A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! This update has been on the slow side, because I'm writing something else now, just for personal fun (unposted), but I have more chapters here. I'll pick up writing this story again in a little bit, but until then, I'll be posting the chapters I already have, and I'll let you all know when I'm writing new chapters again. Hope you all enjoy!

The sun had yet to come up, and more importantly, Kinu had been serious. She hadn't crawled into Takasugi's bed later. Hadn't brought her pillow back. She hadn't even come back for the book she had been reading. His bed was completely empty. Made, but overly spacious and cold. She was more committed to her boyfriend than he'd thought.

Takasugi had been first, but it didn't matter to her. He'd even checked the spare rooms, very carefully, fully intending to sneak up on her, but to no avail. She'd taken a room in the men's quarters further into the ship. It was the only explanation. Kinu preferred a tiny bunk to a personal room in the same wing as him.

When had they grown so distant? He hadn't noticed it in the slightest.

He had to find that Satoshi before she did anything stupid. Satoshi, Riku, and Amagi. In no particular order. They'd stay in the air an extra day. Keep her there long enough for Takasugi to get her phone; he knew she didn't have a password on it. She had to have pictures.

She seemed like that type. She'd want pictures so she could keep looking at him, like a fucking stalker.

The man stared at his phone. The demure, red faced look she'd been giving him before she'd let him finally have his way with her. Back before all this cheating nonsense. Maybe if he gave her a collar she'd reconsider. His phone said she wasn't far. In one of the rooms almost directly below him. Off towards the deck. Who else was sleeping down there? Takasugi could probably remember if he had enough time, but no names readily presented themselves.

Turning to stare at the empty space beside his window, Takasugi felt his stomach twisting. She was probably talking to him right now. Under the covers whispering into the phone as that devil sang whatever sugary words he knew she wanted to hear.

He didn't want to think about it. Couldn't take it. That guy had her wrapped around his pinky finger.

Huffing, Takasugi threw his legs over the side of his bed. He couldn't sleep. Taking the pipe from his nightstand, Takasugi lit it. Inhaled as deeply as he could. It would be wrong to try to find which bunk she'd been assigned, right? Best to leave her alone.

The man went to the bathroom. Took a leak, and as he was standing in front of the toilet, an unnaturally loud scraping sound came through the wall behind him. Metal on metal. Frowning at the wall, the one eyed man finished his business. Washed his hands.

Another scrape echoed through the wall, this time under him, and he could have sworn a voice followed it, along with a heavy clunk that shook the floor.

"Son of a bitch!"

Takasugi rounded the corner and stood outside of the boiler room door, just listening. There was a stint of silence, then the voice resumed.

"Oh, no. It just really hurt, I'm fine... Him? Sleeping, probably, I don't know…" That was definitely Kinu. Ear against the door, Takasugi strained to hear her half of whatever conversation she was holding. It had to be him. Satoshi. She had so little decency that she was talking to him in secret on another man's ship."But I don't want to tell him. He'll just whine and scold me. There's really no getting through to that guy sometimes."

Takasugi was nothing like that! He was reasonable! And he never whined! She deserved every single time he'd ever scolded her. There was another scraping sound, then Kinu let out a loud sigh, and rummaged through something. He could hear metallic bits rustling around, masking the low hums beyond the door.

"I guess. Hm. Yeah. Sorry, I really didn't want to stay overnight again. I was getting ready to, but I got stuck here. As soon as we dock-"

The door in front of Takasugi opened, and he leaned back. Gaped at the dainty form in her underwear with loose strands of hair plastered down her neck. She had to know he'd been eavesdropping. Knew that he knew about Satoshi.

The phone was propped between her ear and shoulder, and a pocky stick jutted from her mouth. Kinu was holding some kind of rag against her hand. Froze but her wide eyes skimmed over him. Settled below his hips. Bold for a woman caught in the middle of her adulterous affair. What was she looking at?!

The door slapped shut in Takasugi's face with a puff of scorching air, and sparked the same vein of his previous ire.

Now she was slamming doors on him?!

Yanking the barrier open, Takasugi found the girl skittering down the steps. It was the cheating. That's why she was running! She knew she'd been caught!

Pulling the door shut behind him, Takasugi descended the steps, and Kinu frowned back at him.

