your mate."

"H-hey! I've sent him into it. The day he went into heat I did."

Reita blushed. "Oh…you mean when I got all loopy? That's a pressure sphere?"

Kai nodded. "Pressure sphere is where mates are intimate and the alpha sends pressure into his or her omega. It sends them into euphoric state. It causes an omega to have an amazing amount of pleasure especially during heats."

Reita blushed. "So…why haven't we done it since?"

The other two omegas glared at Kai, making him nervous. "Well, you know…I just…there is a risk to it too. If an alpha doesn't coax you out of it properly you can drop and it can be painful. I just don't want that to happen."

Koichi rolled his eyes. "You worry too much Kai. Omegas dropping doesn't happen often and when it does it only hurts for a few minutes."

"You've never dropped, so you have no idea." Tsuzuku scoffed. "It sucks."

"You have?" Koichi asked and his friend nodded.

Tsuzuku gripped Reita's hand. "Dropping is when pressure is suddenly yanked from you and it feels like you're suffocating. Your chest burns and you feel disconnected from everything. It lasts for a couple of minutes, but it feels like hours. During that time you're confused and upset. You typically have a headache afterwards and need to sleep."

"But pressure sphere is healthy in a bond." Kai said. "It's actually needed to help mates stay connected to each other."

"If you don't regularly go into a pressure sphere then you, the omega, suffers. You get headaches, insomnia, and so on." Koichi said. "But it's usually only if you're bonded."

Reita nodded his head taking in all the info. He took another bite from his soup and looked at Kai. "Could we…could we try it tonight?"

Kai blushed. "Sure if you want to."

"Of course he wants to!" Koichi said. "It should be considered neglect for not putting him into a pressure sphere!"

The two blushed, but smiled at each other. Kai watched as Reita slowly ate his soup and felt happy, but sad at the same time.

Shinya yawned as he and the others walked into the factory. It had been a long day at the clinic with a large amount of patients. Shinya and Byou were thankful to have Hide's help. They walked into the factory to find almost everyone home except Kyo and the other restaurant workers. As Byou took notice of Tora sitting off to the side on his own. Tora had taken the whole incident with Nao hard and hasn't socialized much since. He hasn't even talked with Saga that much which has worried Yoshiki greatly. Tora was torn inside.

Shinya was thinking about a long hot bath and was making a beeline to his room when Yoshiki had cut him off. Shinya felt dread in his stomach when he saw the alpha's expression. After being told what Reita had said that morning, Shinya felt his concerns grow. He looked over at where Reita was. He was lying with his head on Kai's lap. They were talking with Tsuzuku, who was playing with Koichi's hair, and Uruha who was massaging Ruki's shoulders. He took a deep breath before walking over to the group.

"Kai, I still can't believe you haven't put Reita in a pressure sphere since the first time you kissed." Ruki said. "I put Uru in it at least twice a week."

"Yeah, well you guy are practically humping each other every five minutes." Kai retorted.

Reita's face turned red as Uruha smiled happily. Shinya shook his head and sat next to them catching their attentions. He looked down at Reita with a stern expression. The blonde swallowed hard and raised up. He knew where this was going.

"Reita…"Shinya sighed. "I told you if something was wrong that you needed to tell me. Instead I hear it from Yoshiki."

"Reita? What is he talking about?" Kai asked. Reita played with his thumbs as he looked down. Shinya looked around silently telling the others to leave them alone. The four nodded before leaving them.

Reita told them about his loss of appetite and nausea. Told them about his fatigue and his need to sleep more.

"I had noticed the fatigue." Shinya stated. "But I figured it was caused from your body recovering from Nao's attack. You not eating…I'm sorry we just assumed it was because before you came here you didn't get to eat that much. We had hoped you being here would change that bad habit. It seems we were wrong. It looks to be something more serious than what we…what I had previously thought. I'm sorry Reita I should have taken more precautions to your condition."

"No, it's my fault." Reita mumbled. "I thought it would go away on its own."

Kai looked hurt. "You hid it from me."

"I know I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry."

"Reita how can we ever bond if you don't open up to me?" Kai said holding his hand. "You're supposed to trust me with these things. I'm your alpha, it's my job to protect you and take care of you. I can't do that if you choose to block me out."

"I…" Reita whispered. "I'm so sorry. I want to bond with you more than anything. I just don't want you to be hurt because of me."

"Reita." Shinya spoke up with a smile. "Being in a bond means to share your pain. It means to share your troubles, your happiness, and everything in between. That's why it is so special. I don't know what is wrong with you yet, but I will find out. Right now its best you let Kai in fully and let him take some of this stress from you."

