"What do you want?"
Buggy sprang to his feet in a huff and pointed at Yamabiko Kumadori. "You're getting on in years. You're past your prime! Don't tell me you expect me to take responsibility for you."
He curled his lip, looking thoroughly displeased. "If you were young and beautiful, that would be different."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Yamabiko Kumadori shook with anger. She grabbed Lucci. "Lu, you be the judge. I'm the victim here! My husband died after Kumadori was born, and I never remarried. I haven't let another man lay a finger on me in all these decades. I've kept myself pure, and after what he did to me, I can't just let it go!"
"You're making things up. Besides, I didn't do anything." Buggy refused to admit a thing.
Their argument grew so heated they nearly came to blows. Before long, the noise woke Ye Chen, who had only just gone back to sleep. Irritated, he asked what the two were fighting about, then looked Yamabiko Kumadori over. "What exactly do you want?"
"It's simple. He has to marry me."
"Marry you?" Buggy nearly threw up. Everyone else burst out laughing. Buggy might have gone a bit too far, but Yamabiko Kumadori was asking too much. She was already so old she had one foot in the grave, yet she wanted to become Buggy's wife. She was pushing her luck.
Ye Chen snorted. Yamabiko Kumadori kept squinting at Buggy, her eyes darting about. One look at her shifty expression told him she was up to something.
He shook his head. "You two can work this out yourselves. People are free to choose whom they marry, and I've always been democratic. Even if Buggy was in the wrong, I can't force him to marry you."
"Free to