Bang Bang Into My Heart
Whenever Mikan watched movies, she would always curl up, hugging her knees, a pillow, hell, she would even hug the popcorn bowl to her chest. She coiled up like a spring, only bouncing out of control when there was a particularly bloody death onscreen. Fuyuhiko, on the other hand, relaxed completely, practically flopping over the couch. His posture was so open and nonchalant that he probably wouldn't move even if he was being impaled.
Which was sort of ironic, considering that he was the one having trouble opening up and saying the words he needed to say at the moment.
"Mikan... You know, it's always fun to do... stuff like this with you," Fuyuhiko hesitated, blushing. At least he was trying. "You don't usually piss me off."
"Fuyuhiko-kun, are you okay?" Mikan asked, staring at him in concern. The movie became background noise to them as they spoke. "You look troubled over something. Don't force yourself, okay?"
"No! Even if I have to drag the words out of my mouth and fucking spell them out for you, I'm going to say it! You need to hear it!" Fuyuhiko took a deep breath after his outburst, trying to find the right way to put his thoughts into words.
Mikan nodded, ready to listen. He just had to say it.
"You're... pretty much my first friend outside of the family," Fuyuhiko admitted, cheeks turning pinker. He averted his gaze from Mikan, staring at the TV without really processing the events happening onscreen. "So, you're the only one I can do normal things with... and even if it sounds dumb, that's really important to me."
Mikan looked like she was on the verge of tears, holding a hand to her mouth in shock.
"T-t-thank you... thank you so very much Fuyuhiko-kun...!"
"I'm not done yet!" Fuyuhiko snapped, before quieting down. "Sorry for yelling, but I just... you shouldn't try to kill someone for me. You're a normal person who shouldn't get caught up in what my family does."
"So, if I were a part of your family, it would be okay..." Mikan mumbled to herself, unfazed by Fuyuhiko's attempt to bring back the conversation they had a few days ago.
"Don't even think about it."
The two lapsed into silence, neither one feeling the need to speak further.
The relaxed, peaceful atmosphere hadn't returned completely. But they were getting there.
And then Mioda showed up out of nowhere.
"Ooooooh! Is this the one with a bomb inside her?!" Mioda pretty much jumped out from behind the couch, making both Mikan and Fuyuhiko jump.
"Were you there the entire time?!" Fuyuhiko demanded. Mikan had to quickly grab his wrists to keep him from strangling the musician.
"Of course not, silly! Now scoot over, I need to join in!" Mioda practically pushed Fuyuhiko out of the way, stealing his spot on the couch.
Unfortunately, the couch was only big enough for two people to sit comfortably, which wasn't a problem when the three roommates watched together, since Nanami usually sat on the floor. But there was no way Fuyuhiko was about to let some annoying loudmouth force him on the floor, and Mikan wouldn't let him threaten Mioda into leaving, so they were in a bit of a bind.
"Um, how about this?" Mikan gently pulled Fuyuhiko towards her, so he could refuse at any time if he wished. He didn't, allowing Mikan to practically pull him onto the space in front of her, her legs parting around him. She hesitantly hovered her arms around his torso, silently asking for permission.
"Go ahead," Fuyuhiko huffed, leaning back against Mikan's chest. Mikan smiled as she wrapped her arms around him.
The two finally began paying attention to the TV again, allowing Mioda to snap a quick picture of them in that position. She quickly began typing away on her phone, trying her best to be stealthy when she was right next to the pair. Not that she needed to be stealthy, since they were preoccupied with the movie, but Mioda liked trying to be a ninja.
[omg look at this]
The response was near-immediate, despite the fact that Ibuki knew her brother was supposed to be studying. Oh well. Nagisa could spare a few minutes to talk to his gorgeous, lovely, beautiful, and all-around-amazing sister, right? Besides, Ibuki was rushing to type out her words to avoid detection, so she couldn't stay long anyways.
[Ibuki, I thought your goal was to make them become friends with people, not get them to date.]
[nagi-chan, they're not mutually exclusive]
[it's all part of the plan don't worry]
[What plan?]
[shush it's confidential, top secret, stuff like that]
[Do you even HAVE a plan?]
[gtg the movie's about to end]
[good luck for ur test btw love you bye]
On the other side of the line, Nagisa scowled as his sister put away her phone. He had questions, goddammit!
