I Will Love You Forever Pt. 2 Ch. 01

The class went by quickly much to Kenji's relief, he was anxious to see how Patricia was after her first class. He rushed out of the class room and headed to the library to see if she was there yet.

******

The class let out a few minutes early but before Patricia could get away, Dr. Hathaway told her to stay put. Patricia felt anxiety rise as the instructor approached her.

"I don't know how you managed to get into this class but let me tell you something right now; I meant it when I said no exceptions...."

"I don't want and need special treatment from you or anyone else!" Patricia snapped glaring at the instructor.

"Glad to hear it because frankly, I don't think that you'll pass without special consideration..."

"Why is that?" Patricia asked, "Is it because I'm black or because my last name is Japanese? And don't say neither because if you do you'd be lying."

The instructor's eyes narrowed but he backed away; the battle was over for now.

********

Kenji was waiting in front of the library when Patricia got there. He could see from the set of her shoulders that she was angry. He met her halfway and took a good look at her face, she was very angry and he wondered what had happened.

"Come Kirei, we have an hour before our next class." he said talking her bag of books from her and leading her to a quiet corner.

"What happened?" he asked.

As Patricia told him about the instructor she began to calm down, she missed the smile that Kenji was trying hard to keep hidden. The instructor didn't know what he had done, he had issued a challenge to Patricia and she was going to make him eat his words but on the other hand, she needed to be cautioned.

"I know that he angered you and I know that you will set out to prove him wrong but Kirei choose your battles carefully. We have a long way to go before we are done with this place."

Mindless that they were being looked at, Patricia laid her head on Kenji's shoulder.

"I know but the deliberate mispronunciation of our name and then to imply that I'm not smart enough to pass his class! The nerve...."

Patricia stopped talking because Kenji was laughing and trying not to.

"What is so funny?" she asked.

"You." Kenji replied, "You Kirei are a classic over achiever, your instructors are going to have quite a time with you."

"Oh and I suppose you're not an over achiever Mr. read every medical journal I can get my hands on." She teased back.

"Touché" Kenji replied still laughing. "But seriously Kirei, be careful. So what if they mispronounce our name, we know what it is and therefore it doesn't matter."

They sat for a few more minutes before they had to go to class an English class for Patricia and an advanced anatomy and physiology class for Kenji. He had really hoped to be done with Andrew Kelley but he soon found out that they would have most of their classes together. Kenji determined to stay out of the other student's path it would only lead to trouble if he didn't.

Kenji noticed a student sitting in the back alone who cringed when Andrew walked by. Andrew, he realized was a bully who took great pleasure in the fear of others and the student sitting in the back was very afraid of him and Kenji wondered why.

The class passed quickly and without incident. Andrew seemed to have forgotten about Kenji but Kenji knew better. Andrew at the moment was occupied with the student in the corner.

"So Jew boy." Andrew was saying as Kenji passed by. He stopped, and as much as he wanted to keep going he couldn't. He asked himself where he would be if he hadn't stopped to help Patricia a few years ago- "in a loveless marriage." He reminded himself.

"Excuse me but why are you harassing him?" Kenji asked quietly much to the surprise of Andrew, his friends and the harassed student.

"I don't see where that's any of your business Jap." Andrew replied turning to look at Kenji.

"It becomes my concern when there are four of you and one of him." Kenji replied knowing that he had just made an enemy for life.

The harassed student tried to speak, "I... it's alright, really."

"You heard him, he's fine so get your yellow ass out of here and go find your black girlfriend." Andrew said and turned back to the student.

"I will not leave him alone with you, he comes with me." Kenji said.

Andrew's eyes narrowed in hate and anger.

"Do you know who I am? Who my father is?"

"No, I do not know who you or your father is." Kenji replied, "But I know a bully when I see one and that it what you are."

Andrew's friends looked at Kenji in astonishment. No one ever talked Andrew like that especially since his father was some big time war hero who lost a leg to the Japs.

"My father was in the war and lost his leg to one of you yellow bastards!" Andrew hissed.

"And what is your issue with him? He is not Japanese." Kenji asked.

