Chapter 22

Back at the Yashida Ancestral home, the banquet had wrapped up. Logan and Lady Mariko had been escorted to her private chambers, in the heart of the palace main building, and left alone. Both were sitting or rather kneeling by a low window that overlooked the garden from the third or fourth level of the massie building. Logan could see the inner courtyard not far away, and other buildings adjoining theirs. Now, dressed in a less impressive yet still ornate kimono, she sipped a bit of saki, and watched him pace the chamber.

"Darlin I need to know just why in the hell Creed would want to be mixed up in all this. Sure I know there's money and power an' all with the Clan… and that he accepted you as some sorta payment for something, but why in HELL would he suddenly help YOU? I thought you melted the fucker's face…"

"That's what I want to know, Logan-chan," Mariko shivered.

"Ya shoulda let me skewer that goddamn Cajun… I wanted to waste him so badly," Logan growled, and then kneeled next to her.

"That would accomplish nothing. Like it or not, he DID the Clan a favor by recovering the sword, albeit by stupid luck, and as such we owe him much…"

"Even though the stupid shit brought more trouble on us?" Logan asked.

"Even so, he'll be able to make it up to me… to us," Mariko said softly, stroking Logan's face. "And the other X men, if they stand by me in this… they'll have to have the proper training as you will get in Clan etiquette and customs… I know that you've trained Kitty Pryde in martial arts… and I know Gambit is quite adept at hand to hand but Kurt and Colossus…"

"They'll learn. Both are scrappers. And ya gotta admit they aren't trained in the same martial arts I'm guessing as the Yakuza. You know as well as I do that in Weapon X they taught us the styles to counter whatever we were up against…"

"Dirty and deadly… and I fear that Colossus and Kurt will have to face the possibility of killing… I know the X men swore never to take lives… and I only fear their sense of duty…"

"Gambit can deal. So can Kitty. She may look innocent, but that kid's faced a nasty couple of things already. Her parents are all screwed up. Divorced. Lots of stuff that she didn't tell nobody but me… an'…"

"I have seen you two occasionally sparring… you've taught her much Weapon X knowledge… and she has the necessary intelligence and a maturity that comes out in a pinch… I know we can count on them… but asking them to fight for me…"

"You're still leader of X men red. They chose to come here, and the Professor I'm guessing didn't raise holy hell. If Hydra's involved, and Lady Deathstrike we'll need other mutants fighting with us… I just wish that I knew who ELSE was going, and where the FUCK Creed was…" Logan muttered, his hand forming a fist.

"Ironic, isn't it? Thinking that I'd never be drawn into my family's problems again, and here I am being expected to lead… Logan, I'm scared. Terrified. And I don't like it… I mean I was terrified before, but now…"

"I'm here darlin'," Logan shushed her, seeing the vulnerability in her dark eyes. "You're a scrapper too, remember…"

"In this culture, for women… nobles to fight is an anathema. Only if my very life was threatened… that's the need for a champion. If this were 16^th century, you'd do all the fighting on my behalf…"

"Then ya gotta let me fight these bastards. You gotta stay alive. I'm not an expert on Japanese culture. Hell what I learned was pumped into my head for some mission, and half of its… damn… but my gut tells me they're expecting ME to slice n' dice, and you to act all prim an' proper. And I know ya hate it after being able to fight your own battles… you did the right thing pickin' me… cause all these guys are male chauvinist shitheads, no offense… and you bein' noble blood will make sure if ya even lift a finger to fight… they'll lose their respect or whatever for ya…"

"You are more correct then you know…" she said, frustration burning in her dark eyes. "The martial arts I learned before Weapon X were only because my father thought it best for me to know basics in case I had nobody to defend me. Shiro and my half brother learned FAR more than I."

"I've seen ya scrap. You're deadly…"

"Only because I continued to train, and the necessary knowledge was forced into me, by Creed. He helped make me the warrior I am. The other techniques were reinforced by my cousin Shiro. He taught me what he know because he was a mutant… the rest I developed through my exposure to Creed and his own skills…"

"I didn't know the bastard knew any martial arts other than Weapon X… we used some other katas… but with half my memory gone…"

"Creed never forgot. I think he's FAR more familiar with Japanese culture than he'd admit. He hated Japanese with a passion, because he mentioned he'd served in WWII as an OSS operative for hire. And he mentioned you a few times… alongside him and the other X 5 series. In fact he speaks fluent Japanese and a considerable number of other Asian languages. Though he acts the bigot, he knows his 'enemy' well."