"You okay there, Nagisa?" Kotoko asked, staring at her friend in concern. Her pencil stopped over her paper. "Is chemistry that hard?"
"No, of course not," Nagisa said, composing himself. He erased all of his irritation from his expression, but he couldn't stop a little bit from souring his voice as he explained. "It's just that my sister refuses to explain herself."
"Really? What's going on?" Kotoko smiled excitedly, glad for any reason to abandon her homework.
"What's going on is that she sent me this," Nagisa showed the photo to his pink-haired friend, "Without any explanation. And then she runs off instead of explaining why she disrupted my studies!"
"Wait, isn't that Fuyuhiko?! Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko?!" Kotoko gasped, her eyes nearly lighting up the moment her brain recognized the blonde. "That's totally him! Big bro Hajime's girlfriend's brother!"
"What?"
"You do realize I'm single, right, Kotoko?" Hajime called out from his kitchen, still making dinner for the two teenagers.
"Shush you!" Kotoko retorted. "You're a wanted man! There are at least four people after your dick!"
"That's no way to talk to your father..." Nagisa muttered to himself.
"Big brother!" Both Kotoko and Hajime corrected at the same time.
"If you say so," Nagisa sighed, before returning his attention to his papers. Interrogating his sister would have to wait. He had equations to do.
"Well, I should probably walk you home now," Mikan noted, staring out the window to see the night sky. Mioda had left to sleep long before, though they never really separated, even after the reason they sat together in the first place left.
"What? No, you are not doing that," Fuyuhiko shot back immediately, standing up and stretching. "You're going to get mugged or something if I let you go back home alone."
"But I'm already at home!" Mikan protested, standing up as well, shutting off the TV as an afterthought.
"So that's why you should stay here. I can take care of myself, so don't worry about me."
"I'm not doing this because I'm worried about you!" Mikan belted out a classic tsundere line, but unlike tsunderes, she meant every word of it. Mikan couldn't lie at all, after all. "I know you can protect yourself just fine. I just wanted to walk with you."
"...why?" Fuyuhiko stared at Mikan, almost suspicious of her. Almost, since he knew that she didn't have any bad intentions, but he still didn't quite fully understand why Mikan would want to do that at all.
"Um... I like spending time with you," Mikan answered simply, fiddling with her thumbs as her cheeks turned bright red.
Fuyuhiko stared at the nurse in disbelief, slowly turning pink.
"Er. Okay."
"Does that mean you'll let me walk you home?" Mikan asked, a hopeful (and tentative) grin on her face.
"No," Fuyuhiko hastily added the rest before Mikan's face fell, not wanting to completely crush her dreams. "You're only coming with me to the halfway point. The park. Understood?"
"Alright!" Mikan smiled brightly, gladly following Fuyuhiko as he went to leave.
"Why are there bear statues in the park anyways?" Mikan wondered aloud as they walked through the streets.
"Maybe someone in charge really liked bears," Fuyuhiko suggested.
"Can arch... er, engineers..." Mikan fumbled over the word to use for a while, before giving up. "Can the person who's in charge of designing parks really do that?"
"Who knows? Maybe it was a joke that got blown out of proportion."
"Surely something like that wouldn't happen..." Mikan trailed off, before realizing that she had no idea if that were true or not. She didn't know the architect/engineer/park guy at all, so who could say it wasn't a possibility? Certainly not Mikan.
"Or maybe they're supposed to scare children," Fuyuhiko said, completely seriously. He only explained himself further when he realized Mikan was staring at him weirdly. "Look at it this way. A kid wanders off from his parents. Then he sees this terrifying bear. The kid is so scared, he runs back to his parents and never leaves their side again."
"That seems more traumatizing than anything..." Mikan giggled a bit at the thought.
Fuyuhiko laughed in return, a bright smile on his face.
They seemed to reach the park much too soon, though neither of them would admit this. It was so late that the area was completely empty. After all, who visited the park at midnight?
"Bye then!" Mikan waved to Fuyuhiko.
He didn't even get to say his goodbyes in return before the gunshots.
Mikan might have spent nearly forty hours in the hospital any given week, but that was as a nurse. She didn't expect to be a patient. No one ever expected to be in an accident and be hospitalized.
Er. Well, it was technically an assassination attempt, but still. No one really expected this. Not Mikan, not Fuyuhiko, not Hajime, not Natsumi, and definitely not Mikan's roommates.
