"I can't believe I wasn't here when he did the thing. What kind of father am I?!"
You're in the middle of shaping the bonsai you have on display when Itto sulks behind the counter—chin propped on top as he watches the silk white cocoon inside Itto the Fourth's jar. You roll your eyes.
"Well, if you spent your precious time being here for his milestones in life instead of canoodling with the yakuza..."
"Nope! You are not guilt-tripping me out of this, master!"
"Wasn't counting on it," you scoff.
So, as things might have it, after placing your late-night order at Shimura's, you and Itto decided to lounge in the shop to wait for the food. But the moment he sat down on your swiveling seat, the gang leader refused to take his eyes off the caterpillar-turned-chrysalis that was Itto the Fourth. You actually forgot to bring up that it was finally one step closer to the next phase of its insect life given all the commotion that occurred over the last hour. But your patient didn't seem to mind the delayed info.
"Say," you begin, putting down your shears as you flash him a pointed look. "If you won't tell me exactly what's going on, can I at least know how you got on the yakuza's bad side in the first place?"
Itto hums, craning his neck to meet your gaze. "Eh? Ain't that the same thing?"
"Don't think about it like that! Your origin story is different from your current predicament, you know."
And then Itto makes a motion of pinching his thumb and index finger together before sliding it across his lips like a zipper—shaking his head petulantly. What a damn kid.
To his credit, Itto may be idiotic about eighty percent of the time, but he's still pretty sharp. You're not sure if he'll even spill the details once the entire ordeal is over. You can almost hear your mother chiding you for nosing into another person's business, but what the hell is so important that Itto would have to (literally) break his back for the sake of it? A lifetime supply of yakisoba? A printed certificate that says 'Arataki "The Yakuza Boss" Itto'? The longer you wallow in your own thoughts, the wilder your imagination runs, so you decide to spare yourself the trouble.
As you get back to your feet, you peek behind the blinds you drew at closing time, wondering when your food is going to arrive. Though it's only been ten minutes since you placed your order, you were beyond starved. However, there don't seem to be any delivery motorcycles in sight. Guess your dinner isn't arriving miraculously early.
"Is there anything I can do to make you tell me?" you ask out of the blue, turning your head to Itto, who is now comfortably leaning against the backrest of your chair. "Beating you in an onikabuto battle? An eating contest? Rock-paper-scissors?"
Yeah. You've totally lost it. You don't even know why you're trying so hard to get it out of him. It's none of your business! Repeat until true!
"Those are quite the honorable choices, if I do say so myself." He laughs, cracking his fingers together. "But not even a mountainload of mora can get me to disclose the details. And that's saying something 'cause I'm kinda broke right now, but who cares!"
You do a double-take on that one. "Wait, you're broke?"
"Hm? Is that so hard to believe?"
You're quick to stride back to the counter, placing a palm in front of him as you shoot Itto an incredulous stare. "The rent in this place is forty thousand yen a month. Rent that I pay to your gang. Your gang, who owns this property. Did you just happen to forget that?"
"Oh, yeah..."
"Shinobu doesn't let you handle any of the money, does she?"
"Um... No, she does not."
"Then how the hell have you been getting by all this time?" you nearly shout, throwing undecipherable hand gestures everywhere. "I-I don't even pay you—"
Itto effectively cuts off your rambling by pressing a finger to your lips, making your eyes go wide as he shushes you. He meets your gaze earnestly, and only speaks once you've completely gone silent.
"I know you're my master and I still have tons to learn from you when it comes to gardening or whatever. But lemme tell you this: you need to learn how to chill." He says every word so slowly, it's as if he's talking to a prepubescent teenager. "Look at me! Barely escaped with my life back there, but I'm bonding with Itto the Fourth 'cause the situation calls for it. Sometimes, you gotta adapt to strange environments, y'know?"
Chill. Right, yeah. Chill. A.K.A., something that you were already lacking the moment Itto didn't step through the front door on the first day of his leave. And now he barges into your home, passes out, makes you treat both his wounds and him to dinner. Where the hell are you supposed to get a decent supply of goddamn chill?!
"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" you balk sarcastically, slapping his hand away. "Thank you, Arataki. You just solved half the world's problems with unsolicited advice."
To your absolute joy, he chuckles aloud, looking way too pleased with himself. "You're too kind! Some of my boys said I should start writing for an advice column in the daily newspaper. What do you thi—"
All of a sudden, Itto's cheery voice cuts to the thick silence of the shop. He stills, rising to his full height as rusty amber eyes do a cautious sweep around the room. You're about to ask what's gotten into him before the man before you promptly has all the color drained from his face, as if having realized something drastic.
