"Satsuki slept right in like a pig! I told you to wake me up!"
"You're one to talk, Reo! You didn't wake me up either!"
"I'm telling Aniki it's your fault if Michiyo-chan escapes!"
"I can't get in trouble if I tell him first, you little brat!"
"Aniki gave you the mission too so if I go down, you will go down with me! Are you stupid?!"
It's only first thing in the morning and already Reo and Satsuki were bickering loudly. They seem to have forgotten some people were still asleep. Under normal circumstances, they would still be asleep but because they were given an important mission and they wanted to be praised by their well respected Aniki, they took on this mission without hesitation. It was a fairly easy mission: Make sure Michiyo do not leave the house. It sounded easy and all...that was until they realize they need to wake up before Michiyo did! Michiyo's disappearance from her bedroom set them both to panic mode! If she went back to GokuLuck, everything Iori did to get her here will be for nothing!
They scrambled and made it to the kitchen and they saw Zen talking to someone.
"The utensils are here in this drawer. Oh, and please pour anything with oil into this container. We have a collection service to take them away. Never pour oil down the sink."
"Of course. It's common sense." Michiyo said to him, wondering why he just told her that.
Zen wanted to agree with her statement but there was a time when Satsuki and Reo nearly poured oil down the sink.
"Zen-nii!" Satsuki wasn't surprised to see Zen first thing in the morning but he was surprised to see Michiyo was still here. "M-M-M-Michiyo-chan was here the whole time?!" He's still shy about the idea of living under the roof with a girl.
"Oh, Satsuki-kun and Reo-kun." Zen was surprised they were up! Usually he had to go and wake them. "Good morning!"
"Michiyo-chan, did Zen-nii force you to help him?" Reo asked Michiyo.
"Unlike you two who push chores to one another at every opportunity, Michiyo-san asked if she can help."
"We would help too, but Zen-nii you wake up too early. Zen-nii should cook breakfast at the time we naturally wake up!" Satsuki's suggestion sounded great and all but Zen made no comment because he knew if he listened to Satsuki, it will be lunch he's making not breakfast.
"Michiyo-chan, why didn't you escape? You could have walked past Zen-nii easily." Reo wanted to know why she didn't sneak out.
Michiyo froze for a moment but she continued to cook. She chose to not answer Reo's question; if she chose to leave, she could make it home to Mikoshiba and the others. The fact she woke up before Reo and Satsuki proved she could do so if she tried. Even so, she didn't do that because she knew escaping will result in GokuLuck facing the forefront of Iori. She's not sure if Iori was serious or not but she knew the man had the power to do anything he put his eyes on. By staying here and behaving, she could protect the people she believed in. Besides, Hancho said he and everyone will come back for her. She chose to believe in him and in the other three whom she trust. "When he held me, I was happy..." She had a dream before she woke up today. She was thinking about how Mikoshiba held her by her waist. There's no way she could say it out loud because Mikoshiba will surely make fun of her; she wanted to stay in his hold for a little longer.
"What was that?" Reo didn't catch that.
"Ah. Nothing! Do you like your tamagoyaki sweet or salty?"
"Sweet!" "Salty!" Reo and Satsuki said at the same time. They found an opportunity to bicker again!
"Hah?! Why are you eating it salty when sweet is better?" Reo looked disgusted at Satsuki as if the other did something so out of the ordinary.
"You shut up! Tamagoyaki is better salty!"
"Sweet!"
"Salty!"
"I can just make both." Michiyo was confused why they'd need to fight about it. She had forgotten how she and Mikoshiba fought which fish was better in an onigiri though!
"Be quiet already!" Zen reprimanded them on the spot! "Michiyo-san is younger than you two and she behaves better than you two. You two should be setting an example-"
Neither of them were listening and they're shouting over him! Zen did not like that. "BE QUIET!"
Michiyo's here against her will with these people but she had a feeling these people were not so bad. 'I feel like I am seeing some sort of family dynamic right now. I am seeing Mom and two children.' She thought as she watched Zen stop the two from bickering.