The question seemed to incense Andrew even more; he turned and swung at Kenji who calmly stepped back out of reach.

"Is there a problem?" A stern voice from the back of the room asked.

Kenji waited for Andrew to accuse him of starting an argument, if he did it would be his word against Andrew and his friends, and the harassed student would be too afraid to speak.

"No problem!" Andrew said with a fake smile plastered on his face, "No problem at all." he repeated as he and his friends left the classroom after giving Kenji smiles that promised that they weren't finished.

Kenji looked at the student who wouldn't return his gaze.

"My name is Kenjiro Takeda; may I ask your name?"

"Joel Steinberg." he replied softly.

"Why do you allow them to treat you that way?" Kenji asked.

When Joel didn't answer Kenji took it upon himself to ask him to join him and Patricia for lunch.

"No thank you, I wouldn't want to intrude but thank you for helping me."

Kenji watched as Joel gathered his things and left the class room.

********

Patricia's second class was much better than the first while she got a few funny looks especially when the instructor called her name but that was as far as it went. The instructor acted as if he didn't notice that she was black or that her last name wasn't American, he just wanted to be sure that everyone understood what was expected of them.

"Alright, we have forty-five minutes left and what I want is an essay on whatever you want to write about, go ahead and get started."

Patricia didn't know what to write about and then wrote about one of the happiest moments in her life, the day that Kenji helped her up after she was knocked to the ground. Once she started writing, the words flowed and then she realized that she had never told Kenji what she thought that day or the days afterwards when he would walk up to her and say hello before rushing off.

She finished the last sentence just as the class was over. She handed the paper in with not a little apprehension and then shook it off. She gathered her things and quickly went outside to see Kenji talking to another student but when he saw her, he smiled.

"Kirei come meet Joel Steinberg, he is in class with me and I have asked him to join us for lunch." Kenji said putting an arm around Patricia, "Joel, this is my wife Patricia."

Joel looked from Patricia to Kenji and swallowed hard. He had heard rumors about a Japanese man that was married to a black woman but he hadn't believed it. It turned out to be true and the Japanese man turned out to the one who wasn't afraid to stand up for him.

"Hello." Joel said shyly, "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, why don't we find somewhere to have lunch?" Patricia asked looking around until she spotted an empty patch of grass.

"I should go." Joel said with uncertainty in his voice.

"Please we have more than enough for the three of us." Kenji said noting how thin Joel was.

"Yes, please stay and have some lunch." Patricia said.

By the end of the hour Joel had new friends and didn't feel so afraid, the fact that they were other than white made no difference.

********

Finally the day was over, Kenji held Patricia's hand as they walked to their car to head home. Throughout the day both of them thought about Niko and Marie and wondered how they did on their first day without either of them being around. Kenji was also anxious to get home so that he could hug and kiss Niko and Marie; he really had missed them as he was sure Patricia had.

"How was your last class?" Patricia asked, her hand resting on Kenji's thigh.

"I have enjoyed all of my classes." he replied and then debated whether he should tell her about Andrew Kelley and then decided to. In all of their time together he had never kept anything from her and he wasn't going to start now, it was more important than ever that they not keep things from each other.

Patricia listened without interrupting about Kenji's run in with Andrew and the bullying of Joel.

"You could have walked away." she said knowing that he couldn't and wouldn't have even if he had thought about doing it.

"Yes but what if I had walked away that day you were pushed to the ground?" he asked, "I would not have met you and I would be in a loveless marriage, so no, I could not have walked away."

"I knew that." Patricia said stroking his thigh. "But you have to be careful around this Andrew Kelley and I'm sure that there are more like him." she added as she remembered the stories of torture and starvation that the men held in Japanese POW camps were telling.

"It appears that both of us have started our careers with adversity." Kenji replied.

*********

William met Nick in his office to give him a piece of news.

"It looks like Lawrence Goodman is going to be out in three years." he said.

"Fuck William!" Nick exclaimed.

"I know and understand but there's nothing that we can do about it." William replied.

"He's coming back here." Nick said with a certainty, "and I told him that I would kill him if he did."

