Page 29 of Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox
When his office door slammed open, Michael glanced up from the collection of international newspapers strewn across his desk.
“What’s goingonaround here?” Gingko strode into the room two steps ahead of Argent, who had Tsumiko firmly by the elbow. “Michael’s wards are stacked against foxes. The woods are full of Sansa’s tripwires. And Dad’s in amoodover an honest mistake. Makes a guy feel unwelcome.”
Michael felt a knot loosen deep inside and smiled. “Welcome home, Gingko. I see you’ve met Miss Tsumiko.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good to be back.” He thumped the desk with both fists and leaned forward, speaking more quietly. “Say, she seems different. Is it the kind of different we need?”
“I’ll admit to holding out hope.” Michael searched their prodigal’s face, finding him thinner, wilder, and brazen as ever. “You ran off without saying goodbye.”
“I don’t like goodbyes,” he grumbled.
Michael softly said, “Mrs. Eimi would have liked the chance to wish you well.”
Gingko’s ears wilted. “It wouldn’t have made any difference.”
“She loved you.”
“Enough to wish me well, but not enough to grant the only wish I ever had.”
Michael sighed and raised his voice a notch. “Wherewereyou all this time?”
“Around.” Gingko moved back, including Argent and Tsumiko in the conversation. “I wanted to see if the so-called peace was more than propaganda. And … if there were any signs of people like me.”
“A scant nine months after the Emergence,” Argent said scornfully. “And you were hoping for what? A baby boom?”
“To be fair,” Michael interjected. “Therearerumors of others. And Hisoka Twineshaft has proposed laws to protect the rights of those who come forward.”
“Which he cannot,” Argent said. “SinceIdo not exist.”
Gingko hunched his shoulders. “I won’t register if it’ll expose Dad.”
“There are other options,” Michael reasoned. “For instance, we could say you’re a foundling.”
“Tsk. Think!” snapped Argent. “Unaffiliated with a clan, he would lack their oversight and protection. Your medical researchers would snap him up, ignore his nascent rights in favor of their nebulous greater good, and exploit him as a test subject.”
“Wow, Dad.Almostsounds like you care,” muttered Gingko.
Argent bared his teeth. “And once they’ve vivisected you to unravel the secrets of your wretched existence, your genetic profile would invariably lead them here.”
“That’smore like it. Good old Dad.”
Tsumiko was looking strangely at her butler. “You know about medical research and genetics?”
“I may be antiquated, but I can read.” Argent’s gaze swept the room’s bulging bookshelves. “Michael shares.”
“Really?” Tsumiko asked, interest piqued.
Michael’s lips tugged upward. He’d noticed her thirst for knowledge. Vague and evasive answers didn’t stand a chance against her cross-examination. “My entire library is at Argent’s disposal, as are the news feeds, periodicals, and reaver communiques that cross my desk.”
She turned to Argent. “You’re allowed? Even if they’re allies, there must be things reavers don’t want the Amaranthine to know.”
“What’s the harm?” Deciding now was as good a time as any to broach the subject, Michael added, “Besides, I’m the current head of a very small resistance effort.”
Tsumiko took a step toward his desk. “What are you resisting?”
“The enslavement of Amaranthine by humans of reaver descent.”
A smile bloomed, only to fade into a small pout of confusion. “You want to set him free, too?”