When breakfast was ready, Zen went to get Hokusai and Iori.
Satsuki nudged Reo and whispered something to him.
"Eh? Michiyo-chan!" Reo managed to stop Michiyo from leaving the living room where breakfast was, "Where are you going?"
"To my room. I'm not used to it but I think Iori-san would like me to stay in there."
Satsuki nudged Reo again. "Argh! Quit nudging me already! If you want to tell her, YOU talk to her! I am not your mouthpiece! Ah! Don't tell me you're shy even if she's younger than you~?! You're such a virgin, Satsuki-chan~!"
"I am not a virgin!" Satsuki hate it when Reo tease him!
"Just saying this now, Satsuki; even if you want to get rid of your virginity, you can't get Michiyo-chan's help."
"You shut your mouth before I wipe the floor with you! You carry this on, I'll tell Saki-chan's older sister on you! I'll lie and tell her you're bullying the new girl!"
Reo's expression changed to a dawned one immediately! "You wouldn't dare!"
Michiyo wondered who Saki-chan was and who her sister was? She must be powerful like Machiko to exert so much fear into Reo at just mentioning her.
"Try me, you little brat!"
"Fine! Tell her, I'll tell her you are eyeing Saki-chan! Even better! I'll tell Hokusai on you!"
"You brat! Saki-chan's older sister is one thing, but to even drag Hokusai into this?! Ah." Satsuki looked at the side to see Michiyo watching them like they're a form of entertainment. Satsuki cleared his throat with few nervous coughs, looked t the ceiling to avoid eye contact with Michiyo in order to talk properly. "A-Aniki wouldn't like that. I don't believe he invited you to live with us to keep you imprisoned in your room. Eat breakfast with us."
"I can? I won't lie, I am pretty hungry. But is it really okay?" She was worried Iori wouldn't want her at the dinner table with the others. Wasn't she supposed to be a prisoner of sorts here?
"It's fine! Aniki will be happy to see you eat breakfast with us." Satsuki nodded with approval, "Besides, you and Zen-nii made breakfast together. Even Zen-nii won't be happy if you're in your room while we're out here."
Coming into the room with a cat in his hold, Hokusai was awake.
"Hokusai~!" Reo hugged Hokusai's arm, "Hoku~sai~! It's morning and Satsuki is bullying me~! Help me~!"
"No bullying. Let's all get along." Hokusai said with a kind smile.
"But Hokusai! He's being a brat!"
"We should get along~." There was no arguing with Hokusai. "Hm? Michi, did you sleep well?" Hokusai asked Michiyo.
"The bed is comfortable. I'm not used to it though." It's not the bed that's the problem. The problem was she's used to hearing Ryoga's loud snores; it's like a lullaby to lull her to sleep. Without it, sleeping at night felt odd and out of place. "Iori-san's room is next to mine. I was kind of hoping he'd snore loud like Ryoga-chan."
"What kind of way to sleep is that?" Reo and Satsuki asked at the same time.
In came Iori and Zen. Iori was glad to see Michiyo was here and talking with Reo and Satsuki like they're already friends. "I'm glad..." He was worried how to patch things up but it seemed like things were working out on its own. Maybe it's because Reo and Satsuki were closer to her age range that's why she was comfortable here. "Alright! Let's eat breakfast!
Reo and Satsuki kept fighting over food and argued because one pestered the other. Michiyo watched Zen control them yet again and this made her smile a little; the way Reo and Satsuki bickered reminded her of how she and Mikoshiba bickered over small things and Inukai had to step in. Eating with Akanyatsura was different from eating with GokuLuck; with Akanyatsura, all sides were on a bigger plate to share with everyone and there's a rice cooker by the side for anyone to have seconds at any time. With GokuLuck, Michiyo make everyone their own portion for all three of their meals of the day. With Akanyatsura, it's a noisy but fun meal time. With GokuLuck, Michiyo and Mikoshiba makes up the bickering part while Shion and Ryoga calmly enjoy their meal. To Michiyo, the two shared the same thing she loved: Eating together at the dinner table.
