Shimako actually says something... gasp! It's the end, thank God. If you've read this far, I thank you for trudging through this without complaint. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- I thought that the weight of her against my body was something I was dreaming. In the dark I didn't want to risk opening my eyes just in case I really was dreaming. Instead I tightened my arms around her, pulling her closer to me. Her soft groan at the sudden movement finally makes me take the risk. She is still there, sleeping contently, nestled into the crook of my shoulder. Finally I break my eyes away from her sleeping face and look around at the strange surroundings. Shizuma's apartment. I look next to the clock, five fifty-three am. As gently as possible I slide out of her arms, successful at not waking her up. I find my scattered clothing and slip it back on. I take a moment to brush Miyuki's hair from her face before laying a kiss on her forehead. It strikes me to leave a note and for a moment I feel as lovers must. Though I suppose that's what we are now after last night. I stumble out the front door a few minutes later and pull out my cell phone to call Sei. She doesn't pick up the first time, but I try again as I walk down a flight of stairs to the street. "I'm almost there, calm down woman," Sei says as she answers the phone just before hanging it back up. Some manners she has today. A few mintues later her beetle comes tearing down the street and stops next to me. Sleepily I climb in and shut the door without even greeting her. She sticks the car back in gear and heads towards Eriko's house, more than happy to be helping me out despite her lack of sleep. "What about Sachiko? We're fucked if she goes home," Sei says finally. "She won't. I've asked Shizuma to handle it," I reply. She nods but doesn't say anything else. It doesn't take long for us to get to Eriko's family home and I call her from the car, not wanting to disturb anyone inside the house. "I'll be out in just a minute," she answers automatically. Really what is with this grumpy bunch this morning? A few minutes later she is piled in the beetle with us and we head to Sei's school. I can't help but feel as if we are some sort of rebel delinquents about to unleash all hell upon the world. The thought actually makes me giggle, yes giggle, which Sei and Eriko have no problem teasing me over. Sei leads us to the photography lab and thanks to Eriko's studies at art school she is able to develop some very interesting pictures she took of Sachiko and Shizuma dancing last night. We make sure to have her develop doubles of them, just in case. Next we head to the newsroom where once again Sei has pulled through for us and had some of her friends that she trusted implicitly meet us. They were more than eager to help us out, especially if it meant getting to see pictures of Sachiko herself letting loose. By the time they had worked their magic we had one copy of the Lillian paper with a special added article ready to out Sachiko with a very scandalous picture of her kissing Shizuma on the front page. Making sure it was the only one printed we gave our thanks and were ready to move on. "Do you have the contract?" Eriko asked as we all packed back into Sei's vehicle. "If you could call it that, yes. Don't worry I haven't left any room for this to go wrong. He will sign off on each point, you two will be witnesses and he may have his own should he choose. He will take this seriously, because I am going to put his whole career on the line." "And this will hold through in court if he tries to fight it?" "Yes. Don't worry, I have learned something at school," I say with much more confidence then I am feeling. By the time we arrive at the Ogasawara residence it is well into the morning and I have prepped myself as well as I can for what I am about to do. The butler who answers the door recognizes us from our many visits to the house. After explaining that Sachiko hasn't returned home yet we inform him that we are here for her father, and he is more than willing to rush off to find the man of the house. He returns quickly with not only Sachiko's father, but Suguru as well. "You've kidnapped my bride!" he says as he holds a hand to his heart. "You can't kidnap someone who goes willingly," Sei says with a sneer in his direction. "Mr Ogasawara I think we have a few things to discuss, if you don't mind," I say. "Yes of course. Is my little Sachiko alright?" he asks without a trace of real concern in his voice. "I think we may want to have this conversation somewhere more formal." "Yes, of course. Forgive my rudeness," he says flatly. He leads us to a wing of the house that we have never been in before. This is clearly his own personal area. Suguru follows, for which I find that I am glad. Having an additional witness within the family can only help us. We end up in a large office and he takes a seat behind his sturdy wooden desk. Suguru stands at his side and the three of us stand in front of the desk, ready to lay ourselves on the line for our friend. "Sir, you do realize that Sachiko has no desire to be married to him," I say as I glance in Suguru's direction. "Then I think perhaps you do not know my daughter well. She was raised to serve this family and will happily take his hand in marriage." His disregard for Sachiko's feeling puts all of us on edge but even Sei who I would expect to jump to Sachiko's defense is quiet. I glance at her and she nods, telling me that I am the leader without words. "I'm afraid you don't know your daughter very well, sir. We are here today to ask you to change your mind about forcing her into an unhappy marriage." "I will not. That is her role in this family and she will do what I ask of her or she will not be a part of this family." "Then I'm afraid you leave me no choice," I reply. I pull out the paperwork that I had typed up and lay it in front of him. I give him a minute to read through it and wait for what I am about to hit him with to dawn on him. "I suppose you have an ace up your sleeve to think that I would ever agree to any of this," he says finally. The grin that spreads across my face cannot be stopped. I have waited for this moment for a long time. "Of course I do sir." Sei takes her cue and tosses the pictures of Sachiko and Shizuma onto the desk, sucessfully outing Sachiko to her family. She will have to forgive us for that later. Suguru lets out a whistle as he looks at the pictures, obviously finding them amusing. "Pictures don't scare me. With all the computer programs out there these days it's possible to do anything. You'll have to do better then that." He smiles as he looks into my eyes and I want to spit in his face. How can he really be enjoying this