893

Chapter Three

They were to find out about Yusuke's temper sooner than they expected.

Yusuke's pipping voice echoed around the suddenly silent bookshop.

"I don't care what you want. I want that book and you took it right out of my hand. That's not nice. You're bigger than I am." Yusuke refused to jump for the book like the older, bigger boy wanted. Instead, he kicked the boy on the shin and, when he bent over, tried to punch him in the face.

"Yusuke! Yamero!"

Yusuke turned his head in startlement. "Sir?" He glowered slightly before he could smooth his expression out.

Musashi didn't take offense at that, he just said mildly, "Never punch someone with your thumb like that and never in the face. There's too much bone, you'll hurt your hand." Musashi hurried to Yusuke. "Here. Like this." He arranged the small fingers into an effective fist and patted him on the shoulder. "There. Now." He pinned the older boy, who was around seventeen or so, with a look that nearly released the boys bladder. "You will let him test himself. Yes?"

Yusuke didn't waste any time in punching the boy in the stomach.

He 'oof-ed' and it wasn't all for show. Yusuke was quite strong for his size, especially as he was now well nourished. The kid had quite a punch for his size.

Miyamoto looked at the boy, one eyebrow raised slightly, and said, "You know who I am." It wasn't a question.

The boy nodded then fled before something bad happened. He vowed to change his ways. He didn't need another run in with some mini-yakuza.

Yusuke looked up at his Otousan. "Did I do ok? I ... I liked hitting him. He was a bully and I hate bullies. My mother's sister's son is really mean. He was mean to me. I want to get good at fighting so no one will bully me again." His expression was a little bit less than innocent.

Musashi replied to this mildly. "The word you want is cousin. I'll make sure you can fight. That's what the martial art classes are for. But, you mustn't fight just because you can. You have to have a reason. OK?"

"Yes, Otousan. I understand. Thank you for teaching me to punch properly." He turned his attention to his book, satisfied that he hadn't disappointed his father. "I like this. Can I have a few more? There's a lot, so maybe only the next two?" He turned to the shelves to select another book

The second his back was turned Miyamoto signaled one of the wakashu. The man hurried over, bowing several times and exclaiming, "Yes, sir. Yes, sir. What do you need, sir?"

"Yusuke likes these three manga. Buy them all and take them to the chopper. Here's a credit card, return it to me as soon as you've paid. Go."

The man hurried off after bowing several more times. He took a moment to wipe his brow, the second he'd been summoned he'd started to sweat. It was usually not good to attract the oyabun's attention when they were out and about.

Yusuke approached Musashi and said, respectfully, "Otousan, I need some money to pay for these."

"Ah! The first lesson in being a Miyamoto. You don't pay for things. I'll give you some money but here's how you do it." Musashi displayed all the casual arrogance of an oyabun.

Musashi gave Yusuke a handful of bills. "Now, you call someone over, give them the money and have them pay. Do it."

Yusuke glanced around, found a younger man and called, "You! Come here. Pay for these." He shoved the bills and books at the man, who grabbed them quickly. He bowed, knowing quite well that this young boy carried all the power of the Miyamoto family on his shoulders, and took himself off to the checkout to pay.