It was late in the afternoon when they decided to get the weapons for his fists started. He was impressed with what she had sketched out so far and made plans to start free-weight training carefully while she worked on them in the workshop. She was still doing the finishing touches to the sketches. What shocked him while she sketched was that she was using both her left and right hands. He was amazed and could only watch with fascination.
"What?" she asked while using one hand to draw the glove designs and the other to draw out the scythe daggers concepts.
"No one is ever like that. Using both hands to draw," he muttered.
"I got bored and challenged myself. Then I mastered it," she grinned. "You are the first one to see me do this. It's like…typing on a keyboard. You use both hands for that. You just need to know that you don't have to fully focus on one hand to sketch. I'm mainly right handed, but this lets me sketch far more effectively. And, if I want to, I can match both sides. Like this…"
Now he watched her with complete disbelief mirror a perfect circle by starting at the top, curve around and end at the bottom. At her beaming grin at him, he took the sketch pad and pencils away to tackle her laughing form.
"Aika…you really are the most amazing woman I've ever met," he said while gazing at her with a form of loving intensity. "You saved my life. Multiple times already. I'm just…feeling incredibly humbled that you found me when you did. That I impacted your life so much. I will never allow anyone to rip you away from my side."
"Kazuma…" she said softly and caressed his cheek. "You gave me meaning and hope in that ten minute span of freedom. You helped me recover a past that was ripped and stolen from me. You allowed me to know that I could be normal. To a point. I never…thought…that I'd be where I am today…"
"Aika…" he whispered and kissed her passionately. "This…right here…should have been our wedding vows. But I'm fine with the short and sweet versions of them."
"As am I," she whispered back and let him claim her with everything he had. Ten minutes into their afterglow, he heard his phone vibrate nearby. Sighing, he reached over to let her answer it. "Hello?"
"Ah…" a male voice started.
"Just tell me this. Are you with the Daidoji? Just be honest for once in your life," she asked and put the phone on speaker for Kiryu to listen in.
"Yes…" the voice said hesitantly.
"My husband is here with me. You want to talk? You have two minutes. The phone is on speaker. Start talking. We have too many things to do today to bother with the likes of traitors like you," she growled in warning.
"We wanted to formally apologize for what was done-"
"Not accepted. What else?" she said curtly.
"Wait! We want to wire you a million yen as part of the apology," the man said quickly. Now she looked at her husband. Even he was surprised by this.
"Why?" she asked warily.
"To pay you for a job that was not discussed in full. And to show we really do want to do further…business with you," the man said carefully.
"I will think carefully about this proposal. It is…a nice step in the correct direction to show you are trying to mean well. I'm sure you saw what I did to everyone you sent at me so far. The aftermath of such events. I have fully and completely trained myself in how to fight in any form of environment. I have weapons and means to get any job done no matter what is thrown at me. And it would be pathetically easy for me to find every single one of you," she said with a confident air in her tone.
"We do understand," the man said. "Ah…the appointment, though…"
"Was cancelled. I have new plans for tomorrow. If you still want to meet with me, I suppose I can reschedule for the day after. But, if anyone tries to undermine the agreement, I will no longer consider the Daidoji as a worthy business partner. Much less as an allied force. Also, with the million yen, I will not accept the payment until I meet faithfully with someone at the desired appointment time," she said carefully. Kiryu looked at her with amusement.
"What…?" the man said with complete surprise.
"I'm not a greedy little bitch. I've lived without…for an extremely long time. I don't need money. It's just nice to have. It's a bartering chip. But no longer will I do things for free or half payment down. Full payments up front only. Prices can be negotiable depending on the target. I am not one to go back on my word. Kazuma can vouch for that," she said with a smirk.
"I definitely can vouch," her husband agreed.
"I see. Can we aim for a lunch appointment the day after tomorrow, then?" the man asked. "We will ensure nothing more happens."
"Fine. Text me where you plan to meet with me and Kazuma. Last chance. You fuck this up, your entire faction is dead to me," she said and hung up the call.
"You should have taken the money," Kiryu said.
"No. That will show that I'll do anything for them if it's thrown at me. I want them to put their fucking money where their mouth is. Including their genuine interest in getting on my good side. They do this? Fine. I'll accept the bribe of good faith, but I won't just do missions and jobs for them on a whim. They meet with me, we plan it out and then I do what needs to be done. I'm a mercenary for hire. I'm not their lap dog. I was that…long enough…" she frowned. He nodded and cradled her. Then he decided to change the subject.
"You know…I really could use a wheelchair…" he mused. "We can see if my idea works with the others first."
"I just had an idea, too. I get a rag to wipe off the drool you can do now and then…" she grinned wickedly. That got him laughing sharply at the idea. "You may want to text Seonhee to tell Joongi to keep quiet if we pull it off. They were here when we were mildly discussing it. Same with Gelek and Rabten."
"Right…" he grinned and did just that. He saw the laughing emoji sent back. "I guess she's on board."
"And I do have a wheelchair," she chuckled. "I wonder if we can test this on Kasuga…"
"I thought you would. And on him?! Yes. We definitely need to."
"Seonhee is fully on board and will inform everyone that does know about you to keep quiet to see if this works. So, this would also be a good test on the asshole and his two friends. Tomi, Zhao and Chi-chan would also be in Kasuga's group that doesn't know about you. I'm not sure about the others, but we'll see how it goes."
"Right," Kiryu laughed softly. "Okay, so, are you done with the sketching?"
"Not quite. But I can start building the gloves for you and fashioning the claws. You can work on punching and kicking. Maybe some light cardio to build stamina. I don't want you to do too much. Just enough to judge where you are right now to see how to properly train you back up to speed."
"I might break the equipment at full strength. But you're right that this would be best for me to work on myself slowly," he agreed.