"What's wrong, Kitten? Who are you talking to? Is it-" Instead of letting him finish, the girl dropped her cloth and took her phone into her hand. Her brow raised, and though her face barely moved, he was convinced that she was giving him a look. Like he was the crazy one.

"Mom, I'll call you back later-"

Mom, sure. Classic. That's what they all said. Kinu started to snap the phone shut but he managed to snag it from her hands. Practically rammed it into his ear.

"Oi,"

"Takasugi-san! I see you're still kidnapping girls like some kind of deplorable."

What? Why was Ai on the phone? Kinu was still looking at him like he'd lost his mind. Was holding her bloody finger.

"O- Oh. Inoue-san…" He could play this off. It didn't mean Kinu wasn't sneaking around with some guy, just that she wasn't doing it right now. "Allow me to apologize for taking your daughter without warning again."

"No, I get it," The woman stated, snickering under her breath. "You can't control yourself."

"That's not- no we had an unexpected attack. It was safest to leave, and that just happened to be with her on board. It wasn't planned in the slightest. I don't want her here either, that's just the way it worked out." He assured, but the woman clicked her teeth.

"Ahaaa, whatever you say, Takasugi-san. Just bring her back in one piece."

Kinu's raised brow had evolved into a full on sneer. Her foot tapped against the metal grating, and her eyes cut into him.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not-"

"Don't get her killed. Okay, bye. Tell Ki I love her very much but being irresponsible because she got a boyfriend isn't a good way to start her adult life."

"Wait-" The line clicked, and Takasugi frowned down at the phone in his hand. Familiar with the implications, Kinu took her phone from the man and closed it. Didn't say a word before dipping down to retrieve her rag. If appearances were to be trusted, it had been white in the early stages of its life. Now, in its golden years, it was black and gray and speckled with both dried and fresh crimson pools.

She couldn't be serious; putting that on her wound. Takasugi had no intention of watching his girlfriend get gangrene.

"Don't," He reached for the rag, but his hand stopped shy of it, and jumped back. Her hands were smeared black, just like the cloth. He cringed. Didn't want to touch it.

Frowning, Kinu looked down at her kerchief.

"It's clean." She said.

Where?! Takasugi would physically fight somebody if they tried to put that thing on him!

Kinu, on the other hand pressed it back into her finger. When she started towards the stairs again, he watched as she kneeled at a crumpled pile of cloth beside the door. Her clothes. Pulled out a cigarette tin and popped a cigar between her lips. The girl showed no signs of modesty as she ascended the steps and opened the door.

"O- Oi, don't go out there like that! Why are you naked?!"

Turning back, the girl kept an even expression.

"I'm not." Underwear was hardly better! Gray, just like her, but better to be contained in a single room, and not flaunted around the ship! Takasugi had men out there! Maybe not in the same living quarters, but they existed! "The bathroom is right there." Thumbing around the corner, Kinu left the room, and Takasugi rushed up the stairs behind her.

She'd done it! Gone out looking like- well, like whatever she looked like! He followed Kinu to the bathroom, where she'd set her phone on the counter and was rinsing her hand.

"It's just a pinch." She offered as he entered the room behind her. Kinu ran the back of her arm over her forehead and the hairs that had been branching down her face angled to the side. Her cigar was propped to the side; clenched between her teeth, and the man watched as she pumped another battalion of soap into her hands. The engine grease wasn't coming off.

How long had she been in there? He knew he'd wanted her to finish sooner rather than later, but the rooms were impossibly cooler on the main ship after his time below. Only a few minutes had made him break out into a sweat. Kinu was covered in it, and now that he looked at her; positively red.

"When was the last time you slept?" Taking her hand, Takasugi examined the so called pinch. It was more like a rip. Why wasn't she more concerned? Did she always downplay injuries? The fact that she was still bleeding should have been proof enough, but the girl looked towards him. Frowned as her eyes focused past him.

"Dunno. A few days ago?"

Days? Again? If Takasugi knew anything it was that she shouldn't be working with heavy machinery in that state. Taking her finger between his lips, he reached into the medicine cabinet. Produced a tin of balm, and a roll of gauze.