"Still can't get my head around the fact that he wants to HELP you? He wanted to kill you… unless… that asshole thinks in some sick way that he can make you HIS…"

"I think that might be so. And yet if he knows, he must know we're together… and there is no way in hell to get to me unless through you… but there might be another reason he's helping me…"

"He sometimes likes to save his enemies so he can have revenge his own way, darlin'," said Logan with a shiver. "Or else it's that you two have the same blood."

"Wouldn't he kill his own flesh and blood?"

"No. Not if they're mutants like him. Yeah the jerk thinks ya betrayed him, but that pack instinct and the fact yer a female might be enough to get that son of a bitch to have some damn loyalty… otherwise why would he have kept ya alive?"

"Alive and suffering is a far greater revenge. To live with the dishonor is worse than dying," she said quietly. "If I were still the Lady Mariko they knew, I would have committed hara-kiri a long time ago… killed myself… but because I've been an X man and been exposed to western ways, I see that dishonor can always be changed. And as Michelle there is no stain of dishonor… for I have a new purpose to live… but Logan… I miss it so much… and to never…"

"Don't say never. For all we know yer uncle may still be alive, an' maybe he'll let us both go back to that life…" Logan said as he cupped her face. "You're the best that's happened to me that I can remember, baby, an' that's gotta mean something in this screwed up world."

She slid her arms around his neck and he gripped her upper arms in his strong hands. Afraid to dig his fingernails into the silk of her robe and ruin her ceremonial garments, he tugged her towards him and received what he thought was going to be a dainty kiss. However it was deep and full of the passion that he had shared before. Under the surface she was very much not the dainty and proper lady, but a wild and passionate woman simmering under the façade.

"M'iko…" Logan moaned into her neck.

Something hard pressed between them, and Logan realized that they were the honor swords she'd given him. However this close contact was addictive and it felt maddening not to be able to touch her, so he really did not want to let her go. As if reading his mind she shifted the wide belt so they were positioned to the side, and there was nothing but the garments between them. Silk heated up incredibly fast, and he was burning up with hunger and protectiveness, directed towards the woman kissing him hard. Threading fingers through his hair and drinking in each kiss as if it were her last. Groaning he slid his hands down the silk and gripped her backside to tug her hips into his.

"Wonder what your cousin would think if he caught us doin' this," he mumbled against her lips.

"What I do in my chambers is my business alone. He would not dare…"

"But that half brother o' yours… he gives me the creeps. I don't like him…"

"Nor do I. That's why you must stay close to me…"

"How close would that be?" Logan lifted an eyebrow, a lascivious smirk coming over his once serious face.

"Very close… it is not improper for you to stay with me… after all, you are not only champion but consort as well… and I think you know what that means…"

"Nobody sayin' stuff about us bein' together, right?" he chuckled.

"Not at all. They would not dare. You're within your rights to take satisfaction with the blades I've given you to defend my honor as well as your own…"

"Hmm this Japanese bushido might not be so bad AFTER all…" he chuckled. "You seriously mean if I ended up stickin' a blade in some moron who said boo nobody would look at me cross-eyed?"

"Even in this modern times, you're within your rights to do so, seriously," she said quietly.

"Damn…" he trailed off. "Sorry to joke darlin…"

"Takes more than your sense of humor to get me upset, you know that by now," she said with a lopsided smile that was far more the Michelle than the proper lady she had become. Funny how the makeup and costume hid the feral traces he had seen coming to the surface. Little wonder she kept her lips closed, and her eyes slightly downcast. Granted because they were dark black, they could not so readily notice the pupils that were slightly feline in nature, or the wild hair that was becoming curly with streaks of reddish blonde, that she had been dyeing for the past weeks since she admitted her feral side inherited from Creed was asserting itself with a wicked vengeance.

He thought how ironic, remembering with a slight blush about the increased savagery of some of their lovemaking sessions. Not that he minded in the LEAST, because it was wonderful to have a lover, no a MATE who could keep up with him. An ornate jet-black wig, makeup, kimono, and sleeves hid these traits well enough. Manicuring and tonsuring could hide slightly feline features and her slender muscular build, and the feline grace only enhanced her graceful stature and movements as a noble. Yet that slight growl that was inaudible was still there in displeasure. Also the deep purring he felt vibrating through their bodies as he held her stirred a rumbling from his body that answered.

She stopped, and looked slightly embarrassed because she had become aware of it. "Don't stop that on my account. Ya said these were your private digs. In front of me ya don't have to put up the mask. You know that, right?"

"I do," she whispered.

