Wow…Daddy spared no expense for this party. The whole venue was covered in sparkle and lux and I'm kind of here for it. I didn't ask for a theme party, but this felt very Gatsby. I'm not complaining. At least I know I'm not overdressed. Oddly enough, neither was my boyfriend. I remember sitting on the edge of his bed while he was packing his bag before we left town. What I don't remember is where the suit came from. It worked for him. That's for damn sure. But did I have to ask? Oh, hell no. I knew exactly how it got there. And I can guarantee my father had something to do with it. It's nice when Daddy knows what I want without me even being there.

But one thing still loomed over my head (other than my boyfriend getting a little hotter when special occasions came up). This fucking dance. I know it's just a formality and it has to be done. Ritsu has gotten considerably better since we first stepped into the ballroom together, but as much as I love him, there'd be no way in hell I'd take him to competition with me. Someone would end up severely injured. But who knows? Maybe tonight, he'll surprise me. For my sake, I hope to God he does. Hey, Mama? Could you do a girl a solid and put in a good word for me upstairs? I could use some divine intervention.

"Rei…?" Ritsu gave me a little nudge, knocking me out of my weird headspace, "You alright in there, space cadet?"

"I'm fine," I shook it off, laying my head on his shoulder, "Just a lot on my mind. That's all."

"Bullshit," he called me out, "What's going on? What's got you so worried?"

"You know exactly what's got me worried," I admitted, "And it does indirectly involve you."

"Reila…" Ritsu hugged me tight, doing all he could to calm me down, "That's not until later in the night and I think we got it handled. But can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," I allowed, "But if it's a proposal, I suggest talking to the large gentleman with the other large gentlemen that looks more like me. He may kick your ass first, but if you survive, then he'll probably approve."

"I'm not proposing to you yet, Rei," he giggled to himself, "I promise. We'd at least wait until after graduation for something like that. And that's even if I could still put up with you by then."

"Love you, too, asshole," I rolled my eyes, "What if I can't put up with you by graduation? You have your moments where I want to push you into oncoming traffic."

"What the hell?" Ritsu squeaked, "What have I ever done that's made you want to push me into oncoming traffic?"

"You got your moments," I stayed cryptic, "Don't worry about it. I haven't done it, have I?"

"No."

"Alright then," I kissed his cheek.

"Hey, Rei," Ritsu wondered, "If I fuck this dance thing up, are we still going to be ok or am I going to wake up tomorrow morning with a horse head on my pillow?"

"Considering you sleep in my bed," I glared, "I'm not a horse head, Ritsu. And I wouldn't be that subtle. You'd wake up with a rat trap between your legs. Because that's the level of sadistic bitch I'd be."

"Uh…" a little bead of sweat ran down Ritsu's forehead, "Seriously…?"

"No, Ritsu," I promised, "I'm not putting a rat trap between your legs. If we mess anything up, we'll fix it right then and there. Besides, I think we got this."

"Good," he let out a heavy sigh of relief, "On the plus side, though, I have a hell of a partner."

"She tries," I laid my head in his chest, "Thanks for the pep talk, baby. I needed that."

"My pleasure," Ritsu gave me a soft, gentle kiss of reassurance.

"If you could do me one favor tonight," I begged, "Please don't fuck this up."

"I'll try my damnedest," he promised, holding onto my hand, "You have nothing to worry about, Rei. We've been working our asses off for the last week. If nothing has stuck on my end, it's my fault, not yours."

"Oh," I stopped him, keeping my voice down, "And another quick side note. Don't let anyone know you're yakuza either. As far as anyone here outside of my family knows, you're a normie."

"The hell is a normie?" Ritsu gave me a look.

"You have nothing to do with any of the other families," I explained, "As far as anyone's concerned, you're just my boyfriend. For tonight, you can leave the yakuza label off your back. Just to keep the heat off."

"You don't have to tell me twice," he gave me one last kiss, "Hey, Rei…"

"Hmm?"

"I love you." Can I keep him? Because I think I'm going to keep him.

"I love you, too," I cuddled into him. Although, the sudden camera flash was unappreciated. That is, until I saw who was on the other side of it.

"Hermoso…" Abuelita smiled.

"Abuelita," I groaned, "We were having a moment."

"Which is why I took a picture," Abuelita defended, "You have a whole family back in España, Reila. Some of them couldn't make it here. I'm sure they'll want to see pictures."

"Alright," I let her have that one. Besides, there's no such thing as arguing with Abuelita. She's a feisty old girl and she won't hesitate to verbally cut a bitch. Ritsu damn near had to learn that the hard way, "Can we go back to our moment please?"

