The Good Husband (bit & I)

It had been on his mind all morning. The dream he had. There he was with his childhood friend playing in the sandbox. They were happy, smiling and innocent. Then came the words that seemed to burn in the back of his mind. "Let's get married someday," she said. With a smile and a laugh, he agreed. That's where the dream ended. Kensei just couldn't get his mind off of it. Being the manga fan that he was, he could only wonder if it was some kind of premonition. A sign that someone from his past would come back into his life suddenly and shockingly. For him, he thought, it would actually be a nice reprieve from the dull and boring life he had. Kensei, or Ken as he liked to be called, didn't really stand out from the other people in the world around him. He was pretty much your typical 17 year old high school student. Average grades, no real achievements, very few real friends to speak of. It was like he was begging for change.

And then, as if out of a crime drama, his world was turned upside down. The limo looked normal enough. Probably some rich snob driving around to a fancy party or a corporate bigwig on his way to a meeting. Then it stopped. It was so sudden, the screech of the tires echoed in the air. It stopped Kensei in his tracks. What could have provoked it? He would find out all too soon that it was for him that the limo stopped. It was for him that the two bulky looking men in suits and ties got out and it was for him the bag placed over his body was meant for. The young man struggled, not knowing if he was going to be held for ransom or murdered or what. The back door of the limo opened just then and he was tossed inside. For whatever reason, the men had failed to tie the sack, allowing him to escape easily. What would he find in this limo. Who captured him, and why?

It was funny how things like that worked. He had been delighted with some placid image, some sweet and darling thing arousing childhood memories and the like. Emi, on the other hand, just happened to be celebrating her seventeenth birthday that day. She wasn't visited by visions, nor had this idea come suddenly on her. It was just the day that she was allowed to go out and nab her husband. This had involved many years of conditioning, her mother taking her away at the appropriate age (so young!) and raising her well. One day she was there, the next she wasn't. Sure, it had been hard at first, but the girl had grown accustomed to it, getting used to it, finally accepting it. At fourteen she began to show some real talent in it, embracing the idea as something she preferred for a change. Things only got better from there.

But I digress, and fall back to the whole premeditation thing. When her mother asked her at thirteen who she thought would make an acceptable husband, there was no hesitation when she replied with 'Ken'. She never forgot about him, often catching herself during an especially boring lesson if he remembered her. It wouldn't really matter, would it? Emi was going to get him in the end, with or without permission.

Still, it would be nice if he had ever longed for her.

So she sat there rigidly in the limousine, trying give off a superior demeanor while having the heart of some lovesick child. Emi repressed all emotions down immediately to keep from faltering as she rapped her polished nails against the car door.

As Kensei finally pulled the sack from his body, he suddenly felt a familiar scent. It was a nostalgic kind of scent, one that would bring back memories of a past life. When the young man's eyes adjusted to the dim light shining through the limo, he was suprised at who he saw sitting, gently tapping her nails against the car door. Sure, she looked more mature, but her face was unmistakable. "Emi?" the young man called out? "Is that really you?" It had to be some kind of trick fate was playing on him. First the dream and now a reunion with the person he saw? It was all too humorous to the young man who broke out into a chuckle, then a hearty laugh. "Oh man, it really is you," he casually spoke to his long lost friend. "I thought for a second, I was being kidnapped or something. You always did like playing pranks on me..." It was apparent that Kensei had no idea the true purpose of his being put into this limo. He thought it all to be some kind of light hearted jest by Emi at his expense.

Dusting himself off, the young man sat right next to his childhood friend, smiling, relaxing and sighing in relief that he was in no real peril. He turned to the woman then, a bright smile on his face as he began to question her. "So, where have you been all these years? Last I heard, you moved away with your mother. C'mon, fill me in."

The girl started when he wiggled out of the sack, throwing a swift glare at the body guard, muttering something out incompetence. "I'm not playing a prank, Kensei," she said coolly, refusing to look directly at him. It was hard for this girl. Her mother always explained to her that a husband wasn't someone you exactly considered on your same level. They were lesser and didn't need to be taken too seriously. Still, Emi didn't trust herself to keep from reverting back to old habits, afraid the onslaught of old memories would be too much for her to resist.

So she kept her responses curt, forcing a distance between them.

It didn't help that he was being so damn jovial about it. Emi would have prefer he'd been properly tied up, panic sinking in, as they made the drive to the daunting house just outside of town, resting plainly on a hill. But here he was, sitting happy as a clam next to her and, as if to top it all off, laughing.

"My mother decided the school system was awful," she lied. Then a sigh escaped her. He was going to find out sooner or later and, if she freaked him out, it might make things go ironically smoother. "Actually, that's not entirely true. She took me out and ever since then has been instructing me herself. I'm a Mistress now, Kensei." Stopping there, wondering how he'd take it.

Kensei's bright mood seemed to dim quite a bit upon observing Emi's response and subsequent body language. From what he could tell, something was off about her. She used to be so happy and cheerfull when she was with him, but the woman sitting next to him now was nothing like he remembered. Was it really his childhood friend he was sitting next to, or was it perhaps a look-a-like and he really was being kidnapped? Then she explained what she was doing with her mother this whole time and a blank expression painted the face of the young man. "M...mistress?" Kensei replied with a stutter of disbelief as to what she said. "You mean...like those women who take men...and..." To him, there was only one meaning to what the word 'mistress' meant and thoughts of a women dressed in tight leather and holding a crop in one hand and a leashed man in another began pouring into his head.

This had to be a joke. It just had to. "W...wait a minute, what about my parents? What about the principal? They're going to suspect that something is wrong when I don't come in tomorrow. You can't be serious, can you?" The tone of his voice showed desperation and shock as to his new situation. He was ready to leave...now. He turned towards the door and began to open it, but whoever was driving in the front seat must have seen it, because before he knew it, the doors were locked in front of him and he couldn't get out. All he could do was plant his hands on the window and gaze out into the world which he was now going to leave behind.