"Tsk, he's coming..." he mutters, and for a moment, you momentarily mimic the shock on his face. Who's coming? Those fuckers that hazed him?
"Itto—"
"Yo, I'm going to, uh..." he trails off, grabbing Itto the Fourth's jar before tucking it beneath his arm. The gang leader jams a thumb over his shoulder with a wobbly smile. "Hide in your room for a sec. Is that okay with you?"
"What?" You scowl. "Are you just going to leave me to entertain those lunatics alo—hey!"
Not even securing your explicit permission, Itto bolts back up to your apartment with his stupid hibernating caterpillar—leaving you right in the dust. The room is silent, save for the erratic thrum of your heartbeat that's making you feel a little psyched out. Should you call the police? But if the person (people?) that Itto sensed was dangerous, surely he wouldn't leave you to deal with them for him, right? But then again, cooking up assumptions about your unwitting apprentice was a common mistake that you're growing tired of making.
Your instincts jolt to life when you hear three knocks on the front door of the shop, making your heart plummet to your stomach.
It takes you a moment to realize you're locked in another game of 'Guess Who's on the Other Side'. This time, it could either be A.) Itto's assailant(s) or B.) the food delivery guy. Though your hunch was wrong about Tora's sudden appearance in the balcony, you were pretty damn sure this can only be one or the other.
Calm down, you tell yourself. Sure, Itto isn't the best at keeping his temporary employment here all that discreet, but surely the yakuza won't try to drag you into their problems. You've got nothing to do with all that!
With a clean conscience, you breathe deep, compose yourself, and open the door.
"And here I thought you'd gone straight to bed."
When you see who it is, your jaw nearly unhinges itself from your skull and lands on the floor. How the fuck can you be so wrong twice in the same night?!
"A-Ayato?" you stammer, but he's already letting himself in—shrugging off the coat off his shoulders as he marvels at the state of your shop. "Lovely place you have here," he comments. "I might send in an order or two pretty soon since Ayaka has been gushing about your bouquets non-stop."
You can't even be bothered to feel flattered at the promised revenue because you're processing the presence of not just one, but three people that have entered your shop past closing time. Ayaka and Thoma followed suit right after the force of nature that is Kamisato Ayato, but thankfully these two look a bit more apologetic.
"You weren't picking up any of our calls," Ayaka sighs, stuffing her phone in her handbag and unraveling the scarf around her neck. "We thought you might've been in trouble."
Calls...? As in, plural? Shit. You left your phone upstairs after that strange, heart-to-heart conversation with Itto on your balcony. You hadn't bothered checking it since you finished patching him up. But you attempt to mask your surprise by shifting everyone else's attention to Thoma instead.
"I told you something just came up, right?" you sigh. "Why'd you go ahead and let Ayato-nii march all the way here just to see if I'm fine?"
The blond chuckles, already sounding defeated. "We all know when waka's got something set on his mind, there's no stopping him."
Well...that is true.
You guess there's no use trying to point fingers now that the Kamisato trio was here, so you just tell them to get comfortable instead. Thank Archons Itto suddenly rushed upstairs (for reasons that still eluded you). It's going to be pretty hard to explain what a shirtless gang leader is doing waiting for late night takeout with you to these guys. Even if the four of you have been through weirder shit in the past.
"Has business been faring well?" Ayato asks, carefully draping his fingers across the bonsai you were just trimming earlier.
You nod. "Uh, yeah! So far so good. The people here in Hanamizaka have been sweet and accommodating. Didn't really expect that in a place handled by the Arataki Gang."
For some reason, the older Kamisato raises an eyebrow at that and you internally panic. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Was bringing it up a bad idea? Nahhhhh, Ayato couldn't possibly know about Itto's temporary post here. You aren't even sure if Ayaka knows since Thoma isn't really a snitch. You should be safe. Maybe.
Then, you hear a loud noise coming from upstairs.
Ayaka glances over to the stairwell curiously and you bite the inside of your cheek to keep yourself from actually screaming. Yep, entertaining these three and kicking them out ASAP should be your main priority right now. Close college friends plus big brother or not.
"What was that?" Ayato wonders.
"I-It's probably just Mikan," you laugh nervously. "She's been really hyperactive lately. Turns the place upside down whenever she isn't asleep hahaha!"
