Chapter Text

"Hey, bro. Here's your fuckin' badass gang supplies..." Mondo said sarcastically as he dropped the cheap plastic bag emblazoned with the word "Hobbycraft" on it in his lap.

"Well, it'll be badass once I'm done with it!" Daiya grinned as he looked inside at the pile of spools of golden metallic thread. Embroidering golden logos on the coat of every member of his gang was hella badass... and anyone who wanted to give him shit for it could say hello to his fist.

Of course, he had a lot of gang members, and there was less gold thread in this bag than he'd been hoping for... "Do I have any change?"

"Really, bro? Sure, here's ya 50p!" Mondo rolled his eyes and flung a coin at him.

Daiya scowled at it... sure, that would have been the right amount of change for what Mondo had come back with... at the normal price. But he'd got an email saying they were buy one get one free...

Maybe it was online only? In which case he'd wanna take these back... "Did you get a receipt?" They usually put it in the bag, but there wasn't one in here.

Mondo instantly seized up. "W-why'd ya want the receipt, ya gonna put on 'em on your tax return or summat?" He asked with increased volume.

Well, that was suspicious... "I'll need it if I wanna take 'em back..."

"Why the fuck why would ya need to take em back they're thread it’s not like anything can go fuckin' wrong with goddamn thread!" Mondo started ranting even louder now, "I did ya girly shopping trip, so quit bitchin' at me already, asshole!" He stormed up to his room, face turning red as he did so.

Daiya sighed, Mondo was always crap at hiding things... He'd obviously thought Daiya wouldn't know about the offer and had spent half the money on shit for himself. But what? It's not like there'd have been anything in Hobbycraft Mondo would have wanted, the only wooden things there were those cheap balsa kits for kids and Mondo was way too good at carpentry to want one of those... And he'd not been gone long enough to have gone to any of the other shops he liked...

"As long as it's not drink or drugs..." Daiya muttered and he picked up someone's coat and started threading one of his new spools of thread through a needle.

"Hmm hmm huh hmm..." Takaaki paused as he opened the door and heard his son humming happily. He decided not to announce his arrival and closed the door quietly. That hum usually meant his son was absorbed in some embroidery project and he liked watching his son sewing... it was one of the few times he actually looked relaxed! As proud as he was of how hard his son worked, he did wish the boy was a little happier at times... or at the very least could manage to make some friends…

He snuck into the kitchen, smiling as he smelt simmering curry wafting through the air... Kiyotaka must be in a particularly good mood to have cooked his favourite dish for him! His son was at the dining table, smiling faintly as he sat holding his school shirt and stitched metallic gold thread around one of the epaulettes.

He glanced up briefly, before jumping up with a start. "Ah! Good Evening, Father!" He bowed, "I ah, the stitching on my uniform was coming undone, so... err..."

"So you went and bought thread to repair it? Good lad!" Takaaki finished, causing his son to smile nervously. He really didn't understand why the boy was so self-conscious about his skill at needlework. He'd hoped wearing the armband he'd made himself might make him a little more confident about it... But thinking of which... "What did your classmates think about the disciplinary armband?"

"Ngh!" Kiyotaka flinched. "Err... They said I should have just bought one instead of sewing like a girl..." He admitted sadly. Well, that would explain why he was so self-conscious… "Oh... but I met a boy at the craft shop who's part of a sewing club! H-he said it was good stitching..." Kiyotaka smiled and blushed slightly. "And he helped me buy the thread, as it was on a buy one get one free offer..."

"A sewing club?" He hadn't heard about anything like that around here...

"Oh! Yes! I meant to ask... May I have permission to go out Friday evening?" Kiyotaka asked anxiously. "It... It's not a school night and I'll make sure I'm home by ten..."

As if Takaaki would say no to him taking a chance to make a friend! "Of course, do you need a lift?"

"No... We're meeting up outside Grandfather's old steel factory, as it was a place we both know. He'll show me where it is from there..."

"Well, it sounds like you'll have a good evening then! Now how's about we dish up that curry?" Takaaki suggested, as Kiyotaka tied off his stitching.

"Hey, Daiya! You were right! The gold thread was on offer in the shop..." Takemichi was stood outside the door to his house holding another bag from Hobbycraft, a couple of days after Mondo had gone.

"Awesome, thanks for that..." Daiya muttered irritably, as he reached for the bag. Mondo really had tried to trick him. He looked inside to check how many spools his bodyguard had managed to pick up... Only to find a pair of boxes with a glittery looking wolf and tiger on them instead.

"Oh, uhh...They were sold out of the thread... Th-That was for me..." Takemichi admitted, "I'll pay ya back!" He added, trying to take the bag back.

Daiya, who loved being a nosy asshole to his gang at times, decided to take out one of the boxes and look at it instead. "Sequin art?" He read out loud. He chose not to read out the "For kids 8 and up" bit, due to liking not having the crap kicked out of him by a guy half his size...

"It's a wolf! And you make it by stabbing it with pins!" Takemichi rationalised loudly. "That's fuckin' badass!"

"Yeah, pretty cool..." Daiya muttered as he put the box back in the bag and handed it over, because the first rule of leading a group of badass teenage boys is to never say 'you precious little dork' to them, no matter how apt a description it is...

"Thanks..." He coughed as he took it. "Also, is Mondo having a party?"

The hell? "He's not said anything to me about a party..."

"Oh... I just wondered why he was driving off with a load of plastic cups..."

Daiya's eyes narrowed. The hell would Mondo need plastic cups for, other than a party? And if he was organising a party, why keep it secret from him? (His birthday wasn't for ages and nothing worth partying about had happened to him, so it wasn't a surprise for his sake.)

He seriously better not have bought alcohol and be planning a party for the kids in his school... The Diamonds were getting enough crap from the cops (even though there was nothing illegal about riding a group of bikes and defending themselves from attacks) without Mondo breaking the law...

"Hi, Officer Katsushika, how's your son?" The woman serving at the police cafeteria was asking one of Takaaki’s colleagues.

"Well, turns out his ribs are just cracked, not broken at least..." Katsushika replied, "How's your son?"

"He could talk again this morning... just about anyway..." She sighed.

"Did he say anything about who did it?"

"No... just that he'd deal with it himself, just like yours..." She sighed.

"Wait... Did both your sons get in a fight as well?" Takaaki interrupted. They both scowled at him (probably due to his father rather than the eavesdropping). "Err... Kiyotaka came home with a black eye... But all he'll say is that he's dealt with the problem himself..." He tried to explain.

It certainly hadn't been a nice evening, coming home to find nothing ready for dinner and his son scrambling through his wife's old makeup in an attempt to cover it up before he came home. And for Kiyotaka to just refuse to tell him what had happened was worrying, his son had been bullied before, but he'd never kept any of it secret like that...

"Hah, was that all?" Katsushika sneered, "My son got a cut lip and a boot to the ribs, and Ichigo's got an elbow in the throat..."

"And the Chief Inspector's son has a broken nose..." The woman added, "He was at the hospital as well!"

"Were there other boys there? Or could it be that someone's targeting police staff?" Takaaki asked.

"It was just the three of them... But they're all in the same class as your kid as well..." Katsushika said, "Although I suppose if it was school related your kid woulda snitched the second it happened."

"...Yes, my son would have reported it to the relevant authorities." Takaaki said coldly. Why the hell this man had joined the police force when he didn't like people who actually followed rules was beyond him...

"Umm... There, uhh... There's no chance they joined a gang, is there?" The serving woman asked, "Only I keep hearing that the Crazy Diamonds have a ton of new members lately..."

"But the Diamonds all have motorbikes, and I don't know about yours, but my son certainly can't afford one!" Takaaki pointed out.

"Doesn't have to be the Diamonds though... Other gangs will have heard and probably increased recruitment..." Katsushika suggested.

"Hahaha! Kiyotaka still wouldn't have joined a gang!" Takaaki laughed at the suggestion, "He's going to a sewing club tomorrow!"

"A sewing club...? Where?"

"Err... Somewhere near the old steelworks factory... that's where they're meeting up anyway..."

"...Didn't we get a report that one of the Crazy Diamonds was sneaking around there yesterday?"

"That... That must just be a coincidence..." Takaaki stuttered.

There... there was just no way he'd join a gang... At least not intentionally!

But then again a sewing club with another boy his age in it...? Was it possible Kiyotaka was being lied to? Maybe he'd best try and follow Kiyotaka on his round tomorrow to make sure the boy hadn't got himself into trouble...

"Hey, I feel like making a racket! Imma go to the old industry area!" Mondo shouted at him as he left the house.

He hadn't even given Daiya a chance to respond... This must be when he'd planning his... Well, his whatever it was!

Daiya waited until Mondo's bike roared out the garage and then quickly jumped on his own, hoping his brother had at least been honest as to where he was going, if not why he was...

"...I'll give him two more minutes..." Kiyotaka was muttering for the fifth time.

His son was probably the easiest person he'd ever had to follow. If he had joined a gang they hadn't done a very good job of inducting him... And now he was drawing attention to himself by stomping back and forth irritably, shivering (he wasn't wearing the outer shirt of his uniform, for some reason) and checking his watch every half minute, like he was being stood up on a date...

At least, until both himself and his son flinched at the sound of a motorcycle speeding towards Kiyotaka. Kiyotaka shrank backwards towards a wall, as if worried he'd get run over, until the bike came close enough for him to recognise the rider and he switched to waving happily at the boy instead.

Takaaki almost groaned, he would have recognised that ridiculous bleached pompadour anywhere... How the hell had his son fallen in with the likes of Mondo Oowada!? And what the hell did the second in command of the Crazy Diamonds want with him!?

"You’re late! And you should be wearing a helmet!" Takaaki's jaw dropped as his son scolded one of the most feared gangsters in the city.

And it dropped even further when, instead of getting annoyed at the back talk, Oowada just turned red and muttered an apology.

"Well... At least you actually came... I was starting to think this was a joke at my expense..." He son admitted, softly. "So... Where are we going?"

"Uhh... In there..." Oowada replied, pointing at the disused factory that had once been his father's pride and joy.

"Err... Is that allowed?" Kiyotaka balked, "I mean... I don't think anyone has permission to be in there anymore! And it's not been used in years, it must be filthy!"

"I, uhh, I cleaned it up!" Oowada cried, as if desperate for Kiyotaka to go with him. "And it's not like we'd damage it! We're just... House sitting, sorta..."

Good grief, Kiyotaka would have to be an idiot to trust this guy after that terrible explanation... Even if his boss had told him before that it wasn't worth the effort of trying to keep squatters out of his father's old buildings...

"Well, ok then!" Takaaki had to stop himself slamming his forehead into his hand at his son’s declaration, "I came here as a child once, I wonder if it's changed much..." Kiyotaka started to walk towards the factory.

"What, was that like a school trip or summat?" He vaguely heard Oowada ask in reply.

"Oh, err... No... My grandfather was the owner..." Kiyotaka started to awkwardly explain as they walked through the door.

Takaaki counted to 20 and followed, wondering what the hell was going to meet him inside...

"What the hell is going on...?" Daiya heard Officer Ishimaru muttering as he went through the door of the factory his brother's bike was parked out in front of.

Well, his brother had been honest about the where... But certainly not the why!

Daiya had parked the bike a way out from the industrial district and run the rest of the way, something he was pretty glad of now.

But goddammit... Why did Mondo have to have gone and got caught by Officer Ishimaru of all people! Daiya could probably bribe or scare the rest, but that crazy hardass had a rep for never backing down, ever.

What to do…? He could hardly follow in after the cop, but he oughta try and find out what the hell Mondo was up to... He settled for heading around the side of the building and checking the windows to see if he could spot Mondo... which he needn't have bothered doing because his brother had gone into 'loud, nervous, dork' mode...

"So... Uhh... WHADDAYA THINK!?" He could hear the slightly muffled sound of his brother's voice through the single pane of glass... Oh geez... Who the heck was Mondo trying to impress this time...?

"Hahaha! It's just the same as I remember!" A guy who was almost as loud as him, it seemed.

Daiya cautiously made his way to the right window and peer around the corner...

"So, I, uhh... I've got some water and orange squash and cups and biscuits..." Mondo was rummaging around in a cupboard... "I uhh... I hope there's some in there you like!"

"Hahaha! I'm not picky when it comes to biscuits!" Laughed the other guy... Who Daiya guessed must also be an Ishimaru because he had the exact same red eyes and crazy brows that the hardass cop did...

What the hell was Mondo DOING!? Why was he hanging out in a disused factory, nervously pouring out little plastic cups of orange squash and arranging biscuits on a paper plate like he was about to have a kids tea party with the son of the most diligent cop in the city? Was he tryin' to impress the kid?

Did he like the kid? Was that why he'd been so secretive, because he didn't wanna admit to the gang that he'd got a thing for this red-eyed nerd who was excitedly deciding between a hobnob and a custard cream? But then, what had Mondo spent the money on...? Biscuits and drinks shouldn't have been that much...

"So... Uhh... Did you bring a project...?" Mondo asked, once they'd eaten a biscuit each and he'd calmed down a little.

"Err... Not exactly. I..." The kid started to get something that looked like a bunch of ripped bandages out of his bag.

"...CAUSE THE KITS WERE ON OFFER AND I LIKED THE LOOK OF THIS ONE BUT I DON'T GET THE INSTRUCTIONS AND MY BRO'S TOO BUSY AND I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT WANNA DO IT FOR ME CAUSE YOU SAID YOU'D LIKE TA EMBROIDER A CUSHION BUT YOUR HOUSE HAS TOO MANY!" Mondo yelled at him, practically throwing a plastic packet at the guy...

The kid dropped his... whatever it was, back into the bag to catch the packet... And it was at this point that Daiya ducked under the window, partly due to the strain of NOT laughing at his precious little dork of a brother, and partly because he'd seen the incredulous-looking face of Officer Ishimaru peering out from around the doorframe opposite him...

"I... Uhh... Thanks!" The kid's nervous voice came through the window. "No one's ever given me anything like this...!"

"Really...? I uh... I bet you'll do it really well..." Mondo's voice returned to a tolerable volume.

"Well... I shall certainly do my best!" The kid replied.

There was silence for a while... Daiya was so tempted to look again, but he didn't want to risk startling the older Ishimaru who, from the sound of it, seemed to be just letting his kid... do an embroidery kit with Mondo?

But if the other kid was doing embroidery, what was Mondo doing?

"Err... How is your cross stitch?" The kid asked, answering Daiya's question for him.

"It's alright... Needle's a bit fiddly though..." Mondo replied as Daiya had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep his laughter from bursting out loud at the image of Mondo fumbling with a tiny needle.

"So… When do the other members of the club usually arrive?" The kid asked.

Other club members? Mondo wasn't in a sewing club... What the hell had he told this guy!?

"Uhh... They, uhh... None of them can make it tonight!" Geez, how did his bro suck at lying so bad?

"None of them!? Really? I've been seeing a lot of people wearing your brother's logo... I'd have thought this room would be full..."

"Haha... Yeah... Uhh, it's pretty weird actually... We usually get, like, 10 people minimum..." Mondo laughed awkwardly.

...so that was why Mondo had kept this secret... He'd spent the money on sewing kits because he'd told a cute guy that the Crazy Diamonds were an arts and craft club...

...MONDO HAD TOLD THE GUY THE CRAZY DIAMONDS WERE AN ARTS AND CRAFT CLUB...

Daiya tipped over forward and clutched the ground with the effort of not laughing... He must have spent a few minutes composing himself before crouching away from the window and running back to his bike, phone in hand.

"Yo, Takemichi!" He shouted into the phone once it was picked up. "Round up as many members of the gang as ya can and meet me at Hobbycraft! And bring your badass wolf thing to!"

"...Are you fuckin' with me?" Takemichi asked.

"Nope... Not with you!" He laughed, "Just do it and you'll see..."

If Mondo said the Diamonds were an arts and craft club, then an arts and craft club they'd BE...

"That... That's startin' ta look really good..." Oowada muttered to his son as they sat doing sewing kits together.

Really...just… doing sewing kits together?

It seemed so... he'd been watching them for half an hour now... And they really were just doing sewing kits together...

There were probably actual crimes going on that he should be out patrolling in order to stop... but instead he was just watching his son... really just doing sewing kits... with MONDO OOWADA...

And getting incredibly nervous about it... As he blushed bright red and muttered "Th-thank you..."

They hadn't been talking very much... Kiyotaka would occasionally start humming, and then remember that he wasn't alone and apologise loudly, and Oowada would say it was fine and that it'd been nice to listen to and his son would smile and blush and shuffle slightly closer to the gangster... Or Oowada would offer his son a biscuit, and his son would insist they'd eaten too many already, but Oowada would say that if they didn't get eaten they'd go to waste and so Kiyotaka would relent and the biker would shift closer as he passed him the plate...

So now they'd gone from having a meter of space between them to less than a foot, and both of them had flushed red faces and were shooting each other nervous looks when they thought the other wasn't. And Takaaki was just watching from the side, amazed that neither one had spotted him yet, trying to figure out if he would rather throw a bucket of water over the pair or yell at them to just kiss already!

Until, finally, the biker gasped and started cussing up a storm...

"Ah! What happened!?" His son dropped his embroidery to scoot even closer to Oowada...

"Ah... Goddammit! I just... How'd I fu-fricken stab myself with a blunt needle!?" He griped, putting pressure against his fingertip.

"Oh... Here, let me look..." His son took Oowada's hand in his own to look at it. "Ah... It's not as bad as it looks... Let me just..."

Let him just... do what his mother had always done to him, whenever he'd pricked himself with a needle... which was gently kiss the affected finger...

"Uhh..." Oowada's jaw was slack as he just stared at the pair of lips resting against his index fingertip.

Kiyotaka froze in place, face turning deep red and eyes widening as he realised he wasn't Mondo Oowada's mother. "I... Err! I mean... I saw a first aid kit in the cupboard!" Kiyotaka dropped the hand and ran to the cupboard, while Oowada just stared at his own hand and started turning red himself until Kiyotaka came back with a bandage and started applying it to the finger.

"Uhh... So, are we kissing each other better now...?" Oowada asked, sounding slightly shocked still.

"I... I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me... It was just..."

Kiyotaka's apology was interrupted by Oowada leaning forward and kissing him just under the eye.

"...'S just that's been annoying me all evening..." Oowada muttered as he pulled back.

"Ah..." Kiyotaka turned red again, "You noticed...?"

"Of course I noticed, it's all puffed up and shit! And that make-up’s the wrong colour! You'd have to be blind not to notice!"

"S-sorry..." His son muttered.

"What...? No it's not your fault! I just..." Oowada stammered, "...Was this the same assholes who ripped your... shoulder thingies off?"

"My epaulettes, yes..." Kiyotaka sighed, wait, what!? That hadn't just been the threads coming loose? "I'd hoped giving them a detention would deter them, but they approached me outside of school on Wednesday instead." He frowned. "They said they wanted to give me another 'craft project' and ripped the buttons off my shirt."

"And then they gave ya the black eye to...?" Oowada muttered angrily.

"Yes..." Kiyotaka nodded, "At which point I defended myself." He stated, matter of factly.

"...defended yourself, how?" Oowada raised an eyebrow at him.

"...A punch in the mouth, an elbow in the throat and a palm-strike on the nose..." Kiyotaka counted off, before a guilty look crossed his face... "And then Katsushika said my armband was gay and I lost my temper and kicked him in the ribs while he was down..." He admitted shamefully. "...I shouldn't have done that..."

Wait... Kiyotaka was the one who'd sent his classmates to the hospital!? No wonder none of them had been willing to talk about it... A group who were picking on him for sewing were hardly going to admit to being hospitalised by him... And Kiyotaka would have been too guilty about the use of unnecessary force to report it himself...

"Well... At least it oughta teach them a lesson..." Oowada shrugged and put an arm around Kiyotaka's shoulder.

"Yes... Unfortunately the lesson it taught them was not to let me see them destroying my clothes..." He sighed and picked up the mess of ripped white fabric he'd almost got out when Oowada had asked if he'd bought a craft project. "...After PE I came back to my locker to find it broken open, and this inside..." Kiyotaka handed it to him.

Oowada turned it over and squinted at it for a moment before spotting several gold parts... "They ripped up your uniform..." He growled.

Cowardly bastards...

"Yes... I reported it to the school, of course..." Kiyotaka said, "But as there's no evidence as to who did it, I was told they're unlikely to be punished, and..." He trailed off.

"And what!?" Oowada asked, anger seeping into his voice.

"...They said I should have considered such behaviour before disclosing my hobby." Kiyotaka said flatly, leaning into the biker's body. "And they recommended I try buying myself a pre-made armband."

"That's fuckin' bullshit!" Oowada roared Takaaki's thought out loud. "Ya shouldn't have ta fight off groups of assholes cause ya like ta sew!"

"I know, but... What can I do? I can't change the minds of the whole school by myself..." Kiyotaka sighed, "What do you and your brother do...?"

"Uhh... Well I don't really tell anyone about the stuff I make..." Oowada scratched the back of his head. "And Daiya's got enough badass friends that no one dares mess with him..."

"Whereas I don't even have friends, let alone badass ones..." Kiyotaka sighed.

"...You don't have friends?" Oowada asked, incredulously.

"No." Kiyotaka said, bluntly, "...Why are you surprised?" He added after a moment, as Oowada continued to look incredulous.

"Whaddaya mean 'why am I surprised!'? Most people have friends!" Oowada snapped, "...And you seem way too nice and cool and shit not to..." He muttered.

"Ah..." Kiyotaka blushed and looked up at him, "B-but you've only known me for... 2 hours..." Kiyotaka looked down at his watch sadly.

Oowada grabbed him by the chin and pulled his face back up. "Well... It's been long enough to know I like ya!"

Kiyotaka just blinked at him, and then gradually the pair of them started to blush as they realised how close they were to each other...

Well... There were probably crimes going on that he ought to be on the watch for... He'd been standing around here long enough... Besides, he was going to have to figure out what to do about those three boys... Talking to the parents wasn't likely to work, he could hardly walk into work and demand that his boss tell his son to stop being a homophobic dickhead and... and...

And did he just walk past a group of Crazy Diamonds' members?

"Did we just walk past Ishimaru and not get stopped?" Takemichi whispered.

Daiya peered behind him and saw the overbearing cop freeze in place and turn back around... "Quick, just keep walking..." Daiya muttered as he led the group of gang members Takemichi had managed to scrounge up at short notice through the cleaned corridors to the room he'd watched from the window earlier...

...Where Mondo had his hand on Ishimaru's kid's face and the kid was staring right back into his eyes and they were both red and sweating slightly and the kid was chewing his lip nervously... and Daiya decided to be a dick to his little brother...

"Geez... We turn up a little late to arts and craft and ya bring in a rent boy and scarf half the biscuits..."

"AAAHHHH!!!!" The lovebirds jumped about a meter apart from each other... Ishimaru's kid just looked up at them all in pale-faced shock and Mondo jumped up to yell at him.

"I didn't buy him, ya fuckin' asshole!"

"Well, yeah... That's why they're called RENT boys..." Takemichi grinned.

"I am not being paid!" The kid finally snapped to attention, which was good 'cause it stopped Mondo from trying to strangle their bodyguard… "And if we had been informed of your tardiness we would have saved the provisions..." He added, accusingly.

"So you're Mondo's boyfriend then?" Daiya asked the guy, sitting in the now vacant seat between the pair.