"Glad we agreed on something," she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. He sat up with her to let her end up in his lap, and he hugged her tight.
"I really need to eat now," he sighed. "I sort of…threw up everything I had. What do you think we can do?"
"Let me slip something on and cook us up something," she said.
"You have to dress?"
"I can wear that red string…"
"No. I will forget to eat."
"Oh, fine. I guess I can just wear the cardigan…"
"That…hmm…I'll put on a robe. You wear one of those," he said and kissed her hungrily before releasing her. He saw her grab the black lace cardigan and a thong. Then she clipped the front of the cardigan together to barely cover her chest. There was still a lot of teasing exposure. He pursed his lips together. "That's just as bad as the thing you call a swimsuit."
"Good! That pleases me," she grinned wickedly. He gave an amused glare and locked his eyes on her form as she left the room.
"Terrible woman…" he muttered and grabbed their phones to take with him. He saw her humming softly and pulling out strips of chicken and beef to throw into a wok. Various vegetables such as strips of carrots, broccoli and snap peas were tossed in next. He watched her expertly use the wok and sear up the meal. Teriyaki and soy sauces were now used with a touch of rice wine vinegar. Salt, pepper and sesame seeds were sprinkled in before she let it all simmer lightly.
"Almost done," she murmured and pulled down a couple plates. The contents of the wok were split evenly between them both, and she poured out some water. He calmly watched her raise and lower a floor panel that was built in a stair-like way to help her around the kitchen for height. Sitting next to him at the dining table after kicking the panel back into the floor, he was finally able to eat with intense relief.
"This will help," he chuckled.
"I'll make sure you get some extra meat in for your workout needs. The protein will help you. I think I should pick up some Wagyu when we go to Tokyo. We really need to stock up on some intense meals to boost your strength back," she said and made a note on her phone. Then she sent a text to Sa-chan to see if extra meat could be purchased later on with a promise of paying back. "Sa-chan will help us replenish a few things. I'll build a tab with her."
"Good to know," he nodded. They managed to finish off their meal, get the dishes done and move into the training room. She did check the pig to ensure it was thawing before guiding him to the hanging punching bag.
"There are boxing gloves and hand wrappings you can use if you like. Otherwise, just time yourself and see how hard you can hit. It may be best to use the kickboxing stands to punch first. They have a gauge on them to show where you should be. Punch one once and then again with rapid succession," she said.
"Got it," he grunted. She watched how he punched once with a critical eye. When he did a four punch attack on it, she caught him panting slightly.
"Done," she said. "I would advise to stick with two punches and a single punch timed for ten seconds between. Pace yourself. I'd say to kick, but you need to put on shorts or briefs first."
"Really?" he frowned.
"Just do it, Kazuma," she sighed and shook her head. "It's for safety."
"Fine," he sighed back and moved to do just that. He decided to discard the robe if he was wearing shorts, and it was then that he realized it was best to do it this way to ensure he wouldn't overheat too much. She nodded and watched him kick at the kickboxing stands. She raised a lever to see his low and high kicks.
"Very good," she smiled and checked a meter. "Your kicks are still rather strong. So, let's focus on your punches for now. Maybe light leg training twice a week to keep that up. I'm printing out a training routine for you now. Then I'll go get to work on the gloves."
"Makes sense," he agreed. When she got back to him five minutes later, he knelt down to pull her to him. She sat on his knee and gave him a questioning look. "I just need to tell you. I was never…one to give a lot of talk."
"Same," she smiled. "I prefer action."
"True. So, I'd like to ask you something now," he muttered.
"Hmm?" she tilted her head at him.
"I want to see how you train. Just a short example," he chuckled.
"I can do that. I'll need to dress for the part. And get a few weapons," she grinned. "You're sure?"
"Quite sure," he grinned. They both kissed intimately before he let her go.
"You can sit in the viewing booth by the workshop," she said while walking off. He found his way there to sit down and wait calmly. He glanced over to smile when she walked back over. Then his smile vanished to see her wearing what she wore when he first saw her. She gave a small smile and said, "This is…actually what I wear to train in. I couldn't really wear anything else. I mean…I could…but I'm comfortable in this. So…"
"Did you only have one outfit the entire time you were freed?" he asked. He had a completely nostalgic moment on watching her in the white velvet stretch band and black miniskirt. She even had the burgundy bra and thong back on. He couldn't tear his eyes off her. She had left the beige cardigan off, but he felt his heart leap in his chest from how she looked now.
"I did…" she swallowed. "I didn't want to take a lot of things with me. I didn't really plan to do any killing. And it's easy to wash what I had. I mean…"
"Aika…" he whispered. She gave a smile and looked away. He moved to lift her into his arms to hold her.
"Am I training?" she asked.
"Not yet…" he said and sat back down with her in his lap. "I just…feel a need to hold you now. That's all."
"Kazuma…" she swallowed and pressed into him. He felt her shiver and cling to him.
"What's wrong?" he asked and stroked a lock of her hair.
"When you threw up…I feared the worst…" she admitted. "That I'd have to lug your incapacitated ass to the hospital and lose you…"
"I'm a frequent flier there now," he nodded and kissed her forehead. "I'm curious of what formed out of me, though."
"I was planning to get on that. It's all in sterile vials now. Do you…want me to train? Make your weapons? Analyze that shit? What do you want me to do?" she asked him. He ended up kissing her and maneuvering her to wrap her legs around his hips. She gasped and said, "What…has gotten into you…?!"
"I need to get into you before I can answer anything," he growled. That got her cackling a bit before going silent at the clothes being shifted aside. She shouted with him and leaned against him after the peak of pleasure passed.
"I don't think…this is normal…" she muttered.
