Heart of the Infiltrators

by MordinofSolus

Senran Kagura x Male Insert - Amidst the turn of the modern era, a young man is forcibly contracted to cure twenty shinobi of a mental ailment known as distortion, caused by the corrupted blood of Yōma. As time goes on, the long hidden societies of the world are forced to come out into the public spotlight when they are pitted against one another.

27. Chapter 27: Drowning Babel

Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 27: Drowning Babel

Sitting around the wooden dining table within their cave, the renegade shinobi were all silently eating the burnt dinner that Yomi had cooked for them. All of their eyes were deadly serious, only ever blinking whenever they looked at one another. Wrapped around all of their heads were bandages, save for Haruka who also needed a makeshift splint for her foot. No one dared to utter a word as the occasional sound of stone grinding against itself echoed throughout the cave. Finally, once she'd gone through half of her blackened beansprout concoction, Yomi turned her head up to Homura and murmured, "I think you hit his head too hard…"

The tanned girl kept a straight face as she raised another spoonful of her dinner, grimacing just before it reached her mouth, "From what I can see, probably…" and shoveled the sprouts in.

Having had the silence broken, Mirai felt confident enough to turn over to Haruka and proceeded to ask, "So… I was flying when you went down. What happened?"

Haruka's expressionlessly spoke as she leaned her face against a hand, "Oh, nothing serious. The couch landed on my foot and I slipped backwards… There was a bit of a nasty twist in my ankle and I hit the back of my head on the ground."

"Ouch… was there at least some carpet to break the fall?"

A hollow smirk came upon Haruka's face, "Nothing but rock."

"Double ouch…"

While the two conversed, the other three were gazing over to the side of their cave. Hikage asked, "Do we stop him?"

Homura felt her eyes droop tiredly as she retorted, "He'll figure himself out."

Leaning his bandaged head against the soothingly cold wall of the cave, the young man was on the verge of all-out defeat. While the deadest look clung onto his exhausted eyes, he carefully and deliberately carved a pointed rock against the cave wall so that he could engrave the words "Blessed be this Place" to soothe himself. To ensure a lack of guilt for desecrating the renegades' home, the young man made sure to ask for permission and unenthusiastically shared his different designs for each written character. Once a particular pattern was chosen, he went about his mediatory practice and hadn't uttered another word.

With every straight line or smooth curve, the young man found himself encroaching on a familiar self-pity. He had no intention of remaining that way nor did he want to be so low in the first place, but the events of the prior few days were beginning to weigh on him for the worse. The young man could handle surprise jogs that involved getting hurt because of his own mistakes, getting flashed because of bizarre circumstance, and getting his butt groped by a certain pervert. He wasn't comfortable with those things but he could still handle them. The young man could also handle sudden intrusive visits into his residence, obnoxious interruptions while he tried to repair his glasses, and uncomfortable confessions of love. Again, he wasn't comfortable with those things but he could still handle them.

But, on that fateful Saturday after school, the young man had been pushed to his limits. He'd been forcibly kidnapped, learned that he had a fourth admirer in a situation where he wasn't allowed to have any, had been sexually harassed while he was trying to calm himself down, thrown into an uncomfortable questioning which only served to further motivate Homura's crush on him, and was physically thrown face first into a couch. Perhaps if they were the only things that happened, the young man would be more tolerant to it all. But, once compounded by everything else that had happened, the weight of it all just began to crush him. The young man knew very well that there were people out in the world who were suffering much worse everyday but, even if just for a while, he wanted to keep his mind on himself. Ergo, his focus remained on perfecting the Japanese characters he was engraving into the wall so that he could keep his mind off his bad luck.

Unfortunately for him and his desire for simple peace and quiet, the welling uneasiness in Homura proved to be too much for her to handle. Just as she was unconsciously raising another spoon to her mouth, the utensil slipped out of her hands and into the bowl while the woman suddenly stood herself up. From where he stood, the young man could hear the grinding of her chair and the firm footsteps getting closer to him. Then a straightforward voice said from behind him, "You're not too angry with us, right?"

"I'm actually pretty pissed, though I'll get over it soon enough," came an equally frank answer.

"Ah," murmured Homura as her eyes fell, "Well, just know that I'm sorry for the… you know, tackling and throwing you. I got a bit excited because… well…"

"You were excited to get into a fight with the guy who beat Yumi," came the young man's quiet words, "I understand. Plus, I'd be hypocritical if I didn't admit to fault. So… sorry for egging you on and touching your neck."

To his surprise, Homura quickly raised her hands and began to stammer, "No, wait! I-, well, you're not wrong about me getting excited because you beat Yumi, but I… that's…"

"I just want to clarify real quick," said the young man as he lifted a finger to quiet her, "while I had my share of disadvantages in my fight against Yumi, I did have a key advantage in that I only needed to reach her forehead to win. So… if you're expecting me to be some kind of golden opportunity combatant or some other wordy shit that I can't think of… well, I hate to disappoint you-"

"No, no," stuttered Homura, "you weren't disappointing-, I mean, it wasn't the fight I was expecting-"

"Nor the one that you were hoping for," added Mirai as she leaned over the table, silently eager to see where the scene was going.

"-but, I was more excited for what I had planned after… See… Ah…"

The young man squinted at her, trying to figure out what she was trying to say. While he did so, a knowing look came over Yomi before she lifted her pan of burnt food to the rest of the table, "Seconds? Who am I kidding? Of course you want seconds."

Hikage commented, "Actually, I think I ate enough. I didn't really like it this time around."

In response, Yomi splattered some of the ruined beansprout concoction into the girl's bowl and growled, "But you'll still be having seconds." In order to leave no room for argument, the blonde took her friend's spoon, splashed it into the burnt stew, and shoved it into Hikage's mouth. Fortunately, the girl was willing to just go with it while the other two renegades averted their gaze once Yomi turned over to them.

In the meantime, the young man was still trying to piece together whatever Homura was trying to imply. Her eyes repeatedly skipped from side to side and, despite their equal height, began to shrivel herself up so that he had to slightly crane his head down to look her in the eye. Then, with a sudden burst of motivated energy, Homura sprung herself back up and stammered, "Would it be alright if I told you something? Personal?"

A bad feeling ran down the young man's spine, forcing him to lean away a bit, but he still dared to answer, "I've always got an open ear. What's the problem?"

"It…" Homura said in a whisper before shaking her head to resolutely declare, "There isn't any problem. I just need to tell you something." Seeing the parallels between his current conversation and Asuka's confession from the other day, the young man immediately began to scan for an out. But he was too slow. Before he could make a getaway, Homura raised a hand to grip his shoulder while balling up the other into a fretful fist. She took a heavy breath and declared, "I like you." The young man's heart stopped. "As an individual who's helped me through some issues and has proved willing to help sort everyone else through this mess… I can see that you're… a fine man whom I'd like to stick to, if that's fine."

The rest of the renegades had been reduced to whispers, except for Hikage since she was in the middle of eating and had no intention to stop. From what the young man could pick up with his usually strong ears, which were pulsing as his heartbeat came back with an intense vengeance, Yomi and Haruka were gushing over the scene while Mirai expressed her desire for more drama. Regardless of their reactions, he was still stuck in a web with no visible way out.

Then the figurative kick to his sack came as Homura followed up, "For the sake of honesty… I should also let you know that I like Asuka. And… seeing as you two have such similar qualities, such as your general principles and overall determination… I-, well, not to sound indecisive or disloyal, especially when considering how long I've known Asuka and how meaningful our short time together has been… But I just can't choose between the both of you."