"Err..." The kid blinked and looked over his shoulder to Mondo. "...Am I?" He asked, nervously.

"Uhh..."

Mondo... For the love of god don't fuck this up!

"...if ya wanna be?" Mondo shrugged while staring like a deer caught in headlights.

"Well... Alright then! Err...yes! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru and I am Mondo's b...boyfriend!" He bowed, probably out of politeness (his Dad was always respectful, even when he was arresting people), but it did also have the advantage of hiding how badly his face flushed at the last word.

"Cool. I'm Daiya... His brother." Daiya casually held out a hand, as several members of the gang gave Mondo approving thumbs up and winks.

"Ah! You're the one sews all the logos, and the flames!" Kiyotaka smiled eagerly as he shook it. "It's a great design... Is it hard to make?"

"Nah, not really... If you can do that..." He nodded at Kiyotaka's embroidery hoop, "then you can make one of these, it just takes a while, and lots of thread..." The kid nodded interestedly... Huh, maybe he'd be able to offload some of the new member’s coats onto the guy.

But first things first... "Well, we're here now, everyone get out your projects!" He ordered the guys.

"WHAT!?" Mondo was luckily inaudible over the rustle of plastic bags as every member of the gang got out the things he'd made them pick out at the shop... And to their credit only a few of the newer guys were still shooting Daiya incredulous looks for this stunt... He made a mental to push those guys to the back of the queue for logos though.

"This is why we were late, Hobbycraft have kits on offer so we were stocking up..." Daiya lied to Kiyotaka while Mondo stared slack jawed as about quarter of their gang started pulling out an assortment of easy-to-do handicraft projects.

"Ah... I suppose that's fair..." The kid replied. "What are you working on?"

Aww crap... He'd been too busy grabbing all the gold thread he could carry...

"Err... I kinda forgot mine..." Daiya realised.

"Oh! Err... Did you want to do this?" Kiyotaka pushed the hoop towards him. "Your brother wanted it for himself and I probably ought to be trying to fix my shirt..."

Daiya squinted at the kid... "Your shirt looks fine..." He pointed out.

"...He means this..." Mondo passed him a mess of...

Well, it the thing he'd assumed was a pile of bandages earlier, but now he had it in his hands he could see buttons, and a pair of epaulettes... He held it up by those, it appeared that the back of the shirt had been messily ripped upwards at various points...

"Err... I told people at school I like to sew, so they decided to give me a 'project' to work on..." Kiyotaka explained, wryly.

"Hmm... Lemme see what I can do..." Daiya picked up the white thread and needle the kid had wrapped up in the shirt and started working...

It was a pretty good night: A few idiots threw biscuits at each other, and he and Mondo had to grab hold of Takemichi at one point to stop him beating the shit outta a guy who knocked over his pot of sequins (at least, until Kiyotaka had finished picking up the sequins and sorting them by colour for him). But otherwise the only notable thing was that Officer Ishimaru was just standing in the doorway staring at them all with a bemused expression on his face... But after a while he wandered off.

Which was kinda a shame, because Daiya would have liked to see his reaction to the repair on his son's shirt.

"Hey... See if this fits..." Daiya said to Kiyotaka, just as he looked like he was working up the courage to place his hand on Mondo's knee. (Just cause he'd let them sit next to each other after Takemichi's strop, didn't mean he was gonna quit being a dick chaperoning).

"Nyah!" Kiyotaka jumped in embarrassment and turned to face him. "Err... Thank you!" He took it and looked at the back, and his face dropped in shock. "I, err...what...?"

"Welcome to the club." Daiya grinned at him and Mondo, who was giving him a look that suggested he might just think Daiya was worth putting up with at times... maybe.

It wasn't the best looking Crazy Diamonds 'jacket'... Even though Daiya had done his best to cover up the repairs with licks of golden flame, it was still obvious that it had been ripped up at some point, if you looked closely.

But it was still the Crazy Diamonds logo... And that oughta make those assholes at his school think twice before trying to trash it again...

"Ah... Th-thank you!" Kiyotaka started stammered as tears welled in his eyes. "Th-this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done..." He started actually sobbing with joy as Mondo pulled him into a hug.

Damn... Such a shame Officer Ishimaru hadn't seen this... What made him decide to wander off anyway?

"What are you doing here?" His boss asked as he exited the old factory.

Ah... He thought he'd heard sirens...

The Chief Inspector was accompanied by Officer Katsushika, looking over the dozen or so motorbikes that were parked around... the younger Oowada's vehicle.

"I saw Mondo Oowada enter the building with my son and decided to see what they were doing." Takaaki explained. "...but it turns out it's just an arts and craft meeting!" He put on a smile and shrugged. "... And I didn't think it was worth antagonising a group of otherwise harmless young lads over minor trespassing charges..." He made sure to use the exact words the Inspector had that time he'd tried to arrest some boys for painting graffiti on the inside of his father’s old cutlery works...

Judging from the scowl on his boss' face, the man picked up on the quote.

"...Are you seriously trying to cover up the fact that your son's in a gang with that!?" Katsushika asked, angrily.

"It's a craft club, and he's only just joined today." Takaaki said, "But if you don't believe me you can come in and see..." His boss glared at him and stalked ahead into the building, followed by Katsushika.

"It's just through the clean areas... Seems Oowada was just tidying up the place on Wednesday..." Takaaki explained genially, and couldn't help feeling a burst of schadenfreude as the pair of them insisted on ignoring him and searching through the dusty rooms for evidence of wrongdoing, and came out with nothing but grime on their clothes for the trouble.

Eventually (after searching every nook and cranny except the one place he was pointing to) they finally relented and walked past him to the old break room.

God, he'd have loved to see the looks on their faces as they walked into doorway and were met with the sight of a dozen of the city's most feared group of boys, all sat around drinking orange squash, eating biscuits and doing (mostly) children's craft projects.

And all that while Kiyotaka stood in the middle of them, laughing and twirling around in excited glee to let Mondo Oowada gape at his repaired shirt ... Which was now adorned with the logo of said feared group of boys.

Daiya Oowada seemed to glance at the door as they came in, but if he noticed them stood there he didn't let on... Instead he started asking Kiyotaka about the shirt. "How's it fit? It'll be a bit tighter now where I had to overlay the material..."

"Ah...that's alright, it's always been a bit loose before..." But then Kiyotaka's smile dropped, "Although if it gets damaged again..." He sighed anxiously.

"If it gets damaged again Imma beat the shit outta those three..." Mondo Oowada growled.

Takaaki had suppress a snort of laughter as the two men in front of him stiffened. Looks like one of their kids had finally blabbed, or at least been rude enough about his son that they'd figured out the connection...

"That is NOT necessary!" Kiyotaka snapped... "And it's not an appropriate deterrent either!"

Mondo Oowada didn't look convinced... But his brother just laughed at Kiyotaka's outburst. "Alright, fine kid... But lemme know if that happens again, ok?" Daiya Oowada grinned conspiratorially in his own direction "I'll sort it out for ya..."

"Ah... Alright, thank you!" Kiyotaka smiled again, having completely missed the implication.

Not that Takaaki thought it was going to be necessary... Not from the pallid complexions his fellow Officer's faces had taken on as they glanced at each other and headed back out of the door in silence, pointed avoiding his eyes as he followed behind them...

"Ah! I need to go home now!" Kiyotaka suddenly exclaimed after checking his watch. "I promised my father I'd be home by ten..." He explained. "It's been nice to meet you all, and I hope you see you again next week!" He bowed to the room as he went to leave...

"Well, uhh... I'll come with ya and make sure you get home safe!" Mondo's voice raised as he started to head out of the room to walk his boyfriend home.

"And I'll come with ya!" Daiya walked over to the pair, causing Mondo to glare at him again.

"Ah... To chaperone?" Kiyotaka asked him, as they started heading through the corridors.

"What's chaperonin'?" Mondo asked.

"It's a polite word for 'cock-blocking'." Daiya grinned as he explained, Mondo's face turned a dark red and Kiyotaka almost tripped over in embarrassment.

"Well...! We don't need... that!" Mondo eventually spat out.

"Suuuuure you don't..." Daiya rolled his eyes as they came out of the factory...

"Huh, that's a lot of motorcycles!" Kiyotaka pointed out blandly, probably trying to change the subject. "Haha, with your names being Mondo and Daiya, it's almost as if you're all from that motorcycle gang! Hahaha!" He chuckled.

"Uuhhhhhh..." Mondo panicked.

Kiyotaka's laugh froze. "...You are all from that motorcycle gang, aren't you?" He realised.

"Umm... Yeah, kinda..." Mondo admitted.

"But then... Why did you...?" Kiyotaka stammered, "Was this a joke? Are you about to beat me up for..."

"What!? No!" Mondo exclaimed. "It was just... Ya got so excited about having other people to sew with I didn't wanna correct ya... and I thought it'd be nice to sit and sew with ya..." He admitted gruffly.

Kiyotaka turned to look at Daiya. "But then why did you..."

"Eh, I was just fuckin' with Mondo..." He admitted. "I'll let you guys have your little craft date alone next time..."

Or at least that was his plan, until he heard footsteps running towards them...

"Hey, wait up a sec!" Takemichi was yelling at them, followed by a few members of the gang. "We didn't decide what time we're meeting up next week!"

"Next week?" Mondo asked. "What're we doing next week?"

"Uhh... Well, this?" Takemichi gestured back to the building.

"Ah... I appreciate the sentiment, but I have been informed that you are not, in fact, an arts and craft club." Kiyotaka stated.

"So!?" Takemichi snapped. "None of us got to finish our things yet!" This was met with murmurs of agreement from the gang.

"Err...?" Kiyotaka just gaped at them all.

"Hey, don't look at us like that! It was you who started it!" The bodyguard snapped again.

"We'll meet here at 7 next Friday." Daiya forced himself not to roll his eyes. "I'll bring the biscuits..."

You precious little bunch of dorks...

"Err... Father? I'm… home...?" Kiyotaka sounded confused as he entered the front door.

Takaaki was a little surprised, he'd expected his son to come bounding into the room full of joy at having a boyfriend and joining a club and having friends now... and then he'd have listened and acted surprised and happy along with his son.

"How did your evening go?" He tried asking.

"I... I seem to have joined a motorcycle gang...?" Ah, so they'd told him the truth then... "And I've made them start a crafts club...?" He sat down numbly at the kitchen table.

"...Anything else?" Takaaki asked. Had this made him spurn the younger Oowada boy? He hoped not, they actually seemed to get on well…

Kiyotaka blinked a couple of times. "...And I'm dating Mondo Oowada..." He admitted.

"Huh..." Takaaki tried to sound surprised enough that Kiyotaka wouldn't figure out he'd been watching him for half the evening, but not so surprised that he came off as disapproving. "...Why don't you tell me how that happened?"

Chapter Text

“How it happened?” His son blinked in response to his question. “Ah… well… I guess it started when… when I realised my epaulettes were coming loose and decided to take the tram to Hobbycraft…”

Hmm… looked like Kiyotaka wasn’t going to be completely forthcoming with this story. Still, he’d be able to fill in the blanks with what he knew from tonight…

“Oh, you can shut the fuck up!” Mondo snapped at him once they’d dropped his new boyfriend back home.

“I didn’t say anything bro…” Daiya grinned.

“You were gonna…” Mondo scowled. “You were gonna say something about how I fuckin’ suck at kissing or summat…”

“Why would I say that!? Did he tell you that?” Seriously, if that little nerd had upset Mondo…

“Uhh… no, he just asked for my number so we could organise a date, without you, and said he needed to go explain shit to his Dad…”

Well the kid better fuckin ring that number then…

“I just figured you’d be watching me kiss so you could take the piss afterwards…” Mondo finished.

“Nah… I wasn’t watching ya kiss…” Daiya grinned, getting his phone out of his pocket. “I was taking a selfie to show the gang.”

It was a pretty crappy photo, and most of it was taken up with Daiya grinning and doing a V for Victory sign at the camera, but it still just about showed a blurry picture of his brother blushing furiously with one hand on Kiyotaka’s chin, the other intertwined with the kid’s and his lips resting against his happy new boyfriend’s...

“You fuckin asshole! Gimme that!” Mondo launched forward, trying to grab the phone.

Daiya dodged the clumsy attempt, “If you wanna closer look I can email it to you…”

“I don’t wanna look at it, I wanna delete that shit!” Mondo snapped.

“Alright, I’ll delete it… on one condition.” Daiya offered, holding the phone away from Mondo so he couldn’t get at it.

“What?” Mondo growled, knowing full well he wasn’t fast enough to snatch stuff from him.

“Tell me… how the fuck you ended up telling the son of the most hardass cop in the city that the Crazy Diamonds were an arts and crafts club!?”

Mondo scowled for a moment before rolling his eyes and relenting. “Fine… It started when some lazy jackass gave me some money and made me go to Hobbycraft to buy thread for his girly sewing projects… so I found the aisle with the right thread straightaway...

Bullshit! That place was a maze… seemed like Mondo was gonna (badly) gloss over his own dorkiness during this story… Still, Diaya knew his little brother well enough to know what he’d actually done… he could just imagine that…

Kiyotaka took a seat on the tram, still feeling slightly shaken from the altercation earlier. Why had they done that? Everyone always laughed at him for never doing anything other than school work, so he’d shown them that wasn’t true… so then they just mocked him for his new interest instead, and ruined his uniform to…

He looked at his broken epaulettes sadly. Did it really matter that much that he enjoyed sewing, despite being a boy? Or did those three just want an excuse to upset him? It didn’t help that most of the other students in his class had laughed along with them, and even the girls who were interested in sewing or knitting had just avoided talking to him about the armband he’d made, or anything else.

He’d just wanted one person, one solitary person, to say it looked nice and he’d done a good job with it and maybe have a conversation with him… was that too much to ask?

“That’s a nice armband!” Kiyotaka was shocked to hear the woman on the seat opposite him suddenly grant his wish… “Where did you buy it?”

“Ah… it’s not bought, it’s handmade!” He explained pleased at the implication that it was of professional quality.

“Well, you must be lucky!” She decided, “Having such a nice girlfriend…”

“Err…” He hesitated… why had she assumed he must have a girlfriend who made it for him!? “I don’t have a girlfriend, I…”

“Oh? Your mother made it for you?” She asked, innocently reminding him with what felt like a kick in the guts that his mother wasn’t alive to make him things or fix his clothes anymore... “I’d like to do things like that for my son, but I don’t have the time these days…”

She started telling him about her own son and his interests in football and camping, while Kiyotaka wondered if it was really so weird for a boy to sew… his mother had always been so keen to snuggle up with him on the couch and show him how to do all the different stitches when he’d asked, was that really so wrong?

“Ah… this is my stop!” He announced to excuse himself as they approached the small shopping area the craft store was located in.

“Oh?” She seemed slightly surprised, probably because it was mostly furniture shops there… “Off to the computer place then?”

“…Yes.” He lied, as if he could afford anything from that place...

He walked through the shop, feeling self-conscious both because of the state of his shirt, where the loose threads made it obvious that there were supposed to be epaulettes on his shoulder, and also his growing realisation that, aside from the odd put-upon father shopping with a young girl or two, he was the only male in the whole shop.

He tried to put it out of his mind as he headed over to the shelf of metallic threads… he didn’t have enough money for one, but there were signs up saying the shop was having a sale so maybe…

He checked the shelf… they were on sale, but it was buy one get one free… curses! If only they’d been half off instead… or he had a friend he could split the cost with…

But he didn’t, so he just sighed and headed off to the cheaper cotton threads to try and find one that was vaguely similar to the metallic thread his epaulettes had been sewn on with originally…

Mondo was stomping down the aisles of this stupid shop trying to find his brother's stupid golden thread so he could finally go make some noise around town like he’d wanted instead of getting stared at by all these parents with their little kids… seriously, how the fuck did you need to fill two whole floors with all this colourful crap and why the hell didn’t aisles have proper signs or even fucking numbers!?

Finally, after stomping up and down the aisles several times and scaring some poor woman and her kids in the process, he spotted an aisle filled with spools of thread of various colours and stalked down in irritably, looking for the metal gold ones…

In a couple of minutes he’d checked the entire aisle, except for a small section being blocked by some guy wearing a white uniform with black knee-high boots and a disciplinary armband (although a much nicer one that his school handed out, he must go to a decent school). He had short black hair and was staring at something in his hands with an intense red glare… it looked like he was trying to match up the colour of the threads with the gold thing in his hands. Shit, did that mean there was more than one type of gold thread? Daiya had just said ‘the gold one’… typical lazy asshole, it was bad enough he’d used Mondo wanting to go out for a ride as an excuse to foist off his stupid errands on him, and now it turns out he couldn’t even bothered to describe the right thing to get to him?

Still… the thing this guy was holding was the same colour as the logo, so Mondo could just wait for him to pick his thread out and then buy the same stuff. And if Daiya didn’t like it then tough! It’d teach him to do shit for himself!

Hopefully this guy wouldn’t mind Mondo staring at him for a while… after all there was nothing else to look at here and he was just watching him compare threads, not staring at his ass or anything… even though it was a nice ass… and that uniform did a damn good job of showing it off…

Oh goddammit, Mondo!

He quickly pulled his eyes upwards to check if the guy had noticed him staring… luckily he was still focused on picking between the different threads available… his red eyes shifted between them and the things in his hands with a sad expression on his face… which was a shame ‘cause it was kinda a cute face…

No, Mondo! Quit thinking like that! You’ll just end up yelling and scaring him!

Although it was kinda hard to quit letting his mind wander when the guy was taking so long to pick which thread he wanted… what the hell was taking him so long!?

None of these were anywhere near the same colour as the epaulettes… still, his other uniform wasn’t washed yet, so he needed to repair this one tonight!

He gave up and picked up the closest looking choice… it wasn’t like anyone at school would care enough to notice that…

“That doesn’t look right…” A gruff, gravelly voice suddenly came out of nowhere to his side.

“AAAHHHH!” Kiyotaka instinctively shrieked and cowered briefly from the surprise… he’d been so focused on the threads he’d not noticed anyone else come down the aisle... and his fight or flight response had always been firmly stuck on the latter option when it came to being startled by people he hadn’t noticed…

“Shit! Sorry, I didn’t mean ta scare ya!” The man apologised in a loud, anxious voice.

“Ah! N-no, It's fine, you just startled me a little…” Kiyotaka apologised in embarrassment as he turned to face the man, “Sorry, what were you…saying?”

Kiyotaka barely managed to finish his sentence once he saw the… the boy talking to him! He looked… he looked like what Kiyotaka imagined the quintessential definition of the term ‘badass’ to be… Although that would never be a phrase Kiyotaka would use out loud, and if it hadn’t have been for his hurried apology, Kiyotaka would have probably fled at the sight of him.

Despite looking no older than himself, he was huge! Taller and far more muscular than himself, or even any of the students in year above him. He had his hair styled into a daring bleached-blonde pompadour that must have been a foot long, and the imposing hair was well matched by his angular jaw and the thick eyeliner that made his eyes far more menacing than someone with lilac irises had any right to be…

And to top off the general threatening nature of his appearance, he was dressed all in black, with baggy pants and a long jacket that was vaguely reminiscent of a gangster…

And yet despite his fearsome appearance, the boy in front of him had a slight blush to his cheeks, and had responded to his question with an awkward shuffle of his feet and scratch of his head... it was… cute in a way.

Not that he’d ever dare tell him that! He’d barely been able to work up the courage to tell his father that he occasionally found men attractive… he certainly wasn’t going to go around propositioning dangerous looking ones in random shops! That was the sort of thing that got you far more than a ruined uniform.

“Uhh… I just thought… I was expecting ya ta pick out the metally threads, like the ones on that thing you’re holding…” The man explained his original statement. “Could you not find ‘em either?”

“Oh! You’re looking for metallic threads?” Kiyotaka checked, to which he nodded, “Ah, they’re over this way!” He led the other boy back over to the first display he’d checked.

“So how come you’re not getting ‘em? Wouldn’t it match better?” The boy pointed to the thread that would have been ideal for him…

“I don’t have enough money with me... and I need to repair my uniform tonight.” He sighed.

Kiyotaka tried not to blush too hard as the other boy looked him up and down, trying to figure out the problem… “Uhh… it looks fine ta me?” He failed to spot the issue.

“Ah, well these…” Kiyotaka lifted one of the epaulettes in front of the other boy, “…are supposed to go here…” He placed it on his shoulder to demonstrate.

The boy squinted at it for a moment and then suddenly reached out to touch his shoulder.

For a brief moment he was reminded of the boys at school and flinched, expecting a shove or punch…and a hard one, given how strong he obviously was. Except he was pleasantly surprised when all the boy did was gently knead his tense shoulder to have a look at the broken stitching in closer detail…

Oh shit, had he scared the guy again? He’d just meant to see if the broken thread could have been reused to sew the things back on, but he seemed jumpier than a rabbit!

“S-sorry!” He quickly pulled his hand off the guy’s (surprisingly muscly) shoulder.

“No, it's fine!” He said, his face getting flustered, “I just wasn’t sure what you were intending to do... you can carry on looking if you want?” He offered uncomfortably, turning even redder and looking away from his eyes.

“No, it’s cool… but it musta been pretty shoddy stitching for them both to have just fallen off like that…” Mondo pointed out.

“Oh, they didn’t fall off… three of my classmates pulled them off.” He replied, primly. “Well… One of them did… the other two were pinning my arms…”

“The heck!?” How the hell could this guy be so calm about something like that? “Why would they do that?”

“Oh…” His posture went rigid, “Just boys being boys! Hahaha!” He forced a loud laugh.

Wow, this guy wasn’t a very good liar… not that Mondo could talk. “Tch! That’s more like bastards being bastards…”

“L-language!” The guy snapped, although his mouth was turning up into a slight smile as well.

“Sorry, but… being a dude isn’t an excuse ta be a jerk! My bro’d have my hide if he found out I’d been roughing up people in my class who weren’t into it… ‘specially if I decided to be a coward and round up a couple of friends ta pin ‘em while I did it!”

“Ah…” He looked awestruck for a moment, which was admittedly a nice way to be looked at… “But, they didn’t rough up me! Just my uniform…”

“SO!? It still freaked you out, didn’t it?” Hell, it must have done to make the kid as jumpy as he was…

“Well… slightly!” He admitted reluctantly, looking down towards the threads, “Although the inconvenience and expense of fixing my uniform is more concerning…”

Oh yeah, he’d said he couldn’t afford the right thread, hadn’t he? Freaking assholes had probably screwed his day right up! “At least tell me you managed ta hit ‘em back a few times…”

“My school has a zero-tolerance policy with regards to fights.” He said, calmly. “I did, however, report them and cause them all to serve after school detention!” He added, smiling and puffing up his chest proudly.

“That won’t do shit…” Mondo sighed, he’d beaten the crap out of enough bullies to know that himself. “It’ll just make ‘em target you for that!”

“Well, if they keep making me report them, then their punishments will become more severe, and they’ll eventually learn to stop!” Damn, his confidence would be cute if he wasn’t so screwed… “In the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to put up with my epaulettes being sewn on with substandard thread…” He looked at the gold metal ones longingly.

Mondo followed his gaze… that was definitely the thread they both needed… and it was on offer as well…

“Could ya afford half of one?” Mondo asked, “Cause I need gold as well, so we could split the offer, maybe?”

