{These characters are not property of me, except for that of Ryuuji. I wouldn't try to claim them as my own. This story may not be used without my permission, and may not be used to make money in any way, shape or form. Characters and certain situations were created by Rumiko Takahashi, so don't try any funny stuff!}
by Lara Bartram
"No! I don't care why. And I don't care what. That money was due yesterday! Look, I gave you an extension far beyond what I normally do, so now it's time you pay the piper. No, I don't particularly care about your wife or kids. I've got my own to take care of. No, I don't care what you think of me as long as you give me the money you owe."
Nabiki slammed the phone down. "Fucking assholes. They never learn."
She picked up the handset and pushed the red button. She sat silently for a few moments. "Yes, I need you to collect on a Kawazuko, Atsushi. And make sure you get it all this time. No fuckups."
She replaced the handset and looked out the window, seeing downtown Tokyo spread out before her. She hated dealing with 'clients' directly, but sometimes it was unavoidable. Lots of people just wouldn't take their debts seriously without a little kick in the pants... And sometimes a real ass kicking for good measure.
"What's a fuckup, Mommy?"
Nabiki turned her chair to look at the diminuitive figure on her couch. "It's a word that little children like you have no use for. You don't need to concern yourself with it, Ryu-chan."
"OK. When's Daddy coming back?"
"I don't know, Ryu-chan. He didn't say." He didn't say when he packed up his bag and walked out.
"When's Ryo-chan coming back?"
"Damn it, Ryuuji! I told you, he's never coming back!"
Little Ryuuji cringed away from his mother.
Nabiki saw the fright on Ryuuji's face and couldn't stop the tears from forming. "Ryoichi's never coming back," she said softly to herself. She stared at Ryuuji. "Come here, Ryu-chan."
Ryuuji hopped off the big leather couch and walked over to his mother. He stood in front of her, afraid that she would yell at him again.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Ryu-chan. Would you give me a hug?"
Ryuuji nodded, clutching the little stuffed tiger to his chest. Nabiki leaned down and hugged him; he put one arm around her neck, keeping the tiger against him.
"How would you like to get some ice cream, Ryu-chan?" she asked, releasing the hold on him.
His mood perked up immediately. "Yeah!"
"Good. We'll leave right away. Maybe Daddy will call later so you can talk to him."
Nabiki took Ryuuji's hand and the two left the office.
***
"You have to ask why? Your son! He misses you, or don't you care? Look, if you don't care about me, that's fine; I'll find someone else. But Ryuuji doesn't have anyone else."
Ryuuji stood in the doorway of his parents room and watched his mother talk on the phone. She was talking to Daddy, but she was yelling and crying. "Mommy?" He didn't want her to cry anymore.
"Get out of here, Ryuuji! Go to your room!"
Ryuuji jumped back and ran down the hall to his room.
***
"Ryu-chan, please be quiet while I'm on the phone."
"Sorry, Mommy."
"Now, look here. There's nothing you can do to stop me, so you might as well agree to my offer. Things won't get... messy this way." There was a thick stack of papers on her desk in front of her. She was flipping through them, taking in the important numbers.
"My offer is more generous than any other you'll receive and you know it. Yes, you can think about it. I'll be here for another 15 minutes. That's when my colleagues will arrive and I wouldn't want to bother them with your little problem. And have a nice day."
She hung up the phone and looked over the papers. She could reap a tidy profit if she dismissed three quarters of the work force and sold off the individual divisions. She could probably even lower her offer. Either way, it was easy money.
"Now what were you saying, Ryu-chan?"
"Is Daddy going to show up for my birthday party?"
"I don't know, Ryu-chan."
Ryuuji looked downcast. He didn't want Daddy to miss his birthday. He was going to be a big boy; that's what Mommy had said. He twisted the ear of his tiger nervously.
"How about if I make Daddy show up? Would like it if he showed up?"
Ryuuji nodded, not lifting his head.
Nabiki could never refuse her son, especially when it was something he really wanted; she knew the feeling so well. She picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"It's me. Yeah, I know. I don't care what you're in the middle of, this is important. Yes, but don't you even remember when his birthday is? Well, he wants you to be there. He's near tears."
