A/N: Alright. Let's talk. A little bit here. So, you're asking me, Lumi, why is this going up on a Friday night instead of Thursday like it normally does?

So, for those of you who don't follow me on Twitter, my laptop Ralph has been giving me problems since I took it out of the box. And yes, its name was Ralph. But on Wednesday, Ralph had his last hiccup that turned into him choking and he is no longer. And now, we're here. With Roy. No, not that Roy. Not story Roy. It's been a while since we've seen Roy. He's been busy planning a wedding. That was Rei's intention. But yes. My new computer's name is Roy and I love him. Hopefully, Roy won't do me dirty. But here. Have what was supposed to come out yesterday. Love you x

What would I do if Ritsu was in front of me? Already beaten, bloody, bruising, possibly broken in various places. Why did I ever drop the blackwood? He wasn't done yet. Because I did tell Kyoya exactly what I'd do if Ritsu was in front of me. And here he is…At my feet. The sight broke my heart. However, the asshole at my feet broke my heart worse than anyone ever has. This was damn near Victoria levels of heartache and betrayal. It's time the queen showed her true colors. Ritsu did. Why not me, too?

"Rei…" Ritsu coughed a time or two, his mouth full of blood. Any other day, this would kill me. Today? It's kind of turning me on. It's a shame Ritsu had me so pissed. A good, old-fashioned hatefuck could put me back on an even kilter, "Please…Listen to me…"

And SWING!

My bat met Ritsu's shoulder, effectively knocking him over. But he didn't make a single peep. Oh, come on…Make it fun for me…Even though this was quickly losing its appeal. This started being less hot and more infuriating. I've fought Ritsu a million times. And even when we were playfighting, he'd be defensive. But this? This wasn't right. Because if he didn't have me pissed off enough, this was only making things worse for him.

SWING!

This time I got him in the ribs. I knocked the wind out of him, but he didn't move. The toe of my heel went into his stomach, but he was still unmoved. He kept taking hit after hit without even bothering to defend himself. What the fuck? No. I'm not letting this happen. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and drove my other fist into his face. He still didn't even bother to defend himself. Something in his eyes…I looked into those eyes a million times. Got lost in them every time. And I thought I had seen them in all their many forms. Except for this. This was new. I couldn't place it. But it just pissed me off more.

"Why won't you fight me?" I snapped, glaring into his soul.

Ritsu wouldn't even look at me. And he wouldn't even say anything, setting my blood to a high fucking boil.

"ANSWER ME!" my scream echoed around the warehouse. It wouldn't surprise me if it got around the Narrows. Possibly even the whole town. I didn't fucking care anymore. I just wanted a fucking answer.

"I hurt you enough, Rei…" Ritsu could hardly speak, "I don't want to hurt you anymore. You don't deserve that."

I wanted nothing more than to get one more swing on him. With my bat, with my fist, who fucking gives a shit anymore? My head was at war with my heart. On one hand, I wanted to feel Ritsu's bones shatter in my grasp. But on the other hand, I wanted to kiss all of his aches and pains better. And then, he had to go and say some sweet, beautiful bullshit like that. Who the fuck does this asshole think he is? Fucking prick.

I got down on the floor next to him, still seething inside, my voice hardly above a whisper, "Who's Sayori, Ritsu?"

"She's…" Ritsu went into a coughing fit.

As much as I didn't want to show him a single scrap of kindness, I needed answers more, "Mori?"

"Yeah, Rei?" Mori broke the tense silence.

"I want you to go into the office," I requested, "Go into the fridge and get a bottle of water please."

"Sure," Mori disappeared for a brief moment and came back, tossing the bottle to me.

"Thank you," I handed it off to Ritsu, "Here."

"Really?" Ritsu wasn't sure what to think, but much like the first time Ryoichi gave me something to drink, Ritsu listened for the seal to break. Then, once he was sure it was safe (because I'm apparently not above poisoning him at this point. No. I wouldn't. Don't look at me like that. I don't care how pissed off I am at him, I wouldn't wish poisoning on anyone.), he slammed it like there was no tomorrow. Ritsu tossed the empty bottle aside and caught his breath, "Thank you…"

"Now, answer me," I growled, "Who…The fuck…Is Sayori?"

"She's…" Ritsu winced.

"Say it, Ritsu," I snarled.

"She's my…" he braced himself, "Fiancée…"

"How long?"

"I…" Ritsu caught his breath, "I met her in Okinawa."

Our moment in the hall outside the music room flashed in my head. The one time before this I ever saw him so broken, so defeated, so hurt…Back when I cared, "Did you know her before that?"

"No…"

I didn't want to beat the shit out of him if he wasn't going to fight back. What's the point? But I took a couple breaths to calm myself down. Even in my moment of sheer anger, frustration, and heartache, I knew there was one person in that room I could always turn to for guidance. No matter what, "Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?" Daddy was strangely calm through this. But I'm thinking that's one of those side effects from his pain meds. They have made him weirdly lethargic.

