An overhead bulb illuminated a room.
It was an operating room, but it had more of a stylish feeling and the entire room was clean with a stack of boxes off to the corner.
The entrance was left wide open to let air move in and out of the room. It was the Ninomiya Squad's operations room with an added amount of cleaning supplies off to the side.
There was only one guest inside looking at the cleaning supplies. He was sitting in front of a cut after finishing a snack.
"You...? What should I call you exactly?"
Mukuro gave a small nod to the voice moving around the room with the leaning supplies. His hands were placed together on his lap.
"Mukuro. I don't care about formality."
"Oh, so you are more sensible than that disgusting faker, are you? Maybe a conversation is actually possible, unlike with that damn fox."
"Fox..."
Oh, he must mean Kiyo-nii, realized Mukuro.
He was always trying to stay away from him, so he sometimes view him as his brother who was just pretty busy.
...Fuji-nee-san does well to actually stay by him.
Having those high calculation and having him interact with her may help there, he thought. But it must be my inexperience preventing me from staying by him, he also thought.
...Inexperience.
That thought brought his eyes to the dinosaur line that had been placed in the next room.
It was a line set up by Tsuji and placed there to go with the other personal belongings.
It was his own personal belongings that he had put there.
That meant he had been secure enough to bring them in.
But even with that security, there were times when others would tease him. Mukuro would bring it up himself, Inukai would make strange noises at times, and his two best friends would kindly listen to any strange stories.
"And when he thinks I'm actually sleeping, he mimics some dinosaur noises, causing me to try and hold back those rare laughs..."
If his father had been alive, he would have killed to see something like that. He could easily imagine his father's surprisingly childish nature teasing his mother while mimicking those same sounds - "He went gyaoooooh... Then rooooaaaarr! Even a gragraaaa!" - and ending up having her chase him around with jut her knives.
...But thinking about that sort of thing makes me feel fainthearted.
He wanted to stop clinging to the past.
He wanted to focus on and think about the here and now.
There was no problem with the way Tsuji acted. Being free enough to do such things and being kind enough to take some teasing showed that he was a normal people who did not need to be fixed, but...
"Because he is so normal comparatively...I can't be the right person for him."
Tsuji had remained silent. He never said anything about Mukuro's true downsides and stuck with small jabs about his love of milk or scold him for his recent sleeping habits. According to the Gunner of Ninomiya Squad who had been asked about this before: "You're placed in a different spot for him than the rest of us. There's no need to think too hard on it."
...But it doesn't matter if I can't keep up with him.
He had told Akasora, Yuki, and Krümel about it and they had said the following:
"Figuring out your love life is your job, but tell me if there is anything I can do to help."
"If you want to wait for Shinnosuke-kun, stop by Ninomiya Squad's operating room."
"Wan? (Special translation: Depressed?)"
But there was nothing they could do to help at the moment, I stopped by Ninomiya Squad's operating room as I wanted to wait, and I suppose I am feeling depressed, he thought. They are all looking in the right direction.
As he nodded a few times, a voice and some movement approached.
"Here are some things about Tsuji if you want to know more."
A folder was held out from the side of the table and Mukuro looked to who was holding it.
"...Ninomiya."
.
Mukuro remained seated, but he corrected his posture and bowed.
His hair fell forward, but he snapped it back when he raised his head.
"Thank you very much."
"It's fine, it's fine. I know what it takes to want to stay with someone."
"What it takes?"
That was exactly what he had just decided not to think about, so he indulged in that answer and simply accepted it.
But the squad captain tilted his head, looked at Mukuro's body, and focused on his arms and cheeks.
"Were you helping around the city?"
Mukuro had bandages on various parts of his body and he gave a quick nod.
"Yes... Hogo...-san and Kobayashi-san gave me these. ...I told them I was fine without them, but they insisted."
"Yeah, that sounds like Hogo and Kobayashi. It probably isn't the best idea for someone with your family name to be showing off fresh injuries, but at the moment, maybe you should show off that you have been helping around the city hard enough to hurt yourself."
"Kobayashi-san said the same thing."
"I see. She beat me to the punch, did she?"
The captain sighed out a chuckle with a downward look, but then Mukuro asked him a question.
"Ninomiya, have you known the others for a long time?"
"Depends on who you are really referring to with that. ...After what happened with Minoru, some of them stopped coming here. That cut me off from some of them, but, well, I suppose the present is what matters."
"Then are you fine with this place?"
"It is a room for Ninomiya Squad. Even with those boxes off to the side, we will continue as we are. There is not much more to it than that, but when I was the way I was with Minoru, it was not the best place to be."
The captain smiled toward a picture with the other belongings.
"But after we got through that...somehow I was taken back. Well, those guys said they wanted to invite more people here."
"You mean the do-...Inukai and Minoru...-san?"