“Really!?” His face lit up with excitement, “That would be perfect! Thank you so much… Err…” His excitement froze and faded into awkward embarrassment.

Had he been intending to thank Mondo by name? “Umm… Mondo.” Mondo muttered, trying to casually wave his hand in the guy’s general direction, as a way of offering a handshake that wouldn’t leave him hanging like a loser if the guy didn’t accept it.

“Thank you!” He broke into a wide smile as he rushed to grasp Mondo’s hand in both of his own, as if expecting Mondo to pull it back given half a chance. “I’m Kiyotaka! It’s nice to meet you, Mondo!” And judging from the way his eyes lit up, he actually meant it.

That was a nice change… most people he met were either freaked out by his appearance or trying to start something… the ‘friendliest’ introductions he usually had were people who were being respectful ‘cause they wanted to get in the gang…

“Right back atcha, Kiyotaka!” Mondo couldn’t help but grin as he brought his other hand up to close around Kiyotaka’s.

Kiyotaka inhaled sharply and started turning red… shit, was that because he didn’t like the contact… or because he did?

Probably best to let go in either case, with Mondo’s track record. You’d think nervously screaming at 10 cute people in a row woulda made him quit getting hopeful every time he met one…

“Well, let’s get this thread then!” He whipped his hands away from Kiyotaka’s and quickly started shoving handfuls of spools into the basket before he could see that Mondo’s own face was starting to turn red as well.

“Wha… what can you possibly need all that thread for!?” Kiyotaka cried.

“Oh, it’s to make more of these!” Mondo turned away from him and pointed a thumb down at the logo Daiya had stitched onto the back of his coat.

“Wha… you made that yourself…?” Kiyotaka gasped, coming forward to run his fingers over his lower back. “It’s incredible! Such detailed stitching…”

“Uhh…” Shit, his hand felt nice, even through the jacket. “Actually my bro made it… See his name’s in the logo before mine…”

Mondo tried not to start panicking as Kiyotaka grasped his shoulder gently to steady himself and ran his fingers over the upper part of his back. “Daiya… Mondo… So his name’s Daiya?”

“Y-yeah…” Mondo just about managed to keep his voice normal under the unusually tender contact. “He makes these for all our members…”

“He makes these regularly? That’s amazing…” Kiyotaka muttered, still running his fingers gently across the fabric, “It makes my armband look like child’s play…”

“Your armband? You made that yourself?” Mondo asked him.

“AH!” Kiyotaka suddenly jumped and squeezed his shoulder hard… “I… err… I mean…well… yes…” He sounded like he was cringing.

Mondo turned to look, causing Kiyotaka to pull his hands away and stare at his boots. Why was he embarrassed? He’d done a damn good job making it, after all…

“I just thought ya must go to a fancier school than me…” Mondo admitted, “Didn’t think you’d be able ta make summat that neat by hand…”

Kiyotaka’s face lit up like the god damn sun. “Ah thank you!” He smiled briefly. “But it’s not that neat… there were quite a few bits I had problems with… like here for example, I ended up snagging the stitching because…”

Mondo listened while he prattled on happily about faults so tiny you’d probably need a magnifying glass to see them… he didn’t have a clue what Kiyotaka was on about, but his voice was nice and he was letting Mondo hold onto his muscled arm to get a better look at the armband and that smile of his was infectious…

Was he going on too much? He’d been talking about this for a while now, wouldn’t it be a nuisance to keep going?

But Mondo was holding his arm like it was priceless treasure to be revered, only occasionally stopping to look up at him and give him a gorgeous smile while he listened to him talk and Kiyotaka had expected him to mock his sewing like the boys at school but instead he’d just said it was well made and this was everything he’d been hoping for when he’d put the armband on this morning, only with someone far more attractive than any of his classmates and…

Oh no… he was starting to cry again… Mondo was sure to tease him now…

“Shit! Did I hurt you?” Mondo suddenly pulled his hands away.

“N-no! I just… I cry when I’m happy…” He admitted, drying his eyes and looking at the floor.

“And… you’re happy you made mistakes?” Mondo sounded confused.

“No, I’m just glad someone’s actually interested in it!” He explained, “When I wore it to school, everyone just laughed at me… it’s why those classmates decided to remove my epaulettes. They said if I wanted to sew, they’d give me something to sew.”

“Tch! Jackasses!” Mondo snarled, “Ya really shoulda punched ‘em…” He said, as they started to walk towards the registers.

“Violence doesn’t solve anything!” Kiyotaka told him, “And besides, it’s been so long since I had self-defence lessons… there’s no chance I’d be able to defend myself against three people at once!”

“You’ve had self-defence lessons? Hell, you’d probably take ‘em out easily then!” Mondo laughed, “I’ve met guys like that before… they never expect anyone to even try to fight back, let alone be good at it! They probably fight like a bunch of chumps!”

It was true none of them took any martial arts… and Mondo was looking at him so confidently… maybe he could best the three of them… Not that he’d do it at school, and even outside he’d only do to someone who attacked him first!

“I’ll keep it in mind.” He promised, earning a smile and a pat on the shoulder from Mondo.

All these smiles, all these friendly touches… was Mondo just a friendly person, or was there even the tiniest speck of a chance he might possibly be as attracted to Kiyotaka as Kiyotaka was to him right now? He’d never had friends before, how was he supposed to know what was normal behaviour for them?

Either way, he dearly wanted to find an excuse to delay paying for the thread and going their separate ways… There must be something here he could use as an excuse to drag out their time together!

“…Do you mind if I have a quick look at the embroidery kits?” Was the best thing he could come up with, “N-not that I can buy any now but if they’re on sale I might have enough money at home…”

“Sure! Lead the way!” Mondo gestured ahead of them.

A small part of him was tempted to feign getting lost in the shop, but Mondo would probably see right through it, so instead he just took him straight to the correct aisle and made a show of browsing the kits, even ones he knew he wasn’t going to buy, all the while desperately trying to think of something to talk about…

“That one’s pretty neat! You think you’ll get it?” Mondo asked excitedly about the random kit he was currently holding.

His eyes snapped downwards to actually look at the thing… it was a simple cross-stitch kit that made a cushion with a small white dog on it… how pathetic… picking up something he had multiple reasons not to buy, just because he wanted to spend a little more time in the vicinity of someone who’d been nice to him…

“Err… well, probably not. It’s a bit simple for me, and as much as I’d like to make a cushion, my house is rather full of them…” He admitted.

His mother had loved making her works into cushions, of all shapes and sizes. In a way Kiyotaka was glad she had… it was nice to have something he could cuddle that reminded him of her…

“Well, you could always get rid of ‘em and…”

“NEVER!” Kiyotaka spat out, before it registered in his mind that Mondo had no way of knowing that the cushions had been made by his mother, “… sorry. It’s just my mother made them… and she’s… not here anymore…”

“Crap! I’m sorry…” Mondo apologised guiltily. “So… was that who ya learnt ta sew from?”

“Yes… We used to cuddle up on the sofa with biscuits and orange squash and work on our projects together.” Kiyotaka smiled faintly as he remembered it, “And she used to show me each time she had to do a new type of stitch.”

“Ha… sounds nicer than how Daiya learnt…” Mondo muttered. Kiyotaka looked at him until he explained further, “Our parents weren’t around much, so he had to teach himself how to repair our clothes.”

“Oh… so it was just the two of you? That must have been hard…” Kiyotaka couldn’t imagine having grown up without his parents.

“Well… we had a dog as well! His name was Chuck!” Mondo grinned, “He kinda looked like that one.” He added, pointing at the kit in his hand. “He used ta bring in the paper and I took him out for walks…”

“That sounds very cute…” Kiyotaka smiled at the thought of the handsome boy with him excitedly taking a little dog out for ‘walkies’.

“Y-yeah, I guess?” Mondo mumbled, and Kiyotaka realised he probably didn’t appreciate being called ‘cute’… or having to wait around while Kiyotaka pretended to browse things he had no intention of buying…

“Well… it’s good to know what’s available! We’d probably best get on with paying though!”

“Yeah… guess your uniform won’t fix itself, huh?” Mondo replied solemnly.

“Yes, that’s true…” Kiyotaka’s heart sank slightly as he remembered Katsushika and his friends… hopefully the detentions would stop them doing anything else to him…

They headed through the empty queueing area in awkward silence, and Mondo shoved the basket of thread towards the nervous looking cashier and paid, while Kiyotaka counted out the cost of half a spool from the coins he’d brought with him.

“Uhh… well, here ya go!” Mondo handed one of the spools over once they’d got out of the way of the registers.

“Thank you.” Kiyotaka took it and handed over the money. “I know it’s silly, but I feel a lot better knowing I’ve got the right thread at least!” He laughed.

“No problem!” Mondo laughed, and then they both fell silent.

So, was this it? He’d finally got his wish for someone who liked his armband and had a conversation with him about it… and now they were just going to go their separate ways, and he’d have to go back to school tomorrow with all the other students who never said anything to him unless it was derogatory?

No… he couldn’t stand that! Not now he knew what it was like to have a proper conversation with someone his own age! He needed to think of some way to stop Mondo from leaving his life forever! Maybe he could try and encourage Mondo to give him a phone number?

“…It’s been nice speaking to you.”

“Yeah, you to!” Mondo patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave…

Curses! Had he thought that was meant as a goodbye? Now what? Was he desperate enough to go running after Mondo just to ask for a phone number…

Ok, yes he probably was, but if he did that Mondo would think he was pathetic! Think, Kiyotaka! There must be something left to talk to him about, some loose thread of conversation that he could use to as an excuse to run after Mondo instead of just watching the logo on his jacket get smaller and smaller as the closest thing he’d ever had to a friend walked away from him…

Wait… the logo… Could he ask about that? Mondo had said his brother made it for all their members…

Members of what? A club? What sort of club? A sewing club, surely! Their school must have a sewing club! That was something he could ask about!

Mondo, you FUCKING COWARD! Why are you walking AWAY from him!? He gave you the perfect chance to offer him your number and get to know him better and you FUCKING ran like a god damn USELESS COWARD!

And you’re not going to turn back around, are you? Because you know you’d just fuck it up, like always, and at least THIS way you can pretend he actually gave a crap about you despite you being a WEAKLING who ran away instead of at least trying to…

“Ah! Mondo! Please hold on a moment!” The hell? Kiyotaka was actually bothering to come after him? “Ah… what school do you attend?”

“Uhh… Stocksdale…” Mondo answered, hoping the answer didn’t make him walk off in disgust at what a loser he was…

“Ahh… I see. That makes sense, they’ve got a focus on more manual professions, haven’t they?” Kiyotaka managed to make ‘Everyone’s too thick to be have a chance at anything more taxing than hairdressing, plumbing or carpentry’ sound respectable, “Do you know if it possible for students from other schools to attend your clubs?”

“Uhh… what clubs?” Mondo asked, none of the teachers gave enough of a crap to run any clubs!

“Err… you said… your brother makes those logos for your members…” Kiyotaka stammered.

Hah! He thought the Crazy Diamonds were a school club? What kinda school would let the students form a motorcycle gang? “No… this is something Daiya and I do outside of school.”

“Really!? Well… I don’t suppose…perhaps I could join… please?” Kiyotaka gave him a pleading smile. A really cute pleading smile…

Huh… Mondo wouldn’t have thought him the type to have a bike! But he wasn’t going turn down this chance to make up for his own cowardliness!

“Course ya can!” Mondo grinned at him and squeezed his shoulder.

“Thank you so much!” Kiyotaka’s face shone, “It’ll be wonderful to do my sewing with other people again!”

His… sewing?

Oh crap! Mondo never told him what the Diamonds were! They just been talking about sewing the whole time, so of course he thought Daiya sewed logos for his and Mondo’s sewing club!

Fuck! How was he supposed to tell Kiyotaka the truth now!? He could hardly turn around say they actually drove around on noisy bikes and getting into stupid fights when he was probably imagine a group sitting around quietly doing… doing whatever the hell sewing clubs did...

(“We used to cuddle up on the sofa with biscuits and orange squash and work on our projects together.”)

That… that probably wasn’t what a club did, was it?

Sounds nice though, doesn’t it Mondo? Even without the cuddling, just you and him sat together…

“So… where do you meet up?” Kiyotaka asked.

“Well… whereabouts do ya live?” He could try to find somewhere nearby that he could sneak the kid to… just the two of them…

“Hmm… do you know the old factory district? Where Toranosuke Ishimaru’s companies were based?” He asked, looking embarrassed.

Not that Mondo could blame him… that area had kinda been a shit hole since Ishimaru’s bankruptcies… but all those empty factories made for some good areas to squat in… he could sneak in one during the week and tidy it up a bit…

“Yeah… I know that place. Why don’tcha meet me outside the steel factory at 6 on Friday and I’ll show ya where it is from there!” Mondo suggested.

“Wonderful! This is best thing that’s ever happened to me!” Jesus, Kiyotaka looked so damn happy that Mondo was lying to him that it was almost heart breaking… “I’ll see you on Friday then!”

“Yeah… see ya Friday.” Mondo nodded.

“And I look forward to seeing what you’re working on!” Kiyotaka smiled heartily as he practically skipped out of the shop.

Oh fuck! If he was supposed ta be running a sewing club it’d help if he actually had something ta sew!

He checked his pockets… he hadn’t brought any of his own money ‘cause he’d just been wanting to ride around raising hell, which meant all he had was Daiya’s change. But if he used that he’d have to explain to Daiya that he’d bought sewing stuff because he’d told a cute guy the Diamonds were a sewing club and then Daiya’d probably wanna meet the guy and take along the whole gang just ta fuck with him, and then the whole gang would be watching when he fucked everything up…

Except… Daiya wasn’t here, so he wouldn’t know the stuff had been on sale, right? All he had to do was work out how much money Daiya woulda have left if they’d been at the normal price and then give him that back!

Heh… Mondo could be pretty smart at times!

He headed back to the kits Kiyotaka had been looking at… he’d said that one with Chuck on it was simple to do, right? So if he had enough money for it…

He did! Yes! Today was Mondo’s day! Heck, the things were even on sale, so he could get two of them!

Except all the other easy to do ones were kinda boring looking, and if he took a hard one in and messed it up it’d be obvious he’d been lying about the whole club thing… Unless he got one as a gift for Kiyotaka…

Shit, which ones had he actually been interested in? If only Mondo had been paying attention to what he was picking up, instead of just taking the chance to sneak peeks at his ass again! All he could remember was Kiyotaka saying he’d like to sew a cushion, but didn’t have space for them!

Alright, calm down and think Mondo… he could always say he wanted a cushion, but he wasn’t very good at this tricky embroidery junk, so maybe Kiyotaka would like to make one for him?

YES! Perfect! Nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan!

“At least that’s what I thought until a certain asshole turned up with a bunch of the goddamn gang in tow!” Mondo snapped as he finished his explanation.

“Suuure… ‘cause it’s not like ya got tailed by his hardass cop dad or anything, was it?” Daiya rolled his eyes.

“What!? What are you talking about?” Mondo started to panic.

Daiya just laughed at him, “You mean you seriously didn’t notice Officer Ishimaru fucking watching you from the doorway the whole time? Not even when he left and came back with two other cops?” Mondo just gave him a flabbergasted stare, “You sure your eyesight’s good enough to be riding your bike?”

“Well I was looking at my boyfriend not a fuckin’ doorway!” Mondo cried, “Why the fuck didn’t you tell either of us! He’s gone in to explain all this shit to his dad and his dad already fuckin’ knows!?”

“Geez, relax… If he had a problem with it he’d have probably said something about it when you were eye-fucking him in that coat I made him.”

“I wasn’t ‘eye-fucking’ him!” Mondo snapped.

“Dude. Three cops!” Daiya reminded him, “And one of them was the Chief Inspector.”

“Okay, now I know you’re fucking with me!” Mondo smirked, “If that was true, how the hell aren’t we under arrest?”

“Well, I dunno exactly ‘cause I was busy protecting your knee from the spurious advances of Kiyotaka’s hand…” Daiya smirked as Mondo’s eyes narrowed at him, “…but I reckon your new father-in-law mighta had something ta do with it.”

“We ain’t fucking married, asshole!”

“Aww… but I got this great picture of you kissing the bride…” Daiya held up the selfie again.

“Ya mean the one ya said you’d get rid of once I told you what happened, which I just did!” Mondo glared at it.

“Alright, guess I did make a promise…” Daiya reluctantly hit the delete button on it. “But I want that money back.”

“Yeah, fine! Just… just quit tryina fuck this up for me!” Mondo scowled. “I do enough of that shit by myself…”

“Yeah, well. If he can’t deal with it, he don’t deserve you…” Daiya muttered, although Mondo still look fucking scared of losing the kid… Seriously, if he hadn’t rung that number in next few days Daiya was coming back here and…

“Uhh… hang on, I’m getting a call…” Mondo fished his phone out of his pocket. “Oh! Kiyotaka! Hi!” Mondo got his swagger back instantly. “… Yeah, this is the right number, uhh, obviously! … No, I’m not doin’ anythin’ Monday… Yeah… No, Wetherspoon’s sound great! … Six O’ clock maybe? I’ll meet you there! … Yeah! Yeah, looking forward to it! … y-yeah… I’m… I’m looking forward ta seeing you to… Bye!”

Jesus… Mondo had gone from looking fearful to smug in sixty seconds… Which was great, ‘cause now Daiya could screw with him again!

“…Wetherspoons!?” He asked sceptically, “Well, at least he ain’t high-maintenance!”

“Oh, screw you, Daiya…” Mondo muttered, heading towards his bike.

“Aww… and upset your nice new boyfriend when he was so quick to ring you for a date?” Daiya smirked.

“He was just checking he’d got the number right…” Mondo said, although it was with a touch of pride he wouldn’t usually speak with.

“You sure it’s just that, and not ‘cause you don’t suck at kissing?” Daiya suggested.

“Hah! As if!” Mondo said flippantly… although he was still smiling at the suggested even after they’d parked their bikes up back at home…

“Ah… sorry about that! But it wouldn’t have done to let him leave without checking the phone number was correct!” Kiyotaka apologised as he entered the room. Mentioning his attempt to get Oowada’s phone number had reminded him to check that the one he’d just been given wasn’t 'just a joke' on the biker’s part.

“Of course.” Takaaki smiled at his son’s eagerness, “So, what happened next?”

“Well… I went to the factory tonight, as Mondo asked, and…”

Takaaki sighed, “So you’re just going to skip over Wednesday, are you?”

“That didn’t have anything to do with Mondo!” Kiyotaka insisted.

“I’d still like to hear about it.” Takaaki told him, even if he already knew most of it, he didn’t like the idea of Kiyotaka feeling as if he had a guilty secret to keep.

“I… I don’t think you would.” Kiyotaka said, shamefully.

“… I already know you hit Katsushika when it wasn’t strictly necessary.” Takaaki told him.

“Ah…” Kiyotaka deflated, “I was hoping they’d be too embarrassed to admit it was me they fought with.”

“They being?”

“Ochida and Ichigo as well…” Kiyotaka explained. So it was just the three of them at least.

“So… what happened, exactly?” Takaaki asked.

“Well… firstly, my epaulettes didn’t just… start coming loose. After I showed the class my armband on Monday, the three of them accosted me in the hallways. Ochida and Ichigo pinned me, while Katsushika ripped them off.” He said, almost robotically recounting the event. “They had to serve detention for it on Tuesday… but then, I was coming home from school on Wednesday afternoon, feeling a bit… distracted when…”

Kiyotaka? Distracted? Was that because of Oowada? He must really have been smitten with the biker for that to have happened. What frame of mind must he have been in that afternoon… he could only imagine that…

Kiyotaka was walking home, albeit more slowly than usual. Whereas his mind would usually be full of thoughts of the days lessons and homework, all he could think of today was his desire for the end of the week to arrive, and with it, his chance to see Mondo again…

It was embarrassing, really. Try as he might to focus on his studies, his thoughts would inevitably go off on a tangent and he’d not notice it until several minutes later when something would catch his attention and he’d realise he’d wasted several minutes remembering Mondo’s smile, or wondering what he’d do or say if he was with him, or whether he’d want to hold hands with him or kiss or…

Argh! He was doing it again! Focus, Kiyotaka! He couldn't spend his entire week thinking about someone he’d spoken to for less than an hour! It would be a pathetic ratio of actual time spent with him versus time spent imagining him!

He tried to focus his thoughts on the world around… the grey of the pavements, the lampposts lining them them, the logo on that man’s coat…

Ah! It was another member of Mondo’s club! That was a third man he’d seen who liked to sew as well, and all of them had looked strong and confident… hah! Now who said sewing was just for girls!

He smiled and gave the man a wave, earning a bemused expression and hesitant wave in response, as he had with the other two previously… perhaps they were like himself, used to other boys making fun of them. They’d probably open up to him more once he’d actually been to the club and been introduced to them…

The end of the week couldn’t come soon enough… he’d finally have friends… and maybe even a boyfriend? He didn’t know of Mondo was into men or not… but that hadn’t stopped Kiyotaka dreaming of him the last two nights, imaging Mondo’s hand moving from patting his shoulder, to holding his hand, to cupping his face…

“Hey, it’s the tattle-girl!” His thoughts were interrupted by a sneer and two pairs of arms grabbing his own.

He snapped back to reality, to find himself confronted by the smirking face of Katsushika, and once again pinned by Ochida on his left and Ichigo on his right.

“I thought giving you detention might make you learn your lesson.” He sighed.

“Hey, we did learn!” Ochida smirked.

“Yeah... We learnt not to cause trouble in school!” Ichigo finished, making Kiyotaka wonder how long they'd been practising that one.

“But, hey! You seem to have had fun fixing your shirt!" Katsushika said with feigned geniality, "How’d you like to do that again?”

“Please don’t damage my uniform.” He said, just like he had on Monday… and just like on Monday, Katsushika ignored him and pulled at his epaulettes… Only to be unable to rip them off.

“I double-stitched them. I have plenty enough sewing to work on without you forcing me to fix my clothes!” He explained the latter point to Katsushika for the second time.

“Well, guys aren’t supposed to work on sewing! That’s a girl’s job!” Katsushika snarled and reached down to rip off the top button of his shirt as well.

This was going exactly the same way it had on Monday, wasn’t it? Katsushika would ruin his uniform, and he’d have to spend the evening fixing it. And this time he wouldn’t even have the joy of running into Mondo and being told that…

(“being a dude isn’t an excuse ta be a jerk!”)

“Being a guy isn’t an excuse to be a thug!” If they wouldn’t listen to his words, maybe they’d listen to Mondo’s…

“Hah! You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re a weak little girl who like to sew!” Katsushika laughed as he ripped off another button. “Real men don’t do that frilly crap!” Another button snapped off his shirt.

“I know of at least five men who sew!” Kiyotaka told him, “And they’re all stronger than you could ever hope to be!”

“You’re full of crap!” Katsushika ripped off the penultimate button. “You think you can scare me by pretending you have friends!?”

(“‘specially if I decided to be a coward and round up a couple of friends ta pin ‘em while I did it!”)

“Well, you are a coward!” Kiyotaka stood as tall as he could while the two boys pinned him.

“Excuse me!?” Katsushika snarled as he ripped off the final button and tossed it to the floor.

“You need to round up your friends in order to pin me while you rough me up? When I have no intention of hurting you?” Kiyotaka barked. “How is that not the actions of a coward!?”