"Dare I make the same mistake twice and trust him?"

"Do you want my honest opinion?" he asked.

"Please."

"I think you should hear him out," Daddy suggested, "But that's just me. After you hear him out, then you can do with him what you will."

"Alright," I couldn't turn down Daddy's advice. Besides, he did say I could do whatever I wanted with him afterward. So long as I hear him out first. Alright. I could do that, "Do you think we could have a moment alone?"

"Are you sure you want to do that, Rei?" Daddy worried, "We don't need you going in for murder tonight."

"I'm sure," I promised, "I won't kill him."

"Good girl," he kissed my cheek, "We'll be waiting outside. Let me know when it's ok for us to come back in."

"I will," I loved that man. He knew how to calm me down, "Besides, why would I kill him when I could just beat the shit out of him some more?"

"Reila…"

"I know, I know," I rolled my eyes, "Don't give the new guys more to clean up than they need to."

"That's my girl," Daddy gave me a little pop to the chin and brought Kyoya and Mori outside with him.

"Alright, Ritsu," I went into the office and grabbed some water for myself. Ooh! There's Gatorade in here! And if anyone says anything other than blue is the best flavor, they're lying. I sat back down on the floor, "Talk. What the fuck?"

"It's not what you think," Ritsu swore, "I wouldn't cheat on you. I know better than that. Sayori and I…It's arranged. I didn't have a say in it. And neither did she."

"What do you mean?" I understood what an arranged marriage was, but I needed context.

"When I proposed to her…" Fuck, that stung. Could've gone the rest of my night without that, "I had a fucking gun to my head, Rei. That was one of those things that happened in Okinawa that fucked me up so bad when I came back. She comes from a big yakuza family, too. And if we had a hold of their territory, we'd be unstoppable."

"You still could've said no," I argued, "You could've had the fucking stones to stand up to your dad. You could've told him you had a girlfriend already. You could've told him to fuck off. But you didn't."

"I didn't mean that whole gunpoint thing figuratively," Ritsu went on, "It was literal. It puts a different spin on a shotgun wedding. Only this time, I didn't get her pregnant."

"YOU FUCKING BETTER NOT HAVE!"

"I haven't even touched her," he promised, "She'd probably punch me for something like that."

"I already have so much in common with her," I finished off my Gatorade, "We're already sharing a boyfriend. And now, we'd both beat the shit out of you for touching her. I can see why you're engaged to her. And we both know you have no fucking spine when it comes to your prick dad."

Ritsu got quiet…Scarily quiet, "Would you say that to Mom?"

Ok…Ritsu's said some hurtful shit here, but this is the first time it hurt differently. He knew what kind of relationship I had with Kiyomi and how we've weirdly clicked. He knew I would never wish harm on that woman ever, "What did you say?"

"Mom stood up to him once," his voice shook, "You have no idea what that collateral damage was like. She lost me…I lost her. We still have to sneak around because of him. I know I've already told you this, Rei. Back home, it's not the same way it is here."

"Because here," I grumbled, ready to drill my fist into his face again, "We never would've made you choose."

"Rei…" Ritsu could hardly talk. And he better choose his next words carefully before my fist goes into his throat instead, "I love…"

"Don't," I cut him off before he could get any more of that off, "Don't you fucking say that. If you did, you would've told me. You know you could've told me. Especially if you didn't have a say in it. You know damn well we would've figured something out somehow. We always did."

"I didn't even want to think about it," he stared into the floor, "Like I said…I had a fucking gun to my head. If I didn't, my brains would've painted the walls. And I remember making a promise to someone I care about very much that I'd come back in one piece. I had enough on my plate. I didn't want to burden you with that, too. We had that trip to Osaka coming up and that was all I wanted to think about. Just a quiet weekend with you. A little time alone with you…Just the two of us."

I moved in closer, my heart growing heavier by the second. Something needed to get that shit out of me. So, what do I do? Nothing like a good, old-fashioned pimp slap to get that shit out of me, "You do realize you royally pissed me off, right?"

"Because the chipped tooth in the back of my mouth and the dislocated shoulder didn't give that away," Ritsu nursed the sting on his cheek.

"Do you want that tooth missing instead of just chipped?"

"I know," he backed off, "And I understand. Why do you think I didn't fight you back? Because I deserved every second of that. You should've seen what your dad did."

"I saw the aftermath." And I had a feeling Daddy was behind it. He was way too mellow when I showed up. After someone wronged his baby girl, there's no way he was going to let that go unpunished, "That was enough for me. He went easy on you."

"How the hell do you figure?"

"You're still breathing." I didn't want to, but I couldn't help myself. This boy has beyond pissed me off, but…I needed it more than him. I curled up in Ritsu's lap, nuzzling my face in his uninjured shoulder, "I still fucking hate you."

Slowly, but surely, Ritsu's good arm snaked around my waist, holding me as best as he could, "I love you, too…"

"Reila?" Daddy stuck his head in the door, "Is everything alright? You need anything? A drink? A snack? An ambulance?"