"Si," she allowed, "Go on."

"Gracias," I sent her off and proceeded to enjoy my birthday party the way God intended. Hanging out with the family. Some were new, though. Some of them didn't go through me before they were brought in. It's a damn shame. As much as I love Ritsu, some of these new recruits were cute. And likely older than me. To the point where legality would come into play, but Ritsu was older than me, too. I'd trust him to watch my back before I trusted any of the new guys. But if they got past Daddy, they have to be alright.

Later on in the night, the time had come. The lights had dimmed. The crowd had quieted down to a gentle murmur. It's time. As long as Ritsu doesn't fuck up, I'll be fine. Considering most of the major families are here, if I look like an idiot in front of them, then the chances of their respect going from Daddy to me when I take over would be out the window. Hey…God? I don't ask for much. I'm a simple girl. Granted, I've done some…less than questionable things in the past, but…I just want this to go over well. Please. Don't let Ritsu have two left feet. Don't let me have two left feet. Just…love of God, let this be a win.

"You ready, baby?" Ritsu took my hand.

"I don't have a choice," I could feel my heart jumping out of my chest, "Everyone's already here. And everyone's watching."

"Hey," he settled me, "You're not getting nervous on me, are you, Rei?"

"Can you blame me?" I admitted, "We're not at the host club anymore, Ritsu. These are fucking mafia families. This is monumental."

"Shh…" Ritsu brought me to his chest, disguising it as a sweet gesture. Thank you, Ritsu. Showing weakness now wouldn't exactly be a good idea, "It's alright. We got this, Rei. We can do this. If we fuck up, we'll fix it. Low stakes."

"Ok," I got a quick kiss before the music started.

"Moment of truth."

"Now or never?"

"You and me, baby," Ritsu shot me a wink. Then, we started moving. Alright. So far, so good. But then, the first turn came…

…And it worked. The first time Ritsu and I danced together, he was all over my feet. At one point, I thought he broke my toe. Yet we made the first turn without flaw and on beat. Granted, a waltz a really fucking easy dance to learn, but Ritsu wasn't the easiest student. It took him almost nothing to get unnecessarily frustrated. He's come so far. I remember when he lied through his teeth when he told me he was a dancer. Well, you're not lying anymore, baby. Because every step, every turn…We were flawless.

By the time we bowed out, I may have been ready to throw up. That might just be the nerves coming up. However, I wasn't the only one. Immediately, my anxiousness was replaced with concern when I noticed my boyfriend was slowly losing color, "Ritsu? Are you ok? You look like you got a bigger stick in your ass than normal."

"I had to do well at this," Ritsu steadied his breathing, "It's important to you and I didn't want to let you down."

My heart…It's a puddle. I stood on my toes (because despite the killer heels I had on, Ritsu was still taller than me. Fucking tree…) and kissed his cheek, "Thank you."

After our bow and the insane amount of applause around us, Ritsu took a knee. His lips found their way to the back of my hand. Huh…I don't remember teaching him that. But color me flattered. I'll take it. I still had the need to go throw up, though. What I really needed was somewhere to mellow out. That's when brilliance struck. Ritsu brought me off the floor and brought me into the crowd, making me the proverbial needle in the haystack. Bless this boy.

"Perfect, baby girl," Daddy found me first, throwing his arms around me, "But I expected nothing less from you. Ritsu, on the other hand…"

"Come on, Frankie," Ritsu whined, "I've been busting my ass off for this. And I had a hell of a teacher."

"That you did," Daddy nodded, "You know, Rei, your mama would've been proud."

"I think so, too," I agreed, moving back over to Ritsu, "And I'm proud of you, too. Could you imagine the shit Mama would've given him if she were the one teaching him?"

"I could almost tell you verbatim," Daddy chuckled to himself, "I remember those days. Those were dark times…But they worked out for the better. There were times she even had me nervous."

"Was…" Ritsu worried, "Was she that rough?"

"Oh, hell yeah," Daddy assured, "Ness was a sweetheart any other time of the day, but once she stepped foot into that ballroom, she had the disposition of a catholic school nun. If I would've given her access to a ruler, I guarantee she would've used it a few times. She got cutthroat around competition. It was nice to see that kind of fire in her eyes."

"I could only imagine," Ritsu pulled me a little closer, "I think I've seen something similar out of her daughter once or twice."

"Rei?" Daddy gasped with a hint of sarcasm, "Getting her mother's attitude? Her passion? No."

"I try," I shrugged him off.

"There are few areas where you're definitely your mother's child, Reila," Daddy promised, "But more often than not, you're more me than her. And if that don't scare the shit out of me."