Regardless of how nerve-wracking and utterly confusing the circumstances had turned with only a few sentences and stutters, the young man's eyes glowed once he sensed an opportunity to out himself from the conversation. Without fully considering everything else that was said, the boy began frankly, "If that's the case, maybe you should take… time… ehm…" before it hit him: Homura liked both him and Asuka… In his short time of living, it was the first time he was ever put into such a situation.

Though she caught his first few words and was about to offer rebuttal, the tanned girl took notice of the young man's state as his eyes turned completely blank. She waved up her hands, "I know, I know! It's… a bit much and… I haven't thought out what I want to do or what I want to establish…"

A bit of clarity touched the boy's head once he realized that Homura had no game plan and easily opened herself up for him to divert the issue. All he needed was to say a few calculated words to confuse her or, at least, make her put off the issue until another day. He just wanted a bit of time for him to think out his strategy to reject all four of his admirers without doing any damage to the other girls' trust. At that point, that was all he wanted. Thus, he began, "It's certainly a lot but…"

"No," ordered Homura, her voice filled with an assertiveness that compelled her crush into silence. Then she stepped closer, enough so that her chest had very nearly grazed against the young man's, and uttered, "I… for now, I don't want to hear the word 'but' or anything of the sort… If it's a 'no' then just say so…" Still lagged back while trying to think of a way to smoothly exit the situation, the boy just stood silently. He quickly realized that he should have just spoken up when Homura murmured, "If… you don't reject me now… then…" before she reached her other hand up to cup his face while the other slinked past his shoulder to gently pull him close.

Immediately, the young man's eyes went wide. He began to make incoherent sounds as the girl proceeded to extend her face closer and closer to his. If he could only just tell her to back away or to rethink her approach, he'd be content for the day. But nothing came from his mouth and Homura's lips were getting closer and closer. Her breaths were short and timid but reinforced with a solidness that told him she didn't want to back away.

Before he knew it, while Homura completely pressed herself up against him and their lips halted mere centimeters away, the girl whispered to the young man, "I don't know what I'm going to do in the future… or how I'm going to approach Asuka… but I know what I want to do right now. First, if you'll allow me, I want to kiss you. Then we can call Asuka and arrange a meetup-"

Taking a final stand and giving himself a mental kick to the ass, the young man dared to raise up both of his hands to Homura's shoulders to slightly push her away. Before his action could be contested, he stated with no room for argument, "We ought to talk with Asuka about this first… before either of us get carried away."

His words carried unnecessary, albeit true, implications. Homura didn't need to know that he was also holding himself back from getting carried away with the moment, a fact that would undoubtably pass as a sort of implied reciprocation to her feelings. But his words brought out the desired results as the girl pulled away a bit, her face falling a bit with uncertainty. Just as the young man began to feel the tiniest bit of guilt, she closed her eyes and smiled a bit before stating, "Yeah… it wouldn't be fair to her, would it?"

Doing his best to bring back a straight face, the reddened boy only grunted, "No… it wouldn't be…"

Homura separated herself from him, taking a moment to shift back and forth before jabbing a finger at her crush, "Part of me is a bit irked right now, considering how much it took for me to build myself up to that…"

"Sorry," whispered the young man, thinking of the circumstances that extended beyond pushing the girl away.

"Don't be," said Homura as she scratched at one of her bangs. After a moment, she confidently looked him in the eye, "We'll get together with Asuka in a few days and… after that, I hope that I can hold both of you. I'm not sure how it'll go but, if you're willing, we can all make it work…"

In the end, as Yomi and Haruka were both smiling to one another in approval of the situation, the young man could only grunt a sound that came off as an unsure affirmative. Regardless of how disconnected he evidently was, Homura's smile grew a bit wider before she closed her eyes and turned around to strut over to the table. The young man barely remembered anything more from that point onward. He could vaguely hear Mirai spouting something along the lines of, "That sucked. You should've gotten a bit more drama to go along with it," followed by Homura barking something right back at her.

He somehow found himself at the table and was mindlessly eating the burnt beansprout stew, occasionally grunting or apologizing for his apparent lack of awareness. But, even as the girls around him were praising Homura or were passing his silence off as shyness, the young man was busy connecting a specific set of dots in his head: four shinobi liked him and two had confessed in a span of twenty-four hours. If he was being honest with himself, the boy would have thought his two brothers to be at the center of such a situation, if they weren't the sociopaths that they were.

As mindless and unmeaningful fantasy took him, the young man imagined that Tsao would react in a similar manner as him, though he'd be much franker and would get straight to the rejection… that was if he could keep himself from attacking the girls. Keeping in mind his track record for brutality and knowing for fact that he'd be capable of giving Oda a run for his money, the young man was inclined to believe that his brother would have just slaughtered all of shinobi just for the sake of being done with the issue. In his words, "If they can't be easily corrected, it'd be better to just kill them. It's a mercy, since they aren't in control of their actions, and I get to go home to my family. Beyond those two things, nothing else matters to me." Then there was Haruo, who would completely be in his element if four shinobi confessed to him. Without a doubt in the young man's mind, the bastard son would go out of his way to deliberately make a competition between the four girls. He'd feign indecisiveness and would shamelessly demand carnal favors in exchange for attention, prepared to cast them all aside without having done a thing to correct their distortion. Then he'd pass the issue onto Tsao so that everything could be cleaned up.

In an attempt to brighten his mood, the young man thought to himself that it was probably a blessing that he was the one in charge of the correction. If his two brothers were around, the girls would be facing a Hell much worse than what he was going through… But why did anyone have to go through Hell in the first place? Couldn't there be a simpler way to doing things…? The answer was no… In the end, he would have to continue dancing on his toes in fear of watchful eyes while also opening himself up to the shinobi. However, though he had to be trustworthy and personal with the girls, he also had to emotionally isolate himself from those who felt affection for him.

At some point, dinner had finished and the young man spent the rest of his visit with the renegades sitting absentmindedly on their couch. Conversations were passed back and forth, Homura made a few remarks to break the awkwardness in the air, and Hikage had taken the opportunity to tiredly rest her head against the young man's lap. Once she was inevitably pulled away, she muttered something along the lines of, "He's warm and I'm tired. What's the issue?" It didn't take long for Homura to try a similar stunt. But, upon noticing the young man's discomfort, she pulled herself away and refocused on the conversation she was having with Mirai. At the end of it all, Yomi and Haruka decided it would be best if they escorted him home early. He offered a few curt words and said his goodbyes before following them out of the cave and into the forest.

Yomi led the way through the trees, calling out the occasional landmark so that the young man could find his way back for future visits. But he didn't pay much attention, due to the hairs standing up on the back of his neck once Haruka decided to walk right next to him. He turned his eyes over to her and squinted at the smirks she'd pass at him. Regardless, neither said a word.

That changed once Yomi was far enough ahead, unaware that her two companions were lagging behind. Without hesitation, Haruka smoothly whipped out her phone and pointed to a particular icon. Then she spoke in a dastardly whisper, "Hibari left me a voice message earlier. Do you know what she told me about?"

Still stuck in a semi-blank state, the young man sarcastically replied, "Is it a memorandum on how to expand the economy?"

