A/N: Hi, friends! Yep. These crazy kids are ok again. For the most part. I mean, things are…Well, Rei does a better job explaining it than I do, so I'll let her do that. Let's see…Do I have anything to tell you? Anything exciting happening in Lumi's life that warrants telling you? Not that I can think of. Other than starting next week, I think I'm going to consolidate the For the Family updates and the Good Old Days updates into one day. So, instead of me posting one chapter of the shenanigans of the Mendoza family, it'll be two. How's that sound? I think it's pretty alright. We ready? Let's go. x

HOLD ON A SECOND. Because I don't want her thinking I'm blowing her off. Quite the contrary. Because she gets to be immortalized here until…I don't know. If I ever decide to delete this from my FFN account. Which is looking highly unlikely, but today, my loves, we're going to give a special hi, hello to a user called AzuraRayneLus. Who is a lovely human being and I adore her greatly. And for her birthday last week, I gave her the gift of Rei and Ritsu sucking it up and being alright again. This week, it's going to be a little bit of a shift, but we need to go through the shit to get to the good, right? So, happy birthday, Donna! With love from your internet friends on the crack commune. There's a spot in the Chili's booth waiting for you whenever you're ready. And now, we're going to get into this week's chapter, K? Let's go.

Am I over the mess that's gone down with Ritsu? No. I'm still pretty pissed about my boyfriend lying to me about his engagement. Do I hold it against him? Absolutely not. He didn't have a choice. He had a promise to keep and I'm glad he kept it. And I don't know why I'd ever be surprised with Ryoichi stooping to those lows. Am I done pretending I hate Ritsu? Definitely. I don't hate him. My anger knows where to go now. Concentrated into my fist and my fist into Ryoichi's balls. That would make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I've put Ritsu through enough today. The two of us headed home and got into the elevator. Ritsu leaned against me. Damn, baby, I really did put you through it, didn't I? When we walked in, he looked like he was limping a little, but I didn't think he was that bad. After his beating in the Narrows and our adventures in ice skating, I couldn't blame him for being a little sore. Go ahead, baby. I'll be your crutch. That's not a problem. Then, it hit me. Yep. It's back. That little spark is back. I missed it so much.

"Hey, Ritsu?" I could hardly speak above a whisper.

"Is everything ok, Rei?" he worried, glancing down at me. I'm the one who put him through hell today and he's still the one worrying about me.

I couldn't keep the smile off my face if I wanted to, "We're in an elevator."

"Yes, we are." Ritsu remained unmoved. Oh, come on. You can't tell me you're not think the same damn thing I am. I see you're going to be a tougher nut to crack now. But every nut can crack with the right amount of pressure applied to one point. And I know exactly your point.

"And…" I held him up a little better, "You know how we are with elevators."

"And coat closets…" the little smile on his face was short lived. Oh, that hurt. That hurt more than I thought it would. Ritsu went from good to iffy far too quick for my liking. Like if he touched me, he'd break me. Or I'd break him. Either or, "Are you sure about that, Rei? I thought that'd be one of those things you'd want to hold off on for a bit."

I stood on my toes while quietly cursing our height difference. My heeled boots weren't exactly the best in snow, so I had a different pair on today. But a soft kiss found its way to Ritsu's cheek. Come on, Ritsu. I've held out on you for long enough. Let this spark something. Because I could use a good, old-fashioned, make out session with you in an elevator, "Yeah. I'm sure."

Ding!

Fuck. So much for…

Or so I thought. Despite his soreness, despite his inability to hold his own balance, despite where we were, despite who may see, Ritsu pulled me in close. His tongue fought mine for dominance and wone. This boy kissed me like he was about to lose me forever. And I loved it. But if that was the case, why was I crying? In our kiss, I felt tears streaming down my face. Fuck, I missed this. I missed him. I missed all of it so much. This was needed…For both of us.

But when Ritsu pulled away, he quickly hid his face. You always were kind of awkward when it came to emotion, weren't you, Ritsu? Oh, he's so cute. He wiped his eyes and leaned back against me, "So…This may be asking a lot, but you think I could join you in your bed tonight, Rei?"

"Excuse me?" Dammit, Uncle Tony. Why do you have to have shit timing?

"Not your place, Uncle Tony," I shut him down before that shit could escalate. It'd be like when I took the host club on a field trip to the Narrows all over again. And before someone bitches at me for being disrespectful to my uncle, he's going to answer to me some day. I've had him wrapped around my finger since my birth. Both Uncle Tony and Uncle César would be more than happy to lay down and roll over for me. And those were orders from the top.

