Blood of the Covenant Pt. 02

"You came so much..." Emily panted. "My panties feel heavy."

"Because of you."

"Really?"

"You've been teasing me relentlessly and I haven't been jerking off to relieve it. What do you think?"

"Oh. Right." Emily laughed softly. "Definitely glad I did that."

"Me too."

"I loved how you weren't too rough with me." Emily said. "Still felt gentle."

"I'll keep it up then."

"Good boy." Emily took her position as the boss once again. She knew it was only because Banri let her. That's what made it so hot. "Let go, baby. I'm going to go clean up."

"Just throw your panties on the floor and get them later."

"That will actually ruin them so no." Emily got away from him. "Don't worry, bug. I'll be right back. I'm sleeping here tonight."

"You actually think you're going to sleep tonight?" Banri rested his head on his hand. The blanket covered only his cock and showed that he was still hard. "I don't think you know just how much you've been teasing me."

"Oh." Emily blushed.

"Go. And hurry back."

Emily nodded. She left and came back as fast as humanly possible, piling onto him immediately. Banri kept his word. Emily did not get a single second of sleep that night. When they weren't fooling around, they talked until Banri was ready to go again. He was insatiable and made Emily feel like it was entirely because of her. She wasn't wrong.

Chapter 11: Villain

"Dr. Rossi?"

Claire looked up from her files and saw a nurse standing just inside her office. "Hello. How can I help you?"

"I don't know if you remember me but I'm Hannah Penn. I work down in..."

"Pediatrics." Claire smiled. "Of course I remember you. We've met a couple times. I think the last time I saw you was at Dr. Singh's farewell party?"

"Yes, ma'am." Hannah nodded. "Uhm. You're busy so I'll get right to the point. It's supposed to stay a secret, but I can't keep it in."

"What is it, dear? Take a seat." Claire took her reading glasses off and leaned forward with her hands clasped together on her desk. "Is it something serious?"

"It is. But not in a bad way." She shook her head as she sat down. "My husband and I actually bought the house your son was selling."

"That's amazing! Banri didn't tell me he sold it to someone I know." Claire frowned. "Are you liking the house?"

"We love the house!" Hannah beamed. "We'd love it even if he hadn't signed it over to us for free."

Claire, who had been taking a sip of her coffee, choked on it. "Ex...Excuse me." She coughed until her throat was clear. "Free?"

"Mhm. We've tried to get ahold of him to say thank you, but we can't. He's letting our calls go to voicemail and he won't return them..."

"That sounds like Banri." Claire sighed. "He told us he sold it for the asking price."

"He didn't even say it to our faces. Simon told us." Hannah said. "He also said that Mr. Igarashi wanted to keep this a secret, but we can't not thank him! Not when he's done something so gracious. He has no idea how much this helps us. All the money he saved us. And time!"

"I'll be sure to pass your thanks on to him." Claire smiled. "Or I can drag him down to the hospital if you'd like?"

"Oh no I don't want to be a bother." Hannah took an envelope out of her bag. "Could you give this to him? It's a picture of me and my family in front of the house. We've all signed the back saying thank you. Junior just scribbled."

"Certainly." Claire took the envelope and put it in her own bag.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Rossi." Hannah got up. "Tell Mr. Igarashi that he can come by whenever he wants to see the place. Simon told us that it belonged to his birth parents."

"Very kind of you, Hannah. I'll tell him."

***

"Banri no..." Emily shoved her hand into Banri's face. "Mom texted me that she picked Zoe up at campus and is on her way."

"Campus is thirty minutes away."

"And she sent me the text thirty-ish minutes ago." Her hand remained on his face. Letting go meant getting attacked. "She'll be here any minute."

"Then we'll make out until the door opens."

"No."

"Em I've had a very long day. I need to recharge."

"No." The front door beeped as it was open and shut. "See? Now get off me."

"I'm hoooome." Zoe rushed in before Mom and sat right in between her siblings. "Miss me?"

"You were gone for one night." Banri said. "So yeah. We missed you."

"I knew it." She said, smugly. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Mom's mad at you by the way."

"What? Why?"

"Dunno. She was muttering your name for the whole drive. When I asked her what happened she just said you were a liar."

Every single lie Banri had told in the past few weeks ran through his head. White lies about liking her new clothes. Terrible lies by omission from not telling her about his thing with Emily and Zoe. He had no idea which one it was. He didn't have to wait much longer to find out because Claire came into the room, hands on her hips. "How much did you sell the house for?"