"Only if the word 'economy' refers to that thing in your pants, yes," retorted Haruka as she closed her eyes and raised her chin proudly. There was a noticeable falter in the young man's step as he processed her dirty joke, to which she cheerfully added, "Though, in which country do you intend to insert that 'economy' into? Perhaps the desirable State of Homura? Or, from what Hibari told me, the peaceful Nation of Asuka?"

At that, the young man froze for a few seconds. Haruka kept walking and he was forced to trot a bit to catchup before sputtering, "Ho-, hold up, hold up… Hibari told you about Asuka's confession?"

"Of course she did, the sweet thing," grinned the taller girl, "and, by the sound of her excitement and when I consider her history as a people person, I imagine she's also called Ryōna and Minori about it too."

Unthinking and trying to recover, the young man sucked in some air and muttered, "That's an awfully specific choice in people."

"And with good reason."

"That being?"

Haruka flashed her eyes downward in domineering glee, "They're not only her friends but they're also complete chatterboxes." It took a moment for the young man to process her implication before his eyes narrowed forward, filled with an expanding nervousness and rising levels of anxiety. Seeking to tease her target a bit, Haruka reached over and swirled her nail into the back of the young man's shoulder. She scratched and rubbed for a bit before stating, "I imagine everyone, save for the rest of my team, knows about it by now."

Breathing heavily as Yomi called back to the two, "Keep up! We're almost out," the poor boy turned his head over. His mind raced between different alarms and questions, fretfully imagining what the future would bring… then he also dared to think of another curiosity.

"You haven't told Homura and everyone else?" whispered the young man.

His answer was a shrug from Haruka, who only replied, "It would only further confuse Homura on what she should do… or would it, perhaps, make things easier for her? Who knows? Either way, you'll get a head start."

With that, she sped up her strides and moved on ahead to Yomi, leaving the young man behind to think about what she said. As relieving as it was for him to know that Homura and the rest of the renegades weren't aware of Asuka's confession, he couldn't imagine how Miyabi reacted to such news. Even more worrying, however, was Yumi's take on the situation.

The young man clenched his eyes closed before opening them despairingly. He reached down to his pocket and pulled out his phone to reread the message that he read shortly after his fight with Homura. Part of him remembered scratching his phrase "Blessed be this Place" into the cave wall, occasionally looking down to the text to consider the situation. Then he would panic, take a breath, and resume his writing. But, no matter how he looked at it, the sender of said message, Yumi, was a force that he couldn't dare to reckon with. Miyabi's inexperience with intimacy saved him from confronting her feelings, Asuka's willingness to give time offered the young man a temporary way out, and Homura's circumstances paved the way for a reasonable excuse to leave.

But Yumi was different. She was the leader among her four sisters, all of whom appeared to be very open and familiar with one another's feelings. In addition to that, her subconscious yearning for control implied an impatience that wouldn't wait for an answer. Throw in the fact that Homura's circumstances were unlikely to be replicated, it was practically impossible that the young man would have an out from any potential meeting with Yumi.

Thus, after thinking his response out, the young man replied after a pause within his cave writing, "Thank you for your kind wishes. Unfortunately, I will be busy for the next few days. I'll notify you once I'm ready for a get-together."

As he left the forest behind and waved uncomfortable goodbyes to Yomi and Haruka, the young man couldn't help but feel dread for the following day. He'd go home, do his homework, and clean his clothes for school on Monday… but he knew that chaos was cursed on him. Just like the last three days, something imposed by Yumi would happen and he knew that he'd have no choice but to go along with it.

He'd always been like that. It was just fortunate that the young man was no longer a slave to wretched people. Instead, they were replaced by well-meaning and impulsive girls who just held an attraction to him… but, alas, he was still a slave.

April 19 – "There are times when someone needs to get aggressive and go all-out. Some moments in life just require it, lest that someone either misses out on something or, worse, is forced to kneel to some undeserving and malevolent force… then there are times to take a step back in spite of one's desires. It's a tough call but it can be the difference between stability and insanity."

Just a block away from the young man's apartment, Oda continued his stoic approach after patting at the blade underneath his coat. He'd gathered all of his recordings on the infiltrator's activities and was prepared to confront him head-on, ready to do whatever was necessary to see his vision of justice served. Though, by that point, the larger man had set aside his animosity for the boy and was prepared to offer what leniency he could: either a quick death or a secret trial followed by certain life imprisonment. As far as Oda was concerned, that was fair for any outlaw… especially if the resulting consequences for any action ended with facing off against the boy's brother, Tsao.

A snort blew out of the man's nose before he shook his head. However much he'd like to put on a macho appearance as one of the strongest shinobi to walk the Earth… there was an ungodly force built within Tsao, one which almost made Oda reconsider going after the monster's youngest brother. It wasn't as though anyone would blame the old man either, considering that the veteran infiltrator had a kill record that went into the triple digits over the course of a decade. On one of the last occasions that Oda got a visual on the demon, Tsao parried the blades of seven shinobi and had swiftly cut their necks in a span of no more than ten seconds… then there was everyone else that died that night, all of whom were elite shinobi with years of hardened experience. In recent years, he also came with a platoon of infiltrator goons who worshiped the floor he walked upon. In shorter words, Tsao was the most dangerous human being in all of Japan. It was almost impossible to believe that he was even human. But, alas, he was.

As much as any shinobi would like to proclaim that their cruel scourge was a heartless monster who existed only to challenge their existence, it was also a known fact that the beast had a fierce protectiveness for his family. Even when he had fired a shotgun slug straight into a young child's face for the sake of sending a meager warning, Tsao had only done so because he was trying to protect his brother, Haruo. It was a fact that begged the question: what hope was there in successfully apprehending those that Tsao loved for the long-term?

Oda intended to find out. He marched his way in front of the young man's apartment under a high noon sun and began to ascend the stairs, determined to get to the beginning of his own end. In great anticipation for the confrontation to come, the large man balled up his hands and clenched his jaw all while planning out the line, "I am placing you under arrest for your crimes of espionage and terrorism against Japan…" It was extremely barebones and Oda wasn't even sure if he'd even gotten it right. But, regardless of how shaky his nerves were becoming, he intended to move forward. It was a matter that his principles rested on.

As Oda got closer, he suddenly heard the young man's voice yelling from his apartment, "-the knob is missing…! No, the door is still up and on its hinges but the knob was busted off- hold up. Stand… sit… Good boys. Sorry what? It didn't fall- OI! I'm trying to tell you that- SHUT YOUR HOLE! I've been trying to reach you for days and you're calling me an ass? No, fuck you. Replace the door or refund me the deposit so I can do it myself… Because there's a fucking hole in my door- hey! Not now- fine. Hold on. Stand… sit… Good boys. I'm back- no, I wasn't talking to you! There're two dogs in my apartment right now, an issue which could have been avoided if you would just replace the damn door!"

Oda was completely baffled for a moment and couldn't help but peek his head inside to survey the scene. The young man stood with his phone up to his ear while occasionally petting two wolves who certainly did not belong in his apartment. In fact, when Oda took a closer look, the canines were the very same that belonged to Murakumo… Then that sparked another question: what were they doing with the young man? While the Oda tried to figure the situation out, the white wolf, Kotarō, nudged his snout against the young man's hand before offering a few playful bites. In return, the boy halted his conversation on the phone before reaching down to a plate of food. He raised a bit of bacon into the air, "Stand…" and Oda couldn't believe his eyes when both dogs stood on their hind legs. Then the young man said, "Sit," and the wolves obeyed in kind. Having satisfied his demands, both dogs were rewarded their greasy treats, "Good boys."