"Kyo said that they only way to fully feel each other without restraints is through making the bond." Reita mumbled.

"Maybe that's exactly what you need to do." The beta said

"Kyo forbid us from doing it." Kai said. "I won't go against him."

"Sometimes you have to do what's best for you even if that means disobeying your alpha." Shinya said. "If you choose to do it, let me know. I will take the full blame for it."

"Shinya how can you take the full blame for something we do?"

The beta smiled. "I have my ways."

"Will bonding make him better?" Kai asked. "Even a little bit?"

"I don't know." Shinya said.

"Kyo doesn't want us to until I'm already connected to my inner wolf." Reita whispered.

"It could help." Shinya said.

"But what if it makes things worse?" Kai asked.

Shinya closed his eyes. "Kamijo and Teru bonded before Teru was reconnected to his inner wolf and he's fine. All I know is that Reita is in a worse condition than we had previously thought. We need to try something."

"It's been almost three months." Reita gasped. "How am I not better?"

"I don't know, but I will find out."

The blonde sniffled and rubbed his face. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I want to go to bed."

"Reita, you need to eat first."

"No!" The omega snapped. "No more eating. Please Kai no more. I just want to go to bed."

The brunette bit his lip. Seeing his mate like this broke his heart. He pulled Reita into a tight hug. "Okay. Okay, let's go to bed."

"Can we sleep upstairs?" He mumbled.

"Of course."

Kai helped Reita up to his feet and they held hands as they walked through to the hallway. They walked up to the fourth floor to their own room. Kai opened the door and Reita walked in first. Kai watched as his mate dropped onto his futon. He walked over and sat next to Reita. He rubbed the blonde's cheek making him look up. Reita leaned in for a kiss and Kai gladly accepted it as they slowly laid down. Kai slowly made his way on top of his mate who hummed wrapping his arms around the alpha's neck. Kai pulled up and looked at his blushing mate.

"Kai…"Reita said softly. "I…I want us to bond."

"Rei…"

"Please."

Kai captured Reita's lips again. The blonde closed his eyes at the contact and gasped when he felt his mate's hand sliding up under his shirt. The brunette moved down and kissed the pale neck. Reita moaned out feeling pressure filling his chest. He closed his eyes as his body began to float. He felt Kai's body on top of him rubbing against him. All he could feel was his mate. Reita felt his mate bite into his neck as a hand slipped into his pants.

"Kai." He moaned.

"Shh. Just feel." Kai whispered. "I'll make you forget everything."

It wasn't too long before Kyo, Kaoru, IV, and Aoi were all walking in. Kyo was pissed to say the least. Aoi was hanging off of Kaoru like usual, but he seemed terrified. Kyo jumped up on the statue and whistled out.

"Everyone gather up!" He yelled. He watched as everyone from both packs surrounded the statue and look up at him. He looked around for a moment and noticed the absence of two of his pack. "Where are Kai and Reita?"

The group looked around and Shinya stepped up. "Resting."

"Get them down here. Now." He ordered. Shinya swallowed hard and nodded. He disappeared from the group and Kyo took a deep breath. He was trying to wait patiently but he was already fuming.

He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps, but he only saw Shinya. His mate was staring nervously at him. Shinya made his way up and stood next to his lover to whisper in his ear.

"Now is not the best time for them to come down,"

"I ordered them down here." Kyo growled and Shinya whimpered from the negative pressure his mate pushing onto him.

"They can't…They're…"

"What Shinya?" Kyo snapped.

"They began to bond."

"What?" The alpha shouted. "They're bonding? Right now?"

Everyone in the room whispered shocked by the news. Shinya nodded his head. Kyo let out a loud growl before jumping off the statue and charging towards the hallway. Yoshiki ran quickly to cut him off and hold him back.

"Move!" Kyo ordered.

"No." Yoshiki stood his ground. "Let them be."

"They're going against my commands!"

"If they've started to bond then you cannot stop it!" Yoshiki shouted. "If you do you will cause irreversible damage. You wanted to prevent a broken bond. If you stop them now, what they have will be damaged beyond repair. They will never be able to make a fully connected bond with any mate. Reita will not survive that pain!"

Kyo continued to growl. "You are not their pack leader. I am."

"Which means it is your job to make sure they're not interrupted. It is your responsibility that they complete the bond and protect them while they do so. It is your job to advise, but when the time comes you cannot control when mates choose to bond with each other. They need this, Kyo. Reita needs this."

The alpha closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His friend was right and he knew it. Shinya grabbed his hand and held it. He looked into his mate's eyes before rubbing his face. Today had one stressful problem after another.