A/N: Hello, my babies!
How are we? Tired? Cranky? In need of a large amount of painkillers? Me, too. But hey. Look on the bright side. We got a new chapter today. That's a pretty cool thing. How about I give you today's new chapter? Sound like a plan? I think so, too. *chu* I love you.
I knew this was coming. I knew I'd have to deal with this sooner or later. I knew the moment Daddy, Ritsu and I came back from dinner the other night. I just…knew. But at the end of the day, it's sweet and endearing and a way for us all to bond, but…Dear god…I love Abuelita. Don't get me wrong. That's not something I've ever, ever, ever had to question in my life. That woman is a fucking saint and I would take a bullet for her. But that'd be a fight over who would take it for who. Tonight was definitely one of those metaphorical bullets. And it was going to go directly to my stomach.
"Hey, Rei…?" And I wasn't the only one who knew. Ritsu laid comfortably on my bed, watching me dig through my closet for something that was a little less hoochie to wear to dinner.
"Yes, Ritsu?" I know I didn't have much for cleavage, but still. Showing any chest when I'm having dinner with Abuelita feels wrong.
"Do we have to?" he groaned, well aware of what hell awaited us later tonight.
"Yes, Ritsu," I rolled my eyes, cuddling up next to him, "I know. We'll be miserable. But it'll only be for a little while. If all else fails, there's a pharmacy down the street. There will be something there to make everything all better."
"Ok," Ritsu kissed my cheek, "The shit I do for you."
"Excuse me, bitch?" I scoffed, "The shit you do for me? Where have you been for the last few months? This is just a dinner with my delightful grandmother, who doesn't know when to stop feeding us. I had to take some asshole in the champagne room in the Viper Pit."
"And he better have been the only asshole you've taken in the champagne room," he jabbed his finger in my chest.
"He is," I assured him, "What can I say? He's good at what he does. And he's kind of cute, too, so…You know. Win-win."
"Have I told you lately that I fucking adore you, Reila?" Ritsu wondered, watching as I went back to the closet.
"I don't know," I thought back, "But just in case it's been a while, I'd love to hear it."
"Well, I do," Ritsu gushed, "You are absolutely adorable and I love you more than life itself."
"Keep going…" I'm thinking the black dress. Granted, I look like I'm going to either my incredibly wealthy husband's funeral after I possibly killed him, but no one could prove it and that life insurance policy was always in place and not a week before his untimely death, or a goth prep school. It all depends on the accessories and if I wear heels or boots with it.
"Seriously?" he flopped over onto his back, "You're also the biggest pain in the ass I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and I've met the entirety of the Ouran Host Club. How do you out pain in the ass them?"
"I'm on the highest end of the low maintenance scale," I shrugged, "My father has made sure I want for nothing since day one, but he also does his best to make sure my ass keeps some sort of humbleness. But when my mother was alive, she made sure I wanted for nothing worse than Daddy ever did. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and let me get a taste of that. I also run a small chunk of Brooklyn. Is that so terrible? More importantly, heels or boots?"
"Depends," Ritsu let my upbringing go, "What are we talking here?"
"If I wear heels," I thought out loud, "I'm going to look like I walked away from a crime scene. If I wear boots, I'm going to look like I'm going through a major phase. The partially pink hair doesn't help my case with that either."
"Why did you go with pink then?" he asked, "You don't strike me as the pink type."
"I have my moments," I admitted, "It was supposed to come out blood of my enemies red, but the color tubes got mixed up."
"You know that's going to piss my old man off to no end, right?"
"Good," I chirped, "Focus, Ritsu. I want Ryoichi to be the last thing on my mind tonight. And the fact that he can't call me bluebird anymore is not my problem. Boots or heels?"
"Well," Ritsu put honest to god thought into it. And god bless him for it, "You always have that look on your face that you just killed a man, so…"
"That's the RBF, baby," I took the heels. I liked to call them my assassin heels for a reason. I never bought a pair of heels that couldn't double as a weapon.
"But on the same note," he went on, "You could definitely pull off the goth girlfriend I've secretly always wanted."
"Assassin heels, it is," I dropped my skirt around my ankles and tossed my sweater aside.
"Well, aren't we feeling bold tonight." I caught Ritsu in the reflection of the mirror on the door. Hard to believe I ever thought he was straying. Because he couldn't take his eyes off me.