"Michi, have a tamagoyaki." Hokusai picked a tamagoyaki with his chopsticks and he gave one to Michiyo. "Reo and Satsuki will end up eating them all."
"T-thank you." Michiyo felt a little shy.
"Zen, I hear Michiyo-chan has been great help." Iori looked at Zen and then at Michiyo, who was in the middle of being spoiled by Hokusai's kindness.
"She has, Young Master! I am so proud of her!" Zen was so touched at the at the fact Michiyo was so young and so helpful! "She followed me around the kitchen and helped me out a lot!"
"We help too, Zen-nii! Don't make it sound like Reo and I don't help!"
"That's right! Don't just praise Michiyo-chan! Praise me too!"
Satsuki and Reo could only remember the part where they helped out while conveniently forget how they use the dusters as a sword to fight.
"Michi is a good girl. Good girl, good girl." As Hokusai patted Michiyo's head, Michiyo looked down with a shy smile; what Hokusai's doing reminded her how Shion, Ryoga, and Inukai pat her head and call her a good girl. She's getting spoiled here too.
Michiyo looked up at Hokusai- "Hee...! Hokusai is too handsome, I can't-!" Her weakness of handsome men was still effective!
"Hm?" Hokusai wondered why Michiyo was fangirling.
Even after breakfast, instead of playing games with Satsuki, Reo and Hokusai, Michiyo followed Zen around to help out with the chores. She's not used to just playing around like a normal kid; even when she's at home, she always help Inukai with the chores before playing with Mikoshiba. Even if she's living in a different place, she didn't want her routine to change.
"Remember to separate the whites from the colored." Zen reminded her.
"Okay. Hm? Zen-san, this underwear have a small hole."
"Oh, that will be Satsuki-kun's. I will have to patch it up after it's washed."
"I can patch it."
"You know how to sew too?"
"Hm. We don't have that much allowance so if there's a hole in anyone's underwear or sheets, I sew it up." She's hoping when she's able to go back, there's not too much sewing for her to do. She wonder if Inukai knew how to sew?
Satsuki was about to walk past them after getting some fizzy drinks from the refrigerator but he choked when he saw Michiyo handling his underwear! "Ack?! M-M-M-Michiyo-chan! I-I will handle the washing!" He's embarrassed! He didn't want Michiyo to see his underwear! He's shy about it!
"Eh?" Michiyo didn't understand the problem, "I'm fine with that, but you still need to give me that underwear after it's washed."
"Eh?! W-what use could my underwear give you?!"
"There's a hole and I need to patch it."
"Zen-nii can do that!"
"But Michiyo-san offered and I hear she is good at it." Zen was confused what Satsuki's problem was.
"I-I like Zen-nii's stitching more!"
"You can't even tell who did the stitching even if you have to guess. What are you doing, Satsuki-kun?"
"Satsuki, we told you to get drinks. Why are you so slow?" Reo came to see what Satsuki was doing.
Hokusai came along with Reo to see what the problem was. They were all gaming and Reo said the loser had to get drinks and snacks from the kitchen; you could see who the loser was in this scenario.
"Reo! Hokusai! Our underwears are in danger!"
Reo didn't get it at first but when he saw the basket of worn clothes and Michiyo helping Zen, he put two and two together and he realized what was wrong. "Michiyo-chan, you don't need to handle our underwear! Please go and play games with Hokusai!"
"Eh? But-"
"Michi, want to play video games?" Hokusai gently moved Michiyo along. He too did not want Michiyo to handle his underwear. 'I don't think Saki would like that...' He thought to himself.
In the room where the three young members of Akanyatsura were, there's a console to play games.
Hokusai passed her a wireless controller and he said he will go easy on her.
"Actually I prefer you play like your life depends on it."