He looks, by no means, convinced of your reasoning, but thankfully Ayato plays along and decides to drift over to your beloved succulent rack. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Ayaka, Thoma, we were...informally invited to the wedding of one of the daughters of the branch families. I say informally because the ceremony is still in its planning stages."
"Is there any reason you're telling us this in advance as well?" Thoma asks.
"Mmm, well I heard the bride-to-be, who is one of our cousins, is going to wed a commoner from the city," Ayato elaborates. "A commoner who suggested that this flower studio is going to take charge of the necessary arrangements for the wedding."
You take a moment to process that, vaguely remembering a job your mother told you to look out for the last time you were home. "...Do you mean Andou-san?"
For the past few weeks, you were so preoccupied with keeping Itto in check that you completely forgot all about it. But who knew Andou's fiancée was from a Kamisato branch family? Huh, small world.
"Forgive me, I'm not very good with names, but when our cousin bought up your store in today's lunch meeting, I just felt the need to bring you three together again." Ayato laughs softly as he picks up one of the tiny potted succulents, casting a cheery stare at his present audience. "Just like old times, yes?"
"Nii-sama, the three of us have always kept in touch," Ayaka sighs. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk to them about?"
The older man hollers, setting down the succulent as he raises his hands in surrender. "Oh, fine, fine. You caught me. Another reason why I wished to catch up with our dear friend is...this funny story told to me by one of my secretaries."
"One of your secretaries?" you repeat.
Ayato nods. "She lives around this area. Told me she was walking home after sorting out some documents at the estate in Yougou Heights when she walked past Sakura Street and... Realized a motorcycle crashed into this very same shop! Shocking, is it?"
...Count on Ayato to express his concern in the most backwards way possible. You can feel your tongue turning sandpaper dry as your eyes discreetly rivet back to Ayaka and Thoma—two people you kept in the dark about the night you first met Arataki Itto. They exchange puzzled looks almost in unison, which means this is probably the first time Ayato brought the matter to their attention.
"Crash?" you chuckle, gesturing around the shop. "Does this look like a place that's been trashed by a motorcycle, Ayato-nii?"
"Well, now that you mention it, that certainly doesn't seem to be the case," he hums thoughtfully. "But I couldn't help but wonder...especially when Thoma over here told us about your lively helper. Arataki...was it?"
Fuck. He's on to you. Ayato is soooo on to you.
"Oh, yeah. Itt—uh, Arataki. That's his name. Y'know, the gangster."
"From what I heard, that man is kind of a bum," Ayato remarks warily, folding his arms. "Yet he's working here?"
"Yeah, 'course he is!" you reply a bit too quickly. "That guy um, takes odd jobs whenever money's starting to get tight so I'm just helping out. It's only for a few weeks." Shot in the dark. You still don't know how Itto's made it this far without a stable job, on top of those weird allusions to a life in prison he's yet to speak to you about.
"So where is he now?"
As if the man in question wishes to answer Ayato's inquiries for himself, yet another crash resounds from upstairs. Holy shit. You are going to rip Itto to shreds once you're done dealing with Ayato. Could he be any more goddamn obvious?!
"Mikan, stop messing with the furniture!" you yell (somewhat) convincingly. "A-Anyways, that guy is on leave right now. So if you're looking for him, you might have to contact his deputy, Shinobu instead."
"Do you need help rounding up your cat or something?" Thoma offers. "You always count on me to calm her down, remember?"
The mere suggestion is enough to send you into cardiac arrest. "Nope! It's fine. Mikan's just going through it is all. She'll calm down eventually."
"Is that why you weren't able to have dinner with us?" Ayaka shoots you a worried look. "I know a well-practiced vet from Watatsumi Island. Would you like me to give you his card?"
"Hey, come on!" you groan—feeling all sorts of pressured from their kind suggestions. Gods, you can only imagine how much these three were going to fuss if they found out that Itto's crashing stunt was actually true. "You have all got to chill. We haven't gotten together in nearly a year, and you guys choose to spend the time worrying? How about we call it a night for now and let's just...hang out this weekend! How's that sound?"
Ayato starts to stroke his chin contemplatively. "Hm, I did ask my secretary to free up my schedule next week. Business trips drain the life out of a man, if you kids only knew."
"Nii-sama, you're only three years older than us."
"Ah, the ignorance of youth is bliss I can no longer attain."
"They're right, though," Thoma, thank Archons, agrees with you, straightening the collar of his own jacket with an apologetic smile. "We've already imposed too much. Let's all just continue this on the weekend. Should we meet you here?"
The last bit was directed at you, to which you respond in turn. "Sure. I promise I won't stand you guys up anymore."