"Are you serious? I mean…I was never one to…let myself get affected by this. But…you're my wife. And you're the sexiest thing I've even known," he mumbled and ran his mouth over her neck. "I honestly wouldn't care if we just locked ourselves away here for months on end…"
"Until looked for?" she grinned.
"Possibly…" he grunted out and caught her mouth with his. After the kiss broke, he growled out, "I have eyes for no other. You really do have the most perfect body I've ever laid eyes on. And to know that you're likely pregnant with my child? I don't care how often you trained. Or how you know how to kill. I need to get up to par with you. Somehow. Anyhow. It's why I said to train me. Give me a new way to attack and take my opponents by surprise. And with the Daidoji poking their noses at us?! I can't sit in the sidelines."
"And I want you to get as much of your prior strength back as possible. Hmm. I do have protein shakes that you can drink in a thermos…" she mused.
"Anything you need me to do. I'll do it," he nodded.
"You really want to be on par with me?" she asked.
"I do."
"Then watch me train. At my highest level of difficulty. It's a very short training, but extremely intense. And, no matter what, do not run to my side. You will not live past the traps I dodge," she said sternly. "I don't stand in place. I am all over the place. It is my ultimate playground. I only need to do it once in a while, but I do my best to not attack anything. It's a bitch to replace traps."
"I get that," he nodded. He kissed her again and let her move to shift clothing back up. Then she took out her scythe, but only let the pole extend out. She used it to hit a switch on the ceiling of the training room. Kiryu's jaw dropped as the room began a drastic change.
Clear acrylic shielded him from her as a protective barrier. Walls with ridges to scale on appeared at various heights. Holes appeared riddled through them to show where traps would activate. A shifting floor appeared, too, as well as moving targets all over the altered chamber. Now he realized that she was starting at a part of the floor that was sunk down by three feet in depth. She looked at him, blew him a kiss and shouted, "GO!"
She started at a dead run, used her pole to vault herself at a standing pillar and then took out her whip to grab a ceiling hook to swing herself to the other side. Darts were moving around her. Spikes were constantly trying to strike at her. Even the ground became electrical with a water spray to fry her if she fell. All the while she moved, she was accurately striking at each moving target with perfect precision. Kiryu was in absolute shock at the level she trained at.
She dodged a flamethrower neatly from a rotating tower on another target hit. Her scythe was out in full and used to help her leap over another lethal section of flooring before stomping down on a kill switch. She hefted the scythe over her shoulders and grinned when the pillar she ended up on sunk into the middle of the room to leave her unharmed.
The entire training took under thirty seconds, but it was as though time stood still when the room reverted back to an empty chamber with standing practice targets. All of the bullets and darts were specially designed to fall into receptacles to get auto-filled for the next training.
Kiryu was absolutely speechless. She tilted her head at him with the scythe resting over her shoulders with the curved blade held up in the air. She calmly made her way to stand before him and look up at him. He stared down at her now and knelt to be at eye level with her. "I need to do that."
"I know you do. And you will. But you need to build yourself up first. I don't want to do too much with you until the three month mark of your medicine happens. Then we'll have six months to really put the pressure on you. So, for the current three months, all strength building. Learn how to fight with new weapons. Nothing too intense. After three months…" she smiled.
"I get it," he nodded. He watched her put the scythe away and she laughed when he pulled her close. "It really did feel good to punch again, though. Likely the gangster part of me."
"I'm sure," she chuckled and snuggled into him. She looked over at her workshop table to see his phone vibrating. He grunted and carried her over to let her answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey! It's Sa-chan. I have a delivery!" she said in a cheerful tone.
"Oh, good! I'll activate the elevator for you," Saiki agreed. When the phone disconnected, she accepted a kiss from her husband. "You might want to put a shirt on."
"For now," he agreed and set her on her feet. He went into the bedroom to grab a light blue shirt that opened in the front. When he moved into the karaoke chamber, he caught his wife giving him a complete look of interest. "Hmm?"
"I like that look on you…" she grinned. She walked over to him and ran a hand up his chest. "Definitely going to have to make use of this in the future…"
"Is that so? Does this mean I finally have a way to get even with that red suit of death?" he grinned to get her snickering.
"One way to find out," she seemed to purr at him. That got him growling. He lifted her in his arms and watched the elevator open.
"Sa-chan asked us to help her," Adachi said when he walked in with her. Nanba was next with several packages to take into the kitchen.
"I thought it was just Sa-chan…" Saiki frowned.
"Easy. She brought a lot! It's fine," Kiryu chuckled and kissed her cheek. She yawned and snuggled into him while he carried her after the others.
"You look great, though!" Nanba said while he set up the packages on the counter. Then he saw the hanging pig with surprise.
"There's a purpose for that. What all did you bring?" Kiryu mused and set Saiki down after kissing her gently. He found a place to sit and sat back to listen.
"Various beef cuts, a few chickens and some pork cuts," Sa-chan said while helping unwrap the parcels.
"How much was it?" Saiki asked. Sa-chan chuckled and waved it off.
"Don't worry about it! This is to help Kiryu-san. It's on the house," Sa-chan winked. "Did we miss anything juicy?"
"The Daidoji wants to pay me a million yen to apologize for acting like spoiled children," Saiki sighed. Now she got looked at.
"Take the money," Adachi said.
"Only after I meet with them directly. If I take it on a whim, then that might expose a weakness that I need money. Honestly, I don't. I want them to prove themselves. Then I'll accept it," Saiki said with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Glad you changed clothes," Kiryu muttered at her. She cracked a grin.
"At least wearing clothes?" she mused.
"Ah…" Nanba started and laughed at it all.
"We'll remedy that later," Kiryu nodded. Now Adachi snickered.
"What's the plan?" Sa-chan had to ask them.
"Tomorrow we go to Tokyo," Saiki said.
"Yeah. Seonhee filled us in. Count us in to help. Until then, it's just relaxing. Right?" Adachi asked.
