Shuuei-Gumi Clan

LXI. He owns night-lights

Rustling sounds come from Raku's unlocked window, and Hitoshi is prepared to move away when he hears the telltale voice of someone definitely not the Shuuei heir.

"Hey, Raku," a female voice mumbles sleepily.

Hitoshi's lips quirk up. He doesn't know when or how the Beehive heiress snuck into the estate. Maybe he should ask about this in the morning―for security reasons, of course, though if his voice takes on a teasing lilt, it will be no fault of his own.

"Raku," Chitoge whispers with a little more urgency. "I have to use the bathroom. Walk me there?"

They grumble back and forth before Raku's door slides open, and two pairs of footsteps patter through the halls. Hitoshi chuckles and continues on his circuit.

He means to approach Raku about it the next morning, but they receive news of intruders on their turf and the day is spent tearing through Bonyari's streets and waving their weapons in the air. He forgets about the whole ordeal until he's on patrol again days later.

Unlike some others, Hitoshi loves his nighttime rounds around the grounds, especially during full moon nights when the gardens light up in a magical haze that takes his breath away. He gets to be left alone with his thoughts, accompanied only by the familiar sword against his hip, the rhythmic falls of his footsteps, and the gentle snores of his brothers in their bedrooms. After his shift, he likes to stop by the back garden to take one last inhale before making his way to the next person's room, prodding them out of sleep and handing off the flashlight.

The routine has been stamped into his muscles, and he loves the predictability of it. Tonight, though, he notices something out of place―nothing worth alerting the others over but definitely something worth investigating. It's one of the halls near Raku's quarters. The area is usually dark enough to require a sweep of the flashlight, but now it's cast in a faded yellow glow. Drawing closer, hand hovering over his sword's hilt, Hitoshi tries to make out the light source.

A mushroom.

He sighs and straightens. A mushroom-shaped nightlight. Now that he's around the corner, he can see a line of nightlights in various mushroom shapes. This is a new development. He'll be sure to talk to Raku about it, along with the discovery he made the previous week.

Speaking of his discovery. Hitoshi pauses in the corridor when he hears Chitoge's voice again. She calls out Raku's name and gets a tired grunt in return.

"Walk me to the bathroom?" A pause. "Raku."

"No, walk yourself this time." A sound of movement. He probably turned away from her.

Chitoge gives an indignant huff. "You've done it all the other nights!" Hitoshi files the admitted all the other nights for later.

"Well, I don't want to get up this time."

"Raku, I really need to pee."

"Fine, okay, I'll wait for you at the door, but I'm not walking you there."

There is more whispered squabbling before Raku's bedroom door opens, revealing an annoyed blonde and her half asleep boyfriend who leans against the frame for support. Hitoshi retreats further into the shadows at their appearance, but he's still close enough to see Chitoge's frown slip into an expression of surprise.

"Go to the bathroom before you say anything," Raku grumbles, rubbing at his eyes.

She looks like she wants to retort, but judging by the way she hops on one foot, her need for the bathroom outweighs her need to bite back so she spins on her heel. When she returns, a full blown grin is on her face and she rests her hands on Raku's chest.

"When did you do this?" she asks. Raku's eyes are still shut, but she's close enough for him to snag an arm around her waist. He puts his forehead on her shoulder. "And seriously, mushrooms of all things? You could've gone for something cute, like stars."

"Can't you say thank you and move on like a normal person?" he says into her skin.

"W-who would thank you?"she exclaims. The back of her neck flushes as she bites her lip, looking around warily in case she made too much noise. It earns her a soft laugh. She threads her fingers through his hair and presses a kiss to the top of his head. "...thanks, Raku."

With his curiosity sated and their desire for privacy apparent, Hitoshi slips back into the main hallway.

When Raku and Chitoge were younger, they were one of the most explosive couples he had ever seen, and it was a wonder the estate still stood with the intensity of their fights, but everyone knew it was a matter of balance, for the strength of their brawls matched the strength of their love for each other―indestructible, relentless, unyielding. He prefers their natural chemistry over the faked portion of their relationship, but he doesn't miss the days when a simple disagreement led to a loudly proclaimed challenge of Meet me in the training room!

One time it was over a cake slice that she had left in the fridge unlabeled, and Hitoshi glared at one of the newer recruits, the real culprit behind the crime who paled in silence, unable to admit his mistake. But the fist fights were never serious; he could see it in the way Chitoge pulled her punches, allowing the smallest amount of pride to creep into her smile as Raku dodged and retaliated like she had taught him. Despite his aversion to fighting and violence, fuel for her taunts of silly beansprout boy, he had and still has a surprising amount of brawn that appears at the most random times, but he rejected all Shuuei offers of training.

Now that Hitoshi thinks about it, he suspects Raku's agreement to Chitoge may have something to do with the physically intimate nature of her teaching methods and a weakness to her puppy eyes.

Before breakfast the next morning, Raku emerges from his room alone with nothing but an extra pillow hinting at his secret guest, an item that he brushes over with an easy I needed one for my back. Hitoshi holds his tongue as Raku runs through the day's schedule with everyone and mentions that Chitoge will be visiting for lunch. Really, how does she manage to slip through their defenses?

Raku approaches first after the gathering disperses, saving Hitoshi the trouble of cornering their young boss. "You've been staring," he says, suspicious. His arms cross over his chest in a way that reminds Hitoshi of Raku's old defiant days. "Did you need something?"

Hitoshi tries not to smirk, but his lips twitch, a detail that doesn't escape Raku. "I saw the new night-lights during my patrol last night. They're very nice, though unexpected. Would you like me to order more for the rest of the halls?"

"No, I only needed a bit of light in that area." Because Chitoge's afraid of the dark, Hitoshi tacks on gleefully. "I do have a few extra that I was planning on returning, but if you like the designs, feel free to take them."

"I'll keep that in mind. I do have one more thing I'd like to address." He reaches over to pour Raku a cup of tea that the younger man starts sipping immediately. "We should draft a new patrol pattern."

"What for?"

"It recently came to my attention that our security detail may be lacking. I have a feeling that the guest wasn't unwanted, but having anyone successfully evade members on patrol opens up many concerns over the quality of our performance. I figured I should talk about it with you before any news spreads."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," he pauses, pretending to busy himself with pouring out another cup, "the next time I see Miss Kirisaki, I'd like to ask her how she manages to sneak in and out of the premises without detection, particularly with how protected your bedroom and the office areas are." Without so much as a blink, he offers a napkin as Raku spits out his drink.

