Realistic or Modern Fixers: Japan Edition

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

“Can’t do Hawaii, Esme has a vacation villa there. But we could just buy a remote island and run away there, take the whole crew and live on fishing and coconuts. Sounds like the life to me.” Daisuke chuckled and glanced over at Zuki as she continued on with her real ideas. He had to admit that simply running away sounded nice, simple… Daisuke loved what he did and what his friends all worked so hard for but sometimes it would be nice to just let go for a while. “Yeah we won’t be using any plan that relies on Lee. Hard veto on that. But you might be onto something with the high profile angle. You might not get on tv, no offense… but I could. If it was something I was defending you for and you got killed during the trial… maybe that could work?”

“No.” Zuki had responded with another of her own ideas and he shut her down curtly. “If you want to tell Crow we can but for the last time I’m not making you do this alone okay? Stop trying to shake me.” He wasn’t taking no for an answer, if he had to he would be as fucking persistent as Esme. His rant was cut short by his phone ringing, it was a call from Crow so he put it through to his car so both he and Zuki could hear what he had to say.

-

“Here kids.” Daisuke dropped some bags of greasy fast food in the middle of the table they had all gathered around in the corner of the waiting room. He and Zuki had taken a while to get over to the hospital, he had to make a quick appearance at his office to shuffle things around and get Esme to go home and stop harassing his secretary. Thankfully for the most part she was understanding as soon as he told her the situation and left without much of a fuss. “Sorry we took so long, any news?”

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

Once Akari had left the car he could smell something burning. He yelled at Emi and Shadow to stay back, to get the fuck out of there. The fuckers didn’t listen though. All he could remember was the ungodly pain he felt as Shadow pulled him from the window, after that things went black. Akari was safe, that was really all that mattered. He woke periodically on the way to the hospital but he had no memory of it. Most of his night was spent in surgery to repair his broken nose and bits of skull. His whole body was battered; his sternum was broken, glass was embedded everywhere, and his leg fractured. He wouldn’t be able to move much the next few weeks. And that was if he woke up! The next few days had been touch and go. After all the trauma his head had gone through he had massive brain swelling.

After a week of being in a medically induced coma Asa woke up. It was unfortunate for the staff of the hospital. He tried to be nice, he really did. The staff treated him like he was an imbecile and he did NOT like it. He was more qualified than these doctors! Asa even ended up in restraints to stop him from getting up and leaving. He wanted to go take care of himself at home, they could continue to treat Akari but he wanted gone. The professor looked after his care, saw to it that Asa didn’t leave, and apologized every time he acted up. That made Asa even more angry, he was angry that he was disappointing him.

Then there was Akari. He had specified that this was a no strings attached deal and she had agreed. But she was constantly asking about him, constantly texting him. He ignored everyone’s text, had his Secretary put off his appointments for the next two months and told her to take a vacation. He only talked to the others and that’s because the professor insisted socializing would be good for him. Why were these people worried about him? Why did Akari? It drove him crazy! He was absolutely overloaded.

“Do you know a guy that can fix this fucking monstrosity on my nose? I can see it’s going to scar. I can’t exactly fix it myself.” Asa was standing in his private room looking in the floor length mirror. He was moving around the room in his designer black satin pajamas, trying to get the blood in his leg moving. He had on an air cast and most of his face was wrapped in a wrap to protect his stitches. The professor was sitting in his room reading a book. He had a few days before he’d be okay to leave, from the sound of it though Akari was leaving today. As badly as he wanted to see her though he had to tell himself this was nothing. She couldn’t get attached to him. That was his policy, and that was their agreement.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

“It looks crooked, do you think she’ll notice?” Crow looked at the banner from a distance and measured it out with his fingers. Today Akari was getting discharged so Emi insisted on a party, Crow was to help set up and Candy was to pick up Akari since, well, she could drive. Daisuke was at a dinner, Shadow and Zuki were out working, so Candy was really the only one who could drive.

The week was rough. Asa and Akari nearly died, Asa was in a fucking coma, and Akari was a mess. Crow had found out from video cameras on the highway that the man purposely hit them but he did his best to hide the information from anyone. It wasn’t pertinent, but he did find the name of the person registered to the car and the person in the car weren’t the same people. They could tackle all that later, but he did let Candy know. Crow had to tell someone or he’d end up accidentally telling someone. He looked down at his phone and quickly sent Candy a text. You make it there safe? He put sensors on all of the cars to notify him if there was an accident but hers hadn’t gone off. She must have made it safe, he just wanted to check.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

Emi was leaning against the wall as Crow finished up with the banner. “Hmm?” Stay safe then she attached a cute cat gif, made a small frown then she sent the message to Shadow. For some reason she was extra worried about him tonight and she couldn’t shake it. He said he’d be home for the party though right? “Akari won’t care we have a crooked banner, she’s just going to be mad we’re making such a big fuss about her. That’s why we’re doing it! She deserves a fuss made about her. Whether she’s mad or not. Besides, it looks great!”