Katsushika’s face turned dark with anger, “Let him go guys.”

Ichigo complied instantly, stepping back as if expecting trouble. Ochida was more hesitant, but a glare from Katsushika caused him to let go and step off to the side and forward, blocking his way home.

So now he was stood facing an angry bully while still unable to leave entirely, but at least now he had the freedom to move… was there any way to de-escalate this situation?

He didn’t get the chance to think of one before Katsushika’s hand was flying towards his face and a bolt of pain shot through his eye. The force of the blow forced him backwards and caused his legs to buckle.

“Still think I’m a fucking coward, Ishimaru?” Katsushika grimaced, shaking his right hand and rubbing the thumb.

Had he formed a fist with his thumb inside his fingers? Wasn’t that the sort of amateur mistake he was taught not to do in self-defence class?

(“They probably fight like a bunch of chumps!”)

“Yes. And you fight like a chump as well!” Kiyotaka told him, straightening up and assuming a defensive stance.

(“they never expect anyone to even try to fight back, let alone be good at it!”)

Katsushika attacked again… but this time Kiyotaka was expecting it. He swiftly dodged to the left and defended himself with a left hook that connected to Katsushika’s mouth.

He didn’t take the punch half as well as Kiyotaka had, or perhaps his own missed attack had set him off-balance. Either way, it resulted in the boy falling sideways onto the floor and his two friends running towards Kiyotaka to restrain him again…

(“You’ve had self-defence lessons? Hell, you’d probably take ‘em out easily then!”)

He remembered sensei Oogami’s advice for an attacker coming from behind and sharply lifted his right elbow up into the general direction of Ichigo, who made an odd spluttering sound and fell to his knees as the blow struck. And with his arm bent backwards, Kiyotaka was able to give his hand enough momentum to strike his palm firmly into Ochida’s nose, causing cartilage to break and his head to snap backwards to far he lost his balance and fell as well.

Kiyotaka resumed his stance, trying to stop trembling as he looked around in case of more attacks… There were none though, all three boys seemed to have decided to stay down.

So… he was safe to leave…? Hahaha! He was safe! And they’d decided to leave him alone! Ahahaha! Mondo had been right!

Of course… he still had a broken uniform… He set to picking up the buttons Katsushika had dropped.

Well… he might not have saved his uniform… but this was sure to teach those three a lesson now! He could almost feel the proud pat on the shoulder from Mondo, and that smile and…Even now he was still thinking of Mondo! What was wrong with him!?

…Could it be he’d fallen in love? He’d never believed in love at first sight before, but now? The way Mondo’s words have inspired him to fight back? His desire to tell Mondo about how well he’d fought? His wish that Mondo was here to soothe his trembling nerves with his gentle hands? His fantasy that Mondo would want to snuggle up with him on the sofa as he fixed these five buttons back onto his shirt?

He should probably face facts… he was in love, with a man no less! He’d have to let his father know his sexuality was less a case of ‘occasionally attracted to men’ and more just being outright gay. Hopefully he’d approve! After all, at least he’d fallen for a respectable boy, who ran a sewing club. It wasn’t like he was chasing after that motorcycle gang ran by those Oowada boys his father had told him ab…

“Are you seriously picking those up? What, are you gonna go back home and sew them back on?” Katsushika muttered, sitting leant against a lamppost and having trouble forming the words around his rapidly swollen lips.

“Yes, of course.” Kiyotaka shrugged as he stood up. “I guess now that’s six sewers I know who are stronger than you.” He added, feeling a little smug as he walked past the coward who’d previously terrorised him.

Because he was strong! His brief meeting with Mondo had made him feel stronger, more confidant and happier than he had been for years! Surely there was no reason his father would disapprove of something that felt so wonderful, would he? After all, it was there was anything bad about being homosexual, ri…?

“Tch! Well… Your armband’s still fucking gay!” Katsushika snapped.

…And suddenly, with a surge of anger that removed all thoughts of defence and morality from his mind, Kiyotaka’s knee was rising up to give him more momentum for when he brought down his boot as hard as he could onto Katsushika chest…

He regretted it the instant he heard the other boys cry of pain, accompanied by a crack of bones beneath his boot. How could he have done that!? Katsushika had been no threat to him whatsoever! So why had he attacked?

“I still don’t know why I did it.” Kiyotaka admitted with a sigh, “I… I was just suddenly so… so angry!”

He still didn’t realise? How to explain it to him…?

“But that’s no excuse! I assaulted someone just because he used a childish insult?” Kiyotaka looked horrified with himself. “And it wasn’t even insulting me…!”

“Yes it was.” Takaaki told him.

“Hmm…? No… He said my armband was…”

“Kiyotaka…” Takaaki tried to give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder… Although he suspected it just came across as clunky, “You’re in love, aren’t you?”

His son turned red and looked away from him, although a small smile crept onto his face as he softly spoke the word “Yes.”

“And it feels wonderful, doesn’t it?” Takaaki smiled at him, remembering how amazing he’d felt when he’d first met the boy’s mother.

“…It does.” His son agreed.

“…But it’s scary as well, isn’t it? The idea of losing that feeling… or, in your case especially, having to hide it from people who’d hate you for it?”

“There isn’t anything wrong with being homose…” Kiyotaka proved his point by becoming overly defensive at the suggestion.

“I’m not saying there is!” Takaaki held his hands up in apology, “But when idiots like that brat use the word as an insult…”

“…Oh…I suppose that makes sense…” Kiyotaka slowly understood his point. “But… being scared and lashing out is no excuse.”

“No, it’s not.” Takaaki agreed, firmly. “But you being scared is understandable, given you weren’t sure how I’d react and had no other friends to turn to.”

“I… suppose?” Kiyotaka agreed, reluctantly.

“However, that’s not true anymore, is it?” Takaaki continued, “You’ve got a boyfriend, who I do approve of, and the Diamonds are a very supportive lot, from what I’ve heard… So if I hear one word of anymore unnecessary force from you, then I’ll be grounding you for a year!”

“Understood!” Kiyotaka nodded with a wide smile.

“So then… what happened tonight?” He asked, which led Kiyotaka into gushing about having a boyfriend and joining a club and having friends now…

Chapter Text

“Ah... Hello Father! I hope you’re having a good evening at work?” His son greeted him sheepishly, pointedly staring at Takaaki, as if doing so would will the surrounding chaos out of existence…

The usually quiet and cheerful bar that Kiyotaka always liked to visit on the rare occasions he had money to spare eating out now looked like a bomb had been set off in it. Overturned tables, broken glass and cutlery were scattered over the floor, 20 men were being handcuffed and manhandled into the police vans, all but four of whom were having to go straight to the hospital rather than the station… And stood slap bang in the middle of it all was his son, flanked by the two Oowada brothers, the younger one looking incredibly out of character with his hair tied back in a ponytail, all three looking at Takaaki nervously. What the hell had happened in here!?

Well, that was part of the reason why he, along with the younger member of the force now stood next to him, was here to find out.

“I’ve had better nights.” He understated, at which his son cringed. “I’m now legally going to have to ask you how your first date went…”

Kiyotaka brightened up at that, “Oh! Well, it started out wonderfully! Mondo picked me up and…”

“No, kid…” The older Oowada stopped him with a sigh, “He means he needs you to make a statement about those guys in the bathroom…”

“Ah! Right! Of course!” His son straightened into military posture, his face pulling into the rigid and stern expression he bore when attempting to be at his most professional. “I was enjoying a calm and peaceful date with my boyfriend, Mondo Oowada…” Kiyotaka’s expression softened for the briefest of seconds, and said boyfriend blushed at the statement, “…Up until 19:56, at which point I went to the bathroom. Then, at a little after 20:16, three men, all wearing grey jackets and chains, entered the room and…”

“Hold on a moment…” Takaaki interrupted, “You were in the toilets for twenty minutes?”

“Err… Y-yes…?” Kiyotaka stammered, “But anyway, the men said…”

“Why were you in the toilets for twenty minutes?” Officer Tamuro demanded… “You don’t look like someone who has stomach issues…”

“Ngh… It… it doesn’t have any bearing on the case…” Kiyotaka tried to sidestep the question, “After all, when the men came in they…”

“We’ll decided if it has any bearing on the case or not.” Tamuro snaps, glancing at the two Oowadas. “Or any other cases…”

What’s he thinking? That the Oowada’s were having Kiyotaka sell drugs in the toilets or something…? One look at the curious expressions on both brother’s faces has made it clear to Takaaki that they have no idea why Kiyotaka was so long in there either… and Kiyotaka seems to be wanting to keep it that way…

“I… I’m not obligated to tell you that!” Kiyotaka is correct, of course, but they’ll be taking statements from the other men involved as well…

“But if they claim you were up to something, and we don’t have a countering statement from yourself, it could potentially lead to you being blamed for something you didn’t do…” Takaaki warned him.

“Aarghh…” That looks like it worked, as Kiyotaka sighed in defeat, then looked at his new boyfriend with a cringe before starting to explain. “Well, we were on a date together… and… I was starting to wonder…”

Why hadn’t Mondo tried to kiss him yet? Or tried to do anything romantic on this date, like hold hands or brush legs under the table or something?

Kiyotaka had been thinking after the way his biker boyfriend initiated their goodbye kiss on Friday, pulling him the hand he’d intertwined with Mondo’s and cupping his face to lead him into it, that Mondo would have been more… more… eager or… physical on this date, now that they didn’t have his older brother to chaperone them anymore…

But, other than having cleaned himself up for the occasion (And boy did he clean up well…), he was just behaving as if this was just a dinner between two best friends… which Kiyotaka had put down to embarrassment, or possibly Mondo’s desire to be closeted in public (he’d forgot to ask about that while he’d been organising this). But… not even a furtive stroke on the hands Kiyotaka had been keeping outstretching on the table for the entire meal? No secretive brushing of his legs, even though Kiyotaka had made sure they were definitely close enough to Mondo for him to do that? Absolutely nothing to hint that this was more than a casual meeting?

It was starting to get on Kiyotaka’s nerves, quite frankly! He’d wasted half of his weekend remembering the way Mondo had pulled him in for that kiss, and the rush of excitement as he’d pressed his lips onto his boyfriend’s and then Mondo had moved his lips and shifted their positions and suddenly it had felt exhilarating as their tongues were sliding across each other…

At least, it had felt exhilarating to Kiyotaka… What if it had only felt good for him? He’d never kissed before… what if he was bad at it? That might be why Mondo wasn’t trying to do anything with him… he wasn’t good enough to make it worth Mondo’s time to bother…

“Uhh… is summat the matter?” Mondo stopped in the middle of the story he’d been telling to ask.

“Err… no! I’m fine!” He could hardly admit what was the problem! And… Mondo looked so concerned about him… surely he must like Kiyotaka enough to want to kiss him again! It must just be that he was embarrassed about doing anything in public after all…

Which meant Kiyotaka would have to wait until they said goodbye before he was kissed again… Darn it… He wanted to be kissed now! But he also didn’t want to have to stop listening to Mondo’s stories yet, either…

Maybe Mondo would kiss him, or at least touch him, if they were in private together? But how could he organise that, without cutting short the date? There was no where private in this bar, except for the toilets…

Ah! That was it! If he went to the toilets and stayed there long enough, Mondo would eventually follow him to see what was wrong and then he’d be able to… well… at least ask Mondo if he actually wanted to… do something!

“…I just need the toilet! I’ll be back in a couple of minutes!” He announced, and left the table. There… that way, when he wasn’t back within five minutes or so, Mondo would get suspicious and come to find out why he was taking so long! And that would give him five minutes to make sure he looked presentable as well... And the time was 19:56 so that would give him until…

20:01! Right! Mondo should be here soon… aaannnyyy second now…! Or now…? Well… he wasn’t the most punctual of people… perhaps expecting him after just five minutes was a little premature…

…20:06! That’d been ten minutes! He’d said he’d be a couple! Why hadn’t Mondo got worried about him yet!? Hmm… Did Mondo know what a couple actually meant? Kiyotaka had met some people who weren’t familiar with the word, and Stocksdale wasn’t the best school in terms of vocabulary… Perhaps Mondo was just thinking he was just taking a while to do a bowel movement or something… He’d wait a little longer…

…20:11… Fifteen minutes!? And he still hadn’t come to check on him!? How bad was Mondo’s digestive system if he thought that was a reasonable amount of time to spend in the lavatory!? Surely he must be coming soon…

…20:16. TWENTY. MINUTES! Who the hell takes twenty minutes to use bathroom!? Unless they’re sick!? And if Mondo thought he was sick, why hadn’t he decided to come and see if he was alright? Did he just not care? Was he even still waiting for him, or had he got bored and wandered off with someone else…

Oh gods what if he had done that!? What if Kiyotaka’s new source of confidence and strength was off giving it all to someone else because he’d stupidly decided to try and be clever and coy instead of just telling Mondo what was worrying him and…

*Creeeaakkk…* That was the door to the toilets opening… So Mondo had finally come to find him…

“It’s about ti…!” Kiyotaka’s first thought was to scold his boyfriend’s tardiness… only to find it wasn’t his boyfriend coming to check up on him, but a group of three men, all wearing grey jackets with chains wrapped around the arms… “Err… Sorry, I was expecting someone else…” He felt his face turning red…

The three men looked at each other momentarily, before one of them burst out into loud laughter… “HA! HAHAHA! I fucking told you guys!”

“He might be waiting for some other fa…” One of the others suggested.

“No… Look, they gave him their logo!” The third one pointed to the back of his newly-repaired, “Alright, then… I’ll give you your twenty quid once we kick his ass…”

“Err… what!?” Was that man talking about attacking him!?

“Uhh... But… he’s Oowada’s, I dunno, bitch or whatever?” The second man frowned, “What if the Diamonds target our girls as payback?”

“I am not a girl!” Kiyotaka might not understand exactly what these men were talking about, but he was sick of everyone insinuating he was lacking in masculinity!

“Yeah… so it’s different!” The first one who’d spoken agreed with him, “And if the Diamonds try to act like it’s the same as hitting a chick, they’ll have every other gang in the city trying ta kick the shit outta them!”

Wait… Other gangs!? “So… you fellows are in a gang…?” Kiyotaka realised, “That’s… not the Crazy Diamonds?”

"Yeah… we’re the Iron Devils!” They pointed at the chains around their arms as if that meant something… “We joined the right gang!”

“Oh…? what are the wrong gangs to join?” Not that he was going to switch, but in case any of his classmates ever decided to join one, then at least he’d know if it was a reputable one or not…

“Well, right now, The Crazy Diamonds!” One of them smirked, “’Cause they’re all about to get their asses kicked by the Iron Devils!”

…Ah. So this was part of one of those ‘gang wars’ he’d heard about, was it? Well… that was unfortunate… “Err… I don’t suppose I could offer a truce? Not that I’m in a position of authority, but I am very close to one of their leaders and…” And surely Mondo wouldn’t mind negotiating for him not to get attacked? There must be someone in their gang they’d like immunity for, possibly?

“Says the guy who’s breaking the last truce we had with you guys right now!” One of them laughed.

“I… I am!? I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” Kiyotaka tried to explain, “I only joined the club on Friday, and none of this was explained at the time…”

“Eh… don’t worry kid, we didn’t keep our end either…” They shrugged, “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here either!” They started to walk towards him, forming a line across the room, so he couldn’t run out of the door unless he passed them, and they looked strong enough to break their way into a cubical if he tried to hide… was there anything in here he could use to defend himself… The only things not bolted to the floor were the bottles of liquid soap on the sinks…

…It was a long shot, but he didn’t need to win a fight with these men, he just needed to get out of the room so he could get somewhere safe and report them!

He grabbed the bottle and flung it as hard as he could into the face of the man on the left, who cursed loudly and instinctively bent over to cradle his face. This gave Kiyotaka just enough of an opening to run and push his way past him out of the room and down the corridor heading back to where he and Mondo had been eating…

Oh gods! Mondo! Those men had had said they were attacking all Crazy Diamonds members! What if there were more in the bar who’d hurt him while Kiyotaka was stupidly waiting in the toilets!?

That thought made him run down the stairs back to the bar so fast he almost fell down them instead… He needn’t have worried though, as Mondo was standing, apparently unscathed, with his back to his older brother’s, the pair surrounded by a complete mess of broken crockery and more of the men with chains who were lying prone on the floor around them… Thank goodness for that!

“…fifteen, sixteen, seventeen…” Oowada was calmly counting how many men the pair of them had apparently beaten up by themselves!? “He said there were twenty of them… where are the last three?”

Oh… that was right… “Err… behind ME!” Kiyotaka answered, running to what he hoped would be a safe spot between the two Oowadas…

“WHAT!?” Mondo roared, turning towards him in panic and then moving forward to put himself between Kiyotaka and the men chasing him. “You were gonna beat up him!? You fucking assholes! Do you want me ta beat the shit outta your girlfriends!?”

“Uhh…” The three men slowed their approach as they saw the state of their fellow gang members, “But… but he’s a guy!”

“Well… yeah, but… but he…” Mondo couldn’t think of a response, “He ain’t really a… I mean…”

“He ain’t one of our fighters.” His brother came up with a good explanation, “You beating the crap outta him is kinda like if I’d decided ta kick this guy after he took his dive…” He bent down to pick up the smallest member of the gang, a thin boy with androgynous features and light brown hair styled into a messy ear-length bob… A significant difference from the other members, who had exclusively shaved heads and were far taller and muscular…

“Uhh…!” The smaller boy panicked at being singled out, startling himself out of what had apparently been a feigned state of unconsciousness…

“Hey! Leave Codebreaker outta this!” Another member of the rival gang shouted, from the floor. “All he does is fix our computers and shit!”

“I know, recognised him from his shop, that’s why I told all my gang to ignore him… I kinda like not getting overcharged for beating the staff up…” Daiya rolled his eyes, “But if you guys are gonna target nerdy fucking Ishimaru here, then…”

“Wait… Ishimaru!?” Several of the other group cried out, “You mean… like the cop!?”

“Err… yes… my father is a policeman…” Kiyotaka told them.

The man who’d spoken from the looked horrified at that. “Err… look… I didn’t tell those idiots ta hit anyone! I just said go and scare whoever was in the bathrooms… Ahahaha…?” He laughed weakly in the face of the Oowadas’ glares, “And he looks fine, so no harm done, right? So… just… put down Codebreaker and keep telling your gang not to hit him, and none of us are gonna be dumb enough to take a swing at the cop’s kid, alright?”

“…Deal.” The older Oowada decides, “But if you dumbasses are stupid enough ta break this truce…”

“We won’t!” Several of them promise.

“Err… So… what truce are you talking about?” Kiyotaka asked, “Is this something I need to be aware of in future? I mean… No one said anything to me about any of this…”

“Well… it was just a one time thing…” Oowada shrugged, “See, the reason I’m here…”

He was here to meet up with the leader of the Iron Devils, who’d called a truce, inviting Daiya to come talk to him alone, to discuss something…

Which was suspicious, because the Devils were known never to make truces with anyone… chances were it was just a trap and ten of their guys were gonna jump out and try and kick his ass. But, on the other hand, he did wanna talk to these guys about maybe coming to an agreement about leaving Mondo’s nerdy new boyfriend and their nerdy new computer expert outta any fights they had. So he’d kept to his side of the deal and turned up alone…

Or at least, that’s what he’d been intending, when he’d made sure that Mondo took Ishimaru to one of the other fucking Wetherspoons, not this one! So why the fuck was Mondo sat at a table in the middle of this bar!?

“Mondo, you fucking dumbass!” Mondo jumped out of his bored looking stupor as Daiya strode over to him, “I told you this morning, your date’s at the Banker’s Draft! Don’t tell me you’ve been sat here moping for over two hours!”

“How fucking stupid d’ya think I am!? My date’s just in the damn toilet!” Mondo snapped back, “Though I’m starting ta think he’s avoiding me or summat… It’s been about 15 minutes and he said he was gonna be two…” He mumbled afterwards.

“Well, maybe he’s just taking a dump. He didn’t seem like he’d wanna avoid ya on Friday, did he?”

“No… but… he’s not tried ta kiss me anything today…” Mondo sighed, “And, yeah, I know I coulda tried it myself, but he started it last time and I dunno if he’s alright with being out so I didn’t wanna do it and upset him but I thought maybe he’d have tried ta play footsie with me under the table or summat! Hell, he didn’t even let me pay for his food! It’s like we’re not even on a fucking date, just buddies hanging out…”

The hell? That little nerd had better not have had a change of heart and be jerking Mondo around…

“But… that’s my fucking problem and I can deal with it myself!” Mondo shook himself outta his funk, “I don’t need you ta come check up on me!”

“That ain’t why I’m here… The Iron Devils wanna have a leader-on-leader talk, and we picked this place, so you’re gonna have ta cut your date short before he turns up…”

“Geez, Oowada, you sure you should driving a motorcycle with such bad eyesight…?” An irritating, nasally voice Daily was far too familiar with piped up from a nearby table behind Mondo, “We got here ten minutes ago!”

“We…?” Daiya sighed, guess it was a trap after all, oh well, so much for not picking on the nerds… “So, how many people did ya think you’d need to round up to kick my solitary ass?”

“I reckon could do it just by myself!” He lied, “But I bought nineteen of my buddies, just in case you broke your side of this truce…”

Various guys spread over a few different tables stood up around them and started putting on jackets with the Devils signature iron chains wrapped around them… geez, that nerd had managed to put Mondo in enough of a funk to get him to miss this lot coming in and sitting themselves around him? What the fuck was he doing in that damn bathroom…?

“So… Given that I didn’t, and Mondo’s just here on a date, you’d be willing to go one-on-one with me if he heads off to go see why his latest squeeze has kept him waiting so long?”

Wonder if they’ll actually fall for the ‘latest’ bit or whether they know about his ten-game losing streak?

“Tch…!” Their leader’s too busy scrambling for an excuse to worm out of the challenge to comment on Mondo’s virginity. “I figure the fact that he’s here at all is enough disrespect for us to give you two a beatdown…”

“Like ya fucking could, ya cowards!” Mondo stands up, “Even one-on-ten we’ll kick your asses!”

“Well… let’s see about that then!” Their leader shouts, “GET THEM!”

Several of the group start charging towards the pair of them…

“Well, so much for having a boyfriend…” Daiya can hear Mondo bitching as he turns his back against Daiya’s, “Why the fuck did you think he’d actually talk to ya?”

“I didn’t really…” Daiya answers, the last word punctuated with a punch to the jaw of the first idiot to rush at him, “But I couldn’t have said no, else I’d have looked like a coward…”

“Well… why the fuck didn’t cha say anything about it to me then!?” It sounds like Mondo’s just shoved one of two guys over.

“I did! I told you to go to a different bar!” Daiya ducks under a guy’s punch and trips him. “Why the fuck did you end up here?”

“Well, I got to the banker’s draft…” Mondo pauses for a moment, and there’s a loud smack, followed by a grunt of pain, “…a bit late cause…”

The city centre was a bunch of bullshit! Why the fuck was their no parking anywhere other than that stupid tower block that was ten minutes’ walk from this stupid other Wetherspoons that Daiya had waited until this morning to tell him about! Now he was gonna be late for his first actual fucking DATE!

