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The phone in Satoshi&039;s roo He opened his eyes, looked over at the clock, and then reached for the phone

"Hello"

"Satoshi?"

It sounded like Yori

"Yes"

"It&039;s me, Yori I need you to come to Osaka Hospital"

Satoshi sat up in bed Yori sounded desperate and scared

"What&039;s wrong?"

"It&039;s Amaya She tried to kill herself Please co from the bed "I&039;m on my way Please stay cal his phone and wallet He ran out of his roo on bedroom doors to rouse the others

A vey sleepy Takumijo opened his door "What do you want?"

"Get dressed," Satoshi shouted at hiet to the hospital Amaya just tried to kill herself, and Yori is hysterical"

Takumijo dashed into his rooet the others They all stood in the hall looking at him Fifteen minutes later Kenshin floored the SUV&039;s accelerator and drove them to the hospital Cristal had wanted to accompany therimaced The look on Shaundra&039;s face when she heard the news frightened hied like she didn&039;t care and just went back to bed

Maybe she wasn&039;t as nice as he assumed She acted like she was pissed he disturbed her sleep He knew that the two of theht, but Amaya was still family and when one of them ached, they all hurt

"Did Yori tell you what happened?" Masaaki asked

"No, he just said that she tried to kill herself I think we all can figure out why" He looked over to the seat across froainst the

Was he asleep? Satoshi peered over again No He didn&039;t think so "Are you okay, Ich?"

"No," Ichiro said "A"

Satoshi hadn&039;t expected such sadness from Ichiro

"She&039;ll be okay," Masaaki said "She&039;s a fighter"

"Fighters don&039;t attempt suicide," Ichiro replied

"I wonder what set her off?" Masaaki asked

"Yori defending Shaundra over her," Takumijo said

"But you sa she was all up in Shaundra&039;s face,"

Satoshi said "He had to stop her"

"Maybe you guys shouldn&039;t have brought Shaundra back home," Ichiro said sadly

"What do youis the same Shaundra&039;s different, Amaya&039;s different, and we&039;re different than before"

Yes, he had noticed the change but it didn&039;t see as Shaundra was safe and sound "It will be better,"

Satoshi assured hih this and Shaundra will have two healthy babies Our lives will go back to normal"

"No, it won&039;t," Ichiro said "I don&039;t think things will ever be the sa lot of the hospital and found a spot in the visitor&039;s parking lot They got out and hurried into the eency door

Masaaki took the lead and asked questions at the triage desk

"She in recovery," the nurse told him "But she&039;s still unconscious"

"Oh," Masaaki uttered "Now I understand Where is her husband?"

The nurse rifled through some paperwork "He&039;s in the recovery room with her He has not left her side"

"Could you let hier and his brothers are here?"

The nurse picked up the phone and called the recovery room nurse "He&039;s on his way out," she told Masaaki

Moency rooled Yori exited His expensive charcoal gray suit looked wrinkled He collapsed in the seat next to Satoshi

"There was so ht I lost her"

Satoshi put his arm around Yori&039;s shoulder "She will recover She&039;s too mean not to"

Yori laid his head on Satoshi&039;s shoulder, and Satoshi tenderly stroked his head "I&039;ve never been so scared in my life Why did she do it? Aently kissed Yori on the forehead

Their fearless leader talked a good game but deep inside he was still little Yori who feared thunderstor far too pretty to be a e ran deep and Yori tried to er-than- life persona "Don&039;t bla his forehead "Shewhen she attacked Shaundra the way she did Granted she&039;s the jealous, possessive type, but I never knew e" He body shuddered "She had a prescription for barbiturates"

"And you didn&039;t know about the prescription?"

"No," Yori answered "She never see But you know her; she&039;s been like that since Ia?" Satoshi asked

"She&039;s unconscious, but she&039;s breathing on her own since they pumped the pills out of her stomach"

"How much did she take?" Masaaki asked

"The whole bottle," Yori answered with a sob "If I hadn&039;t gotten there"

"But you did," Satoshi told him "That&039;s all that matters"

Ichiro caet through this," he said "She is fauet into I am sorry for any part I played in this little ht hand and stroked Ichiro&039;s cheek, but did not say anything At times like this it wasn&039;t the sentiment said but the love behind it

"Satoshi says that Amaya&039;s still in recovery," Cristal told Shaundra after she got off the phone with him "They&039;ll be hoe and to get soar and le like this?" Cristal asked

"What good does ending your life do?"

"She&039;s weak," Shaundra replied "And has low self- esteeht," Cristal said Shaundra didn&039;t seem broken up by what had happened In fact, it didn&039;t seem to faze her at all "I don&039;t think she&039;ll be able to go to Europe Satoshi said her parents want to take her home with them while she recovers"

"That&039;s what parents are supposed to do when their kids make stupid decisions," Shaundra said

"Ouch, why so cold, Mrs Yoshida?"

"Because it&039;s true It is asyourself over Her parents should have taught her that"

Cristal raised an eyebrow in disbelief "Not even Ich?"

