His clothes smelled like her which put a smirk on his face as Mikoto walked to HOMRA bar where he was about to do some major explaining. Koyuki supported him and made clear that she wanted to be with him so in his mind everything was a go. He expected nothing less than a negative reaction from the majority of the guys with the exception being Tatara, he always seemed to support him no matter what he did. Mikoto took out a cigarette and snapped his fingers igniting the end and took in his first breath of nicotine. He hadn't even realized that he was smiling until the smoke pushed its way past his lips. Mikoto pushed his hand against the bar doors and entered his domain.

"Good morning, king." Tatara sang with his usual overjoyed expression. Mikoto looked around. Shit, not everybody's here he thought. Some of the guys were there then there was Tatara and Kusanagi at the counter. Now he would have to explain everything twice. He already didn't want to do it once. He dropped his weight down in a barstool with one seat between him and Tatara with Kusanagi working behind the counter. Kusanagi smirked at his king with a slight nod while making eye contact.

"So everyone should be here in a few minutes." Kusanagi informed tossing a coffee down Mikoto's way sliding against the wood surface. Mikoto received it and chugged it back like a beer taking a deep breath after he set it down.

"What's got you so worked up?" Tatara asked.

"Mikoto's got an important meeting with all of HOMRA."

"What's it about?"

"You'll hear about it soon enough." Kusanagi said doing the talking. Mikoto finished off his cigarette before he had anymore of his coffee and crushed the butt in an ashtray. Soon enough the loud ones came bursting through the door in some petty argument with each other. Yata, Chitose, and Bandou were squabbling with one another joined buy a very irritated Shouhei and Dewa that hung their heads wanting the senselessness to end. Now everybody was here. Chitose stopped mid argument and looked around like something was off.

"Hey don't you ignore me, we aren't finished this yet." Yata said forming a fist at his comrade. Soon everybody keened into what Chitose had noticed. He walked over to his king getting closer to him to confirm his suspicions before he said anything. Mikoto was not so easily intimidated.

"You smell like chicks." He concluded. Everybody practically jumped out of their seats. Chitose's sense of smell was never wrong. A circle formed around him at the bar.

"Girls?" Yata questioned. "Mikoto's been around girls?"

"Spill it man, who's the lady?" Bandou encouraged.

"Or ladies." Eric said at the back of the crowd.

"Hey back off. The king is entitled to his own life and none of you brat's have any say in it." Kusanagi threatened but Mikoto responded by slowly standing up to face the crowd like a man. His face screamed disinterest as he tried to hide what he was really feeling. His silence was enough to confirm everyone's suspicions.

"MIKOTO! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" Yata gasped placing both of his hands on the beanie covering his head. Everyone else gasped and oo'd along.

"The king has been breached!" Kamamoto hollered. Mikoto responded by punching Kamamoto in the face sending him flying backwards onto a table knocking it over. Suddenly everyone looked more serious facing their king again after examining the body on the ground.

"So who's the lucky lady?" Tatara asked trying to calm the situation down. Never before had they seen their king look so nervous though he was trying to hide it. Not even the great Red King can keep his wits about him when it comes to breaking the news that he had been seeing someone that everyone considered family. Everyone leaned into him.

"Koyuki." He mumbled in a low voice. Tatara wasted no time for the congratulations.

"I knew it." Yata accuse pointing at Mikoto. Mikoto nonchalantly looked over at the skater. "I knew there was something funny going on between you two. The moment she left for the Research Center your mood has gone downhill and you have been on edge. Once she came home everything changed." Mikoto punched Yata so that he joined Kamamoto on the ground.

"But I don't understand. Why Koyuki? You told all of us to stay away from her." Chitose said scratching his head. "Had I known that you were going after her, she would have been fair game." Mikoto was about to strike the one in plaid but Chitose knew what to expect so he dodged it.

"Koyuki is not some prize to be won. She is a lady." Kusanagi interjected.

"Kusanagi, you knew about this?" Yata questioned trying to stop his nosebleed from being punched in the face.

"Ah my life has been ruined." Bandou said overdramatically. Shouhei consoled his friend.

"When did this happen?" Tatara, being the voice of reason, asked.

"Officially not long after she got back from the Research Center.

"So you've been screwing around with her for that long." Bandou said also joining Kamamoto and Yata on the floor.

"How far have you taken it?" Kosuke asked.

"Have you banged her up?" Eric decided to ask what was on everyone else's mind. Mikoto shook his head.

"What gives man?" Chitose gestured.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Mikoto said under his breath at the playboy.

"Alright this conversation has gone too far. Mikoto's a big boy. He can take care of himself." Kusanagi intruded. Mikoto thought to himself how ironic that was. He couldn't take care of himself. If it wasn't for Koyuki he would either be starving somewhere or he would have lost control of his aura ages ago in truth she was the one taking care of him but they weren't made aware of that.

