Author's Notes: I admit that this is really more of a filler chapter than anything else but I wanted to write something cute and fluffy before everything goes to hell.

On another note, holy crap! I did not expect this story to get this many hits, especially not after just two chapters! You guys are the best!


"Y'know, Johnny, I've been thinking. Hana doesn't have any other clothes besides her Ronin gear, does she?" Aisha asked.

"Doubt it," Johnny replied. "Why?"

"It's just...she already told us that she doesn't have any real ties to the Ronin," Aisha elaborated. "Doesn't make much sense for her to be wearin' their colors."

"Yeah, but she hasn't officially joined up with the Saints yet, either," Johnny pointed out. "Not sayin' she hasn't helped us out but-"

"I'm not saying she should start wearing Saints colors or anything like that," Aisha said. "It's just that I think she might benefit from some different clothes. I can't imagine it's enjoyable for her, being forced to wear the colors of the people you hate. That might be what's keeping her from opening up."

"What, you think the clothes are keepin' her from acting like a normal person?" Johnny asked.

"Psychological barriers are powerful things, Johnny," Aisha replied. "Besides, when's the last time anyone did something nice for that kid?"

Johnny shrugged. "Probably never."

"Exactly," Aisha said as she tossed a credit card in his direction. "Head to Sloppy Seconds and see if they have anything decent. If not, check out some of the other stores and see what they have."

Johnny looked down at the card in his hand before glancing up at Aisha again. "You do understand that you aren't Tiny's mom, don't you Eesh?"

"I know that but the girl still deserves a break," Aisha replied. "I just...I want her to understand that she's not alone anymore. The kid's spent her whole life being treated like she doesn't matter and I want her to know that she does."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Johnny drawled as he stood up to leave. "But what do I even get for her anyway? If she's been forced to wear that Ronin junk her whole life, she probably doesn't have a sense of style yet."

"Just get a pair of jeans and a couple shirts," Aisha answered. "Maybe a new pair of sneakers too. That'll be enough to get her started and once the Ronin are taken out and she doesn't have to worry about being seen, we can take her out to look around for herself."

"Why do I feel like we've pretty much adopted this kid?" Johnny wondered aloud as he left the house.


Johnny was in the middle of perusing the racks of clothes at Sloppy Seconds in an attempt to find something Hanabi would like, only pausing to answer his ringing phone. "What's goin' on, Boss?"

"I had Pierce follow up on that tip Hanabi gave us about the science center," the Boss replied.

"And?" Johnny pressed.

"Turns out the servers she mentioned were the Ronin's web porn ring, probably their biggest moneymaker after the casino we robbed," the Boss elaborated. "I already went and dropped the punks they had guardin' the place while I destroyed the servers. Thanks to the kid, the Saints just took out a massive source of the Ronin's income."

"And they didn't have a trap set or anything?" Johnny asked.

"Nah," the Boss replied. "They had a lot of people guarding it, like Hanabi said, but it didn't seem like they were expectin' me to show up. Why? Did you think she was gonna try to set us up?"

"No, no, it's just...I guess I just wanted to have all my bases covered, ya know?" Johnny replied. "If it turned out Tiny was feeding the Ronin information, we'd have to kill her and... Ya know, Aisha's gotten so attached to her and all."

"Uh huh. Sounds like she's been growin' on you, too," the Boss pointed out. "Anyway, I just called to let you know how things turned out. Tell Hanabi I said 'good job' when you get the chance, okay?"

"Will do, Boss," Johnny replied. "Hey, before you go, what kind of clothes do you think I should get for the kid? Eesh sent me out to grab some stuff so Tiny wouldn't have to stay in all that Ronin shit anymore but I have no idea what the kid likes. Hell, I don't even think she knows what she likes. I've already found a pair of jeans and some black sneaks that'll work but I'm lost when it comes to shirts and all that good shit."

"I dunno, man... Hanabi's a ninja, right? Get her a hoodie or somethin'," the Boss suggested. "Oh! And doesn't she like keepin' her hands covered?"

"Yeah," Johnny confirmed. "Never figured out why, though."

"Maybe it's for grip. We know she had a motorcycle and two big-ass swords before you captured her," the Boss offered. "I bet she'd prefer a pair of fingerless gloves to those bandages, though. They can't be that hard to find."

"Good idea. Thanks," Johnny replied. "I'll pass your message along. Just make sure to give me a call if you need me."

"You got it," the Boss agreed. "Later."


"You were gone a while," Aisha said as Johnny walked through the door later that afternoon, a number of bags on his arms. "Don't you think you might have gone a little overboard?"

"You're the one who sent me out in the first place," Johnny pointed out as he set the bags down on the new coffee table. "There's bound to be somethin' she likes here." He glanced around the room. "Speaking of Tiny, where is she anyway?"

"Oh, I asked her to vacuum the upstairs," Aisha replied.

Johnny quirked an eyebrow. "And she did it?"

"Believe it or not, not everyone has the same aversion to housework that you do," Aisha replied. "Hana's also better at following directions than you ever were."

"Very funny," Johnny snarked. "If she's that good, why don't we just keep her."

"Not like I haven't considered it," Aisha replied.

"Seriously?" Johnny asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," Aisha confirmed with a shrug. "She already said that she didn't have anywhere to go. I was gonna ask you about it after the Ronin had been taken care of."

"I dunno, Eesh," Johnny replied skeptically. "Not that I don't feel for the kid, but do you honestly want us to become her parents?"

"I wasn't thinking 'parents' so much as 'legal guardians'," Aisha clarified. "Or maybe...'unofficial guardians' considering your history with the legal system."

"What's the difference?" Johnny asked.