Mikan sighed. What a tiring day.
The injured nurse fell asleep, unresponsive to the whispering just outside her door.
"They can't identify the guy that shot her at all," Hajime sighed.
"Really? Even though he was right there?" Natsumi sighed, annoyed. "He wasn't wearing a mask or anything. How can they not identify him?"
"I heard what they said before they rushed him into surgery," Hajime frowned, forced to recall... unpleasant things. "They seriously thought he was hit by a truck."
"In the middle of a park," Natsumi said in disbelief.
"That's how bad his injuries were," Hajime began to count off the injuries on his fingers. "Four broken ribs, bleeding and bruising from almost everywhere, concussion, I'm pretty sure his cheekbone was broken too, and honestly, I'm surprised he's not dead yet."
"How the fuck did that even happen?" Natsumi demanded, though she kept her voice quiet so she didn't disturb the sleepy nurse.
"I'm pretty sure it was the fact that-" Hajime cut himself off, eyes widening at something behind Natsumi. "Fuyuhiko?"
Natsumi immediately whirled around to face her brother, before freezing.
Fuyuhiko looked livid. His face seemed to be locked in a permanent scowl, bandaged hands balled up into fists. He seemed to drain the colour from his surroundings as he stomped towards them. Peko trailed behind him, carrying a small bouquet of colourful flowers.
Now, Natsumi wasn't one to back down from a challenge, okay? Especially one she issued herself. She didn't flee or hide, but this time, she moved out of her brother's way without a word.
Fuyuhiko practically slammed the door open, startling the resting nurse, before making his way over to her bed.
"We... should probably go," Hajime grabbed Natsumi's wrist, pulling her away from the hospital room. Peko gently placed the bouquet in front of the door, before following them.
None of them wanted to be responsible for one of Fuyuhiko's explosions, especially when someone important to him had almost died. He had a right to be angry, but that didn't mean any of them wanted to be around if he started screaming.
Mikan's first instinct whenever Fuyuhiko seemed to be getting violent was to jump in front of him and beg him to stop. That was how she protected others from Fuyuhiko's anger.
It's only natural that she would protect Fuyuhiko from violence using similar methods.
"Mikan," Fuyuhiko stared down at the bedridden nurse.
"It's great to see you Fuyuhiko-kun," Mikan smiled. "I'm glad you weren't hurt."
"Am I supposed to be glad that you were hurt?!" Fuyuhiko demanded, worry and anger seeping into his voice. "A few centimeters to the right and you would be dead!"
Mikan's smile fell, her right hand coming up to trail over the bandages on her left arm.
"...I'm sorry."
"Just..." Fuyuhiko's voice cracked as tears began to flow down his face, despite his attempts to act like it wasn't happening. "Don't do that ever again. Please."
"Fuyuhiko-kun..." Just as Mikan was about to apologize again, he turned on his heel to leave.
He froze at the door, looking down at the bouquet of flowers. Without another word, he grabbed them off the floor and returned to Mikan's side, practically throwing the blossoms at her.
"It's not your duty to die for me," Fuyuhiko said solemnly, frowning down at Mikan.
"Isn't that what friends do?" Mikan asked, removing the 'get well soon' card from the bouquet and flipping it open. She smiled at the words of encouragement before continuing. "Taking bullets for each other?"
"It's not literal!" Fuyuhiko snapped, before his voice took on a more pleading tone. "Don't die for me."
"But I don't want you to die either," Mikan frowned, putting away her card and setting the bouquet aside. "That gunman was aiming for you."
"I know that!"
"You might have died," Mikan frowned, unable to even bring herself to think of what would have happened if she didn't accompany Fuyuhiko last night.
Fuyuhiko didn't say anything in response.
Mikan could have died. He could have lost her.
With those thoughts in mind, Fuyuhiko promised something to himself. It was the sort of promise he would carve into precious family mementos to ensure he would never forget.
He was going to protect her. There was no way he was letting anyone important to him die.
Fuyuhiko had no way of knowing this, but Mikan was silently promising the same to herself.
The Tanaka Empire of the present was much bigger than the pet store Hajime first met Peko in. They took advantage of the beauty parlor next to them closing, buying the building and converting it into their storage building. This let the Tanaka Empire have an even larger space to display their pets and products. They even had a designated space to interact and play with the animals, which Peko took full advantage of...
