House Cat [temporarily complete]

c.h.a.p.t.e.r e.i.g.h.t.e.e.n

The drive to the hotel had been made in silence, and when Eiji got out of the car, Isiel followed quickly behind. They made their way to one of the larger entertaining rooms, and Eiji took a seat at the head of the arrangement of men sitting in two long rows on cushions on the floor. Eiji noted that Isiel made ever the slightest hesitation before sitting down next to him at the head of the two rows, and he also noted that several of the men watching Isiel closely saw the hesitation as well.

When all the cushions had been filled with strict-looking businessmen, the serving women began to distribute the food to their patrons, Eiji and Isiel first, then everyone else. The meal went by slowly, but when everyone was finished and sitting back a little easier, Eiji lifted his head and looked over the faces in the room, making sure everyone was paying attention to him now, instead of gawking at the neko that dared to sit beside Eiji Futamaka and wore business attire like they had been during the meal.

Slowly, calmly, after looking over the faces one more time, he parted his lips and said in his firm, humorless voice, \"No.\"

Immediately conversation sparked, with angry barks of disagreement and several of the men sighing and shaking their heads. \"But we need them!\" one man said gruffly, causing silence again as he continued, \"They\'re looking after the entire northeast district, and they\'ve been moving in on my businesses-- once already we narrowly avoided a raid that would have shut me down. That precinct has to be ours.\"

\"Agreed that things are hard,\" another man spoke up, this one much older and looking very tired physically, though he sounded like an angry pit-bull when he was actually speaking, \"but we cannot go ahead with this buy-out. I\'m siding with Eiji on this. It\'s too risky; they just started out and they\'re still getting a feel for the area just like we\'re getting a feel for them. We need to know their strengths and weaknesses before we make rash decisions.\"

\"Fuck all that,\" one man finally spat, interrupting pit-bull-man and standing, pointing at Isiel. \"What in all gods name is an animal doing eating with us!\"

At first Isiel had felt strange about dressing up smartly and the situation he was drawn into once they reached the hotel felt to him like something from one of the doramas he used to watch on televisions lined up in a store window, pressing his grubby hands against the glass as he marveled at the opulence some people enjoyed even in a fictional sense. However, after his minute hesitation he let the manners instilled within him take over, guiding his every movement so that they seemed assured, but not over-stated and never conflicting with any of the men present or the atmosphere that their bringing together formed. He could feel eyes upon him, evaluating his conduct and held himself with grace and flawless etiquette so as not to reflect upon Eiji negatively. Even when the anonymous and clearly outraged man spoke up he continued to look impassive.

\"You will address him correctly or you will leave,\" Eiji said evenly, also unmoving and without emotion flickering on his face. However, with his tone, the implied rest of that sentence was, and you won\'t be seen alive again, either.

\"I refuse to acknowledge the superiority of a fucking cat!\" Several of the others frowned and nodded.

Eiji calmly reached into his jacket and removed a large handgun, placing it on the floor before him and sending silence throughout the room. \"I will not repeat myself,\" he said darkly, his eyebrows finally lowering as he looked each man in the eyes, daring them to say something.

Three men stood, and turned to leave-- Eiji watched them carefully. They all appeared slightly fearful, and two sat back down. The one that had spoken up left the room, slamming the screen shut behind him.

Isiel\'s gaze strayed to the gun Eiji had laid out in an added unspoken warning, yet he made sure not to even acknowledge the presence of those who had spoken against him, keeping his eyes trained anywhere except upon them so as to avoid further insult caused by his mere presence. The fact that Eiji had defended him despite their obvious disgust at his being there made him feel warm and necessary, but still he remained unaffected on the outside, displaying how well he\'d learnt to control his feelings when there was truly something at stake.

The meeting went on and several issues were discussed, with voices raised numerous times and Eiji always the one to bring calm, though he never moved to touch his gun which stayed on the floor. When they were through, half of the men stood and left as the rest got up to talk amongst themselves.

One of them, a tall man with shocks of black hair sticking straight up and a clean-shaven face, approached Eiji with a smile and bright, clever young eyes of dazzling grey. \"You never cease to amaze me,\" he grinned, holding his hand out. Eiji accepted it, and they shook firmly, before the man with odd eyes turned to look at Isiel. \"What\'s our new company\'s name, then?\" he asked, arching an eyebrow as he released Eiji\'s hand and held his own out to the boy.


