Chapter 32- September 9, 2011

Yusuke glanced over as Midori walked in. She looked at her feet as she dropped her bag by the couch. She said nothing as she headed towards the kitchen and grabbed an apple. "Hey, you okay?"

Midori said nothing as she walked back over to the couch and sat down, pulling out a textbook and opening it. She had been the same for the past couple days. She wouldn't get home till way late and then collapse and study until she fell asleep. Even Hoshimi seemed to not know what to do. Of course Hoshimi seemed to have something else on her mind these past couple days. She hadn't even cooked dinner.

"Midori!" Ukyo reached out and grabbed her hand. "Hey."

She looked up and in a faint voice said, "let go."

Yusuke let go and took a step back. Her eyes were blank and lifeless. She didn't even have the energy or care to yell at him. He took a step away and headed towards his room. He was just opening his door when he gritted his teeth. "Why? Stupid girl!" Instead of opening the door he slammed his fist into the wall.

"Jezz what did the poor wall do to you?"

"What do you want Fuuto?" Yusuke turned to look at his younger brother.

"I should be asking you that." Fuuto huffed. "You're the one who just hit the wall. What kind of idiot hits the wall while trying to open the door."

"Shut up. I'm just annoyed at something." Yusuke looked away so he could open his door. Just to show Fuuto he knew how to open a door.

"And that is what makes you hit the wall, really you are an idiot." Fuuto waved his hand dismissively. "But it doesn't really matter to me. I'm sure Ukyo will just take it out of your bank account if you damage the wall. But really if your so annoyed shouldn't you just fix it instead of hit the wall?"

Yusuke watched as his younger brother continued to walk away, chuckling to himself. "That jerk…. How am I ..." Yusuke thought of Midori. "Supposed to…. Fix…" Midori's usual smile and laugh floated through his head. When she would come home and play with the twins, and then Wataru would come in and then she would let him join in….. And when Yusuke would walk in she would invite him to join. Sometimes he would agree and she'd toss him a controller, or the game piece he would need. When he wouldn't… she would tease him for a minute but then let him go. Always with a smile on her face.

Yusuke closed his door and stormed back down. Midori hadn't moved, though her apple was gone. Tsubaki was there trying to talk to her, though she seemed to just ignore him. After a minute Tsubai gave up and walked away.

Yusuke waited until his older brother was gone before heading towards Midori. "Hey!" He walked over and grabbed her hand again.

Midori looked up at him and narrowed her eyes a little. Well at least there was a little more emotion there this time. "Let go."

"No." Yuske pulled her up. "I'm tired of this, now come on!" He pulled her up and dragged her towards the front door.

"Yusuke!" Midori complained, but even as she complained she let him drag her along. "Why?"

"Come on." Yusuke spotted his goal and pulled her along after him. "We're almost there, now come on."

"Yusuke?" Midori asked as he stopped in front of a small cafe not far from their house.

It was a small place that not very many people knew about, but Yusuke had found it years ago. "Come on in." Yusuke pulled her in. The cafe was pretty much empty, just the owner and his daughter who worked there. "Hey Miko, old man." Yusuke sat Midori down at the nearest bench. "Can we get two hot chocolates and an ice cream sundae?"

"Coming right up." The old man nodded.

Yusuke nodded and sat down. "Thanks." Then he turned and looked at Midori. "Talk…" He flushed slightly as he looked at her. It was almost… a date… just the two of them…. Did this count as a date?

Midori looked down. "What? You drag me out here and expect me to just talk? And what do you want me to talk about?" She bite her lip for a moment and then glared up at him. "I'm not-."

"You've been unhappy these past couple days." Yusuke shoved aside his thoughts of a date. "

"I…" Midori looked away. "I'm fine…. It's just dates."

"Dates?" Yusuke asked. She's going on dates.

"My parents…. They….. They want me to date a guy they choose…. And I bet they plan for me to marry him…. Even if I don't want to." She put her head in her hands. "I hate it… but…. I have to."

"Why?" Yusuke frowned. "You're an adult, you can make your own decisions."

"You wouldn't understand." Midori snapped at him. Her eyes seemed to be burning as she looked at him. "None of your siblings need to be protected from your parents! You're parents are nice!"