Kinu stared up at him as his teeth lightly pinched the injury. She cringed at the sting of his tongue, and watched as Takasugi slathered her finger in the balm he'd retrieved and started to wrap it.

"Stop working."

Brows touching, Kinu stared up at him.

"Is… that a suggestion..?"

"Did it sound like a suggestion?" He snarked, barely glancing at her. "Get some rest. It can wait until morning."

Kinu shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Turned her head towards the mirror, then the opposite way. The knot over her finger tightened, and she cradled the now invisible damage.

"I'm almost done. Give me twelve hours-"

"No." Was she out of her mind? Nothing could convince him that she'd have injured herself if she'd been well rested and sober.

Awkward as could be, the girl took her phone and practically tiptoed around him, as though the slightest contact would pinch the rest of her fingers, and possibly her toes. Takasugi leaned in the doorway as she looked back. Angled herself towards the engine room.

"Okay… So uh, I'm just gonna go. To my room."

Unamused, Takasugi stared back. Kinu took a step, still watching him, and his eye narrowed. Oh no. He was going to watch her. Her hand itched as she raised it towards the handle of the boiler room door, and she knew what Takasugi was thinking without him needing to say a single word. The moment she touched the handle, she was scooped backwards.

"Seriously?!"

It was a misunderstanding! This was her room! He couldn't just grab her and take her back to his! Kinu had made her mind up, she wasn't getting emotionally attached to somebody like him! There were probably horns on his skull!

Shoved back into the bathroom, the girl glared up at him as he towered in the doorway.

"Take a shower."

Kinu crossed her arms. Held the man's gaze as though he'd abandon his plight and leave her be, but he was unaffected in the face of her annoyance. She'd shower when she finished! Seeing that a staring contest would get her nowhere, she swiveled around and opened the inner door to the shower room; still glaring back at him. Why was he so difficult?!

She set her phone back on the counter, but took her cigar with her. Watched him the entire time she slid the door shut, until there was only a sliver of space left, and a single narrowed blue eye looking back at him. It remained for a second, then she finally shut the door.

Weirdo.

Now that she was out of the way…

Takasugi waited a moment before taking her phone from the counter. Water splashed in the room beyond the bathroom, and he let himself out as he clicked through her phone. It was surprisingly organized. A day planner was the first thing that popped up; a small patch of white on her homescreen.

Most of the blocks were filled in. It looked like she was supposed to be working at the hostess club tomorrow, tonight was reserved for new menu test thirteen. School. Build projects, four, change diagrams. Hands on class, practice form. Mailing bills. Radiator repairs, scrapyard run; Amanto ship drop off, build and test new hands.

Nothing about dates, or boys. It was all work.

That couldn't be right. He didn't see a date for the Yakuza raid, either. The man skimmed through her calendar, and found a cake sticker on August tenth. Shinsuke's birthday. Sukiyaki? How did she know that?! He'd never told her that was his birthday! Three weeks later, there was a short note with another cake sticker. Mom might try to surprise me. Practice surprise face.

That was hers? Why the hell was she practicing faces!?

In his room, Takasugi dug a yukata from his closet and started back towards the bathroom. He wasn't finding anything on when she was doing the break out thing, so he moved to her calls. Mostly her mother, Gintoki, a few with Kawakami and Matako. Then the dreaded name. That Guy. He'd found it. All of her pictures were useless. Mostly cats with her hand on their head. There was a pigeon, and two puppies. A blurry fish in some water that looked like it had been zoomed in as far as it would go. Kamui's sister, the pen boy, and Gintoki. A bumblebee on a flower. Then a tube of mascara, and lipgloss, two swimsuits, and some food she'd made. A puddle. Weird deconstructed mechanical things, he assumed at the scrapyard. The latest picture was her finger poking into a glob of sea kelp.

Why was she touching it?!

Kinu was just bumbling through life taking pictures of stupid things! There had to be something in her messages. The first thing he saw was That Guy. This is what she was hiding. They'd even spoken today!

Opening the conversation, Takasugi glared at the screen. Found articles, and one word replies. A failed attempt at painting her nails. Familiar snippets of half conversations, never fully completed to the point of making sense when he read it like this, but in context, it had all seemed normal.