Then the young man's eyes turned to the doorway to find Oda and his skin turned absolutely pale. A female voice, whom both men recognized as Jasmine, kept yammering away on the phone before the younger of the two stuttered, "Hey… the guy from Hanzō's restaurant is in here and I'm not sure how I should be reacting…" A few seconds passed before the woman's voice returned in a way that sounded an awful lot like patronization to Oda. "No, it's not Kiriya. It's the big dude." Then came a few more chitters of confusion. "The really big dude- okay, seriously. Beside Hanzō, Kiriya, and me, what other guys were in the restaurant?"

The line on the young man's phone suddenly went silent before an audible click was heard. The boy narrowed his eyes, reflecting his distinct feeling of sarcasm and dread, before turning up to Oda to give a slow wave. In turn, Oda only asked, "That was Jasmine, yes?"

"The landlord who's not good at being a landlord… or a decent person in recent memory? Yes," replied the young man. As lighthearted as he tried to pass himself off as, there was a very readable layer of tension to his every syllable.

"Such is the consequence of relying on a woman who has more experience in fighting than managing buildings…" The tone in Oda's voice fell and turned grim. Regardless of the young man's display of humanity a minute before, the larger man couldn't allow himself to tarry any longer. Who knew if the infiltrator had a way to warn his oldest brother? Who knew if Tsao, himself, wasn't already watching at that very moment…?

"I wasn't aware she was a fighter," muttered the boy, his voice betraying the lie that he was poorly trying to sell.

"Don't try and be deceitful with me, please," grumbled Oda, "We both know for fact that you're aware of what she is. Aren't you?"

The young man's eyes weren't blinking anymore. While the two wolves beside him continued to nuzzle his hands, apparently ignoring the large shinobi's presence, the boy's lips were pulled thin and grimaced while his mind tried to think up a solution or an escape. But he had none. If it were any other shinobi, he could stand a chance by leaping for the window. But Oda wasn't just a mass of muscle. From what he'd heard in a few scarce conversations with the girls, the old shinobi could only be rivaled by Hanzō in speed. So, without much thought, the young man could only suck in a breath and mutely say, "I suppose I am…"

Oda took a few steps forward, "So, you're admitting to it?"

"I suppose I am," came a louder reply, etched with indignance, before the boy yelped, "Ah!" and looked down to his side. The black wolf, Kagerō, landed a lighthearted bite that broke a bit of skin before repeatedly poking his nose into the young man. In turn, the infiltrator murmured, "Fine, fine… Gods, give me strength," and reached toward the plate on his counter. He held to treats up, "Stand," and watched as the dogs obeyed, "Sit," and halfheartedly threw two pieces of bacon into the air before either dog brought their paws back to the ground.

The cute scene begged Oda to ask, "Why just those two tricks? Why not ask for them to 'roll over' or 'play dead' for a change?"

Putting an irritated look onto his face and questioning how the man threatening his life could be so bold as to so suddenly change the subject, the young man replied curtly, "I forgot to mop the floor last night and I don't want their fur to get dirty."

"It's just a little dust," grumbled Oda, "and they're dogs- sorry, wolves… What damage would it do?"

The young man snorted, "You ask that but here you are."

The gorilla of a man stood silently for a moment before whispering under his breaths, "So I am…" and scratched the front of his burly chest. Without much consideration, he pointed to the two canines and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, what're they doing here?"

After taking a moment to scratch at both wolves' ears, the young man replied, "I don't really know, if I'm honest."

Oda's eyebrows twisted in confusion, "You don't know?"

"Not even slightly," came the sure answer without even a hint of dishonestly, "I woke up this morning, cooked some bacon, burned it crispy, called Jasmine, started to get pissed- next thing I know, two large dogs come through my front door, and they both start pawing at me like a couple of dirty beggars…" To his comment, both dogs cocked their heads to the side as if to offer rebuttal. In turn, the young man grumbled, "Yeah, I'm telling the truth about you two. I'll see you both in court for the reparations." He then proceeded to pleasantly rub at both dogs' sides, "Won't I? Won't~ I?"

Seeing the infiltrator that he'd been hunting in such a way tugged a bit at Oda, calling for him to save the issue for another day. By the way both dogs rolled onto their backs so that the young man could pet their stomachs, they would have also been in agreement with that voice… But the shinobi had a job to do. He had to uphold the law that he swore himself to. If he failed, then how could he face his wife and daughter? How could Oda tell them that he wasn't the principled man that he boasted himself out to be? If there was something that Oda feared, it was the thought of being branded a liar and a deceiver by the two people whom he loved the most.

Thus, the large man cleared his throat and gestured for the door, "Shall we?"

Looking up from his position beside the wolves, the young man shook his head and quietly declared, "You're free to stay if you want to make conversation… but if you've come to arrest or threaten me, I'll give you two options: kill me or get out."

There wasn't any pause before Oda retorted, "If a terrorist like you thinks that you get to set those options, then I'm afraid you're going to get a harsh lesson."

"What exactly defines me as a terrorist?" asked the young man, "What have I done to you or any shinobi that has brought even the slightest harm? Because, from all that I've seen across my time here, I've corrected four cases of distortion all while getting my ass handed to me left and right. While everyone else is partying away and getting into their, presumably, usual shenanigans, I feel like I'm carrying a whole lot of weight all by myself with no one really extending a hand to help! Expressions of worry? Sure. Encouraging words? Cool. But I still feel like I'm walking a minefield all by myself. For what? To help them! What fucking grounds do you have to call me a terrorist?"

"You're an infiltrator," stated Oda, "You're a member of one of the most invasive groups to all shinobi, just barely behind dignitaries. Who knows what crimes you're capable of and have already committed?"

Blowing out air through his teeth, the young man took a step towards Oda. His eyes burned with a fury that the man had witnessed many times before, "Am I being charged for crimes that you suppose I'm going to commit? Is that the bull you've got going for yourself?"

"I was merely explaining that you are in a position that is very capable of evil," said Oda as coldness began to take his voice, "and I intend to make sure that you never act on those capabilities."

"I could say the same thing about the shinobi," retorted the young man. He threw his hands into the air, "For fuck's sake," and gestured to Oda, "take a look at your own position, asshole. As a shinobi, aren't you just as capable of evil? Aren't there shinobi whom you and all the rest of the government declare evil? Fuck! There IS an official faction of evil shinobi and you are completely unafraid to call them as such! But, from what I've seen at Hanzō's restaurant, you appeared to be pretty friendly with them the other day, you fucking hypocrite!"

"Don't raise your voice at me."

The young man charged forward until he was toe to toe with Oda, "Fuck you! Fuck you for coming into my apartment, seeking to arrest me for crimes that you presume I'm going to commit while calling me evil, and then getting pissed when I get pissed! Fuck you and the high horse that you're riding on, you fucking arrogant shit!"

By that point, the young man was breathing unsteadily and had to crane his head up to meet the eyes of the old man before him. Angry tears stung at the corner of his eyes while he tried his ultimate to not think about whatever was to come next. It was only when Oda grumbled, "Did you get it out of your system or do you have more you want to say?" that the young man broke away his line of sight and turned back around before beginning to tremble. Somewhere from outside his door, he thought he'd heard a whistle of sorts.