"W-what do you mean?" Raku says again, but his blushing face and the tea dribbling down his chin erase any chance he has of nonchalance. Hitoshi raises an eyebrow at the floundered attempts at excuses. Realizing that he has no way around the issue, Raku deflates. "Yeah, she was here yesterday."

"We both know that yesterday wasn't the only time. I'm not wondering the why, just the how. Contrary to belief," he gives an amused snort, "I won't mention it to the others and I'm not here to tease you, but if the opportunity arises, I will take it. We should hold a meeting some time this week to discuss hidden entry and exit points. Miss Kirisaki is invited, of course; she'll have valuable insight."

"I'll put the meeting in for Thursday."

Hitoshi's eyes soften. "I'm not trying to make it difficult for you two or anything, but she's a welcomed guest. It's the possibility of unwelcome ones having access to your private chambers that's worrying."

"I know. Thanks for looking out for me. And for, y'know, not making fun of me for this."

"You might want to take back the second one. I'm holding on the teasing until she gets here," Hitoshi chuckles. He makes his way to the doorway but pauses with a foot in the hall. "Can I add one more thing before I go?"

"What is it?"

"She can use the front door, you know―she's your fiancée, not a criminal. We might mess with you, but no one will tell you no. We care about you and you care about her, so we've come to care for her, too." He's never been too good with expressing these things, but he hopes Raku understands.

Raku's shoulders ease. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I'll see you later, Hitoshi."

LXII. They own the ugliest tablecloth in Bonyari

Super Designer Chitoge Kirisaki Now Owns THREE Houses with Husband!

Takahashi reads the interview with only half interest, rolling his eyes at how pushy the interviewer seems even through the page. He can't imagine her in real life. He flips through Chitoge's answers and grimaces at how the accompanying article twists her words despite the fashion designer eloquently explaining her living situation. Sure, to any outsider looking in, owning three houses is excessive, but anyone who actually spends time with the couple knows that three works for them.

Technically neither of them own the first nor the second property mentioned. The Beehive mansion passed directly from Adelt to Claude with Chitoge legally owning nothing but her bedroom, which she still uses when she's in Bonyari and Raku is on a business trip. The Shuuei property is under Issei's name, though the travelling man hasn't stepped foot through the front gates since the start of the year, citing some cruise vacation or another. Raku lives in the house, but only when Chitoge is out of the city so that he can work directly from the Shuuei office.

For the majority of the year, when Chitoge and Raku are both in the city, they share a house on the outskirts of downtown. Takahashi has been to that house a few times now, probably enough to count on both hands―a considerable amount given the fact that they bought the property not even four months ago.

The second time he visited, he went with a group of nine other yakuza members, a case of beer in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other. They rang the doorbell at exactly 1:30pm and heard the sound reverberate through the space. The door opened to reveal one disheveled Chitoge.

"Sorry!" She pulled the door wider and ushered them in. "I was rearranging the living room to fit our new couch, and Raku's in the kitchen making food if you wanted to put the drinks in the fridge. Help yourselves to anything!"

To say the living room is a mess would have been a gross understatement. All the furniture were pushed askew, and Chitoge put herself in the center of the mess, hand on chin as she surveyed the room. After Takahashi stowed away the gifts for later and greeted his favorite Ichijou, he returned to the living room and found his friends with their sleeves rolled up and following Chitoge's instructions. It took a few layout changes before Chitoge nodded in satisfaction.

"One more..." she muttered to herself and walked over to an armchair. With a short huff, she lifted the furniture piece, waving off their immediate attempts to help, and settled it into an empty space with the slightest thud. "Perfect!"

"Good timing, I finished cooking," Raku called from the kitchen. "Can everyone set the table?"

And that was when they saw it for the first time. He remembers an undignified yelp of surprise when Chitoge grabbed the bundle from the top of the closet, but at the moment, he didn't know if it came from him or the room's other occupants. What was that? He watched, petrified, as Chitoge unfurled the mass onto the table. Ranmaru found his voice first.

"Is that, uh," he pointed to the fabric, "a tablecloth?"

"Yeah! Isn't it gorgeous?" She beamed, and Takahashi bit back his automatic no.

Ugly. Hideous. Unattractive. Unpleasing. Unpleasant. Unsightly. Disagreeable. He could flip though a thesaurus, and all the adjectives in existence wouldn't even begin to describe it, so he resigned himself to faking a smile and nodding.

The fifth time he came over to their house, he was in a different group of ten, this time with some Beehive members, too. The married couple allowed a maximum of ten visitors at a time because when their property was last at full guest capacity―incidentally the first time he and everyone else had visited and for a housewarming party no less―things caught on fire, chaos ensued, and no amount of apologizes stopped the Kirisaki-Ichijous from kicking them out. Honestly, they were lucky Raku and Chitoge had wanted a large estate lined with trees to be away from others. If they got noise complaints from neighbors on top of what happened, there was no doubt that all visiting rights would be revoked for the next year.

Takahashi rubbed stray dirt off the plaque that adorned their newly constructed front gate. Kirisaki-Ichijou, it read, engraved script carefully looping in both English and Japanese characters. Something about those two names together made his heart swell, and the smile being shared between the men around him made him realize that he wasn't alone in the sentiment. Leave it to those kids to make hundreds of battle hardened, trigger happy, sword wielding, authority evading, bloodthirsty fighters melt into a pile of bumbling idiots. When he first met Ewan, the suited man next to him, they had been on opposite sides of the battlefield, and now they were standing on the same doorstep and making plans for coffee on the weekend.

"Welcome, come on in!" Chitoge waved from the front door before they could unlock the gates. "We're still painting the second room, but if you could help with the office, that'd be great!"

Putting together a desk and cabinets was harder than the given instructions advertised with stock photos of a happy and definitely not frustrated family on the cover and a mom giving a way too enthusiastic thumbs up. They ended up having a quick meal in that same room, plates and bowls spread across the surfaces of the newly installed furniture.

Or rather, on the surface of the cloth that covered the desk. Takahashi tried to keep his eyes averted from the busy pattern of over saturated hues and honed in on the bowl of mixed rice instead, but its images were imprinted into his vision. The walls swam with messy zig-zags and polka dots. It felt like every time he looked at the material, there was something new to discover. For example, upon closer inspection, those polka dots were actually a print of clown faces, and the short lines that crossed like train tracks down the center were stalks of wheat.