Banri's expression remained placid despite cursing Simon internally. "The asking price. 460."

"How much did you sell the house for?" She stepped closer.

"I told you! 460! Maybe a thousand under. Is that what you're mad about?"

"I will give you one more chance." Her finger was out and pointing. All the threatening power Motherhood provided was behind that finger. "How much did you sell the house for?"

Banri gave up. Obviously she knew. "I gave it to the family. For free."

"What?!" Zoe stopped leaning on him to hit his arm. "You gave it away?! Are you insane?!"

"There's a limit to generosity, bug." Emily frowned. "You can't just hand things out like that!"

"Why not? It's my stuff." Banri said, crossing his arms. "I didn't need the house and I didn't need the money I could have made off of it. Might as well give it away to someone who I think deserves it."

"I'm not mad about your insanity." Claire said. "I'm mad that you didn't tell us."

"I didn't tell you because you'd make a big deal out of it!"

"It is a big deal." Zoe said. "You gave away half a million dollars. You of all people should know what that amount of money means."

"Exactly. I do know what that amount of money means." Banri said. "It means Andy and Hannah would spend their whole lives trying to pay for that house while ignoring Luna and Junior. Kids need parents. You guys aren't going to make me regret doing it."

"We're not trying to make you regret giving the house way. We're concerned for you." Claire said a little more gently. "You're being reckless."

"How? Buying a few pricey gifts and giving a house away makes me reckless?"

"DUH!" Emily looked at him like he was an idiot - which he was. "Do you even hear yourself talking? What are you trying to accomplish here?"

"Whatever." Banri got off the sofa and pushed past Claire. "Tell Simon I appreciate him keeping it a secret."

"Hannah told me. Not Simon."

Banri stopped for a second before leaving the room anyway while rubbing at his scar.

"What's going on with him lately?" Claire sat between her girls.

Emily and Zoe hugged her. "Dunno." Zoe said. "But I do know that we shouldn't have gone to the reunion. He's been weird since then."

The three sat in silence until they heard the front door open and slam shut. Emily frowned. "Where's he going?"

"Probably wants to be alone to cool his head." Claire sighed. "He'll be back later."

***

Banri didn't drink as much as he used to. Tried not to at least. Why? Alcoholism. Little rich boy who should have no problems liked to find them on his own and pile them on.

It started junior year of college. Drinking with friends while playing Super Smash Bros turned into drinking with strangers at parties he wasn't even invited to. Didn't matter. He was likeable so people didn't care when he popped up. The more alcohol you put in him, the more likeable he got. He drank and he drank and he drank. With people or without. Didn't take him long to become a functioning alcoholic.

Because as long as he was at least a little bit drunk, Banri did not have to think about Samson or the ache. All the money he made and gave away didn't help. All the instruments he practiced and mastered didn't help. All the friends, both romantic and platonic, he made did not help. No matter who or what he did, Banri could not find the reason for which he was allowed to live while his family wasn't. What had he done to deserve all the kindness he had received?

Why couldn't he just fucking accept it?

Why did Samson have to do what he did?

"Banri?" Brie, who had just arrived at the bar to start her shift, rushed over. "Pat how much did he drink?"

"I just clocked in too, Brie." Pat shrugged. "He was here when I got here."

"Shit." Brie shook his shoulder. A groan was all she got. "Sorry, Pat. I'm taking the night off."

"That's fine. I'll call and ask Freddy if he can come in."

"Thank you so much, Pat. Tell him I'll cover one of his shifts in the future." She managed to get under his arm and leverage him into walking. "There we go. Come on, Banri."

Banri mumbled some more.

"Uh-huh. Sure." Brie just nodded along as he spoke nonsense. She unceremoniously dumped him into the backseat of her car and buckled him in before getting in the driver's seat. "You're gonna be really mad when you wake up."

***

I was awakened by a sumo wrestler jumping up and down on my skull while wearing steel boots. Oh wait no. That's not what was happening. It was a hangover. Great. That meant I was still alive. Wonderful. Another thing to add to my list of failures. I opened my eyes slowly. It took a few seconds to adjust but I recognized the teal wallpaper immediately. Oh fuck. Did I sleep with Brie? God fucking damn it. I sat up a little too quickly and almost threw up from the headrush.

"Careful. Here. Drink some water."

