Battle of Wills

Chapter Five

(Note) :Nioh is portrayed after Kyoh-sama's "Lu:na" dream novel from the Gackt theme. I loved the bad boy Nioh in that dream and I thank her for allowing me to use the personality she created for him. You can access the dream novel "Lu:na" by going to Minus Zero.

From this chapter onwards, I'm going to move him slowly away from the 'bad boy' personality in your mind and have you think of him in a different way~

~*~*~

I was surprised. No, ‘surprise’ was the wrong word. I was amazed. I walked out of my apartment to meet Nioh and found him standing next to a silver 911 GT3⁽¹⁾ with his arms crossed. "You’re late,” he remarked as he straightened himself. I didn’t say anything but just walked towards him. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt. "I overslept," I answered flatly, handing him my bag. It was a small one, but enough to carry some things I needed. I had also tucked a mace spray⁽²⁾ between my clothes in case I needed it.

"Che… You have attitude even first thing in the morning,” he muttered dryly as I got into his car. "I'm not exactly here with pleasant feelings," I retorted crossing my arms. "This is kidnapping and assault, if you try anything."

" ," he chuckled softly. "You truly are amazing,” he remarked bringing his car to life. "However, you judge too quickly,” he added as he pulled a cigarette from the glove compartment and lit it. I coughed at the smoke and moved my face away. "I don't like the smell of cigarettes." 

"We come as a pair."

"Great going, Nioh. You just gave me another reason to hate you."

He glanced at me through his sunglasses and smirked, "Hate, hate, and hate. Atobe Keigo must have done a number on you to make you the bitter woman that you are."

My cheeks flared. I turned to look at him. He already made that remark about Keigo earlier and I let it pass. That's it! I thought. I didn’t really need to be here and listen to him. I turned to put my hand on the door handle and was actually going to jump out. "I wouldn't if I were you,” he said knowingly. "Do you know how fast I'm going? It will only kill you."

"I don't care," I said quietly, looking down. Now that I think about it. What is death? It didn’t frighten me really. Everyday that I tried to be happy, I still had a hollow emptiness in my heart. Fuji had been right when he said that my smile was not a true one, but when will it ever be a true one? I let out a sigh and glanced at Nioh. What was I doing? I'm in a car with a stranger. I'm in a car with someone that has been stalking me. I'm in a car not knowing where it was heading. Was I really prepared for anything to happen to me?

"Where are we going?" I finally asked, not looking at him. I noticed that we were out of the city now and driving towards the country.

"We're meeting a friend of mine."

That was an unexpected answer. "A friend?"

"You will see,” he said pointing ahead. "We're almost there."

I looked straight ahead and saw a mansion. I don’t know why, but it reminded me of Keigo's. Nioh drove into the driveway and we were greeted by a butler. "Welcome Nioh-sama." The butler bowed respectfully. Nioh took off his sunglasses as I walked out of the car. "Where’s Hiroshi?" Nioh asked as he walked up to the butler with hands in his pockets.

"The young master is by the golf course."

Nioh rolled his eyes. "Typical,” he muttered, looking at me. "Come on." He took my hand and led me towards the other end of the house. I was still unsure of what was going on or where I was. He put me in the golf cart and drove. The whole time I was silent. I looked around until we reached a man who was busy practicing golf swings. He stopped when he saw us approach.

"Masaharu."

"Yo." Nioh grinned as he stood up in the cart and leaned against the window shield. "You're not bored?"

He pushed his glasses up and shook his head. "It relaxes me."

"You're always calm,” he muttered, pulling out a cigarette. He lit it and got out of the car. "Come out,” he told me as pulled out a golf club. I looked at him and hesitated. Again I asked myself, what the hell was I doing here? The other man walked towards me.

"I am Yagyuu Hiroshi. Welcome to my home,” he said, shaking my hand. "Are you the that Masaharu's stalking?"

I looked at him in shock. Was he joking? No, I didn't think so. He had said it with all seriousness. I watched Nioh as he stood in Yagyuu's place to swing and then back at the man in front of me. I looked at him wryly. "Is there way to make him go away?"

Yagyuu looked at me. "I'm afraid you're stuck with him for a while, -sama."