"So." Yusuke frowned. "Anyone can see you're miserable and I doubt that Hoshimi would want you to suffer so much for her. Besides I don't think Hoshimi needs to be protected by you being miserable. Instead you should talk to Hoshimi, and maybe Ukyo. I bet he could help. He is a lawyer."

"He can't do anything." Midori looked away.

"Dessert is served!" The girl, Miko, set the bowl and two cups in front of them. "Do enjoy." She turned and walked away.

"Midori…. Please at least give it a try, do you want to be miserable for the rest of your life? I know I can't stand seeing you this way."

"Why?" Midori looked him in the eyes. "Why do you care?"

"I…." Yusuke gulped as he met her eyes. Could he say it?... Could he admit his feelings. "I think this tastes delicious! You should have some!" Yusuke grabbed a mouthful of ice cream and took a large bite. Yeah… no he couldn't tell her… not yet. He regretted the bite almost instantly as he was hit with a huge brain freeze. "UGH!"

Midori started laughing.

"Don't laugh this hurts!"

"Well you shouldn't have taken such a huge bite." Midori covered her mouth as she snickered. "You're just asking for a brain freeze."

Yusuke groaned but then looked at Midori. She was smiling…. She was actually smiling. "See, you are looking better already."

"Alright…." Midori grabbed her own cup. "I'll talk to Ukyo when we get home….. But I would like to try that ice cream first." She took a sip of her hot chocolate and then leaned over and scooped off some ice cream with her finger and stuck it in her mouth. "Oh…. this is good."

Yusuke smiled. "I know right."

Ukyo looked at Midori and Yusuke. "So…. they are threatening Hoshimi's job unless you go on these dates?" He frowned.

"They are jerks." Yusuke grumbled.

"Agreed." Midori muttered. "But I… I don't know what to do about it all…. I don't want to go on any more dates with that creep, but….. I can't let…. I can't let Hoshimi suffer. Not for me."

Ukyo nodded. "I see…. So let me guess you and your parents don't have a good relationship?"

"Yeah." Midori sighed. "But…."

Ukyo held up a hand. "Let me deal with this. Invite them over for dinner. I promise I'll deal with this." He smiled.

"T-Thank you Ukyo." Midori looked over to see Yusuke beaming. "And thank you Yusuke, I'm glad you talked me into coming." Midori took a deep breath and pulled out her phone. This wasn't going to be the best call but maybe it could be one of the last.

Almost two hours later Midori was opening the door to find her parents and Rinko standing there. Their one condition to coming was Rinko had to come too. "Hi welcome, come on in." She led them to the kitchen to see Ukyo, Yusuke, Masaomi sitting at the table. Good no Hoshimi. "Um… This is Ukyo, Yusuke, and Masaomi Asahina. They are cousin Ema's brother."

"Hello." Her mother's voice could almost freeze the soup sitting at the table. "Midori insisted that we come join you for dinner."

"Hello." Ukyo stood up and held out his hand. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last time and I thought it might be nice to meet Midori and Hoshimi's family. I'm also here to alleviate any concerns you might have of your daughters staying with us."

"Yes I see." Mother didn't even take his hand as she walked over and sat down. Of course Father and Rinko followed. And even better they left the only seat open next to Rinko… Of course. But at least Midori would be across from Yusuke. He gave her a small smile and she felt a little tension leave her shoulders.

"We've got some delicious soup for dinner tonight." Ukyo said as he started serving the food. "I thought it might be nice to introduce as I served. I'm the second oldest in our family and I spend most of the time working as a lawyer."

Midori noticed her father perk up at that. Of course he would be impressed with the "fancy" job.

"I am Masaomi." The eldest took over. "I'm actually the oldest and am a pediatrician. I would also like to apologize that many of our family members weren't able to make it today. They all had work or in Wataru's case a study group."

"Completely understandable." Mother nodded. "Is this Wataru in high school?"

"He's still a little young for that, but he's part of a group project so he's over at a classmate's house for dinner and work tonight."

"Very good." Father added.

"Um…. I'm Yusuke." Yusuke suddenly looked a little sick. "I actually go to school with Midori… I'm still just studying."

