Annoyance tinged in Takasugi for the umpteenth time in days as he stared down at his phone. He could feel Kawakami's eyes on him, looking up from his stack of papers. Editing song materials, from what he assumed. Kinu hadn't even tried to message him. She hadn't even called.

It was ridiculous that he was aware of it, and that made him all the more angry. It wasn't like Kinu regularly called him, but she usually texted him random things every now and again. Nothing interesting. An occasional article, or essay on a piece of new hardware with the word look. It never meant anything to him.

Truthfully, he was always annoyed with the mechanical things; all of the features and details were lost on him, and he didn't get what most of it meant. Half the time it was just strange diagrams and charts with equally strange abbreviations. But she hadn't even done that. All communication had run dry. Their messages were dead, and it had been more than three days.

He didn't even want to guess what Gintoki had said about him.

The easy solution was to message her first, but he couldn't do it. For his own sake. He didn't want to get that response. The "sorry, this is over". "It was a fun run while it lasted". Hadn't Gintoki done enough already? At this point is was comical. His entire life was centered around taking things from Takasugi. Further isolating him.

Elbow on the table, Takasugi propped his jaw on his fist. Stared at the same picture he'd looked at daily since he'd taken it. He scrolled back through their conversation; rereading each message that had made him feel even remotely pleasant, or made him want to laugh. Little clips here and there. Pictures of Momo, stretched out in front of Kinu's body as she held him up in the mirror; his little paws straight out and his neck suddenly in a new plane of existence.

A dollop of whipped cream on a coffee that she insisted looked like an Amanto with a flower growing out of it's head. He didn't have a mental reference for that, but maybe she was right. She'd tried to paint her nails two weeks prior and sent him an image of her right hand and the abominable attempt at a blue coat stretching across her fingers. Simply wrote "I have been betrayed by my own body" like a fucking weirdo.

Why the hell wasn't she messaging him?

There had to be a new engine thing out by now. Some pivoting doohickey that excited her. He checked her tracker. She was across town, at an utility office. Then a dry cleaner. Then a random address with no label, until, finally, the tea shop after stopping at the Yorozuya.

Kawakami scooped his stack of papers from the table, and Takasugi closed his phone. Hid the picture he gravitated back towards.

"Shinsuke, why aren't you reading? Do you need something else to distract yourself with? Want to help with these?"

Glancing down at the book beside his elbow, Takasugi frowned. He was reading. Technically. He'd brought the book, hadn't he? He just hadn't opened it yet. When he didn't respond, the deaf man sighed. Started towards the door, papers in hand.

"Maybe it's for the best. You don't have to worry about explaining that we're leaving. Gintoki usually does fine, taking care of his friends; she'll be safe."

Fixing his glare on the man, Takasugi paused half way through opening another bottle of sake.

"Did I say anything about her?" The question hung between them, and though Kawakami only stared back, Takasugi muttered another line. "I don't care. I was thinking about something else. Nobu Nobu."

"Of course."

Upon returning home from an extensive list of mundane chores, returning library books, and mailing bill payments, Kinu found her mother had already started opening the shop up. She greeted Kinu with her usual warmth, and together, they prepared a small array of food. Ai had made good on Kinu's request of two extra batches of her cookies, which Kinu swore had drugs in them, but smaller. Little bite sized portions so she could wrap them in gift bags to give out with the store cards.

A good chunk of the afternoon was spent setting up the cookie bags, and filling her mother in on the details.

Maybe it would give them a fighting chance.

"This is wonderful, honey! I'm sure people will love it. Let's set these by the register, so we remember to hand them out."

"I'm gonna bring some with me." Kinu said, placing a few of the stapled bags and cards into a shoulder bag. She'd take these to the hostess club, and on her break, she'd go somewhere else and hand out the cards for the tea shop. If costumed girls got more business for them, why wouldn't it work for Kinu? It was like free advertising. They'd give her the costume, and she'd borrow it for her own selfish motivations.