"Where'd you get this?" He tilted his head towards the monstrosity. "It's...unique."

"Chitoge and I were in Vietnam for one of her collaboration releases, and I found it in a street market stall. I didn't see it at first, but when the stall owner realized I was looking for tablecloths, his wife brought this one out of the pile, and I fell in love." Raku ran an affectionate hand over what looked like a mangled crop circle.

Takahashi took in their relaxed shoulders and excited eyes, sparkling with sincerity and not with deceit like he was hoping for. If they showed some kind of tell―an eyebrow twitch, a held back grin, any sign of lying―he could drop the polite charade and get them a new tablecloth. Preferably one that wouldn't cause nightmares.

Unfortunately, it has been months, and they still have it, bringing it out adoringly every time they have their families over.

Takahashi puts away the offending gossip magazine and reminds himself to show it to Raku later. Maybe the next headliner should be that super designer Chitoge, well received and loved in different countries around the world, owns the ugliest tablecloth with husband.

.

Takahashi wasn't planning on visiting the Kirisaki-Ichijou residence tonight, but as he fists his tattered sleeve and presses it to the wounds along his arm, he figures they won't mind a surprise guest at, what, ten in the evening? He always loses track of time during fights—not like he concerns himself with wearing a watch—and this one has been particularly tricky. The couple's insistence on advance notice only applies to day visits; business visits are allowed at all hours of the day, and they even leave a key outside for moments like this.

Takahashi sticks close to the shadows as he circles around back. The fence walls are tall, but they're not tall enough to completely hide him. He doesn't drop his guard when he shoves his hand into what appears to be a normal tree hollow. His fingers scrape along the inside, catching on bits of splintering wood, before his grip closes around the feel of metal.

He fumbles with the keys, but eventually he jams them into the proper locks and rushes into the house. The back door opens into a space for shoes and jackets. He kicks off his sandals to avoid tracking mud into their clean house. He's dripping blood everywhere, though, so maybe it's a lost cause. Stumbling through the kitchen, he barely registers the stew pot on the stove and heads straight for the dining room.

Spoons clatter against bowls as they jump to their feet. Raku moves to hold him up while Chitoge lays a sheet over their couch. Raku eases him down onto the sheet. Chitoge pulls bulletproof barriers over the windows and doors, then snaps their curtains closed.

"Sorry," Takahashi says with a wince. "You were the closest. Haven't heard shots for the last mile, but I couldn't get in touch with back up."

"Chitoge can call up the main house for back up. For now, I'll use the first aid kit to start bandaging. When I'm done, I can get you some beef stew. I'm guessing you haven't eaten?"

Takahashi catches sight of the food on the table, significantly more piled on one end than the other. "Sorry," he says again with another wince. "I didn't mean to interrupt your second dinner."

"Don't worry about it, I ate with a coworker earlier, so I was only keeping her company. Besides, we told you guys that our house is always available for emergencies. This," he waves at the bloody mess in his living room, "is definitely an emergency."

"I am so glad you fought to move out here." The decision was initially met with backlash. For security reasons, neither family allowed them to live them so close to the edge of the territory, but the married couple insisted on living away from the bustle of downtown and compromised on having security patrols for their home instead. "I'm glad you don't have any kids yet either."

"You say it like we're not in our twenties and still working on our careers. Now brace yourself, the disinfectant's going to sting."

He grits his teeth as Raku dabs at his arm and tries to focus on Chitoge's voice in the next room. She sounds tired. Takahashi makes a mental note to check in with her assistant eventually; he doesn't remember the last time the two had time for a date. A proper one. Sometimes they would have stolen moments between work, sitting in each other's offices and talking over a cup of coffee, but these scenes are too mild and normal to be them. He's sure he can get help from the others, too.

Chitoge ends the call and moves to her husband's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Shuuei is sending people now to check out the trail. Elias was on security tonight and saw you coming in. He called in extra Beehive members to watch over us for now, so feel free to stay the night in a guest room if home is too far."

"I'll head back once the coast is clear." He smiles, though he suspects it looks more like a grimace. "Thanks for the offer. Don't let me keep you."

She nods and goes back to the dining table. There's several dishes set up around her seat. Hopefully none of them have gone cold. They say that they're prepared for events like this, but he still feels bad for the bloody footprints smeared across the flooring, the smattering of hand prints he left on door frames and walls when he came in, and the food splatters on their tablecloth. Stew stains are annoying to get out of white.

Wait.

Takahashi shifts himself to see over the back of the sofa, craning his neck when Raku presses down against his chest with a Hey, I'm trying to wrap bandages. He falls onto the cushions with a slack jaw.

That's a decent tablecloth. Hell, that's a really nice tablecloth with an elegant floral trim and embossed swirls that are much easier on the eyes than whatever he's been seeing for the last four months.

No, there must be a simple explanation for this. Maybe their favorite one―with the Santa Clauses and the cacti and the whatever else printed on it―got dirty, and they threw it in the wash. That makes sense. Raku and Chitoge are adults; they wouldn't buy an ugly tablecloth and put on an act every time they had guests.

That would be over the top for a simple joke, he thinks wryly.

"There, I finished up with the wrap for now, but you should have someone take a look at it when you go back." Raku sits on his heels. "I'll get you some food."

Raku helps Takahasi into a sitting position before opening up the closet and pulling out another tablecloth, this one sky blue and just as pretty with lace detailing and embroidered birds. He spreads it over the coffee table and goes into the kitchen to, Takahashi presumes, get another hot bowl of stew, but all the injured man could think about is how the linen closet is filled with so many tablecloths. So many. If they're anything like the two laid out so far, they must be pretty nice. Which again begs the question: why is the ugly one always being used when he's over?

The prank angle is starting to look a lot more realistic now, as much as he hates to admit it, but it's such a tedious and subtle lie, one meant to be spun for a long length of time until...what? What's the pay off? The punchline? 'Tedious and subtle' has never been Chitoge's area of expertise either, though he supposes that makes it perfect in a way, being so unexpected and uncharacteristic.

The couple doesn't act like anything is out of the ordinary, so neither does he, but the question itches under his skin until Chitoge puts leftovers in the fridge and Raku washes the dishes, and finally he can't take it anymore.