"My eyes are up here," I teased him.
"Then, tell that ass to quit."
"Ritsu!" I gasped, "Really?"
"I'm sorry," he buried his face in my bedding.
"You really should've known better…"
"I know…" Ritsu mumbled into my comforter, "I'm disappointed in me, too."
I got down to the edge of my bed and picked his face up from the mattress, getting a little kiss out of him, "You should know better than to tell my ass to quit. It can't help that it'll never quit."
"Can I keep you?"
"That's the plan," I went back to my closet and got dressed. I know I had skater tights in here somewhere. This dress was kind of short, but my skater tights were thick as hell. They could stand against a New York winter. The only way I could still show some skin when the temperatures dropped. Top drawer. Should've known. Once I was all put together, I gave myself a quick look in the mirror, "Goddamn, I'm cute!"
"Yeah," Ritsu agreed, "Kind of."
"Kind of?" I jumped in Ritsu's lap. Although, in hindsight, that might not have been the best idea.
"Rei…" he winced, "I love you. Really, I do. But sometimes, you need to learn what gentle is."
"Sorry," I nuzzled my face in his neck.
"Love you, too," Ritsu got one more kiss in, "Well? You ready?"
"Readyish," I cringed at the thought of the amount of food I was about to have forced into my body. But it's for the sake of keeping Abuelita happy. And for her to go back to Spain with the peace of mind knowing I was well fed.
"We'll be alright," he held me tight. Probably because he won't be able to do much of that once we come home, "Right?"
"God, I hope so…" I took in a deep breath. And Ritsu, bless him, learned quickly. A bitch was about to get loud, "DADDY!"
"You ring, princess?" Sure enough, Daddy was already in my doorway. It's almost like he was posting. I couldn't blame him. Daddy and Ritsu were the best of buddies. That much was true. But given the shit that's gone down in the last couple weeks, I couldn't blame him for being a little protective. If he knew about what Ritsu and I did this morning with Mori (and Dominic Aguilar, but we'll keep that our little secret), I'm sure that would absolve him of all crimes. However, I was not in the place to throw my ass under the bus tonight.
"Are things cool with you and Abuelita again?" I asked, "Because I don't want to go into this and it be weird."
"No," Daddy shook his head, "Everything's fine with us. It won't get weird. Promise. The only time it'll get weird is if one of us makes it weird."
"Good," I could breathe a little easier. Good. Good, good, good. I don't know why I'd be worried. Daddy's always been Abuelita's fucking golden child. He can do no wrong. And how was he supposed to know some prick from Dominic's side of the world was going to go rogue? I saw Dominic in a whole new light after today. I owed him everything for what he did for Daddy, "And is it just going to be the four of us?"
"Nope." It's nice when Daddy keeps me in the loop. This was not one of those times, "Your uncles are coming, too. Abuelita told me it's been a while since it's been the whole family together and with everything that's happened, she wants to see us all there."
"Can't blame her."
"And on top of that," Daddy grumbled, "I may need to kill one of your uncles, too."
"No," I stopped him before he could start, "I know one of them probably called Abuelita and I'm sure that pissed you off, but we've had enough brushes with death recently. I'd rather we didn't go through another one."
"You know, Rei," Daddy kissed the top of my head, "You're lucky you're such a damn good peacekeeper. I know I'm leaving this town in good hands with you."
"Thanks, Daddy," I melted inside. It's not often I got heartfelt compliments from Daddy, but when I did, they hit a little different. I liked it.
"I'm not blowing smoke up your ass, baby girl," he assured me, "You know me better than that. Now, have you made peace with your deities yet?"
"Not quite yet," Ritsu winced. Daddy knew what Abuelita did to us. We would never ever complain to her face. That would break her heart. And she didn't need that. But Daddy knew all too well the hell that ensued after we did dinner with Abuelita.
"Hopefully, Uncle Tony and Uncle César can be enough of a distraction," I crossed my fingers, "Maybe she'll relentlessly feed them over us."
"I got an excuse," Daddy smirked, "I got painkillers that stunt my appetite. Too much and I'll end up nauseous."
"Lucky you," Ritsu grumbled, his face in my shoulder blades.
"Yeah," Daddy jabbed, "Lucky me. I got a bullet to the ribs, scared the fuck out of my baby girl and my mother, and now get pain medication that makes me nauseous and occasionally fucks my head up."