The young man started, "Not even slightly…" before whipping his head around to glare at Oda, "There's far too much that I want to tell you and the rest of your bunch. So, let's get this over with! GET OUT-" The young man found himself cut off once the two wolves, who'd been sitting idly on the floor, suddenly pounced forward and bit down on the sleeves of his shirt. Without warning, the boy was pulled forward past Oda and toward the door, his feet dragging against the floor while he tried to pull away. He sputtered and cursed a few times, "What's going- what the hell!? What're- Let go! Let go!" but the dogs maintained their grips and continued to pull for the exit.

Oda did a doubletake from the sight before beginning to follow after, bumbling out, "What? What is this? What the hell is this!? Where're they taking you?"

Before any sarcastic remark could be made, the infiltrator was out the doorway and a pair of hands suddenly reached from around the corner. Before he knew it, the young man was hefted up and out of the wolves' grip and onto the shoulders of a woman wearing a red haori with a flower trim. Her deep voice spoke out, "Continue this another day."

If Oda didn't call out, "Murakumo, would you mind telling me what you're doing?" the young man would have started to try and kick himself free. But, knowing that he was in the arms of an ally, he relaxed and allowed for himself to be carried off with the two wolves following close behind.

"We'll discuss this another day," declared Murakumo, who marched away toward the stairs with the boy still bouncing on her shoulders.

Oda wouldn't have any of her resistance. He reached into his coat and was prepared to draw the weapon he'd kept hidden underneath, "Drop him and surrender yourselves now. I don't want to have to do anything rash." There was a very slight crack to his voice that told the young man that he really didn't want to harm the girl.

"Do as you will," ordered Murakumo before giving the boy a showy and deliberate bounce, "but I will not allow you to unfairly question him any longer. You can wait until we're all gathered and can face the consequences together." Without delay or taking any time to check on how Oda planned to retaliate, the masked girl clambered down the stairs without another word. It only took the young man a moment to notice the distinct sound of her nervous and heavy breathing quietly echoing from underneath the mask.

For a brief moment, Oda had pulled out the kodachi that he had hidden underneath his coat. Then a different thought occurred to him and he left it in its scabbard. While he watched from the second-floor balcony as Murakumo carried off the young man down the sidewalk, a few ideas ran through the large man's head and beckoned him to rub his chin in consideration. He snorted scornfully and pulled out his phone, carefully dialing a number with his large sausage fingers, and held the device up to his ear.

"Jirō, this is Oda… I need you drop whatever you have planned for tomorrow."

Meanwhile, the young man continued to bounce along on Murakumo's shoulders as her movement steadily got more and more frantic. Eventually, once her energizing bravado had run dry, the girl stepped off toward an alley and set the boy to his feet. As the weight of everything that happened settled on their shoulders, both teens took a heavy breath and nearly keeled over. After a few seconds, the young man slumped against once of the alley walls and asked, "You realize what you've just done, right?"

While the boy couldn't believe that she'd stuck her neck out to Oda, Murakumo quietly replied, "Yeah," as she squeezed a hand underneath her mask and rubbed her forehead.

Taking in the fact that she was visibly thrown off by her own actions, the young man sucked in a breath of air and stammered, "I'm not sure what it's worth… but thank you. Thanks for getting me out of there with my heart still in my chest."

"Don't be," mumble Murakumo, who turned her head away, "I only did so because you're the only one capable of curing our distortion… and because Yumi- actually, no. It's just the distortion."

To that remark, the boy smiled tiredly and said, "You say that like you should be ashamed." After a moment of consideration, he clicked his tongue and shook his head, "Regardless, thank you. I appreciate it greatly." Both of them proceeded to sit quietly for a moment before a question popped into the young man's head, "What were you doing there in the first place?"

An embarrassed, "Eh…" echoed from Murakumo's mask before she turned her head away, "I was looking for Kotarō and Kagerō…"

"Why were they in my apartment…?"

"No reason…"

"I'm sure…"

Both remained in the alleyway for a few minutes more, trading glances and hanging their heads in realization of all that had happened within the last fifteen minutes. But, well aware of the fact that wallowing in self-pity wouldn't produce any results, Murakumo straightened herself and reached down to the young man, "C'mon. We're heading to Gessen Academy. Yumi's waiting for us there."

"Waiting for us, you say?" asked the young man as he took the hand.

There a brief pause in the masked girl's voice before she nodded, "Yeah. I volunteered to bring you over when she told me that you declined her invite. Sorry that things aren't going the way you wanted them."

After being hoisted to his feet, the young man considered his issues with going to Gessen Academy. Part of him was about to voice his desire to refuse before he realized something clearly. He shook his head and mumbled, "Well, what's the harm… especially considering the fact that Oda isn't going to let this go. I might as well go and prolong my life for a bit longer."

"Let's not think about that for now," ordered Murakumo as she held up a finger, "We'll get you to Yumi and, with her being a lot more knowledgeable than me, she'll be able to think up something."

Sitting in front of her vanity at Gessen Academy, Yumi let out a soft sneeze and reached over for a tissue. While rubbing her nose, she silently cursed herself as little smudges of blush and lipstick were wiped away from her lips and cheeks. A frustrated sigh blew out of her mouth before she shook her head and went about reapplying her makeup. It wasn't often that Yumi got herself together in such a way. But, if everything went according to plan, she would be joyfully embracing the young man in a few hours' time.

As Murakumo went about rounding the boy up, an extreme measure that Yumi regretted in the tiniest way, Yozakura was cooking up a meal mixed with foods both traditional and modern, snacks that were spicy and sweet, along with deserts hot and cold. According to the blue-haired girl, the most crucial step to the lunch was watching what the young man ate and burning it into memory so that Yumi would be able to pleasantly surprise him in the future. Though Minori, whose head was deep into cutting and crafting different decorations for the occasion, was confused and wondered aloud why they didn't just set out a bunch of desserts and dig in from there, everyone else expressed great confidence in the plan.

Just as Yumi finished applying the lipstick, she heard her phone vibrate off to the side. Upon picking it up, she found that Shiki had asked yet another question in regards to setting up phase two of the plan.

"Are you thinking something sexy or cute?"

Though Yumi was about to immediately answer in favor of the latter, she took a glance at herself in the mirror. The makeup was firmly applied and noticeable but still came off as extremely natural and elegant. It took all of the resistance that she could muster to not reach up and stroke the mascara on her eyelashes, which were slightly itchy and protruding seductively to the side. Then there was the breathtaking kimono that she wore. While its sky-blue color palette complemented her pale skin and gave a lovely contrast to her hair, the design of flowers sprouting from snowflakes was the true show stealer. Considering how quickly Yumi managed to accomplish the lovely fabric, she was extremely proud of it. Then there was the white kanzashi that Murakumo expressed her fondness for… Truly, as Minori put it, Yumi came off as a princess from the heavens above when she wore such a garb.

But then there was a question: was it just beautiful, a little cute, or extremely sexy? As much as Yumi wanted to answer Shiki by texting back, "Cuteness is justice!" or a similar line, there couldn't be any doubt about some of the kimono's more… mature designs.

It was very deliberately designed to bring about the young man's attention, which meant opening up the top of the dress so that Yumi's breasts stuck out a bit and then tightening it so that they seemed to bulge ever slightly. As embarrassing as she felt, it couldn't be denied that the girl's appearance would certainly be attention-grabbing. As Shiki said when she advised Yumi to execute such a bold strategy, "Boobs attract views and sell hard!" Then there was the matter of how short-cut the kimono's bottom lining was. It was fairly high above the knees and certainly warranted caution if Yumi wanted to bend over to pick something up from the floor. But it was design choice of her own volition. After all, if phase two was going to go the way that she wanted it to, she would need as much soft flesh as possible. The bottom of her thighs would certainly be essential to that plan.