"Whoa!" William interrupted. "You're not talking about just walking up and......."

"Of course not! But if he comes anywhere near my family, I will kill him." Nick said.

When William hesitated Nick knew that there was more.

"What else?" he asked.

"He's coming after Sally too."

"How do you know this?" Nick asked.

"We have someone working on the inside."

"You what? You sent an agent into..... Are you nuts?" Nick shouted, "Do you have any idea of what'll happen if they find out that they have a spy in their midst?"

"He volunteered." William replied.

"And that makes it right?"

"He was the best way of keeping an eye on Lawrence, this group that he's forming is far more radical than the traditional Klan and he bears watching." William replied.

"How are you retrieving the information?"

"His attorney makes a visit ever couple of weeks." William replied, "If he wants out all he has to do is say get me out of here. It's a statement made quite frequently to visiting attorneys."

"Why did this guy volunteer? What's in it for him?" Nick asked.

"I don't know, I've never met him," William confessed.

Nick didn't like it but let it go, "Does Sally know?" he asked.

William was renting a room from Sally and it wasn't long before he found himself attracted to her but had never said anything, after all, he was the man who prosecuted her husband whom she was still married to. If she harbored any ill will toward him, she hid it well and if she was attracted to him, she hid that fact as well.

"No I haven't told her yet." He replied.

"Don't you think that she should know?" Nick asked.

"Yes but not now, Lawrence is still in prison and all it would do right now is frighten her."

"I see your point but what if he escapes? He's escaped before and with the help of government agents." Nick said.

"He's in a maximum security prison....."

"In the south where you yourself said that most of the people see him as a martyr," Nick interrupted, "all I'm saying is that it's a possibility."

"He only has three years; if he escapes and get's caught he'll serve more time." William said.

"You're forgetting something." Nick said, "He's on his own turf and he has friends that can and will hide him as well as help him get back here to follow through on his plans. And even if he doesn't escape, he'll have the means to get here. All I'm saying is that we have to be ready for anything."

"What are you proposing?" William asked.

"My friend Charles is a target as well, I'll stay in touch with him so we can get a heads up but Will, I would tell Sally sooner rather than later."

********

"Mama! Papa!" Niko yelled as soon as Patricia and Kenji were through the door. He didn't give them a chance to put their bags down as he hugged them around their legs.

Kenji dropped the bags and picked him up, "we missed you too." he said kissing Niko's cheek.

"Here papa." Niko said holding out the handkerchief that Kenji given him that morning.

"Thank you for keeping it safe for me." Kenji said taking the handkerchief from him and handing him over to Patricia while he went in search of Marie.

"How was it?" Hattie asked excitedly as she handed Marie to Kenji.

"It was.... Wonderful!" Kenji beamed as he hugged and kissed Marie.

"And Patricia?"

"Ask her but I believe that you will get the same answer." Kenji replied, "Thank you for staying with the children today."

"Tain't no problem! John taught Niko how to play catch today; he took to it like a fish to water." Hattie said, "Wore John out though."

"I suppose it would." Kenji said, "Niko is a very busy little boy."

Patricia came into the living room trailed by Niko and her father who had just woken from a nap.

"How was it?" Hattie asked, "Did they treat you right?"

"It was wonderful!" Patricia said repeating Kenji's sentiment.

John and Hattie stayed for dinner and cleaned up so that Patricia and Kenji could spend time with the children. During the course of the evening everyone called inquiring how the first day of classes went to which they all got the same response, "Wonderful!"

Hattie had already given both Niko and Marie their baths and they were already dressed for bed which left brushing their teeth. Kenji and Patricia found that they missed the bedtime routine of giving baths and decided that from now on unless they were going to be late to continue the routine themselves.

Once Niko and Marie were in bed, Kenji and Patricia took time for themselves before they settled in to study. It had been a long day for the both of them and not being able to touch whenever the want or need arose had been an adjustment.

Kenji held Patricia tight and kissed her, it felt as if it had been hours since he last kissed her and he felt himself harden with need. He pushed the need away, if they gave in they would fall asleep and they both had work to do for school. Regretfully Kenji released Patricia and stepped back.