How could he have been so fucking stupid… He’d been thinking about what he was gonna so on this date all goddamn weekend! Why hadn’t it occurred to him ta check if there was more than one Wetherspoons in the city!? He’d be lucky if Kiyotaka hadn’t assumed he was being stood up and fucked off back home…

Well… there was the pub and… aww, horseshit! He couldn’t see Kiyotaka at all! Just a group of guys crowding around something near the wall… well, maybe if they’d been out here a while, they could let him know how long ago Kiyotaka had given up on him…

At least, that was if Mondo could get them to talk to him… whatever they were looking at had got them pretty riled up, from the look of it…

“Do you have any idea what he did!?” One of them was yelling… presumably they were all looking at a person… But there were about five of them, how the fuck was that fair!? “How much he fucked us over!?”

“I… I do! I’m sorry!” Wait… that was Kiyotaka! “I… I’m not proud of him!”

“Them why you crawl off under a rock instead of…”

“I… I told you, I’m just waiting for someone! Once he arrives…” Urg… and to think he’d thought Kiyotaka would ditch him…

“You said he was gonna arrive in five minutes… and that was ten minute ago!” Fuck! These assholes had been hassling him for ten minutes!?

“Ha! Breaking your promises, just like…”

“Hey! What’s going on here!?” Mondo barked in his best ‘getting everyone to shut the fuck up and listen’ voice…

It worked, the group all turn to face him, giving him a clear view of Kiyotaka…

He’d started to cry… goddammit! That was not how he’d wanted to see Kiyotaka, even if his appearance did help dry his tears enough for him to wipe them from his eyes…

“Ah… well, I was just waiting for someone, when these gentlemeeee…” Kiyotaka trails off, blinks a few times and squints at him for a moment, “Wait… Mondo!?”

Oh, right… He made sure he looks respectable today… or fucking tried to anyway… “Uhh… yeah… I thought I’d lose pompadour today…”

“Ah… yes! It looks good!” Kiyotaka nodded and quickly dashed out away from the group, and past Mondo. “Let’s get going!”

“But… what about…?” Mondo gestures both to the group of assholes who made him cry and the pub they were supposed to be having their date in…

“Don’t worry about it! Let’s just go!” Kiyotaka answer helps with neither of his concerns, he doesn’t even stop… And he’s getting further away from Mondo all the time…

Mondo took a second to shoot a dirty glare at the group, before chasing after his date… “Where are you going?”

“Wetherspoons…” Kiyotaka barks authoritatively, although his voice cracks slightly.

“That’s a Wetherspoons!” Mondo points back at the building he’s walking away from…

“I know, but… my family aren’t welcome in that one…” Kiyotaka admits, looking guilty.

“Why the fuck not? What did ya do, rob the place?”

“Of course not!” Kiyotaka’s pretty pissed just from the suggestion, “It’s just… there’s a lot of working men who to that one… Men whose whole families used to work in grandfather’s factories…”

“So? The fuck’s that got to do with you?” Mondo asked.

“Well… when grandfather went bankrupt and his factories all shut…” Kiyotaka starts to… not answer the question.

“That ain’t got anything ta do with you!” Mondo snapped, “Weren’t ya just a kid when that happened? It’s not like ya coulda told him his investments were worth crap, or whatever!”

“I know… but it’s still the case that my family ruined the lives of theirs…” Kiyotaka said, like it was fact.

“But it isn’t!” Mondo cried, “One guy in your family fucked up… not all of you!”

“I suppose, but… I look like him!” Kiyotaka looked at Mondo as if he expected that to convince him, “Every time they look at me, they see the man who ruined their lives...”

“No… they see someone who happens ta look like him! If they can’t tell the difference then it’s their problem, not yours!” Mondo told him, although he didn’t look convinced… “I mean… if it actually bothers ‘em, then they should just look away, not hassle ya in the street!”

“All they were doing was asking me not to eat in their favourite pub, so their evening wouldn’t be ruined!” Kiyotaka tried to act like they hadn’t upset him, “And besides, West Street’s much nicer! The tables are more spread out and it’s near the University so I sometimes overhear students talking about their studies! We’ll have a much nicer time there!”

“Uhh… Okay…” Goddammit, he’d changed the topic… If Mondo wanted to keep trying to convince him that it’s not alright for people to push him outta somewhere just ‘cause of his grandfather, he’d have to change it back and then it’d probably sound like he was trying to pick a fight…

But this was obviously bothering Kiyotaka more than he wants to admit… he was marching along the pavement in double time, as if embarrassed to be outside and wanting to get somewhere safe as soon as possible. Not to mention his eyes were staring through the pavement, more absorbed in his own thoughts than what he was seeing, and his fists were clenched so tight they turned even whiter than their normal colour…

It was worlds away from what Mondo had spent the weekend day-dreaming about… Thoughts of the pair of them casually walking down the streets, or maybe the public gardens, until Kiyotaka reached over and laced his fingers into Mondo’s hand, and looked at him with those eyes that had practically begged Mondo to pull him in…

That moment when Kiyotaka had pressed their lips together… it had been clumsy, but it had been what Mondo needed… Someone else new to this shit who had to take a while to work out what he was doing, and so wouldn’t judge Mondo for needing the same. And once they’d figured it out and Mondo had got his tongue in there… It had been so good, he’d managed to forget Daiya was sat on his bike watching them…

He’d been looking forward to do that again all weekend… hell, he’d been thinking he’d turn up to the pub early and make sure it was the first thing he did… But that wasn’t going to happen now Kiyotaka was marching down the street in shame he didn’t fucking deserve…

Dammit, if only Daiya had mentioned there being three Wetherspoons in town yesterday! Mondo could have rung Kiyotaka and asked him which one he wanted to go to instead of needing Daiya to drive to his school and ask…

Wait… hang on… That was right, Kiyotaka had picked which pub to go to, hadn’t he? So why had he picked that one?

“Hey… Kiyotaka?”

“Yes?” Kiyotaka looked up at him with a slightly forced smile…

“Didn’t Daiya ask ya which pub ya wanted to meet up at?” Mondo asked.

“Err… not exactly…” Kiyotaka frowned, “He said to meet you at that one, and then we got on a tangent and I didn’t have time to correct him…”

“Why not!?”

“Well… It’s quite embarrassing, but… This morning I was almost late for school…!”

He only had TEN minutes to get to school! And he was a whole three minutes away! How could he have dallied enough to leave himself with less than his usual ten minutes to sort through his belonging and re-read his notes from his previous lessons?

Well… he knew exactly how that had happened, didn’t he? He’d daydreamed, letting himself get distracted from practical tasks like eating his breakfast and brushing his teeth by thoughts of Friday night and hands cupping his face and lips pressing against his until his poor father had had to chivvy him along in order to make sure he wasn’t late, like he was some dawdling six-year-old again!

And even then, he’d procrastinated, worrying about which of his pairs of trousers looked whitest and taking the time to polish his shoes and buttons, as if Mondo was a magpie that would be attracted to bright, shiny things…

What stupid behaviour… there were probably a multitude of things about Kiyotaka that needing fixing, so why choose to focus on meaningless clothes? Just because he actually could fix those, and it made him feel just a tiny bit less self-conscious about all the other problems Mondo was sure to notice this time…?

But… Mondo had looked so enamoured with him each time they spoke last week, even after Kiyotaka had explained that he really was related to that Ishimaru! And his brother had allowed him to join their club gang, even though he wasn’t a motorcyclist! And… and Mondo had pulled him in for that kiss, even though everyone in his school always said that everyone would hate him forever…

As he walked through the school gates, he was starting to dare to think that maybe they were wrong. That their rudeness to him was just an unfair reaction to the actions of a man he just happened to be related to. That there wasn’t actually anything inherently wrong with Kiyotaka at all…

“The fuck is that supposed to be!?”

…Except possibly his tendency to get distracted and not notice when some of his more antagonistic classmates were approaching…

This time it was Ichigo, stood by himself outside the gates that Kiyotaka had just walked through, probably waiting for the other two he usually hung around with to arrive. It would probably be for the best if Kiyotaka just ignored him and keep on walking to class but… if it was just him, perhaps Kiyotaka had a chance at talking to him normally, now? Like he could vaguely remember doing before his grandfather ruined everything…

It was a stupid thought, but he couldn’t help but feel optimistic right now… And he had to try and this escalating circle of antagonism with the three of them that he’d found himself stuck in…

“Ah… what’s what supposed to be?” He asked, as politely as he could.

“That shit you’ve sewn onto your shirt!” He scowled, “Is that supposed to be a Crazy Diamonds logo!?”

Oh… that was right, he’d decided to wear the shirt Mondo’s brother had fixed for him for his date. “Err… it is a Crazy Diamonds logo... You’ve heard of them, then?”

“Pfft! You stupid fucker…” Ichigo smirked, “You seriously think anyone’s gonna believe you joined a motorcycle gang!? You don’t even own a fucking bicycle!”

“Ah… That’s because I met one of their leaders in a craft shop and…” Kiyotaka tried to explain what had happened last Friday.

“You’re still lying about knowing a bunch of tough guys who can sew…”

Ah… he had said that, hadn’t he? But it had turned out to be a mistake on his part… “Well… N…”

“Hey! Ishimaru!” Kiyotaka was cut off by a shout from… Mondo’s brother!? What was he doing here!?

“Err… Oowada? Can I help you?”

“Just checking… You know your meet-up with Mondo’s tonight happening at the Banker’s draft, right?” Oowada asked, “The Wetherspoons closest to ya…”

“Err…” It was!? He’d been thinking of the one on West Street… But Oowada was right, there was one closer to his house. But he couldn’t go there... He’d just have to explain that he preferred West Street… “Act…”

“Wait… you mean… He’s seriously in your gang!?” Ichigo cried, staring at Oowada.

“Yeah. He is.” Oowada turned his head to look at him, “That a problem?”

“…N-no!” Ichigo stammered, backing away from Oowada.

Hmm… Maybe now would be a good time to explain what had happened? After all, Oowada had just made it sound like he was a proper member of the group! He didn’t want the other students to think he was taking part in violence at all…

“Well… I…” Kiyotaka started, but then Ichigo jumped at the sound of his voice and ran past him into school… “…’m not really a… ah…” He trailed off with a sigh.

“Well… he ain’t gonna give you any trouble now…” Daiya stated.

“I’d been hoping to talk to him though…” Kiyotaka sighed.

“Oh… uh… sorry?” Daiya apologised, although in a tone of voice that suggested he didn’t think it was necessary...

Had he come here just to scare off anyone who he deemed to be ‘giving him trouble’? How was he ever supposed to get on with his classmates if the Diamonds started doing that!?

“Was it really necessary for you to confirm our location in person? And why are you here instead of Mondo!?” He asked, mostly to show that he was annoyed with the development…

“Well, by the time we realised Mondo didn’t ask you which Wetherspoons ya meant, yeah, it was necessary…” Daiya scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “You see, I went to talk to him this morning, and…”

Hah! Mondo was off in la-la-land again…

He was supposed to be sorting his hair out (which was probably gonna mean forcing it all back into a ponytail and hoping his new boyfriend didn’t pay too much attention to the fact that bleaching and putting it in a pomp every day for years had kinda fucked with it) buuuut instead, he was just sitting with his fingers pressed gently on his lips and a faint redness in his cheeks.

It’d been good Daiya hadn’t needed him for any gang business since Friday, ‘cause anyone could have just snuck up on him and sucker-punched him while he was thinking about the kid… as Daiya had proved the five times he’d rick-rolled the guy over the weekend by shoving his phone in Mondo’s ear at full volume! Hell, the last time he’d done it Mondo hadn’t even noticed, he just started humming along like he was imagining singing it to the kid…

And Daiya needed to get his attention right now, so he’d better come up with something a little more noticeable that Rick Astley…

He crept up on Mondo, managing to get his face right next to Mondo’s ear without his little brother paying any attention, then took a deep breath and…

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” …screamed right in Mondo’s ear as loud as he could.

“AAAAGGGHH!!!” Mondo jumped sideways so fast his chair tipped over and he fell on the floor while Daiya started laughing… “Daiya you mother-fucker! What the fuck was that for!?”

“Ahaha…!” It took Daiya a moment to actually manage to answer, “Needed ta ask ya something… Ahaahaa…”

“What, and ya couldn’t have just tapped me on the shoulder like a fucking normal person!?”

“Ah… where’s the fun in that!?” Daiya smirked as Mondo pulled himself up off of the floor and shot him a dirty look, “Anyway, just checking, but it is the Banker’s Draft you’re taking your new boy-toy to tonight, right?”

“What?” Mondo scowled irritably, “No, we’re going to Wetherspoons!”

“Yeah, but which Wetherspoons?” Daiya asked… wait, don’t tell him Mondo didn’t know… “There’s three of them in the city!”

The red tint in Mondo’s face drained out of it as his pupils dilated, “What!? He didn’t say anything about that!”

Oh for fucks sake… “So… He didn’t mention a name, or a location…?” Daiya prompted.

“No! All he said was Wetherspoons!” Mondo cried, “Like there was only one in the city!”

“Well, then he probably meant the one closest to him!” Daiya pointed out, “Which is the Banker’s.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know that! Not for sure!” Mondo panicked, “What if meant one of the others and I go to the wrong one and he thinks I stood him up!? And it’s too late to ring his house and ask ‘cause he’ll probably be heading ta school now!”

“Yeah, which you oughta be doing as well…” Daiya sighed, “Tell you what, I know where his uniform’s from… I’ll ride to his school and ask which one he meant before he head in, alright?”

“Urg… yeah, thanks, Bro…” Mondo face-palms… well, shit, now’s he’s starting to get nervous about that stupid nerd again…

Still, at least this is better than him going to the wrong place and accidentally standing the guy up… and Daiya can make sure the pair of dumbasses don’t go to West Street and get involved with whatever the Iron Devils have called him out over…

“…I guess this will teach me to be more specific when I’m organising meetings in the future?” Kiyotaka summarises shamefully once all of the statements about the events leading up to the bar fight have been given…

Takaaki severely hopes his future ‘teachable moments’ aren’t going to keep involving tavern brawls… AND that the Oowada’s are going to do a better job of keeping him safe from those sort of people!

“And, uhh… I’ll do a better job of checking where ya wanna meet up…” The younger Oowada at least seems to have learnt something from this, “Or I’ll organise it next time! I’ll take ya someplace real nice!”

“Ah… you didn’t think this was nice…?” Kiyotaka took his offer the wrong way, becoming even more ashamed of himself, “I… I don’t really have the budget for anywhere better…”

“I meant I’d pay! I’ve been making some furniture and…”

Wait, he makes furniture!? Takaaki will have to ask Kiyotaka about it later, for now he needs to go give the statements to the head officer and help sort out they’ll do regarding the two Oowada brothers… and potentially his own son as well…

Luckily for Takaaki, several of the rival gang have been stupid enough to mention that they planned to attack Daiya Oowada regardless of what he did, and the bar staff have collaborated their story that they were only fighting in self-defense…

“…So you three are free to go, but we may need to contact you for further information, so please remember to keep your contact details up to date if they change.” Takaaki finished giving the news to the slightly happier looking couple and an the irritated older Oowada…

“Err… Of course I’d tell you that, Father!” Kiyotaka looks confused by his own formality, “But… do we have to go? I mean… we were on a date…”

“What? You think the staff are going to want to serve you after this!?” Officer Tamuro laughed at him.

“Ah… I suppose not…” Kiyotaka sighed sadly.

“Uhh… well… we could go on a walk somewhere?” His boyfriend suggested nervously, which cheers Kiyotaka up slightly… “Uhh… I just gotta head ta the bathroom first… I’ll be like… thirty seconds!” He patted Kiyotaka on the arm and walked off, leaving his son looking slightly sceptical…

“Well, I’ve got to get on with work, now… Be careful not to get into any more trouble, Kiyotaka…” It’s an unnecessary statement, but Takaaki can’t help but worry about him now…

“Ah! Of course! I hope the rest of your evening goes well, Father!” Kiyotaka saluted nervously, before checking his watch and watching his boyfriend leave the room.

Well, that seemed like Takaaki’s cue to leave…

“Hey… Ishimaru!” The older Oowada boy chased after him as he started to leave…

“That’s Officer Ishimaru…” He couldn’t be seen to be getting overly-friendly with a gang leader while at work… it was hard enough making sure his fellow officers didn’t slap spurious charges on them just for existing without being seen as biased…

“Whatever, what the hell was that crack about your kid ‘being careful’?” Oowada hissed quietly.

“…My son almost got beaten up by three men tonight, and you’re wondering why I’m telling him to be careful?” Oowada had a younger brother, not to mention the younger members of his gang… Didn’t he feel any brotherly concern for them? Shouldn’t that be enough to understand paternal concern as well?

“Well… that’s the sort of things that happens with gangs!” Oowada exclaimed, defensively. “And I can try and keep him outta it, but he still shoulda thought about that before agreeing to carry on dating Mondo!”

“I appreciate that!” Takaaki thanked him, “But it would be better if he kept himself out of such things…” Which was why he’d told his son to be careful… especially at the moment when young love was making him so distractible…

“Tch!” Oowada seemed annoyed at him, for some reason… “Listen Ishimaru… we respect you ‘cause you’re always fair and all… But trust me, it ain’t gonna be ‘better’ for you if your kid hurts Mondo!”

What!? Why would Kiyotaka hurt his boyfriend!? And even if he tried… “You and your brother just hospitalised 17 men by yourselves…” Takaaki pointed out, “And you’re worried about Kiyotaka!?”

“Urgh… I don’t mean like that!” Oowada snapped, before lowering his voice as if about to tell some dark secret… “It’s just… Mondo’s new to dating and shit, so…”

…He meant Kiyotaka hurting his brother emotionally!? That was even more ridiculous! “…My son waited in a pub toilet for twenty minutes because he wanted to kiss your brother, and you’re worried I might be able to make him break up with him!?” Takaaki asked incredulously.

“Err… I just mean Mondo’s gonna screw up a lot…” Oowada explained, “And I don’t want him feeling like shit for years just ‘cause he made one dumb mistake and lost someone he cares about, alright!”

“My son isn’t going to break up with your brother over one small thing… and he wouldn’t even do it over a multitude of accidents!” Takaaki told him, “If anything, it’s him who thinks your brother will dismiss him over tiny faults… I mean look at him…” He went to gesture to Kiyotaka, with his overly shined everything… only to find he was now nowhere to be seen… “Err… Where did my son go?”

“He said he needed the toilet…” Officer Tamuro smirked, “About thirty two seconds after Oowada went…”

Why the specific time…? Oh… that was right… Oowada had said thirty seconds…

“…BAHAHAHA!” The older Oowada had figured it out as well, “Kissing in a pub toilet… Classy kid you got there, Ishimaru!”

Takaaki bit down the urge to point out that his brother was being no more ‘classy’… and had apparently been so desperate he could only wait thirty seconds...

“Hah! Yeah…” Tamuro joined in, “I wouldn’t have thought someone as ‘respectable’ as you would raise a…”

Oowada’s laughter had stopped, and Takaaki could feel the gang leader tensing beside him…

“Have you heard about that new government initiative?” Takaaki said, loudly, in order to stop the obvious altercation from happening…

“...What? You mean the one about making sure the force is less homopho…” Tamuro trailed off as he realised what Takaaki was threatening…

“Yes! And just to be clear, those are a higher priority to the Chief Inspector than his dislike of me…” Takaaki pointed out. The man did rather like keeping his high paying job…

Tamuro scowled and feel silent.

“…You have to specify that your boss won’t just let people dick on ya?” Oowada asked him, “Is that just ‘cause of your old man as well?”

"...I like to think so..." Takaaki admitted, "It's hard to tell, sometimes..."

"Hah!Tell ya what, if you want proof they're being dumbasses, lemme know in advance the next time you go on holiday!" Oowada offers, loudly, "'Cause you're the only cop in this city any of us gang-types is actually scared of..." He pats Takaaki on the shoulder as if they're buddies and saunters out of the pub... leaving Takaaki alone to be stared at by his fellow officers...

...He'd probably best get going himself... he's got work to be doing, and it's not going to be any easier to do tomorrow when he's the topic of every conversation in the force...

Chapter Text

Takaaki felt a wave of relief hit him as he wearily opened the door to his house, despite him being there a full two hours earlier than he’d been expecting. Work had been uneasily… different since the chaos of his son’s first date a month ago. Before that, he’d usually be left to get on with his work as necessary by everyone else in the department, his years of dedication and good work ethics having cemented his presence as a necessary evil in the eyes of his colleagues. Now they were all being unnervingly polite to him, but only in the distant, fearful way that they’d have been polite to a mob boss...

…Or, more literally, someone they thought had the Crazy Diamonds at his beck and call. Or maybe even every gang in the city, if they were especially paranoid or had been far enough down the chain of mangled accounts of Daiya Oowada’s overblown assessment of his impact on public safety.

Even his bosses were still worried about it, continually rescheduling his hours at the last minute for increasingly obvious purpose of preventing him from taking Oowada up on his offer of ‘proof they're being dumbasses’. As if it would really make any difference if just one policeman was off shift for a while, even if he was one of the ones who’d been willing to take the extra time to look further into the situations and previous altercations between the various gangs…

Still, it was better than them officially accusing him of being involved in gang activity. And he’d probably seen Kiyotaka happy more times this last month than he had over the previous year…

…And coming in through the door today was no exception. His son was sat at the kitchen table, with the smell of fish stew wafting through the air, examining the back of a shirt thoughtfully. Although, oddly, his usual sewing paraphernalia was nowhere to be seen. Instead he had a small bottle of glue and various pots of coloured stones around him.

“Good evening, Kiyotaka.” Takaaki announced himself.

“Father!? It’s One AM ready!?” Kiyotaka jumped up in a panic, quickly folding the shirt over a pile of them on the chair next to him, which Takaaki soon realised were the old ones of his that his wife used to practise stitches on. “I’m sorry I’m up past my bedtime! I didn’t think this would take me so long! But I made stew for your dinner so help…”

“No! It’s only Eleven!” Takaaki quickly corrected him, “My shift got cut short today…”

“Oh… that’s good…” Kiyotaka slowed and leant against the table as he caught his breath again, “But… hrmm… that seems to be happening a lot recently… There’s not… fewer hours available, or redundancies or anything going on there, is there…?”

Takaaki cursed inwardly as Kiyotaka looking at him anxiously. He’d been hoping his son would be too far gone in relationship bliss to have noticed his odd schedule, he certainly hadn’t meant to make the lad worry that he might be about to lose his job soon. But on the other hand, he didn’t really want to have to make his son think that it was partly his fault his bosses kept messing him around so much…

“No… nothing like that! Even if there was, I’d be one of the last to go!” Takaaki tried to assure him, although if anything his answer made the boy look more worried. It was probably time for him to just be upfront about it. “Daiya Oowada said something last month that’s made them think I have some sort of control over the Crazy Diamonds, so they’re changing my schedule to stop me from taking advantage of that to do something untoward.”

“So it is because of me…” Kiyotaka frowned deeply.

“No… It’s because I was seen talking to a gang leader.” Takaaki corrected him, hoping he wouldn’t be perceptive enough to point out…

“But if if I wasn’t dating Mondo then you wouldn’t have been talking to his brother…” That. “And I’m taking part in gang activities…”

“No one’s mentioned you in any of this!” Takaaki quickly interjected. “It’s just because I spoke to Daiya!”

“But, they’re bound to notice my activities sooner or later!” Kiyotaka panicked, “And then you’ll have a direct link to a gangster!”