I looked at him and realized how different from Nioh he was. I glanced at Nioh and found him absorbed in the game. I wondered why he brought me here in the first place. Was he up to something? "Why are we here?" I asked him curiously. "I really thought he was going to take me somewhere and lock me up."

"We're here because he wanted me to meet you,” he admitted watching Nioh as well. "He can be quite a jerk to people he meets for the first time, but give him some time to show himself,” he said.

"He is still not a saint," I muttered in an annoyed tone.

"That he is not," Yagyuu agreed.

We conversed a bit as Nioh busied himself and I realized that they were both the complete opposite of each other. Yagyuu was a total gentleman while Nioh, well, he was no gentleman as far that I had seen. I did wonder how in the world they could be such good friends. While we talked, I couldn’t help think that the area was too familiar. "Where are we exactly?" I asked as Nioh finally joined us.

Yagyuu rubbed his jaw and looked around. "We're at the outskirts of the city, a lot of country homes are here," he answered, looking at me. "I believe Atobe's is two houses away."

I grimaced. No wonder it all looked familiar. And as heaven's door shut and the ironic gateway of life opened, we actually saw my ex-husband on his horse exploring the area. What made me really want to die was seeing my own son riding alongside his father. I looked away as Keigo spotted us and actually came towards us.

"Yagyuu." Atobe nodded in courtesy when he reached us. "Nioh, …."

Yagyuu nodded back. "Hello Atobe,” he said, casually. "Good day isn't it? And the young one?" he said looking at .

nodded and then looked at me. " -chan!" he exclaimed, waving. I smiled and waved back. "I didn't know you ride, ," I said proudly as I watched my baby all grown up. I looked at Keigo and found him looking at me, but with a weird look in his eyes. "You're acquainted with these two gentlemen?"

I frowned. Somehow the way he said “gentlemen” made me think that there was a tone of disapproval in his voice. I narrowed my eyes. "Yes," I answered softly as I crossed my arms. As I said those words, I felt an arm around my shoulders. "We'll see you later," Nioh replied turning me around. "Yagyuu, we'll meet you for lunch."

Nioh dragged me away from them, I felt my heart beating really fast. Keigo must probably think… I thought and then suddenly stopped and yanked my hand away from Nioh's grip once we were out of eyesight. "Why did you do that?" I demanded as he turned to look at me. "He thinks…"

"Tell me something, ,” he said seriously. "Why is a son calling his mother by her first name?"

I stopped. I did not expect that. I did not expect that question. I swallowed my pride and forced a light smile. "I… I'm not his mother," I said softly. I couldn’t believe that those words actually left my mouth. Nioh took my hand and pulled me towards him. "The boy has nothing of Atobe in him. You're clearly his mother, so why lie about it?"

I looked away. I didn’t really know what to say. I clutched my fist and felt a tremor run through me. "Nioh…" I said quietly, "Let's….let's not…." I stopped. "I'd rather not talk about it."

He narrowed his eyes and walked closer to me.

"Do you mi…" I asked as he backed me against a wall.

"You're a very complicated woman," he whispered in my ears. "A tough nut to break." He leaned over and placed his lips on mine.

My eyes widened as he kissed me softly. I reached my hands out in instinct and pushed him away. "You're an asshole! Taking advantage of me like that."

He shrugged. "A woman cries, I don’t really know what to do, so I kiss her."

"I wasn't crying!" I hissed angrily as I looked away. He put an arm around my shoulders.

"Let's go to the pool,” he suggested, pulling me away. When we reached the pool area, I remembered that I didn’t have my swimming suit with me.

"I didn’t bring a bathing suit with me."

"Have no fear,” he said as he took out something from a bag and threw it at me. I held something that looked like a piece of string.

"What the hell is this supposed to be?" I demanded, trying to understand what it was. He looked at me innocently.

"It’s a bikini."

I threw the thing back at him. "You have a crude sense of humor," I said, disgusted. "Do you really want to see me naked that much?"

He smirked slightly and took off his shirt. "If I wanted to see you naked, I will do it with your consent,” he replied back. "I don't need to resort to cheap tricks."