Taking her whole appearance into account and biting back a bit of her shame, Yumi texted back to Shiki, "Sexy. Please, don't go overboard,"

No more than a few seconds later, Shiki sent a winking face emoticon along with two thumbs up. Fearful of whatever her sister had in mind, Yumi sighed and shook her head. Then her phone vibrated again and she grumbled, "Don't hype me up for it, just set it up and get it over with," and was prepared to lightly chide the blonde.

Then she read Murakumo's name and saw the top of her message from the notifications bar along with the fact that it was a group text to everyone in the Gessen elite.

"EMERGENCY! Kotarō and Kagerō tracked him to his apartment but Oda was there! We're on our way-"

Sent into a state of complete alarm, Yumi swiped onto her phone and opened the text message to read it in its entirety. There, Murakumo detailed the whole situation and how shaken up both she and the young man were over the matter. Nearly losing herself, Yumi began to fidget and had almost dropped her phone. She fortunately caught herself but the situation had changed drastically in a few short seconds.

A reply came from Minori first, "MURAKUMOE GET AWAY FROM ODA GE'S GOING TO HURT YOU BITH! WE'L BE WAITING FOR YOU HERE AND WIL GETEVERYONE ELSE OVERHERE TO SVAE YOU!"

Yozakura then sent out a more sensible text, "Are either of you hurt?" followed by, "Minori, calm down. They're already on their way."

Murakumo then texted, "Again, we're both just shaken up. We'll be at the academy within the next half-hour. Do we cancel the plan?"

Shiki proceeded to send a few gifs of two angry heads shaking before answering, "I know we're in a dangerous scenario, but we shouldn't lose all of our progress in the plan because of this. Let's keep calm, eat our lunch, let Yumi execute phase two, and then we can discuss what to do while she and her lover-boy hold hands to comfort one another."

Minori commented, "That sounds so cute!"

Then Yozakura retorted, "The situation has changed too much for us all to just go along with that! In case you haven't realized, Oda is a serious man who is likely going to be confronting all of us very soon. We need to think about what we're going to do and what we're going to say!"

Minori answered, "Fair…"

Then Murakumo sent her final message, "Yumi, I'm sorry, but we'll need you to be the deciding voice in this. What do you want for us to do?"

Reading through the wall of texts that had suddenly enveloped her phone, the ice queen of Gessen Academy felt her face turn hot and itchy as the pressure came down on her. In a matter of minutes, her conflict of just trying to woo the young man had turned into a complex scenario of dire proportions. If Oda was truly onto them all and was on the move to intercept the boy then the answer was plain and obvious: they would have to drop most of the plan. There wouldn't be any comfortable talks on the couch about whatever came to mind nor would it be appropriate to try and hold hands while suggesting a movie.

After taking a moment to think, Yumi answered, "Yozakura, I'll come help you set out the food while we wait for Murakumo's arrival." When typing the young man's name, the girl had to refrain from adding any emoticons, "Minori, feel free to finish whatever decorations you're on but please be in the dining room within fifteen minutes. Shiki, give me a moment to text you. Let's calm ourselves down over lunch and then discuss our course of action with clear minds. If need be, we'll call Hanzō and Jasmine for advice. Let's avoid calling everyone else to avoid implicating them if a worst-case scenario comes to pass. Is everyone clear?"

Once a small round of affirmatives came in, Yumi nodded to herself before setting up message meant only for Shiki. After letting a bit of guilt flood through her, the girl texted, "If at all possible, please leave up anything you've set up for phase two."

It didn't take a second for the blonde to send a winking emoji followed by a, "I had no intention of letting my effort go to waste anyway."

Though she felt bad for even contemplating the idea, Yumi didn't to put off her romantic intentions for the young man just because Oda made a sudden appearance. At the end of the day, she wanted to be with the one who'd saved and consoled her. In an attempt to save some face with herself, Yumi muttered, "Who knows… Maybe I'll be able to soothe him or calm him down… or something…"

Not too long after her text, she finished prepping herself and made her way down to their personal dining room to help Yozakura in setting the table up with the wide variety of meals she'd cooked. It was truly a bit tragic, considering the fact that she'd made such a meal with the intention to celebrate a happy occasion of a man and woman, perhaps, coming together under the banners of love. Instead, it was being set out as a means to calm everyone down while they thought out their next move. Fortunately, Yozakura didn't seem too down about it.

Shortly after, Minori and Shiki came down to help prep the finishing touches, pulling some rolls from the cupboards and producing a few condiments. Then, as everyone was taking their seats, the sound of a door closing echoed from the adjacent hallway. Their eyes rose from their plates and watched as the door opened to reveal Murakumo and the young man walking in with tired postures as the former's dogs trotted in and found their food bowls. Just by the look on the boy's face and the dimly shaking arms of Murakumo, everyone could tell that they were still rattled by their run-in with Oda. There was a quiet murmur from around the table, "Hello," before the two were pointed to open seats.

Murakumo immediately sat herself down and leaned onto her elbows, something that Yozakura usually would have scolded her for. But the mood was too heavy to be so trivial. Then there was the young man, who idled a bit by the door before slowly stepping forward to an open seat. He glanced back and forth, making sure that there was nothing wrong with him taking that particular chair, before he pulled it back and sat down. His eyes were narrow and his face was grim but Yumi recognized the way that his shoulders ever slightly shook. It was the same as when they were both in her head and were finishing the correction. He was scared. Just like before, the young man had faced off against a force that could have killed him and he'd lived to tell the tale… But he was still scared of what could have happened and of whatever was going to come next.

While Yumi lowered her eyes, Yozakura broke the silence, "Please, feel free to eat." Though Murakumo nodded and slightly lifted the bottom of her mask to dig in, the young man remained still for a moment. A few seconds passed before Yozakura called him out by name and asked, "Are you alright?"

His eyes popped open and his body jumped in its seat before he turned over to the girl, "Sorry… and thank you for the meal."

However young as he was, everyone in the room could foresee the gray hairs sprouting on the boy's head as he repeatedly lost himself in thought. When Minori tried to start a conversation, he gave no answer while his fingers shook up and down to slightly tap against the table in-between bites of the night's appetizer dish, a yakitori skewer. Once his preset plate had been finished, the young man just sat silently and stared off into space with a look that shifted between anger, sorrow, and exhaustion. After nearly three minutes of him just sitting with an empty plate, Yozakura brought herself to ask, "Aren't you still hungry? Did you have a large breakfast or lunch?"

"Nothing much…" replied the young man without much thought, his eyes still lost and unfocused. Then, as if he smacked himself in the face, the boy turned to her and murmured, "Sorry… again. If it's alright, I'll grab some more…"

"Please, go ahead…"

"Thank you."

Part of Yumi wanted to study what foods the young man went after, seeking out ideas for herself to prep on future dates. She'd been wondering about whether or not he'd prefer the chicken dumplings, the salmon donburi, or perhaps the specially made spinach gomae. But his hands seemed to just drift mindlessly between the platters of food. Though his eyes were actively moving and his hands were using tongs to plop food onto his plate, the young man's mind was still far off. Then, just as he was resting himself back into his seat, a grunt emanated from his throat while a look of realization came over his face. Without warning, he set the plate down and turned to Murakumo, "Thank you for showing up when you did…"

From behind her mask, the woman replied, "It's fine."