“Kiyotaka, you’re taking part in a craft club…” Takaaki sighed.

“A craft club that consists of myself and an increasingly large number of gangsters!” Kiyotaka countered, “I’m sure your…”

“Increasingly large?” Takaaki couldn’t help but pick up on that, “You mean you’re getting more of the Diamonds taking part?”

“Err… yes!” His question managed to derail Kiyotaka’s thought process, “Although Daiya says a lot of them are probably just there for the free food…”

“Really!? I wouldn’t have thought biscuits would be that much of a draw for a group of teenagers.” Takaaki admitted, partly to cause the conversation to drift further away from the topic of his issues at work.

“Ah… well, Daiya’s started having pizza delivered the last two weeks!” Kiyotaka replied with a slightly guilty expression, which Takaaki figured meant he’d had stew for dinner tonight and then been coerced by his friends into enjoying a slice of pizza as well.

“That’s certainly very generous of him!” Takaaki wouldn’t like to imagine the bill for enough pizza to feed a couple dozen teenage boys.

“Yes! Even if he can be pretty scary at times!” Kiyotaka laughed, at which Takaaki quirked an eyebrow, “Ah… when Mondo and I arrived at the club tonight, he was in the middle of shouting at Mondo’s best friend for damaging his jacket…”

“Oh…” Takaaki wasn’t sure what to say to that. While he wouldn’t condone shouting at someone, there’d been times when Kiyotaka had accidentally damaged his clothes and he’d struggled to keep his frustration at the though of having to watch his wife struggle to fix them, or spend the money for new ones, at bay. He could certainly sympathise with Oowada being angry that he’d have to sew that whole intricate logo again. “…You’ll have to make sure you take good care of yours.”

“Yes! I made sure to put it out of the way in a safe place before opening that glue up!” Kiyotaka agreed.

“Good thinking! Also, speaking of that glue… What is it you’re doing?”

“Oh, this? It’s a rhinestone kit! You use the glue to stick on these little plastic gems as decoration for clothes of shoes!” Kiyotaka showed him the back of the shirt he’d been working on, where he’d stuck the beads on in the same shape as the dog on the nearby box. “Mondo gave it to me tonight… when he asked me out for dinner tomorrow evening… Which I said I’d go to, so long as it was all alright with you…?”

The question hung in the air as Kiyotaka looked at him pleadingly. Not that Takaaki was going to say no, but he’d rather not have a repeat of last month…

“Where are you having dinner?”

“Pizza Express… the one in Meadowhall, in the food court!” Kiyotaka finished the incredibly specific answer before Takaaki got a chance to ask if they’d made sure they knew which branch of the chain they were actually meeting at this time, “Not that it matters, because he’s going to pick me up from home this time!”

Seems like Oowada was going the extra mile to make sure the date went nicely this time, but… “…Can you afford Pizza Express? Some of the people at work go there quite often and it sounds more pricey than the name would suggest… although I might be able to pick you up a 30% off voucher that they’ve been leaving around the place…”

“Mondo said he could afford both our meals, so it would be his treat!” Kiyotaka told him, “But that 30% voucher sounds useful! No reason for him to spend more than he has to!”

“Alright…” Takaaki made a mental note to check the bin tomorrow, before another question popped into his mind, “That’s from his furniture making job, I suppose… where is that?”

“Err… I’ve never thought to ask him…” Kiyotaka’s face turned horror-struck. “He’s never really mentioned having to go to work at all, so it slipped my mind…”

“Well, perhaps that’s something for you to ask about on your date!” Takaaki suggested. Not that he was particularly bothered, so long as Oowada wasn’t doing anything illegal to afford it. “And finally… I don’t suppose you know what his brother’s plans for the evening are, do you?”

“Yes! I did check that one! Daiya says he’s coming with us to Meadowhall, but gave me a Man’s Promise there’d be no gang fighting going on at all!” Kiyotaka had apparently had all of the same concerns as Takaaki, “Apparently all of the significant gangs in the city have declared a truce because of a singer they all like being on at the arena later on.”

So most of the gangs would be in that area? But not getting into fights? And they probably wouldn’t bother with somewhere like Pizza Express when McDonalds and KFC were right next door… “Well, that all sounds reasonable. I hope you have a good time!”

“Thank you! I’m sure I will!” Kiyotaka grinned ecstatically. “I’d better tidy these up and start getting for bed, so I’m well rested for it! At least now I can tell Mondo that it’s not difficult to do.” He started packing the glue and plastic stones back into their box.

“…I suppose its just a case of putting glue on the fabric and then sticking the stones on?” Takaaki guessed, looking at the little dog Kiyotaka had made more closely.

“Yes, but you can’t use too much, because the glue turns slightly yellow when it dries, like here…” Kiyotaka showed him a patch where, if you looked closely, you could see a slight yellow tint around the stones where he’d used too much and it had been squeezed out when he’d pressed the stone on. “…Did you want to have a go? It really isn’t hard!”

…He didn’t particularly, but Kiyotaka had inherited the same happy grin his wife had always had always shown when she managed to get him to join in with some form of craft, regardless of how badly made the product was… “…Alright, maybe just while you’re getting ready for bed.”

“Alright, well, here’s the glue and the stones! And the instructions, if you have trouble!” Kiyotaka smiled just like she’d always done, “I’m sure you won’t though! See you later!”

And then he bounded out of the room, leaving Takaaki alone with a bottle of glue, some multicoloured stones, and no clue what to put on the mostly-blank shirt in front of him…

Well… Kiyotaka had made a dog. Maybe he could try and make a cat? There was one on the box he could copy…

Five minutes later he’d pretty much ruined the appearance of Kiyotaka’s dog by putting it in proximity to a cat whose front half had apparently been run over by a truck at some point… and which had a crooked back leg. He’d never had the dexterity for this kind of thing, unlike his wife. It had been a joy to watch her deftly stitching at nights on the sofa, even when she was just practising difficult stitches by making a sewing a heart on the left sleeve and the police logo on the right one…

…She’d been practising French knots on this shirt. Although he could only recognise them because she’d complained so much about them that he’d insisted that she practise them in the first place. The pile of shirts on the chair next to him had various stitches he didn’t know the names of; one that looked like tiny ladders, one where the patterns were completely filled in with tiny stitches coming out from a central line, another which had been filled in with shapes that looked like the top of wheat plants, one where the outer line of the pattern was raised and the filled part looked sunken into the fabric and finally one shirt where the sleeves…

…were blank.

Takaaki pinched his eyes to stop the tears that had started prickling at them… She can’t have had the chance to practise anything on this one…

…So maybe he could? For her...?

He pulled the chair closer and moved the blank pair of sleeves onto the table so he could work on them without having to move the entire pile of shirts, then reached over for some blue ‘gems’…

This time he tried to be more careful, and it helped that he knew what the appropriate amount of glue for each ‘stone’ was now. The police symbol actually looked like the police symbol… albeit a slightly scruffy version. He’d have to be more careful with the red gems…

…It was getting slightly easier now. He still had to be careful, but he was starting to hit a rhythm of picking up a gem, putting down some glue, putting down the gem, picking up a gem… and after a while he was facing a heart that looked neat enough to have been something his wife had made…

“That looks wonderful!” Takaaki jumped slightly as his son’s booming voice suddenly split the silence next to him, good thing he’d put the glue down before Kiyotaka had done that. “It looks just like the one’s mother use to make for practise!”

“Yes… I tried to do the work logo as well, but it didn’t come out as nicely…” Takaaki held up the other sleeve to show him.

“It’s still very good for a first try!” Kiyotaka insisted genially, as he started picking up the pile of shirts and moving them to the table next to him, “Maybe if your shifts allow for it, you could come with us to the craft meetings and…”

Whatever Kiyotaka was saying was cut off as he suddenly pulled the shirt that was at the very bottom of the pile up towards him, which meant the sleeves Takaaki were holding, and subsequently his own arms, were suddenly yanked sideways, knocking the bottle of glue over onto the back of the shirt Kiyotaka was holding…

…which was Kiyotaka Crazy Diamond shirt!

“…What… why were you practising on MY shirt!?” Kiyotaka was now staring in horror at the heart and police symbol that Takaaki had stuck to the shirt he wore to go hang out with gang members!

“Why was your shirt in the pile of the old shirts!?” Takaaki countered. What sort of ‘safe place’ was that!?

“Argh… I… I was only expecting to use one of them… And I thought the others would have protected it if I spilt the glue!” Kiyotaka groaned, “I should have just taken it up to my room…”

“…And I should have checked it before working on it, instead of just assuming…” Takaaki realised, “Is there a way to get the glue off?”

“Not that I know of… Maybe the bottle will…” Kiyotaka went to pick up the bottle, only for his eyes to widen in horror again… “AH! The glue! It’s leaked onto the shirt!” Oh Gods it HAD! It had practically filled in one of the outlines of flames Oowada had sewn into the shirt while the pair of them had been bickering over whose fault it was! “…And it doesn’t say anything about how to remove the glue!”

Dammit! Now what? “…Maybe we can fill it in with the yellow gems?”

“As if we did it intentionally…? It… might look alright, if we fill in all of them… Alright then!”

All thoughts of Kiyotaka’s bedtime (which Takaaki didn’t really think was necessary anymore regardless) went out of the window as he quickly picked all of the old shirts off of the floor so Kiyotaka could lay out his shirt before they both scrambled to fill the area in with the yellow-coloured stones. Then once that one was full, Kiyotaka took over the glue and started working on the flame next to it, making a precise line of glue spots for him and Takaaki to stick the gems onto…

They were at it for an hour before Kiyotaka sighed and closed the lid of the glue just as Takaaki was filling in the last parts of the flame they’d been working on.

“What’s wrong? Are you getting tired? Or is the glue affecting you at all…?” He probably should have checked if there was any safety information on that tube before they’d started.

“No, I’m fine… it’s just we won’t have enough gems left to fill in anymore of the flames, so it’d be better to stop, I suppose…” Kiyotaka explained, frowning at the shirt, “…Do you think people will fall for it?”

Takaaki looked over the shirt, aside from the one lick of flame they’d started with, which was off to the side and less noticeable, the ones they’d filled look professionally done. “…Not unless they’re looking closely!”

“…Which Oowada’s sure to.” Kiyotaka sighed, “And that’s assuming he doesn’t think it’s hideously gaudy in the first place…”

Ahh… So he was worrying about getting shouted at… “…If you’re worried about it, I can talk to him when he comes to pick you up and explain that it was my fault and not yours…”

“What!? No! You can’t do that!” Kiyotaka insisted, “It’s because you spoke to him that you’re having so many problems at work, isn’t it!?”

“That’s because I spoke with him where other policemen could see it, there’s no problem with us having a private chat…”

“No… it’s probably better if I tell Mondo first, and ask him what he thinks his brother’s reaction will be!” Kiyotaka insisted, “I’ll just have to make my own way to Meadowhall tomorrow and ask him once we’re on our date!”

“Are you sure? That singer at the arena might delay all the trams…”

“Then I’ll make sure I get there early! I can have a walk around the shops to work up an appetite for dinner!” That all seemed completely unnecessary, but there was no arguing with his son when he was in this kind of mood… “I’ll go ring Mondo and let him know about the change in plans now!”

“If you’re sure…”

“Positive!” Kiyotaka marched over to the phone and dialled Oowada’s number… “Ah! Mondo, good evening! Although you really should be in bed by now…! Yes, I should to, but something happened and now I need to go to Meadowhall by myself tomorrow… Err… To… buy something...! What!? No, you can’t buy it for me! You’re already buying me dinner…! That’s not the point…! No! I am going to Meadowhall by myself, I will meet you by the benches outside Argos at 6.15 and that is final! Now get to bed and have a good night and sweet dreams and I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!” Kiyotaka slammed down the phone authorotively.

…Please don’t let this end with Takaaki having to interrogate his own son again...

Woohoo! Ibuki had a good feeling about her little pre-show date tonight! They hadn’t even gone to dinner yet and she’d already managed to hold Mikan’s hand to help guide her through the giant shopping mall to the fancy (but not too fancy, Mikan freaked out easy when things were going too well for her) pizza place which was supposed to be pretty quiet. The only hiccup that had happened was that traffic had been busy because of her concert, so they’d arrived a little later than she’d meant to, so they might be a teensy-wincy bit late for the reservation Ibuki had made just in case…

“Aaaahhhh… we’re late aren’t we!?” Aww… Mikan was worrying way too much about this! “This is because I spent too long changing your bandages, isn’t it!? I’m sorry! Now we’re going to be late and you’ll miss the start of your concert and your fans will hate me…!”

“Don’t be silly! If it weren’t for you Ibuki wouldn’t be going to any of her concerts!” Not after that crazy pyrotechnics glitch had set half her body on fire and Mikan had spent months helping her recover… “Her fans all love you!”

“Hehehe… really?” Mikan blushed cutely, “I didn’t do that much… Just what any nurse would do…”

“Well, you did it a lot better than they would have!” Ibuki told her, “And, you’re a lot cuter than any other nurse!”

“Ahhahah…” Mikan just giggled, which was much better then when they’d first met and she kept trying to insisted Ibuki was wrong or lying…

Yep! This date was going to be perfect! And she could already see the sign for the restaurant…

…Which had a queue of people lining up out of the door… A queue of people who looked suspiciously like the type of guys who liked Ibuki’s music...

“Hey! There she is!”

“So that site WAS right!”

“But if she’s on a date, where’s the guy? That’s just the nurse who’s been looking after her…”

“Unless the nurse IS ‘her special someone’…”

“What… like best friends forever?”

“…Sure. Let’s go with that.”

UUURGGGHHH! So some stupid clickbait site had found out about her date and told everyone!? And now the whole restaurant was going to be full of her fans, which she wouldn’t have minded if Mikan wasn’t already trembling at the site of them all… Why did all her new fans have to look so scary since she’d left her old band…?

“Umm… Will we have time to queue up? I don’t mind not having pizza…”

“Don’t you worry! Ibuki planned ahead and made sure we’ll get a table!” Ibuki told her, pulling her past the queue and up to the podium where a tall guy in a cool trench coat with spiffy gold stitching and a shorter guy who’d worn nothing but white wth black boots and done that boring thing of trying to look cooler by slinging his jacket over his shoulders… although it looked even sillier than usual because he’d done it inside out...

“Ah… Oowada! Right here, table for four?” The waitress was looking up his reservation, “That’s the last one we have!”

What!? That couldn’t be right! If that was the last table, then what happened to Ibuki’s reservation!? She wasn’t that late!

“Uhh… no? I booked a table for two…”

“Uhh… Excuse me! Ibuki Mioda here! I booked a table for two, to!” Ibuki interrupted the cooler looking guy.

“Oh… really…?” The waitress checked the computer where it should say that yes, really, she had! “Ah! Here it is! Ibuki Mioda, table for… four…” She gulped, “Ah… it seems like your reservations have been grouped together, somehow…”

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem!” The boring looking guy said loudly. “If you give us a table made up of two tables for two, we can pull them apart and sit separately, yes?”

“Except… we already filled all the tables except that one…” The waitress pointed to one big table for four on the other side of the room…

“Oh! Well… Ladies first, I guess!” Mr. White stepped aside for them, “We can wait… or eat somewhere else… Pizza Hut didn’t look too busy…”

“What…? No, I ain’t taking ya ta Pizza Hut!” Ooohhhh… seemed like Ibuki wasn’t the only person taking a ‘special someone’ out on a ‘fancy’ date!

“Ahh! We’re sorry! We can go to Pizza Hut instead!” Aww… but his snappy tone had made Mikan scared…

“Nonsense! You’ve as much right as us to the table!” The guy in white insisted, although he did it so loud it probably scared Mikan even more… “I’m not that hungry anyway, so it might be better to wait…”

“W-well… we can be the one’s who wait!” Mikan insisted right back at him, “It’s perfectly fine!”

“…But… doesn’t she have a show on tonight?” The guy in the trench coat asked, pointing at Ibuki “That she’s, y’know, the star of?”

 “…OH! I forgot about that!” Mikan cried, “Umm… I’m sorry, I guess we can’t wait…! I’m really sorry!”

“That’s no problem at all, I just said…”

Urgg… This was getting waaay too loud and complicated and Ibuki could hear all her fans muttering about how the restaurant must suck for not getting her to her table quickly enough… “Ibuki knows! We can just share the table! Riiiiight…?” She looked at the cooler of the two dudes.

“Uhh… yeah, I guess it won’t make much difference…” He muttered. “Right, Kiyotaka?”

“Ahh… well, if it’s alright with both of you ladies…”

“O-of course!” Mikan agreed, although she did that with everything… hopefully this wouldn’t be too big of a problem for her…

“Well… alright!” The waitress certainly seemed glad Ibuki had fixed her problem for her, “If you’ll all follow me!”

She walked off towards the table, followed by the guy in the trench coat. But then the guy in white insisted Mikan and her go next, even though that split him up from his own date…

“Hey! Isn’t that Ibuki’s private nurse…?”

“Yeah it… Oh! There she is!”

“Oh yeah! So that guy behind her is…?”

“I guess…?”

“Wow, wouldn’t think Ibuki’d go for a boring guy like that…”

“Yeah, I’d thought she go for the guy her nurse is with…”

…and made it look like Ibuki was dating him!

Well, they’d get the idea soon enough when Ibuki got to her table and pulled out a seat next to the wall, away from all the staring people, and across from the beautiful light purple eyes of the dude in the black coat.

…Wait. That wasn’t right!

“Uhh…” He stopped pulling his chair out and stared at her, then looked aside at Mikan, who’d gone to take the seat next to him. “…Here ya go.” He left it half out so she could sit opposite Ibuki.

“Umm… th-thank you!” Mikan sat down nervously, and then so did the two boys and Ibuki…

“…Why’re they sitting NEXT to their dates?”

“Why’d he not pull her chair out for her? He just watched the OTHER guy do it!”

“Weirdo seemed more worried about getting his coat on the chair ‘just right’…”

“Urgh, can’t stand fussy people like…”

“Shit, he’s looking at us!”

Well, no wonder when you’re all talking so loudly about him, guys! Even if he did only notice the word ‘coat’ out of all of that and seem more worried about how it was folded over the chair than the way they were all insulting him...

“Err… you haven’t noticed anything odd about my appearance, have you?”, “Ahh… A-are they all talking about me!?” The guy in white asked as Mikan panicked over the attention their table was getting.

“No… why would I?”, “NOPE! Not a word!” Both the guy in the big coat and Ibuki were able to tell their dates, completely truthfully. Guess that was one advantage of her fans being dummies about who her actual date was…

But, no point worrying about them! She had a concert to play, so that meant she and Mikan needed to figure out what to eat! “Don’t you worry about a thing! Once we start looking at the menu they’ll get bored and ignore us!”

“Umm… alright…” Mikn took the menu off of her and she started looking at the pizzas...

(“So… ya wanna get one of these big pizzas to split…?”)

(“Err… I’m not really hungry enough for one… I was thinking the salmon salad sounded nice…”)

Oooh! Fish sounded good! But she’d told Mikan they get pizza together, as Mikan had never had it before… Buuuutt they had a deluxe fish thing that would be great with some extra anchovies on it…

(“Aww, come on! I told you I can afford this! Even without that voucher! You ain’t gotta pick the cheapest thing on the menu!”)

(“I’m not saying you can’t afford it! I’m just not hungry today…”)

Hmm… Mikan looked kind of worried about the menu… “You know what you want, sweetie?”

(“Well, I’m gonna get a big one and you’re salad just ta show I can afford it!”)

(“That ridiculous! If anything wasting money in such a fashion would make me less sure of your financial stability!”)

“Umm… I’ve never had pizza before… but it’s better shared with friends, right?” Mikan reminded her of why she’d decided to treat her to pizza in the first place, “S-so, maybe I can share your pizza… I-if you don’t mind me p-putting my hands on it!”

(“I ain’t gonna waste the money! If we don’t eat it we’ll just wrap it up and take it home ta eat later!”)

(“We can do that!?”)

“Don’t be silly! Ibuki bets your hands will make it taste better!”

(“Why not? We’d have paid for it, right? So don’t worry about spending too much or bothering with that voucher, cause I can afford it. Alright?”)

(“What? No, I’m still going to use the voucher! Why wouldn’t I? It’s effectively free money at this point!”)

“Huh!? Why would it taste of anything!? Do I have something on my hands…?”

(“Because taking a date out somewhere you can only afford with a voucher is something only a total loser would do!”)

(“I’m not saying you can only afford it with the voucher! But there’s no reason to not to use it and save yourself money, that’s just common sense!”)

“No, I mean you always smell yummy enough to eat…” She grabbed Mikan’s hand to prove the point, “NOMNOMNOMNOM!”

(“But we’re on a date!”)

(So…!?”)

“Heheheheeek!” Mikan giggled and squirmed as Ibuki ran sloppy kisses over her fingers, “Ibuki! People can see us!”

(“So forget the f-fricken voucher!”)

(“NO! You still haven’t given me an adequate reason to do so!”)

“Hmm… nope! We’ve got these two big guys in the way!” Ibuki grinned, looking between the wall on her left and the guy sat to her right who’d mastered the art of loud whispering...

“But… but the waitress…” Mikan started pulling her hand back and shrinking agains her chair.

“Aww… alright…” Ibuki sighed and let go. She’d just have to wait for the waitress to take their order before having more sneaky fun with Mikan…

(“Look, just don’t mention the voucher, alright…?”)

“Hi, you four know what you want to order…?” Tch! The waitress was only looking at the two guys anyway, she could totally have been holding Mikan’s hand right now…

“Uhh… yeah, but we’re actually two pairs paying separately…” The guy next to Mikan started explaining.

“And our pair has a voucher!” His boyfriend piped up loudly, handing it over to her.

“What’s he doing!?”

“Did he just say he’s using a voucher!?”

“He’s on a date with a rock star and using a VOUCHER…!?”

“Cheapskate…”

“I’ll make sure that gets added…” The waitress ignored all the muttering and took it off of him while his boyfriend just glared at him, “So, what can I get you?”

“The double-sized pepperoni pizza…”

“And the salmon salad for myself.”

“And a double-size deluxe fish pizza with extra anchovies!” Ibuki finished off, which the waitress only looked a little surprised about even though they’d ordered five meals between four of them.

“And to drink…?”

Oops! Ibuki forgot those! Time to look at the menu again…

“Coke, please.” The guy with the long coat said.

“Still water for me…” His boyfriend added.

“Oh! Umm… me to! I can’t drink tonight…” Mikan quickly added.

“Ya don’t want a fruit juice or something? Or the still lemonade? It ain’t like I can’t afford it…”

“Oh, they do juice? Maybe an orange juice then, i-if that’s alright…?” Mikan looked at her questioningly.

“Ibuki’s spending twice that on this cocktail!” Ibuki pointed to her choice to make her less worried about it.

“Alright, one Hugo St. Germain and one orange juice… did you want to change your drink at all?” She asked the guy in white.

“No thank you, I’m not really in the mood for a sweet drink...”

“Ok, I’ll be back with those in a moment!” The waitress headed off…

Which was Ibuki’s cue to grab at Mikan’s hand again!

“Dude! Quit acting like I’m broke or summat!” And apparently the cooler looking guys cue to snap at his boyfriend…

“What do you mean…?” Said boyfriend asked while Mikan blushed and grabbed Ibuki’s hand with her free one.