Once again Emi forced a cheerful smile and waved at all the decorations. They had went all out! Balloons, streamers, a fancy cake and her favorite foods. Gus Gus even had a cute little party bowtie on. He looked SO cute. “Daisuke should get in later, he said he was trying to leave the dinner early. Zuki said she’d try to be back. Everyone should be here except Asa.” He’d come home in about a week if he was good, she’d throw another party for him too.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

This week was heavy emotionally. Doc sucked but he didn’t deserve to be in a coma, and Akari didn’t deserve to be in the accident either. At least they were getting better, they were even throwing a party for Akari since she got out today. She wanted to get home as soon as possible to welcome her home with the others. Daisuke though, went for dinner and Zuki went to murder someone. But, in her defense, he broke one of her girls wrists. The guy seriously had it coming. Zuki dressed as a server in a tea house, poisoned the bastards tea, and left her card next to the teapot. It went smoothly and allowed her to call it a night early.

By the time she had got back to the Fixers Zuki let out a heavy sigh. What a day. Just as she stood from the car she felt her phone vibrate. “How was dinner? How’d breaking things off go?” Zuki ran hand through her black bangs as she walked up the stairs. She gave a small wave to the others before plopping down onto the couch. Esme had said her dad was insisting on a dinner with Daisuke tonight and Zuki was hopeful about him being able to break things off. She hated to see him miserable…and Esme was getting annoying. Was she jealous? No, no. Maybe? Esme was getting jealous of Zuki and had become even more overbearing than usual.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

Akari had to stay at the hospital for a week, they would have let her go home sooner but the others assured the doctors that there was no way Akari would follow the bed rest rule unless forced so … that was that. They were probably right considering the entire week all she did was worry. She worried about her job, her friends back at the house, who hit them and about Asa… she texted him a lot and asked the nurses for any info but got near nothing in response. The others let Akari know that he woke up from his coma which was a giant relief but still, she had seen him in that car and it was always in the back of her mind. She knew she wasn’t supposed to care this much, but the fact of the matter was that she did. Asa and Akari got along in a way that she had never had with anyone else. Emi was her best friend in the world and Candy was an amazing friend as well but neither of them really understood Akaris half full attitude most of the time… or looked at life the same way. Asa did, he was realistic and kind in his own strange way. It was stupid but despite trying to shut it down Akari really liked the stupid man.

“Hey! Thanks for coming to get me. I know you want to see Asa too and Crow said Emi was super busy with something so I really appreciate the ride.” Akari gave Candy a small smile as she girl came into her room with wheelchair in hand. Today Akari was finally getting discharged, her stitches were all healing up nicely and her leg was out of the danger zone for infection so they decided she could spend the rest of recovery at home. She was still supposed to stay off it but at least now if she chose to ignore directions it wouldn’t be the WORST.

Akari got into the chair with Candys help, her leg was bound in a cast from foot to mid thigh so moving around would be hard for a while but thankfully she could get it removed in a month. It just meant some time off work and a lot of pj shorts and Netflix shows. Once they gathered her purse and bag of belongings the two of them made their way down the hall to the room Asa was staying in. For some reason Akari was nervous as Candy moved past her to open the door, part of her didn’t want to see what state he was in because she knew he was going to be pissed if anyone saw him at a condition less than perfect but… she wanted to see him. And that part won over the part that was scared.

Candy and Akari entered the room and found Asa and the professor sitting in the room and Asa was yelling about his nose. It was kind of jarring to see him with his face all bandaged up but honestly seeing him standing and moving around was enough to nearly wipe the horrifying image from the car from her mind. Candy was the first of the two girls to speak up, offering a cherry hello before heading over and saying she wanted to ask the professor something before they left. That left Akari and Asa kind of alone across the room.

“I-I’m glad to see you up and moving.” Akari tried to smile as she spoke but the anger was clear on his face even below the bandages, “I was really worried about you, I’m sorry abojt all the texts, I’m sure they were insanely annoying. I had a lot of downtime as you can imagine so… brain kind of ran wild.” She laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck, “I uh- I’m sorry I argued with you back then too. I know you were just trying to help me and I was being difficult and stupid. So.. yeah.”

-

Candy

The week had been touch and go for Asa but thankfully he seemed to be in the clear now and just needed to finish up a bit more of his recovery before he could go home. Akari on the other hand was finally able to get discharged today and it became Candys job to go get her. She didn’t mind at all, honestly she wanted to go visit Asa again too so even thought she was chosen by default of being the only one driving, she was still happy with the outcome. The entire time the two were in the hospital Candy had been keeping the two updated through information she got from phone calls from the professor or from short visits with Asa or Akari. Every night after closing the bar she would make a pit stop at the hospital to bring the pair new clothes and little treats Emi had made for them.

“Howdy girlie!” Candy cheered as she entered Akaris room and helped the woman get her things and get into the wheelchair. Crow and Candy had already done the work at the house to make sure Akari would be accommodated with her cast as much as possible but Candy had to admit it sure was an awkward thing to work around. “Let’s go visit grumpy.” She laughed it off but she meant it, every time she had come to visit the professor would give Candy updates of Asa terrorizing the staff or throwing giant man baby sized fits about his face. She only hoped he was in a slightly better mood today and didn’t take anything out on poor Akari.

The two girls entered Asas overly large hospital room and Candy chimed a hello before letting Akari know she would be back in a moment and heading across the room to where the professor was sitting and reading. “Good book today sir?” She smiled and took a seat across from him, “Akari wanted to see Asa before we left for the house and I want to give them a bit of space. Thought we could catch up a bit if you don’t mind!” In her pocket her phone buzzed and she hurried a quick excuse me before pulling it out and responding to Crow quickly.