"That's right. Saiki was making me a new weapon to use. And we were going to disguise me a bit to be in a wheelchair as a sick old man. My idea. And we test to see if it works on Kasuga," Kiryu said. He let his wife hop into his lap to regard the others.
"I will totally not tell him anything to see his reaction," Sa-chan grinned. "Seonhee did mention it to me, too, so I'm aware of it."
"Good. I'm going to let Kazuma rebuild his strength slowly in the next three months. The next dose of medicine he needs is then, too. After that, it's six months. Then every year until whatever is in his system is gone. I'll train him harder after the three month mark," Saiki explained. "Right now, though? Just rebuild his muscle mass and stamina."
"Good idea," Nanba agreed.
"His kicks are still good. His punches need work again. He admitted that. Also, were you told the reason I have to go to Tokyo?" she asked.
"Not really," Sa-chan frowned. Now the entire job discussion was talked about in full. They were all intrigued. And very pissed.
"Rabten was gonna keep Kiryu-san from getting cured until you killed someone?!" Adachi asked with disgust. "I have half a mind to punch him!"
"And he wanted to kill Gelek's brother over debt?" Nanba asked with confusion. "That's a loan shark if I ever met one."
"Well, it's good you paid the debt. Technically, you could use the Daidoji money to fund the rest of it," Sa-chan grinned.
"I could. But, I see this as an opportunity to help Kazuma train. He even said he wanted to use the new weapons on the target. It's also why the thawing pig is out. He can practice on it and cut up something for various meals," Saiki chuckled. "I was about to work on his weapons, too, but he wanted to watch me train to see what all I did."
Kiryu pressed his mouth to her ear to softly whisper. She burst out laughing like mad and wiped away tears. Sa-chan now looked at them both eagerly. Kiryu grinned and said, "I wanted to go a bit further with the sick man disguise. I told her to get a diaper bag and put some adult diapers in it."
"Wow…" Nanba blinked.
"Would you wear them?" Adachi asked.
"Nope. But they don't need to know that," Kiryu smirked. Adachi found himself laughing with complete agreement.
"Saiki, I was curious if I could see how you trained," Sa-chan said with a curious smile. "Can we watch that?"
"Hmm…" Saiki pondered the idea.
"No," Kiryu said.
"Why not?" Nanba asked.
"Because it's an absolute turn on for me, and I don't want to feel guilty for kicking everyone out after it's done," he grunted to get the others laughing. "Besides, today was supposed to be an alone day. So…let's do this. Tomorrow before we leave for Tokyo. Everyone coming with us will show up here. She'll train as a bit of warming up for the job. I can let that happen. Just expect her to shower with me after for a good ten to twenty minutes."
"I think that would work," Saiki chuckled.
"I can do that," Sa-chan agreed. "The meat's all here, so I'll let you put it away. I do have to get back to work."
"I suppose I can wait until tomorrow," Adachi said. Nanba was already moving to the elevator. He now had questions for Rabten. Kiryu escorted them out to let Saiki start sorting through the packs of meat.
"Did she buy me a whole cow?" Saiki mused. Kiryu moved over to her and saw her on the floor platform to help her height.
"Why didn't you have everything made to your height?" he asked.
"It would have cost more," she said. "It's easier to just work around it and go with what's available."
"Well, you have me now," he grinned and moved to lift her into his arms.
"This is awkward."
"Perfect height for me," he muttered and kissed her.
"Let me put this away and then I can get to work on your gloves."
"It'll be fine for a few minutes."
"No. Not with meat. I never took that chance," she said seriously. "It spoils faster than you know. Just give me ten minutes."
"I suppose," he sighed and got rewarded with an intense kiss.
"Don't take the shirt off yet," she growled enticingly in his ear.
"As you command…" he growled back and kissed her heavily.
"I love you," she said softly. He kissed her again and finally shoved aside a few of the packages to set her on the counter.
"Five minutes…" he muttered and tensed at her hand moving over his chest.
"Think you have it in you?" she mused.
"I have to get in you first to see if that's the case," he grunted and locked his mouth on hers. It took nearly ten minutes later from the intense need they had for each other to finally subside. "I think…this is a record for me…"
"You're saying…I should be keeping count…?" she asked while resting against him. He found himself laughing softly.
"Maybe…after a month I'll slow down. But if you start it…" he grinned lightly at her. She rose a brow at him and shook her head.
"You'll have to learn to ignore me," she smirked.
"Never," he vowed and kissed her tenderly. He managed to release her to let put the packages away. Right after it was done, he saw her pull out a slab of Wagyu beef to carefully season and set away for dinner use. "Aika."
"Hmm?" she smiled.
"I want you to work on my gloves. But…I really don't want to let you go, either. Is there a way we can…?" he frowned. She smiled and gestured for him to follow her to the workshop. She pointed at a small television and pat a plush chair for him to sit at by her workbench.
"I'll sit in your lap and work while you watch a program. I'll move from your lap to collect materials, and move away for safety if I have to weld something, but I'll return right back to your lap. Will that work?" she asked.
"Yeah," he nodded. She pulled out leather sheets, cording for stitching and metal sheets. Sitting in his lap, she took his hand to place it on a sheet of leather. "Glad I stayed, eh?"
"You could say that," she chuckled. Taking up a permanent marker, she made an outline of his hand and did the same with the other. Then she did it again on another sheet of leather to form front and backs of the gloves. They were quite content to do this now. She'd work on his gloves in his lap. He'd flip through the channels to find something to watch. The occasional kiss was shared, and she'd listen in to what he watched. When he started to massage her shoulders, she found herself pausing to enjoy it.
"Looks like you need this," he mused.
"Maybe…" she sighed and looked at him. "Tell me something, Kazuma."
"Hmm?"
