Tanaka Tom stared dismally at his watch; she was supposed to have met him an hour and a half ago. Pushing up his glasses he sipped his coffee, where was she?

"Yo Tom!" A tall blonde man raised his hand in greeting as he approached

Tom nodded, taking in the sight of his tall bodyguard, Heiwajima Shizuo, dressed in his custom bartender's suit he seemed out of place in the evening light, as most bartenders were working at this hour. Taking a drag from his cigarette he stepped to the side to reveal her. That idiot girl he had been waiting for.

"Tom-nii!" She squealed wrapping her arms around the older man "I was so scared without you! I thought I could find you after I got off the train but I got lost! And oh, it was so scary! But then I met Heiwajima-sama and he saved me! Can you imagine that? Oh look at you! You're so old now!"

Shizuo held a fist to his mouth to stop his laughter, he hadn't the slightest idea that the girl how had bumped into him had been his boss' little sister. Nor had he had the slightest inkling she'd be such a chatterbox. She had introduced herself as Niekawa Chinatsu, and she was looking for Tom to pay off a debt for her father. Nothing suspicious about that at all, plenty of girls whored themselves out to Tom and other men as payment, hell, he had even gotten some action once or twice.

"Shizuo, I'd like you to meet my adorable little sister, Tanaka Atsuko" Tom patted ruffled the young woman's hair

She swatted his hand away irritated, she ran her fingers though her thick coal tresses, attempting to fix her mussed hair. If Shizuo squinted he could see the similarity between Tom and Atsuko, their noses were the only thing really similar between the siblings, and Atsuko's was definitely more feminine and small.

"It's a better name than Niekawa Chinatsu" Shizuo nodded "I'll give you that"

Tom stared down at his sister "You gave him a fake name?"

Smiling up at him she nodded "Tom-nii, you always said if I didn't know who I was talking to, it was best to use a pseudonym for my safety"

"Well here in Ikebukuro you don't have to use a alias, you proudly state that you're my sister and no one will touch you" He grinned pushing up his glasses

Atsuko's large charcoal eyes swiveled over to Shizuo, she bowed deeply to him "Thank you again Heiwajima-sama, I would've been lost without you, and then this would've been really-really terrible, no good, very bad birthday I've always had nightmares about."

Tom shook his head as his sister's exaggeration while Shizuo glanced over to his employer as if to ask 'are you kidding me?' The elder man simply shrugged, sipping his coffee.

"You're welcome" Shizuo nodded lighting a cigarette

Atsuko grinned, at him before turning back to her brother "Now, this better be a good present, I got lost and had to ask like three people for help, all of which could've kidnapped, raped, and killed me. And not even in that order either! And then Heiwajima-sama comes along-"

"Stop calling me Heiwajima-sama" Shizuo cut the young lady off

Her eyes grew wide in confusion "I'm sorry Heiwajima-sama! I just respected you so much for taking me to find Tom-nii, and you're the only person I've met in this city that's nice to me! I didn't mean to offend you-"

"It's just annoying, Shizuo is fine" He snorted before exhaling a cloud of smoke

"Shizuo-san" She grinned "Okay, I can do that"

Tom let his head drop into his palm, how did he ever get such a spastic sister? She still acted like she was seven. Well, maybe not seven, maybe it was more like she was still five.

"I'm sorry, Tom-nii, I've gone and embarrassed you haven't I? I talk too much" The young woman frowned "I'm just really pumped up from all the caffeine pills, and it's so amazing to be here in Ikebukuro with you, I mean, wow."

"Who in the hell would give you caffeine pills?" Tom asked appalled as Shizuo turned away trying not to laugh at his boss' sister once more

Atsuko simply shrugged and smiled "I've got a gig for after school tutoring at Raira Academy, it's not the best job, but since I want to teach, I thought it'd be pretty cool"

Tom rolled his eyes, that was typical of his sister, always changing the subject. Grabbing her duffel back he slung it over his shoulder "C'mon, we'll get you settled in"

The young woman simply nodded and was led away by her brother after a brief farewell to her guide, the blonde bartender.

The Tanaka Residence was small, and Tom supposed it could now be called a residence now that two of the Tanakas lived there. There had been a guest room, not that he ever had any guests, that now belonged to his favorite sibling, not that he ever had any other siblings. There was a small living room with a kitchenette and a small television on the counter where he sometimes would watch the evening weather reports. A desk was placed over by the sliding glass door that led out to his balcony, his laptop sat open on the desk, occasionally pinging to indicate that he had a new email. Beside his laptop there were a few framed photos of his family and friends, Atsuko, and the two of them on a family vacation from many years ago.

"That was a good summer, huh?" The girl in question asked from her bedroom doorway, watching him as he held the picture

"Yeah, it was" Tom nodded

"Now! I've got a few days before I start my job at the Academy, so I thought I'd spend them with you, maybe you could show me around the city?" Atsuko asked eagerly "Oh! I'd also like to know where the library is"

Tom nodded happily "Yeah, now, before I go to work tonight, let's get something to eat"

"Would you invite Shizuo-san?" She asked "He seems terribly lonely for a bartender, I thought bartenders were supposed to be the happy sort, you know, cheery, willing to talk to people"

"He's not a bartender" He deadpanned

His sister looked at him quizzically "What do you mean he's not a bartender?"

"He just dresses like one"

"Weird"

Tom shook his head at his peculiar sister once more before leading her out the door, he already calling his employee.