This was him! Why was his title That Guy!? He was more than just some guy!

The man grumbled under his breath as he opened the next conversation. Kawakami. He was giving her music lessons, she'd asked him about everyone's birthdays to look at their daily horoscopes. She'd been sending him pictures of earrings. Matako, too. Again with the earrings. And they were sending pictures back, all chummy, and welcoming. Since when had she started talking to everybody?

There was one message from Takechi. An unsolicited picture of a kid with rhinestone encrusted earrings. Kinu simply wrote back "I'm blocking you".

Her mom and her mostly talked about bills and work. There was nothing here. He was wasting his time.

The latest chat was a group message. Takasugi opened it, and none of the numbers were labeled, but the theme was clear. He stopped outside of the bathroom door, frowning down at the chat as more messages flooded in, almost too quickly to keep up with.

She's not even coming to school anymore, because she's a coward. Did you see her desk?

See it? We did it!

Gold digger.

I heard she tried to sleep with Ishii-sensei to raise her grade.

No way!

There was that name again. Amagi's assistant was an Ishii. As many times as Takasugi heard the name tonight, he was sure of it. Her teacher was an Ishii? A picture of Kinu popped onto the screen, standing in front of the hostess club with her flyers. The word bitch had been scrawled across her stomach and arms. What was going on? How long had she been looking at this, and why hadn't she said anything?

A video popped onto the screen, and Takasugi frowned down at it. The words serves her right were tacked on, and Takasugi played it. Watched as her drones malfunctioned and the man he assumed to be her teacher berated her. Kicked her out. Numerous laughing faces and lines buried the video and the man finally opened the bathroom door.

The shower was still going.

She should just kill herself already.

Another picture, this time circling Kinu's thighs and hips.

Isn't that disgusting?

What? She was still tiny, that made no sense! He could fit his hands around her waist, and just barely touch the tips of his fingers together. She wasn't even remotely fat! Just a little rounder in areas that didn't suffer one bit from it. Who were these people? Had Kinu been looking at this every day?

The shower cut off, and Takasugi closed her phone. Was waiting with a towel when she stepped out, and wrapped her in it. Kinu didn't seem to notice her phone had been moved, but she eyed him nonetheless. Where was the guy, then? He'd been so wrapped up in that group message that he'd completely forgotten to look for Satoshi. Her emails had been empty. Mostly spam, and reviews for the tea shop. Was there anywhere else to look? Were they communicating by physical mail? That was inconvenient, it wouldn't make sense.

Eye fixed across the room, Takasugi kept his arms crossed as the girl dressed herself, and accepted his offered yukata.

"Oi…"

Kinu hardly acknowledged Takasugi's voice, but she angled towards him.

"Are you… seeing anybody?"

"Hm?" Wrapping the towel around her head, Kinu squeezed the moisture from her hair. "Yeah." The man's heart skipped a beat. She'd just admit it that easily? "I see you, standing in here like a pervert while I'm trying to get dressed."

The shock drained from Takasugi's face and irritation took its place. Kinu's eyes switched from him to the mirror, and he glared at her. He hated her! There was nothing good about her! No wonder people were bullying her at school! Kinu hung her towel up and let herself from the bathroom with the man behind her.

"We still need to talk." He said, and she passed the engine room. Started towards the kitchen.

"I don't want to." Kinu mumbled. Surprise caught her as she was turned around. Suddenly against the wall.

"Do I need to tie you up?" Takasugi's expression sharpened, and his eye widened at the threat, to which Kinu wanted to say yes. Maybe she'd think about listening then.

"I've gotta check on my boyfriend."

The man's mouth opened, then shut. Kinu averted her gaze as his green eye narrowed at her, and may as well have stabbed her through the chest.

Angry as he was, Takasugi was a blur of color to her. Bright. Almost too bright to look at directly. Her gaze dropped to his chest. She'd just signed her death warrant. He really was in shape. When had he put on a yukata? She bet he could pick her up with one hand and toss her over his shoulder. She wondered if his thighs were as solid and muscular as the rest of him. Was pretty sure they were. But knew better than to try to look again. Then he really would have her head. In more ways than one.

"Do you think he'll miss you?" Calm as could be, the man kept his voice low. A shiver went down Kinu's spine as she averted her gaze.