"Have you decided on a career path yet?" Her mother asked.

"Well I… I was thinking about law enforcement."

"I would recommend for a young man like you to shadow your brother then. Much better path than actual police work. Though I guess if you rise up high enough you can become a commissioner and that's not too bad." Father rubbed his chin. "In fact I could introduce you to a friend of mine, he might be able to help with that."

Yusuke nodded. "Uh… right… thanks."

"What about yourselves?" Ukyo asked sitting down to his own food now.

"My name is Hiromi Nagami and this is my husband Kichiro. We both work at-."

Midori tuned out her mother and looked at Yusuke. Are you okay? She mouthed.

Yusuke nodded, though she could see his eyes darting around.

Sorry about them. Midori mouthed. And thanks again for being here. I'm really glad you're here.

Yusuke smiled again and locked eyes with her. She was pretty sure he mouthed your welcome… but her lip reading wasn't the greatest.

"I've actually worked with him before." Ukyo's voice caught Midori's attention. "I helped with some trouble a couple months back."

"You do really great work then." Her mother was actually smiling! What had Ukyo done to make her smile? "I can't believe I didn't recognize the name before. That is quite fantastic. I'll have to tell him that my daughter is staying with the man who worked wonders for him."

Ukyo just chuckled. "I just did what I've been taught."

"Next time we need help we'll have to call you up." Her father smiled. "Or just ask Midori to talk to you."

"Of course." Ukyo nodded.

Midori frowned. He wasn't supposed to be making friends with her parents. What was he doing? Midori dared him to look at her. She was ready to send him the dirtiest angriest look.

"Hey Ukyo have you seen my wallet?" Hoshimi's voice came from the entryway as she walked in digging through her bag. "I could have sworn I threw it in my bag this morning."

"I might have spotted it in the kitchen." Ukyo said standing up.

Hoshimi looked up and her face paled as she took in the dining room. "Oh… sorry I didn't realize I was… interrupting."

"You're fine, this is your home too." Ukyo walked into the kitchen, his voice carrying. "By the way I ran into your editor earlier today and we were talking. I managed to convince him to sign a five year contract. And I made sure it's not one he can get out of for any reason."

Midori froze. Was he…. Was he doing what she thought?

"R-Really? Why?"

"Well I was talking to him and telling him about another writer who got dropped when his ex girlfriend blackmailed the editor and lost everything. In this world sadly he said those kinds of things happen all the time. He got really worried about you and asked if I could help. I did my best and he said he'd show you tomorrow and get your signature to make it official, but that way anyone you write for can't drop you as long as he's your editor."

"He's such a sweetheart. I'll have to call him right away." Hoshimi smiled as Ukyo handed over her wallet. "And thank you."

"Of course. I know you love your job and I don't want anything to threaten it."

"You really are kind… Thank you." Hoshimi turned and nodded to the table. "It's good to see you, Mother and Father…. Enjoy your dinner." And then she was gone.

Ukyo smiled as he walked back to the table. "She really is lucky to have such a great editor. Some people truly do try to get people fired, especially when they don't have specific contracts. I can't stand those people and will do my best to make sure that they don't win."

"R…. right…" Father quickly spooned up some soup.

Ukyo shot a quick glance at Midori and then went back to eating.

"Yes… well… This has been wonderful but I do have a meeting I have to prep for." Her mother stood up. "Midori walk us out please."

Midori took a deep breath, "Yes mother." She followed her parents and Rinko towards the entrance in silence.

Once they reached the building entrance her mother stopped. "Midori about your-."

"I'm done mom." Midori interrupted her mother. "You can't threaten Hoshimi and I don't want to date Rinko." She shot him a glare. "He's not my kind of guy and I am not going to make myself miserable for you. So you can leave and come back when you are ready to acknowledge Hoshimi and let us be ourselves." Midori spun and headed back inside. "Good night!"

As soon as the door was closed Midori let out a deep breath. "Finally!" She grinned and headed upstairs. She couldn't wait to finish dinner and talk to Yusuke and his brothers. That would be so much nicer than spending time with Rinko. And she would never have to again.