I turned and saw Brie walk in with a glass. She was fully dressed. That's good. Maybe we didn't do it. Or maybe we did, and she got dressed afterwards. "Thanks."

"Welcome." She looked like she wanted to sit down.

"It's your room, Brie. Sit down if you want."

"Right." She laughed nervously. "I wasn't sure if you hated me still."

"I was mad at you. I never hated you." I finished the water in seconds. "Did we..."

"God no. I slept at my boyfriend's apartment. He lives a few doors down."

"Congrats. How long have you two been together?"

"Made it official last week."

"Gotcha." I nodded. "Does he know about us?"

"He knows that you're my ex-boyfriend and that I'm here right now taking care of you."

"And?"

"That's it. I haven't told him why we broke up. Not yet."

"Don't." I shook my head. "Baaad idea."

"Well I can't not tell him that I cheated on you. He should know."

"You gonna cheat again?"

"No."

"Then that's that. Tell him that we wanted different things in life. Or mention my drinking." I tried to smile but that hurt too. On the inside. "Did you let my family know I was here?"

"I texted Emily last night. She said she'd come get you in the morning since you wanted to be alone." Brie said. "Did you guys have an argument?"

"Yeah."

"Must have been bad if it made you drink like that again."

"I've been wanting to drink like that for a while." I said. "Finally broke yesterday."

"Please don't start again, Benny...Banri." She said. "You worked so hard to stop. Don't start it again."

"Not like I ever actually stopped." I snorted. "But I'll try."

"You have to. If you start drinking like you used to, you can't hide it from your family like you did when we were together."

Brie had been the one to get me to clean my act up. Maybe that's why I couldn't hate her. I owed her too much. Fucking hell another unpayable debt. "Thanks for keeping your word back then and not telling them. And thank you for getting me through it."

"You don't need to say thank you, Banri. I know you're grateful." Brie said. "But you can prove it by staying sober. No occasional drink like you're doing right now."

I looked at her and saw that she was glaring at me. "Okay. I won't."

"Give me your word."

"Brie come on it's not that serious."

"Yes it is! The promise isn't for you. Your family might hate me, but I don't want them going through what I did with you or my dad." Brie looked like she would hit me into agreeing if she needed to. "Give me your word."

What she went through. Countless times I had fallen off the wagon like yesterday. Putting up with my drunk rants. Long nights helping me detox. Driving me everywhere since I couldn't do it myself. All while working part time and going to school. I was finally doing great when she told me cheated on me. Sure I never hit her or got abusive in any way. But for the duration of our relationship I had been a fucking drunk. Fuck. "Brie... I practically pushed you into cheating didn't I?"

She blinked in surprise. "Why are you bring that up again?"

"I got mad at you for cheating on me!" I buried my face in my hands. I had no right to be mad at her. It made sense now. We weren't in a happy relationship at all. Her cheating wasn't a surprise. It was inevitable. "I got mad at you when it was all my fault. You were such a wonderful girlfriend and I treated you like shit. You would never cheat on a guy that treated you right."

"Banri. You were an amazing boyfriend."

"When I was sober or when I was drunk?"

She didn't say anything. I wish she did.

"Then there we go." I laughed through the tears. "Why didn't you tell me I was a piece of shit? Why didn't you get mad at me? Ever?"

"It's not right to get mad at a sick person."

I had all these wonderful women in my life and what'd I do? Be a jackass. "You're an amazing person, Brie."

"Amazing people don't cheat, Banri."

"Well you're still a better person than me." I raised my hand before she could disagree. "I promise. I'll stop drinking. With none of that 'a drink here and there' bullshit."

"Thank you."

"I'll text Emily and wait for her outside."

"You could just wait here."

"Nah." I unplugged my phone from the charger. She had even charged it! "You've done enough. Thank you."

"Anytime, Ben...Banri."

"You can call me Benny."

"Oh. Okay. Benny."

"I love you, Brie." I smiled. "Platonically. Don't get any ideas."

She rolled her eyes and smiled. "I love you too, Benny."

***

"You going to explain what the hell happened last night?" Emily asked after driving in silence for a few minutes. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

"Went out for a drink."

"Going out for a drink doesn't mean getting wasted and falling asleep at a bar." Emily said.

"I got a little carried away."

"A little carried away?! If you weren't already getting your ass kicked by a hangover, I would be beating the shit out of you right now." Emily shouted. "What did we say last night that was so bad that you had to go and get wasted?"