"Was I the last one you'd ever expect to show up in your life?"
"Yes. I had actually forgotten about you…"
"I figured as much."
"I felt you watching me first. The way you let me know it was you watching was what triggered who you were. I was…extremely shocked. Why do you ask?"
"There are still times…I wake up in the middle of the night…" she frowned. "I'd wonder…what you would do…if I left…"
"Shut up."
"Sorry…"
"How long have you felt this way?" he pulled her against his chest now.
"It…comes and goes…really. Old habits…" she winced.
"You're my wife now. I will travel to the ends of the earth to get you back. Don't you even think of trying to leave my side again. Or, you know what? If it happens, you wake my ass up. I don't care how deep of a sleep I'm in. Wake me up. Kick my ass awake if you have to. I can't have you thinking of that garbage. No more of it. Got it?" he said while studying her intensely.
"Right…" she nodded.
"I won't lose you," he said and squeezed her possessively.
"Let me finish your gloves," she said and blinked when he rose up from the chair. "Kazuma!"
"Not after what you just said," he muttered and started to take her into the master bedroom. He paused when he heard his phone vibrate on the steel table in the workroom. "Voicemail. Not answering it."
"Seriously?" she asked him with complete amusement.
"Every time I answer that damned thing…" he winced.
"And you laugh when I take over the call," she grinned. He rolled his eyes and ended up carrying her back over to retrieve it. "Hello?"
"Ah…hello! Is this the phone of the Dragon of Dojima?" a young man asked. "If it is…um…I'd like to ask a few questions…"
"Wrong number. Have a nice day!" she beamed and hung up. That got Kiryu laughing and shaking his head at her knowing grin. When it vibrated again, she answered it and put it on speaker. "Hello?"
"Look, lady, I really need to talk to him! It's important!" the man snapped.
"First of all, you asked if this was the phone to a yakuza legend. You never asked if he was actually here," she pointed out to get dead silence. "Second of all, I'm his wife. You want to talk to him? You get through me first. He's unwell and doing all he can to stay on his feet. What the fuck do you want?"
"As my wife said," Kiryu growled. "When she gets pissed, I also get pissed. Especially since you interrupted my alone time with her. What is it? Be quick!"
"I was hoping I could interview you for a magazine," the man started.
"No," Kiryu said abruptly. "I am retired. I am no longer able to do anything more. I don't need unwanted attention brought to me. You see, Saiki? This is why I don't answer my phone anymore. So, if it's an unknown number, we don't answer it. I'm done with answering unknown callers."
"Of course, darling," she agreed.
"Then maybe I can track down one of the kids from Morning Glory to get my scoop," the man started. That got Kiryu to seethe with rage.
"You approach any of them, then I will approach you," Saiki warned right away. "Not once did you say what magazine you were from or even start off with genuine conversation. You're a prick hoping to score big to get points with your job. Fuck off. And if any of the children tell us that they were approached with questions, I will get information on you from them. Try me. I dare you."
"You don't need to know what magazine I'm from!" the man said in a haughty way. Saiki grinned and reached for her phone. Kiryu helped her get it, and she plugged in the number on the caller ID in a reverse search.
"Calling in from the office phone, eh?" she snickered. The man paused on the other end. "Yeah. I just found out what magazine you're calling for. Oriental Fighter's Digest? Looks new. You'd be better off finding a Sumo wrestler to talk to. And would you look at that! The address of the building you're calling from is displayed on the website! Well, well, well. You talk to anyone close to us…I know where to find you. And plaster the walls red with your blood. I fucking dare you to try and cross me."
"Look…" the man finally caved. "We just…the magazine is starting out. We know. We just…we need a popularity boost. To get the word out about us. If we interviewed a legend in the fighting world, well…you see?"
"But my husband doesn't want that. How did you even get this number?" she asked with suspicion.
"I can't…disclose that…" he said nervously.
"I bet he stole a phone from someone dead…" Kiryu muttered.
"True. Maybe we should change your phone number," she sighed.
"It may be time. Anyways, interview declined. Good luck," Kiryu said and hung up the phone. Then he blocked the number.
"Not bad. But, I suppose, I do agree with you that we will not answer unknown numbers anymore," she sighed again and let him lift her back up. He carried her into the master bedroom and lay back on the bed with her. "And why are we here? Don't I have to finish working on something?"
"I need to test something," he said. "I hate it. But I have to see."
"What's that?" she frowned.
"Lull me to sleep. Then leave my side to work on the gloves. I want to see how I react to you not being there," he muttered. She looked at him with shock.
"Are you sure?" she asked gently. He kissed her softly and lay back with her reclining against him. She moved her hands to massage the back of his head. He closed his eyes and fully relaxed. Then she started to hum softly to really let the effect kick in. When he started to snore, she gently pulled away and moved into the workshop.
It was thirty minutes later when she heard him scrambling from the bed to rush to her side. On seeing her grinding out one of the claws, he found himself calming down with intense relief. She looked at him and lifted up the safety goggles she was wearing. Then she turned off the grinder and set down the blade. The heavy work gloves were next to be removed, and she turned to look at him with a small smile. She had on a protective apron, too, but it didn't hinder her.
"I thought…I had a heart attack…even though I knew you were here…" he grimaced and moved to sit in a chair. Now she removed the apron to set aside. She moved to settle in his lap to calm him back down. At the feel of her hand running over his chest, he started to relax.
"I almost finished one glove. Will you be fine if I'm in your line of sight?" she asked and moved her hand up to caress his cheek. He pressed into it, kissed her palm and nodded. "Good. We'll have dinner after I finish a glove. Then I'll have you test how it feels and works."
