Chapter 2: The Aragon Family

Otsura Soma, mother of Eleanor Aragon. The thought itself made her shiver. Otsura stood at the door to the hospital room where her daughter lay nursing her infant. It was a boy; the child wasn't named yet. Apparently, Eleanor and her boar of a husband hadn't discussed it. They wanted to be "inspired" and see what sort of name seemed to suit the child once it was born. Otsura did feel a small tinge of guilt; the emotion barely snuck past her primary emotion of seething anger whenever Duran was the topic. Eleanor and Duran had been trying to conceive almost the entirety of their ten year marriage, and nothing happened. Part of not wanting to name him yet was probably Eleanor's fear of bearing a stillborn after trying with no success for so long. The thought was probably too much for her to bear. The guilt was quickly replaced with a cold demeanor. Otsura watched as a tall, handsome, well-built man appeared from around the corner of the hall. Duran had finally arrived.

Otsura stood in front of the door, arms crossed and awaiting the inevitable interaction with her son. The thought of being associated with this low life chilled her to the bone.

"Ah, Mother, thank you for your continued support of Eleanor." Duran said with a small bow. Otsura sighed internally and put on her usual pompous air.

"Of course, Duran. Someone had to do it in your absence." Otsura had to hold herself back from smiling; she hoped her words stung.

Duran just smiled, bowed again, and said, "If you will excuse me, then it seems my presence is long overdue."

Otsura stepped aside, and she couldn't help the furrowed frown that had developed on her face. She wouldn't stand for this man tainting her family's name and legacy any longer. She turned and walked down the hall around the corner and out of the facility. She had fulfilled her duty, and she couldn't stand to be even in the same building as that man any longer.

Eleanor smiled as Duran pushed open the door. It was a weak smile, but this wasn't surprising considering the grueling labor she just went through. Duran couldn't help the tears that welled in his eyes as he looked upon his precious wife and their newborn son. It had been a long journey for the couple, but they had finally reaped their reward. Duran intertwined his fingers with Eleanor's and looked into her eyes.

"So, what shall we name him?" he softly asked.

Eleanor smiled and said, "I thought about it, and I think you should name him." She paused, winked and said, "Well, within reason, of course." Duran laughed and pondered for a bit. When his child was done nursing, he cradled him in his arm. His little hands opened and closed every once in a while matching the movements of his eyelids. As he attempted to adjust to being thrown into this new world within minutes, his eyes closed as he fell asleep. Duran looked at Eleanor.

''How about Gondor?"

Eleanor smiled from ear to ear and replied, ''Gon for short." This time, a different sort of smile appeared on her face, a tender and loving one as she added, "Gondor Duran Aragon of the Aragon clan."

Duran laughed and said,''I thought you hated it when I spoke of names in such patriarchal terminology."

Eleanor shrugged, "I guess it rubbed off on me. Plus, I don't mind when it's your name we are talking about. I am just glad you will never call me-" She paused and tried her best to inflect Duran’s mannerism. "’Eleanor of Soma of the clan of Soma.’" Duran laughed, and the quip prompted memories of his first encounter with her; he couldn't help but cringe internally a little at his behavior at the time. Duran slowly handed the now sleeping Gon back to his mother. She cradled him as they discussed the logistics of bringing him home.

6 months later:

Escanor

I watched the young family go about their usual routine, jogging through town to stay active and promote activity, as well as their store's sneakers. Gon's little head could be seen bobbing up and down on Duran's child backpack, another product they were advertising.