"No, not even hi to wipe s like eating food with salt, but I never tried to kill myself with it And like you said, what purpose would it serve?"

"Satoshi also told me that she slit her wrists"

"Still a cowardly way to do it Amaya didn&039;t want to die,"

Shaundra told Cristal "She knew Yori was on his way home

She did it for sys like this all the time"

"How do you know this?"

"Because I&039;ve been around a long ti," Shaundra told her "She thought she could guilt Yori into loving her"

"Maybe you&039;re right" Damn, Shaundra has such a brutal outlook on life She wondered what had happened to her in the past to e?"

"For a while," Shaundra answered "But then he&039;ll revert back to his old self The e that Amaya knows this and I&039;m sure it&039;s hard to be second in your husband&039;s life But instead of taking her frustrations out of me she should have found a way to ed anything except maybe e"

"Don&039;t you feel a tiny bit guilty about some of this?" Cristal asked

"Hell no," Shaundra answered coldly "Well, let me take that back, yes I should have refused to ever come to Japan

Had I stayed my ass on American soil most of this would not have happened But I didn&039;t cause her to become suicidal If it wasn&039;t me, it would have been some other woman Yori messed with I won&039;t take responsibility for her shortcoht as she lifted her teacup But still very negative The farmhouse queen did have a lot of issues emotionally and probably needed more help than she&039;d admit

She had learned that Shaundra wasn&039;t the kind of person to burden someone else with her problems She just kept it all bottled up inside and just toned it out or fainted when it becahtening that rendered her unconscious for fourdecision toany easier the closer she got to delivering Do you stay with a man because you love him and you&039;re rief?

The sound of the front door opened, ending any further conversations between the tired and et breakfast started," Ichiro said

"It&039;s already done," Shaundra replied as Ichiro kissed her on the top of her head

"You cooked?" Taku down at the table

"I&039; "I&039;ve been cooking long before any of you were born"

She struggled to get to her feet Shaundra had gained s and feet looked swollen

Cristal sprang to her feet to help her "I&039;ll serve therabbed the other side of Shaundra "I&039;ll serve them, he said "It is my responsibility"

"Okay," Shaundra said once she was on her feet "I&039; back to bed I don&039;t feel well"

"What&039;s wrong?" Ichiro asked

"I&039;m just tired," Shaundra replied

Cristal smirked Point well taken, Ms Yoshida There was et a er Maybe she should have consulted Shaundra before going to California Had she, maybe Yi-jun would have paid s are swollen," Ichiro told his wife "Are you staying away from the salt?"

"Yes," Shaundra answered "It&039;s fro-head babies you&039;ve planted inside oftoonhavoc on ry, so I&039;"

"Let me help you upstairs," Ichiro said like an obedient puppy He led his wife out of the dining room and took her upstairs while the others remained behind

"How is she?" Cristal asked Satoshi once they were alone

She didn&039;t like Amaya but she didn&039;t wish her dead

"She is awake," Masaaki answered froe has been done"

"And Yori?"

"A mess," Masaaki replied "He blames himself for his wife&039;s stupidity"

Cristal sipped her tea Where had she heard that line before? Masaaki sounded a bit like Shaundra

"I don&039;t think we&039;ll be seeing Yori for a while"

"What about rehearsal for the tour?" Cristal asked

"Yori is a professional He will be perfect with or without rehearsal"

"Are you sure he&039;ll even make the tour?" Cristal asked She needed to know just in case she had to do soes to their publicity

"Yes," Masaaki answered her "Like Ichiro, he knows his responsibilities What can he do for Amaya but sit by her side and hold her hand"

Soht

"He can&039;t fix her problem," Masaaki continued "Only she can do this"

Ichiro reentered the dining rooh the doors that led to the kitchen Everyone followed hiuilty for what he said to Aht,"

Satoshi said

"He shouldn&039;t feel that way," Cristal replied "I would have told her the sa his wife"

"Ich would have punched Ahts out if she had struck Shaundra," Takumijo told her "He has never hit a woman before, but for Shaundra he would have done so"

"No," Cristal gasped

"Yes," Satoshi said "His wife is pregnant and defenseless

In Ichiro&039;s world he thinks he has to protect her"

She didn&039;t know if she considered Shaundra defenseless

She could have handled Alad they didn&039;t have to resort to violence," Cristal said "Now all we have to do is pray for Amaya&039;s full recovery"

Takumijo snorted "This from a woman as about to pull Ao"

"She&039;s annoying," Cristal said in her own defense "But I don&039;t want her dead We are family after all"

Ichiro came out of the kitchen with the food and served everyone including himself He didn&039;t say much like he had a lot on his mind and not necessarily Amaya

"Find the seamstress," Masaaki shouted at Takumijo one day before the benefit concert "Yori&039;s costu him correctly"

Takuht, and his pants for his stage costue looking anything less than perfect," Masaaki continued like a mother hen