"Where is it?" Takahashi flits his accusatory gaze between the two, even when they ask him to clarify. "Your favorite tablecloth, the one with the ugly patterns."

Chitoge looks to Raku in confusion. "Our favorite...I don't think we have a favorite, do we?"

"You do!" Does he sound crazy? He probably does. "You bring it out every time there's food when I'm here, and you got it in a Vietnamese market, and it always sits on the top shelf of the closet."

Raku opens the closet again, and there's...nothing on the top shelf. He even steps back to humor Takahashi, letting the older man rifle through the folded fabrics until his hands drop to his side. "Should you be moving around like this, Takahashi? Why don't you sit back down until the others come, hm?"

"It's the green one," he insists. "I mean, it has green and yellow and pink and spirals and chevron. And the corn. Or was it carrots―oh no, do not give me that look. I know it's here somewhere. Show me the laundry room―"

LXIII. He sends her gifts

The young master pretends it doesn't bother him, going onto college without Chitoge by his side. Jin knows it does, though; everyone in Beehive and Shuuei knows it does. It's particularly noticeable when he drops a conversation mid-sentence to double take at every long-haired blonde walking by. The first few times, it was amusing, but now his crestfallen face, visible only seconds before he manages a more neutral expression, is heartbreaking. There's not many natural blondes in Japan, so it didn't happen too often, but as time passes, even dyed hair catches his attention.

Jin isn't sure when the gift sending started, but he remembers when he noticed the extra expenses on Raku's personal card for the first time. He marked them with a swipe of highlighter. The transactions weren't large enough to warrant suspicion, though for the sake of his sanity and bookkeeping, Raku should be forwarding him receipts. Jin plugged one of the companies into his computer and furrowed his brows when all the stores were located in the States, mostly on the East Coast. The bill had an abbreviated description of the item, so he plugged that in, too, and found that it was a pretty wristlet wallet with a small metal plaque for customized engravings. Made sense that it was the most expensive item on that month's bill.

Jin cornered their young master the next day while he was studying. Raku admitted easily that he was the one making all the purchases, and it wasn't a case of credit card theft, but he was hesitant about forking over the receipts. Jin pointed out that, as the person in charge of Shuuei finances, he had access to all the credit card statements anyway, so really, Raku's attempts at hiding were futile.

"Fine," Raku groaned. "I'll start sending them to you. Just don't want the others to find out, or they'll keep teasing me about it."

Jin's lips has been sealed since that moment. The presents vary: sometimes Raku would buy new outfits or accessories for her, like a pair of shoes that she mentioned in a previous call. When it gets closer to deadlines, he gets food delivered to her office because she has a tendency to work overtime and forget to buy something to eat despite her usually monstrous appetite, or he sends her coffee in the morning because mornings are the worst for her after a long night. He tries to buy things from her neighborhood, and if he finds something in Japan, like a thrifted jean jacket that looks like her style, he keeps it in his closet until she visits.

The Shuuei members don't know why Raku is working part-time jobs when he's not in class. There's no need for shyness; if he needs extra money, they'll gladly find part-time work in his place! But he only shakes his head, insisting that this is something for himself and it isn't because the Shuuei finances are lacking in any way. And no, it's definitely not because he's being blackmailed or raising money for a ransom.

Jin is sitting at his desk, logging that month's expenses―he's going to hurt whoever thought having three weekend barbecues was a good idea―when Raku enters the office to place a stack of receipts next to the keyboard. Jin expects him to leave right after, but he doesn't. He pulls out his homework and sits on the other side of the table, scribbling on the sheets in silence.

"Did you need something?" Jin raises his eyebrows.

"No, I wanted a change of scenery for this assignment," Raku says, not looking at him. "Since you're working, too, I figured you'd be good company. Am I distracting you?"

"Not at all, young master."

Other than the sound of keyboard clacking and pencil scratching, the room is quiet, but Jin doesn't mind it. He prefers working with the sliding doors behind him open. The room faces one of the estate's pavilions. Tall, cultivated trees curve around to protect the house from outsiders' eyes, even with the high walls encircling the property, and shrubs dot the rock garden that winds through the space. In the afternoon, birds like to settle in the branches and chatter among themselves, and he likes their noise over the noise in the main hall. Right now, the others are running around to prepare the house for Chitoge's return.

"Are we in charge of picking up the young miss from the airport?" Jin asks. "There's only two more days until she comes back."

"No, Beehive is getting her this time."

"She must be excited; she hasn't been back in, what, six months? I wonder how she's going to thank you for all the gifts."

"I haven't been putting my name, so she doesn't," Raku pauses, "know that I've been the one sending them?"

"She doesn't know," Jin repeats, fingers freezing over the keyboard. So all the items that he's been faithfully plugging into their system have been sent―he takes a moment to close his eyes―anonymously. "Why?"

"I thought she'd think it was cute. Y'know, like how girls have secret admirers in movies."

"Let me get this straight: for the past however many months, she's been getting randomly expensive gifts from a stranger who somehow knows intimately her schedule and favorite things. And instead of thinking she'd feel suspicious, as she's been taught by her parents and her entire family, you thought it'd appear flattering?"

Raku flinches. "Well, when you put it that way, I suppose not." He stares at his homework for a moment and taps his pencil against his chin in thought. "I should go give her a call when she's free. I hope she didn't throw everything away."

"I hope so, too, young master." And that she doesn't punch him for giving her a scare.

LXIV. Sometimes, when they think no one is looking, their expressions are unguarded

As Ai waited for the photos to upload, he fiddled with the camera in his hands. A month ago, his fingers had swept clumsily over the dials and buttons, but now he clicked through the settings with familiarity and comfort. His sudden interest in photography had shocked all the Shuuei members, himself included. Though surprised, nothing stopped them from being more than supportive when he had enrolled in a class, and he was immensely grateful to them for partaking in his photo shoots, keeping him sane whenever he lost edited files, and helping him stay up on those late, late nights when he sprinted towards deadlines.

Someone set a teacup on the desk, and Ai startled. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Hitoshi said, plopping down next to Ai with his own cup. "I didn't see you grab lunch, so I figured I'd check in. Are we still on for 1?"

Ai grimaced as the screen's progress bar inched forward. "I don't know if this is going to be done on time. Might have to push it back to 2."

"No worries," Hitoshi nodded. He leaned against the wall and faced the open windows to stare into the garden.

