She'll Bring Honor To Us All (BWWM) ✓

Chapter 28: Transfer of Power

Rein's POV
"It has been some time, my child." He whispered, as he beckoned me closer. I struggled to fight back the tears that had flooded my eyes as I took in his appearance.

He had lost a drastic amount of weight since I had last seen him. His body was basically a skeleton now. There were tubes that were hooked up from his body to large machines that looked as if they were doing everything for him.

"Oh my god." I finally whispered, as I dropped down to my knees at his bed side. The tears were now streaming down my face. "What happened to you?" I finally croaked out. His hand reached out to the side of my face, as he gently wiped the tears from my eyes. His hands were cold to touch.

"My body has grown weak. My organs have start to shut down, my Renge. Please do not cry. It breaks my heart enough to have you see me like this. If you cry, I don't know if I can survive this meeting." My father whispered. I rubbed the tears away from my eyes. "I'm so happy you've come home."

"I wasn't so sure you would be." I replied honestly. "The way I left-"

"Is in the past." He finished. "And I'm far too old to be dwelling in the past, my child. All that matters is that you are here now."

"I am sorry father, but I am here because of the past. I think it is starting to catch up with me." I replied. My father's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "It was the job that I took shortly before I left Japan... It was a job with Shan Yu."

"You accepted a job for Shan Yu?" My father asked now. His voice had quickly turned into the overprotective one I had known too well.

"I had taken it originally with Genji. It was a simple movement of cargo... but the job didn't go over too well." I explained.

"What happened?" My father demanded.

"The cargo was women." I explained. "He was in the human trafficking business. Once I found out, I set the women free." My father's eyes grew wide but he remained calm.

"Shan Yu is not a man to cross." My father reminded me. "His debt is every much as sacred as ours." I nodded solemnly.

"There was an... attack in New York. A painting was stolen from the Walten Institute of Art. It was the same painting you had bought from that art gallery here in Kyoto many years ago."

"Stolen?" My father asked.

"I'm not sure how, but I worked the case and Shan Yu was involved. That painting was one of the very few personal purchases you'd ever made. If he has the painting, and the original seller, he can potentially have access to all your private records."

"You came here to warn me." My father stated. His emotions were unreadable as always.

"I came here to tell you that you need to leave. There aren't nearly enough guards here to protect you from him, father." I replied.

"My child, look at me." He ordered.

My eyes shifted up off the floor.

"I cannot leave this place. These machines aren't meant to be transported. The second I'm unhooked from them, I will die. If I'm going to die, there is no better place to do so, then the place I raised my family in."

I couldn't help myself at this point as tears streamed down my face.

"I can't loose you." I croaked out. His eyes softened at that.

"Who said you will?" He asked. "I'm never going to leave you, Renge. It's just time for me to go home. To be with your mother." My body shook from the sobs as he held his hand against me.

"What am I going to do? What is the Black Lotus going to do?" I asked, completely hysterical now. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried like this.

"They'll continue on with your leadership." He replied simply. I glanced up again in shock.

"You want me to take over?" I asked, completely taken back. "If anyone is to lead, it should be Genji. You cannot ask something like that of me."

My father took another pause as he cleared his throat once more.

"You always thought I was hard on Genji. You thought I didn't want him as my son, and the truth is... I didn't. When I looked at Genji, I was reminded of the man your mother had first fallen in love with. I was reminded of the man that was killed during the war. The man your mother gave her full heart to. When I looked at you, Renge, all I saw was your mother. When I was with you, I was reminded of her kindred spirit. Of how beautiful her laugh was, and how carefree she lead her life. I was incapable of showing Genji the same love out of my own jealousy. But hear me when I say this, I would not pass the business to Genji because of his willingness to follow.

"You were always the one who defied me. When you didn't agree with something, you were willing to cut ties. The money meant nothing to you. That is the direction I want the Black Lotus to go in. The missions we take need to reflect our honor, not our pride. There is no one more suitable, and more capable to lead."

"I have killed two members of the Black Lotus. That in itself is a treasonous act. I have disappeared for the last five years, father. Even if I decided to lead, who would follow?" I asked him.

"I have already passed the business on to you. The year you left, I wrote up my will. You and Genji inherit everything, and you have inherited both my political title, and my illegitimate business." My father replied.

I was completely speechless at that.

"I don't know how to lead." I whispered to him. He smiled down at me.

"But you do know how to love. Before I made you broken, you had a capacity to. Do not let the terrors you have experienced, dictate who you are. Keep your morals. Have a code, and stand by it."

"My own Bushido." I smiled.

"Your own Bushido." He agreed. We shared the same memory... the memory of when he used to take me to the samurai festivals. One of the last beautiful memories we had as a family.

"Time is no longer On our side my Renge... my Black Lotus. I will handle things here, but you must go before Shan Yu arrives. I will disband a farewell message to the rest of the family, and from then on, you will become the new head of the Black Lotus. There isn't a doubt in my mind that you will make me proud." He finished, as his hand lifted once more to wipe away the stray tears. "It's now time for you to leave me, but understand, I will never leave you." He whispered once more before he dismissed me.

The meeting was now over.

"Goodbye father." I whispered, bowing once as I fought back more tears. Realization that this would be the last time I would see him, set in.

"Goodbye, my Renge." He replied, before I left the room.

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