Or, she would have, if she could actually get the animals to stop running from her.
"Good fucking lord. You're going to literally scare the shit out of them," Natsumi sighed as Peko dove through the air to catch a bunny. "Seriously! You already have Tangerine! Is he not enough for you?!"
"No," Peko replied honestly, suddenly whirling around to chase a cat. She didn't seem winded at all by her pursuit of the nearest fluffy animal. "I want to adopt all the cats. And possibly some bunnies."
"No dogs at all?" Natsumi briefly wondered if she was allowed to fight Peko over whether dogs or cats were better. The answer was probably yes.
"I prefer cats."
"Well, I'm going to adopt all the dogs since you are apparently too heartless to give them a home!" Natsumi huffed. "I can't believe this! How can you call yourself a damn animal lover if you don't like dogs!"
"You guys are scaring the children!" Hajime yelled at them from his position behind the register.
"I apologize," Peko said as she doing the exact same thing that was scaring the children away in the first place: chasing the animals at near inhuman speeds.
"It's because this bitch," Natsumi pointed at Peko, "isn't willing to give dogs a chance! Back me up here! Dogs are the shit!"
"I'm actually more of a cat person," Hajime replied casually. He turned back to the paying customer in front of him, giving her back her change. Hajime spouted off the line automatically. "Thank you for shopping at Tanaka Empire, and have a nice day."
Natsumi screamed in anguish. "You traitor! I can't believe this! I trusted you, and you betray me like this?! Is anyone in this family a dog person?"
"The Young Master prefers cats as well," Peko answered, causing Natsumi to scream again, scaring the children in the store even more.
"I like dogs," A little kid piped up, before hiding behind a bag of dog food in case the scary silver-haired lady tried to chase him too.
"Thank you!" Natsumi sighed, annoyed as she made her way to the register, leaning on the counter. "What about that Mikan chick? Does she like dogs?"
"...why?" Hajime stared at Natsumi in suspicion.
"I want to know if someone in this family other than me likes dogs."
"So you want her in the family?" Hajime raised an eyebrow at the blonde. He didn't know that Natsumi was going after her.
"Well... yeah," Natsumi frowned, her tone serious. "I do."
"I mean, you're welcome to try, but I'm not sure if you could get her legally listed as your wife," Hajime replied, fully intent on supporting Natsumi in her romantic pursuits.
"...what," Natsumi's expression could best be summed up as 'what the fuck?'. "No, what? I'm not crushing on her!"
"But you want her in the family," Hajime stated, poking at the holes in Natsumi's testimony with evidence until the truth finally came out.
"I meant, I hope Fuyuhiko makes her his wife!"
"Why?"
"This isn't a conversation we should be having while you're working," Natsumi said suddenly, turning around to leave as another customer approached the register.
As Hajime gave the customer advice on how to clean a bird cage, he made a note to himself to talk to Natsumi later.
"You don't have to stay with me," Mikan spoke up, breaking the silence. "If you want to leave, you can."
"What makes you think I don't want to stay with you?" Fuyuhiko asked.
"You seem really grumpy, and you're not talking much, so..." Mikan trailed off, her eyes widening. She tried to push herself up into a sitting position.
"Hey! You're supposed to be resting!" Fuyuhiko stopped her, hands on her shoulders to keep her from rising anymore.
"You're injured," Mikan replied, staring at his bloodstained, bandaged hands. "When did you get these? You weren't wounded last night!"
"Mikan, don't try to treat me! You're injured too!"
"It's my duty as a nurse!"
"You're a fucking patient!"
"Excuse me," Nanami entered the room unceremoniously, making both Fuyuhiko and Mikan freeze to look at the robot. "I'm supposed to bring you to the surgery room now, Mikan."
"Surgery?" Fuyuhiko turned back to Mikan, worried.
"I'll be fine, Fuyuhiko-kun!" Mikan smiled, trying to reassure the blonde.
"They're just going to remove the bullet before it can do any major damage to her arteries," Nanami stated. "Is it okay if you sit in the waiting room?"
"You better not die on me," Fuyuhiko glared at Mikan, before leaving the room.
"So, why do you want Mikan to marry your brother?" Hajime asked, closing the door to the break room.