It was a nice day, just enough clouds to stop the sun from being overbearing and a cool breeze drifting through the air. It was one of the few off-duty days they had, and Ai felt a twinge of regret for not finishing this assignment earlier. Instead of going out with his friends for food or setting up pranks in Claude's office, he was stuck behind a camera and in front of a screen for hours until he submitted his project. He wasn't alone in his suffering either; he had roped in Raku and Chitoge as his subjects and Hitoshi and Takahashi as his assistants. They had assured him that they were happy to help, but watching Hitoshi rest his eyes in the yakuza home instead of on a dock somewhere with a fishing rod beside him made guilt blossom in Ai's chest again.

Hitoshi opened an eye and promptly kicked him in the foot. "Wipe that sad look off your face," he ordered. "We're fine with this, remember? You'd do the same for me if I asked."

Of course he would; Ai would do anything for his brothers. Hitoshi in particular, he owed for saving his life at the most recent clash with invading gangs. He nodded, trying to push the guilt to the back of his mind as the photos finished saving on the computer. He opened the folder and clicked through the files. Ai had to admit he was very proud of his work this time. Somehow everything had gone perfectly, and he marveled at the quality of the images even without touch ups. Raku and Chitoge's chemistry bled through the screen. One of the reasons why he loved working with them was how little instruction they needed. He usually told them his vision for the day, and they would compliment the other like invisible strings connected their bodies, looping and snapping and pulling them around each other with ease. Whatever he told Raku to do, Chitoge would move to accommodate, and vice versa, and Ai could cry tears of joy. It was like pouring batter into a pan and watching the once bumpy mixture become smooth, and his somewhat half baked plans would become at least A- worthy.

He wished they could've continued the photo shoot.

Halfway through, a group of hooligans had started harassing other park goers. Takahashi had immediately gone to chase them down when things started getting physical while Hitoshi had helped the young ladies pick up their things. During that time, an argument had sparked between his favorite couple, and Ai had gone away to take random nature shots as practice and to give them privacy. Sometimes he wondered how they managed to stay together.

Ai flipped to the next image: a close up of a tree blossom that he managed to get into focus. It was one of the first challenges he had, snapping clear close ups, and it was satisfying to see physical proof of the time and effort he had poured into this hobby. After he had taken a few close shots, he had moved back to capture more of the tree because the light had danced through the branches in a way that caught his attention, but now a new detail drew his eyes. At first, he thought it was just a smudge against his lens, but as he continued, he realized he had caught Raku and Chitoge in the corner of all his practice shots. When he got to the last one, his finger hesitated before zooming in.

It must have been right after they reconciled. Raku was plucking a leaf out of Chitoge's hair, and his knuckles brushed gently against her ever-present ribbon, but it was Raku's face. For lack of better words, it was soft and so full of adoration that Ai's heart ached. And while Chitoge's face was blocked by a curtain of blonde, he could see her reciprocation in the way her body tilted towards his.

"They're something, aren't they?" Hitoshi muttered over Ai's shoulder before straightening up and stretching his arms over his head. "I'll get you food and tell the kids to be ready in an hour."

.

The couple glowered at each other, and at the other side of the pagoda, Ai shifted his weight between both feet, fist raised to rap on the support beam before the explosion of voices had stopped him. His heart told him to slink away, to escape quietly before the two noticed him or―heaven forbid―attract a crowd, but his head told him to push forward because the photo shoot hadn't finished yet and Hitoshi and Takahashi were waiting.

"I swear I can't stand you!"

"Fine, then sit down!"

"Did you just pun at me?!"

"I thought that'd make you laugh!"

"Well, fuck you, it did!"

"Great!"

"Great!"

As he deliberated over what to do, Raku and Chitoge held their glaring contest until Chitoge let out a strangled giggle and Raku's frown wavered. In seconds, they were leaning on each other with stifled chuckles, and now Ai definitely couldn't decide between leaving and getting their attention. Luckily, when he finally knocked, their amused attitudes remained, and Raku threw him a casual salute.

"Yo!" Raku grinned. "Are you done with the scene set up?"

Ai smiled to himself. He didn't know why he worried―they'd be just fine.

LXV. Thanks to the strange nature of their love lives, they have no experience with mixers

Fuck.

This has to be the worst day of Uehara's life. His fingers twitch by his side as he makes eye contact with Raku and Chitoge across the restaurant, and he prays that they understand the message he's trying to push telepathically.

Please turn around, he pleads in his head. Decide that the restaurant isn't good enough, turn around, and exit the building without a second glance at him. He's been doing so well lately. He bought ingredients for dinner. He ran errands for his brothers. He volunteered to protect the pet shelter the other night. He cleaned the bath houses. The bath houses! He doesn't know if he's praying to God, or Buddha, or the Bannik that lives in their bath houses according to one Russian Beehive, but he thinks he has collected enough good karma for the Universe to allow him this one request.

Judging by Raku and Chitoge's blissfully unaware smiles, the Universe is spitting on his soul. To fully understand Uehara's growing horror, we have to retrace his steps.

Five days ago, he was grocery shopping, and of all the household chores to do, Uehara hated grocery shopping the most. Usually, having a partner made the experience bearable, but Yamato was called to the streets this morning to help patrol the eastern sector, and while Uehara would normally rejoice at not having to listen to Yamato's booming laughter every time he told a bad joke, he begrudgingly admitted that he missed the company today.

He grumbled something about stupid muggers and stupid trespassers as he held up two udon noodle brands, inspecting them carefully for breakage. He hated when he opened a pack to find them snapped to bits. Why do people do that? Do they enjoy ruining his meals? He dropped one into his hand basket—it was the more popular one, if he remembered correctly—and was turning around when his basket swung into a passerby's hip.

"Oh, sorry about that...Yuuki?"

"Uehara?" The supposed stranger raised his baseball cap to get a better look at the man before him. Under the hat, Uehara could see tendrils of chestnut brown twisting into a braid that trailed down his back. Yuuki hadn't changed his hair since college. "Man, when was the last time I saw you? What're you doing here in Bonyari? You look good!"

"I live here," Uehara laughed, accepting the hug warmly. "What are you doing here?"

"You live here? That's great! I'm here for the next few months for my sister's new baby. She lives here and needs help balancing her new job. I just got into town this morning. How's life treating you, man?"

