Sho faced a dilemma when standing at the counter of the Shinjuku Regional Office and from the looks of it, the issue wasn't going to be resolved anytime soon.
"I'm sorry, sir, without proper I.D. we can't release personal records that you are requesting." The office worker says behind the plexiglass.
"Should we force our way in?" Arrow whispers her suggestion to her commander.
"No, we should be avoiding attention, so we'll go about this a different way." Sho tells her, before turning around to head outside.
Sure enough when outside, Sho tells Arrow of his plan and stops time. Arrow suddenly senses Sho behind her.
"Did you find your records, commander?"
"Unfortunately no, they have a complicated record-keeping system."
"Then we should use force to..."
"Calm yourself, there's another way."
Shinra was doing his usual duty of filling out paperwork even in hiding. He reaches for his signature stamp only to find it missing.
"Oi, onion knight, did you take my stamp?"
"Why would I take the mark of the devil?"
At a local café, Sho and Arrow give an intense look at the registration papers they picked up from the Regional Office. But what kind of registration papers you may ask, well, the one for marriage of course. Sho carefully fills out one side using his older brother's info, then seals the deed with Shinra's personal stamp making it look official. As for the partner, Arrow fills out as much as she could, being only a name and age.
"Commander, this may not work, since I am not a citizen of this country, I, therefore, lack an I. D. myself." Arrow states, holding her pen still.
"Do not worry about the red tape. I have learned that through marriage, one could receive citizenship here, thus the proper identification paperwork can be obtained. It seems word of brother's company being traitors have yet to reach the public, meaning they won't be questioning us being Kusakabe's. Also placing your roots as a native of the Chinese Peninsula, shouldn't be a cause to raise for suspicion either."
Filling out the rest, they decided to write down the Chinese Peninsula as her place of origin and no last name due to her culture. As for the immediate family members section, they put down Sho's name. Arrow dabs some red ink on her thumb and proceeds to press it against the paper, finalizing the document. Without wasting time, they head over to the Regional office. Luckily the front desk clerk was different, meaning that they were less likely to be questioned about their intentions.
"I would like to turn in this certificate for processing." Arrow says in a monotone voice.
"A...Ah sure. Oh my, marriage. How fortunate at such a young age." The middle-aged woman announces.
"Yes."
"Oh dear, it's not this young man is it?" She jokes.
"No, I am the little brother. She is marrying my older br... a fire soldier here in Tokyo." Sho interjects.
"Wow, I'm surprised those folks even have time for such things, but a blessing non the less. I see that you're from the Chinese Peninsula. Hmm? Any other family members?"
"It is only, the Comma... Sho and I. We are potato farmers and were once part of a tribe. That is why we hold no surname. Shinra was sent on a mission to the Chinese Peninsula, and that is where we met. Later, he asked for my hand in marriage."
"How romantic! But it's hapless that he couldn't be here with you when making it official."
"Indeed, but I know how important his job is and I already told him to let me take care of it."
"Such a lucky man. Well, I will file this right away and update the family registry...aaaand here is a copy."
Just like that, she types onto an old computer and prints out a sheet of paper in seconds then stamps the certificate. Taken aback about how fast that was, they were caught off guard when she dialed Shinra's phone number she got from the paper.
"I will now contact the partner to confirm." The lady says as she waits for the ring.
Sho was quick to react and stops time. He was once again in Company 8's temporary covert HQ in Asakusa, watching his older reaching for the phone.
Shinra was still distracted by the papers sitting in front of him and blindly reaches for his phone that was ringing, but instead grabs air and finds his phone mysteriously gone.
"My phone was ringing right, more importantly, where is my phone?" Shinra sternly asks himself, looking around his desk.
Unknown to him, Sho was outside the window with the phone to his ear.
"H..hello?"
"Ah... Is this Mr. Shinra Kusakabe? I'm with the Shinjuku Regional Office."
"Y..yes, how can I help you?" Sho slowly becomes more nervous with each passing second.
"Oh, I'm just here with your wife and brother-in-law, to simply inform you that your marriage is official and wanted to congratulate you both."
"T..t..thank you so much!"
"No need to be nervous, this is definitely a big step, but I'm certain you both will have endless happiness."
"I believe the same. Again thank you."
"Well, that's all I wanted to share. I will start processing their I. D. cards now, so they should be home before long. Have a nice day."
As soon as she hangs up, Sho lets out a big sigh of relief then stops time again and returns the phone and stamp to their place of origin.
Shinra walks back into his office to find his missing items back.
"I must be tired." He concluded.
Sho manages to return to the office to hear the good news. They were both instructed to go get photos and in a matter of minutes, they were holding their cards as well as a family record.
"That worked out better than I thought." Sho shares his thoughts on the matter while sitting on a bench at the park.
"Indeed."
"...As I thought, I'm listed as dead... Mari... Mari Kusakabe. That's mother's name... Huh?"
"What's the matter?"
"It's not listed anywhere... I can't find my father's name."