Nabiki turned her chair so Ryuuji couldn't see her face. "I suggest you break that previous engagement then. If you don't, you'll drive me to something... unpleasant. You can call it a threat if you want, just so you know that it's a promise. Oh good, he'll be happy to see you." Her face softened imperceptably. "I might. We could try... If you want. All right. Good bye."
She turned back to face a hopeful Ryuuji. "He said he'll be sure to show up." If only Ryoichi could be there too... The family felt so incomplete without him.
"Come one, Ryu-chan. I'll buy you an early birthday present." Maybe a little shopping would take her mind off the problems with her husband... And her dead son.
***
"I don't care. I missed you."
"You know what a conniving bitch you are?"
"I've been told that before."
"And you know how to get exactly what you want out of me. What would you do if you couldn't control me so easily?"
"Find someone else..."
He snarled, then kissed her.
They broke apart, breathing heavily.
"And I bet you have no idea what you do to me," she said, staring at him.
"I think I do. He's in the other room, celebrating his birthday."
She looked at him for a moment, pain flitting across her face. There had been more proof of their feelings, but he was gone. "Please don't remind me. I don't think I'll ever get over him. EVER."
"Neither will I," he answered and hugged her tightly.
"I won't ever let anything happen to Ryu-chan. Even if I have to sell everything... I'll never let anyone hurt him. I'll always keep him safe."
He tried to change the subject. The death of Ryoichi was too awful for him to think about. "Don't you want to know why I left?"
"I can imagine. It hasn't exactly been milk and honey, has it?"
He shook his head. "I'm sorry I left. It didn't help at all. It only made me feel worse to talk on the phone with you. All I could think of was how much I wanted to see you and Ryu-chan."
And all she had wanted was to see him, to hold him, to have him hold her.
"You know I'll always be here for you? I'll never leave again; we'll be together for more years than we can count. We'll watch Ryu-chan grow up and start his own family."
"Never again."
"Never. I promise."
***
"Why do I have to get dressed up?" Ryuuji whined.
"Stop squirming. We're going to the cemetery and you have to look your best." Nabiki straightened his tie.
"I don't like going to the cem'tery. It's scary."
"Don't be like this. We're only going to be there a little while."
"But I don't WANT to..."
"Stop whining this instant. You're going and that's it. This is not negotiable. You will do what you're told. Understand?"
Ryuuji looked down at the floor. "Yes."
"Good. Now go downstairs and wait for me."
Ryuuji left the room, pouting.
***
They stood in front of the lone headstone. Nabiki thought it looked so lonely sitting all by itself. She held Ryuuji's hand tightly, as if she was making sure he would never escape her the way Ryoichi had.
Looking at the stone, it was hard to ignore the emptiness in her heart, the little corner that Ryoichi had occupied. Each and every day she tried her hardest to refill that space; fill it with anything, anything to make her forget how much she missed him.
She had done something similar with the death of her mother, hiding her true pain. She had started to fill that gap with money, as much as she could get her hands on. And after a while, the money had helped. Or more precisely, the pursuit of money helped. All her scams, betting pools, blackmailing and profit making operations had turned her mind away from her deceased mother.
She squeezed Ryuuji's hand, reaffirming his presence. No one would take him away like her mother and her other son had been. The way her little sister almost had been. And as often as they acted like two angry wolverines, she wouldn't let her husband go either.
When it happened, when Ryoichi had died, she had fallen into an awful period where she didn't care about anything but money... And making other people suffer. She knew that was what had driven her husband away: her bitterness, her anger, her greed, her resentment.
Her thoughts were nearly the same every time she saw that dark grey stone, when she read the chiseled named, when she looked at the area around it where she and her husband were supposed to be before their children. How she hated that piece of rock, what it meant and how it made her feel.
She just wished, aside from bringing Ryoichi back, that she would feel better as time went on. As it was, every week she felt worse, more depressed, more angry at the world. Her family helped less and less, and only the money she gathered seemed to make her forget.
Money. Not all the money in the world would bring back Ryoichi; she knew it. But it never stopped her from amassing more than she could realistically spend, she just didn't care...
She had stopped caring about a lot of things, and the process continued every day. She wondered how long it would be until she stopped caring about her family...