Ok, Heres the new part four. Some of its the same, but I've tried to add
a darker feel to it...I'm not sure how well its worked...Lemme know what
you think, especaly those of you who read the original...
For those of you with medical knowlage I need something better than
codeine, thats the only thing I could think of...Damn it, Jim, I'm a
programmer not a doctor!
My next writing project will be class notes for my class today, followed
shortly by the semester project report that my teacher decided to unload
on us ... cause, you know, JUST a project wasn't enough...and one day, I
may even make an excursion into that mythical land known as "Free Time"
and get to work on a fic again...
Matthew Trotter, Sky Marshal Bill says, "ACK!"
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I C E A G E
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Part Four: There Will Come A Day
---------------
You're working like a monkey who's been trained by a sick junkie
on a mission to get money for a new suit and tie to wear to a reception
where they envy your deception and one compliments and praises to the ones
they despise
-Rancid
---------------
He idly thumbed through the shirts. Blue and green flowers or the more
traditional yellow, pink, red, purple, green, blue and white sensory
suicide. At the very back of the closet was The Suit. He could feel
it there, even if he couldn't see it. Trying to take his mind off of
that, he went back to selecting the shirt for tonight. Well, it was a
special occasion, probably best to go traditional. They would be
discussing the division of shares tonight. There was the definite
possibility of picking up a few more shares from the members who would
have to be going home. Home. It just wasn't the same place. His children
were distant. The people he had known acted differently now. They just
couldn't deal with this new look. Well, their loss. At the back of the
closet he could almost hear The Suit rustle restlessly.
The banquet had been excellent. All the proper gaudy furnishings. The
sand on the floor had been authentic. Word was it had been specially
imported. His guess was that it had been imported from outside of the back
door. The dancers had been quite good. Now it was time for the real
business at hand. The division of shares of the members who were once
again returning home to visit family and friends. They just didn't
realize the gold mine they were throwing away. He had already made
arrangements to keep his trips to Tokyo from interfering with company
meetings.
The Good Life Corporation. It was what the name promised. It was the
good life. As a share holder you were required to spend time in the
company resort on Hawaii. There was nothing better to soothe the nerves
than a few weeks of company business. It the two weeks of required time
you had one real business meeting. All the other meetings were
volleyball tournaments or sight seeing tours. The more stock you held the
longer you were required to stay. It was a win/win situation. Still
there was the problem of loosing touch with the outside world, but that
was the idea. There were some people who thought the corporate policies
were crazy, but they weren't required to keep their stocks. The
corporations TGLC serviced paid high prices for their employees to live
the good life for a few weeks. You had to be mad to pass up the opportunity.
Things had gone well. The Shelly's had put up two hundred shares of
stock to free up time to go to a grand daughter's birthdays. He had
picked up more than half of that. The next thing up was Milton's five
hundred shares. He was retiring from the company and using the money to
put his nephew through collage.
The phone rang. That meant trouble. There were to be no phone calls
during this meeting. It was the only important meeting. A call wouldn't
even get put through if it wasn't life or death. Chairman Sandburg
picked up. After a moment the chairman looked down the table at him.
"Mr. Kuno, its your son."
.
:
:
.
"Aloh...."
"Father," Tatewaki cut him off, "your daughter is in intensive care
for over exposure to the cold. If you hurry you may be able to see her
one last time before she dies."
The line went dead.
----------
Carl put his hand on Mr. Kuno's arm. Kuno just didn't realize that
these things weren't done.
"Mr. Kuno, you can't just walk out on the board meeting! Its our single
most important ..."
Kuno gripped him by the color of his shirt and lifted him up to eye
level. It was odd, he hadn't ever noticed how well built Kuno was until
that moment.
"Mr. Chairman, you will have to excuse me. My daughter is dying and
I am going to her side. Forgive me if this sounds impertinent, but if
you touch me again I will break your arm."
"Mr. Kuno...you realize this will forfeit a good sum of your stock. I
hope you are ready to accept the consequences."
