The Bad, The Bidder, and the Daughter (KBTBB)

Eisuke: Twelve

YUI POV

"So this is where you've been."

I didn't even have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to.

"Eisuke. What brings you here?"

"Look at me," he commanded.

"Make me."

He sighed, "Yui-"

"You've met them, haven't you? That's why you're here. After all this time. It certainly couldn't have been anything else. Well? Thoughts on our offspring?"

I felt the bed sink as he sat on the corner. I could feel his wounded gaze on me.

"Kurumi's a sweet girl. She's a lot like you: kind and open-minded. Eito... He... He threw chairs at me."

I smiled lightly, "Chairs? Plural? That's my boy alright. Protective. Distrusting of most. He's done things. I can see it in his eyes when they visit me. I've seen it in Soryu's eyes. He's a good boy, though..." I trailed off, thinking of my golden-eyed son.

My chest tightened, "He's a lot like you, you know. Not completely, but... It hurts, sometimes. To look at him. To be reminded constantly..." I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes, "He's such a good boy."

"Yui..." I could feel the weight of his presence as he lied down behind me.

"Please..." I choked as he pulled my back to his chest.

"Why did you leave? Knowing you, you probably did it to protect me. You've always been so selfless. You didn't want me to have to raise our children while you were deathly ill... You did it to spare me pain..." Eisuke said with absolute certainty as he caressed my hair, "Because that's the kind of person you are."

He flipped me down on my back and gazed at my tearstained face with so much regret and...

And love.

"After all these years..." I began.

He leaned down to kiss me.

I turned with repulsion.

"After all these years... And you still so self-absorbed that you think everything I do is for you. Leave me. I cannot stop our children from seeing you, but you will let me live out my last years in peace," I shoved him off of me, which was rather easy considering his shocked state.

"What..." He could hardly believe the words I was saying, "If not for me, why did you leave?"

I gave him the cold look he gave to me for years, "I left because I could no longer stand to be with you. I couldn't stand to be touched only for sex. I couldn't stand for the only affection I ever received were lavish gifts. You know, I was lucky if you told me you loved me once a week. Oh, and when you did... your eyes... your voice... so cold. You made me feel like nothing. Every day with you became more and more crushing to my soul."

"Yui..."

"That sweet love I had for you... How your harshness poisoned my heart. And then, I was healed. Someone saw my pain, reached out, and befriended me. He made me feel like a loved princess-- more than you ever had. Each passing moment my feelings for him grew. He noticed them. You didn't, no that you ever truly paid that much attention to how I felt. But he always did. He began to love me too, I could sense it."

"Who..." His eyes flashed with white-hot rage, "Who was he?!"

I rolled my eyes, "Calm yourself, I was never unfaithful. And, as you can see with your own eyes, the children are clearly yours. It never... escalated to that. We never touched or even dated. Unfortunately, all that ever was between us was pining. He had his own responsibilities. A child of his own to care for. And you were his friend. One of his best friends. He's a good man. An honest, and gentle, and so much better than you."

Eyes widened, my former lover shoots up from the bed, "...No... Not him..."

"Who do you think helped me escape when I realized I was not only ill with a weak heart but pregnant as well? Do you think I wanted to be trapped with you till I died? Who would have the resources for me to change my name and hide not only me but my children as well? Who else could I possibly fall in love with?"

I sat up at the sound of a vase being shattered, "Ah," I said, "and you wonder where our son gets his temper from?"

"I'll kill him."

I stood up from my bed, grasping the nearby desk to help steady me, "You will not lay a hand on him. He has done nothing wrong. Even after I left, his loyalty to you forbade him from being free with me. Eisuke, I don't love you. And, honestly, I don't think you ever even loved me."

He pushed me against the wall, "Bullshit."

I scoffed, "Oh wow, do you feel like a man now? Pinning an ill woman against a wall like this? There's more passion here in your anger over losing your plaything than the entirety of our relationship."

"Passion?" It was his turn to scoff, "It's passion you want?"

He lifted me up bridal style and placed me back on the bed, "I won't continue unless you tell me to do so."

I weighed my options.

"Sigh...This changes nothing. And I'll be pretending it's him."

"By the time we've finished," he tugged at the buttons on my shirt-front, "it'll be my name alone you're singing."

"Please," I undid his belt, "You really think we haven't already slept together with Mitsunari Baba on my mind?"