"Tony…" Daddy called from the living room, immediately taking my side. Wow. Who would've seen that one coming? I'm so fucking shocked, "Did you do something stupid?"

"No!" Which is exactly something Uncle Tony would say after doing something stupid.

"Yes," I walked in with Ritsu's arm around me. He still needed the crutch and I needed the affection.

"Jesus Christ, kid," Daddy looked Ritsu over, "Did you take Ritsu back to the Narrows again, Rei?"

"No," I promised, giggling under my breath. I'm pretty sure Ritsu's learned his lesson. I don't have to take him back there unless he's giving me a hand.

"We went ice skating," Ritsu slowly sat down, wincing every step of the way, "Funny thing about ice…It's incredibly slippery."

"Yes," Daddy nodded, his voice dripping with condescension, "Very good, Ritsu. That's a statement that goes right on the fridge."

"Gee…" Ritsu grumbled, catching onto Daddy's sarcasm, "Thanks, Frankie. Please. By all means, kick me while I'm down just a little more."

"I'm just fucking with you," Daddy let it go. Oh, I missed this, too. As much as I loved things between Ritsu and me getting patched up, seeing Ritsu and Daddy getting along like they were best buddies made me so soft inside, "So, what did Tony do this time?"

"Ritsu asked me if he could get his spot in my bed back."

"I figured you'd have a problem with that, Frankie," Uncle Tony got defensive, "Is that so wrong of me?"

"I don't have a problem with it," Daddy gave his blessing, "It's not the first time they've shared a bed. Mama saw them in bed and didn't through a shit fit about it nearly as much as you are, Tony."

"Actually, Daddy…" I winced, remembering it a little better than he did, "Abuelita had a little problem with it, but she did get over it."

"That's good," Daddy got up from his spot on the couch with the same enthusiasm Ritsu sat down with, "So…Is it safe to assume things are good?"

"That's a Rei question," Ritsu passed that off on me, "I've been wanting to run back to her since the night she found everything out. But someone was very clear about that. Death threats kind of make their point."

"Dear god, Rei," Daddy cringed, "Are you alright? Who hurt you?"

"Ryoichi Kasanoda hurt me," I growled, his stupid face popping into my head.

"Join the club, sweetheart," Ritsu agreed, "We got jackets and meet on Thursdays on the roof of your building back home."

"Guessing that's your asshole old man, Ritsu?" Daddy assumed.

"Yep," Ritsu's hand went to mine. The only other person in this room that would truly understand what kind of scumbag Ryoichi is, "He's a joy."

"Sounds like it," Daddy shook a couple of his painkillers into his hand and threw them back, "If it makes you feel any better, he's not here."

"You have no idea how much better that makes me feel," Ritsu sighed out, "I got my girl. I got the family away from home. And he's thousands of miles away. It's liberating."

"I bet it is."

Gently, I sat in Ritsu's lap, "But to answer your question, Daddy, I think we're alright. At least we will be anyway. When we go back to Japan, things might be a little sketchy, but we'll figure them out. Right?"

"You and me against an entire yakuza syndicate?" Ritsu thought, "I mean, we managed to take on Victoria with no problem."

"Speak for yourself, sister," I scoffed, "I got jumped because of that bitch. And I didn't even get to fight any of them. I still have that awful ass dress, though."

"The one you chopped up in the gas station parking lot?"

"The very same." It still had the wine stain on it that got me away from her. Thanks, Haruhi!

"Hold the phone," Daddy cut us off, "What do you mean, it's you two against an entire yakuza syndicate?"

"Just that," I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. It's been a while since Daddy and I got to fully catch up. He's behind on a few things, "We…"

"Rei," Ritsu stopped me, "It's alright. I'll take this one."

"I appreciate the chivalry here, baby," I shot him down, "But I got this. Let the grownups talk, ok?"

"Ok," his arms snaked around my waist. The only one at the club that truly didn't have to adhere to the look, but don't touch rule. Ryoichi was a more reluctant addition to that list.

"Reila…" Daddy gave the mental telepathy for everyone to clear the room. Oh, shit. This may not be pretty. But I knew better. It's Daddy. I could've just killed a man and he wouldn't think twice about asking me if I needed help hiding the body. And with that one look, Uncle Tony left the room with Ritsu following him. But I think Ritsu was expecting Daddy to stop him. Yet, he didn't. Instead, I watched out of the corner of my eye as he went into my bedroom. Alright…This was serious, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"Nothing I can't handle," I promised him, "When Ritsu left for Okinawa, things were…I knew things weren't going to be ok when he came back. I knew he was going to be a mess. And I…"

"What is it, Rei?"