"That's fine," he agreed. She moved her hand to gently massage through his hair, and he closed his eyes with relief at her touch. "I never expected to find the perfect woman for myself. Much less being a married man. I honestly thought…"
"Not the only one," she chuckled. He moved his hand to lightly press against her belly. Then she said, "You shouldn't psyche yourself up on it. It could be nothing, you know."
"Should that be proven, then fine. Until then? Don't count on me not hoping for it," he grinned and kissed her lovingly. "Okay. Finish my glove. I'm starting to feel the hunger hit."
"You should practice throwing some punches. I'm still in sight of you. And focus on uppercuts with swing punches," she instructed. He nodded, kissed her again and let her hop out of his lap. "Also, I have a free-weight gym."
"Where?" he asked. She moved a bit beyond the hanging punching bag to press on a wall panel. A small workout gym was revealed. "Nice! But it's enclosed. I need to see you."
"Just bring out what you need," she chuckled. "This room was mainly storage for them. Of course, to watch me train, we'll put everything back. Until then? Bring it out and set it up."
"I love you. I absolutely love you," he said and scooped her up to kiss her. "You've done so much! I still can't believe this! What's confusing me is that I was part of the Tojo Clan board. I saw things and had to agree on things. How could any of this have slipped past us? I'm really starting to think that Dog Catcher had intense arrangements made…"
"What else would you have expected?" she shrugged. "I knew absolutely nothing on how I was able to get what I could."
"As a member of the board, I would have caught on fast if I saw anything like this being purchased. I'm just…I honestly have no idea," he frowned hard. "I'm surprised that you knew who I was if you were locked away."
"I knew who you were from the cameras," she said softly. He gazed at her to continue. "The moment you were spoken of, I made sure to locate you. After that, I always watched you. I saw how you were with others. It's why…I decided to find you first. To see if we could talk. And we did. I wanted to talk to you again…but Dog Catcher realized what happened. He was so pissed that I went to find another instead of him! But he knew he couldn't touch me."
"Every time I thought of that meeting…I think…a part of me did fall in love with you that day. For a month…you were in the back of my mind. But everyone always told me to abandon the search for you! In the end…I figured you would turn up again in time."
"And I did. Fifteen years later."
"And now you're my wife."
"With you as my husband."
"I should never have abandoned my search for you," he muttered and kissed her hard. "I should have…kept looking…"
"Better late than never?" she mused. He gave her a sigh and continued to hug her tight. His phone vibrated nearby to show Kasuga was calling, and it was put on speaker when answered. "Hello. What's up?"
"Hey! I heard we're going to Tokyo tomorrow?" Kasuga asked.
"That's the plan. It's for a job. It'll be taken care of. I was also thinking of picking up a few things for the home, too. So, everyone will meet up here first. Then we go," Saiki said. "It's been asked to watch me train."
"Really? That would be pretty cool! I'll spread the word to see who's interested. So, what time would we all meet up?" he asked.
"I was thinking in the morning around 10:00 sharp. That work?" she asked.
"Sounds good! Oh! Ah, how's Kiryu-san? Did the medicine work?" he asked with a bit of hopefulness.
"He's in a deep sleep right now. I'm keeping an eye on him. So, as you can see, I'm monitoring his phone. I do have a wheelchair on hand just in case. He made me vow to not leave him behind on anything through hell or high water. However, I did have something I would like you to check on. The kids from Morning Glory. Make sure they're okay?" Saiki asked.
"I can definitely do that. Taichi told me what happened when he called me after getting to the Geomijul building. I made sure all of those kids got my number, too. I'll see who else wants to help make sure they're all safe. Talk to you tomorrow! And keep Kiryu-san safe for me!" Kasuga said. Saiki laughed softly with agreement and ended the call.
"Good. I'll pretend to be a vegetable until it's time to go," Kiryu grinned a bit ruefully. "Finish my glove?"
"I can do that," she smiled and kissed him thoroughly. She looked at him when the kiss broke and said, "You really should work on your punches."
"I'll do that after dinner to burn off the meal," he nodded.
"Whatever you prefer," she smiled and let him kiss her back. She decided to work on the mechanism that would launch the claws and retract them in to stay in his lap. While working on it, she said, "I did have a question for you."
"Hmm?" he nodded while watching a program.
"What was the first thought that went through your mind when you realized I was watching you from afar?"
"The first thought on my mind. I can't believe it's her. No one will hunt her down due to everyone dying right away. And this was bad if she was running around unsupervised. But I was quite glad that you kept your promise to not kill anyone if you started to look for me. That's how I know you definitely keep promises if anyone doubts that."
"Very true."
"And when you saw me?"
"That you were alive. And that I found you. And then it was…how do I get your attention without alarming you too much? I'm glad one of those men had a phone. It was the perfect chance for us to talk to…meet up," she chuckled. Then she got serious. "But…I was worried that you really were gone. I was making plans to move out of the country, but then I saw the Tatara Channel with your face. When I tracked you down, you were in the hospital in critical condition. I was half tempted to find the one that put you there and kill him in cold blood."
"You were going to fight Ebina?" Kiryu blinked. "You know he's Kasuga's half-brother. Right?"
"There was a lot that I found out," she murmured while fitting a claw in a mechanism pocket. She was writing notes, drawing intense diagram sketches and had mathematical sequences for the sizing of each claw to fit. She had already started to get the claw to extend out and retract neatly to reveal how it would work in the glove. Kiryu watched her work with complete fascination.
"Did you…find him?" he asked.
"Oh, I did. But I didn't do anything. He was…lost in thought on a lot of things. The one thing he did mutter…was he hoped you didn't die…"
"Really?"
"Yes. That he was still unsure of the fate of the rest of the Yakuza as a whole. If we build our rehabilitation center…he will definitely show up. And if he opposes any of it…you might not kill him. But I will."
"Hmm…" he frowned.