Home for the young family was only home-sweet-home for a brief moment. Right about six months after my nephew, Gon, was born, I was forced to evict them from their home, which was just adjacent to the long standing A.S.M warehouse and store. They moved to the outskirts of Tokyo and Somaian land, the border of Eleanor's clan’s land. The Sodomites had joined forces with the Soma's and forced all the Aragonians to officially give up their land and move. Of course, they sweetened the deal by offering them new homes in Tokyo. The Aragons themselves weren't so lucky. Duran and Eleanor refused to renounce Duran's heritage and legacy, so they were kept closer and under watch. The leader of this takeover, ironically, was me, Escanor Soma. I consider myself close to both Duran and Eleanor. Sometimes, I have to make hard choices. You have to understand, I am a success-driven man who will do anything to reach the top, but I still respect the hierarchy of the clan. And through this, when it comes to influence, I have slowly risen near the top of the clan. If only my sister were like me, we wouldn't be in this situation. I don't consider myself completely power-driven, and as such, my soft spot for my sister has allowed the family to continue to live somewhat leisurely. Honestly, unlike the rest of my family, I respected Duran for his persistence and drive. As such, I used my power to allow the Aragon's to keep part of their business. I took their lands and most of their assets, but I allowed them to keep their little failing business. It could do me no harm, and it showed the other people in my clan that I hadn't forgotten my sister. This could only help to benefit me and my reputation. The name of the business was changed to Eleanor's Sports and Activities, or E.A. Sports. I was fine with leaving the name as it was, but my mother, Otsura, insisted on the change - a shot intended to hurt Duran's pride.

Suddenly, Duran's eyes swung my way. I don't know how he spotted me, but he did. This was one of the reasons I respected him; he seemed to have many uncanny abilities, a necessary trait, if you ask me. He also somehow managed to win my sister over, who was undoubtedly a solid nine. Possibly a ten. I laughed out loud, and none of the customers dared to question me; they knew who I was, after all. Sometimes, I couldn't help laughing at my own bizarreness. I tried to know myself well so I could control my tendencies and habits around certain people. But what kind of person judges a man by his ability to wow his sister? I know that I am many things, but sometimes, I still don't understand myself.

Escanor laughed at himself again before slipping back to a booth to await the now expected encounter.

Eleanor leaned over and whispered, "I think we are being watched." Duran laughed and playfully nudged his wife's arm.

"Yes, we are. Your brother is watching us. Should we pay him a visit and see what he wants or let him think that he is sneaky?"

Eleanor laughed and looked around at the billboards boasting virtual reality games, houses, and even relationships. There didn't seem to be very much movement on the streets of Tokyo this morning, but she couldn't spot him.

She shrugged and said, "Why not? I don't think he means much harm. He just does what he thinks is best for himself." Duran rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, not much harm besides taking our land and house." Eleanor's demeanor stiffened for a second at the remark then relaxed.

"Oh, you know it would have been worse if Escanor wasn't in charge. Imagine if my mother was." That got the bright smile that she loved to cross her husband's face.

"If she was in charge, I would probably be hanging from one of those billboards." They shared a laugh. Then, Duran looked down for a second.

"I wish I could do what I think is best for myself," he muttered. He was grateful his wife didn't seem to hear him. One thing she always said she loved about him was his optimism and drive, even in the face of a seemingly impossible task. When he was ready to open up about the doubts and insecurities that were creeping into his head, he would. A small part of him wished that he could just give up and roll over into the pigsty of self-indulgence that Neo Tokyo had become, just like the rest of his clan had. But he couldn't, and he knew his wife wouldn't want him to, either, even if their lives would be easier that way. She was always pushing to better him. His thoughts went back to the letter in the crate and its slightly philosophical ending.

"Maybe Eleanor is more suited to be an Araganian then I am." He cut off his negative trainwreck of thoughts as the family continued their jog up to Escanor's 'lookout' spot.

Escanor watched as the family he had been spying on from his favorite cafe's balcony jogged over to him. He still couldn't believe that Duran had spotted him. But this was a no-harm-no-foul situation. He greeted them with a smile and loud but graceful, "Well, well! What a coincidence! I see you guys have fine taste, as well."

He offered to buy them drinks, and they sat and talked for a long while. This wasn't how Escanor had planned his day, but a part of him didn't mind. Though, he did sort of regret some of the things that cunning bastard Duran had gotten him to talk about. He probably disclosed more than he should have. But again, no harm, no foul. As clever and dedicated as Duran was and as loyal and resourceful as Eleanor was, Escanor knew that for better or for worse, the Aragons and the clan that they stood for posed no threat to him.