Bothered by this fact they move on to the next best thing, the hospital. However, that also ended with the same result. They decided to call it a day.
After finishing his training with Benimaru and taking a shower, Shinra walks over to his room to find an unexpected visitor.
"Brother." Sho greets him in another fashionable getup.
"...Sho!" Without hesitation, Shinra puts his little brother in a bear hug.
Even though he felt embarrassed, Sho couldn't help but hug back to enjoy the moment.
"Sho, are you okay? What's happening, is there a reason you're here?"
"There is something I need to ask?"
Shinra was surprised but quickly turned serious. After a few minutes, Sho asked questions about their family, but even then received the same answers, that they didn't know about their father. Shinra even mentioned the odd occurrence of virgin birth mentioned in a journal left behind by their mother. Though it was hard to believe, it was the best they had to work with.
"Brother, there is one more thing we have to discuss."
"Sure...sure." Shinra answers with reassurance, even with Arrow awkwardly sitting next to him.
"In order to obtain our family records, we had to do something and I thought attempting to convince people that I'm actually alive after all these years would prove pointless. So through this country's government system, we filed a form."
"Huh?"
Arrow places the family registry in front of him as well as a silver band. Shinra looks closer at it to see what that band might be related to. Starting from the top with his grandparents to his mother then to himself, there was a line drawing to the right to... Arrow.
"Hmm? W...Why is t...this." Shinra stutters as he reads the rest, even seeing Sho's name pop up a second time.
"I felt it was only right to fix the registry. It didn't sit right with me plus I believe by doing this I'm proving that I'm on your side." Sho says in a serious tone, while Arrow grabs Shinra's shaking hand and places the ring on his finger with some force.
Arrow remembers the jubilant expression Sho carried when he first laid eyes on the new registry and felt that it was her duty to protect it. To show that, Arrow even wrapped her arm around Shinra's.
"I... I mean, you could've just asked. This might be a bit much."
"Do not worry, brother. We will make sure this family is never broken again."
Shinra is fighting with Benimaru until he is punched in the chest causing him to fall on his back, but before his head could hit the ground, it instead lands on the lap belonging to Arrow. These occurrences happened often too. For the following weeks, Shinra found himself caught between his little brother and Arrow when eating, when brushing their teeth, even when sleeping in a futon. All the while Sho was excited, Shinra was nervous, Arrow with her stoic personality and Benimaru frustrated.
"Shinra, understand that to get stronger sometimes you need to rid of all distractions." Benimaru exclaims.
"Yessir!"
"Then, tell them to leave." Benimaru's eyes shift over to the two sitting nearby.
"I tried, but I assure you, Captain, I'll still improve."
In the end, Shinra finds himself with an ice pack over his eye and once again on Arrow's lap. Despite this, he did wonder how Arrow ended up this way without a word of dissent.
Late night, where everyone retired to their beds... all except three.
"Time for this White Hood Traitor's Bridal Training!" Hikage announces inside one of the storage houses.
"Hey, hey did you do your homework?" Hinata asks Arrow who was sitting on the floor.
"Yes, for the past few weeks I have conducted thorough training of skinship." Arrow answers as if she was reporting to a superior.
"Good... good. And what of your results?" Hikage asks in a rude tone.
Flashback to one of the many nights, Arrow hovers over Shinra who appeared to be sleeping, but her stare was what kept him up. Feeling her face coming closer, he suddenly hears her say that he's asleep, causing him to relax. Without a doubt, this was a big endeavor that Sho has put on him, but Shinra really had a problem with being in a relationship that Arrow didn't care that much for and her agreement to it is simply due to orders. However, it goes without question Arrow's odd behavior has been going full force for a while now, so maybe it's his fault that he wasn't showing any effort himself in this relationship.
While thinking more about the past, he suddenly feels her thumb brush along his lips. Before long she starts planting kisses along his jawline to his ear, where she starts to nibble. Shinra took this chance to crack an eye open to glance over to Sho to see a pair of earmuffs and a sleep mask on. With Sho somewhat taken care of by Arrow, he guesses, he can focus on her who already moved back to his lips. Shinra felt that he had no choice, but to foreign sleep, since he didn't know the proper reaction he should have. From small pecks, Arrow moved on to more provocative methods including slipping her tongue in, licking the back of his teeth, and swirling around his tongue. This was a daily thing.
Back to the present where Arrow was giving her report.
"Hmmmm? An A for effort I guess, but still lacking!" Hikage calls out.
"Apologies, I am still learning the basics." Arrow regrets without a change in tone.
"Never mind that, might as well move on to the next step. Geez, we're taking time out of our day to help you, you know?" Hinata interjects.
The twins let out a deep sigh and turn towards a drawer to open it.
"Let's see the next lesson is... THIS!" The twins say in unison, referring to a page in a porn mag they found. They slam the erotica in front of her and point at a graphic picture between a man and a woman.
As Arrow studies this position, Shinra bursts through the doors.
