Family Business

Chapter 13

Joi walked into the main house with open worry. Well, as much open worry as his puppet body's face would allow to show. He had returned about an hour ago to keep an eye on the others for the boss, knowing them too well to trust them to leave the girls alone. His fears were apparently valid, since he hadn't been able to find the 8 menaces anywhere they should have been on the premises.

He had hoped he would've been able to keep them busy until Overhaul got back, but apparently it was too late for that.

Tiny body flooded with adrenaline he raced into the living room, worried about what he'd find and hoping the girls were fine... And he walked into the strangest thing he'd ever witnessed in his already very strange life. All 8 yakuza elite were seated at the dining room table with the girls, a pile of freshly emptied bento boxes stacked neatly next to the kitchen sink. Izumi was setting up a board game in the middle of the table while the men talked amiably, aside from the half-assed bickering over what piece belonged to whom that inevitably happened in these circumstances.

The greenette noticed his unique form and perked up "Irinaka! Hey!" She pointed to the fridge "There's a bento for you in the fridge if you're hungry. Want to join our game? Eri's opted to sit out and a few of the guys are just watching, so there's room for you if you're interested." As he unfroze and moved to grab his lunch she sang teasingly "If you join i'll let you be the banker~"

It was then, having shed his jumpsuit and sat down across from the girl between Shin and Tengai, that he realized what game they were playing. "You're playing Monopoly?"

"Mmhmm! We used to be playing Go Fish, but it was getting a little boring after a while." the teen explained, coaxing a laugh from Rappa beside her. "That's cute, considering that you and the kid consistently kicked our asses!" From her seat in the older girl's lap Eri grinned smugly as she fiddled with her rubix cube. Izumi meanwhile flushed with embarrassment, rubbing the back of her neck nervously with a chuckle. "I'm just lucky."

"I still swear you cheated." Setsuno stated as he finally won his argument over which piece he would be (the dog of course, as if he was going to be the fucking boot). Shin chuckled "We already checked Setsuno, the only one who cheated at all was you. Or did you forget?"

The blonde glared at the dark haired man with a pout. "I hate you." The lack of venom in his tone left the others ignoring him with fond smiles.

Joi chuckled and placed the boot down, grabbing the bank. "Fuck it, I'm in."

Izumi's smile was worth whatever headache he'd get keeping the others' cheating fingers out of his stacks of vibrantly colored bills all game.

----

Kai and Chrono weren't sure what they expected when they got home today, but this definitely wasn't it.

Izumi was grinning like a shark as she accepted a wad of vibrantly colored bills from a shell shocked Joi, Rikiya and Rappa were roaring with laughter on either side of the teen while all the others were either weeping dramatically or wooping excitedly. Eri, despite being in the teen's lap, was very much absorbed in the rubix cube in her hands that she was well on her way to completing.

"What is going on?" he asked curiously, more confused than upset by what he was seeing.

Everyone turned to stare at him at his question. Eri replied "Everyone wanted to see Izumi, she made friends, and we played some games."

Rappa added gleefully "And this girl here straight up destroyed us every time! She won every round of go fish and beat Mimic at Monopoly!" The massive man caught the teen in a headlock, rustling her hair playfully "I like you kid!"

Izumi freed herself from the brawler's grasp with a smile "It's not that big a deal. I'm good with numbers and analytical activities, add in the tips my parents gave me on business and finance management and you can understand why i'm good at games like these. If you really want to see brutal you should see my family's games of Risk. Dad is a mad genius when it comes to battle plans and mom uses her telekinesis to cheat."

Kai walked up to the table and craned over the greenette's shoulder to watch his daughter. "Where did she get a rubix cube?"

"Ah! I bought it for her." Izumi admitted as she looked up into his golden eyes "I have a few myself so I thought she'd appreciate the challenge."

"I'd say you're right considering how intent she is on solving it."

As they put away the game the yakuza stared at the two's interactions as if transfixed. The way they smiled at each other, their body language, even their fucking small talk was like they were a couple who'd been married for years talking about their kid. When they saw how young Izumi was they assumed their boss was just into younger girls. Weird and a little creepy, but far from the worst thing they'd seen. But now they saw it was different.

The pair were into each other despite their age gap, not because of it. Kai talked to Izumi like an equal, which spoke volumes to them about how much he valued her. Izumi meanwhile was eager for companionship and acceptance, as they noticed from talking to her, but clung especially hard to the boss. As they watched they understood that the brunette was probably the first person outside the girl's family to treat her with kindness.

Tabe, Shin, and Setsuno more than anyone understood why people would treat a girl so sweet like shit. She was quirkless, and quirks meant everything nowadays. But the realization left a sour taste in their mouths.

"Hey Kai?" the man hummed as he swapped places with the teen, holding Eri in his lap as Izumi stood to get started on dinner. "I was thinking of taking Eri to the aquarium sometime soon, is that alright with you?"

The child in question paused in her puzzle-solving to stare up at him with pleading red eyes. The yakuza boss signed internally 'Why can I never say no to that adorable face?'

"Sure. I'm free tomorrow, so we can go then." The five year old's beaming face made his heart melt.

As he noticed his men's amused faces, none more so than his assistant, he growled quietly "Shut up." Chrono rested his cheek on his hand as he openly grinned at his boss "We didn't say anything."

"Yeah, well you're thinking it."

Joi snickered "You mean the fact that you're straight up skipping work tomorrow to do something for the girls is adorable? Or did you mean the fact that they got you wrapped around their fingers to the point you can't refuse them anything? I swear, once you and Izumi get married for real you are going to be so whipped."

The others laughed, or tried not to, as Kai's eyes narrowed. "Joi, you have 30 seconds before I chase you down for that. I suggest you make them count."

Before anyone could make an attempt Izumi butted in "No you won't. Please sit and relax Kai, there's no need for threats in the house." The other yakuza struggled not to laugh at their boss' open embarrassment, but before they could laugh in earnest the teen continued "And the rest of you leave him alone. You're adults, you know better than to be rude to your host in his own home. The fact he's your boss makes your behavior all the more shameful."

Look at them, cowed into behavior by a woman smaller than all of them and significantly younger. Looks like their boss isn't the only one who'll be whipped once she's his wife.

The thought, strangely enough, bothered no one.