Takumijo left the roo out the sleeves to Ichiro&039;s costuy to work out so out of his shirts "Masaaki needs you," he told the older wo the"

"Send Yori toto put this sewing ?" She finished up with Ichiro "Nountil after the tour," she told him "I&039;ve already started on your wardrobe and I can&039;t spend allout seams"

"Yes, Mrs Ito," Ichiro said to the seaaze over Ichiro&039;s bare upper body He found the younger man tone, muscular and without an ounce of fat Ichiro had also slimushed with pride and a little desire Ichiro&039;s body al and take a picture," Ichiro told him as he put his shirt on

"You know you&039;ve always been my favorite," Takumijo teased

"Yeah, lucky me," Ichiro said sarcastically "A pretty-boy dancer has the hots for me"

Takumijo winked at him and walked out of the costume room He headed back to Masaaki and sent Yori into the seamstress He noticed how pale Yori had becoe to it like he hadn&039;t been eating or sleeping properly

A to her parents hoht her ho so he was neglecting his own health He even needed a haircut Takumijo made a et Yori back on his feet, Satoshi could

Masaaki had moved on to inspect Kenshin&039;s costuazine waiting for his turn

"You look great in this costuirlfriend to the benefit concert?"

"Yes, she is off fro forward to finally seeing me perform"

"Can I see you outside for a moment?" Takumijo asked Satoshi

Satoshi looked at him, rose and followed Takumijo out of the room

"What&039;s up?" Satoshi asked

"Yori," Takumijo replied

"What about hiht he&039;s lost? And I don&039;t think he&039;s been sleeping"

"I have noticed," Satoshi said "His skin isn&039;t perfect any more And he needs a haircut"

Takumijo nodded "Do you think you can talk to him and find out where he&039;s at?"

"You mean, see if he&039;s emotionally stable?"

"Yes," Takumijo said

"Well, he&039;s never exactly been that stable, but I knohat you mean I&039;ll speak with him as soon as Mrs Ito is finished with him"

Ichiro walked past them Both Satoshi and Takuination or is Ichiro&039;s ination," Takumijo said "I just saw hi sweet"

"Is he taking any kind of steroids?" Satoshi asked

"No, I don&039;t think so," Takus like that He&039;s a naturalist"

"Looks toout When does he find the ti the wo but that young waitress at his restaurant has me worried"

"Eri?" Takumijo asked

"Yes, that the one She&039;s after Ich I could see it in her smile and in her walk"

"Yeah, I noticed it too But Ich won&039;t touch that He has too much to lose"

"I don&039;t know, Satoshi said "You heard what he said

Everything has changed Maybe he meant himself"

"Ichiro would never cheat on Shaundra," Takuh and dry and probably for good this tiht," Satoshi said

Yori came out of the alteration room

Takumijo bowed and left the two of them

"Can we talk?" Satoshi asked Yori

"Sure what about?"

"You," Satoshi said "Tak is worried about you"

"I&039;m okay," Yori said "I&039; care of Amaya?"

Yori nodded "I am her husband She needs me"

"Then you need to take care of yourself You need to eat, and you could use a haircut"

Yori touched his hair It was non past his shoulders

"It&039;s getting as long as Ich"

"Yeah We only need one pretty boy in the group It&039;s sort of his thingnot yours"

Yori chuckled weakly "He sent Aed "He loves her in his own special way

We all do, that&039;s e need you to take care of yourself

You need to be strong for her" He paused "Have you talked to her about what happened?"

Yori shook his head "What is there to talk about? We both knohat she did and why she did it I should have thought about her feelings and not done sos I did I wish I could take it back, but I can&039;t"

"Are you still in love with Shaundra?" Satoshi asked

Yori looked away "I have convinced myself that it will never happen between her andhis babies I still love her, but I know it&039;s over between us I lovethat to her"

Poor Yori Satoshi patted hilad,"

he said "Hopefully the two of you can get past this" He headed out of the room

"What about you?" Yori asked "Are you still in love with Shaundra?"

"Yes," Satoshi said "But I am content at the moment just to be one of her dear friends"

Ah to attend the benefit concert, which didn&039;t bother Shaundra She got dressed in a sexy, black after-five maternity outfit Ichiro had purchased for her for the occasion, and she wasn&039;t going to let anything spoil her evening The et in one more rehearsal before the show, and Cristal had volunteered to drive her to the benefit hall

Cristal looked precious in a navy blue after five that brought out the blush in her cheeks and made her eyes twinkle Yi-jun was such a fool to have passed up this rare geo?" Cristal asked as she h the crowded streets

"He says I&039; about ad me in the hospital next month"

"But that&039;s aco two very large babies"

Cristal chuckled "Has hetaller and more muscular since I&039;ve met him"

"Yeah, I noticed it too It&039;s like he&039;s still a growing boy"

"Daichi is pretty tall too," Cristal said

"Yes If it wasn&039;t for the eyes, they could pass for twins"

"You think so?"

"Yes," Shaundra said "I noticed the resemblance when I met him"