"Frankie…" Ritsu winced, "I…You know what I meant…"
"Ritsu…" Daddy stared blankly at him, "I'm fucking with you. I am lucky. I'm lucky as hell to be alive. Because I do get to go have dinner with my mother, who is still a little bitter with me, but she'll get over it. Not only that, but with said baby girl that I love more than life itself and the kid that follows her around like a lost puppy. Luckiest fucker alive."
"Thanks, Frankie…" Ritsu should've known better than to go toe to toe with Daddy. He wasn't going to win.
"And to make you feel better, Rei," he took my hands and pulled me out of Ritsu's lap, "Tony and César can be a hell of a distraction. I've seen it with my own two eyes."
"With Abuelita?" I wondered.
"Not necessarily with Abuelita," Daddy clarified, "But I've seen them be a damn good distraction."
"When did that happen?"
"We were working a job for the Old Man," he remembered, "This was a long time ago. That job paid so nicely. Actually…Now that I think about it…I'm pretty sure that job was how I ended up scoring Mama's engagement ring."
"Let no one say love is dead," I giggled. Because nothing says love quite like using a deal in the underground to get Mama's engagement ring. What a heartwarming tale.
"Nope! Let's go!" And Daddy says his pain meds kick his ass. They do at times, but I don't think this was one of those times. Well…Here goes nothing. I send my prayers to God for my stomach. Que mi estómago sea de acero. Cenizas a las cenizas, polvo a polvo. Amén.
Normally, when Abuelita was in town, there was a place we always went to. The cute little Spanish place down the street from our building. But tonight was different. We went to some place a little further out of Brooklyn called the Front Porch. Hopefully, this was one of those places that wasn't going to mainline the fridge and the pantry directly into my stomach. There weren't too many Italian places Daddy was totally cool with coming, but we've only been here a few times. I wasn't complaining.
For a while, things were good. No one made mention of Daddy's trip to the hospital. Abuelita seemed to be in high spirits. Both Ritsu and I could still move. My fettuccine was cooked perfect. It looked like everything was coming up roses. I'm sure that once everything was said and done here, Daddy and I would go say good night to Mama, go home, and start all over tomorrow morning. And I'd be able to get cuddly with Ritsu before I fall asleep. This was nice. This didn't happen nearly enough.
"So!" Abuelita gets a little excited when she talks to my dad and my uncles, so it's nothing for her to bounce between Spanish and English, but I think she's going full English. She's mellowed out, "Reila…"
"Si, Abuelita?" I perked up, taking a good, long sip from my limonata. It was kiwi. It was some good shit. It wasn't often I could find it flat, but the Front Porch came through.
"What haven't you been telling me?" Shit…I was hoping she would've somewhat forgotten our conversation from this morning.
"Mama…" Daddy tried to stop her before she could start, "No vayamos allí…"
"It's alright, Daddy," I appreciated the effort, but I also had a tight grip on Ritsu's hand under the table, "Before I tell you, Abuelita, know that everything's fine now. Things are fixed for the most part. Ritsu and I were having some problems for a minute, but we're good now. How are you?"
"What kind of problem?" Abuelita saw right through me. I could pad it all I wanted to. She's got a bloodhound's nose for bullshit. And as nice as that is sometimes, it's hell when it's being used against me.
"Um…" I chewed on the inside of my lip with Ritsu's hand on my thigh. Ok. That's comforting. Although, the look of quiet surprise on his face when he found my knife put me at ease. What can I say? Even when Daddy's with me, I'll be damned if I'm not always armed with something, "Forced infidelity…"
"Perdóneme?" her eyes started turning red. Uh-oh. This isn't going to be pretty. Abuelita glared a hole through Ritsu, "There's no such thing as forced infidelity, Reila. There's always a choice. And someone at this table made the wrong one."
Hard to tell where I get it from, huh? I needed to do damage control before I'm paying for damages, "Trust me, Abuelita. There was no choice here."
"Which one of you was it?" Abuelita growled, ready to cut a bitch. And it's not going to be this bitch. But at the same time, I refused to throw Ritsu to the wolves like that.
"Mama…" Daddy stepped in again, "It wasn't anyone's fault. It was the result of the worst parenting I've ever had the displeasure of hearing about. I'm sorry, Ritsu, but I don't think I'm too out of line by saying your old man's the biggest piece of work I've ever heard about."
