𝒪𝓃𝑒 𝑜𝓇 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒪𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 || 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙯𝙪 | 𝙍𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙪

19 - On My Way

"Take care of yourself, okay? Don't study too hard and remember to eat healthy." You spoke softly to Ichigo. "I love you, baby. I'll be back soon."

"Don't worry, I'm a big boy now and I love you too, mama." Ichigo smiles, leaning forward to give you a kiss on the cheek. "Please take care of yourself too, mama."

"You're so sweet. I'm gonna miss you." You pout before peppering kisses all over his small face, making him giggle.

"We have to board the plane now." Your manager says from behind you.

"Alright." You tell her before turning to look at Sanzu who had kindly accepted your request of taking care of Ichigo while you're away.

Ichigo was teary-eyed when he asked for you to call his papa, telling you he missed his papa and that he wanted to stay at his papa's place while you're gone for work. How could you refuse?

"I know you're probably busy, Haruchiyo. Thanks for doing this favor." You tell Sanzu who glanced at Ichigo before looking back at you.

"He's my child too so it's my responsibility to take care of him." He replies with a small smile. "Take care."

"You too." You reply, giving him the same smile. "Let's talk over dinner once I get back."

"I....sure..." Sanzu nods, biting the insides of his cheeks nervously. "I'll wait for you here."

You feel a light tug on the hem of your clothes and look down to see Ichigo pouting.

"What's wrong, buddy?" You ask with a chuckle.

"Remember when you told me kisses are like good luck charms? You should let papa kiss you for good luck!" Ichigo says, referring to the time you read him a fairytale for him to go to sleep.

"But I've already got my baby's kisses. Yours are enough for getting good luck." You tell him, slightly laughing in embarrassment.

"I'm still small so you need kisses from someone big!" Ichigo went behind Sanzu and pushed him by the knees so Sanzu would be closer to you.

Your manager chuckles from behind you and walks away to give you privacy as you curse in your head. You were just glad that Rindou wasn't present or else this would have been more awkward.

"Go on, papa! Mama needs good luck for her show!"

Sanzu eyes flickered from your lips to your eyes, silently asking for permission if he could actually kiss you. Since you didn't want Ichigo to get upset, you lean closer and kissed him yourself. Sanzu was stunned and he almost wanted to punch himself for freezing when he could have kissed you back in those few seconds.

As he stood there with his fingertips to his lips, you quickly say one last goodbye to Ichigo before running to your manager. Mitsuya was already beside her, almost late for the flight.

Sanzu felt so ecstatic that he almost got every toy store in Tokyo sold out. Ichigo was beaming even in his sleep having been spoiled rotten by his papa. The next day, Senju called him and asked to meet him. Turns out, she's been investigating what happened to him the night before everything changed according to Sanzu.

After narrating the whole thing that happened, Senju found it odd that her brother had no recollection of what happened that night and so she went to the place they drank in. She asked around and at first they were all hesitant to answer her questions.

But then she told them she was Sanzu Haruchiyo's younger sister and every one of them folded. Senju found out about the bribe and the video. To say that she was furious was an understatement.

"Woah, woah! Who the hell do you think you are?" One of the Haitani Brothers' men pulled Senju away from the man she had just kicked in the face, Haitani Ran.

"Unhand her, that's my younger sister."

They all turned to Takeomi who exhaled the smoke from his cigarette and flicked the butt at the guy who was holding his sister's arms.

"Sorry, boss."

"Explain, Senju." Takeomi says with his eyes fixated on the furious girl. "What is the reason for your behavior?"

"Why don't you ask this guy! He's the one who has some explaining to do!" Senju yells, lunging forward to attack Ran but Takeomi stops her with his arm.

"Ran, what is Senju talking about?" Takeomi asks, now turning to Ran while still trying to stop Senju.

"I have no idea." Ran replies coolly as he dusts off imaginary dust from his suit. "Maybe she's gone crazy like Sanzu."

"Don't talk about my brother like that!" Senju screams, pushing Takeomi's arm to throw a punch at Ran.

"Senju, that's enough!" Takeomi scolds her and roughly pulls her away from Ran. "Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can help you!"

"He's the reason why Haru's—"

"What's going on here?"

Sanzu arrived at the same time as Rindou and the two looked at each other before focusing on the scene in the middle of the hallway. Ichigo was right beside Sanzu's legs, holding onto his hand.

"Senju, why didn't you wait in my office?" Sanzu asks his younger sister, walking towards her with Ichigo right beside him.

"I was on my way there but then I saw this bastard!" Senju yells, pointing at Ran who merely raised an eyebrow at her.

"Sanzu, you got a clue why she's acting like this?" Takeomi asks his younger brother who appeared to have lost interest in the situation.

"Well, Senju asked if she could meet me and talk about something so if you'll excuse us." Sanzu motions for Senju to follow him and so she did, leaving the Haitani Brothers along with their men and Takeomi.

"Papa, can I sleep on your lap?" Ichigo asks, glancing at Senju whom he still wasn't used to being with.

"Of course, bud." Sanzu replies, sitting on his chair and letting Ichigo climb onto his lap to sleep.

Senju wasted no time in opening up about the topic of him drinking with the other Bonten executives that night and she didn't hesitate to tell him about all the things she found out. The cctv footage she got showed Haitani Ran putting something in his drink and when Sanzu passed out, Ran bribed some girl who worked there to make out with Sanzu for a video.

Sanzu was too stunned to speak and he had never felt so much emotions in his lifetime. He was pissed, angry, confused, terrified, upset. There were emotions that he couldn't even decipher.

All the while, Ichigo listened intently. He didn't actually want to sleep but he just made it seem like he was sleeping just so he could hear everything. As a child who grew up in a terrible place, he wanted to protect his family from splitting as he knew it would make both his mama and papa sad.

Although Sanzu wanted to beat up and kill Ran and Rindou for doing this and keeping it a secret even from him, he couldn't even think of anyone but you at the moment.

"It must've hurt her so much...." Sanzu whispers to himself, remembering that morning after that night. You gave him a smile but you were actually hurting.

"You can fix this! She should know the truth, I'll send her the footage and then we'll talk to her!" Senju spoke firmly. She was adamant on letting you know the truth and setting things straight.

"I....I have to go see her..."