“Yup! All safe. Pit stop to see Asa then we will be in route! ”

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka



The last thing that Daisuke wanted to do after the week they all had was have dinner with Esmes fucking family. But if it would get her to go home for a while he would do it, that was the agreement. So that’s what he did, while Crow and Emi set up for the surprise party for Akaris first day back home, Daisuke went to meet his NOT future in-laws for dinner. They lived about an hour outside of the city in a giant mansion of course, Daisuke never really knew what Esmes parents did besides be rich but they were family friends so he never really questioned it either.



Well he never questioned it until after today that is. See, dinner went well but it was after the dinner that things got strange. Daisuke had explained to the family that while Esme was a great girl, he had cut financial ties with his family and had no reason to be involved with this arrangement anymore. They seemed understanding at first but after dinner Esmes father kept insisting they played a round of some card game before Daisuke left. He finally broke down and obliged but quickly he realized that what was happening in that man’s office wasn’t a card game, it was a threat. A threat that left Daisuke with a whole shit ton of questions.



The minute he left the house he texted Zuki back. “Do you know anything about Ivan Devereau. Does the name ring any bells? Think about it and I’ll explain when home. On the way.” Then he got in his car and sped home.



Daisuke made the hour long drive in about 45 minutes, parking and rushing into the house to find Crow and Emi hanging a banner. “She’s going to hate that.” He said simply as he took off his shoes and coat, walking further into the house and seeing Zuki had made it back as well. “Oh good, you’re here. Care to help me real quick out back, weather should be nice today so I was thinking getting a fire going for the party.” The truth was that he wanted to talk to her about the text he sent away from other listening ears. So without waiting for an answer, Daisuke grabbed Zuki by the hand and pulled her outside with him and headed over to their fire pit before bending down to tinker with the controls while he spoke. “So did you get my text? That guy is Esmes dad and while I was there he made sure to put some emphasis on cards. Guy could just be real weird or… well you know.”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow



Kage took the time that the others were in the hospital to handle some contracts that came in. Of course he was worried and of course the group had another main goal in mind but, just because they were focused on the suits didn’t mean there wasn’t other jobs out there going unhandled. So between training Emi and the rare times he slept, he was out in the town doing what he did best. Today he got a tip about a contract killer who was targeting cops who were working on human trafficking cases in exchange for insane amounts of money so clearly that asshole shot to the top of his list.



What Kage didn’t expect was that when he went to the last known hideout of this jackass from the tip he received, that there would be nothing but an empty apartment with a card in the middle of the floor. It was a Jack of clubs with a phone number written on the back. Part of him thought he should wait and take this back to Crow for him to handle but… he had a sinking suspicion that he knew who held the Jack of clubs. So Kage pulled out his phone to call, seeing the text from Emi and shooting her back a quick yup. Then he called the number on the phone and of course got an answer from exactly who he thought he would. Kai.



Kai threatened him of course, told him to keep his and his friends noses out of shit they don’t understand. Told him that he was weak and would never be able to take him down. But then he said something that lit a fire in Kage that he didn’t expect, he told him to warn Candy that he wasn’t done with her but then to also let that “stupid little bitch” know that she will regret ever laying a hand on him. That’s when Kage hung up, that’s also when Kage threw his phone so hard against the wall that he shattered it and knew Crow would be pissed about him breaking another fucking thing.



No one deserved to deal with Kai and his bullshit but least if all Emi. All she did was protect herself! All the that cute little ball of sunshine ever did was care about others and spread herself thin to make others happy. Wait did he say cute? No. No he did not. Kage shook his head and made his way out of the apartment, kicking and breaking the door in the process out of frustration. Then he headed home.



Once back at the house he arrived to find the place all decked out for Akaris arrival and he couldn’t help but feel the anger bubble again. This was what he meant! How could someone have I’ll intentions towards this woman! “I’m home. And I need a new phone.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

To her surprise everyone actually showed up on time! Now they just needed the lady of honor. “How did your mission go- Oh! Wait!” Emi ran up to the white haired male with a cheerful smile on her face. “I have to go away for the next few days for work to train a new guy. So I would like it if you could relax a little while I’m gone, your plate is way more full than mine is. You’re the strongest person I know but you’ll get sick if you don’t rest.” Despite his grumpy disposition the bubbly girl had found herself quite attached to him. He had saved her life, she saved his, and they really had bonded over the past month. They liked cats, and sweets. Gus Gus loved him, she loved spending time with him and talking to him. He was the first person she liked as much if not more than Akari.

Plus, she was getting pretty good at self defense! If she ever ran into Lee again she’d be able to kick his ass all over again. “Here. We’re doing confetti poppers when Akari comes in.” Emi handed him the popper and smoothed out her bright yellow dress she had on. “And we’re all jumping out so we can say surprise! She’s going to hate it and it’s going to be great.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

Devereau? That was the name of the guy who gave her tips about who to track next. How the hell did Daisuke know him? Once he made it inside the house she didn’t get a chance to ask before he was dragging her into the back yard, going on about starting a fire? “Yeah that totally wasn’t suspicious at all.” Zuki couldn’t help but smirk slightly as he started to try to turn on the fire pit. His words made her face go pale though. “Devereau is Esme’s dad?” Zuki felt like she was going to vomit. That guy was an ace from what she heard. “Oh, fuck Daisuke. This is worse than i thought.” Her hands ran her hands through her hair in frustration as she began to pace the grass.