Uehara shrugged weakly. "I get by. Never got around to using that accounting degree." When he saw the beginnings of Yuuki's frown, he held up his hands. "It's a good thing, though! I'm much happier now and surrounded by better people. How about you?"

"Oh, that's great to hear. Well, I ended up getting a job out in Tokyo, met a girl, dated her for a few years, planned to propose, found out yesterday she's been cheating on me with my boss, so now I'm a free man without a job or a relationship!" He gave a bitter chuckle that made Uehara wince. "Sucks, but I'm glad I dodged a bullet on that one."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Nah, man, it's worth a celebration! Actually, if you're free tonight, how about going out for drinks and catching up?"

He had a feeling he should say no, but what came out of his mouth was an enthusiastic yes.

And that was how Uehara found himself in the corner of a dark nightclub hours later, shrinking into himself under the pulsating lights. Where he sat, high-back couches curved around circular tables, and he occupied one with Yuuki and two strangers Yuuki had picked up over the course of the night. The three of them nursed their recently broken hearts over rounds of alcohol while Uehara nursed his first and last beer. Someone had to have the cognitive ability to make sure everyone got home safely, and he didn't expect it to be him, but he wasn't the one who was cheated on. What, was yesterday 'Reveal Your Infidelity Day' or something?

On the other side of the building, a raised platform looked over an open floor filled with writhing bodies. He hadn't been clubbing in a while, but he was sure his discomfort didn't stem from being out of the game for too long―he had quickly realized that when some girl pressed up against him, and he had enjoyed it significantly less than his inebriated friend, who had his arms around an equally drunk brunette. He had retreated to the table, and Yuuki had stumbled in not long after with his two new best friends for the night. Despite being this far away from the speakers, he could feel the music's vibrations through the soles of his borrowed sneakers.

He tugged at his shirt collar before deciding that it was late enough to excuse him for unbuttoning it down his chest. Yuuki didn't say anything at the supermarket, so Uehara forgot how uncommon his usual choice of attire was until he heard they were heading here and he had no clothes to wear. He supposed he could have worn his normal muscle tee and blue kimono―one sleeve on and one sleeve off to emulate Ryuu, his Shuuei role model―and no one would dare to give him a second glance once they recognized his outfit, but he wanted to step away from his yakuza image for a moment, even if that meant having to buy a pair of jeans and a new shirt that would likely reek of alcohol for days after washing. He wiggled his toes. Luckily he wore the same size as Raku, and the young master had been kind enough to lend him a broken-in pair to dance in, but he was doing more sitting around and stepping in mysterious fluids than dancing. He frowned. At least Yuuki seemed to be having fun.

"Hey, hey, listen to this, Uehara." Yuuki elbowed him, snapping him out of his subconscious glower. He jabbed a thumb at the other two men. "Kentaro and Sora here were telling me about their successful bathroom trip."

"Successful as in...they used the bathroom?"

Yuuki laughed, elbowing him again. He rubbed his ribs with a forced chuckle. "You were always so funny! No, silly, successful as in they chatted up some girls, and guess who's attending a mixer tomorrow?" When Uehara didn't answer, he pointed to Kentaro, Sora, and himself with dramatic flair. "This man, this man, this man, and..."

"...me?"

"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" Yuuki threw up his hands. "Let's celebrate, boys. Another round of shots on me!"

A mixer meant he would have to buy another outfit for tomorrow.

Which he did, and it was a total waste because the group date went horrible. The eight of them met in a ramen bar, and while Kentaro was a questionable drunk companion, he was a downright awful sober companion. This detail was discovered when, as soon as everyone placed their orders and set down the menus to talk, he immediately asked for the women's three sizes, and it got steadily worse from there. He had to fight the urge to bury his face in his hands the whole night and spent his time making polite small talk with the woman across from him.

Her name was Shizuku, and she was nice enough: brown hair cut to her shoulders, dainty jewelry that hung loosely from her wrist and ears, a modest dark dress that did nothing yet everything to her figure. She was an office worker and probably the type of person he would go for if he had become an accountant, which was what he told her when she asked about his job. He learned a long time ago that I have an accounting degree was favored over I'm part of a crime syndicate, even if the Shuuei-gumi's priority was to protect Bonyari. At some point, Kentaro shot him a lecherous grin and tilted his head meaningfully towards Shizuku, a look that Uehara ignored because everyone else's date was going horribly, so clearly he was doing something right.

The other three girls were more than ready to part ways once dinner was done, and Uehara almost felt bad until he remembered that the men did it to themselves. He was also starting to remember exactly why he rarely went out with Yuuki in college—their attitudes towards women and alcohol were too different. Shizuku must have felt bad, too, for some reason, so she pulled him aside as everyone said their goodbyes.

"I enjoyed talking to you tonight. Really," she said. She glanced over his shoulder at his companions and offered an apologetic smile. "Your friends, not so much. I don't think my girls had too much fun tonight, but I think I have three friends that would be perfect for those guys now that I know what they're like. Do you think they're up for another mixer tomorrow?"

"Yes." Him? Not so much.

"Great! Let's exchange numbers and work out the details...how does chicken and beer sound?"

Sounded like his liver dying for the third night in a row, but he nodded with a laugh. "Honestly, as soon as you mention going for alcohol, they'll be halfway out the door. I know a good place not too far from here. Is this address convenient for you?"

"It's perfect! We work right next door, so we can walk over after our shift."

"Hey, Uehara!" He looked up at the sound of his name. Yuuki was waving from the end of the street. "You going to keep talking to your new girlfriend, or you going to come join us for more drinks?"

He looked back to Shizuku. "See? Alcohol," he said, and she gave a what can ya do? expression. She waved bye to him and rejoined her friends, and—wait, shit, another mixer meant he would have to buy a new outfit.

Luckily, this one went well. Shizuku was right—her friends were perfect fits for his rag tag group of…acquaintances. In fact, it went so well that the eight of them decided to go out again the next night for tempura and drinks, which meant another round of shopping. Really, at this point, he should consider expanding his wardrobe beyond traditional Japanese wear.

This brings us back to the escalating scene at the tempura restaurant.

Uehara jumped to his feet as soon as he glanced over and saw Raku walk in with his girlfriend, and in hindsight, he could have gotten away with being there had he not stood up, but what's done is done and now he is sweating unexplained bullets. Shizuku's brow furrows, and she reaches across the table to touch his clenched fists.