And that's exactly what she did. With Ai running the shop at night, Kinu was free to hand out fliers to the sea of people rushing by on the main road, likely headed for maid cafes and casinos. The other girls, she still hadn't remembered their names, spread out and left her a section in front of the hostess club with the girl Kinu deemed the cutest of the bunch. They changed every year, so she had stopped making an effort to remember them and had written them off mostly as a physical feature, or something they said.

The girl beside her was mentally categorized as the sock girl, or Socks, because she always wore mismatched knee high socks, but she'd changed them out for black stockings, identical to Kinu's. She was adorable. Taller than Kinu, legs that went on for days, and larger curves that seemed to attract men long before they saw her. Like they had a radar built into their heads.

Kinu was sure that if she listened hard, she'd get plenty of girl tips out of Socks. Beside her, Kinu felt like a parsnip. Pale and obscure.

Parsnips were obscure, right?

While that girl had a swarm of business men in suits around her, Kinu had a small following of chubby, glasses wearing otaku that wanted to take pictures with her, and one old blind man that kept tugging on her cat tail while he was looking for something. He said it was a bus stop, but Kinu didn't think one was back there. As she swatted his hand away from her tail for the umpteenth time, a man in a suit stopped directly in front of her. She didn't look up at him before pulling a flier from the bunch in her arm, and offering it up to him, and as he took it, the man stepped to her side, holding the paper in front of himself.

"A hostess club? Kinu-chan, you're not actually working here, are you?"

Odd. She didn't know any business men. A familiar silver streak parting muddy waters was a dead give away. Ah-kun. She didn't speak. Just stared at him as he balled the paper in his hands with no regard for manners.

"This won't do. You can't sully yourself with this kind of work, it's indecent. What are you wearing?"

She didn't need to look down to know that her black stockings and strapless bodysuit weren't appropriate for normal environments. But this was the city. A main street. What were the chances of somebody important actually seeing her, especially if she didn't consider anybody important? Work was just that. Work. it usually wasn't pleasant.

"How much money do you need? I'll give you whatever amount you want if you'll take that tacky costume off. Have you no shame? It's akin to prostitution, you-"

Oh great. The morality police with their your body is sacred speech. If she wanted a temple she go to a fucking temple and last she checked, they weren't paying. Her eyes glazed over as the man continued. She didn't catch a word he said. Then, he pulled a checkbook from his pocket and started to fill it out. Ripped the sheet, and thrust it towards her, telling her to write a number on it. "Once you change, I'll take you somewhere nice. Somewhere befitting a proper lady and-"

Wait, was he serious? It looked like a real check. Really? Any number? What if she wrote all on it? Would that work? The fliers fell from her arm as he pushed the check into her hands more forcefully, and she took a step back as her palm throbbed in protest.

"Hey! Cat girl! What do you think you're doing?!"

Looking at the girl she'd previously dubbed as Socks, Kinu felt her jaw drop. The guys that had gathered around them were looking. Passing people in the crowd caught Kinu's eye, donning the same half interested unconcerned faces, but more importantly, her fliers had scattered across the ground. Was she in the middle of a scene? Something was happening? She shook her head, trying to form words that would erase the inconvenience, but the man in front of her pushed her behind himself.

"I didn't know gutter creatures could speak. Especially not to higher class citizens in such a tone."

What was happening?! Kinu had to stand next to sock girl all night! Rich or not, he couldn't talk to her like that. And what the hell did he mean higher class? She was dead broke!

"O- Oi." Stepping away from the man, she waved her hand towards him. Didn't dare to actually hit him. Did he really think she'd take a blank check from a stranger and run off into the night with him?! "I'm working, here."

"No you're not." The man's hand swiped towards her, and Kinu flinched as he snatched the ears from her head and from the sting of it, a few strands of her hair along with them. She covered the spot her headband had been and cringed. This was a first. She'd never been attacked on the job. When Kinu's wrist was snatched, she dug her heels into the road. Fought to stop him from dragging her off into the unknown.