"Thought I was gonna go NUTS during that dinner, havin' to smell ya just next to me an not be able to touch ya…" Logan growled. "It's maddening…"

"I know… it took all my self control not to want to throw you onto that table and have you make love to me…" she laughed with a shyness that amused him.

"Might wanna take these threads off, cause what I'm about t' do might not make 'em last for long," Logan gritted his teeth. "I hope we're all done with the pomp n' circumstance…"

"We are… they left us alone, knowing that there are affairs that happen between two adults that must be honored. Another trait of Japanese society is that we know sex is a natural urge… and therefore…"

"I've seen enough movies n' pop culture thanks to you, an' everyone else to know better," he grinned. "All that prim an' proper an' you're just as horny and imaginative n' kinky as the rest of us crazy minded people…"

"I don’t' think I still have my sailor outfit from girl's school here…" she winked.

"That's one thing I don't get… wantin' to bang little girls… though I guess it's a fetish that Japanese men find a turn on… but that floats their boat… me I like a mature well endowed woman… with CONSIDERABLE assets… thought they GOT the right idea about keepin' used underwear…"

"No vending machines here," she joked.

"Cripes, listen to us here… you'd think we were back at the mansion," he teased, resting his head against hers. "No matter the clothes or the trappings we're still the same underneath it all. An' I won't let ya forget that for a second… at the proper time n' place a' course…"

While Logan had been teasing her she felt her robe being removed and slid down her arms. Silk glided to the floor, and she reached up to remove the ceremonial wigs and other trappings that inhibited her. Only in bare flesh before him, he feasted his eyes on her, and buried his nose in her neck. Reaching up she unfastened his robes as well, letting them whisper to the floor beside hers. Servants would straighten them up, and new ones would be provided tomorrow. Now he was clad only in the loose silk pants, the hakima that men wore, and he glimpsed himself in a mirror, chuckling. Still the swords were slung on his hip, his feet bare socked and his hair lightly mussed like something out of a late night martial arts flick.

A three-quarters silver moon peeked in through the edges of the rice paper framed window. Logan felt his blood boiling at the silvery threads of light working their magic on her body. Smooth skin was only slightly interrupted in the fading scratches and abrasion marks that were almost gone from the day before. Reaching up she gently unfastened the weapon belt and lay it down to the side. Before he could stop her she was starting to pick up the garments and arrange them. A hand on her arm stopped her, and with a growl of hunger he pulled her close to his body.

"Enough of that, darlin… c'mere…" he whispered throatily, tugging her hips and rubbing her belly against him through the silk. Reaching down he picked her up in his arms and carried her towards the bedchamber. He had wisely noted the location when they had been left alone in her private quarters. Though his night vision was excellent, the hot kisses made it difficult for him to see around her sweet face blocking his view.

Unlike in the movies, she had a proper bed that was vast and wide. Set with silk sheets and rich linen coverlets, with a thin veil canopy fluttering in a night breeze. Electric lighting had been turned off in her room, and Logan had noticed someone had lit the lanterns to give the room a sensual glow. Incense stung his nostrils, obliterating all scents but hers and those immediately around.

He set her reverently on the bed, and climbed on top of her, growling with need. To be away from her but right next to her was enough to arouse him. She felt the evidence through the silk pants, and wasted little time in helping him remove them. Sighing with immense relief, he parted her hips and slowly buried himself in her. Eyes were closed and he lay on top of her, purring deeply, not wanting to move. Stretching under him she wrapped herself around him, and let his chin lay in the hollow of her throat, his entire body weight pressing her down. Was it the surroundings that suddenly put a damper on the wildness? Whatever the case, Logan was simply enjoying himself immensely by lying completely still and letting her feel his hardness pushed deep inside her body. Sliding his arms between silk and her body, he wrapped her body in a grip of muscles overtop adamantium that seemed safe and unbreakable.

"This close enough for ya?" he whispered.

"No way anyone could reach me with you protecting me so well," she chuckled, leaning up to kiss him.

"God ya feel so good… hope ya don't mind but I don't feel like movin'… dunno why but I'm just enjoyin' laying here with ya under me, around me…" he sighed, kissing her slowly and sensually while being completely still and stiff and hard in her softness. Slightly she shifted her lips with teasing motions that made him groan in need. He was resting some of his weight on his forearms, because he had knelt down on both knees for a moment to reposition him.

"Don't move Logan… don’t' move… just protect me," she whispered, and he did just that. It wasn't long before they were both fast asleep in each other's arms, joined as close as two could ever be.