Isiel took the stranger\'s hand without hesitation in an attempt to make up for his earlier uncertainty which no doubt from the depth of the scrutiny he was under the others had noticed. Having seen the way Eiji greeted him - he presented the older man with a slightly cautious, yet respectful expression and spoke up only to say, \"Isiel desu.\"

\"Isiel,\" the man mused, smiling wider and obviously thoroughly amused. \"Eiji named you, didn\'t he? You did, didn\'t you?\" He looked back to Eiji and laughed, releasing the boy\'s hand and slipping his own into his pockets. \"I knew you had a creative, romantic side to you deep behind that scary face. I suspected when I heard what your wife\'s name was. Oriel and Isiel; the names of angels. It\'s perfectly fitting, of course--\" He turned to look at Isiel again.

\"--You look just like an Isiel. There\'s an innocence and wide-eyed youth to you that can\'t be hidden even behind a well-disciplined expression almost as good as Eiji\'s. But I think you\'ll do well here; don\'t let what that asshole Fuji thinks bother you. He\'s just a bratty old man.\"

Isiel hadn\'t been aware of the origins of both his and Oriel\'s names until now and that Eiji could choose such a romantic way to describe his consorts made Isiel want to hug him right then and there, but he settled merely for offering the man a discreet smile of gratitude for his praise and the reassurance that came with it.

\"I tell you what,\" the man said warmly, \"In honor of your introduction into our little club, I\'d like to welcome you with a gift. I\'m the owner of most of the major television stations and news networks in this city, and we get little free promotions all the time.\" He reached into his jacket, \"I\'d like you to have this pair of tickets I have for the symphony I have; you look like a guy who really loves his music.\"

Eiji moved as soon as he saw the man\'s hand skim behind his jacket past the pocket, his hand slamming down on Isiel\'s shoulder and throwing him to the floor as the gun was drawn out of the grey eyed man\'s jacket. Eiji\'s hands then snapped over to grab the man\'s wrist before the gun could be properly aimed, and he bared his teeth with anger as it went off, sending a bullet through his right arm.

Reaching up, Eiji held onto the man\'s wrist with one hand while the other drew back and came hurtling forward in a haymaker punch, cracking across the young man\'s face and making a wet crunching noise just after the gun fired again. Both men fell to the floor in a heap by the time any of the others had reacted enough to draw their own guns and aim.

Eiji shuddered on the floor and tried to get up, managing to get on hands and knees before collapsing on top of the dead body once more.

Several guns were raised and aimed at Isiel as the sounds of hammers being pulled back clicked across the room.

\"Sorry Eiji, we just can\'t accept it,\" one of the men said darkly. \"He is neither your son, nor your relative; a slave, let alone a cat, has no place in our world. You\'ve shamed your father\'s name twice now, and that\'s twice too many.\" He aimed his gun at Eiji\'s head and pulled back the hammer of his Colt .45 quickly.

Isiel darted up without a moment’s hesitation, both his training and innate feline prowess giving him just enough of an advantage to place himself between Eiji and the man before any of his business associates could even blink. Beyond shielding Eiji from getting shot once more he had already found the nearest exit and drawn his own weapon, aiming it squarely back at the man with the full intention of using it should things come to that.

With one more attempt and a restrained growl of pain, Eiji managed to get to his feet, one gun in each hand-- his own, and the one that had been used on him. As he got up, startling several aiming at him, he continued the motion without hesitation, lifting his weapons and firing while giving Isiel a push to the side with his elbow, causing the bullet that had been fired at the boy\'s head to skim past his ear, ripping the edge of it open.

Eiji\'s shots rang out as others responded with fire in return; bullets flew, the windows behind Eiji and Isiel shattered, and the paper of the screens was shredded as gunfire sounded loudly in their banquet room.

As the braided man fired over and over, he counted the shots in his head without having to think about it; by the time he was through, there were three bullets left in the magazine of his gun and two in the revolver from his dead ex-business partner.

The last body hit the floor so that only Isiel and Eiji were standing, and even that didn\'t last too long; Eiji looked down at himself to evaluate wounds as he felt his left leg giving out. Bullet in the left thigh, bullet in the right arm, bullet through-and-through at the side of his waist, and finally the bullet that had made him collapse the first time-- the one that had went straight into his gut as he\'d thrown Isiel to the floor. It was causing far more pain than usual, and Eiji curled on his side with a strangled cough as he clutched his stomach and realized just how wet and warm his shirt was. Ah, perhaps this wound was so excruciating because it was in the same spot as the last time he\'d come home from being stabbed?