“That guy is powerful. He’s like, one of the head honchos. I-I am at a loss.” Zuki let out a long sigh and took a deep breath. “Listen I was thinking of some legality bullshit to get you out of this. Let me run this by you. Say you did go through with the wedding, you sign the papers and say you’ll file them. But if you’re already married and you don’t file the papers? Would they know? Would that even work? Esme’s the type of girl that would want to keep her last name right? They issued me an ID the first time I was arrested so I technically can get married.” Her face lit up at the thought. No, it wasn’t marriage for their love for each other. She had to tell herself that. “You’ve bailed me out a dozen times so let me help you. When this is all said and done we can get just get divorced and act like this never happened.”

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

“Oi did Emi sprinkle extra fucking sunshine in your breakfast this morning? The fake doctor isn’t in the mood, Candy cane.” As friendly as ever. The professor shot Asa a look and it quickly forced him to bite his tongue. He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his gaze to the two that entered the room. “Oh. Akari, I didn’t realize you were here too.” He ignored Candy as she moved to sit with the professor, his steely gray eyes staring at Akari. He heard that she had a cast but he didn’t imagine it would be so big, it would finally force her to take a breather for once. That also meant that she’d just sit and mull over what her dad had said in the voicemail though and that thought turned his stomach.

“Yeah. The texts. I got them.” His voice was cool and he tried to remain level headed, but the feelings bubbling up inside of him was fucking him up worse than he already was. “You agreed that there would be no strings attached. It was important that you made it out of the car first, you have way more life to live than I do. I’ve said it a million times, I’m not a great guy. I’m an asshole. I’m cold, calculating. I’ve killed people before. Yet in your downtime you still worry about me. You valued my life more than yours in the car and, for that, I’m enraged. It’s about time we cut this off and go back to being roommates. Take your time off to relax and rehabilitate yourself, do not take the time to worry about me.”

Inside he felt like his heart was breaking. He found himself quite attached to her and this was wrong on both parts. It’d be better they went their separate ways, at least emotionally. They’d be stuck with each other until the Fixers went their separate ways.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

“Do you have absolutely any knowledge of how long it takes to program our phones?! Emi needs to take a day off? What about poor Boss? What happened to your phone this time?” Crow gave a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I’ll have one for you in an hour.” The party was ready, Daisuke and Zuki were taking off to prepare a fire, so Crow went off into his office area. He pulled out one of the latest phones he had bought and began to program it for Shadow. He transferred all the information he had on his old phone onto the new one, but he noticed the last call he had made. An unknown number. He made note of it and saved the number so Crow could contact it later.

It didn’t take long to finish up the new phone, so without letting him know Crow saved the number he moved out into the living room to Emi and Shadow. “It’s still weird to see you two together. It’s oddly adorable.” Crow handed him the new phone with a heavy sigh. “Let’s keep this one in tact, yeah? And you can do the confetti as long as you clean it up, that shit gets everywhere. We’ll be finding it in the couch for the next year.” He glanced down at his own phone to see if he had a message from Candy at all. The two had basically become a couple, they were inseparable and they got along great. According to Emi they flirted and even looked like a couple. Crow really wanted to ask her out but he wanted to do it in a big way! Not in the house, and not in the bar. Honestly those were the only places he went, he was at a loss.

When Asa was discharged they’d all go on a vacation, Emi helped Crow planned everything so it would turn out fun and not a train wreck. Akari and Asa were forced to take time off since their accident, so Crow had everyone else take some time off. He just didn’t tell them where they were going.

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

Akari say there in silence, simply starting at him as her spoke to her like she was nothing. A few days ago this man was sleeping soundly next to her in a hotel room, sneaking out of her room early in the morning to avoid the others, BEATING UP HER FATHER. Now this? He wasn’t wrong when he said the agreement was no strings attached but hell even if there wasn’t an attraction there, did he expect her to just be cold ? “I-“ Akari went to speak but the words got caught in her throat and she almost erupted into tears. So in order to keep that from boiling over she switched to the only defensive mechanism she knew, shutting down. “You’re right. I just- Candy can we go? Please?” She was trying so hard to not show any weakness but god she was about to crack and they needed to leave. Akari began to back out of the room herself, bumping into a few things and struggling with the door as she did only made it all more embarrassing. Thankfully though she was in the hall before she broke down.

Candy came out of the room shortly after and thankfully didn’t say anything and just swiftly got Akari out to the car. On the short drive Akari finally told her about why she was crying, let her in on her little secret. Honestly all Akari wanted right now was to talk to Emi when she got home… and oh boy was Emi home. When the two girls walked in everyone jumped out and surprised her with a welcome home party and it was all so sweet that Akari broke down… again. Candy had shuffled everyone outside for a while so Akari and Emi could talk for a while. Akari let Emi know everything about the sneaking around with Asa, well everything except going to see her dad… told her about what happened at the hospital… how she felt. The two girls talked for about a half an hour while the others were exiled outside but finally Akari calmed down and was in good enough spirits to actually enjoy her little welcome home party.