"I don't want to hear any of you harassing her or treating Koyuki any differently. She is still a member of HOMRA like everybody else." Mikoto warned. "Oh and hands off." He concluded making his way through the crowd and heading upstairs to be alone after surviving a dangerous situation. That was how Mikoto Suoh settled important matters. All of the guys stood there just looking at each other in confusion complaining on how things were going to be so different and awkward when those two are together around everybody else.

"Alright go on, get lost all of ya. That's the end of the meeting." Kusanagi shouted waving a towel around like it was some kind of deadly weapon. Everybody scattered and went off into their own quarters, some of them leaving. Tatara, however, stayed seated at the bar finishing up his drink. "Well that went better than expected. Now Koyuki can come back to work."

Mikoto walked up to his room with hands deep in his pockets reflecting on what just happened. Walking to the bar he found himself smiling but after this little confession he found himself frowning. Did he do the right thing? He felt as if he could have started a civil war in HOMRA the way the young and immature ones were reacting. Mikoto took out his PDA and typed a message to Koyuki saying that he finally let the cat out of the bag and reminded her not to come around to the bar for the rest of the day for her own safety. After he had finished and sent the text, he threw his PDA next to him on the bed then looked at his right hand remembering one of the nightmares that he had of his aura burning through his skin but then he recollected a conversation that he and Tatara had some time ago.

"I believe there is nothing to be afraid of. A king is what you're meant to be and that means your powers are not meant for destruction. They exist to protect, I guarantee that. If you find someone you really wish to protect then you'll understand what I mean, all you have to do is find that special someone."

Finally he could start to understand what he meant now that he had Koyuki in his life. It had been a while since he and Koyuki became a thing since the time he kissed her the day that she came back from the Research Center, he realized how long two months could be especially when you look forward to somebody's return. He didn't admit to it but Yata was right. The entire time Koyuki was gone Mikoto was in a bad mood, it only got better the closer it came for her return. He hoped that he wouldn't have to go through anything like that again.

There was a light knock at the door followed by the cheerful Tatara poking his head through the opening. His smile was always cheerful and could light up almost any mood.

"Hey, king, can I come in?" He asked and Mikoto grunted in response. Tatara walked in and shut the door behind him. "I take it that you've been thinking about this for a while. I mean telling a group of guys that you've found someone isn't easy, especially considering it's someone we all know and the fact that you've never shown any interest in women up until now."

"Are you here to side with the other guys?" Mikoto groaned and Tatara responded with a shake of the head.

"Quite the opposite really. I think that Koyuki is a perfect match for you. In a lot of ways you two are opposites but I think that's really what makes her so good for you. She seems to know when something's bothering you and can get you to a more calm state of mind. You have a lot of anger and are often on the verge of snapping but when she's around it's almost like you anger just vanishes. Koyuki is emotionally vulnerable and seems to have insecurities but you step up to protect her when she needs it the most."

"You sure you didn't know anything about us?" Mikoto asked lazily.

"I had no idea." Tatara laughed. "I was just as surprised as the other guys but really I think that this is wonderful. I believe you two were meant to be together." Suddenly Mikoto felt fidgety. He had plans of being with Koyuki for a long period of time but hearing Tatara say that they were meant to be together, he suddenly got the image of forever being in his mind. The thought of forever made him almost anxious. Would Koyuki want to be with him forever? It was too early to think that. Mikoto dismissed those thoughts from his head.

"I want to do something very special for her... but I need everyone's help." Mikoto started. Tatara's ears perked up. "Koyuki told me that there's someone she hasn't seen for a long time and I wanted to find that person for her. I don't know where to start other than Anna but I don't know how far this person is from us."

"Say no more. I'd love to help you with that. In fact, I'll let Anna know as soon as she gets here today. I'm sure we can find something between her and all of the guys spreading out and using our resources. Maybe we can even convince Scepter 4 to help us out with this. Kusanagi knows how to get information out of them that's for sure." Mikoto suddenly felt confident. He's been thinking about this for a while but has had a strong sense of doubt. People could be really hard to find if they were trying not to be found. Anna would be of great help with this. She would be able to obtain information through Koyuki without her knowing and can use that to find whoever and if this person was out of her range then they would have to pull some strings through Scepter 4 or may have to go through the other coloured clans to find them. Mikoto hadn't even talked to Kusanagi about this yet but he would agree to it regardless. "I can tell by the look in your eyes."

"Huh?" Mikoto's head snapped up to meet Tatara's gaze.

"You really care for her. I think your feelings for her run farther back than you're admitting to." Tatara explained. Mikoto had never processed that thought up until now but knowing how Tatara was able to read him he was probably right. Sometimes that irritated Mikoto about him, that and the fact that he kisses up to him a lot. He had always hated it when people treated him like he was almighty, in his mind he just wanted to be left alone. Still, he couldn't despise Tatara. A lot of the time he says things when Mikoto really needs to hear it. "Looks like you've found that special someone." Tatara concluded on his way out leaving Mikoto alone to those thoughts. He didn't try to hide his smirk after the bubbly blonde left the room.