I didn’t like his reply. It sounded so sincere; I was really confused about him. He confused me. I had gotten such bad vibes from him before, but now he was actually showing good ones. Again, Yukimura and Kaho's words haunted me. And not only theirs, but even Yagyuu's. They all spoke of him like they knew another side of him. I didn’t like his pushy attitude and the fact that he wouldn’t leave me alone, but I wasn’t going to allow him in. I had promised myself I wouldn’t let anyone in. I was going to say something to him when my cell rang. I dug it out of my bag and picked it up.

"Hello."

"I'm surprised that you're up early."

I smiled. "I'm not a lazy ass, Yuushi," I said lightly. "I had a d…" I stopped. "I went out with a friend," I explained. I saw Nioh in his swimming trunks talking to Yagyuu who had joined him. "So is this a social call?" I asked cheerfully.

"Yes and no," he replied. "I do worry about you, so that's the social part of it and I also want to let you know that 's spending the night with us. So do you want to join us for dinner later on?"

My heart skipped a beat. I love you, Yuushi! I thought to myself. "Yes! Thank you!" I said sincerely, almost in tears. "I'd love to join you," I replied excitedly holding tightly onto my cell phone. "I'll come over as soon as I get back home."

He agreed and let me go. I saw Nioh dive into the pool, leaving Yagyuu standing there. "You can change in the shower room, -san," Yagyuu said. "There are more decent suits in there."

"You seem to know him well." I noticed walking with him to the shower room. He looked at me and nodded. "Yes, he was my tennis doubles partner during middle school and I've known him since then."

"I see,” was all I said as I went in. I opened a closet and found a lot of swimming suits in there. It made me think of one of those swimsuit parties. I tried to find one that would cover me whole. I wasn't exactly comfortable parading myself in a swimming suit, but I wanted to at least and try get through the day. I finally put on a one piece bathing suit and walked out. I found Yagyuu gone and Nioh sitting by the edge of the pool side. He had one leg bent and the other in the water as he smoked. He looked like he was in deep thought. He finally noticed me as I approached him. I took a seat next to him and hugged my knees. "I really don't like cigarettes, Nioh."

He exhaled and put it out casually, leaning on his elbows. "Having fun?" he asked as I moved my legs into the water and splashed a bit. "It's relaxing," I admitted, "and I like Yagyuu, he's nice."

"Unlike me, I'll bet,” he said looking up at the sky. He sat up and said something unexpected. "Well, its good to see you relaxed. Even after the disapproving look your ex-husband gave you."

I watched him carefully and frowned. "If you think I care what Keigo thinks about how I spend my time then you're wrong about me," I remarked haughtily with a flip of my hair.

"I'm going to test something,” he grinned, suddenly sitting up.

"Test wha….mph…."

He was kissing me, but not the light kisses he had given me earlier. What can I say? It was different. One thing I knew for sure, he wasn't hesitating in it at all. "Kiss me back…" he ordered between kisses. My mind was screaming no, but my body responded to his command. The next thing I knew, his hands were roaming around and he had me on the floor.

"Ow…" I winced as the hard cold floor of the poolside stuck into my back while he kissed me. He didn’t even apologize as he continued kissing me. He had one hand on my bare thighs and was almost on top of me. Without thinking, I held his hand, stopping him from moving it further up my thighs and looked at him while my other hand placed itself firmly on his mouth.