"We'll hold you to that then," Ayato huffs, digging into the pocket of his trousers before tossing something in Thoma's direction. Fortunately, the blond is dextrous enough to catch it mid-air. "Go take Ayaka back to the car. I'll just put down a few orders I'd like our dear friend to make for me."
Thoma nods without question, twirling Ayato's keys around his index finger as he and Ayaka exchange farewells with you. Though, you try not to think about how your best friend's stare lingers on you a tad longer than usual.
When the door shuts behind the two of them, Ayato paces around the shop for a few moments more. Though you're sure as hell he was just stalling, you can tell that the fondness in his eyes as he surveys each shelf is anything but fake.
"So my office back at home has been looking very dull to me as of late," he laments. "The rainforests of Sumeru are quite a refreshing sight, and I'd like to emulate the scenery, no matter how minimal, inside my workspace. That's why I wanted to ask which decorative pieces you recommend for the setting I have in mind."
You rack your mind for a catalogue of tropical plants that could suit Ayato's tastes right then and there, feeling a bit proud of yourself to have earned his favor. "Let me see, uh, Monstera plants make for good minimalist decorations in the office, Ayato-nii. I actually have some displayed right...here."
Wandering around the rows of shelves, you show Ayato a miniature version of the lush green plant that seemingly has holes on its leaves. "This is what they actually look like. They didn't get attacked by pests or anything."
"Oho, these are exactly what I saw by the riverbanks." He nods. "I'll have someone pick up, hmm, five of these within the week along with a check for the payment. Just text me the invoice after."
"Sure thing."
You'd be lying if you say you weren't expecting him to sneak in something else in such a casual conversation about the items you have on sale. If there's anything you know best about Kamisato Ayato, it's that he likes to keep his intentions tucked discreetly between two different pages of a book—so that only those who are meant to know their meaning can read between the lines. But as you quietly see Ayato out of the shop, you wonder if it's actually possible for him to do things without an underlying motive beneath all that pretense.
"A shame that you weren't able to sample Komore Teahouse's special dinner sets tonight," he sighs, raising a hand to pat your head affectionately as he puts his coat back on. "But we all have lives to live and other matters to attend to at times. Just make sure you show up on Saturday, yes? You promised~"
"Yes, Ayato-nii. I promise." You spare him a hearty laugh, wrapping your arms around Ayato tenderly. The years you spent growing older alongside him and his siblings always makes you feel like you were part of their family, too. Well, Ayato did say to never hesitate calling them your family once, and you've always done as told.
"Can you promise me one more thing?"
Pulling away, you meet his silver-eyed gaze with brows raised. "What is it?"
He gazes at you with a tinge of seriousness for the first time tonight, one hand placed on top of your shoulder. Ayato opens his mouth, as if raring to speak his mind, but the moment you anticipate his words, they never come.
"...Forget it. I might be speaking out of turn," the older man sighs, smiling sheepishly to himself. "Just—take care of yourself. Your future's looking quite alright here in Hanamizaka, but I hope you know it won't hurt to be more cautious."
"You sound just like my dad, it's kind of creepy," you joke, patting his hand with yours. "Got it. Now, shoo! Ayaka and Thoma are probably waiting for you in—"
"Shimura's delivery!"
Startled, you glance over at a man whose motorcycle is parked by the curb—the familiar Shimura's logo printed brightly on the delivery box behind him. You can practically feel the day's fatigue evaporate from your body at the sight of it.
"I'm the one who placed the order!" you say, waving him over. But as the delivery man scrambles over to where you stand, Ayato flashes you a minute nod—one you return with a warm smile that doesn't falter even when he's already walking away.
"Late night special for—" the delivery man practically announces to the whole neighborhood as he squints at the receipt in his other hand. "Arataki Itto?"
Again, you feel your entire body seize up at the mention of his name. You whip around to the direction Ayato headed when he finally made his leave, chest threatening to burst. He hasn't gotten far yet, and the possibility of him having heard what this mouthy delivery guy just said is more likely than not. But Ayato doesn't look back. In fact, he just keeps his strides forward as if he heard nothing at all.
"Yeah," you respond to the man in front of you with a queasy smile. "That's our order alright..."
...
"Well that took long enough!"
You don't even have the energy to snap at Arataki once you make it back to your apartment, carefully setting down your food on the now-tidy coffee table. Huh. Did he clean up while you were downstairs or something? Only the remote to your TV and Itto the Fourth's pickle jar littered the surface.
"What took long enough?" you sigh. "The food or me getting rid of my impromptu guests?"