It was a small room, just big enough for a dining table with chairs and a workable kitchen. A coffee pot rested on the cupboard, completely empty. Next to the fridge was a water cooler, a stack of paper cups next to the coffee pot. Natsumi sat on one of the chairs, using her crossed arms as a pillow as she rested her head on the table. Hajime sat next to her, waiting for her answer.
"You know how when the boss dies with no eligible children, the position goes to the first lieutenant, right?" Natsumi continued at Hajime's nod. "But if the lieutenant is old and has no children to take their place when they die, the position of boss goes to the next qualified person, but sometimes there's more than one, and that leads to everyone fighting over the position and general chaos and death."
"Where are you going with this?"
"I was almost finished!" Natsumi huffed, raising her head to glare at Hajime. "That would be a worst-case-scenario. But with Fuyuhiko, it's really likely."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Like, Fuyuhiko has never been interested in romance or stuff like that. And I mean never. Which was fine, until I realized that I'm not suited to be a mom, Peko is even less suited to be a mom, and while you might be qualified to be a mom, I'm terrified of what would happen if your kid became boss. She would probably steal from candy stores."
"Actually, Kotoko would probably destroy the idol industry first," Hajime supplied, getting a 'see what I mean?!' from Natsumi.
"So, worst-case-scenario becomes likely, we are all doomed. But then a ray of hope falls from the sky!" Natsumi threw her arms up in the air dramatically, as if she were actually receiving a ray of hope from the sky. Er, ceiling.
"Mikan?" Hajime asked, just for clarification.
"Yes, Mikan!" Natsumi declared, knocking over her chair as she stood up. "Because she's the first person outside the family he's ever invited to our house! (Aside from you, but you don't count because of the circumstances.) And he barely leaves unless someone forces him to or unless it's for business, but the moment she asks, he's practically out the door! And don't get me started on how protective he is of her!"
"Natsumi, calm down," Hajime placed a hand on Natsumi's shoulder, before bending over to pick up her chair. Natsumi sat back down.
"It's just... I want my brother to be happy," Natsumi confessed, losing all her theatrics and energy. She stared down at the table.
"So what are your orders?"
"Orders?" Natsumi stared at Hajime in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"I joined this family for you, so I'll follow you," Hajime answered. "If you want them to end up together, I'll help you."
Natsumi looked shocked for a few seconds, before smiling.
"...thanks."
"Oh, by the way, Mikan likes dogs," Hajime added, getting an excited 'FINALLY!' from the blonde.
"I thought the surgery was going to be tomorrow," Mikan mumbled to herself, before directing her question to Chiaki. "Was it sped up?"
"No, I was lying," Chiaki admitted honestly.
"W-w-w-what?! Why?!" Mikan gasped.
"I wanted to talk to you in private," Chiaki said simply.
"Okay..." Mikan frowned. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No," Chiaki answered immediately, before hesitating. "Actually... you might have, I think."
"I'm sorry!"
"Don't apologize for saving someone's life," Chiaki admonished the brunette, before sighing and crossing her arms over her chest. "But... you shouldn't have been there in the first place."
"Huh?"
"Being friends with Kuzuryuu-kun... if it's putting you in danger, you should stop. I don't want you to die."
"Chiaki-san..." Mikan stared up at Chiaki. "I'm sorry, but that's not an option."
"I don't want to split up your friendship. I just want you to be safe," Chiaki stated, frowning.
"I promise I won't die."
"Good," Chiaki smiled.
When Chiaki left the room, it wasn't much of a surprise to find Fuyuhiko sitting outside the door.
"You should go to the waiting room," Chiaki said, staring down at the Yakuza heir. "You might get run over by a stretcher here."
"You don't have to worry about Mikan dying," Fuyuhiko completely ignored Chiaki's well-meaning advice (wow rude) to address the elephant in the room. Er, hallway.
"And why is that?" Chiaki asked, completely unfazed by the fact that Fuyuhiko had been unapologetically eavesdropping on their conversation.
"I'm not going to let her die. I'll protect her."
Chiaki said nothing, staring at Fuyuhiko intensely.
"Good luck, then," And with that, Chiaki turned around to leave, not waiting for Fuyuhiko's response.
Fun Fact: Natsumi tried to ship Hajime with Fuyuhiko when the former first showed up. It didn't end well.
To the anon whose review consisted solely of 'Just go out already! Jesus Christ!'. I'm sorry, but that's going to take a while.