To my surprise, his eyes gleamed and I could tell he was smiling behind my hand. "I was wondering at what stage you would stop me,” he remarked, sitting up. He helped me sit up and hugged me. "Let's cool off, don't you think?" he grinned, rolling us into the pool

~~~

My day was unusual. That’s how I'm going to describe it. I was not only physically exhausted, but emotionally as well. Nioh Masaharu had played with my emotions all day. One minute he was someone nice, the next he was almost a jerk, and then he would change again. He confused me to no end. One minute he would be pushy and impulsively kiss me, and then he distances himself. I felt like I was on a game show or like he was testing me trying to analyze me in all different situations.

I still scolded him every time he tried kissing me. Even though I responded to him, but I just met him and I didn’t know him that well to be locking lips with him. I hated myself for responding to him. I blame his friends for putting all those nice things about him into my head.  

The last straw was when he hinted about spending the night, but I rudely declined. He took it as a joke and said that one night it will happen. I told him even if it did then my mind would never be occupied with him. I let out a sigh. It was nerve-wracking. I looked at my watch and saw that it was seven in the evening. I really did spend a lot of time with him today and I don’t know how he did it, but he had managed to make me his date to the wedding as well.

I lazily walked back to my apartment and changed into something comfy. I picked up my cell, picked up me keys and headed to Yuushi's. I was exhausted, but I ignored it, for was an important person to me and I would take every opportunity to be with him.  I knocked on the door and to my surprise, Keigo opened it. He just grunted and allowed me in. I looked around and found the children playing on the Playstation, but Yuushi was nowhere in sight. "Where is he?"

Keigo fell on the sofa and lifted his feet onto the foot rest. "He forgot some things at the office, he had to rush and get them."

"And you graciously offered to baby-sit?" I asked disbelievingly. He glared at me.

"He did come to you, but I told him you were busy with those two nice men,” he drawled as he closed his eyes. I cursed softly at his tone. What did he think I was? That I was some kind of whore playing around with two men? I wanted to kill him, but I held onto my temper.

"That still doesn’t explain why you're here, of all people."

"Che…" he muttered. He ran a hand through his hair. "I was dropping off and ended up doing it,” he said with a sigh. I put my hands on my hips and looked around the kitchen. There was nothing prepared. Didn’t Yuushi say dinner? I thought as I rummaged through the kitchen.

"Don't bother," Atobe explained as he folded his hands. "Yuushi is bringing food with him. He wanted to cook, but then had to go."

I smiled at that. "At least he can cook…"

My comment made him open his eyes. He sat up straight and looked at me.

"Are you referring to me by any chance?" he asked with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Do you see any other grown men who can't cook in here?" I answered mockingly. Not once did he even bother in the kitchen.

He stood up. "Why do I even bother?" he asked himself walking to the door. "I don't have to be here anymore." He put on his jacket. " ! I'm leaving."

The boy walked towards him and hugged his leg lightly, I could've sworn I saw something tender in Keigo's eyes as he patted his head gently and turned around. "Bid Yuushi good night for me.' he said leaving and I winced when he slammed it shut.  

"He takes things too personally…" I remarked, joining the children. They were so into their Playstation game that I was starting to get bored. My muscles were too relaxed and I kept yawning and finally decided to sit down with my legs crossed on the floor with them.

I didn’t even know I had fallen asleep until Yuushi woke me up. "I'm not sure if that’s responsible of you," he remarked as I sat up dazed.

"I fell asleep?" I whispered, suddenly feeling my head spinning. He held me lightly. "Yes,” he answered, "and this young man kept you comfortable." He explained that had my head on his lap while had covered me with her jacket.

smiled.

I held my head and felt greatly embarrassed. I was watching the kids. How could have I fallen asleep? Great going, . Yuushi will probably never ask you to take care of the kids again.

"I'm sorry," I said and I was surprised that my voice came out hoarse. Yuushi placed his hand on my forehead.

"You have a fever, ,” he observed softly and I noticed the kids watching me worriedly.

"I'll be fine…" I said, trying to sit up properly, but I felt drained. Within a second, I found myself being lifted as though I weighed nothing.

"Yuushi…" I began, not even having the energy to argue. He walked to one of the bedrooms and placed me on the bed. "Get some sleep,” he ordered as and each sat on the bed next to me. Yuushi covered me with a blanket, tucking me in properly and told the kids to leave.  

~~~

When Yuushi left the room, he found two pairs of concerned eyes watching him.

"Will -chan be alright?" asked quietly as she held 's hand. Yuushi bent down and looked at her.

"Of course,” he answered. "She's just tired and needs to rest. You guys can sleep in her room if you're worried about her."

They nodded excitedly while he stood up. "Let's eat now, I brought Pizza with me."

" -chan didn’t eat,” said as they sat around the kitchen table while Yuushi put out some plates. "I'll keep some in the oven for her; she'll eat when she wakes up."