He coughed again and a splash of blood marked the floor from his lips as he released the revolver but kept his grip on his own gun just in case one of the bodies was only playing dead. Thankfully, his bodyguards were downstairs and pulling up with the car by now, if not already coming down the hall to collect him, having heard all the noise of gunfire.

Isiel still had his gun drawn even though he hadn\'t fired it during the commotion and approached the door cautiously, letting his sensitive hearing confirm to him that there was indeed no one lying in wait beyond it and that the only sounds were those of Eiji\'s bodyguards coming to return them to safety. Tucking the gun away once more he ran back to Eiji, oblivious to his own insignificant wound as he provided the man with support whether he liked it or not. This was his fault, but the time for apologies and guilt would definitely have to come afterwards, once he was sure Eiji was alright. \"Ikuzo Master.\"

Eiji spat out the mouthful of blood on his tongue and growled low, forcing himself up on his left arm and using his right leg, shuddering slightly as he moved slowly onto his knees, putting most of the pressure on his uninjured leg and forcing himself up onto his feet as the bodyguards came rushing through the door.

There was no panic in their expressions; one moved to put his arm under Eiji\'s and supported him to a stand while the other went to Isiel. He looked the boy over and saw no injuries that needed immediate attention, then uttered, \"Let\'s hurry, sirs. The clean-up crew has already been called.\"

Eiji allowed himself to be lifted and escorted to their car with Isiel following, and they drove back to the house where three fullgrowns were standing in wait for their return. Immediately Eiji was taken to his room, and the fullgrowns left to get medical supplies as Eiji was placed on his bed and the bodyguards left, leaving Isiel and his Master alone in the room as Eiji began a new fit of coughing into his hand, sending blood streaming down his arm and staining his suit.

Isiel knelt down beside Eiji\'s bed, not quite daring to say anything or even reach out to him as he knew the others would be returning soon to tend to his injuries and he would only get in the way if he caused a fuss now. It was plain from the expression upon his face that he longed to apologize and even though his training was keeping the full brunt of what he\'d just experienced from hitting him he was still trembling beneath his crumpled clothes and licking his lips like a nervous kitten as he watched Eiji anxiously.

The three fullgrowns returned moments later and immediately began to cut away Eiji\'s clothes, leaving him lying in a pile of shredded cloth as each inspected a wound. Needles were drawn out and filled, then their contents were injected into the areas around three of the bullet holes. One neko stitched up the through-and-through quickly while the other two extracted bullets before the anesthetic could even begin to work fully, and Eiji growled, bearing his teeth and fisting his hands as one bullet was removed, and the other took three attempts before it was pulled out. Finally all three focused on the wound to Eiji\'s stomach, touching softly at his quickly discoloring skin and making disapproving noises as Eiji immediately coughed up worrying amounts of blood.

They all nodded at each other before turning to look at Isiel. \"He must go to a hospital,\" one apologized, as the second left to make the call.

The third shook his head slowly. \"This isn\'t something we can handle with our little experience. He\'s bleeding internally at a rapid pace. If this keeps up for much longer, he\'ll be leaving us far too soon. You\'ll have to take charge of the estate while he\'s away.\"

At that they turned back to Eiji and resumed tending to him; one retrieved clothes from his dresser and began to pack them into an overnight bag while the other wiped away some of the blood that was streaking down the sides of Eiji\'s face.

Isiel had remained sat upon the floor, far enough away to let the fullgrowns do their jobs effectively and yet close enough to keep an eye on Eiji. When they explained the situation to him he got to his feet and opened his mouth, ready to demand that he was allowed to go with his Master, but closed it a moment later when he realized that would leave the mansion in an even more precarious state - and the advice of the ones tending to Eiji came from experience, much more than the meager amount he possessed and more than enough to make him respect their decisions. Discreetly he walked over to the one packing a bag for Eiji and, without interrupting him significantly said, \"Take any extra support you might need and make sure he arrives safely. Please keep me informed,\" before returning to wait, little away from them in shameful silence.

\"Of course, Master,\" the full-grown said obediently, though he smiled a little at Isiel, encouraging him.

The bag was packed and two men escorted by the bodyguards came into the room, and together the four of them put Eiji on a stretcher, then covered him with a white sheet to the throat and hurried him out with the three fullgrowns following. The room was silent and empty within moments, leaving only Isiel and a very bloody bed behind.

--------------------------------------------------------
e.n.d c.h.a.p.t.e.r e.i.g.h.t.e.e.n