"Okay, that's enough. This is getting burned." Shinra says in a stern voice, stepping on the magazine and turning it to ash.
"Aaaah! You idiot, the sacred texts!"
"No it's not!"
"Tsk. We're just helping you, you no-good husband."
"You brats..."
"Waaah, the devil's angry, run away!" The twins mock him and do just that, disappearing from the storage house.
"Arrow, I don't know what those little demons taught you, but it might be for the best to stop."
"As you command."
"Eh? Er... Sure. Let's just go back to sleep." Shinra says sounding exhausted and flustered from looking at Arrow in a kimono.
Shinra later brought it upon himself to take Arrow on a "date" to smooth things over.
"Sho, Arrow and I are going out." Shinra tells his little brother as he puts on a hoodie while Arrow slips into some flats.
"Of course, brother."
Shinra could clearly see the excitement in his eyes and just responded with a hug before walking out with Arrow. While strolling through Asakusa, Shinra felt relaxed taking in the sights and was even relieved to see Arrow making an attempt to do the same, or maybe she was just scanning for enemies. They eventually reach a small snack shop with a bench outside. Shinra orders some snacks and had to order for Arrow since she had the 'waiting for instructions' type of personality.
"Arrow, you know you didn't need to agree to this."
"I am following orders."
"That's the problem? I would prefer it if you were the one to choose to go down this path not Sho."
"Do you want this to continue?" Arrow asks, as she finally takes a bite of her dango.
"W...Well, not sure...maybe... I mean." Shinra struggles to answer and sips his tea.
"You didn't stop me when I conducted my business on you during the dead of night."
"W...What are y...you talkin..."
"You were awake the entire time."
Shinra spits his drink out.
"*Cough* ... *Cough* You knew!?" Shinra gasps for air while hot tea spurts out his nose, in which Arrow wipes his face with a handkerchief.
"Of course, I have absolute faith in my eyes. Once again I'll ask... if you are against it, why didn't you stop me?"
Now Arrow's piercing gaze was stronger than usual, forcing Shinra to look down at his drink, thinking to himself that she was taking advantage of his innocent virgin mind. In the end, Shinra admitted in a small voice that he enjoyed it.
"Then I expect you to also contribute to this, for your sake and Commander Sho's."
"I suppose all relationships start somewhere, so I won't complain." Shinra answers as he rolls the ring on his finger, acting all bashful. He was still curious how everyone else would take this, but that's for another time.
"Then prove it." Arrow still keeping her cool attitude, closes her eyes, facing him.
"W... Wait, here? N... Now?! There are people around."
Arrow doesn't budge and waits for his answer. Shinra, sweating bullets, finally succumbs and ignores the store employees sneaking a peek. He leans in and plants a soft kiss on her lips for three seconds. After parting, they both make eye contact.
"That was below standards, Shinra Kusakabe. I feel betrayed due to your absolute lack of skill for this."
"Arrow, please stop."
"For your future kin's sake, I will train you until you're no longer an embarrassment to your little brother."
"It's just kissing."
Arrow's eyebrows suddenly furrow followed by a frown, an unforeseen expression that penetrated Shinra's soul.
"D... Don't look at me like that, it hurts."
Arrow grabs both his cheeks and forces him to look at her.
"Fourth pillar. Mouth open. Tongue out."
"W...W...Wait, they're watching. There are kids."
30 minutes pass and the pair were walking back from their 'date' with some snacks for the little brother back at home. Arrow herself appeared fine, but it was Shinra who was straggling behind that looked exhausted. It wasn't long before Arrow broke the silence.
"Darling, understand we are still far from being a successful married couple."
"Darling? Anyway, I'm aware of that."
"Hubby, I demand we work again on kissing then move to the next level of skinship."
"H...Hubby? Can we just go at a slow pace... What are you holding?" Shinra looks towards her hands to find another magazine that clearly carried the same profanity as the previous one.
Shinra snatches it from her and finds out where those nicknames were coming from.
"Don't damage those important study materials from Company 7. We are using those as references."
"Don't bring these dirty things around Sho!"
Years later...
Sho, in a school uniform, runs into a house where an older lady in casual clothing was sitting, grooming a plant with utmost focus.
"Arrow."
"Commander."
"It's just 'Sho' remember. Anyway, where's Kasha?" Sho asks with rosy cheeks.
"He's sleeping in the living room."
Sho, excited, hurries to the bathroom to wash his hands and runs into his older brother.
"Sho, welcome!" Shinra calls out and outstretches his arms for a hug, but Sho dodges and returns to the living room.
"Good to see you, brother."
Leaving his older brother with a tear in his eye, Sho places himself next to the one called Kasha. He was sound asleep on a padded blanket with pillows all around him. Sho softly pokes his plump cheek with fascination and places his finger in Kasha's tiny hand. The moment his finger is grasped, Sho squeals with joy. Though Sho holds his brother and sister-in-law dear, this new life didn't take long in garnering all the attention.