"The measure of a man is not in his wallet, or in his pride. The true
measure of a man is in his loyalty to family, friends and home. I have
neglected these enough in the past. Now I can only hope to be the father
I had forgotten to be in the time I have left. Good bye, Mr. Chairman."
Kuno threw him into the wall on the far side of the table. It hurt.
There would be hell to pay for this display. As he pulled himself to
his feet he caught a glimpse of Kuno's retreating back....the man could
probably break his arm like a match stick...perhaps hell could wait a
bit, say till Kuno was safely off the island....
----------
He wasn't sure but it almost seemed that The Suit knew. Like it was
gloating. He stared at it, he didn't want to put it on. Already he
could feel the old memories that he had pushed away surging toward the
surface. When he put that suit on he would be letting down the
floodgate. There were mumbled voices in the back of his mind. He knew
what they were...he could forget the whole thing, go back to the meeting
and they would be just a memory.
He took The Suit out of the closet and set it down on the bed. He
could hear the doctor clearly now...over and over...like a broken
record.
"I'm sorry Mr. Kuno. Your wife's medical records show no history of
her allergy to codeine. If it had only been the codeine or just the
insecticide then we might have been able to save her. Her allergy to
codeine and the insecticide poisoning both contributed to a respiratory
failure that we couldn't revive her from..."
----------
Martha smiled as Gillagan fell out of the tree on to the Skipper. The
old stuff was the best. These new sitcoms just didn't make any damn
sense. Moisha? Who the hell names their daughter after the three
stooges? There was a crash and the picture of her grandson Danny fell off
of the television.
Martha ran to the door to see what had hit the building...outside there
was only one thing to see. There was a man in a dark suit walking across
the lawn(you weren't supposed to do that) toward the front gate. She
almost said something...but the way he was moving...she knew that walk.
She'd seen it before. At funerals. She silently wished him well.
Turning back to her room she noticed the door of Mr. Kuno's room. The
frame was broken.
----------
"There is a plane leaving for Tokyo in five minutes. I will be on it."
"This is a taxi, pall, not a rocket."
He dropped five hundred dollars on the seat.
"Fuck me. Strap in Captain Kirk, we're goin' to warp speed."
----------
The plane labored into the sky. He knew it in some part of his being. A
part of him that was keeping track of the outside. His conscious
attention was drawn inward. Back to the last day of his normal life.
There is a room. There is no label on the door. Its a few feet down
from the waiting room for the intensive care ward. The entry to
intensive care is directly across from this room. There is no label,
its not needed. It is the gate of hell.
Inside the room there is a couch. It has an almost checkered pattern. You
could pass many an hour reading that pattern. The pattern is external to
the actual fabric, a bas relief if you will. A maze for the fingers
to play through as another distraction. The couch itself is slightly
uncomfortable, not enough that you would rather stand. This is the couch
reserved for those waiting news from the operating theater.
Across from the couch is a chair its a plain straight backed chair. It
is wooden. This is the doctor's chair. It is where he sits as he comes
to inform you what has happened. The man that was sitting in it might
have been around thirty. He looked older. He probably felt older. He
was giving the same speech he always gave when he sat in this chair in
this room with theses people at this time.
"I'm sorry Mr. Kuno. Your wife's medical records show no history of
her allergy to codeine. If it had only been the codeine or just the
insecticide then we might have been able to save her. Her allergy to
codeine and the insecticide poisoning both contributed to a respiratory
failure that we couldn't revive her from. If you will allow it we will
perform an autopsy which will allow us to give a better cause of death."
The speech went on. It was the kind of monotonous mind numbing speech
that would hopefully keep you from thinking too much. you weren't
supposed to hear what was being said. You weren't supposed to wake up a
three AM with that speech running through your mind. You weren't supposed
to spend a weekend reading all the material you could find to understand
respiratory failure.
Kodachi was crying for Masako again. Masako...
"Kuno, listen to me. I don't care about your money or your family. I
just want to be with you."
"I know that Masako."
"Then why are you always telling me about your family and how much you
are worth compared to your relatives?!"
"In my family it is customary to boast of your wealth or the wealth of
your spouse at gatherings."