"I think that's a good thing," I kissed his cheek, "Ritsu and I are going to go uptown for a little while."

"Everything ok?" Daddy wondered.

"Yeah, I'm good," I reported, "But I could stand the fresh air."

"Alright, princess," he let me go, "Let me know if you need anything, got it?"

"I will," I thought for a moment or two, running through my list of needs in my head. But then, I had another good idea. And just the gentleman to ask happened to walk by, "Hey, Uncle César?"

"Yeah, Rei?" Uncle César stopped, putting his hand on my shoulder, "What's up?"

"Do you have your bike here?" I hoped.

"Why?" he asked, "You looking to take my bike out for a ride?"

"Maybe…" Or I could give the keys to my very capable boyfriend and let him take it out.

"I don't think so, sweetheart," Uncle César shot me down, "Besides, she's locked up for now. It's cold as shit outside, Rei. You really think I'm taking her out in these conditions? No, no, no."

"Boo," I pouted, "Well, it was worth a shot."

"Where are we going, Rei?" Ritsu wondered, mildly confused.

"You'll see," I gave Daddy one last kiss, "I love you."

"Love you, too, princess," he melted inside, "Hey, are you going to come back here?"

"Probably," I figured, "But I'm not a hundred percent sure."

"Alright," Daddy gave me a nod, "Ritsu…"

"Got it, Frankie," Ritsu agreed, "Like a hawk."

"Good boy," Daddy put a hand on his shoulder, "Thank you."

"No problem." And just like that, the two of us were off on another great, grand adventure through New York.

If we were being honest, despite the incredible performance we just gave to the major families of New York City, I wasn't in a good place. I'm exhausted, nauseous, and in my own special way, a little homesick. Don't get me wrong. New York will always be my home. A piece of my heart belonged to this city and it always will. However, there was another who had grown exponentially on me. And I missed it. I missed it terribly. It's the weirdest thing. When I'm in Tokyo, I miss New York. When I'm in New York, I miss Tokyo. Will I ever truly be home again? But I did know of a place where I could cure both my homesickness and my nausea at the same time. Because why fix what isn't broken?

"Rei," Ritsu followed me diligently just as Daddy asked him to, "Where the hell are you taking me now?"

"Somewhere I've never been," I told him, "It's just up the block."

All we had to do was follow the neon. And all of a sudden, it's like we were home again. In all my sixteen years of existence, one would think I've been everywhere this city had to offer. Although, there was this one little shop that I never really gave much thought to. It wasn't until I spent some time in Tokyo that I even gained an appreciation for it. And if anything could make me feel better and put me at ease, it'd be this. But if I wasn't mistaken, I'm pretty sure this place paid us protection, too. Sure, it's not the narrows, but it'll do.

"How can I help you?" the man behind the counter asked me, getting an eyeful at the beauty in front of him.

"You can start by keeping your eyes up here, asshole," Ritsu got defensive.

The man's face turned a bright shade of red, "I'm so sorry. What would you like to order?"

"Ritsu," I scolded him, "Relax. Two bowls, pork, ginger broth, green onion, one egg, soy sauce on the side."

"Yes, miss," the man bowed to me, "We'll bring it to you as soon as we can."

"Thank you," I smiled, hoping that'd set him a little more at ease. What Ritsu fails to realize is that even though I know what he's like on the inside, he's still got a mean face.

"So," Ritsu kicked his foot up on my knee, "This is what passes for a ramen shop in the US?"

"I know," I giggled, taking the backhanded compliment, "It's not the same, but right now, it'll do in a pinch. I wanted some ramen, dammit. Let me live."

"That's fine," he allowed, "Don't let me stop you. Besides, I'm getting kind of homesick, too. We'll be back, though. Just another few days in New York. Then, we go back."

"Are you going to be able to handle me crying on the plane?" I hoped.

"Of course," Ritsu took my hand, "We've gotten a hell of a lot closer since you ran into me in the hall outside the host club, baby."

"Excuse me?" I gave him a look, "Because if I remember correctly, you ran into me."

"No," he clarified, "You bumped into me. You called me the asshole."

"Because you were the asshole," I defended, "You bumped into me, knocked me to the floor, and that was it. History was made. Here we are."

"If you say so," Ritsu dropped it. Much like he dropped me. I remember it a little better than what he does.

"Excuse me, Miss Mendoza," a cop approached our table, "But you're under arrest for mafia activity."

"Oh god…" Ritsu silently freaked out on the other side of the table.

"On what grounds?" I scoffed, "Do you have any proof?"