"Because of him, you almost died. Again. I won't let him get that chance again. Even if you're on the way to being cured of this shit…I won't let a repeat performance happen. I don't know if what is going on with you is temporary. I don't know what that paste or salve is pulling out of you, and I don't want to know if it will regenerate. Like fucking hell…will I allow it to take you over and rip you from me…" she growled.
"Calm yourself," he muttered and kissed her temple. When his phone vibrated, he noticed it was an unknown number. "Voicemail."
"We'll see if one is left," she agreed. To their dismay, it rang again. She glanced at him with a frown. Before he could stop her, she answered it. "Yes? State your name please."
"Oh. I was expecting Kiryu-san…" a silken male voice said. Kiryu blinked at the voice with complete recognition. Saiki didn't skip a beat.
"Why, Masataka Ebina! We were just talking about you…" Saiki chuckled darkly. Kiryu's eyes narrowed. "My husband doesn't want to talk to you."
"Husband?!" Ebina asked with a bit of surprise.
"Why, yes. He married me. I know all about you. I did my research. In fact, I even found you after everything went down! But I left you alone. You were pathetic already. Please don't call us anymore," she said.
"I wanted to talk about the land the Tojo Clan was on," he said.
"It's mine. I purchased it. And if you fuck with it, then you fuck with me. He may have spared you. But I won't. First and last warning. Goodbye," she growled and hung up on him. When he called back, Kiryu answered it.
"If you piss off my wife, she will find you again. Stop doing this. As you can see, I managed to survive. Barely. What do you want?" Kiryu asked.
"Who is she?" Ebina asked.
"Someone you never want to cross. I'll just say that. What do you want?" Kiryu asked again cautiously. Saiki gave her husband a frown.
"I was going to see about offering to help rebuild what was part of the Tojo Clan building," Ebina said calmly.
"That's a fucking lie," Saiki said curtly. "You just want an excuse to snoop around and see what you could get your dirty, little fingers into. You burned the building to the ground. You made it your final chance to kill off a legendary Clan at last. Granted, you did. And you freed me, too. To a point.
"Kazuma freed me the rest of the way. And you released a fucking monster. He is the only one able to keep me in control. You think Kazuma is a force to be reckoned with? An entire Clan coming down on you? Heh. You've got nothing. I'll kill you in your sleep and walk away without a care in the world. That's the type of monster I am. So, if you send anyone after me or my husband…I'll send you their head in a gift-wrapped box."
"What?! Wait. You're…no…" Ebina found himself hesitating.
"So…you might have heard of me? How cute! Then you know what I'm capable of. I almost had Goro's head rolling out a door if Kazuma didn't stop me. So, once again, stay far away from us. You'll be safer that way," she smirked and hung up again. Kiryu was not happy.
"He's heard of you. This is bad. You're not leaving my side. Ever," he growled out and moved his hands over her back.
"As if I'd ever want to…" she murmured and paused in her work to enjoy the backrub. "Give me your hand? I need to see if this will fit over your fingers."
"Fine," he muttered and let her take up his hand to test the mechanism.
"Squeeze into a fist," she instructed. Four claws extended perfectly and retracted when he relaxed his hand. "Hmm…you'll want to keep your hands into a fist. I have the claws set up to go back in the moment the tension is free to ensure you'd still have your fingers. Try extending them in rapid succession."
He did so, and she made notes to ensure she had everything calculated. She took the leather that was to go over his palm to put over the mechanism for him to do it again. Nodding at the results, she removed the partial weapon and took out the blades. "I need to grind these down and sharpen them. About ten minutes for all eight blades."
"Eight?" he asked.
"For the other glove."
"Ah. Right. Four for each," he nodded. He saw his phone ring again with the number Ebina just dialed in on. He answered it on speaker. "What is it now?"
"Is your wife really the Headhunter of the Yakuza?" Ebina asked.
"Cross me and find out," Saiki said with complete challenge. There was slow breath drawn in and out.
"You said you found me," he said slowly.
"I did find you. And you were a whimpering, confused mess. I figured you were trapped away in your own form of hell. That was enough of a reason for me to leave you alone. Don't make me change my mind," she said with an edge in her tone. "It's very rare that I spare anyone these days."
"She's right," Kiryu said. She set down what she was working on, flipped into his lap neatly and pressed a kiss on his mouth. He knew exactly what she was doing. "Are you really doing this now?"
"It's so fucking hot when you're assertive," she grinned and ran her hands up his chest under the opened shirt. He growled with a small grin and caught up her mouth with a hungry kiss.
"What are you doing?" Ebina asked.
"My wife…wants me now. Don't call me unless the need is relevant," Kiryu grunted and hung up the phone. To their mild surprise, the phone rang again. "I'm changing my number."
"Whatever you want to do," she chuckled and watched him answer it again.
"What I need to say is relevant!" Ebina finally snapped out.
"What's more relevant? Listening to you bitch? Or finally getting my brains fucked hard by my husband?" Saiki asked in a drawling tone.
"I really want to help the rest of the former yakuza. I have to…make things right. Kiryu was right. As much as I wanted him to kill me…" Ebina sighed. "I would like to donate funds and supplies to whatever building you want to do."
"Is that so?" Saiki asked with indecision. "Then let's make a deal."
"Really?" Kiryu frowned. She winked at him.
"What would that be?" Ebina asked.
"Day after tomorrow around noon, I'll be meeting with a member of the Daidoji faction. You show up to play nice. Prove to me and them of your 'good intentions', and maybe we can all reach a common goal," she said with a small grin. Now Kiryu looked at her with complete shock. "And, no, I won't tell them you're going to crash the party. And so you know, I don't need guns. I never did. I make them explode. So no funny shit, got it? That means you can bring a friend or two for moral support, but I'll be sure to kill them first if they fuck up."
"Where will you meet with them?" Ebina asked.