"Eh?"
Satsuki and Reo were making their way back to the room they're plying video games in. Satsuki was holding a tray full of drinks while Reo had snacks in his hold; they needed to get more things because they needed to keep Michiyo with them.
"Zen-nii said Michiyo-chan is too helpful so she should play." Satsuki said to Reo, still blushing in embarrassment over the fact Michiyo saw his underwear and didn't even blush. "Was she cleaning Ryoga's underwear too?! Geh...how embarrassing...!"
"Satsuki, next time react quicker! I don't want Michiyo-chan to handle my underwear either!"
"I'm sorry!"
Sliding the door open, they're watching Hokusai on full focus mode. The button mashing between Hokusai and Michiyo was intense! Satsuki and Reo felt like they walked in on some sort of competitive style gaming! It's not like there's a prize money for the winner, why were there in game character at each other's throats?!
"S-she's good...!" Satsuki was afraid to walk past them rom the front so he stayed behind them.
Michiyo managed to slip in a combo to defeat Hokusai's character!
"Phew..." Michiyo looked at Hokusai, "Good game."
"Hm. Good game." Replied Hokusai, "Michi is very good at gaming."
"Shibaken and I play games all the time." She wondered what Mikoshiba was doing. She missed him already.
"Michiyo-chan, play against me next!" Reo was passed the controller from Hokusai, "Just letting you know, I am pretty good at gaming."
"That's what Shibaken said before I wipe him out with Zangief."
"I'm better than that mame shiba!" However, he will come to regret saying that because Michiyo beat him with her health bar at 80%.
At GokuLuck's place, Inukai was busy cleaning up the place with Mikoshiba, Shion, and Ryoga. As for the walls, Inukai did not want to trouble the warden so he will fix it himself. If he told the warden he influenced the others to rage with him because they lost, they will be punished; one little lie and a cover up won't kill anyone!
"We will rise back up from where we fell. We will get Michiyo-chan back without alerting the warden she was gone in the first place. Whatever we do, we must talk about it, okay? No acting alone- ah! And help me make up with Machiko-san! For some reason she won't let me stay with her after 9PM!"
"Why 9PM?" Ryoga didn't get it.
"Fufu, night time is when the true fun starts~." Shion gets it.
'He will be devastated if he finds out the other him betted Michiyo away...' Mikoshiba began to think to himself, 'I don't like Tits for brain but I have to admit she is useful in some areas. Airhead Inukai really believed her when she told him Akanyatsura hired a lawyer to help Michiyo be free from prison that's why she's not here.' He put his headphones on, pretending he's listening to music but truth was he just wanted them to leave him alone as he thought about what to do next. 'Hah...let's go over what I DO know: One thing for sure, Akanyatsura somehow knew what Michiyo is capable of. If they didn't know, their leader wouldn't have approached the other Inukai with such a bet. Was it from the Opening Show? No. When we did that stupid community service? Something must have happened that I don't even know of. We can't approach their property so I have to assume they have security of sorts. The fact one of their members used to be a police, I need to assume the police will be on their side if we do anything. Michiyo does not have her phone with her since Inuki confiscated it.' Mikoshiba felt Ryoga tap his shoulder. He slipped his headphone down, "What?"
"W-w-what if I speak to S-Satsuki?" Ryoga asked him.
"I doubt that guy can help, Ryoga-chan."
"Oh."
"Getting Michiyo back is now a side quest. We still have the Consolation Match to sort out." Mikoshiba was worried about Michiyo but he knew better than to let emotions run amok that he could not see where priorities lied.
"Michiyo-chan will be safe, Ryoga. It was a brief moment, but speaking with Masaki Hokusai, I have a feeling they're a bunch of good people who won't harm a cutie like Michiyo-chan."
'I hate to agree with the pervert but what he said is true. Michiyo is useful so they will treat her well. We need to get the Consolation Match out of the way and get her back.' There's no use in thinking too much. He grabbed the wireless controller, getting ready to play this game he and Michiyo had been playing. "I should get login bonuses-" He just realized he could communicate with Michiyo! He grinned knowing how much of a genius he was!