That seemed to satisfy him. They all ate in silence and when done, the kids helped put the dishes away after Yuushi finished washing them. and then went to change into their pajamas and brush their teeth. Even before Yuushi told them to go to bed, both kids were already asleep on either side of . There was a teddy bear in 's arms while held onto 's hand. He let out a sigh and covered them all properly and walked out.

He actually wanted to speak with today, but he guessed it had to wait. He didn't know what she was doing with her time or how he was going to approach this subject with her. After trying with Atobe, he had finally let go of his stubbornness and agreed to some things concerning , but today Atobe seemed to be fuming about something and altered his mind again. He wanted to talk to about what could have caused that. He wasn't one to really butt into other people's lives, but he could see the situation was hurting them both. Even Atobe, who claimed that he can handle parenthood on his own, found it difficult in some cases. Yuushi could finally relate to that now, since Yui was gone.

He picked up the things the kids had scattered over the floor and put them in their original place. As he cleaned up, he heard a cell phone ring. Knowing that the ring tone wasn't his, he looked around and found that it was 's. He picked it up to silence it and found that the caller was . Since he knew her, he picked it up.

"Hello."

"Oh!" came 's voice. "Somehow I'm not surprised that you two ended up together."

Oshitari frowned. "If I pick up 's phone that doesn't mean I'm sleeping with her,” he remarked. What did she exactly mean by 'I'm not surprised', he thought, bothered. He ignored the remark. " 's here because 's spending the night, but she's sort of not feeling well so they're all asleep."

"Oh, what's wrong?"

"She is slightly feverish,” he answered sitting down on the sofa. "Don't worry, she's fine."

"That's good," said . “What about you, Yuushi?" she asked, concerned. Coping?"

He rubbed his hair slightly. "Yeah,” he answered. "I've been busy and I'm indebted to for being here - it helps a lot,” he admitted.

"That's nice. Actually I'm glad you picked up the phone,” she said, thankfully. "Jirou and I wanted to invite you guys over for next weekend. We always come to you guys, but you never visit."

He chuckled. "That would be nice actually. Who else is going to be there?" he asked, standing up. He felt his muscles aching and couldn’t sit or stand still as he walked around the living room.

"Well Choutarou said he will definitely come, because he misses everyone. I know Gakuto will just drop by for a while because he has a lot of work to do."