"We're good, Daddy," I nodded, "I mean, we're not good, but for the most part, things were discussed. Hey…Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"He stays with us tonight," I decided, totally catching Ritsu off guard.

"Are you sure?" Daddy wondered, just as confused.

"Yeah," I looked Ritsu over, "I'm sure. We're going to go get dinner."

"Alright," Daddy let us go, "You sure you don't need anything else?"

"Actually," I thought, "You and Clara…How close would you say you two are?"

"Enough to where I could give her a call," he smiled a bit, "Why do you ask?"

"Because taking Ritsu to the hospital would be too big of a pain in the ass," I got up from Ritsu's lap, "You think she could come by the house and at the very least pop his shoulder back into place?"

"You can't do that yourself?" Daddy wondered, "One would think you'd want to feel that one."

"No," I shook my head, "I've put him through enough. I don't need to put his shoulder in place, too."

"Alright," he pulled his phone out of his pocket, "You want to use the car?"

"Yes, please."

"I'll give Clara a call," Daddy scrolled through his contacts, "When do you think you'll be back?"

"Probably in an hour or so," I thought it over, "So, do what you will with that information."

"And I can trust you not to kill the kid while you're gone?" he hoped.

"Yes," I still had my knife on me if I was feeling spicy, though. I'm not going to kill him. For the most part, the murderous intent was out of my system. I helped Ritsu onto his feet. He staggered a bit. Surprise, surprise. I did just beat the shit out of him and God only knows what happened before I got here.

"Alright," Daddy threw his arms around me, leaving a gentle kiss on my head, "I love you, princess. Be careful, ok?"

"I will," I mellowed right the fuck out, "I love you, too."

"Ritsu," I waved him over, "Come on. Let's go."

"Coming…" Ritsu limped over, taking his sweet ass time. No…Rei…Let it go. Yeah, you got pissed and yeah, you took it out on Ritsu, but you know what kind of asshole Ryoichi is. You know Ritsu's story is a hundred percent plausible. Just…Remember what it was like to sit and have dinner with your boyfriend. And he still is your boyfriend.

"Kyoya," I stepped outside, "Take the kids back home. We're done here. And you never saw what happened here."

"Ok," Kyoya wasn't going to fight me. All my fight was out of me already, but he knew better. He's seen what I'm capable of.

Without another word, Mori's arms went around me and he hugged me tight, "Are you going to be ok, Rei?"

"I will be," I nodded, "Once I got a full belly."

And that's when it dawned on me. When Ritsu and I got into the car, I didn't know what I wanted to eat, but in that brief second…I knew exactly what I wanted.

"Where to, Miss Mendoza?" the driver cranked his neck back, "The city is yours."

"Red Dragon," I ordered, "Thank you."

I needed something gross and starchy that would feel like a hug. And I knew exactly what would do that. Personally, it's a cure all for so many problems. Between this and anything Abuelita makes for me when I'm sick, the world would be a better place. And even though I was still angry about what Ritsu did, there is nothing a good bowl of ramen wouldn't fix. It's not going to be the same as our little ramen shop back in Japan, but welcome to America. This was as good as it was going to get. Anything that wasn't top ramen. Fuck that…I've had the real thing. It's hard to go back from that.

"You know," Ritsu broke the angry silence between us, "Your dad got me pretty good, Rei."

"I've fought him a few times, too," I remembered, my heart warming from inside, "I know what it's like. We just fought the other day."

"How long has he been out of the hospital?" he wondered.

"A few days," I looked at him strange, "How the hell did you know he was in the hospital? You'd think after breaking his baby's heart, you two wouldn't keep in touch like you once did."

"I didn't find out from him," Ritsu smiled a little, "I found that out from you."

"I never told you Daddy was in the hospital."

"Reila," he held his bruised face in his hands, "When you left school that day, all you had to say was it's quiet uptown. I knew something happened. And you wouldn't have been that upset if it wasn't serious, so I figured it had to be Frankie."

"He got shot," I explained. Good…I was kind of hoping he'd get that, "It wasn't pretty. For a minute, I really did think he was going to die."

"But he didn't," Ritsu took my hand.

"No," I held back a smile, "He didn't. And Clara…"

"Yeah," he took a good drink from his soda, "I was meaning to ask you about that. Who's Clara? I got a feeling I'm going to meet her tonight, but it'd be nice to not go in totally blind."

"She's alright." The conversation I had with Daddy about her ran through my head. Still not calling her my stepmom anytime soon, but I couldn't hate her. Not even if I wanted to, "She was the nurse that took care of Daddy when he went in that night. He's kind of got a thing for her. It's actually kind of cute to see up close."

"That's sweet," Ritsu awed, "Rei…I really am sor…"

"Nope," I stopped him, "We'll do that some other time. But for now, I'm exhausted. Let's go back to my house, yeah?"

"Ok."

"Hey, Ritsu?" I glanced over my shoulder.

"Yeah, Rei?"

"I still fucking hate you," I smirked a bit.

"I love you, too…"