"Not in the least bit," Ritsu agreed, "I'm not going to stop you. He's got his moments where he's kind of tolerable, but when you say that, it's definitely an understatement."
I could feel it. Something wasn't right. And the vein in Ritsu's forehead told me all it needed to. I needed to do something before this got messy. And discreetly, "Ritsu…? You ok?"
"Ish…" he shook it off, "But yeah. I know. My old man, by enlarge, is not pleasant. He's trying to force me into a marriage that's not to Rei for the sake of furthering himself. You know I'd never hurt her willingly, Abuelita. I love Rei dearly and I hated keeping it from her. And I hated myself for it, but you're right, Frankie…It's not our fault."
"And…" Abuelita was uncharacteristically quiet, "Everything's ok now…?"
"We can be in the same room together," I put my head on Ritsu's shoulder, "And I don't want to kill him. So, that has to count for something."
"Have you forgiven him?"
"Completely," I assured him. Daddy had a point. Ritsu didn't ask to have Ryoichi hold a gun to his head and propose to Sayori. I can't ever hold that against him.
"Ok," she let it go. Gracias a dios…
"You know," Uncle Tony thought. Which was never a good idea, if we're being honest, "We should meet this guy, Frankie."
I stand by my statement. I loved Uncle Tony, but fuck, sometimes, he needs to know when to keep his mouth shut. But I could see the gears turning in Daddy's eyes. I didn't like that, "You know, Tony…You might want to mark this on the calendar, but I wouldn't mind meeting him either."
"Trust me," I chimed in, "No, you don't. Daddy, you don't need to deal with Ryoichi. Coming from someone who has many, many times and doesn't have any blood ties to him, you do not want to meet him."
"Yeah…" Uncle César jumped on the bandwagon, "From what you've told us about him, he seems like a real piece of shit."
"César!" Abuelita snapped, "Lengua, mijo!"
"Lo ciento, Mama…" Uncle César bit his tongue.
"He is," I agreed, "But trust me. He is not fun."
"I mean…" Daddy thought. Shit…I forgot what happened what Daddy and his brothers get together. They end up sharing a brain cell, "It does sound like a little fun…It could be. You don't know that. I mean, it wouldn't be fun for him, but…"
"Francisco…" Bless you, Abuelita. If anyone's going to be able to talk sense into Daddy, it's her, "Manténgase fuera del hospital…"
My Spanish didn't have to be good to understand that much. And I couldn't agree more. Daddy didn't need another trip to the hospital. And it sure as fuck didn't need to be because of Ryoichi. I've never killed a man. I've brutally hurt people, but I've never killed a man. Daddy's the only one at this table that's killed someone. And the local cops could look the other way on that. The piece of shit had it coming. But if Ryoichi dared to lay a hand on Daddy, Ritsu would end up down to one parent very quickly. And that blood would be on the hands of the woman he loved.
"Si, Mama…" Daddy backed off. Gracias, Abuelita.
"Unless it's to see the pretty nurse again…" Uncle Tony teased. And I think that got his good boy pat on the head revoked.
"Tony…" Daddy growled, doing his best to remember we were somewhere very public, "You know I love you, but I hate you so much right now."
"What pretty nurse?" Because Abuelita would latch right onto something like that. And if my uncle goes missing in the next twelve hours, I'm going to have to learn plausible deniability real quick. You'd be so proud, Mama.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Mama," Daddy settled her, throwing her off the scent.
"Uh-huh." Don't get me wrong. Daddy had all the smoothness in the world. He could talk his way out of almost anything. The Old Man taught him well. But…That doesn't necessarily work on Abuelita, "I've heard this one before, Francisco…It's been a long time since I heard it, but I remember it, clear as a bell. When we still lived in the old apartment before I moved back home. The next thing I know, I'm having coffee at our kitchen table with Gregorio and a beautiful little girl is at our front door."
"Mierda…" Daddy mumbled to himself, a little smile on his face.
"Daddy…" I leaned over to him, "Who's Gregorio?"
"That's the Old Man," Daddy knew exactly what Abuelita was talking about, "You didn't know what his first name was?"
"Did anyone?"
"Good point."