"No, it's not," replied the young man with the tiniest crack in his voice. He leaned forward into the table and rested his head upon a hand, "At this point, it's… it isn't fine at all."

Sensing that he was on the verge of collapse, Shiki turned over to Yumi and tapped her spoon against the table. When her older sister turned to her, the blonde used the utensil to point to the young man and then to the door. Needing to take a moment to process the implication, a look of dismay came over Yumi as she mouthed the words, "Right now?" Again, Shiki tapped at the table, pointed at the young man, and then to the door. The message was extremely firm and clear. Yumi nodded her head, "Alright."

The girl stood from her chair and rounded over to the young man, whose fingers were actively trying to painfully dig into his forehead. She tapped him on the shoulder, to which he didn't respond at first, before lowering herself to wrap her arms around his abdomen to heft him up. Feeling his weight suddenly lift from the chair, the young man had to take a moment to remember what he was doing. He blinked and turned his head as much as he could to Yumi, asking, "Hu-WHA! What're you doing? Where're we going!?"

But the girl only murmured gently, "Just bear with me for a moment," as she took a moment to lean his body to one arm. Then, after giving him a bit of a bounce, she moved her other arm to wrap under his knees. Once Yumi was carrying the young man bridal style, she continued to haul him toward the door that led into a deeper hallway. Once at the door, she turned around to the table and asked, "Could one of you get this?"

As Minori stood up and began to gallop over, the young man stammered with a red face, "You can put me down! I can walk, I can walk!"

"Just bear with it, please," retorted Yumi as she stepped aside for the pigtailed girl to open the door. Upon hearing the doorknob's click, she surged forward and mouthed a thanks to her sister before stepping out into the hallway. The door closed behind her and everyone else was left to contemplate the situation by themselves, though they wouldn't be able to think of any proper resolution without their dearest sister on hand. Until she was done with the young man, they would just have to wait out the discomfort.

Back in the hallway, Yumi continued to carry her protesting object of affection until she finally found the door to the sparring room. A few thoughts rang through her head, some of them reflecting worries about what Shiki might have done to try and set a sexy mood in the room previously. But the young man's worrying behavior was at the forefront of her focus. Thus, she planned to merge phase two of her grand operation with her intentions to comfort the young man. For as long as the situation's stress continued to eat away at him, Yumi would not be able to sit comfortably nor think clearly. She didn't think it was something he deserved. Especially after what he'd done to relieve her own anxieties.

After a moment of standing in front of the sparring room, Yumi turned her eyes to the young man in her arms, "Could you open the door?"

"Or you could put me down," said the boy with narrowed eyes, "then you could open it yourself."

"Please," murmured Yumi, her eyes turning soft to plead with him.

The young man tried to resist but found himself without another choice. Breathing heavily and muttering under his breath, he reached one of his free hands over and slid the door open and quirked a brow once slow jazz began to echo from out of the room. Immediately, Yumi charged inside, used her foot to kick the extended frame, and listened as the door slammed shut behind her. Then she took in the majesty of Shiki's work and felt her jaw ever slightly drop.

While a stimulating jazz lulled in the background, Shiki had set up crimson wallpapers across every wall in the entire room. Having temporarily forgotten the fact that said walls were once a blue and white shade, Yumi advanced a bit to find that her sister had also moved their sofa from the living room and plopped it right in the center of the floor. With as much care as she could muster in her awestruck state, the elder sister dropped the young man onto said sofa and began to observe the other surroundings. Hanging from the ceiling was a sling of numerous flowers and snowflakes modeled from the design on her kimono. At that moment, Yumi realized that the lights were steadily beginning to dim. Though it took a bit of looking around, she quickly realized that Shiki must've set up a timed delay from when the door was opened. In addition to the numerous other features in the room, including the plush heart-shaped pillows on the sofa and the rose pedals scattered across the floor, Yumi was actually very impressed by Minori and Shiki's decorative efforts.

It was a terrible shame that circumstance had thwarted them all.

After huffing a heavy breath, Yumi walked over to the music player and turned it off before flipping the lights back on. Once the room was as normal as it could get for the moment, the girl then moved to the couch and sat beside the young man. Facing the prospect of a surely judgmental gaze, Yumi's face began to heat up while a terrible itch ran down her back. But she never heard him say anything. It took a bit of time for her to muster some bravery but Yumi managed to turn her head around to find the young man was leaning toward the far side of the sofa with one of his arms covering his eyes like someone who was desperate for sleep. After a moment of silence, the girl asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm tired…" came the boy's hoarse reply.

"Ah… sorry," murmured Yumi as she averted her gaze away. Then she remembered why she'd brought him in there in the first place. If only for the sake of repaying the debt she felt she owed for his correction, she dug around her head for words before beginning to yammer, "I'm… sorry the room is decorated in the way it is… All of this is… Hm… Ah…"

"Yumi…"

The girl jumped before nodding her head, "Yes?"

"I know…"

Her eye's shot open and her body froze up. Peeking out from underneath his arm, the young man lifted his head a bit before offering a sympathetic look with a veil of guilt. In the meantime, Yumi was doing her utmost to keep from shaking while trying to figure out how he'd discovered her crush on him so quickly and calmly. Part of her considered the notion that the young man had merely deduced it upon entering the room, especially since all of the decorations had left it fairly obvious. Yet, he seemed almost too calm and reserved about the matter, like he'd known it for a while. Maybe he was just much more overwhelmed by the threat of Oda but Yumi thought that a revelation like her liking him would have gotten a bit more reaction. Otherwise, he could've also just be immune since Asuka had already confessed to him. The only other option would have been if he'd heard Shiki a few nights before…

Yumi blinked once and felt a plain expression settle on her face as she considered about strangling her youngest sister, remembering just how loud and teasing her 'whisper' was. Then she reminded herself that it wasn't the time to fret.

Just as Yumi was about to say something, the young man piped up, "Are you alright?"

Her eyebrows rose briefly before they contorted downward. She lifted herself and slid toward the young man so that she could reach and grip his shoulders. Once he was in her hold, she declared, "I'm supposed to ask you that."

With unblinking eyes, the young man stated, "You already did. I've told you already… I'm tired…"

"Just tired?" asked Yumi as her expression grew more serious by the second.

Though her question was simple, it tripped up whatever the young man was planning to say. He fidgeted a bit before taking a heavy breath and turning his head away, "Of course not… I'm… also bit scared… a bit nervous… pretty angry- no. I'm actually pissed right now. I'm pissed at Oda, I'm pissed at my brothers, at the world… and I'm sorry to say it, but I'm also pissed at you guys…" Yumi flinched at his words while he raised an assuring hand, "Granted, it isn't entirely reasonable… You guys didn't ask for distortion nor can you control… the way you feel… But still… there's that."

For a moment, the girl's eyes fell somberly as she felt a few pangs of hurt stab into her. Then she dared to murmur, "So it's… partly the fact that you're here for our distortions that's… upsetting you…?"

"That…" whispered the young man as he turned back to face her, "and the fact that you… no, not just you. It's you, Homura, Asuka, and even Miyabi… All of you have…" Needing to take a moment, he covered his face and leaned against a hand before stating, "I'm sorry if this sounds arrogant coming from my mouth, but all of you very evidently have feelings for me."

Though her head remained toward the young man, Yumi's eyes shifted away as she mumbled, "…it's not arrogant if it's true… which I know it is for Miyabi and Asuka… though," before turning them back to face him, "has Homura done something to say so? From all I've seen, she's had feelings for Asuka."