After the party Emi left on a work thing for a few days and Asa stayed at the hospital. The others kind of went back to normal and Akari… Akari ate a lot of ice cream and watched a lot of Netflix. Eventually after a few days of listening to her moan and groan Crow got her set up with a desk she could work from home from. Then came the day Asa was set to get discharged from the hospital. She hadn’t spoken to him since then and only really heard any updates in passing from the others, they didn’t all know what had happened but Candy and Emi made it clear that the two weren’t in good terms so everyone really avoided the subject with her.

Two days ago Akari was able to have her big cast removed and now it was just wrapped in bandages to keep the wounds protected during the last bit of healing. It was still an eyesore and annoying but at least Akari could move around better now. “Morning.” She yawned as she took her seat at the table, picking a donut from the assortment Crow had arranged for breakfast that morning since Emi had been busy. “I think I’m going to try and head into the office today, I’ll call a cab or something if the security system won’t light then on fire or something.” In all honesty she just didn’t want to be here when Asa got home…

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy

Candy and the professor were barely into small talk when she heard Asa speak up to Akari across the room. “A-Asa!” Candy stood from where she sat and scolded him before his actual parental figure could even speak. She didn’t really follow what he was talking about but she could tell it was mean as hell and could tell it was bothering Akari. Hell it bothered the girl so much that she left without even waiting for Candy to catch up! “You don’t get to be this guy Asa. I don’t know what the hell happened between you two but I do know you. I know you can be a raging asshole at times but you’ve grown so fucking much! Don’t throw shit away to go back to being so dark. Just- fuck.” Candy sighed and turned back to the professor, “It was nice to see you sir, sorry we couldn’t catch up more! Next time.” She gave the man a smile before turning to Asa with a glare and leaving the room.

In the car Akari let loose and opened up about everything. At first Candy was kind of shocked, how did those two hide it so well? But then when she thought about it… they really didn’t. They were always together for no real reason. “I- I’m sorry that all happened back there. I’ve known Asa for a long time and he has a really hard time letting people in, I know it’s not okay but, try not to take it to heart. As much as you can at least.”

The girls got home and when Akari started to cry again Candy gathered everyone outside while Emi and Akari talked. It wasn’t long and soon the party was back on. They had a good time! Ate a bunch of yummy food and stayed up late to welcome Akari home.

The next few weeks went by fast, Crow and Emi were clearly cooking something up, neither was subtle, Emi was out a lot as well for work things. Candy spent her days at the house tinkering on whatever she could and nights at the bar. She tried to talk to Asa a few times and hang out with Akari around the house but neither was exactly great to hang out with currently, they both just wanted space. Candy couldn’t blame them, feelings were complicated and weird. Honestly the more she thought about the two of them the worse she felt about her own feelings for Crow! Maybe the guy was just a flirt and a nice guy, maybe she wasn’t anything special. Candy had come to the house and the two of them spent nearly every waking moment together, Candy had even tried to make a move once! But nothing. Maybe she was the only one with feelings… it would make sense. What was she really? Some poor bar owner with no real family or assets. Woo.

“What work?! You aren’t ready yet. The chief told you that you were on desk duty for two months after that, you can do desk duty from home!” Candy was sure the reason she wanted to leave was because of Asa but it was better for the two of them if they just ripped the bandaid off and got over it. “Crow tell her she can’t!”

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

“What?” Daisuke nearly choked on his own words when Zuki explained who who Esmes dad was. From the look on Zukis face Daisuke could tell he was in deeper shit than he thought, it wasn’t just that Esme was annoying… it was that her family was very dangerous. Zuki paced the grass and suddenly stopped before speaking up, explaining her plan. “What no, I couldn’t make you do something like that. What if it backfires somehow and they find out you helped me, wouldn’t they put you in deeper shit?” It wasn’t a terrible plan, and it would work from keeping Daisuke legally obligated to anything that had to do with that family while also hopefully keeping him from getting killed. “I-I don’t want to do anything that might hurt you.” Daisuke spoke matter of factly as he looked over at her, he didn’t want her to get hurt and he didn’t want to make her marry him for anything other than actually wanting to marry him. He didn’t want to take that choice from her if she met someone down the line… not that they couldn’t get a divorce or anything but… god why was he spiraling down this hole? Like Zuki said it would just be for logistics but for some reason that thought hurt too.

Before Daisuke could get a fair reading on his emotions he caught sight of the others heading towards the door to the backyard. “I’ll keep it in mind okay? It’ll be a top option.” The others poured out into the back yard and Candy let them all in on what was going on inside a bit so while they waited they all sat outside around the mid day bonfire Daisuke stared as an excuse.

The next few weeks went by with Daisuke having to deal with Esme more than he wanted. She had even started staying at the house some nights, in her own room of course, and the days he couldn’t take it anymore Daisuke would send Esme to work with Candy which for some reason the spoiled rotten woman actually seemed to be enjoying. When he was able to shake his fiancé he would spend his time with Zuki, the two of them worked on ideas to get him out of his marriage to the suits while at the same time also trying to come up with ideas to simply get Zuki out of them.