Was he insane? Where the hell was he trying to take her? An alley? A secret dungeon where nobody would hear her screams? As old as he was, people would think he was her father and she was an unruly, rebellious daughter that had gotten herself into trouble. They'd let him kidnap her!

He was going to strangle her with her own intestines, the ultimate bodily betrayal, and burn her esophagus out!

"Get off me!" Grabbing her own wrist, Kinu tried to pull away. Tried to snatch her arm towards his thumb and break through his grasp, but he was still tugging her. His grip was impossibly tight, and burned despite the wraps over her arms.

To her surprise, she was grabbed by the waist. Kinu latched onto the arm over her stomach as strands of brown hair fell over her shoulder and the woman behind her shouted.

"What are you doing?!"

Socks! Kinu could have cried the girl's name if she'd known it. Instead, four more girls ran over, all costumed and enraged. Two latched onto Kinu's arm and waist, joining the tug of war, while the other two started on the "Ah-something-man". Smacked at him, kicked him. Generally assaulted him in an attempt to make him let go.

"Get your filthy hands off me, you harlot!"

"We're not prostitutes!"

"She doesn't want to go with you! Let go of her, creep!"

"It's men like you that ruin it for everyone!"

Kinu couldn't even process the amount of words and insults being tossed back and forth. Her heart was pounding so hard, all she could do was struggle to break free.

"Oi- the hell'r ya doin' ta mah daughter?!"

Wide eyed, Kinu watched the familiar dark haired form stumble fist first into her assailant and the hand over her wrist finally left. She fell back into the pile of girls that had been holding onto her, and they all hit the ground as Riku stood over the man, scowling. He pointed at Kinu, and the man looked up at Riku, hair in disarray and feeling at his jaw.

"That's mah girl. Ya gotta problem with 'er ya gotta problem with me."

Multiple pairs of arms were already circling Kinu and she gaped at the man she'd never considered an actual parent. Was he defending her? Really? He'd come because he'd seen some man trying to take her?

"Are you okay?" One of the girls asked, and Kinu nodded, unable to look away from Riku. A hand ran down her hair and the side of her head as Ah-kun pushed himself up. A small wall of coworkers encircled Kinu, and multiple hands protectively anchored her in place in an attempt at soothing the panic away.

"Your daughter? Look at you! A sorry excuse of a man; don't try to play brave now! Everybody knows you're a coward! Can't even stand up against the casino debt collectors, and you think you can take me?!"

"I'll kick yer ass if ya touch mah girl again!" Riku's finger jabbed into the man's chest, and was smacked away. The men were nearly chest to chest as Kinu pushed herself up. Broke free from the multiple hands grasping at her. The man reached into his breast pocket, speaking too low for Kinu to hear, but the look on her father's face was enough to know that whatever he had said wasn't good. She scooped the check from the ground and rushed between them.

What was it? A knife? Something worse? She could see the door to the hostess club opening in the corner of her eyes, but didn't dare to look away from the immediate threat. The scowl was still etched into Ah-kun's features as his beady brown eyes honed in on her. Kinu shoved his check back.

"Please leave."

The man's apparent disgust deepened, but his hand left his coat, and Kinu felt as though her heart would carve through her ribs. Then he smiled. As he usually did. As if nothing had happened.

"Only because Kinu-chan asked me so nicely."

Why was she afraid? He hadn't said anything particularly terrifying, but as Kinu watched his back disappear into the crowded streets, she felt threatened. Felt as though it would have been better if he declared he'd be back for vengeance.

"The hell was that?"

Turning back to her father, Kinu saw him in a new light. As if he wasn't a disgusting mass of flab and alcohol that just happened to reside in the same house as her.

"I don't know..." If there had ever been a time to thank her father, it was now, and after doing so, she repeated the same, bowing to her coworkers; the five women that had stepped in and refused to let crazy people have her intestines, or esophagus.