"And the other two."
After saying that, the captain noticed Mukuro's cup.
The contents had gone cold, so he picked it up and walked lightly back to the refrigerator.
"How about I get you what Tsuji was saving up for you?"
"Thank you, but that is not necessary."
"Too bad. I'll get you the cocoa."
Anticipation filled Mukuro's heart when he heard that.
...That is that Western bean tea!
Mother once made some of that. My father took one sip and shouted "What the hell!? This is too sweet! Soy sauce! Let's put some soy sauce in!" He did put soy sauce in, but once he got the ratio just right, it made a decent soy sauce dessert. But then Kurosaki Shin worked out the ratio himself and stole the rights to the drink. Ever since losing that business opportunity, the word cocoa was banned in our house as an "enemy word".
"Hm."
Wasn't I not supposed to be thinking about the things that show what I lack? I need to work harder at that.
Then the captain spoke from the refrigerator.
"By the way, Mukuro, did you hit your back?"
Did I let it show in my movements? he wondered with a tilt of his head.
"I was doing some wall running for training, but my foot slipped."
"Oh, that thing your faker brother did?"
"No, it was because of Tsuji himself. I figured I would need to be ready for sex later on."
It took about five seconds before the response came.
"...Oh, I-I get it now. You caught me off guard with that one. Yeah, that's something you can forget about from your sister, but you can keep doing your best for him since it is kind of funny. So, um..."
"Yes?"
Mukuro heard the captain say "right" and move around the refrigerator.
"Mukuro, what exactly are your thoughts on your relationship with Tsuji?"
.
"...About Tsuji?"
He had never thought about it, but he did hear the word "right" from the side.
"I'm sure you have a better understanding of that over your brother, but once you realize that you are better than him, you might grow lax with the fundamentals. You need a plan that matches the rising development of a stable relationship. Do you have a place or a person who can help you with that?"
"...No, I do not."
"Then it's impressive you have been keeping up with him so well."
Is that how it works? thought Mukuro when he saw the captain's bitter smile. My father and mother did not have someone they could call a helper. Kiyo-nii also went to no one and Hoshi is living a wonderful life without going to someone.
...That must mean I am inferior to them.
As he was reminded of that fact, the captain nodded and placed a bottle on the table.
"Here's some iced cocoa. I put it in one of Tsuji's cups, so take your time and drink it at home. And take the time to think about some things, got it? After all..."
After all...
"That too is an important part of being in a relationship."
Mukuro felt his body collapsing from exhaustion.
...Nh!
He could tell he had been sleeping. He had clearly been careless, but when he opened his eyes...
"...Nh?"
The scenery around him and his position were not what he had expected. The last thing he remembered was helping with something in the city and then being sent into the air, but now he was in...
...Ninomiya Squad's room!
"Oh, are you awake, Mukuro?"
"Eh?"
He turned toward the voice on his right and found the captain. He does seem like someone Kiyo-nii would fight with, he thought. I don't know about Kushi-nee, though.
At any rate...
...Huh?
Something was not right. He knew he had left here and started toward the city, but then he had been hit and...
"Shot..."
He had been hit by someone opposed to his family on his left side. He remembered the metal cup acting as a shield, but the impact still reached his side. He used his fingernails to lift up the traditional Chinese shirt he wore and peered over at his left side.
But...
...There's nothing there?
Not only did he not have a wound, he did not even have a bruise. The captain looked down bitterly next to him.
"Is your back hurting you after hitting it when helping around? I did use this on you while you were sleeping, but maybe it wasn't enough."
The captain held up a small syringe. The contents had to helped improve blood flow and Mukuro could feel his exhaustion leaving him. If barely compared to his usual tiredness.
"I was asleep?"
"You must have been done in by the aroma from this."
The captain placed a bottle in front of him. It gave off the aroma of cocoa.
"It got cold while you were asleep, so I got you some more."
He lightly tapped the bottle and a strong smell of roasted sweetness wafted out.
"...Thank you very much."
There was also some wrapped bread on the mat next to him. Mukuro felt a little stiff, but that may have been from sleeping on one if the mats provided by Border. Sleeping here would get in the way of any Bail Outs the squad had, so he decided he needed to leave.
Then the captain spoke with a neutral look.
"Tsuji sent a mail earlier asking if you were here. I said you were asleep, but what do you want to do? He is with his friends in the city apparently."
What should I do? he wondered for a moment.
"I was thinking of taking action on a different issue tomorrow, so I think I will only stop by briefly so I can get home early to think. Tenryū is not around today, so I can't really go to sleep. And if I joined them for long, I would likely get dragged into staying up all night. Something I am trying to prevent."
"Well then. Those guys can be real delinquents. ...So what is this 'difficult issues'?"
"Finding some relationship help."