"And I'm pretty sure a couple years later," Abuelita remembered, "That little girl brought me this little girl, so I'm not complaining. That story got me my granddaughter and her mother in my life, so I'm not going to complain. If you're seeing someone, Francisco, and you're keeping her from me, so help me God…"
Sorry, Daddy. Not to be the sadist here, but I'm just happy the heat is off Ritsu and me. Even if it meant Clara getting thrown into the mix. You know how Abuelita can be better than anyone here. And if she kept pressing on our button, one of us was going to explode. Maybe not in anger, but neither one of us need that. Although, we both could've used that expulsion of all our guilt. How were we supposed to know Ryoichi was that batshit fucking crazy? How were we supposed to know he was going to use Ritsu's heart against him? How were we supposed to know that when Ritsu went to Okinawa with him, that kind of bullshit would go down? We're ok. And we're going to be ok. No matter what other kind of hell Ryoichi wants to rain down on us. We'll be fine.
His painkillers might need to be taken away from him, though. Because they're definitely fucking with his head when he says he willingly wants to throw himself in the Ryoichi fire. I did that on absolutely nothing and don't regret it, but it's hell. It's absolute hell. I wouldn't wish Ryoichi Kasanoda on my worst enemies, let alone on Daddy. He's already taken one bullet and it didn't have to be a metaphor. I refuse to let loose Ryoichi on him, too.
However, I thought that when we went somewhere like the Front Porch, we'd be safe from Abuelita making sure we ate. We were wrong. We were so wrong. Limonada and a large amount of pasta was not a good combination. Not when they hit the pit of my stomach and everything decided to expand. This would be the most hellish food baby Abuelita has ever been responsible for. And that includes the entirety of our summer in Spain. When the three of us went home, Ritsu and I went straight to my bedroom and into my bed. I shut my eyes and gently pulled Ritsu's arm around me. He was smart and knew better than to put any pressure on me. If he did, I would kill him. Violently. Once I had it in me to move again.
"Rei…" Ritsu groaned in my ear.
"Hmm?" I wasn't getting up for anything, anyone, or any reason unless the house was on fire, so if he thought I was, he's shit out of luck.
"I'm in pain…"
"Me, too," I cuddled into him.
"But…" he kissed the top of my head, "You know…If you're not busy tomorrow…There's a party tomorrow night. You wouldn't want to go to that, would you?"
"Considering it's for me in the first place," I smiled in his shoulder, "I suppose I can check it out. It might be fun. You got a date for that?"
"Thinking my girlfriend," Ritsu decided, "She's kind of cute. A little mouthy sometimes, but I can handle that. It's kind of hot sometimes."
"I love you, Ritsu," I melted inside, "I love you so much."
"I love you, too, baby," he held me closer, but not too hard, "Why don't we go to sleep? I'm sure tomorrow's going to be a big day."
"Don't remind me," I put a finger up to his lips, "I just want to go to sleep."
"Alright," Ritsu pulled the blankets over us, "Good night, Rei."
"Good night." That's right. My birthday's tomorrow. My last night being sixteen and here I was, curled up in bed with my boyfriend in the same miserable state I was in. As much as my stomach hurt, I wouldn't want it any other way. It was the same way I spent my last night as fifteen. And if we play our cards right, it'll be how I see my last night as seventeen, too.
The next morning, I felt movement on the other side of my bed. And I didn't like it. I grabbed the bottom of Ritsu's shirt and held onto it with all the strength half asleep me could muster up, "The fuck do you think you're going?"
"I have something I need to go take care of, Rei," Ritsu took my hand, "You go back to sleep, ok? I promise you'll see me before tonight."
"I better," I grumbled, "Or I'll be pissed."
"And I've learned," he gave me a little kiss, "I know better than to piss you off. I still have bruises healing from what happens when you get pissed. But I had them coming."
"You didn't," I latched myself around his waist, "You really didn't."
"I did," Ritsu let me go, "I love you. I'll be back later, ok?"
"Ok." The second I fell back to sleep, I felt more movement on my bed. And I still didn't like it. But to make it even worse, I heard a voice attached to it. And it wasn't Ritsu.
"Good morning, Reila…"
"Wake up, princess…"
"We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it…"
"You need to wake up…"
They were lucky a sweet smell of magic caught my nose or they'd be catching my blade, "Is that a flat white?"
"Yes." I'll never get used to Hikaru and Kaoru speaking in unison. It still weirded me out.
"Yay…"
"Kyoya-senpai…
"Is an absolute genius…"