"A legal guardian could very easily be an older sibling; I think she'd have an easier time recognizing us as her siblings than her parents," Aisha explained. "No matter how mature she is for her age, Hana's still a minor with nothing to her name; she wouldn't be able to live on her own yet. I know we aren't exactly 'ideal', but we could at least give her a safe place to stay." She sighed. "I know it's a lot and I'm not expecting you to decide right now, but I want to hear your answer before I say anything to Hana about it."

"You sound like you've already got your heart set on this," Johnny commented.

"I just think she's been through enough," Aisha reasoned. "I'm hoping that, maybe someday, she'll be able to see us as her family."

"I finished vacuuming upstairs, Aisha," Hanabi announced as she came down the stairs. "Is there anything else you need me to do?" She looked over to Johnny. "Hello, Johnny."

"'Sup, Tiny," Johnny greeted.

"Thank you, Hana. I just need you to come over here for a minute," Aisha replied. "We have something for you."

Hanabi tilted her head as she walked toward them. "What is it?"

"We thought you might want to get out of that Ronin jacket, so I sent Johnny out to get you some new clothes," Aisha explained. "There's a lot here so hopefully you'll find some stuff you'll like."

"And I can just return whatever doesn't fit," Johnny continued. "I had to guess at the sizes but I figured you'd probably just wear the smallest size they had. Oh, and before I forget-" He pulled a pair of black fingerless gloves out of one of the bags and tossed them to her. "I found those and decided to pick 'em up for ya too. That way you can still keep your hands covered but you don't have to keep usin' those nasty-ass bandages."

Hanabi looked down at the gloves in her hands, then over to the various bags on the coffee table before her gaze finally settled on Johnny and Aisha. "I don't...I don't understand. Why would you waste your time to go out of your way to do this for me?"

Johnny shrugged. "Eh, ya grew on us, Tiny. Besides, I couldn't stand lookin' at those Ronin colors any longer than I had to."

"What Johnny means is-" Aisha continued, leveling a glare at Johnny before looking back at Hanabi. "-that we did this because we wanted you to be happy, Hana. Regardless of whether you decide to join the Saints or not, this is a new chapter for you. And if this helps to show that you're safe here, it's not a waste of time."

Hanabi nodded, her gaze flicking between the gloves, the bags, and Johnny and Aisha again for a long while before she crossed the living room floor and pulled both of them into a hug. "There are no words to express how grateful I am for this gift...and for both of you."

"Ah jeez, Tiny. Why ya gotta choose now to get all mushy?" Johnny asked, but Hanabi was able to pick up on an air of playfulness in his voice.

Hanabi let out what sounded like a chuckle before she released the two of them and bowed. "Thank you."

Aisha smiled before gently ruffling the girl's hair. "You don't need to thank us, Hana. We were happy to do it. Now take this stuff upstairs and try it on."


Fortunately, all of the clothes Johnny had chosen for Hanabi fit her well enough. A few of the items had been a little big on her, but both Johnny and Aisha figured she'd grow into them. Hanabi had shed her Ronin gear in favor of a simple pair of jeans, black sneakers, and a purple hoodie with a black tank top underneath it. She had also swapped out her bandages for the fingerless gloves Johnny had given her. It was difficult to tell at first due to how expressionless she usually was, but it was clear to Johnny that Hanabi was in a much better mood; though most of her face remained as impassive as ever, Johnny had noticed a light behind her normally blank eyes that hadn't been there earlier. The sight caused his chest to swell with some sort of warm, foreign emotion. He wasn't sure what it was and he wasn't entirely sure he liked it, but the longer he felt it, the less opposed he was to the idea of 'adopting' Hanabi once the Saints had taken back Stilwater. Speaking of...

"Hey Tiny," Johnny called, continuing when Hanabi tilted her head back to look at him over the back of the couch where she and Aisha had been watching some sort of game show on T.V.. "The Boss called while I was out and they wanted me to tell you thanks for the tip about the science center. Thanks to you, we were able to take out the Ronin's second biggest source of income."

"You don't say," Hanabi commented, her eyebrows raised. "Didn't think they'd hide something so important to them in such a public place."

"Yeah, well their leader doesn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer," Johnny snarked. "Point is, ya did good. I think I'mma head out for a sec and bring back some Freckle Bitches to celebrate."

"Ugh, seriously?!" Aisha groaned, turning to shoot an exasperated expression toward her boyfriend. "You can't go for more than two days with some damn Freckle Bitches?"

Hanabi tilted her head. "What's Freckle Bitches?"

"The fuck you mean 'what's Freckle Bitches'?" Johnny asked incredulously, his expression one of stunned disbelief. "Where the hell have you been gettin' all your burgers from, kid?"

"What's a burger?" Hanabi asked.

"Oh no, no, no. Fuck no. You don't know what you've been missin', Tiny. I just wish you'd told me sooner," Johnny said before looking over at Aisha. "Given the circumstances, I think it's immoral for me not to bring back some Freckle Bitches now."

"Don't you think you're being overdramatic? Just a little?" Aisha asked.

"There's no point in putting the brakes on this, Eesh," Johnny replied as he made his way toward the front door. "I'll be back in a sec, Tiny. Just hold on a little longer." And, just like that, Johnny was gone.

"What the hell just happened?" Aisha asked after a moment of silence had passed.

Hanabi could only shrug in response.


Ending Notes: I can probably count on one hand the number of times in this story that Johnny will call Hanabi by her actual name.

Seems like our little ninja girl is finally starting to feel like a part of a family. Sure would be a shame if something happened to fuck that up. I hope you guys will stick around for the next chapter: Bleeding Out.

As always, feedback and constructive criticism are more than welcome! Thank you all so much for reading. Geekinthepink, out!