“Honestly we should have just let me get killed a few months back.” Daisuke groaned and threw himself back in his bed. He and Zuki had been up all night in his room watching stupid movies between brainstorming ideas. She let him in on a lot more about the gang, at least the side of it she had seen. Honestly from where she was coming from they didn’t seem like the worst but Daisuke could only assume that was how they got people like Zuki and Lee to join them. People who needed a home. It was the higher ups that were the real danger. It was just insane to him how large this whole thing spanned. “The sums up again. Fuck. Did you have shit you had to get done today… I’m sorry I kept you here all night.”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

“Train a new guy?” Wasnt Emi a freelance reporter? Who in the hell would she be training? For now Kage just blew it off as a weird Emi thing because of the party and how happy she seemed about it but it just didn’t make much sense. Even if he did want to dwell on it he couldn’t because quickly the small woman was pulling him in every which direction and shoving a confetti cannon in his hand.

“I like that Crow thinks we were asking his permission to use the cannons.” Kage let out a curt chuckle as Crow spoke before he took the new phone. “The last one got wrecked on that tip I left to check out earlier. It was a dud and pissed me off so I threw it. Shit happens.” He shrugged at Crow and placed the phone in his pocket before finding his hiding place that was Emi approved.

However when they all jumped out and yelled surprise, Akari started crying with confetti all over her and Kage couldn’t help but speaking up. “That’s not what you intended right Em?” Quickly Candy shoved everyone out of the house and let them know there had been a bit of an issue at the hospital between Asa and Akari but left it at that.

The next while after the party Kage kept up with the tips he received, either from contacts he had or from shit Crow was able to dig up. But all the while he kept tabs on Emi when she left the house. She had been acting weird about this “training” and it was only getting worse. She was avoiding him and as much as he hated to admit it … he missed hanging out with her. So clearly the next step was the tail her on her outings.

Every day she went out to train this new guy she headed to the same apartment, one that wasn’t sketchy looking or abandoned… and went in and came back out unscathed. Nothing seemed super weird but Kage couldn’t shake the feeling he had that something bad was going on. He had decided that today was the day he was going to flat out ask her what she was doing, now all he had to do was figure out how to do it without being scary.

 

[Sir Damien]

Doc

Never before had Asa regretted anything in his life. Everything he had done when he was younger was for survival and made him who he was today, he never regretted anything he had done. Candy had said he had come so far but had he really? He pushed away the one person that he truly cared for because he was scared. Asa didn’t know how to care about someone, let alone love someone. But…Akari’s reaction made him want to vomit he felt so bad. He wished he could have taken it back. The professor had called him he was an idiot, and Asa completely agreed.

The next few weeks Asa didn’t say much, even to Candy when she was there save for small talk. He didn’t reply to Emi’s text. He laid in bed and stared at the ceiling most days. Breathing finally stopped hurting and he was able to move his arms again, he was able to do more things day by day. He had time to reflect on every fucking word he had spoke to Akari that day and he truly hated himself. He had of something to say to her, some way to apologize. Even if she never wanted to speak to him again she deserved that much.

“I look ridiculous, how could she take me fucking serious looking at my face?” Asa scowled in the car mirror as he stared at the large horizontal scar that went across the bridge of his nose. It would be some time before he could do plastic surgery on it so he had to just wait for it to heal. “Just suck it up, go in there and apologize. If you don’t I won’t fix your face. I’m old, I might mess it up worse.” Yeah, yeah. Asa waved the man off as he stood from the car and wheeled his luggage up the steps. Each step made him feel worse. He had worded his whole apology and rehearsed it daily, but now he was mixing things up. Fuck. Maybe she’d be in her room resting?

She wasn’t. She was in the kitchen with Crow and Candy and he felt his face go white. “Hey guys.” He quietly cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Crow I think I seen someone in the backyard. Candy do you mind going with Crow and going to check it out?” He gave Candy a small nervous smile. He wanted to talk to Akari, alone, and he hoped they understood.

 

[Colt Voltage]

Crow

“No way in hell Akari! Did you see how mad Emi was when we talked about Asa? No, nope. Uh-uh. I’m not getting on her shit list. Sorry, I made your office set-up. If you need anything else, BESIDES leaving, let me know.” Crow popped another donut hole in his mouth before he gave a small sigh. Candy never really got into specifics on what happened but obviously it wasn’t pretty. What could Asa have done to hurt her like that? He was an asshole but…did they break up? Were they even together? Crow only knew romance from the thousands of films he had seen, and most of it was cheesy and didn’t think Asa was the romance type. But neither was Akari…maybe that’s why they were a perfect pair?

The cheesy romance movies would also explain why Crow didn’t respond to Candy’s move. He didn’t know she made a move! He was too busy figuring out how to make his! Dating was complicated. “Oh, hey. Welcome home Asa.” Crow gave a small wave over to the doctor. “The scar makes you look badass! A doctor like you, the bad guys don’t stand a chance!” Crow gave a nervous laugh. He didn’t do well with tension. “Backyard? No, no. Deedee would have let me know.” Suddenly his nerves were eating him up. He didn’t get the hint, he was just scared that someone was actually out there! “Yeah, check it out. Right.” Crow jumped up and ran outside, furrowing his brow as he looked across the large yard. “I don’t see anyone out here…”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

At first Emi felt heartbroken that she had scared Akari so bad she made her cry. Then she found out why and for the first time in years Emi was angry. She was red hot. It wasn’t the time for anger though; she talked with Akari, comforted her, did her best to cheer up her friend. It explained why her friend had been so secretive lately. She was glad to see Akari had a good time later on at the party, but it broke Emi that she had to work the next few days. All she wanted to do was comfort her friend! She stayed up late sitting with Akari like when she had first come to live with Emi. It was the least she could do. Well, that and sending Asa the rudest text ever. She cursed him out, told him what a sweet girl Akari is and that he needed to figure it the fuck out and make things right.