I needed to make sure Ritsu wasn't listening. I knew this was a shitty thing to do, but I needed to know, "I don't think I'm going to get back together with Ritsu. I'm staying here and not going back to Japan in January."

Silence. Good.

"Are you sure about that, Rei?" Daddy questioned my sanity, "I thought you said…You were making sure Ritsu wasn't listening, weren't you?"

"You understand me so well, Daddy," I melted inside. However, my good feeling was short lived, "But I knew that things were going to be different when Ritsu came back, so one of those nights where I was left by myself, I went to go talk to his mom."

"You've met Ritsu's mom?" he wondered, "I thought Ritsu hardly knew his mom."

Clearly, Ritsu doesn't tell Daddy everything, "No. Because of me, Ritsu and his mom have never been better. And his mom loves me, Daddy. She fucking adores me. But it's been a while since I talked to Kiyomi. I did meet a friend of hers once, though. She was cool. Anyway, when I was talking to Kiyomi, she was worried about Ritsu. As was I. So, she kind of gave me a way of keeping an eye on him, just to make sure everything was going to be ok. Which led to me…getting a job. In a way."

"That's not so bad," Daddy let out a little sigh of relief, "It's not like you're hooking."

"No," I winced, "But I may or may not be currently employed under the Kasanoda syndicate."

"You jumped ship?" Ok…Daddy being angry wasn't something I dealt with very often, but disloyalty to the family was one of those things that ranked pretty high on the big no-no list. Especially when there's blood involved, "You jumped ship on the family, Reila?!"

"No, no, no!" I settled him, "It's not like that. I started working in one of the Kasanoda owned clubs in Shinjuku. It's kind of an under the table thing. They don't know my real name. So, I'm not technically on the payroll, but I get paid in cash. I'm not jumping ship. This is more or less an undercover job I'm working for Kiyomi on a freelance basis in hopes of being able to completely dismantle the syndicate and take Ryoichi out. If you think about it, I'm technically expanding our territory onto foreign soil. More foreign soil."

"You're biting off more than you can chew, Reila!" Daddy snapped, "How long have you been working for this prick?"

"Um…" Ok. I think I may have fucked up here. Maybe the moral of the story is to stop keeping secrets from the important people, "Since Ritsu left for Okinawa."

"You've been working for him for the last couple months?!"

"Yeah…" Yeah. I fucked up here.

"So…" Daddy took a deep breath, trusting me just a little bit, "How far have you gotten? What have you done? Have you even had contact with this asshole?"

"I'm pretty high up on the food chain there." But now would not be the time to tell Daddy I warm Ryoichi's lap while I'm there, "I've got the trust of one of the managers, of the madame that runs the girls, of…"

"The what that runs the what?" Oh, shit, "What kind of club is this, Reila? Because you better not be working in a fucking cathouse or I swear to all things fucking holy, your ass is coming home and you're not leaving. And you'd be kissing your takeover of the family goodbye."

"I'm not working in a cathouse," I swore. No. I can't let the family slip through my fingers because Ritsu needed a babysitter. Don't get me wrong. The work wasn't bad, but it sure as hell wasn't worth me losing the family, "It's not like that."

"Then, explain it to me," Daddy sat back, "Because from where I'm sitting, this isn't exactly what I had in mind for you…Explain to me what exactly you're doing in this club."

"Daddy," I explained, "I know I can practically run shit around here like it's second nature, but I had to claw my way up to get to where I am there. My name doesn't mean shit over there, so I had to make one myself. I've been dancing onstage. I got the nine o'clock slot."

"Oh!" Yeah. I had Daddy good and pissed. Well, Ritsu, it was nice knowing you. Because I don't think I'll be going back to Japan, "So, you're not working in a cathouse, but you're working in a fucking strip club?!"

"It's not a strip club," I clarified, "I keep my clothes on, thank you. They didn't have a ribbon dancer, so I showed off on the silks the night I walked in there. People have left their business cards for me, Daddy. Ryoichi told the manager to keep them from me. Probably so I wouldn't walk out on him. I've met Ryoichi several times. I've become his favorite. And before I know it, I'll be able to destroy him from the inside. And Ritsu's going to be there to help me. You know as well as I do, he doesn't want to take his family over. He doesn't want to be in that. He's seen it hurt too many people. I've seen it hurt too many people. People I love and care about who don't deserve it. I'm trying my best, Daddy. I'm just asking you for a little patience and trust that I can do this. Because I know I can. I wouldn't say Ryoichi would take a bullet for me, but I can see it in his eyes every time I walk into a room. I'm definitely his favorite around there. I think he'd jump in front of a bullet for me before he would Ritsu and that's fucking sad. But I got it handled. For the most part. And if things ever go south, I know damn well I got someone watching my back."