Itto snorts from where he's sitting cross-legged on your sofa. Thankfully, he's now wearing a shirt but it seems a few sizes too—wait, is that your old pep rally shirt? "Duh! I was talkin' about aniki. I have the patience of a mother when it comes to food, mind you. But when that guy's in the vicinity, ohhhh boy! I'm not really ready for my 781st loss yet. I hope you understand why I had to run with my tail between my legs. Don't tell him that, though. He'll laugh at me."
No matter how much you try to make sense of what the hell Itto was saying, you're way too famished to think. So you decide to fill your poor stomach with something to eat first before asking questions.
The scent of chili oil and steamed dimsum makes your mouth water as you pop one into your mouth, chewing happily as you watch Itto wolf down his own very late dinner beside you. It feels a little strange, having a meal with someone on a couch you've only shared with Mikan, but the change isn't unwelcome. Even if he probably broke into your room to steal your clothes.
"So, this aniki person you mentioned," you start, quietly slurping your fried noodles. "Are you...talking about Ayato-nii, by any chance?"
"Eh?" Itto stares at you, putting down his chopsticks before bracing his palms on his knees. "You know aniki, too?"
"Well, yeah. He's the older brother of one of my best friends," you inform him. "How do you know him?"
"Haha! It's a long story, master. One that's best told over drinks and not fast food takeout. But I'm sure I can convince ya to go out drinking with me sooner or later."
"Do you even have the mora for that?"
"Ahh, no. No, I don't. That's why you're footing the bill as usual."
"You're really fucking thick-skinned, you know that?"
Once the two of you have finished bickering over interchanging topics in the span of thirty minutes, you clean up after your food. Itto actually has the decency to help you dispose of everything that needs disposing, as if he isn't sporting any healing injuries at all. You try not to laugh at how comical it looks for him to lug a trash bag down the stairwell of your apartment wearing your pep rally shirt-turned-crop top. It's either this guy has zero self-awareness or he seriously does not give a fuck. You're not really sure which one it is.
"So, can I sleep on the couch?" Itto asks once he gets back, wiping the sweat off his brow.
A pause.
"What? You're sleeping here?"
"Of course I am!" he says. "I can't exactly show up at our home base looking all jacked up like this, now can I?"
"Well, you can't just volunteer your employer's couch as a temporary stronghold either, wise guy!" you scowl, kicking him in the shin as you retrieve your phone. A quick scroll across the lock screen clues you in on the several missed texts and calls that your friends made earlier, and—damn. You should really keep this thing on you all the time.
"You're kicking me out just like that?" He pouts, and god, it's such an atrocious look on him that it makes you want to hurl. But then again, it's already, what, one in the morning?
If you evict him now, Itto would probably just go back to those assholes that hurt him instead of swallowing his pride and letting his gang see him like this. Which will give you more problems than if you just let the guy sleep over for one night. Dammit!
The gods better be looking down on you with favor right now.
"Fine. Do you need any blankets or something?"
"Nah, s'fine. They don't give you blankets in prison, so."
"...Remind me to do a background check on you tomorrow?"
"Hehe, now why would I do that?"
...
You let out a long, long sigh when you shut the door to your bedroom. Itto assured you that he'd hold down the fort and beat up anyone who tries to rob you in the dead of night while you slept. A promise that's equal parts reassuring and terrifying but you're frankly too exhausted to think about it too much.
To your surprise, Mikan is already inside your room. But she seems to be preoccupied by something—
A gasp flees your lips when you see one of the photos you have propped up on your nightstand on the floor, lying face down with a couple of glass shards littering the floor. Mikan mewls once she notices you draw near, pawing at some of the fragments as you pick up the frame with careful hands.
It's a picture of you and your dad at your junior high graduation day, but the protective glass sheen was smashed to pieces. Thankfully, the photo didn't seem to suffer any damage.
"Did you do this?" you ask Mikan, to which she replies with a sharp cry that makes you chuckle. "Yeah... Just messing with you."
That night, you think of two things as you slowly drift off to slumber. The first is: what did Ayato want you to promise? It's really not like him to cut himself off mid-sentence like he did earlier. You're going to try and bring it up again this weekend, if chance permits you.
As for the second thing...
"Why the hell would he do that?" you whisper to no one in particular, one arm draped across your eyes. In your mind, you imagine a statuesque man with strange tattoos standing over the broken picture frame—a disdainful look distorting his usually vigorous smile.
For once, you decide to sweep the dust under the rug, where no one else can hope to find it.