"Uehara? What's wrong?" she asks, concerned. She peeks over her shoulder, trying to find what is drawing his gaze. "Did you see something?"

He drops back into his seat and speaks directly into his plate. "Nope, had a funny spasm in my leg, that's all."

"I know exactly what you mean!" Chihiro chimes in from the other end of the table. She pauses her conversation with Sora about the growth of mushrooms in the wild to lean over and say, "When I sit too long at the office, my legs feel like jelly, and I feel like I need to stand up and walk around."

"Exactly," he says weakly.

He tries to join back in on the small talk, but he is distracted by the fact that a waitress seats the young master and young miss only a stone's throw away from his own seat. Though they have been exchanging silent, confused gazes, the couple remains at their table, focusing in on the menu, and Uehara sighs in relief. Then he notices that Shizuku has been saying his name.

"Sorry, can you repeat that?"

"I said, do you know those two?" She nods her head towards Raku and Chitoge. "If you want to go say hi, I really don't mind."

But he minds. Saying hi will lead to asking about his connection to them, and before she knows it, the carefully constructed image he has built as a mild-mannered, somewhat boring accountant will shatter to bits. And he finds that he likes Shizuku's company. She looks pretty today, too, with her hair pinned out of her face and her button up tucked primly into her maxi skirt.

"I can say a quick hello when we leave." He flashes a smile and takes her hand. "Tonight is about us learning about each other. You never finished your story about the puppy and the old railroad."

"Oh! Well, after I found the puppy, I…"

She tells him about how she cared for the puppy as its injury healed, and she came out to her porch one day to find it gone. Gone! He gasps appropriately. Apparently, its disappearance was only temporary because it returned later that week with its mom and two siblings, and that's how she adopted four dogs overnight.

"They're the absolute sweetest," she gushes, pulling out her phone to show him pictures. He's not familiar with dog breeds, but she tells him that they're Sanshu Inus. "You should come meet them one day."

"I would love to," he says.

"What about you? Do you own any pets?"

"I have fish." He hesitates. "And a few…unconventional ones."

"Unconventional?"

"Let's say they're not the typical dog, cat, fish pets that most people have."

She steeples her fingers and leans forward. "Oh, do tell."

"I have," he pauses, "a gator. A capybara. A horned owl, chickens, a flamingo, some lizards, a handful of snakes." He lists a few more but stops when he catches Shizuku's wide eyes. "They're not exactly mine, though! They happen to reside in the house I live in. They belong to the young ma—uh, boy that also lives there."

"Do you share a house with multiple tenants?"

This is heading into personal territory.

"Hey, Uehara!"

This is doing three back flips, a somersault, an aerial cartwheel, and landing directly into personal territory. He rates it a perfect 10 in execution and an unfortunate 0 in timing.

The entire table quiets as Chitoge approaches. Uehara looks behind her for Raku's help, and because the Universe is spitting on his soul, Raku is nowhere to be found.

He likes Chitoge, he really does. She's a fantastic person, but like most people, she has her flaws, and one of the most glaring flaws is her desire to greet people she knows in public. He supposes he can't call that a flaw—it's a charming habit and indicative of her friendliness, but since that friendliness is making things very awkward for him right now, he can't bring himself to think of it fondly.

"Are you a friend of Uehara's, too?" Yuuki reaches in front of Uehara to take Chitoge's hand and bring it to his lips. "I'm Yuuki. And you are?"

"Hi, everyone!" She beams but snatches back her hand and wipes it discretely on her dress. "I'm Chitoge."

"She's, um, dating my younger cousin!" Uehara blurts out. She shoots him a funny look but doesn't say anything. "That's how we know each other, right, Chitoge?" Saying her name instead of young miss gives him goosebumps, but he grits his teeth and pushes through. "I'm sure she's busy, so she should get back to her seat."

Instead of listening, Yuuki drops his chin into his palm and, with a shameless grin, begins asking her questions that Uehara tries his best to answer in her stead. Keeping up a fake identity is harder than he thought, though he suspects that in undercover stings, discussions normally do not involve the significant other of your boss's son acting as an oblivious threat to your lies. Not that this is anything like an undercover sting—this is him trying to enjoy a nice meal with a potential lady friend, an old friend from college, and five not-quite-strangers-but-not-quite-friends.

Now that he thinks about it, does Chitoge how a mixer works? It's popular among the youth, too, but for her, it has always been Raku. And even without Raku, boys flock to her side for as little as a sigh; she has never had to look for attention. Stunning looks, foreign features, astounding intelligence, and bubbly aura...sometimes he wonders if she's not an anime character.

"I don't know why Raku is taking so long, but don't let me keep you," Chitoge says and waves awkwardly, taking a step backwards. She is heading back to her table when someone's arm shoots out and latches onto her wrist. She yanks back. "What the—hey!"

The unidentified man throws her over his shoulders and runs out of the building. There is a moment of silence as everyone processes what happened before the restaurant patrons burst into conversation, some pulling out their phones to call authorities, but there's no need. He can hear the sound of shouts, heavy footsteps, and tire screeches on the streets, and he knows that Beehive must have been the security detail for that day's date. Which means they saw him here. He resists the urge to groan and sink to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Shizuku hisses. "Your cousin's girlfriend just got kidnapped! Shouldn't you go after her?"

"I should, shouldn't I?" he mumbles but makes no move to get up.

"And where's your cousin?"

"My cousin?" he repeats in confusion. He doesn't have cousins in Bonyari. But she referred to Chitoge as his cousin's girlfriend, and Chitoge is Raku's girlfriend. Oh yeah, he called Raku his cousin. Raku, the son of his boss. Raku, the heir of the Shuuei group.

...Raku!

He stumbles to his feet and dashes into the men's bathroom. He kicks open every stall—empty. Empty. Empty. Fuck, why didn't he think it was strange when Raku didn't come back from a quick bathroom trip?

He goes back to his friends. "Yuuki, listen, I haven't told you everything. I'll explain later, I swear, but I have to go. I seriously have to go."

As if they know he was talking about them, Shuuei members storm into the restaurant, led by a kimono-wearing man whose facial scar and crimson tattoo sleeve command respect. He could recognize that man anywhere. It is as if the air crackles with his charisma.

"Uehara!" Ryuu snaps, tossing him a sword. "Meet us outside!"

