Snatching a Husband (Yami no Matsuei)

[1]

Patting his satisfied stomach with a cat-like grin, Tsuzuki walked through the empty streets. He regretted having spent a good chunk of his check on a lavish dinner, but he went through a harsh week at his different jobs. Besides, Ruka sent him money every month to help him during his rough patches. Once she got married to Tatsumi Seiichiro, she asked him to move in, but he denied her request. He didn't want to inconvenience his brother-in-law through living in his home. Although, Tatsumi insisted on getting him a better home in a different district.

With having Tatsumi as a brother-in-law, Tatsumi helped him get better jobs to replace the ones that paid him far less than normal. At first, Tsuzuki thought it was charity, but Tatsumi whacked his arm for the assumption. Tatsumi cared for him just as much as Ruka. He loved them both before the marriage and it didn't change when the marriage took place.

Whenever possible, Tsuzuki visited Ruka in her new home. She appeared well taken care of and wore new quality kimonos. Most important, she have the old stress lines on her face. Before Ruka got married into a good family, she thought about his wellbeing all the time. She worked long hours to provide for him and persisted even when he began earning his keep.

In his own way, he convinced her to accept Tatsumi because other men would have snatched her up instead of asking for her hand. Tatsumi got to know her years before using a hunting day to marry her.

To the Tsuzuki sibling's relief, Tatsumi's family didn't make a spectacle of his new commoner wife because his father was a merchant. Tatsumi Mei begged Yamato Jiro to marry her to prevent a hunting marriage to an abusive nobleman. The Tatsumi family relented due to Mei having lost her virtue to her husband and getting pregnant with her heir all in one night. Besides, they despised the nobleman in question and shrugged their shoulders at their rebellious daughter.

Tsuzuki hoped to hear about a nephew or niece in the near future. Seeing Tatsumi nervous around children always made him snicker.

Overhearing a fight up ahead made Tsuzuki weary in continuing on his path. His luck in averting confrontation tended to not go in his favor. He ended up in different fights because someone wanted to prove their manliness or his helping people complex kicked in. When he got closer to the fighting people, he saw a larger man trying to overpower a young man.

The larger man slammed the younger man onto the wall and got into his face. From his distance, he heard none of the words, but he felt the intent in the tone. He couldn't see the young man's face, but he suspected absolute fear.

"Hey!" Tsuzuki ran forward and yanked the guy off of the boy. "This boy doesn't want to go with you. What's wrong with you?"

The kidnapper turned to him and punched his face. "He's fair game. Stay out of it."

Tsuzuki touched the side of his mouth and noticed the blood on his fingertips. He saw red. As he readied himself to kick the guy's ass, a fist slammed onto the kidnapper's face. Looking toward the weak boy, he began pounding on the guy's face without mercy. After a good punch, the kidnapper fell back onto the floor in a heap.

Stunned, Tsuzuki watched the young man take a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped down his hands. The look of disgust made Tsuzuki want to keel over laughing.

Tsuzuki coughed out loud to get his attention. "Are you alright?"

When the young man looked up, Tsuzuki looked into bright green eyes. "Yes. Thank you for distracting this filth."

"I'm Tsuzuki Asato." Tsuzuki bowed to the young man.

"Kurosaki Hisoka." Hisoka stepped on the would be kidnapper and grabbed Tsuzuki's hand. "Follow me."