"Other than the fact that your last name is Mendoza," he argued, "That's all the proof I need."

"Look," I stood my ground, "You're not arresting me. I know better. You wouldn't dare touch me."

"Yeah," he took a seat next to me, only freaking Ritsu out that much more, "You're right."

"It's good to see you again, Officer Romski," I couldn't fight a smile if I wanted to. He was a good man. And a damn good cop. Some of our rival families like to say we're just in the back pocket of the NYPD, but if we're comparing here, they're in our back pocket. Romski was practically family.

"You, too, Rei," he threw an arm around me, "Happy birthday."

"Aww…" I melted inside, "Thank you. That's so sweet."

"Who's this?" Romski nodded toward Ritsu.

"This is my boyfriend Ritsu," I introduced him, "Ritsu, this is Officer Romski. Whenever I'd get into shit around here and Daddy was leaving me out to dry in order to make it a teachable moment, Romski had my back."

"Anyone else would've had a frequent flyer card to our holding cell," Romski teased, "Vandalism, B&E, fights…You're quite the wild child, Rei."

"I try," I giggled, giving Ritsu a little poke to the shin, "Ritsu…? You still in there, baby?"

"Yeah," Ritsu shook it off, "I just didn't expect you to be friends with a cop."

"Stranger things have happened," I pointed out, "So, what's got you in the neighborhood, Romski?"

"Well," Romski told me, "I got reports of a pretty loud party going on. Figured I'd come check it out."

"It's my birthday," I groaned, "Let me have this one."

"Alright," he allowed, "I'll tell the boys back at the precinct that some kids were getting a little loud and I took care of it."

"Thank you," I laid my head on his shoulder, "I appreciate it."

"Consider it a gift from the NYPD," Romski got up, "But I need to get back to work. I'm still on the clock."

"Ok," I let him go, "It was good seeing you again, Romski."

"Play nice, kids," he waved behind him and took off.

"I never thought I'd see it," Ritsu chuckled to himself, "You, friends with an authority figure. Let alone with a cop."

"Romski's alright," I smiled a bit, "He's just trying to earn a living. Besides, he knows not to fuck with our business, so we don't fuck with his. Simple as that."

"You know," he got up and got our ramen at the window, "It's weird to think there was a time where we couldn't play nice."

"What do you mean?" I played with a loose strand of hair that managed to fall in my face.

"Come on, Rei," Ritsu pointed out, "There was a time where we hated each other."

"For all of about ten seconds," I rolled my eyes.

"And I thought you were a dude," he giggled under his breath, "And…When Lobelia came…"

"Fuck Lobelia," I squeaked, "They told you something I was waiting the right time for. But I guess then worked, too. Because at the end of the day, you still started dating a host."

"And I'm not nearly as grossed out at that thought as what I used to be."

"We'll chalk that one up to personal growth," I applauded, "And at one time, Kyoya wanted me to get you to join up with us, too."

"No, thank you," Ritsu shook his head, "Wait, when the fuck was that?"

"After the class trip to Osaka," I confessed, "When we were running the pop up, people loved to see our interactions and wanted to know if you were available, too."

"I love you, Rei," he winced, "And there's a lot I'd do for you. But I barely like going into the host club to get you, let alone dealing with them for a couple hours after school every day."

"It wouldn't have been every day, though," I explained, "It would've been the same as my schedule. And Kyoya said if I got you to do it, he'd cut me back to only once a week."

"Still," Ritsu put his foot down, "I'm not hooking up with the host club."

"Just with me," I teased him, "I get it. And I can't blame you."

He sat back, letting out a heavy, exasperated sigh, "There was a time where I hated you."

"I hated you, too," I held his hand, "And I wouldn't have had it any other way."

"But you know what?" Ritsu bit his bottom lip, "I kind of like it here."

"Me, too."

"I can see why," he agreed, "Even just being in Williamsburg…It's been different. It's like home, but it's not like home all at the same time."

"Welcome to how I see it," I could feel my heart skip a beat, "I'm glad to hear you like it, Ritsu. Because this is my home. And it always will be."

"I understand," Ritsu let me have that one, "After we're done here, do you just want to go home?"

"Are you fucking serious?" I squealed, suddenly getting a second wind, "Hell no! I got a party to get back to! I just needed a break for a hot second. Besides, it's my fucking party!"

"Alright, alright," he laughed, "Settle down, baby. I get it."

"Wait," I asked, "Are you getting tired?"

"No," Ritsu promised, "I could go for a little while yet."

"Bitchin'," I beamed. Because…Well…It's my fucking birthday. Why not act like it?