He snags it out of the air, more reflex than anything, and stares at it. So do his companions. A gold dragon snakes around the sheath and opens its mouth as if to swallow the hilt. It was a present from Ryuu when he took the oath to join the Shuuei-gumi clan, and suddenly the weight of the weapon and responsibility warms his palms. He looks over at Shizuku, who gapes with eyes blown wide.

"I'm not an accountant," he says apologetically. He rips open his shirt and ties it around his waist. Her gaze immediately tracks the tattoo on his back and the bandage wrappings around his upper arms. "If it's worth anything, I think I really like you. Thanks for giving me a chance."

She jumps to her feet and curls her fingers into a fist. This is it—she hates him. She hates him for lying to her, for not being a boring accountant with a normal 9 to 5 schedule and a generic wardrobe. Fuck. Fuck. For a split second, he really wishes he could be that for her. He'll take the punch. He probably deserves it anyway. He closes his eyes.

Wham!

Uehara peeks open an eye in time to see her fist fly over his shoulder and connect with someone's nose. Faintly, he recognizes the person as the kidnapper's table mate. There might have been a crack. He winces. Shizuku steps back and shakes out her hand.

"So if you're not an accountant, what are you?" she demands, but her tone isn't sharp and a wild grin stretches across her face. She almost looks like a different person with her headband gone and hair strands strewn across her forehead. She huffs her bangs out of her eyes. "Why don't we continue this conversation later, hm?"

His answer dies in his throat when she, like him, rips open her shirt and ties it around her waist. Her undershirt is sleeveless, and as she secures the knot, her arm muscles ripple in a way that makes him swallow. Arms like that on an office worker is a waste. She hikes her skirt to her thighs with another knot, kicks off her heels, and gathers her hair into a messy bun. There is no doubt now that she looks different, and he wants to melt on the spot.

"Never mind your friend," she says, jabbing his chest with a finger. "Seems like we both owe each other an explanation, so go and call me after."

Is this a dream?

It must be, there's no way this could be happening to him.

He wills himself to say something, anything, and to his horror, what comes out of his mouth is a breathless Please kiss me.

And what's wild is that she does. She does! She presses a quick kiss to his cheek, pats it, and tells him to collect the rest when they meet again. He brushes his knuckles over the spot with his jaw slack.

Ryuu pokes his head back into the door. "C'mon, Romeo!" he barks. "We don't have all day!"

"I'll be back," Uehara promises. He straps on the sword and runs out of the building.

bonus snippet.

62. some time later, in bed...

Chitoge shifts to face her husband. "Hey, Raku."

"Yeah?"

"It's a good thing we put that tablecloth underneath the sink earlier, but I felt a little bad continuing to lie to Takahashi while he's injured."

"Me too, but we spent months setting up the lie." He brushes her bangs out of her face. "I say we keep using it whenever the others are here and still pretend that it's our favorite. And if he asks anything, we pretend this night never happened."

"That sounds a bit," she half shrugs, "I dunno, mean? I don't want to distress him or anything."

There's a beat of silence as Raku threads his fingers through her hair, alternating between massaging her scalp and untangling her hair strands. They slip against his skin like fine grains of sand, and he watches how they catch the faint slivers of moonlight filtering through their barricaded window. Her eyes close, and she burrows further into his arms, but a sudden realization has her angling her head to look into his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Raku...why did we start doing this in the first place?"

A pause. His eyebrows knit in confusion. "I...don't remember."

a/n.

ooh, another update? heck yeah! seems like it's a trend to end with a fight. i had some fun with this one, thinking about the dynamics of the shuuei-gumi group. since the yakuza all looked like they were in their 30s or so, i made the narration voices more mature. this chapter was less rakuchi and more shuuei, and honestly i'm very glad it is cuz i feel like the members deserve more attention!

if you enjoyed, please remember to leave a review! they make my day :)

much love,

katocchi

EDIT: HOLY COW, FORGOT TO MENTION THIS, but in a few days, it'll be six years since i started this story! thank you so, so, so much for being with me on the journey. i really saw myself evolve as a writer, and i hope you did too!

inspirations.

61. the fact that she's scared of the dark (again)! i wanted her to react explosively and shyly like she would in the series when raku asks chitoge to thank him, but i think as she gets older (and engaged), she would be softer in private

62. i was thinking about how i don't know the layout of bonyari at all OTL does anyone have resources? then that morphed into me thinking about how they would live together because i can't imagine her moving into shuuei nor him moving into beehive, so i imagine that they would buy a separate house

a few more things to note: i firmly believe that chitoge wouldn't change her last name. partly for the sake of her brand image, but mostly for the fact that she likes being a kirisaki. maybe she would hyphenate it, but i don't think she would become a chitoge ichijou. by the way, how does the public feel about chitoge coming from a family of gangs and being married to a government worker who also runs the yakuza? and finally, i have never seen a tablecloth like that in vietnam before, but if my relatives send me one like that...and just to clarify! they bought it at some market or yard sale as a joke

63. raku doesn't mind dropping money for chitoge! he usually pays for their dates, and i think he'd find it pretty lonely while she's gone. i spent nearly two hours combing through the chapters, and i couldn't find my source for this :( it's at the end of a chapter in a panel featuring the sky, i think. in tiny print, raku and chitoge decide to go out to eat, and chitoge tells him that he's paying, and he says that she doesn't have to say anything because he usually pays anyway. they go out for ramen often haha

64. ch 198-199. even with all their fighting, i find it so cute that they're able to laugh with each other at the end

65. it's a bunch of men living in the yakuza compound. do any of them have significant others? can they bring people home? so many questions!

what's up next.

kinda wanna write some domestic married life snippets! and we all know a rakuchi domestic lifestyle isn't what other people would have.

also, to address sara's request for more ryuu: i hear ya! i was writing a ryuu centric snippet for no. 65, but it kept getting longer...and longer...and longer. and i realized that his story would be too complicated to have in one chapter, especially the first two snippets were so long. we'd be looking at a 20k word chapter at least so i'm doing the next best thing―i'm gonna give him his own story! it'll explore his past, how he came to be issei's second in command and raku's biggest supporter, where his scar came from, etc. please keep in mind that it'll be completely fictional because there's not much to work with! it's tentatively titled "from the shadows" and will attempt to tackle the darker side of bonyari. i'm not sure when it'll be done or even started, but i love ryuu and really want to give him the character depth he deserves