The next week Emi had went to a new resort that opened to interview the customers. It was weird to have to train someone, no one really knew who she was since she wrote under a fake name, but she had been requested to train someone. Only, that was all a rouse. It was Shadows brother! Emi initially tried to run but he had locked her inside until she listened. He said all he wanted to do was makeup with Kage, and that she was the only person that could help him. Emi was entirely confused on who Kage was but Lee said that Shadow was an alias. She was shocked! But Kage had to want to make up with him too right? Why else would he look so sad lately?

After they got back from the resort Emi avoided Kage. Most days she spent at Lee’s and the nights she spent in her room. Lying was not her strong suit. For work? No problem! But to people she cared about she was garbage at lying. She spent most of her time at Lee’s apartment and tried to think of ways to get the two together. The guy scared her, but if it would help reunite the brothers then she’d have to suck it up. “I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Lee gives me the creeps. I just gotta get the guys together and then I can stop seeing him.” Emi was busy giving herself the now daily encouragement as she approached the building Lee lived in. She was completely ignorant, shocker, to the fact that Kage had been following her.

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Luna

Daisuke didn’t seem to be a fan of the whole marrying her idea because she could have gotten hurt. Did he not know what she did for a living? She literally faced death daily, and she was the one that suggested it! Zuki did not want to see him get married. Daisuke hated the prospect of marrying Esme, and seeing Daisuke get married made Zuki’s heart hurt. She wanted to protect him just as much as he protected her. If the roles were reversed he’d do the same for her! After that though Esme got worse. Zuki still tagged along to work with him for the whole buddy system but she started to distance herself more. Esme was even spending nights at the fixers, and on those nights Zuki found herself staying in her room or crashing at her old apartment.

Whenever Zuki seen Akari she tried to cheer her up, she was all about empowering women and not needing a man. Especially an asshole like Asa. Did the rest of the house seriously not know about the two of them? They had been so obvious about it! Still, Zuki tried to be as supportive as she could and avoid Esme and Daisuke. They spent less and less time together and for once she felt lonely. Lee’s texts still were a daily nuisance and she had no one most days to confide in. Thankfully they did spend a little bit of time together when Esme went to go work at the bar…that was a little weird to think about.

“Now now. If we let you die I’d be incredibly lonely. What other lawyer hangs out and watches movies with his most troublesome client?” With a small yawn Zuki’s dark eyes looked over at Daisuke, a small smirk appearing on her face. He then mentioned the sun and she gave a small shrug. “I missed you, and I feel bad that Esme is driving you up a wall. So did you come up with another escape from the marriage or are you going to admit my plan is best? For once I’d like if I could be the one to help you. Esme’s family would never expect you to marry me.” Zuki gave a small smile over at him. “Anyways. Let’s get up, don’t you have work today?”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Sherlock

“I mean that’s true but why can’t I just go sit at a different desk! A change of scenery might do me good!” Akari whined but it seemed like Candy and Crow wouldn’t be backing down anytime soon and currently with it just being the three of them around, they were her caretakers. Although it wasn’t just the three of them for long, soon enough Akari could hear the door open and the sound of Ada’s voice made her body tense.

There was a lot of hurt there, Akari had stewed for weeks on it and she finally realized why it hurt so bad. Someone who she really cared for, someone who had protected her from a person who made her feel small… then did the exact thing they had protected her from. Akari was angry that he didn’t see himself as more than he did. She was upset that he spoke to her the way he did. She was sad that she let herself get so torn up by some stupid boy who clearly didn’t give a shit about her! It was all so aggravating!

When Asa greeted then Akari instantly moved to stand from the table and head upstairs but when he said something to Crow and Candy about heading outside she turned to him with a raised brow. “Subtle.” It was the first word she had spoken to him in weeks and it came out laced in sarcasm. She turned and looked at him with her hands crossed over her chest, trying her best to put up a strong front when in reality her legs felt like jello. Seeing him without his bandages on was amazing, she could see the scar that Crow had said looked cool and honestly she didn’t disagree. She knew it must be driving Asa insane, his obsession with perfection now had a literal blemish, but honestly she thought it was charming in a way. It showed signs of surviving and strength, it showed that he wasn’t made of marble and that he could actually break.

“Listen is there something you want to say Asa?” Akari sighed and dropped her arms, adjusting her weight off of her injured leg as she stood there. “Im glad to see you home, and I’m glad to see you’re doing better. But I really don’t want to get yelled at again so if that’s what you want to get off your chest I’d rather just walk away if that’s okay with you.”

 

[ZombieBaee]

Candy
“Ooo fair point Crow, I do not want to take on the wrath of Emi. Who knew that girl could get so mad?” Candy chuckled and sent Akari an apologetic look before grabbing a donut herself to munch on. That was when Asa opened the door and came in. Much to her surprise he was actually being pleasant, tame even. The last few times she had gone to see him he barely spoke, honestly she had thought he was brooding about getting scolded but now she thought maybe he actually felt bad about what he had said to Akari.