Satsuki, Reo and Hokusai were part time students so they need to go to school. Reo wanted to stay and play games until he won but Michiyo was too good at video games. In the end, Reo left with the other two.
Michiyo turned the console on and she logged into the game she had been playing with Mikoshiba. Even if she's away from them, she still wanted to get login bonuses. She grabbed Reo's headphones and she put it on. She loved the soundtrack in this game because it sounded serene and beautiful. She got her login bonuses and she began to wander around the open world to collect resources. She's trying to grab enough resources for crafting purposes.
"Hm?" Another user was near her. "†Jet Black Criminal†...?" Why was that user's avatar interacting with her avatar? Why was he holding her hand?
--Turn your mic on, Flowers for brain.-- Said the speech bubble from the other user's avatar.
When she saw the message, she turned the mic on immediately.
"Yo, how are you doing, Flowers for brain?"
"Shibaken..." She used indoor voice because she did not want to alert Iori or Zen.
"Did they do anything to you?"
"No. They've been very nice to me. Shibaken, it's nice being here and all but I miss you and everyone...do you miss me?"
"It's only been a day, Flowers for brain. You're being dramatic." He won't tell her he's having a bad day because she's not here. There's no way he will tell her that.
"Haha, sorry. I figured you will say that."
"Hah? Then why did you make me say that?"
"I wanted to hear you being mean to me. Not hearing you say something mean to me felt weird." She's saying that because being apart from Mikoshiba and the others felt like a long time had passed. She had this feeling she will be away from them for a long while. She's secretly wishing she could go back home to them and hopefully this anxious feeling won't linger in the back of her mind for long.
"Listen, just go along with what they want for now. They won't hurt you."
"How do you know that?"
He couldn't tell her the truth. "Use your brain, will you?! You're not THAT ugly for a girl! You should know what it means when guys are nice to you and want to spoil you! It means they like you enough to want to protect you!"
"But why me?"
"Is that really important?"
"I have nothing to offer anyone so why would they want me of all people?"
He couldn't tell her the truth. All he could do was deflect and re-direct the conversation. "Just trust me. They will treat you like a princess."
"...I want to go home to you and everyone."
"I'll find a way to get you home. Just stay there and play along with them. Listen carefully, I'll log into the game at this time and I will meet you here at the Wind Valley, alright? Hold my hand if you're able to turn on the mic. If you are unable to turn your mic on because of other reasons, make your avatar dance in front of me." He had just found a way to communicate with Michiyo. There's no way he's going to let this opportunity slip.
Michiyo was happy with the arrangements. Good, she will be able to communicate with Mikoshiba.
"You're my property. I've decided that the very moment I've put you on my rank. I don't remember giving you away so you belong to me even if you hate the arrangement. Your reply?"
"I'll wait for you." Things will be different for a while but she will return home for sure. Hearing his voice made her believe that.
"I need to work on the new song. Log in and talk when you can."
"Hm. Then, see you tomorrow."
Mikoshiba turned off the mic and he logged out of the game. He sighed before he turned his laptop on. There will be a lot of things to do before he could get her back. "Ryoga-chan, Shion. You got your verse? Bring it over here."
Iori was talking with Zen. Just like GokuLuck had something to do, Akanyatsura also had something to do.
"A full body check up from a doctor? Is Michiyo-san ill?!" If Michiyo was unwell, how the hell did Zen not notice?! He thought he was watching her closely as promised!
"It's not that ya overlooked anything. Ya don't think it's strange, Zen? How she can remove marks from Metal Erosion and ease Trap Reaction..." Iori wanted to uncover the mystery behind Michiyo. He decided the first step was to get a full body check up on her. "Maybe the truth is not on the outside but on the inside."
The first step to uncovering the mystery of Michiyo was coming...