Are you okay?
She felt the phone go off and looked down thinking it would be Col. Oda, looking for a status report.
Not really
I wish you weren't sitting over there
Really? Where do you wish I was sitting?
With me
She looked up and saw him staring at her his eyes locked on hers.
We can't do this now, remember working...
She hated that she sent that message, but at the moment she had to focus on the things in hand.
Working or not it doesn't change anything, princess. Don't shut me out.
I'm not shutting anyone out. I am trying to think
About?
Anything that will find the bastard who did this to my friends
He released her, and she continued forward as she walked first to the man who opened the shed doors. "If you're going to be sick go over there.” She said kindly. She knew some sights were too much for even the strongest of people. She braced herself and turned to look in the shed. "Call the ME""What is in there?” one of the guys called out."More then we bargained for, that's for sure
She walked into the building leaving Akechi standing there with the toddler named, Elodie, only to have a bag thrown at her the second she cleared the door. "What's this?” she asked."Clothes for you and the girl.” Col. Oda said as he sat in a chair that he was apparently waiting for them to return."This is more than one day's worth of clothes for both of us.” she said as she looked in the bag."I know.” He said as he got up to look down at her, "Next part of the plan we divide you and Aaron up. He goes west, and you go east. Since you are determined to break every rule and keep the girl with you, I also got a car seat for her and some other things to keep her occupied.""So a road trip?” she asked."Yes. Also since your ability to find trouble around every corner, you will have an escort.” he said."Really?” she said."I think you will enjoy this punishment though
"If you have to ask that, Then I don't know.” he said as he got tight-lipped and continued to drive. "In the console, there is a new phone for you. It already has Col. Oda's number as well as a few other contacts. You should shut your phone off here.""Okay.” she shut the phone off and tossed it in the bag of stuff at her feet. "How long will this trip take?""A few hours.” He sa
The next was him making a list of food and supplies to get in town. He didn't know how long they would be holed up there, but he wanted to minimize the time they spent away from the house. The house he knew was the best at its own defense. In his last days, his father was beyond paranoid, and he made the entire home as a fortress and built-in safe rooms. He would show her those later.The cabin was a safe house that had been rebuilt during his father’s last few years. It had been a small three-bedroom cabin beforehand, which had only the basic amenities had been there. Mitsuhide had been surprised when he had visited after the cabin and land had become his after her father had died. One of the lawyers had to be there the first night to go over the entire building because of the upgrades and how to access them without setting off the alarms. It was then that Mitsuhide had finally realized how bad his father had become with his paranoia.Sarah was loo
"Don't you have to lock the door?” she asked."Self-locking,” he said as he smiled. "I told you this was my father's place.” He said as they took their seats, "What I didn't tell you in the last year of his life, he kinda went a little crazy. He was so sure either my mother or step-mother were trying to kill him. He made this place impossible to get in without the keycode or keys. Also safe rooms on each floor and a bunker underneath. It also has a grid that goes out about a half a mile completely surrounding it. No one can get close without alerting the person or people inside. I'll show you when we get back."
"I certainly hope so.” He said as he turned on the street, which led to the main road while driving. “It takes about fifteen minutes to get to the main road by driving though it never seems that long. All the roads on the mountain lead down to this road.” The town was small and all located on one main drag. He pointed out places to her as they drove past. As they entered the run-down parking lot of the town's grocery store, he got out, and as she did, he got Elodie out of the back. The toddler was more than happy to hang from his neck as he propped her up on his side."Mitsuhide Akechi? How the hell are you?” A guy walked up. She could see his eyes were two different colors, and he looked more apt to punch than to offer his hand. He was giving off the impression that he didn’t want people close to him as he looked over the couple and small child."Kenshin. Good to see you too,” he said, and he moved
"Who?” he looked at her seriously now."Biggs's daughter,” she said. "Both of her parents are gone. If his body wasn’t in the shed, his skin was in my house, so we know. Elodie said the woman in the shed was her mother. I didn’t see it before, but he always had this one face he made when he was not happy and didn’t get his way. She made the same face in the store.""Poor kid,” he said. "Hopefully, they set up something for her if something was to happen." He was shaking his head and looked at the small girl in the backseat of the car they were using. A little thing she had already gone through so much and not to be orphaned because of a crazy man set on revenge on the wrong people."They did. Me,” she said."What?” he asked."She was newborn. It was two years ago, and she was still in the hospital. They had me sign some papers, and we had them notarized, and I know he had one copy placed
Dinner was a subdued affair as they sat around the table, eating quietly and watching Elodie slurp up the noodles. The tiny girl's eyes started to droop, and they both got up at the same time to get her out of the chair she had been sitting in. "Mestwo?” she asked. "I SLeeppee.""Okay, Elodie.” He said as he picked her up. She looked at Sarah and grabbed at her hand to pull her along as well; it brought a smile to Sarah's face as she looked at the girl over Mitsuhide's shoulder. She was glad that the girl felt comfortable around them despite what had happened to her in the past few days. She had always heard that children were resilient but never understood until now what that really meant. She watched as he gently placed the girl down in the playpen and covered her up. Her eyes were half-closed already when he went over and turned off the light and left the door half-open. He took the Princess's hand to lead her away from the room and upstairs to wh
Three months later….The garden was in full bloom. From the flowers, she had planted to the vegetables producing things. She was in the back, harvesting what she could for the day. She was smiling when he came out into the back and was placing things in her basket. “Sweetheart everything okay back here?” he asked as he moved in back of her and he wrapped his arms around her.“Glad to see you home at a decent hour.” She said as she turned around.“Well, you see this new position required me to be there to plan ops versus going on them.” He said with a grin.“You like your new job?” she asked.“I do.” He said as he placed his forehead on hers, “You see, there is this little female who became everything important in the world to me a few months ago.”“Well, then she is one lucky woman.” She sai