“You used the voucher and you asked for water instead of a proper drink!”, “Water is the only proper drink and your drink is refillable so it’ll be cheaper in the long run!” The guys carried on arguing as Ibuki added her second hand to the group of hands on the table…

“Yeah… but… that ain’t the point!”, “Then what is the point!?” Ibuki was only half aware of the argument her new privacy screens were having as Mikan smiled timidly at her and Ibuki squeezed her hands in response… at least until Mikan’s eyes suddenly darted upwards and she pulled her hands back again…

“The… the point is that there’s a ton of people from other gangs here and they’re all gonna think Mondo Oowada’s too broke to treat you to a proper date!” The guy in the black coat snapped, just as Ibuki leant back so Mikan wouldn’t be embarrassed about flirting in front of the waitress who was coming back to put their drinks on the table…

“He’s having WATER!?”

“Wow, too much of a cheapskate to get a sensible drink even WITH his voucher!”

“Or he’s just boring…”

“Why the hell is Mioda dating HIM!?”

“See!?” ‘Mondo’ was apparently deaf because he hissed at his boyfriend as if any of her fans were talking about him at all.

“Ah…I’m sorry…” His boyfriend frowned as he also misheard all the murmuring and poured himself a drink… “It’s just I had something sweet earlier and just wanted some water to take the taste away…”

Hmm… should Ibuki let them know what they were actually talking about…? But then they might make a big deal about it and upset Mikan, but if she didn’t they might argue all night and that would be a pain to listen to…

“Well… Alright… just order something different next time…”

“Understood!”

…Well, they seemed to have sorted themselves out now! Ibuki could probably just leave it as it was and have a nice conversation with Mikan!

(“So… what were you talking about with that old lady by Argos…?”)

(Oh! I was just telling her about the craft club…”)

…If she could think of something to talk about that Mikan wouldn’t be upset by and would actually talk about as well…

(“Really? It looked like you were showing her summat as well…”)

(“Err, that!? Well… eeerrr… Is your brother going to stand there watching us for the entire date…?”)

Come on, Ibuki! Think! Urgggg… this is why she preferred playing music with people close to her! It was way easier than this! Even if everyone else kept saying Mikan couldn’t ‘actually’ play music!

(“Wha…!? Urgh… yeah, probably? We’re kind of sat next to his favourite guitarist… Why, is it a problem?”)

(Ah… n-no… I’ll just explain it later…”)

“Y-your brother’s a fan of Ibuki’s!?” Mikan suddenly asked the guy next to her, “I-is he worried I’ll m-make her late for the concert!?”

“Uhh… no? He’s just being a nosy… guy.” Mondo complained politely. “…And he’s probably gonna try signalling that I should get an autograph for him as well…”

Oh… they were talking about that guy with the cool pompadour, in the same type of coat as Mondo, who was being really obvious about staring at them… and was now waving at her ‘cause she’d looked at him…

Eh, she could give him an autograph! She probably had some pictures left in her purse to sign… “What’s his name?”

“Huh!? Oh… uhh…. Daiya!” He looked embarrassed that she’d got out a picture and pen, but went with it anyway… “That’s D, A, I, Y, A…”

“Okie-dokie!” Ibuki wrote him a message about his hair and handed it to his brother…

“Th-thanks…” Mondo muttered gruffly as he took it, then he held it up so Daiya could see it, pointed at it, then Daiya, then made shooing movements with his hands towards the window…

…But Daiya just laughed and shook his head in response, which made Mondo make bigger shooing gestures…

“What’s HE doing…?”

“Trying to get rid of those people staring from outside, I think…”

“You’d think her BOYFRIEND would do that!”

“Well, maybe that big guy’s her bodyguard…?”

“You think? I keep thinking I know him… And besides, if I was dating Mioda I’D be trying to help get some privacy!”

“Dammit… stupid… jerk doesn’t realise what an idiot he’s making us look like…” Mondo sighed as he gave up, assuming people had actually recognised him again…

“But… everyone out there’s staring… Ibuki is a big star after all! E-everyone talks about her…” Mikan pointed out, “I’m surprised no one’s talking about me just because I’m with her…”

That was because they didn’t realise Mikan was with her… but Ibuki didn’t want her to think they’d say horrible things about her if they did! “Well, that’s just because there’s nothing to say about you!”

“…I-if you say so…” Aww no! That totally wasn’t the right thing for Ibuki to have said, was it!? Otherwise Mikan wouldn’t look so sad about it… But there wasn’t anything mean to say about Mikan! Did she think Ibuki was lying or something!? Maybe she’d figured it was too good to be true that they weren’t paying attention to Ibuki’s date, and Ibuki should let her know they were all talking about the guy next to her instead…

“Here are your pizza’s!” Oops! No time for that! They waitress was back! “I’ve got one deluxe fish with anchovies…”

“Here please!” Ibuki shot one hand up and pointed between here and Mikan.

“Alright…?” Why did she now look confused? “And one pepperoni…”

“Here…” Mondo pointed in front of him.

“Okay… I’ll be back with your salad in a moment…”

“Well, time to chow down!” Ibuki announced, as she grabbed a slice, and Mikan nodded and picked up one herself.

“…Are the girls sharing a pizza?”

“And the guys got one between them as well…”

 Urg… looked like her fans were going to start talking about Mikan pretty soon after all… Oh well! She’d just have to start teaching Mikan to ignoring the nastier side of being a celebrity…

“You suuurre you don’t wanna share some pizza?” Mondo picked up a slice and waved it at his boyfriend.

“Yes, thank you…”

“You sure? It’s good pizza!”

“Yes, I’m sure! If I’d wanted pizza, I’d have asked for it earlier!”

Ibuki couldn’t blame Mondo for offering, It was pretty good pizza… although Mikan was hardly eating it… Oh noes! “Could it be… do you not actually like pizza!?” And after Ibuki had come here specially so Mikan could try some…

“Umm…” Argh! Now she was getting all scared and nervous about not liking the food! Why didn’t Ibuki think this might have happened and ordered something else just in case!? Hmm… Maybe she could steal that guy’s salad… “I don’t really like all the fish… I-I-I’m sorry! I know I should have said! B-b-but I thought if it was on pizza it would be alright…”

Oh, right… lots of people didn’t like fish on pizza, even if they liked fish! Ibuki really should have seen that coming… but now what? That guy’s salad had fish on it, so that would help. Maybe one of her fans would give up some food for Mikan if she asked…? She was a celebrity after all, even she hated playing the diva card for shallow stuff like that…

“Do you like pepperoni?” The two guys on the table saved her the trouble.

“Umm… m-maybe?” Mikan flinched a little at the direct questions, but still answered. “I mean, I haven’t tried it before…”

“Well, feel free to help yourself, seeing as Kiyotaka won’t have any…” Mondo huffed as he moved his plate from between him and ‘Kiyotaka’ and put it between him and Mikan…

“Ooh! She just wanted to try a bit of Mioda’s pizza before sharing her boyfriend’s!”

“Wow… really? There’s must be at least twenty anchovies on that thing!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t even wanna SIT next to that…”

“Hey, how come Mioda’s boyfriend isn’t eating…?”

“Maybe he’s psyching himself up…”

“Haha! I can’t wait to see that nerd try THAT!”

Or he was waiting for the waitress to come back with his own food? Why did they all think he was going to share with Ibuki, anyway…?

“And here’s one salmon salad!” The waitress came back and put it down in front of Kiyotaka…

“What!? He’s having a SALAD!?”

“He’s not even TRYING to share Mioda’s pizza?”

“Even after she ordered a double sized one?”

“Yeesh, if my girlfriend ordered pizza to split I’d at least TRY the thing…”

…Oh, right. Because Ibuki had ordered enough pizza to share. Not that she wouldn’t eat it all anyway, her concerts used a lot of energy! But now Kiyotaka was looking guilty about ordering a salad, and his boyfriend getting annoyed by all the muttering around them wasn’t helping…

“Do you want anything else…?”

“Yeah, can I get a refill of coke, please?” Mondo held up his empty glass.

“Oh! And Ibuki and Mikan will have the same drinks again!” Ibuki announced, “Right?”

Mikan nodded.

“Err… I’m going to have an iced tea, instead, please.” Kiyotaka told her… Huh, wow he really must have been thirsty if he’d drank all that water already, he’d been given twice as much as the rest of them…

“All right, I’ll be back in a moment!”

“…Really!?” Mondo glared at him after the waitress left.

“…What?”

“I tell ya to pick something different so you picked the second cheapest drink on the menu!?”

“I didn’t even notice that! I just like iced tea!” Kiyotaka snapped, “Besides, it’s not like anyone can say you aren’t being a good boyfriend when you’ve now spent more on my drinks than your own!”

“They can and they will, trust me…” Mondo sighed as he grabbed a second slice of pizza.

“Nonsense, you’re worrying too much!” Kiyotaka picked up his knife and fork, “Especially as this salad is so ridiculously large…”

“It still looks cheap! You heard everyone muttering when it came up right?”

He had, but apparently not well enough to realise what they’d been muttering about… Would it really be so bad for Mikan if Ibuki told them…?

“Here are your drinks!” Wow, this waitress was quick! And she’d even remembered who’d ordered what properly…

“What he’s drinking THIS time?”

“Looks like iced tea…”

“Ooooh! Water and iced tea! Guy sure knows how to rock out, huh?”

“Hah! Seriously, what’s Mioda see in a snooze-fest like HIM?”

“I’d be a MUCH better boyfriend for her…”

“Ahh… It’s really that bad…?” Oh great, now they were making Kiyotaka feel bad about liked iced tea? They wouldn’t care if they didn’t think he was dating Ibuki….

That settled it. She was keeping Mikan as a secret girlfriend! That way she wouldn’t have to put up with her fans making mean comments about every tiny thing she did!

“Umm… m-maybe they’re talking about Ibuki or me instead…?” Mikan suggested, “W-with h-her being a celebrity…”

“Nope! Ibuki definitely heard them talking about the iced tea!”

“…Oh. Okay” Huh!? Now Kiyotaka and Mikan were depressed!?

Why was Mikan upset? Just because she’d suggested something and it had been wrong. Or did she feel bad for Kiyotaka because of how upset he looked at thinking he’d made his boyfriend look bad, when no one even knew who he actually was…

Uurgghh… Now the whole table was quiet, and Mikan and Kiyotaka hardly wanted to eat anything, so they ended up having half a salad and two slices of pizza left over…

“Well, at least we can wrap it up and take it home!” Kiyotaka announced, starting to pour salad onto his serviette…

“He’s wrapping up his SALAD?”

“Chhhheaaaapppskaaaateeeee!”

“Ah! What…?” Kiyotaka jumped as the murmuring started again, “Why are they… is the back of my shirt visible…?”

“Hmm…nope!” Ibuki told him. Why would it matter if it was?

“…It’s cause ya don’t put salad in a doggy bag!” Mondo sighed at him.

“But… you said we could wrap up excess food and take it home!”

“But I was talking about the pizza, no one does it with salads!”

“Oh… I didn’t know…” Kiyotaka sighed and started to sadly put the salad back on his plate.

“HEY! Don’t do that!” Ibuki snapped at him, “Who cares if people think it’s weird!? If you wanna take the salad home, just take it! That’s what Ibuki would do!”

“But…”

“No buts! Just do what makes you happy! Even if people talk about you! It’s more fun that way!” Ibuki insisted, reached out and dumping all of his salad onto the napkin, “That’s life advice from Ibuki for you!”

“Err…?” Kiyotaka looked at Mondo for advice.

“…Well, if she says ta do it…”

Hmpth! …That made it sound like he’d only listened to Ibuki’s advice because she was famous, not because it was good advice!

“…D-does that mean it’s bad if people d-don’t talk about you…?” Mikan’s lip was getting all wobbly...

“Huh!? Oh, no, no, no!” Ibuki couldn’t let her think that! “What Ibuki means is, you can’t let people saying bad things about you stop you from doing what you want to! Like, where Ibuki left her old band and started making music by herself, lots of people said her new music was weird and she should just go back to the band, even though that wasn’t what Ibuki wanted to do!” Ibuki explained, “But Ibuki ignored them and kept making her own music, and now she has lots of fans who say nice things about her and her music!”

“Umm… but would you still be happy if you weren’t famous and people said n-nothing about you?”

“Errmmm…” Hmm… That had never really happened to Ibuki… People had always talked about her from as young as she could remember… And why was Mikan asking about it anyway…?

“Looks like everything was alright with the food!” Argh! That waitress again… “Will you be having dessert?”

“Uhh, we will, yeah.” Mondo nodded.

Hmm… it was cutting it close for Ibuki… but it wouldn’t matter if she was a little bit late…

“And Ibuki will have dessert, to!”

“So… if SHE’S having dessert, we oughta have time for one, right?”

Aaaand half the restaurant decided to join her…

“Alright, here are the menus!” The waitress handed them all menus and left, and Mikan started looking through hers just a little more cheerful than she had been…

“Well… I didn’t finish my dinner, so…” Kiyotaka put his menu down.

“So, what? I can still buy ya dessert!” Mondo snapped, “It’s a date! We can finish it off with something sweet!”

“But… I’m not hungry…”

“Well… why not get one of those… uhh… the things that’re like ice cream but they’re just fruit water…”

“A sorbet? It’s a bit cold for that, don’t you think?”

“No…?” Well, no wonder Mondo wouldn’t think so. He hadn’t taken off his coat all evening… “And if you’re cold, why don’t ya put on your shirt?”

“Err… It’s not that cold! Just… too cold for a cold dessert!” Kiyotaka seemed to be in a big panic about that shirt… “A quick trip to the bathroom should warm me up enough not to need my coat! Ahahaha!”

Yeesh! He was so worried about that shirt he stood up superfast to leave and ended up knocking it to the floor…

*clrk, shrk, clatter*

Huuuh!? That was a weird noise for a shirt… Ooohh! It had a gold logo and shiny stones at the bottom! Admittedly those cheap plastic shiny stones but it still looked pretty neato!

“Argh!” Kiyotaka didn’t seem to think so, given he dove to the floor to pick it up and fold it back over his chair so only the boring parts were showing, while looking at the window worriedly… “Ah… Did anyone see that?”

“I don’t think so…? Why’s it matter…?”

“Oh! Ibuki did!” Ibuki told him, “And I love how shiny it looks! Did you do all that!?”

“Err… no. It was actually Daiya out there who did it!”

“It wasn’t just his work though, right!?” Mondo added.

“What!? Err…” Kiyotaka turned pale… “Oh! Do you mean because those boys at my school ripped it in the first place, so that’s why Daiya repaired it the way he did...?”

“Uhh… yeeeeah…” Mondo agreed, but probably just because Kiyotaka looked desperate for him to.

“Ah! Good!” Kiyotaka forced a weird laugh “Anyway, I’ll be back in a moment, feel free to order desserts while I’m gone, as I won’t be having one!”

“…The hell is with him…?” Mondo muttered once Kiyotaka was out of earshot (or at least, normal people earshot!) “He’s usually all over sweet stuff… and it’s not cold at all!”

“Umm… I th-think it’s a little cold…” Mikan argued.

She did!? Oh no! Time for Ibuki to play the diva card and commandeer a coat for Mi…

“Oh, really? Here, this oughta warm you up!” Welp, never mind! Mondo was giving her his one…!

“Umm… th-thank you…?” Even though Mikan did seem a little weirded out and it was three sizes too big for her…

“You look cute in that!” Ibuki pointed out, both ‘cause it was true and she thought it’d calm Mikan down.

“Hehe… really?” Mikan smiled.

“Aww… Look at those two!”

“Now HE’S a gentleman! Betcha that other dork won’t think to offer HIS coat even though he’s not wearing it…”

As if Ibuki would want to date anyone who tried to make her change her look, even if it was because of crazily cold air conditioning! Now her fans were just making excuses to be annoyed at her not-boyfriend… But at least it didn’t seem to be bothering Mikan anymore! She was just happy getting cozy in the coat and deciding what to have for dessert!

“…Have you decided what you want?” Ibuki asked her, “I hope it’s something I can feed you easily!” She was thinking the coffee that came with figs and cream sounded yummy and would give Mikan something to feed her…

“I was thinking the l-lemony dessert sounded nice…” Mikan stammered, “I-if that’s a-alrigh with you…”

Well, Ibuki wasn’t going to say no to her! But, hmm… she must mean the limoncello thing… lets see, creamy lemon ice cream and a liqueur centre… sounded messy… which meant she might get the chance to lick it off of Mikan’s face. “Oooh! Ibuki approves of that!”

“Alright then! I’ll get that!” Mikan nodded, putting the menu down just as the waitress was coming back…

“Did you decided if you’re having desserts?”

“Yep! Ibuki will have Caffé Reale, please!”

“Umm…” Mikan bite her lip for a moment, “Th-the L-leg…leggera… tart…”

“Leggera Tartufo Limoncello?” The waitress decided to help her out.

“Yeah, two of them.” Mondo added, as Mikan nodded rapidly. Huh, she was expecting him to be the chocolate cake type…

“Okay, two of the Tartufo and one Caffe Reale. Those will be out soon!”

“…You’re getting better at ordering stuff!” Ibuki pointed out, once the waitress had gone again.

“Y-you think so?” Mikan blushed.

“Yep! And Ibuki thinks you deserve a reward!” Ibuki added, leaning forward.

“R-really…?” Mikan giggled starting to lean forwards, at least until she got halfway across… “Oh! B-but… your fans can see you…”

Uurgh! That was right, with Kiyotaka almost everyone in the restaurant kept shooting sideways glances at her, and everyone looking through from the outside was just outright staring… except for one new guy in a cool coat with ripped ribbons making up the bottom half, who was stood facing Mondo’s brother...

And sure, it was cool being the centre of attention and all, but not when it meant she didn’t get any kisses from Mikan… When was that guy getting back…?

In the end he didn’t get back until the desserts were being put on the table…

“That looks interesting…” Kiyotaka pointed out Mondo’s dessert.

“Wanna try some?” He quickly dug out a big spoonful and held it out to Kiyotaka hopefully.

“What is it?”

“It’s, uhh… lemon… tart…” Mondo went red.

“But it looks like ice cream…” Kiyotaka argued.

“It’s Leggera Tartufo Limoncello” Okay, now the waitress was just showing off that she could say that! “It’s Sicillian lemon gelato with a Limoncello centre.”

“…What’s Limoncello?”

“It’s an Italian lemon liqueur…”

“WHAT!? You ordered something with alcohol in it!?” Kiyotaka shrieked, before his voice dropped to a hiss… “We’re underage!”

“Dude… she’s had TWO cocktails… how little attention are you paying!?”

“And who the fuck cares if she’s buzzed at her concert? That’s when she plays best, right!?”

“What? How the hell was I supposed ta know that!? I didn’t know what Limoncello was either!” Mondo snapped, “But we can just eat around the centre part, right?”

“And there won’t be enough in there to have any sort of effect, either!” The waitress added.

“Well… I’d still rather not risk it…” Kiyotaka said reluctantly, after considering it for a moment.

“Alright… would you like anything else, or should I bring the bills over?”

“Bills, please!” Ibuki told her. She ought to get to that concert at some point, right…?

“Alright…” She walked off… which was Ibuki’s cue to put her and Mikan’s desserts in the centre of the table and grab Mikan’s spoon and start feeding her ice cream…

“Hhmmm…” Mikan hummed happily, “It’s like eating my favourite floor disinfectant…”

(“Yeah, no kidding…”)

“...Ibuki doesn’t think you’re supposed to eat disinfectant…”

(“You mean, because of the alcohol!? Are you sure you should be eating that!?”)

“Ahh… I know that! Don’t worry about me!” Mikan exclaimed, “I just meant that it smeels like it would taste nice and lemony, like this…”

(“No, I mean ‘cause our school has this cheap lemon cleaning stuff they use and lemons always remind me of it…”)

“Well, okie-dookie then! Here’s some more for you!” Ibuki put out another spoonful out for her to delicately swallow.

(“But…If you don’t like lemons, why did you order a lemon dessert?”)

“Hmmm…” Mikan licked her lips, “Wait… Aren’t you having your dessert?”

(“I… I wasn’t expecting it to taste this much like lemons!”)

“Weeeell… Ibuki’s busy feeding you…” Ibuki pushed her own plate forward as a little hint…

(“But still… I’m surprised you didn’t go for something like chocolate cake…”)

“Ah! You want me to feed you!? I’m sorry, I should have noticed quicker!” Mikan panicked as she picked up the first of Ibuki’s figs and shot it out towards her…

(“Yeah, probably shoulda… you suuuuure you don’t wanna try it…? Seriously, I can’t taste any alcohol at all…”)

“No worries!” ibuki winked and opened her mouth wide so Mikan could put it in there… and then Ibuki closed her mouth, ‘accidentally’ catching Mikan’s finger tips with her lips so she could gently kiss them…

(“Ngh… I’m sorry. I’d better not… I think I’m causing father enough trouble as it is without risking being seen ingesting alcohol… And I’m really not hungry…”)

“Heeheehee… Eating dessert with you is a lot of fun…” Mikan giggled, then leant forward so Ibuki could give her another spoonful of ice cream…

(“Really!? Urg… Fine, I’ll eat the stupid thing by myself then…”)

And that was how the rest of the dessert went, Ibuki held up two spoons of  ice cream up for Mikan to suck into her mouth, then Mikan gently placed a fig into Ibuki’s mouth, until all of both desserts were gone… well… almost all of them!

“Can Ibuki try your last bit of dessert?”

“Umm… but I already ate all of it…”

“No… Ibuki can see some left on you…” On Mikan’s lips that was…

“Huh…? Oh! I-I didn’t mean to make a mess, b-but o-okay then! Go ahead!” Mikan told her… which was Ibuki’s cue to lean forward and plant her lips on Mikan’s, making sure to lick all the yummy lemon dessert off of them…

“Oh! That’s where it was! I thought I might have spilt it on my uniform…” Mikan blushed happily, “Ah… but the waitress is coming back!”

Aww… fun-time was over then…

But why were the two boys both sulking and staring sideways at her and Mikan? Were they jealous that they’d been kissing? Why didn’t they just kiss each other then?

Oh well! It wasn’t any of Ibuki’s business! All she had to worry about was paying the bill, probably signing a ton of autographs and then taking Mikan off to her super duper concert!

“Here you go! I hope you’ve had a good evening!” The waitress greeted them, then gave Mondo his bill and Ibuki’s to Kiyotaka to pass over to her…

“Did he just pass the bill to Mioda!?”

“He’s expecting HER to pay!?”

“Fricken gold-digger… What does she see in him?”

Ooh… that was nice! They used Kiyotaka’s voucher on her meal because she’d been sat on the same table as him… Hmmm… assuming this was her bill! Sure, it had the right pizza, but why was Kiyotaka’s salad and water here…? And only ibuki’s dessert…

“Uhh… Miss? I don’t think this bill’s quite right…” Mondo looked confuse to, “’Cause there’s two deserts when we only had one, and…”

“Sir, your girlfriend’s desert plate is right there…”

“G…girlfriend!?” Mikan and Mondo both looked horrified…

“Nononono!” Kiyotaka chimed in loudly as he leant forward and grabbed Mondo’s hand… “WE’RE GAY!”

Ooooowww! Ibuki’s ears! That had just deafened her! Either that or the restaurant had gone completely silent…

“…Did he just say they’re gay?”