“Backyard? Really?” As soon as the question left Candys mouth the realization hit her. Crow was already out the door of course but Candy gave Asa a quick knowing look before heading outside after Crow.

“There’s no one out here, Asa didn’t see anyone.” Honestly sometimes Crow was too numb to social cues, it made her actually facepalm before taking a seat on the edge of the pool. “He just wanted to talk to Akari alone, so you can take a seat and chill out.”

Outside it was still warm but they were definitely in their last few weeks of summer before fall weather started to move in. It was odd to think that she had been living here for so long that the seasons were already changing. “Oh speaking of chill? What are you and Emi cooking up that has the two of you acting completely NOT.” She laughed as she looked over at the man and leaned back on her hands. “I mean the two of you can’t possibly think you’re being sneaky right?”

 

[EclipseRosee]

Kage;Shadow

“Oi!” Kage shouted from his car, finally working up the nerve to say something when he saw Emi head towards the building she had frequented recently. Honestly he had all sorts of ideas about what she was doing, maybe she was actually training someone, maybe she was getting scammed by some MLM scheme, maybe she got a boyfriend. The last one made Kage nearly barf at the thought but for now he pushed it down and focused on the task at hand; figuring out the truth. “Funny seeing you here.”
Kage had gotten out of his car, he had been parked on the backside of some trash cans and not particularly well hidden but… well… it was Emi. He didn’t need to hide well. “I was just on my way to meet a contact, is this where the guy your training lives or something?” He eyed her as he walked up to her side, he didn’t necessarily want to lie to her but if she could then so could he. Something with this whole situation was fishy and he just wanted to make sure she wasn’t getting herself into trouble. Again.

It was annoying how much he had grown to care about all the idiots involved with the fixers but Emi was the most aggravating of all. Mostly because Kage didn’t understand why he cared so much about her safety. He had never LIKED anyone before let alone had any other feelings brewing. Plus it’s not like they could ever really be anything, eventually Emi would go back to her life and Kage would go back to killing people for a living. It wasn’t the sort of thing a girl like Emi should be around, honestly he was kind of shocked that the girls were even still at the house at all. Thought he did admit he wouldn’t like it when they did leave.

“How about we go in together then yeah?” Kage approached the building and held the door open, “You coming?”

 

[KAYDEN]

Daisuke Tanaka

“Your idea is the best but that’s not the way I want to marry you.” The words slurred out of Daisukes sleep deprived brain as he rolled over to lay on his side on the bed to look over at Zuki. “And I missed you too.” When Daisuke first ever met Zuki he had an instant crush on her and the people at his firm all thought he was insane for developing a crush on a client, a criminal client at that. Of course initially it was just physical, he thought she was gorgeous, and still does. But after getting to know her it had become more, he really cared about her and found himself teetering into dangerous territory. That was when he told himself he had to stop, and to look at Zuki as a friend. Only a friend. But apparently recent topics had started to stir some thoughts that Daisuke had hoped to keep under wraps…

“I’m not going in today. I have appointments but I’ll have Hina reschedule them and say I’m sick or something. That’s the perks of being the boss sweetheart.” He chuckled and continued, “Plus Esme said she was going to come see me for lunch at the office. I can’t do it anymore, it’s draining me. Plus recently all she wants to do is show face and then have me take her to the bar to hang out with Candy, it’s like she’s not even into this anymore either! Which would be fucking great if her parents even have a shit.” He sighed in frustration and let out another yawn.

“Hey, I uh-“ Daisuke sat up slightly, “If you don’t have to be anywhere today you could stay? Just hang out here. You’ve been spending a lot of time back at your place recently and I know I miss having you around the house. Asa should be back soon too and I’m sure that might be a whole shit show to watch… if you want to nap or anything you could even just stay here? I got some sweats and stuff in the drawer over there.”

 

[Pax Pardus Hale]

Sunny

A familiar voice shouted at her and caused her to turn to look in its direction, her jaw dropping when she seen Kage emerge from the car. Contact? Wait, was he following her? No, no. He had better things to do. Besides he said that he was there to see his contact! “I-uh, yeah, he lives here.” Her wide eyes blinked a few times as she tried to think of what to say. “Wait like together? Uh, sure!” Emi’s yellow sneakers ran after him and through the door as she scrambled to get her thoughts in order. It wasn’t so much that she was lying to him…he just never asked the right questions. And she completely avoided him so he couldn’t ask the right questions. Emi was absolutely horrible at lying.

“Ka-“ See? Already fucking up. “Shadow. If I tell you what I’m up to do you promise not to get mad at me? You’ve looked so sad since the break-in, and no matter what I do Lee said I can’t make it better. He said he could fix things though, he wants to make up with you and he said it’ll make everything better.” Emi skipped up the stairs to the second floor and walked to the now familiar door. This would help his family, Emi’s family wasn’t fixable but this was. She hoped. “He found where I worked and convinced my boss to train with me so we could come up with a plan to get the two of you to meet. He said to make sure you didn't follow me here, but since you’re here we might as well meet with him.” With that said she knocked on the door with a cheerful smile.