The first night went as that. Nothing much changed, just a crazy man trying to steal her in public. The girls were understanding, and supportive, even after the night ended, and they were all changing back into their regular clothes. Even going so far as to dish out reassuring shoulder squeezes, and ask if she was alright multiple times. Riku left after that. Returned to his own drunken haze as if nothing had happened. It was the first time he'd stood up for her. Helped her.

Possibly the first time he'd publicly declared that she was his daughter. Kinu profusely apologized to the manager for what happened, and received a slight tongue lashing for unprofessional behavior; bringing personal matters to work. Her pay was docked. She'd spent over half an hour looking for her ears and they were nowhere to be found. She had no choice but to pay for them, and a new pair, but that was it.

Ai was shutting the shop down when she returned. She looked up as Kinu dragged herself inside and handed the cash she'd made off to her. Plopped her head down on the counter.

"How was your night?"

Instead of trying to vocalize the disgrace, Kinu croaked a pained sound that began and died in the back of her throat. Laughing, the woman locked the storefront and returned to place a hand on the back of her head.

"Dear, you don't have to work there if it's too much. You should enjoy your summer! Go out, maybe with that friend of yours."

"Friend?" Turning her head, Kinu frowned up at her mother, and Ai's hand rubbed her back as she nodded.

"Oh, he said you were going to make him more of these." When Ai reached over the counter and placed a familiar bag with a single white bear in front of her, Kinu sat up. What? He'd come back?

"You should bring him by more, he's a joy to have around. And I wouldn't mind having another son."

"It's not like that." Cutting her mother off, Kinu pulled her phone out. He hadn't sent her anything. So he'd sat in the shop and talked to her mom? About what? "He's gay, it's-"

"What? Where did you get that idea?"

"He said it." Looking at the woman beside her, Kinu was met with an odd frown. A moment of silence passed, with Ai torn between squinting to herself and looking at her daugher.

"Honey… I really don't think…" She paused, still perplexed as she reached across the counter and pulled a cigarette and lighter back with her. "Did he specifically say that? Just say I'm gay?"

"Uh… I don't remember. I think so?"

Ai's nose scrunched. She lit her cigarette and slid the lighter back onto the counter.

"That man's not even a little gay."

What was that supposed to mean? Ai didn't think he could be, even though he'd so clearly said it? Kinu had heard him with her own ears! They'd been having girl talks. Maybe Ai was losing some of her edge. This was the rapid decline of age kicking in, and she didn't want to accept that a man as ruggedly handsome and interesting as Takasugi was actually batting for the other team, but it was obvious the closer one looked. His yukata choices were a bit feminine.

Unnaturally silent, the Yorozuya was filled with poster boards and too many painting markers to count. The moment Shinpachi called Kinu, she had thought it was Takasugi, Answered, only to find him on the line. When he asked for her help, she could hardly refuse. It was what she had wanted, right? Alone time with him. Something like an actual date.

Now, she wasn't so sure, though.

Initially, she had thought a date was dinner, or a movie, or like, a park... or something. Okay, Kinu wasn't sure what else happened on dates, but this wasn't it.

Beside her, Shinpachi was drawing large hearts and characters on the boards; enough for the entire club, he'd said. And now Kinu had to do it. He'd only thanked her; heartfelt, and smiling. It was a cheap trick. In the corners of her eyes, she could see him smiling down at his board, filling in a pink heart that framed Otsu's name, and for once, Kinu thought suicide was actually the most brilliant idea in the world if it spared her of the horrifyingly boring act of running a fan club.

She had a mind to drink the paint from the markers, just to escape.

"That's fifteen, how's yours coming?"

"Uh… Fine…" Gripping the marker in her hand, Kinu looked down at the poster. She'd done what he had been doing. Wrote the celebrity's name, and surrounded it with yellow and purple hearts. She wasn't sure what sort of encouraging phrase to write next to it, so she went with the most basic thing she could think of. We love you. You rock. Yay.