It was reconfirmed from this incident that it would be no good for him if he were to stay with me, he thought. But I had told Tamakoma's fut-... Jin, that I would not let go if I found someone like this. So I won't back down.
Would that make him like his older siblings and parents?
That chance had come and gone. He was fine being nothing like them, so...
"I am thinking of learning to be a brand new person for Tsuji. While at the same time, still being the 'me' he somehow likes."
"Very good. That is what it means to be in a relationship. My relationship with Minoru had gone bad before and resulted in a lot of things happening. You're faker brother had even beaten me up for it. As much as I loath to say it... That was something that helped me figure some things out as well. I can tell that you are on the right track."
The captain put his hand on his hip and smiled, so Mukuro nodded.
"I think I will try working harder too."
Mukuro realized that the idea of finding someone to help had really worked its way into his heart.
That dream seemed to have been meaningful. He understood without being told that he was lacking something and that he was inexperienced. But...
...I have not reached the level where that understanding feels like a good thing.
Still, he had something to do. He still had something he could do, something he thought he should do, and something that would change things if he did it.
He was not entirely sure what exactly it would change. It could be his views, his appearance, his relationship, or even just his feelings.
"That's right."
He nodded to confirm that to himself and then he looked up at the captain.
"Ninomiya, I want to ask for your help. As someone who has been in a fluctuating relationship, I would like to ask for your assistance."
"Huh? Oh, um... I would not be so sure you want me to help you out in that. I would outright reject you if it was Border related, but-...huh?"
A call appeared on his phone. It displayed Tsuji's name.
He opened it and answered.
"What is it, Tsuji?"
"Eh? Oh, is Mukuro there?"
"Hm?" said Mukuro. "I was planning to get home early so I try to get some sleep."
"Eh? Then at least listen to what I have to say. ...Try what you can and at least have some rest. I know that Tenryū will not be around to help you sleep, so if you are having a lot of trouble, call me and I will be there as soon as I can. Mukuro, I'm proud that you are trying to fix this problem without your siblings, but remember that you are definitely not alone."
After all...
"I will never leave you now that you have told me that you will stay with me."
.
Ninomiya was surprised.
It was not because of the words Tsuji had said over the phone, those words had been expressed when the tired boy in front of him was not around.
Inukai may be open with his feelings and Hiyami is subtle, but Tsuji really goes all out when talking about how he feels for this boy.
No, what had surprised him had been the reaction to those words.
It was a known fact that the Taiyōko family, besides the youngest daughter, chose to fight and think of fighting over expressing their feelings or gathering those feelings. The first born had been a battle crazed woman while the second child tried to escape that fate, only barely succeeding. But as for the third child...
"...That is unfair."
From his position next to the mat, Ninomiya could see the boy's lip quiver and forced down to prevent a smile from coming onto his face. His cheeks were colored a light pink as opposed to the usual pale coloring. Even his hands seemed to be active, trying to grab something that was not there.
It was a bit amusing, but at the same time, he knew this was something important.
The boy in front of him had managed to rid himself of the mentality his family had instilled in him for so long. Fighting was no longer the most important thing to him.
That also meant one thing.
"You don't want a helper to fight for this relationship, do you?"
The only response that came was a shake of the head.
The boy clearly did not trust his own words.
"So you want someone to help you so that this relationship is not lost?"
Like the previous answer, this one was a movement of the head. A nod.
Ninomiya let out a sigh while putting his phone away.
His own thoughts went to other places for a moment. There was time for that seeing as how the boy seemed to still be trying to gather his own thoughts.
He is certainly easier to speak with than his brother, what's more is that he is no longer trying to reach his older sister.
In the end, that faker and Takato make a good pair, but that is due to them being together through their troubles. I like to think that reasoning also applies to me and Minoru. I had hurt him and Takato is making sure I don't forget that, but she is fine with us. I realize my mistake and am also fine with us.
So what is Mukuro considering his "us"?
The answer had been muddled and uncertain before, but now it was clear.
Ninomiya understood that his "us" and Mukuro's were now the same.
With that in mind, he let out a second sigh.
"Fine. This has absolutely nothing to do with Border, but that is for the better." He understood that this was his way of pitying the boy in front of him, but that did not stop him. There was no reason to stop. "Alright, I will help you come to understand what a 'relationship' is. I may not actually be the best person for the job, but I will still try."
He liked strong people.
But strength could be viewed in many ways.
The look Mukuro gave him while looking up showed strength on a matter that did not involve fighting.
There was now no reason for him to not like this boy.
He was not like his older siblings or his parents, he had managed to move away from them due to his relationship with Tsuji. That meant it could only help to strengthen that relationship.
"But don't go calling me 'sensei' or something. This is nothing as professional as that."
The smile that had been held back finally came.
"Okay. I will call you Ninomi-yan then. No professionalism to be had."