"Study first and then we make love." he told her as he ran a finger over the healed scar that she had gotten from Vernon Monroe.

"Is that a promise?" Patricia asked looking up at him.

"Oh yes Kirei." Kenji said softly, "that is a promise."

Patricia didn't have as much to do as Kenji and was finished long before he was.

"Kirei go to bed." Kenji urged, "I still have quite a bit of reading to do."

"I'll go get changed and come back." She replied kissing him as she passed by.

Kenji looked at his assignment, he had no more than another hour of reading which meant that he would be done by ten, early enough to make love before going to sleep.

He turned his attention back to his reading hoping that more of the material was review and was pleased to see that it was. By the time Patricia made it back downstairs Kenji was putting his books away.

"You're done?" she asked.

"Yes kirei most of it was review, it seems that my reading all of those medical journals has paid off."

"So you're ready for bed?" Patricia teased her brown eyes sparkling.

"I am and not to sleep." Kenji replied smiling at her.

The sparkle in her eyes that he had loved so much was back, she still clung to him tightly when they slept and became apprehensive when he left the house without her but she was much better. So was he for that matter, his relationship with his father had improved dramatically and in some ways it was much better than before the whole issue with Patricia. Even Niko had begun to warm toward his "gram papa" as he called him.

As Kenji climbed the stairs he was reminded that not only could they not neglect the children but that they couldn't neglect each other either. Given what their schedules were going to be like it would be easy to do and it would take conscious effort to make sure that it didn't happen.

As he undressed he looked over at Patricia, in his mind she still looked like the young eighteen year old girl that he saw when he first arrived , he suspected that no matter how old they got he would see her in that light. He knew by the way that she chewed her lower lip that she had something to say.

"What is it Kirei?" he asked as he slid into the bed next to her.

"We had to write an essay today." she said as she sat part of the way up so that Kenji could put an arm around her.

"And what did you write about?" Kenji asked.

"You." she replied.

"Me?" Kenji asked surprised.

"Yes you, who else would I write about?" she asked lightly slapping his chest." Anyway, as I was writing it I realized that a lot of what I wrote about I never told you."

"Such as?"

"That day that you helped me my life changed for the better even if I didn't know it." she said, "and the times that you would come up to me and say hello before hurrying off... I think that I was falling for you then but anyway the gist of my essay was this, if I had to do it again just to be here with you I would do it in a heartbeat. I love you Dr. Kenjiro Takeda."

"I love you too Kirei." Kenji replied, "I was thinking a few moments ago that when I look at you I see that young girl that I saw when I got off of the ship. Do you remember that day? Who knew that we would be together?"

Kenji turned the bedside lamp back on.

"What are you doing?" Patricia asked.

"I want to see you as I love you." he replied just as he kissed her.

Patricia turned on her side to face him trapping his erection between them. Every time they made love she said a silent thank you to Paul for getting them the diaphragm, since then Kenji had ordered extra ones just in case. Knowing that they couldn't get pregnant unless they chose to was very freeing in more way than one. Patricia knew that the last pregnancy scared Kenji even though he never said anything, it scared her too. She never said anything because it would be a few years before they could even begin thinking about having another baby. When the time came they would have to talk about it but for now...

Patricia moaned when Kenji kissed her neck and pressed closer into him, she felt his cock dig into her soft belly. She loved the feel and smell of him and knew that she always would as she knew that she would always love him. She giggled when Kenji flipped her on her back and then gasped as he slammed into her. She wrapped her legs around him and crossed her ankles in an attempt to hold him to her.

Kenji supported his weight on his arms as he looked down at Patricia who was looking back at him, her eyes shone with a combination of love, trust and mischievousness that Kenji wished that he could have taken a picture of. All too soon he felt his orgasm begin and Patricia's started soon after. She came with her face pressed into his chest and arms wrapped tightly around his waist.

Afterwards they slept soundly wrapped in each other arms not waking until they heard Niko crying out.

"Mama! Papa!" he sobbed.

Kenji shot off of the bed grabbing his slacks as he went and rushed into the room with Patricia following close behind.