Bonten's innocence

Chapter 54 - the beginning of a new episode

Late in the night Ino stumbled out of her room tiredly, her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was disheveled and her mouth dry from crying for hours, "Ino are you okay?" Kokonoi asked obviously concerned when he saw her walk passed him and Takeomi to the kitchen, it was like she didn't notice their presence until he spoke up, she didn't answer but she nodded, "are you hungry?" Takeomi questioned, but she just shook her head and went to get a glass of water.

She sat at the dining table and slowly drank the water under the worried gaze of the two males, Takeomi sighed and walked over to her, "you have to eat something" he said, "no thank you" she said hoarsely, "it's not an option, you haven't had lunch or dinner" Kokonoi chipped in, "I'm not hungry" she said weakly, then there was a knock on the door.

"Who's there at this time?" Kokonoi asked, Takeomi who just shrugged and went to open the door, "what are you doing here?" The two heard Takeomi ask from the enterance, "I'm just hear to tell you Mikey wants you back first thing tomorrow morning" an all too familiar voice said, "are you coming in?... Rindou" Kokonoi said, "whatever don't order me around" Rindou said entering the penthouse.

"You look terrible" Rindou unconsciously said when he saw Ino, he received a smack on the head from Takeomi in return, "shut it" Takeomi said, Rindou sighed "I didn't mean it like that" he said rubbing his head, "I'm going to sleep" Ino said and with that she walked away.

"Nice going" Kokonoi said rolling his eyes, "you guys weren't doing any better" he fought back, "so Mikey said we should be back by tomorrow?" Takeomi inquired, "yeah he needs you two for a meeting and Ino needs more people around her right now" Rindou explained, "sure I'll make the calls for our trip, are you going back with us?" Kokonoi asked, "yeah" Rindou said settling on the couch.

The next morning Ino woke up earlier than everyone else and got started on breakfast, by the time she finished the three males were already awake and being drawn in by the smell of the delicious food, "did someone order breakfast?" Rindou asked, "not yet" Kokonoi said, "good morning" Ino greeted with a bright smile, "good morning" the three greeted in unison, "what's all this?" Takeomi questioned, "breakfast of course" she said plainly.

"When did you have time to make all this?" Kokonoi said referring to the grand spread before them "it's just a basic breakfast no need for the exaggeration" Ino giggled and began to serve them, "listen Ino, I'm scared do you feel alright?" Rindou asked, Ino sighed "I know I was really out of it yesterday, but there's nothing I can do about it, I'll be fine don't worry guys" she said to reassure them, they all nodded and began to eat together.

After breakfast everyone separated to pack their bags, Ino packed up the contents of the chest, she would definitely be taking it with her, "hello, Ino, can I come in?" Rindou asked from the door, "yeah sure" Ino nodded, "listen I'm sorry about my insensitive comment yesterday" Rindou apologized as he walked closer to her "it's okay I understand, when I saw myself in the mirror, I was shocked, I really did look terrible" she chuckled.

"I just wanted to apologize either way" he said with an embarrassed blush, "don't worry about it Rindou it's okay" Ino said softly, Rindou leaned in and kissed her forehead, "we'll be heading out soon" he said before walking out, "Ino, do you need help?" This time it was Kokonoi asking from the hall, "don't worry, I'm almost done" she answered.

The trip back to tokyo was short and unproblematic, infact they were back in a few hours, "I kinda wish we could have enjoyed the trip more" Ino said absentmindedly, "we could always visit again" Kokonoi said, Ino shook her head "maybe another place" she said with an awkward laugh, "we should go to Vegas one day" Takeomi suggested, "you mean like America" Ino said excitedly, "sure, we'll make plans one day" Rindou said happily when he saw the excitement in her eyes.