Five hours later, the entire yard was buzzing with activity. She found out he never did anything half measure. There were four trucks packed on the street as he was trying to direct everyone in a way that would lead to success and things being easier for the two people. She had brought the pups upstairs so they would not be underfoot while so many people were there.She saw the planters that had arrived an hour earlier that she had already began working on. Matthew had orders paving stones and white crushed gravel for the rest of the yard as well as another grey gravel for the concrete. They now sat in piles at the end of the yard. His hole was complete, and they could begin as soon as things quieted down as the delivery people left.He was supervising the fence and sod being unloaded and placed on the side of the house. Her plant soil had arrived first, and she had already taken charge of that. She had placed the planters w
She woke to the sound of two yipping foxes and a man laughing. As she blinked her eyes open, she was surprised when one of the pups somehow flew on the bed and was dancing on her side. “Get her.” He heard and she saw that Tengu was jumping on her.“Did you teach him that?” she asked in her haze still half asleep.“I didn’t have too. He wanted you since I brought them down.” Matthew’s deep voice said as he walked in the room after the small fox. He bent down, and Kappa also joined her on the bed. He was slightly more subtle with his affections. He licked her face as she lifted the covers and he crawled into the snuggling up against her. “I did buy my replacement.”“I think you did. He doesn’t allow monster to attack me.” She said. As Tengu was trying to bite her foot through the blankets.“But sweetheart Tengu was begging to come
She lay in his arms, wondering how anything could feel so good and so weird at the same time. It was wonderful feeling. However so new to her that it was anything but as well. She knew that her whole life changed in the blink of an eye. She didn’t know how they fit into her life or how smooth everything is going to run for the rest of her life with another person involved things were going to be different. Very different for her. She never wanted to rely on anyone else life. The fact that she didn’t make friends didn’t bother her for the simple reason.Everything this man had done changed the way that she thought about life and her single state he wanted more. He wanted things that she thought she wanted as well was never quite sure if it was going to be in the cards for her not she tried to understand. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t easy to and or to let him be a major one.It was still d
After they ate dinner watching the pups play in the back yard as the light slipped away. They finished up and collected the two dogs knowing tomorrow was going to be a work filled day. They had not really spoke about sleeping arrangements again; however, as they placed the pups in their crate for the night and turned on the light in the room, they had them in, he took her hand. Leading her downstairs to the couch and flipped on the television as he laid down on the couches and waited for her to do the same.Her body was in front of his as they laid there with his head propped up on his arm and the other thrown over her side anchoring her there next to him. She could feel the tension that was brewing within him as it slipped off him and into the world.“Matthew, what is it?” she asked.“Something is just off.” He said.“What do you mean?” she asked back.“Lists. Deadly viruses. You. None of it
“How about this one?” he called out from his office as she was trying to prepare a salad for dinner. She walked from the kitchen to his office where she was standing by him, and he swooped her onto her lap and smiled as she protested for a minute.“What are the dimensions?” she asked.“Eighteen by ten.” He replied.“That is slightly bigger than I thought you would go.” She replied.“They will need their space and as you said a place for them to run. I don’t want to keep them in it all the time, of course.” He said.“Of course.” She said, smiling. “Tengu is going to be your partner in crime.”“And Kappa is going to want to be near you most of the time.” He replied.“Matthew, you do realize I don’t live here, right?” she asked as she looked at him.“One step at a time.” He said.
The day seemed to fade away as he sat at his desk in the office doing some work while he could as she lazed about on the couch with the two new additions to the house. They were still very much puppies regardless of their interesting parentage. They both liked to sleep, and they would get up to romp around and then fall asleep again. She wondered as she watched them if they would be more active at night like foxes are apt to be.Kappa took to her. He was always by her side no matter if she moved him away, he was found snuggling up to her within minutes. Tengu went to a spot it must be that Matthew favored. He would curl up with his long fluffy white tail wrapped around him and wait for Matthew to return to the spot. When he did, she had dozed off.“Well, guys, let’s give her a break,” Matthew said softly to the two. Tengu was more than happy to play with Matthew while Kappa wanted to go back to her side. Matthew chuckled as he picked him
Chapter FifteenShe looked at the bundles curled up in her lap and thought about them. “We really didn’t think this through.” She said as it snapped him out of his quiet phase.“What do you mean sweetheart?” he asked.“We don’t have anything for them, Matthew.” She replied, “And they aren’t just normal dogs.”“So what?” he asked.“So that means they need extra care Matthew.” She replied. “I don’t know anything about foxes let alone fox hybrid pups.”“Well, I am sure we can find what we need to know out.” He said. “there is a wonderful thing called the internet. You know the place we played our game?”“Smart ass.” She said.“Better than being a dumb one.” He replied as he shrugged his shoulders. “Look we can get everything they need as the
Chapter FourteenShe woke sometime while it was still dark. The blankets had been pulled up around her, and she felt his arm as it was thrown over her side. The weight of it was comforting in a way she had never known. She could feel her body so alive but still so far off in the distance. She now understood why people liked this. It was something that had alluded her for so long that she was now finally understanding.He was breathing soft and steady into her hair as his body had curled around hers. The fit of his much larger body around her made her feel safe as well. Another new feeling that she had never known. She felt free and safe there in his arms. It was bliss.She closed her eyes again as she smiled to herself as she thought she could get used to this feeling. She slipped back into Morpheus’ grip. Her dreams were simple and basic. She had nothing in the world to fear even if she was being tracked by a very dangerous