Oshitari nodded. "Sounds like a plan,” he said. The two of them spoke for a while and then finally bid each other good night. Just as he hung up, he heard something in the guest room.

~~~

When I woke up I felt like a thousand drums were playing in my head. I was going to sit up when I felt something holding onto my hand while another was at my back. I blinked several times till I realized it was and . Sighing, I rolled to the side and watched my baby sleep soundly, still holding my hand. I felt a tug at my heart as I reached out with my other hand and caressed his cheek.

"Are you feeling better?"

I sat up and found Yuushi leaning by the door. "I'm sorry," I apologized, getting off the bed quietly so I would not wake the children up. "I feel like such a mess." He touched my forehead. "Well, your fever is gone,” he said in a tone that showed he was relieved. "Why don't we feed you now?"

I smiled at him and nodded, following him to the kitchen. "That's normally my line," I said as I took a seat on the kitchen table.

"True," he agreed, heating the pizza for a few minutes. "But we can spoil you once in a while,” he placed the plate in front of me.

It smelled like heaven. In my current state, even cold pizza would satisfy my hunger. I ate it slowly, enjoying the taste as Yuushi made some tea for the both us. I laughed; he really knew his way around the kitchen. I doubt Keigo would even know where the utensils are. Suddenly, I remembered something.

"Yuushi?"

"Yes."

"I think Keigo's mad."

He looked at me. "I figured,” he said. "Did something happen between you two some days back?"

I blinked. "Huh? What are you saying?" I asked, confused, as I munched on my pizza, "I meant that earlier today, I made fun of his cooking abilities and he stormed off."

Oshitari rubbed his jaw. "Hmm… not quite. He's actually been mad all day today." He went on to say, "and I got the feeling you were involved because we were talking about 's care and he sort of agreed a week ago so you can watch him over the weekend, but today he changed his mind."

My boy? In my care? All weekend? I was delighted, but then stopped feeling joy. "Why would he change his mind? What did he say, Yuushi?"

"He said something about the company you're in, but I really don't know what he…."

"Oh my god! He meant Nioh!" I gasped, as I covered my mouth and recalled today's incident.

Yuushi actually stopped and looked me. "Nioh? Do you mean Nioh Masaharu?" he asked, taken aback, as he poured tea for the both of us. "How on earth are you acquainted with Nioh?" he questioned placing a cup in front of me.

I groaned inwardly. "I met Nioh at an engagement party I went to with Fuji," I explained, feeling another headache coming, "and I spent the day with him today." I decided not to go into details of how I actually ended up going with him.

He placed himself next to me on the chair. "Which brings me to my next question: How do you know Fuji, assuming it’s Fuji Syuusuke we’re talking about."

"I met him when I was at the hospital."

Oshitari rubbed his temples. "It's like middle school all over again,” he mumbled. "It does explain Atobe's attitude though. Nioh doesn't exactly have the best reputation."

"You really need to know him better, you can't just judge him like that," I said without thinking then I stopped. ‘Oh my god! Did I just defend Nioh?’ I thought horrified. I stood up abruptly. This is bad. This is definitely bad, I thought as I walked into the living room, holding my head. It made me think, why was Keigo mad? He really didn’t have any right to be. I looked at Yuushi who followed me.

"What business of Keigo's in who I spend my day with?"

"I imagine he's thinking of 's welfare."

His comment made me laugh sarcastically, almost hysterically. "Welfare? Welfare?" I asked over and over as I walked over to Yuushi and clutched the front of his shirt. "If he really cared for 's wellbeing then he wouldn’t keep him away from me," I whispered, annoyed. "Plus it doesn’t matter who I spend my time with, it's not like my son is every waking hour with me." The minute I said it, I felt sadness. It was as if my sentence confirmed that to me. I let go of Yuushi's shirt and plumped myself onto the sofa.

"Are you and Nioh serious?"

I swore softly. "No! No! No!" I exclaimed, "It's not like that! I met the man once and he took me out today! That's it!" I answered, standing up. “Yuushi, Nioh is definitely not someone I'm going to see seriously."

He put his hands in his pockets and eyed me carefully. "Then why did you go out with him?"

I stood up and saw my phone blinking on the living room table. “I don't know," I admitted. "It's complicated." I picked up my phone. I found one message and opened it.

"Today was fun! Thanks! I'll call you before the wedding so we can decide how to go.  Nioh XD"

I looked at the message, irritated. Why was he so damn nice? The more I try not to like him, the harder it is for me. I decided not to answer. I actually wanted to put it past me and not talk about Nioh anymore or see him. Why did I agree to the wedding? Because he asked you while he was kissing you, my mind reminded me sarcastically.

" ?"

I shook my thoughts away. "Yuushi…" I said softly as I walked up to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for tonight," I thanked him sincerely. "I'm going to head back to my own apartment. I need to resolve some things. I'll come by tomorrow before leaves."

"I'll walk you back."

I shook my head. "The kids would be alone," I objected. Plus, I did not want him discussing Nioh with me anymore. I was already perplexed as it is. I picked up my things and walked out of his apartment. I went to mine and went straight to my bed. Why was I feeling like this? Why was my mind confused? I hugged my pillow and shut my eyes tightly. I wanted these thoughts to go away. I shuddered. My mind asked me the question I was dreading all day:

Are you starting to like Nioh?

~~~

DeVeliCious

Edited by Elenniel & Kashii

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Note(s):

(1) A beautiful car~ Just type 911 GT3 at Google and you'll get thousands of images. I couldn't choose one~

(2) The effect of "Mace" or "Pepper Spray" varies on humans. Most common is a burning sensation on the area affected with the spray (described by some as "having your face drenched in gasoline and lit on fire"). If in contact with eyes it causes automatic closing of the eyes due to intense pain if open. This along with a feeling of suffocating if inhaled it causes the person to be very vulnerable and dependent, resulting in easy overpowering e.g. by law enforcement officials over a criminal. Effects can be minimal on those under the influence of alcohol or drugs, e.g. amphetamine or cocaine. The duration of the effects vary from 30 minutes up to 2 hours depending on the person and treatment. [Wikipedia]