"She does have feelings for Asuka… She also confessed her other feelings for me last night," admitted the young man.

Yumi's instincts immediately tried to make her jump up and freak out at the density of her competition. But her focus remained on the boy who sat beside her. For as long as he remained in the pitiful state that he was in, she wouldn't let her attention be diverted to lesser issues. One of her hands went up and began to rub the young man's shoulder as she soothed to him, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, none of us will get mad at you… just because there's some competition doesn't mean we're going to take it out on you."

"That isn't the issue," stated the boy as he trembled a bit under Yumi's touch, "The issue is this whole… overcomplicated web of exhausting bull that only the most paranoid lunatic would think up…" He lifted himself from both his hand and the sofa before beginning to pace around the room, gesturing wildly as he ranted, "If there's a confession and I reject it, then all the people I'm trying to correct may subconsciously regard me as cruel. If there's a confession and I accept it, I'm someone to keep an extensive eye on until I've proven worthy of accepting that confession," he waggled a finger at Yumi, "But wait! That's just with the confessor's team! The matter is quadruple-complicated when there's four groups of shinobi, each one containing a girl who's made her feelings known!"

Yumi's jaw went a bit slack as she commented sympathetically, "It's an extremely difficult situation," before standing herself up with extended arms, "but if there's anything I-" but was immediately caught off when the young man let out a frustrated cry and gripped his hair.

"There isn't anything that can be done though!" groaned the boy, "I've already told you that accepting and rejecting any of the four of you would produce bad results, but then there's the alternatives. With it being pretty much public knowledge that you guys like me, there's going to be an unwavering expectation that I give an answer! If I don't, I'm just stringing you guys along and that'll make me an asshole. Maybe if everyone was less in the know or if I came off as an indecisive fool, I'd be able to get away with it." The young man was brought to kneel down as the energy within him was beginning to drain. But, even as his frustrated tears began to sting against his eyes, he balled up a fist and smacked it against the side of his leg, "But that isn't where we are! Everyone knows your guys' feelings and that I'm aware of said feelings!"

After taking a moment to huff and puff, the boy stood himself up and continued to pace, "So, I try to think of a solution. Perhaps I gather everyone up and explain the situation and how the subconscious works? That might work for a while. But if you and everyone else's feelings aren't dropped, I'll still be the asshole stringing you guys along. Or perhaps I-" Without warning, the boy smacked both of his cheeks loudly and growled, "No. Spoiler alert: that plan wouldn't work either. Between the time I got home last night and now, I've thought up and calculated at least eight different approaches, each one careful and concise. Spoiler alert: NONE OF THEM WOULD WORK!" Having exhausted his energy, the boy collapsed onto the floor and had to fight to keep himself sat upright. Even still, he continued, "I'm screwed… That's the short version of it. Unless I'm sent a miracle, I'm just screwed and my whole goal of correcting everyone is dead on arrival. Then there's-"

A sob suddenly hiccupped from his throat that cracked his voice, "-fucking Oda… Of course, he had to arrive… Now, of all times, he had to arrive… Not after I determined the state of my crisis with you guys… not after I determined what the hell is up with fucking Sato… Now… He had to show up now… And with no other option, I can only throw a fucking tantrum on your floor while I wonder what's going to happen. Am I going to die? Am I going to prison for life? Will all of you also be punished? Where the fuck is Jasmine? I don't know any of that! I DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING AND I HATE IT!"

The young man rolled himself over to face the floor before pounding his fist hard against the wood, "WHAT DO I NEED TO DO!? WHAT CAN I DO TO GET OUT OF THIS!" As he continued to pound, the bitter tears that had long been threatening him finally began to flood out from his eyes, "SOMETHING! ANYTHING! FOR GODS' SAKE, JUST GIVE ME A LIFELINE! A CHANCE…! Fucking anything… Anything to at least FEEL like I've gotten a fair chance…"

His rant would have continued for much longer if Yumi hadn't knelt next to him to envelop the boy into her arms. In the same way that she comforted him at the end of her correction, she was holding him again, even tighter than before, and began to rub the back of his head with as much love as she could possibly give. At the time when all of the stress he'd been bottling up had come rushing out, she was there to embrace him.

Once his head was cradled under Yumi's jaw, the young man's crying only intensified. He began to mindlessly babble, "All of this bull… For what…? For a dirty conman? My own mother and father knowingly sent me into this contrived mess where there is no winning just to save my conman of a brother… THEY HAD A DECISION! A MURDERING BASTARD OR THEIR YOUNGEST SON!?" By that point he'd completely disregarded his notion to push away Yumi's affection. Like a small child, the young man clung onto her and cried into her collarbone, "And when I get angry and call them out… I'm disloyal… unfilial… my oldest brother's words, not mine. I'm a disloyal and unfilial brat who's already proven himself worthless for refusing to hold a blade… I ought to at least show my love by standing up for Haruo… A grown ass man, five years my senior, who deliberately handed my name over to fucking Jasmine and Hanzō…" After letting out a few coughs and pushing himself further into Yumi's hold, of which she was more than happy to allow, the young man sputtered, "And, after I've already bent over and have accepted this bull… It's situation after situation… Jasmine's yelling that I need to do something, that I can't be healed by whatever scroll she pulled out of her ass on my second day, then I can't reach her when I need help… when I do, I'm suddenly being called an ass…"

The boy pulled away and mindlessly grasped into the air, dropping his jaw as his puffy eyes continued produce stinging tears. After a bit of shaking, he stammered, "There has to be a limit… Like, I want to consider myself strong and I've done all I can to bite the bullet and hold out… but… there has to be a limit…"

Seeing the once stoic young man reduced into such a pathetic state nearly reduced Yumi into her own tears. Though she didn't know the full story behind how he'd been determined to come and correct everyone's distortions, she could see the toll that all of his stress had taken. Then she considered his issue with her and the other three girls' affection for him. While she, very thankfully, had never been put into a scenario where she was forced to turn away the love of her sister's or anyone else, Yumi couldn't imagine how lonely or isolating it must have felt. After all, by the way he was acting then, he didn't believe he had anyone to turn to. By the sound of it, he didn't talk to his family, he couldn't reach Jasmine or Hanzō, and bringing the issue to any of the girls would be counter-productive. With that single issue, he was absolutely on his own.

Almost instinctually, Yumi leaned forward to offer what she considered to be the most comforting thing her instincts could think of. When the young man looked up, the girl had lightly puckered her lips and was centimeters away from his forehead. Though he offered no resistance, he did clench his eyes closed in a fearful resignation that the girl was still going to pursue him despite the issue he had with that very thing.

His expression wasn't lost. Before her lips met his head, Yumi opened her eyes and caught the defeated look on the young man's face. She mentally slapped herself for not thinking her action all the way through before simply extending her arms to hold him. Weak to her touch and appreciative of her gesture, the young man leaned himself over into Yumi and allowed her to do whatever she pleased. In the end, she settled for just rubbing his head while murmuring soothing words, "We're all here for you… we're here…"

As Yumi patted her hand against the boy's head, she caught a glimpse of the sleeve to her kimono. Her eyes drooped a bit when she realized that the young man didn't even seem to notice the outfit which she'd slaved over to make… but then she realized she didn't really care. Even if it meant she'd have to take a temporary step back, Yumi was just happy that she could be there when the young man fell from his usually composed nature… and she would remain there for as long as he wanted her to be.