"And what if he can't?" Daddy got quiet, "Rei, I love you. And I know Ritsu loves you, too. But there are things he's told me that he's never told you."

"What?" I thought that was one of those things that worked the other way around. I thought Ritsu told me everything. What hasn't he told me?

"In hindsight," Daddy admitted, "I think I knew about his engagement."

"Excuse me?" Rei's turn to get angry. That feels like one of those things Daddy should've filled me in on. We told each other everything. We never kept secrets. Telling me about Ritsu probably should've been higher up on his priority list.

"Alright, baby," he settled me, "What I'm about to tell you was kept a secret for a reason. Because Ritsu didn't want you worrying about him. The kid had enough to deal with at the time. He didn't want you freaking out, too."

"Alright," I did my best to calm down. Not only was it Rei's turn to get angry, but it's Rei's turn to sit and listen, "What happened?"

"While Ritsu was in Okinawa," Daddy began, "He called me shortly after everything went down. He told me about him getting jumped. He told me about having a gun to his head at one point. But he told me that was one of those things I could never tell you because he knew how much it would've set you off. Why did you think I told you to take it easy on him? Because I had him on the phone, breaking down because his dad decided to overdose on his asshole pills that day. I know Ritsu told you about that, but I don't think he ever told you who was on the other end of that gun."

"It was Ryoichi holding the gun?" I gasped, my hatred for him only growing.

"It was Ryoichi holding the gun," he nodded, "That fucked him up bad, Rei. Ritsu doesn't strike me much as someone to openly weep, but he fucking bawled that night. He just needed to know someone cared about him that could understand where he was coming from. And I happened to be awake. Granted, it was the middle of the afternoon here, but you get what I mean. And he was so fucking worried about you. He didn't want Ryoichi coming home and finding you. Does Ryoichi even know you two have any sort of connection?"

"No," I shook my head, "Other than when we allegedly first met at the club one of his first nights back. And he sent me to the champagne room…"

"EX-FUCKING-CUSE ME?" And this is the part where Daddy explodes, "HE SENT YOU TO THE FUCKING CHAMPAGNE ROOM?!"

"It was just with Ritsu, Daddy," I settled him, "It's not like it was with anyone else."

"Does he ever ask you to go in there with him?"

"God, no," I promised, "I might be Ryoichi's favorite around there, but I've only been to the champagne room once and that was with my boyfriend. And when that happened, Ritsu kind of bitched at me about doing this in the first place. Good times."

"Anyway," Daddy went on, "Really and truly, Reila, don't be so hard on Ritsu. He's had it hard enough. He knows not to piss you off, but he also has self-preservation instincts. He just wants you safe, so he kept you out of this mess. And then, it all went haywire."

"Ok," I put my head on Daddy's shoulder, "Why can't people run their shit like we do? Why can't that just be a universal thing?"

"That's for you to put in motion, baby girl," Daddy kissed my forehead, "Once you have the family, I know you're going to change the world. And even before that, when you take this piece of shit down, you'll already be making it a better place. You know…Maybe going back to Japan with you for a little R&R wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"And leave Uncle César and Uncle Tony to take care of things here?" I wondered, "Really?"

"César's been taking care of things since I went into the hospital," he put an arm around me, "That's why he's the one that called you. That's why he was the one to grab you from the airport. He makes a hell of a sub when you need him to. The Old Man made sure of that."

"That was an Old Man thing?"

"Yep. He didn't want me overworking myself constantly and he knew Tony could be a little…Let's just say a bit of a dumbass, so he put a couple eggs in César's basket, too. You know…For future reference."

"I can't always count on my uncles to bail me out, Daddy," I pointed out, "They won't be around forever."

"Then, you're going to have to find your own Tony and César," Daddy shrugged, "Sorry Mama and I didn't give you siblings. Once she had you, Mama said she wasn't doing that again. Besides, you were plenty."

"Thanks, Daddy." I love this man. I really do. It's no wonder Ritsu went to him without even thinking about it. I couldn't blame him, "If it's all the same to you, though, I'm going to go crawl into my bed with my boyfriend and pretend like things are ok for a while."

"They will be, princess," Daddy promised, "And I know damn well you're going to be the one to make them that way."

"That's the plan." And if we can have Ryoichi's head stuffed after I take it off his shoulders, that's getting mounted over the fireplace in Daddy's office…Well…Once it's my office anyway.

When I went back into my bedroom, Ritsu was passed out on my bed. Jetlag, exhaustion, I didn't know what, but I didn't care. I crawled in next to him and his arms wrapped around me. Daddy was right. Everything is going to be ok…