"And that is your excuse? I expected more of you."
"I simply wish to make you ready, there will be another of these
gatherings in a few weeks. Many members of my family, my father and
mother would be quite impressed with my chosen bride if she were able to
defend her husband's name."
"Chosen bride?"
"Masako Korikita will you marry me?"
She just stood there, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she
kissed him so hard it hurt.
Mommy...Mommy...Mommy...it wasn't her fault. He wished he could make her
see that. She blamed herself. He wished he could. He wished
there was anyone to blame. He climbed out of bed. The crying had
stopped. That meant that Sasuke was probably with her. He walked down
the hall to her room. He heard her crying softly. It wasn't Sasuke that
was with her this time, it was her brother. Tatewaki held her silently,
just letting her cry. He sat on the bed with them and put his arms
around them. He wished there was something more he could give them...
something to take away the pain...
It seemed like so many years ago.
Sasuke was sitting in the drivers seat, "Master Kuno, I am worried about
the children. They hardly know you, you are gone so much."
"Yes. If the company is to keep its edge, I must attend these
meetings. This one I hope will be different. Hawaii is a profitable
island. I think that with a good hand in The Good Life Corporation I can
assure a steady income that will last until Tatewaki is ready to succeed
me as heir."
"A wise choice, if I might say so, Master."
"Sasuke, I know you better than that. What is bothering you."
"I do not like the policies of TGLC. I believe they distance their
members from their families and homes intentionally."
"You are right of course, but I do not think it will be a problem. I
believe I can handle their rules and policies with out too much trouble."
That had been a joke. The rules and policies were designed so that you
didn't want to handle them. That was how it worked. You wanted to be
forced into an extended vacation. He should have known better, Sasuke
did. Sasuke.
The Kuno family ninja. It had been a joke thing to amuse the children.
Tatewaki had loved it. All families needed a family ninja. Sasuke had
been more than happy to play along. There was no doubting his skill,
just the profession was a bit off the mark. Sasuke had been hired as a
bodyguard. He had later become such a friend of the family that he was
kept on as the "family ninja".
How could he ever look the man in the face again? After all he had done
for them? It was hard to even think of. What must Sasuke think of him
by now? After seeing how low he had become, would Sasuke be willing to
call him friend?
It was a long way home.
----------
Sasuke looked at his watch. The plane would be landing now. He looked
out the window. The plane was taxiing toward the gate. Kuno, you
bastard, if you are not on this plane. If you dare to leave your child
for dead I WILL find you. I will kill you. And I will not regret it
when I tell them that their father is dead.
A man walked down the corridor of the gate. His pace was measured, his
suit was near black. You could feel him coming. His aura was like ice
water. His eyes were burning with a look that might have been anger or
pain. Sasuke crumpled the ticket in his right hand. It fell to the
floor forgotten, Master Kuno had finally returned.
----------
Tatewaki sat still. His back was strait as a rail. His gaze was blank.
It was an age old pose. It had no name. Except waiting. She was
in no danger of death now. No, now the real danger reared its head. Now
Kodachi had to find her own way back to the world. They told him the
comma patients were unpredictable. Maybe if he could find a person she
would want to talk to. Someone to bring her out of her inner world.
Ranma had almost cried while he begged her to wake up. It had been
painful to watch. Tatewaki had never suspected that Ranma cared that
much about his sister. Ranma would make a good brother in law. He
wasn't nearly as brash and uncaring as he sometimes seemed to be.
The room was silent. Nabiki had gone to check on Ranma and Akane, and
to see about the Chinese girl. There was only the sound of Kodachi
breathing. He wondered where she was. Was it a better place? Did she
want to come back? Had he been right to call father? Is that what she
would want to come back to? There was no way to know.
The door opened. There were two men out lined by the hall lights.
One was taller than the other. They moved forward, and the door closed.
The darkness enveloped them again. There was a period of time where
nothing moved. Then as his eyes grew accustomed to the gloom once more,
Tatewaki could make out the shapes. One in a suit, and one in
traditional ninja's garb. Father was back.