"That's still undecided. I will have my husband text you when we know. See you then. Maybe," she smirked and hung up the call.
"Aika!" Kiryu said with complete concern.
"Kazuma. With everything I've done so far…do you know why I'm doing this?" she asked and stroked his cheek. He already knew the answer.
"Because you love me," he whispered.
"That's right. You will be there with me to ensure I don't slaughter anyone there. And to bear witness to all of it. I'm doing this to protect you. To keep what's left of the Tojo Clan safe. As much as I wouldn't give a shit about it…you do. Don't you see? Everything I'm doing…it's for you," she said softly. "It's always been for you."
"I love you!" he managed to say before kissing her in a passionate, loving way. Then he said, "You need to finish that glove, because I really am starting to get hungry again. And I need to make sure it works in case any one of them piss me off at that meeting."
"Twenty minutes. Focus on a program if you need to," she smiled. He kissed her again and kept her in his line of sight. She was able to fashion the claws with the grinder, set the leather on the mechanism after the claws were fastened in and stitch everything closed. She had him try on the finished glove, and he saw the claws moved in and out of a protective barrier of steel casing. They were fingerless for now to ensure the claws wouldn't shred the leather. "I may have to replace the claws with titanium to keep from breaking, but I can do that with another set. This is just to help you learn how to use them and to ensure it all works. Let's try it on the pig."
"This…fits really well!" he said with complete appreciation. She chuckled and got off his lap to let him walk to the kitchen. The pig was nearly thawed out, and she took out a food marker to start making butcher lines on where to cut. She backed away after that, and he began to do an uppercut and side punches into the carcass. She gave mild instructions on how to precision focus, and this drastically increased his critical lockdown for punching.
"We have enough here to make something. I'll cook some dinner now with a bit of the Wagyu. Then I'll make your other glove so we can finish the pig off."
"I am extremely out of shape!" he frowned.
"And that's why we will take care of it day by day. This is a very good start. So relax, okay? Take off the glove for now. I'll look it over to see how it went with the punching and correct anything that looks like it was coming apart. As I said before, these first gloves are experimental. I want you to use them for a few days as we go out to judge your strength. You'll get better ones later," she smiled.
"I am completely looking forward to using them," he grinned. He watched her cook up their dinner, and he was pleased to see her using a rice cooker.
"We'll have egg fried rice in the morning with other things," she said and set it up to go overnight.
"I was wondering if you had a rice cooker."
"It takes time for that to cook. Even I can't speed cook rice," she chuckled. "Not unless it's already precooked. I prefer fresh."
"Same," he agreed. Now they ate and talked about what to expect in Tokyo. She already had an extensive list of places she wanted to visit. "We may be able to have bulk purchases sent to the Survive Bar. We'll let Osamu know in advance."
"That's fine," she agreed. The time on the phone showed it had just become dusk, and the night lighting came on in the underground home. She pressed a lighting app on her phone to keep the lights on for now.
"I can't believe all the stuff you did to survive down here," he marveled.
"I had no choice," she said with a small shrug. "It was either I figure out what to do or I'd be stuck in dark areas. So…it's like I said. I stole technology. Made purchase requests. Ordered more books. Then when I learned about the internet, I had to fucking beg Dog Catcher to let me get something installed! I told him it would benefit my training even more. As much as he was incredibly skeptical…he made me vow to not do anything stupid or he'd ensure it was cut off.
"But once the internet was there…once I had it on my phone…my training soared to new heights. I learned how to get it myself after that. Of course, he realized I was getting smarter and starting to learn things. He cut off the internet, but it was already done. I had what I needed to get it myself. I was able to mildly hack into the Tojo Clan's main link. No one had any idea of what I did. And it was because I was only using it to browse and not to hack into things. I raised no security threats. My training and knowledge increased to a point that I knew how to escape. I knew where to go once I got out. I finally had a plan on how to live outside this place."
"Absolutely incredible," he muttered. "Tell me this. Did you try to find me at all when you got free?"
"At first…I didn't. Because I didn't want Dog Catcher to find me. I needed to be twenty steps ahead of him at all times. Once I knew I was…then I started to prioritize what I had to do. That was nearly a year later. I didn't even think of trying to find you until the Tatara Channel sent out the broadcasts.
"When I heard of your fake death, though…I didn't think to look into it further. All I knew was that you were killed. I saw your grave. I…actually found myself in tears of desolation. And that was when I decided I would leave for Tibet. That I had nothing else holding me to Japan. But I kept delaying. I don't know why. But I did. And then I saw the broadcast and that you were alive. You were alive! It was like…a hidden hope wouldn't let your death be true.
"When I did finally try to track you down, I learned you were in the hospital. I found out how you got there. What happened in Hawaii. Everything. So…I forced myself to wait. I had to treat you like someone I was hunting down for time to pass quickly. And then I saw you on the bench by the water…"
"Aika…" he winced and moved to pull her into his arms to cradle her.
"As much…as I wanted to shout…with joy…I knew…I couldn't…" she swallowed and pressed into him. He felt her tears on his neck now, and he cradled her close. He pressed a kiss on her forehead and winced.
"I'm sorry…for always opening up these wounds for you…" he muttered. "But these are things I have to know."
"I know…" she nodded lightly against him.
"And I was still very shocked that you let me touch you."
"I'm just as surprised at myself for letting you touch me."
"And now I can touch you in various ways…"
"Don't I have a glove to finish for you?"
"Maybe in the morning."
"It can take me an hour to get that other glove done."
"Too long…" he growled and kissed her possessively. He grabbed their phones and set an alarm on his. "Finish it in the morning."
"But the hanging pig…" she murmured with a bit of protest.
"It's still thawing. We'll put it away after you make my glove in the morning," he muttered and carried her straight into the bedroom to end the night.