so much? "Actually we do have more," Eriko says as she lays down the article we made up. He reads the article, which of course we made up, about how Sachiko is happy to finally be able to show her true self. He still isn't convinced, not until Sei explains to him that a phone call is all it takes for every major newspaper in Japan to pick up on this article. "I wonder how many people will be willing to invest in a company that is run by a man who can't even control his own daughter. Doesn't sound like a very safe bet to me," I challenge him. For the first time in my life I am happy for the strong sense of traditionalism in the old dirty men of Japan. "And if I fund Sachiko's school and living costs for four years, she will absolve herself from the family and my name and reputation will stay clean?" "Yes." "And what do I get if she breaks her end of the bargain?" "As you can see here she has signed her end of the contract. If anything should come to damage your reputation or business she will have to pay back every penny you have given her from this day forth. As you can see it has been notarized and will hold up in any court of law." "I think you should agree," Suguru speaks up. "It's not as if I will have any trouble finding another suitable bride." He winks at us and I relax finally. I always knew I liked him for a reason, even if Sachiko didn't. "Well this is all going to be yours soon, Son. But I think you're right, it's better to not take a chance and risk losing more money then we need. And I don't want such a shameful girl as a daughter. From this day forth Sachiko is no longer a part of the Ogasawara family. She may return only to retrieve her belongings and then she will never be allowed on the property again." He signs off on each point of the contract, as do Suguru and Sei as witnesses should this ever come up in court one day. Suguru is sent to make a copy of everything, pictures and article included, just in case. We talk over the details of how everything will be arranged so that Sachiko will get a monthly payment from her father deposited into her own bank account for living costs and he will pay the school directly. They quickly escort us out of the house but instead of being nasty as anticipated I felt a strong hand clamping on my shoulder. "You're going to be one hell of a lawyer one day," her father says. If I ever get the chance, I think to myself as we walk away. Back in the car it's celebration all around. Eriko takes care of calling Rei and telling her to pick up Yoshino and go to Shizuma's. I take care of calling Shimako and tell her that we refuse to take no for an answer. Her and Noriko are coming as well. Sei stops by Yumi's house to pick her up before we head to Shimako's families temple to pick her and Noriko up. Somehow the six of us manage to fit, with Noriko happily sitting on Shimako's lap. Sei rushes to Shizuma's apartment and by the time we get inside everyone is eager to know why we've suddenly gathered them all together in such a rush. "Today we celebrate," Sei speaks up first once everyone is seated and looking at the three of us. "We did that last night," Rei grumbles as she holds her head. "It's not our fault someone has a hangover," Eriko teases her petite soeur. "Don't worry, we'll fill you two in on the details of that later," Eriko finishes as she notices Shimako's confused look. "Be glad you didn't go," Yumi whines as she too holds her head. "Anyways," I step in and get their attention. "Today is an even more special day. Today we celebrate love." The three of us grin at each other as we walk over to Shizuma and Sachiko who are groggily cuddled together on the couch. "Today my sister is free to love who she loves, and wed who she chooses." ---- Did my jaw just drop? I think it must have. Did she really pull it off? I watch as she stands in front of Sachiko, who's jaw has also dropped, and hands her some papers. After she is done explaining what the three of them have just done everyone cheers and Shizuma, estatic as I've ever seen her, picks Sachiko up and hugs her tightly to her. "To the freedom of loving who you want," Yoshino cheers. The sentiment is shared by Noriko who suddenly kisses Shimako. Shimako's blush covers her entire face once the younger girl pulls away from her. "Now she shows she's a real Gigantea!" Sei calls as she musses Noriko's hair. Noriko stands proud at the comment, glad to have Sei finally voice her approval. "There's more," Youko says evenly. We all return our attention to her and she looks somewhat nervous. She looks straight at me. Straight in the eyes. My heart suddenly races as I wait for what she is about to say. "Even though it was my job as onee-sama to teach Sachiko everything she needed to know I have learned a lot from her lately. And thanks to her, if you are still willing Miyuki, I'd like to accompany you to Europe." I look at her in shock. Everyone else looks at me in anticipation. I remember her note from this morning. The first time she hasn't run from what she feels. The first time she hasn't turned around and been cold to me until she cracked again. "Don't you have to go back to school?" I ask as the last bit of logic cries out in my brain. "I've bent the will of the mighty Ogasawara Group today. I'm certain I can convince someone, somewhere, to give me a decent job with that sort of resume." Her eyes shine as she stands proud. She takes a few steps to stand in front of me and takes my hand in her own. I think I might be in love with this woman. "So long as I get to stay with you when I come back," I answer finally. "I wouldn't have it any other way," she says before pulling me to her. "And where will we live?" I ask, sliding my body against hers. She looks to the left of us at Shizuma and grins. "I think they wouldn't be opposed to the idea of roommates?" "After what you've just done for us you can have anything you want," Shizuma says happily. "Then I think you know your answer," I say finally. Her fierce kiss nearly brought me to my knees. "So where are we going to celebrate?" Sachiko asks. "Amusement park!" Yumi calls out, obviously forgetting her headache. "Oh God no," Rei cries. Youko and I both laugh but we don't care. Our fingers lace together as she pulls me down onto the couch against her. "I'm sorry for lying to myself this whole time, but I know better now," she whispers to me. I'm tired of words. I kiss her again, forgetting the other girls around us. "Um, can we eat?" Shimako asks quietly. "Someone interrupted our meal this morning." She looks at Sei who laughs. "Sure you're ready for this family?" Youko asks as we move to all pile back into the vehicles for lunch. "I've never wanted anything more."
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