“So he’s NOT dating Mioda?”

“He’s just some random guy? Shit, d’ya think he heard us bitching about him?”

“Yeah, no wonder THEY both look miserable…”

“Wait, hang on… does that mean Mioda’s date was with… her nurse!?”

“…Well… Tsumiki’s pretty cute… I can see them being cute together…”

“And she did a good job looking after Mioda…”

“And she’s probably gonna stop Mioda getting injured so much, right!?”

“Yeah! That’d be a great match-up!”

…Aaannnndd there was her hearing back, just in time to hear everyone talking about Mikan.

“Umm… does that mean they’re talking about me now…?” Mikan was turning red at all the attention… dammit, and she’d been trying to keep it secret…

“Uhh… nooooo!” Ibuki lied, “What makes you think they’d do that…!?”

“Huh…? I thought… umm… nevermind…” Guurghh! Mikan saw right through that, didn’t she!?

“Wait… if she’s not related to you, why is she wearing your coat? And you shared a pizza with her…”

“’CAUSE IT’S DRAFTY AS SHIT HERE, SHE WAS HUNGRY AND I’M NOT AN ASSHOLE!” Mondo snapped, although he also reached back over for his coat all the same, and Mikan quickly took it off herself...

“Ooh! Hey I know why I know him now! That’s Mondo Oowada! He’s just tied his hair back!”

“Oh… well… erm…” The waitress looked like she was panicking as she realised the mistake she’d made… “Well… if you give me both the bills back, and tell me what you each had, I’ll run them through again and…”

“Okay… well, we had this pizza and the salmon salad… and the cokes right but it was water, not orange juice…”

“And an Iced Tea!” Kiyotaka piped in, “And also we were the ones with the voucher, not them…”

“Will you quit going on about the voucher…! You don’t need to worry about that… Anyway, where was I…?”

“Uurgh… this’ll take too much time, and Ibuki has a concert to get to!” Plus, the more time they stayed here, the more Mikan would be listening to her fans talking about her and the more upset she’d be getting… Time to play her diva card… “Ibuki will just pay both bills!”

“Wha…!? You ain’t gotta do that! I can pay!” Mondo tried to insist as Ibuki snatched his bill from his hand mixed it in with her bill and credit card and gave it back to the waitress…

“It’s fine! Consider it payment for acting as privacy screens for Ibuki’s date!” Ibuki pushed the lot into the waitress’ hands.

“Well, if you insist, that’s very kind of you!” Kiyotaka smiled.

“What… no! I ain’t just letting her pay just for us being here!” Mondo snapped at him while the waitress handed the machine back to Ibuki… “Gimme back the bill!”

“But I already put it through…” The waitress pointed at Ibuki as she put in her secret code number and haded the machine back… “Thank you! Do you want a recipt?”

“Nope! No time!” Ibuki jumped up and grabbed Mikan’s hand, “Come along, Mikan!”

“Umm… Okay…” Mikan got up and started to follow her out…

Only for Ibuki to get blocked by Mondo… and behind him all her fans were getting up to ask for autographs now she’d finished… and they’d be sure to talk about Mikan while they were there…

“Wait a sec! I was gonna pay in cash anyway, so lemme go halfies with you…!”

“Mondo! Why are you being so insistent about this!” Kiyotaka stood up close to scold him, “You’re being so extreme that it’s almost rude!”

“It’s not rude to offer to pay for my own date!”

“But it is rude to go this far to refuse someone’s generosity! She just said she’s in a hurry!”

Hmm… Maaaybe Ibuki could use these guys to stop her fans interfering with her date one last time…

“Well it’d only take two seconds if you’d quit trying to get me to be a total cheapskate!”

“Aww… it’s not that cheap to let someone pay for your dinner, you know…” Ibuki told him, “And it’s Ibuki’s way of saying sorry for this…!”

“…Have you been stood here watching Mondo’s date this whole time!?” Takemichi came back from trying to buy himself a new coat just as Kiyotaka finished hiding his currently work-in-progress coat and dashed off in the direction of the toilets.

“No… I’ve been stood here watching Mondo and Ibuki Mioda’s accidental double date this whole time!” Daiya admitted, “Mondo got her to sign her autograph for me!” Although chances were Mioda would stop and sign the autographs for everyone outside anyway.

“Ibuki Mio…? Oh. She’s the one who does that creepy banshee music you like, right?” God, some people had no good taste in music!

“Says the guy who likes One Direction…” Daiya murmured quietly, so the kid wouldn’t get ripped to shreds by the other Mioda fans here.

“The hell’s wrong with that!? It’s fun, catchy stuff!” Eesh, Simon Cowell had a lot to answer for… “And at least their concerts start on time, isn’t hers supposed to be in ten minutes!?”

“Eh, real rock stars know they can keep their fans waiting a little bit… It builds anticipation.” Daiya shrugged, “Anyway, you got a new coat for me to embroider?”

“…I’m gonna buy one online.” He muttered, “It’ll be cheaper and probably look better than the shit on sale here…”

“Heh… In other words, they don’t sell trench coats in their kids sections…” Daiya smirked.

“Oh screw you!” Takemichi proved him right by flying into a rage, “I bet you knew they’d all say that shit to me when I asked about it, and still told me to come here for one anyway, didn’t you!?”

“Yeah, I thought that was probably the case…” Although Daiya hadn’t figured they’d be dumb enough to say it to his face, “Consider it part of the punishment for ripping up your own damn coat on purpose!”

“Urg… really!?” The kid groaned over dramatically, “Was screaming your head off at me in front of twenty other guys in the gang not enough?”

“I didn’t ‘scream my head off…’” Daiya sighed, “And that was just to make sure no one else decided to ‘accidentally’ ruin their coats so I’d ‘give them the cool ripped looked Ishimaru’s has’.”

“…Well excuse me for thinking being ya damn bodyguard meant anything to ya!”

Damnit… “Michi, it does mean a lot to me! And Mondo!” Daiya sighed, “And like I said after the club, if you’d just come to me and asked I could have done something unique with your coat! But if the other guys in the gang all start getting the idea that I’ll fix stuff they break on purpose, then I’d have no end of stuff to fix!”

“Yeah… I get it… I realised as soon as I did it I probably should have asked ya first…” Takemichi admitted guiltily, “But I figured you coulda made it clear I was an exception or something instead of just scaring the living crap outta everyone.”

“Well… yeah, I guess I lost my temper at you… and I’m sorry about that.” Daiya apologised, “But it’s not like anyone in the gang was actually scared by me raising my voice a bit!”

“I dunno… do you count Ishimaru as being ‘in the gang’?” Michi smirked, “…’Cause you scared him shitless!”

“Hah! Yeah, right…” Hell, there no way Daiya had been scarier than pissing of Officer Ishimaru was…

“Really? Ya didn’t see the way he jumped up to hide the police emblem on his shirt when we turned up with Mondo?” Takemichi asked.

“That’s just cause he doesn’t want us to see what he’s done with the rhinestones Mondo got him until he’s finished.” Which might be a while, given it looked like he’d used almost all the stones in the kit and didn’t know where Mondo had got them from…

“He was happy to show that old lady…”

“Well, she’s a complete stranger, we’re people he’s gonna see later, when he can finish off the final product…” Michi still looked unconvinced, “Or, what? You think he somehow accidentally spilt the rhinestones on the sleeve in the shape of his old man’s unit or something?”

“Well… no. But he mighta put it on there and then be having second thoughts about it after someone had a hissy fit about us all treating our coats better!” Takemichi argued.

“No… Mondo only gave him the things last night, so he’d have already known about that.” Daiya pointed out, “Besides, I asked him to make sure he’s got something on him to make it clear he’s our non-fighting member, and it doesn’t get more obvious than a police logo.”

“Well… I guess you’re right then…” Michi agreed, “How’s that going, by the way?”

“Not bad… getting a few more gangs agreeing to it…” Daiya told him, “A couple of ‘em have even suggested a kind of talent swap thing where we offer help to each other.” Not that he could imagine any of the other gangs wanting rhinestone or embroidered uniforms in exchange for tech help or weapons…

“That’s good… one less person for me to watch out for…” Michi muttered, “…What the heck’s going on in there? It looks like everyone but Mondo’s table is frozen…”

Daiya barely managed to turn back in time to see that before it looked like they all started talking to each other conspiratorially, while Kiyotaka clasped his hands over his mouth in embarrassment and Mondo appeared to be trying to point out something on his bill to the waitress… Only for Mioda to just snatch it out of his hands and then hand it back to the waitress with her own and a gold credit card who processed it and handed it all back to her while Mondo looked miffed at having someone else pay for his date… then again, he’d been going on and on about making sure he did everything properly this time, especially after Kiyotaka had told him he was worried about his old man refusing to let him go out the date at all…

Hell, it looked like he was even trying to insist on paying her back with cash for part of it… at least until Ibuki suddenly tried to shove Mondo and Ishimaru towards two groups of fans who had started to get up (which only worked at all because she bounced off Mondo into Ishimaru, who fell over, causing one group of fans to stop and help him back up) then quickly dragged the nurse between the gap that had made, towards the door to the restaurant…

Where several of the guys who’d been watching from outside all crowded the door and blocked her path out in order to try and get her autograph as well.

“Ah… Ibuki is super-late for her own concert, guys!” She unsuccessfully tried to get through the crowd… “Urgg… okay! How’s this? Ibuki had time for autographs, but just autographs! No comments of chit-chat! So anyone who says anything doesn’t get one, alrighty?”

Wow, that was a new demand… but it worked and all the guys shut the heck up instantly…

“That’s the dumbest shit I ever heard…” Except Michi, who muttered quietly…

 “You! No autograph! Out of the line!” But not quietly enough, as Mioda wheeled around instantly and pointed at him. “Even if you do have an awesome coat!”

He just looked at her like she was nuts, but rolled his eyes and did what she said once Daiya silently made a shooing motion with his hand.

And then Mioda started making her way down the line, silently signing whatever was thrust in her direction, while… what was her name again… Tsumiki followed along dutifully. Although she looked pretty miserable all the while, which was kinda weird. It wasn’t like Mioda was taking long enough for her to get bored, and she was making sure Tsumiki was well behind her, and kept glancing in her direction worriedly as it became increasingly obvious that something was upsetting her. But it wasn’t like anyone was making any rude comments, or even looking at her for that matter. They were all too busy paying attention to Mioda…

Oh. Maybe Tsumiki had been thinking that dating a celebrity would put her in the limelight as well, and instead she was just being ignored. Heck, no one was even trying to thank her for helping Mioda recover so quick.

Hmm… well, he had that autograph Mondo had got signed for him. Maybe he could brighten her evening a little bit…

“Actually, I was wondering if I could get her autograph…?” Daiya asked, moving the autograph book he’d been holding out ready out of Mioda’s reach and towards Tsumiki just as Mioda had been about to grab it.

“W-WHHHAAATTTT!?” Oh crap, it looked like Mioda’s brain had exploded and started frothing out of her mouth… was that normal?

“Huuh!? M-me!?” Meanwhile her nurse was just stammering and blushed like someone who’d just been picked to be homecoming queen without expecting it, “Umm… but… you know I’m not actually famous… right?”

“Eh… cute girl like you dating a celebrity? I’m sure it’ll happen sooner or later…” Daiya shrugged, which cause Ibuki to snap out of her mouth frothing and glare at him, which probably meant he only had about 10 seconds to finish talking, “Maybe you could host a health show, seeing as you’re looking after Moida so well!”

“Y-you think…?” Tsumiki smiled nervously, which caught Mioda’s attention and bought him more talking time. “B-but… I just did what every other nurse would have done…”

“Aww, give yourself some credit… last time she had an accident like this, it took a lot longer for her to recover…”

“Hmm… but there have been a lot of improvements in burn healing technology recently! I was able to try out some artificially grown living skin tissue and a stem cell spray therapy to help her!” She smiled a lot more confidently than before.

“That… sounds pretty complicated…” Daiya admitted, “Though it explains why I’ve been hearing some other fans say you were using stuff most other nurses wouldn’t have…”

“You mean… you’ve been t-talking about me with other fans…?” Tsumiki looked shocked.

“Well… mostly about what a good nurse you are, but yeah…” Daiya said carefully. She might be pretty freaked out to discover that strangers were discussing her online…

“Oh… w-well… th-thank you! Very much!” She almost squeaked with happiness. “AH! B-but I’m making Ibuki late now! I’m so sorry! L-let me s-sign this r-real quick and then we’ll get going!” She took Daiya’s pen and book and signed her name with a bashful smile…

“Oooooohhhh! Ibuki gets it now!” Mioda suddenly came to a realisation.

“Umm… what do you get…?” Tsumiki asked.

“Oh… nothing you need to worry about!” Mioda backpedalled, “Buuuuut… Ibuki has a confession to make! She was totally lying back when you asked if people were talking about you!”

“Y…you were…”

“Yeah… See… they were all saying you were super cute and they wished you could be their nurse, but I didn’t wanna tell you ‘cause I got jealous!” Mioda told her, looking slightly ashamed.

“Oh… really? But you don’t have any reason to get jealous, you know…” Tsumiki smiled and held out her hand shyly.

“I guess not…” Mioda smiled and took it. “Not now Ibuki knows you want a TV show!”

“Huuuuh!? B-but I’m not g-good at t-talking…” Tsumiki stammered as Mioda started dragging her away.

“Well, you’re getting better! And Ibuki will help to! Oh! Maybe we can even make it a joint show! Ibuki will do dangerous stunts and you’ll make me better when I get hurt!”

“That… that doesn’t sound like a good idea…!”

“Sure it is!” Daiya could only hope her manager was more persuasive than Tsumiki was… “Oh! Here’s another great idea…!” Mioda carried on prattling away until she was out of earshot, slowly followed by most of the fans who’d been both in and outside of the restaurant.

But it wouldn’t be any fun if he just left and let his little brother have some privacy with his boyfriend that easily… And as luck would have it, here they were coming out of the door now, Mondo storming out in a strop and Kiyotaka trailing behind him holding his shirt with a guilty expression on his face… Yeesh, that didn’t look so good…

“Hey, guys… how’s the date going…?”

The only answer he got from Mondo was a scowl, whereas Ishimaru answered a little more cagily…

“Well… the crowded environment was a little off-putting… But we got our meal for free, so we can’t complain, can we!?” He finished cheerfully.

“Well, I could have paid that by myself if she’d given us time to sort the bills out instead of showing off how rich she is!” Mondo snapped at him.

“Ah… I know!” Ishimaru conceded, “But…”

“And I had enough money to have got you a pizza and dessert! And even a starter!”

“I know…!”

“And I wouldn’t have needed that voucher either!”

“I already said I know that!”

“Then why’d ya still use the fucking thing!?”

“Because why wouldn’t I!? It’s saving you money!”

“You’re not supposed ta try and save money on a date! What sorta cheapskate would ya Dad think I am if I let ya use a voucher when I’m trying to take you on a proper date!”

“But… my Father was the one who gave me the voucher to use!”

“Well, that just means it was a test ta see if I’m cheap enough to actually let ya use it!”

“I can assure you it was not! My father doesn’t engage in that kind of petty mind-game! He didn’t even know you were intending to pay my share of the bill until after he offered me it!”

“Well, he’s still gonna think I’m a cheapskate for using it!”

“No he isn’t! He’s more likely to think you’re not sensible with money if you didn’t!”

“Then what the hell was I supposed ta do!?”

Hoooo boy! No wonder they hadn’t looked especially happy during their date… Mondo had been intending to show off how much he’d earned making furniture over the last month, and Ishimaru had rained on his parade by trying to make up for not being able to pay his share of the bill with a voucher…

“What you do in that situation, little bro…” Daiya stepped in before Ishimaru sent the argument off into circles, “Is you let him use the voucher, then you spend the money he saved you on a present for him instead.”

“…Oooh!” Mondo grinned, probably thinking of some flashy shit he could get Ishimaru…

“But… that’s not necessary at all!” Ishimaru exclaimed, “You’ve already paid for my dinner, there’s no need to add more expense…”

“But it’s not! Because you used the voucher, so all he’s just spending the same amount of money he would have spent, but on more stuff.” Daiya pointed out, “So this way, you can have dinner and some more rhinestones to finish off the flames on that shirt…” That suggestion oughta…

“Ahh… How did you…!?” …oughta scare the shit outta him, apparently “l-look, I… I’m very sorry! I know it’s hardly been a month since you fixed it for me and I should have been more careful, and I thought I was being careful, but my father seemed interested in the rhinestones and I thought I could let him have a go on some old shirts but then he accidentally started practising on mine and then when we were… discussing what he’d done we accidentally spilt the glue onto the back and couldn’t find a way to get it off some we thought we could try to salvage it by filling the flames in with the stones so the glue stain wouldn’t be noticeable but then I ran out of the yellow stones and…”

“…So… that was all an accident?” Daiya realised, “…And you’ve been hiding it all evening because I’ve been here? And why you suddenly insisted on coming here by yourself?”

“Yes… I thought it would be best to ask Mondo what your reaction to the rhinestones would be before telling you what had happed, seeing as you’d only had to scold Yukimaru for not being careful enough with his coat.” Ishimaru admitted, “I wasn’t expecting you all to park outside Argos and come and meet me together…”

Well, shit. He really had scared the crap outta the kid. Guess he probably owed Michi a better apology after all… But it also seemed like Ishimaru had misunderstood the situation…

“I wasn’t yelling at him for not being careful… I yelled at him ‘cause he ripped up the bottom half of his coat on purpose, assuming I’d fix it the same way I did yours…”

“What!? You mean he just wantonly damaged his own clothing!?” Ishimaru looked even more pissed off with Michi than Daiya had been… “As if you don’t have enough sewing to do already!”

“I know, right?” Daiya sighed, “But, back to your shirt, it’ll look fine once you fill in the flames, and that police logo can be what we tell people to look out for in brawls with us.”

“Alright… but, err…” Kiyotaka turned slightly pink as he turned his shirt back the right way and put it on, “My father also did this…” He held up his left hand to show a neat, red, shiny heart stuck to the back of the wrist.

Huh. Daiya had not expected Officer Ishimaru to be the sort who drew little hearts on shit.

“Well… maybe that can be the hand I hold!” Mondo suggested nervously.

“Ah! Alright!” Ishimaru agreed happily, wrapping his arm and hand around Mondo’s, “What should we do now?”

“How about we walk around here and see what I can buy ya with my whole dinner’s worth of money?” Looked like Mondo had the whole dating thing worked out now. “Plus, I wouldn’t mind something actually sweet ta take the taste of that lemon thing outta my mouth…”

“Oh! Well, in that case, Krispy Kreme has a new mint chocolate flavour donut, which is nice!” Ishimaru piped up, “Or the pretzel place is doing a nice Nutella pretzel… Hotel Chocolat’s quite expensive, but they have a really nice praline on offer… or if you’d prefer something healthier, Marks and Spencer’s strawberries are very nice at the moment… Oh! But there’s also Thorntons…”

“…How’d you know all that?” Daiya asked. He thought the kid was broke, how could he afford shit from Hotel Chocolat?

“Ah… I thought the trams here were going to be busy, because of the concert, so I left a couple of hours early to make sure I’d be here on time for our date!” Ishimaru told them, without any trace of embarrassment whatsoever at having been that desperate to see Mondo on time. “So I thought I’d walk around and look in all the shops to build up an appetite for dinner…! Err… However…”

“…You ended up trying a ton of free samples and filling yourself up instead.” Mondo finished for him, “That’s why ya only wanted water and half a salad for dinner! Not ‘cause you didn’t think I could afford more!”

“Yes… and I kept saying I trusted that you could afford it!” Ishimaru exclaimed irritably, “Err…Even though I don’t actually know how well you’re paid, or where you you’re actually employed…”

“Uhh, I’m kinda…. Not employed? I just make furniture outta off-cut wood bits I find in the bins behind the DFS workshop and then Daiya flogs it on the cheap for me...” Mondo admitted, gruffly. “It’s just to earn a bit of spare cash while I’m at school though… I’ll get a proper job after that!”

“…You can make furniture out of manufacturing waste!?” Ishimaru looked awestruck, “That’s a wonderful idea! So you have all the tools for that at home!? Why didn’t you ever bring some to the club instead of struggling with the cross stitching…”

“Well… they ain’t exactly masterpieces…” Mondo blushed. “I just hammer a few bits of wood together ta make bookshelves and stools…”

“Well, it still sounds like a lot of hard work!” Ishimaru guessed correctly. Mondo was seriously underselling himself here, “…Can I see them?”

“Err… well, I’ve got a few sitting in the garage, if ya wanna ride back home with me after the shopping…” Mondo offered. On an evening when he knew Daiya was gonna be out half the night. Clever kid.

“Absolutely!” Ishimaru nodded happily, tugging at Mondo’s arm. “Well then, let’s not stand around loitering then! Have a good evening at your concert, Oowada!”

“Same to you…” Daiya was slightly surprised Ishimaru had remembered he was here, “But keep outta my room, alright? Even if it does have the bigger bed…”

“We ain’t gonna need a BED!” Daiya grinned at his brother’s over-reaction, “C’mon… before he makes anymore dumb jokes…”

And off the little dorks went, Mondo red in the face and going so fast he almost dragged Ishimaru off of his feet. Hell, it almost made Daiya want to run after him just to screw with him more.

But he had a concert to get to, and at this rate he was barely going to get there before it started, which was saying something! He’d better book it back to the car park already, and hope no one had screwed with his bike at all…

Well, it was right where he parked it, at least… along with Takemichi, who was stood a way off and seemed to be trying to look at his coat in the wing mirror…

Oh… yeah. Daiya owed him an apology, didn’t he?

“Hey, Michi!”

“Oh, hey Daiya!” He twizzled round and stood straight, like he’s just been waiting normally. “Got your autograph?”

“Yeah… and had a quick chat with the loverbirds as well…” Daiya answered, “But, uhh… I was thinking, maybe I did go off on you a bit too much yesterday... And I know a site online that does smaller coats, so how about I buy you one and…”

“Ehh… don’t worry about it.” Michi stopped him, “I’d rather keep this one…”

Well, that was kind of a pain, but… “Alright… If you give it to me now, I can have it fixed up for you by Monday…”

“No, I mean I’ll keep it like this!” Michi brushed his hands through the ripped parts, “I mean… it looks kinda cool, right?”

Well… Mioda had said that… but… “Since when do you care what Mioda thinks?”

“It ain’t just ‘caue of her! There was a big group of guys who came by earlier and asked me about it!” In other words, Mioda’s fans… “And I was thinking maybe I can ask Ishimaru about gluing on some of those shiny stones to make ‘em stand out more! Like some diamonds maybe? Eh?”

…And then half the gang would want rhinestone coats as well, and there’d be no chance of Ishimaru being able to help with the embroidery like he’d hoped… unless…

“Alright… but tell everyone it’s only for you ‘cause you’re our bodyguard, alright…?” Daiya scruffed up his hair even more than it usually was, “Else those stones’ll get expensive…”

“Got it!” Michi grinned even as he pushed Daiya off of him, “Anyway, have a good time at your concert… even if half of it’s supposed to be over by now…”

“Will do!” Daiya promised. And hopefully he’d manage to keep his promise about not getting into any fights as well. That way maybe Mondo’s boyfriend wouldn’t be worrying about Daiya’s plans next time Mondo asked him out…