She wanted her morning back.

"Would you like some tea? Or a snack? We can take a break for a while, so our fingers don't cramp up."

Humming under her breath, Kinu looked down at the wooden floor under her toes as Shinpachi stood and excused himself to the kitchen. He was so nice. So polite. Obsessed with another woman, but sure, that was fine.

Nothingness was consuming Kinu the longer she sat there, writing posters to encourage an artist she didn't even listen to. Where was Gintoki when she needed him? Literally anything would be more interesting. Kinu was half convinced that she'd enjoy sticking a fork in an electrical socket more than this.

A cup of tea was set beside her, and she looked up at Shinpachi as he smiled at her.

"You're a huge help. I wanted to get everybody here to organize before the concert next week, but our schedules haven't matched up. It's like those guys aren't really dedicated, and Otsu-chan doesn't need half hearted fans." The boy reclaimed his seat beside her, and Kinu eyed her tea. She wondered what kind it was. "She deserves real support, not fans that can't even make their own poster boards."

"Hm…" Shinpachi's handwriting was prettier than hers. He was really invested in this, wasn't he? Maybe it was normal.

"For once, I get to give you tea. You're always serving other people, when was the last time somebody made a cup for you?"

Looking towards the boy, Kinu tried to remember. She wasn't sure, but it couldn't have been long. Her mother made her a cup every now and again.

"A few weeks? Dunno…" Kinu wondered what Takasugi would say if he gave her tea. Shinpachi was, again, nice, and it was a sweet sentiment. She hated that she couldn't fully appreciate it. Takasugi would probably just give her the tea. Not say anything, but look at her with that overly intense expression that made her think he was deep in thought and aware of the change of pace. That would make it special. He'd be silent, but make her think of how she always served him, and that would make the tea taste better.

"The others should be back soon," Great. Actual entertainment. "I really wish we could put these out to dry faster, before Kagura-chan sees them and pokes them. You know, she always touches wet paint."

A single, amused tone escaped Kinu as she looked at her phone. Twenty missed calls from an unknown number and five reviews for the tea shop. Were they almost done? How many more did she have to make?

"Gin-san said that you wanted to fix a bintendo sometime, that sounds like fun. Are we going to make a day of it? If you need help making lunch for everybody, I'm up for it."

Kinu hadn't even thought about that. She kind of wanted to eat fast food and be lazy. But now that he'd asked, she wondered if he'd think less of her for not preparing anything. It wasn't her responsibility, was it? Was she obligated to cook now?

"Dunno… But thank you." Where the hell were Gintoki and Kagura? Even Sadaharu would be welcomed. He'd bite Kinu, and then they'd laugh, and laugh. Something like that. Looking towards Shinpachi, Kinu couldn't help but feel bad. Like she had done this. Pushing for alone time, or something to make him like her. She wondered if he did.

If that was the reason he'd called her. But he wasn't doing anything or making a move on her. There was at least half a meter between them on the couch. He hadn't touched her, or said anything devilishly suggestive, or even remotely rude. Just left her in neutral the entire time. Shinpachi was completely appropriate and wholesome.

Opposite of Kinu.

She wondered if he'd ever killed anybody. If he ever snapped, and punched somebody so hard the entire house shook. Or if he did anything uncanny that wasn't a conscious decision but an instinctive pull that couldn't be ignored. Maybe he hadn't, and that made Kinu an outlier. Too self destructive for an actual relationship.

People were better as friends, and she was doing a favor for a friend. Nothing more. Because she wasn't fit for anything else. Hell, being bored made her want to do things for no reason. She wished he'd stop being nice and make a move on her.

Then again, she didn't think she'd actually like that. Kinu couldn't picture actually touching Shinpachi, and she doubted it would even be satisfying. It wouldn't be anything like Takasugi.

She drank her tea. Then sat there for another hour in dead silence with him, finishing the posters until she was finally free.