Banri remained silent.

"Fine. Don't tell me." It wasn't fine at all, but Emily knew she wouldn't be able to get anything out of him. "Just tell me if you're okay or not."

"I'm okay."

"Liar."

Again, Banri remained silent. Emily joined him in silence all the way home. She was going to run upstairs to try and distract herself with work when Banri stopped her. "Wait, Em."

"What?"

He hugged her. She resisted at first but not for long. "I'm going to find a therapist."

"It's that bad?" Emily looked up at him. Her eyes were wide with concern, anger forgotten.

"Pretty fuckin' bad." Banri laughed dryly. "I'm sorry, Em."

"Just get better."

"I will." Banri nodded.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Good." She kissed him. "I just got you. I'm not losing you."

"You won't."

"You're ours." Her kiss was deeper this time. Possessive.

"Ours?"

"Mine." She murmured before going back to kissing him. "And Zoe's."

Chapter 12: Littlest Bug

"How was it?" Zoe unlocked the door and let Banri into the car.

"Better than the therapist I had when I was younger."

"He was trash. You went to three appointments with him and gave up."

"Two."

"That makes him bigger trash!" Zoe laughed. "I'm happy you're getting help. Being around my beautiful soul can only do so much."

"Yeah you're not a miracle worker."

"Are you actually agreeing that I have a beautiful soul?"

"Mhm."

"Awww Banri I was just kidding." They were at a stoplight, so she quickly leaned over and attempted a side hug over the gearshift. It was awkward and hurt. "You're so sweet."

"Take the next right."

"Way too early, dude. We have a few miles to go."

"Just do it, bug."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

"Whyyyyyy?"

"I'm going to cancel the surprise if you don't do it."

"Meanie." Zoe pouted but she did give up on pestering him. She listened to his directions all the way to parking on the side of the road right before it turned into a bridge. "I love this view!"

"That's why I brought you here. There's only two cars so I think there's not gonna be much people up there." I looked back and saw that she had flip flops on. "Ah shit. Get on my back."

"I've been here a million times. The climb isn't that bad."

"I don't want you tripping and breaking your face." I said stubbornly. "Get on."

"Okaaaay." She jumped onto my back. "Mush! Mush!"

I rolled my eyes and began walking up. It was a rock path that involved some minimal climbing. She probably could have made it up on her own. But I was in a spoiling mood. When we got to the top I was happy to see that my prediction was right: only two couples were up here. They smiled at us politely then went back to enjoying the view or being cute and 'coupley'. Mostly the latter. I wanted to be alone with Zoe, so I led her off to the side a little to a spot behind some bushes. It was right up on the edge and gave us a great view of the river and the bridge. And, more importantly, it was private.

"Why'd you bring me here, bug?" She cuddled up next to me.

"Your first kiss was right here right?"

"Yep. Jordan O'Connell. First boy I dated so I could get over you." Zoe said. "Bad idea since you two looked similar."

"Genius." I chuckled before taking her hand. "I don't like the idea of you thinking of Jordan every time you come here."

"I don't think of him every time." Zoe said. "Okay maybe the thought passes through."

"I don't like it."

"Why?"

I let go of her hand so I could wrap an arm around her waist instead. "Guess."

Zoe looked like she might faint, so I strengthened my grip. "I don't want to guess and be wrong."

"You won't be."

"Nope. Not doing it." She shrank in my arm, but she didn't move away. She moved closer. "Just tell me."

"You know the answer, Zoe." I kissed the side of her head, just above her ear. "Say it."

"You..." I didn't see her face, but I knew she was red. "You love me."

"Not loud enough."

"You love me!" Her voice cracked like a twelve-year-old boy and she groaned. "Oh God just push me off."

"Nah you're too cute to die."

"I think I'm having a heart attack."

"Please don't." I pulled her close. "I love you, Zoe."

"Yep. Dead."

I kissed her cheek. "That bring you back to life?"

"Still very dead."

I gently made her face me. Then kissed her. She whimpered and I felt her go weak in my arms. Cute. "How about now?"

"Alive. Soooo alive." Zoe smiled. "One more before I start grilling you."

"Sure." I kissed her again. When I pulled back I saw that she had spinach in her teeth. I decided to not say anything because I didn't want her jumping.

"What convinced you?"

"Emily made me take her on a date because she was mad you dry humped me."