"He?" It was a good death threat, but lacked a few key details. What had they been talking about? She could see the slowly spreading suspicion on Takasugi's face. "Oh- yeah… Definitely. We're in love."

He was looking at her oddly now. A strange, questioning expression on the brink of morphing into a full sneer. Kinu watched him from the corners of her eyes. She dug into her pocket, and flipped her phone open, pulling up her game to scroll through the stats.

"He's a level forty eight Yakuza, so it's kind of a big deal." What had started as mild suspicion took a turn as Takasugi caught sight of the pink screen on her phone. There was a pause in which the man watched her bring up Satoshi's stat screen, and level him up. "Forty nine." She corrected, in her usual dead tone.

Yanked forward, Kinu's charade dropped and a displaced laugh racked through her as the one eyed man swore under his breath. Kinu gripped his wrist, trying to pull him back, but Takasugi wasn't having any of it. Not one bit.

"Apparently, the drugs've gotten to your brain. D'you know what I'm gonna do to you?"

A spanking? Was it a spanking?! She was getting one again?

And why was he talking like that?! He'd always seemed prim and proper, but now, she had no idea what was going on. Kinu didn't answer, but again, her mouth curved and the dark wall of her hair fell between them. He couldn't find out she was beyond pleased with herself. She was acutely aware of the danger, and that made it all the more thrilling.

The man pulled her through the doorway, and Kinu tried to smack at his bicep, but could hardly keep up.

"No! It was a joke! I didn't do anything, it was just a joke!" It was more likely that he was going to do something entirely different, and definitely not a spanking. He knew she liked those. Whatever he was thinking would be something awful and not fun in the slightest, she could see it in his eye, and Kinu didn't want to take another cold shower after she'd just had a warm one. Takasugi didn't stop, and she trailed behind him, still grasping his sleeve. "Wait- I was just playing! Did you believe me? You thought I had a boyfriend? You can't punish me for a joke!" Kinu dug her heels into the hardwood, trying to gain some purchase.

"Stop struggling!" Again, the man sneered the words as he tugged her another step. "You brought this on yourself!"

"No!" Still grinning, Kinu pulled against the hand over her wrist again, and her previous speculation was proven right as her feet left the ground and the man's shoulder dug into her stomach. Another sound escaped her; overly delighted and on the brink of laughing again. "You can check my phone! It was just a joke- look at my phone!"

Suggestions weren't being accepted, apparently, because in the fraction of a second the flailing and kicking of her legs was deemed unfit for travel and she was back on the ground, but not on her feet. Her head pushed into the hardwood, and a solid smack vibrated through her rear.

Crying out, Kinu immediately fell back into a fit of giggles. She couldn't hold it anymore. That hurt more than the first time! Takasugi had somehow curiously managed to position her, and she had no idea how, but despite his hand pressing her cheek into the floor, her ass was up.

Kinu tried to squirm away, reaching across the wooden floor, but before she could make it an inch, pain rippled through her, and her voice caught again.

"Do I look like I wanna keep tabs on you?!" He swatted her again, and Kinu felt like her entire body was going to explode. Every single nerve ending in her sung, and she was quickly overheating. Just trying to wrestle away from him was a full work out in itself, and she didn't think he'd used a quarter of his power reserves.

"You put a tracker in my hand!" That did nothing to lessen Takasugi's anger. Kinu made it half an inch across the floor before she was met with an appropriate response. A strangled cry pushed through her, and she grimaced, still unable to stop giggling.

"Who the hell calls their phone their boyfriend?!"

"He loves me!" The hands over her left, only to pull her arms together and pin them against her back. Possibly to combat the squirming. Kinu wasn't sure, but his hand was just as heavy as before, and the next unpredictable smack came, harder.

"It's a game!"

"Then why is he taking me to Paris?!"

Kinu's next shriek of laughter was interrupted, only briefly, by the sting of a being far too powerful to refuse. And she adored it. She wasn't entirely sure why he reacted so intensely, but it was the highlight of her shitty day.

"Ah- I didn't do anything!" Her eyes watered, and she bit the sound bubbling in her throat as the man's voice pressed into her ear, and his form brushed across hers, framing her entire body. She couldn't see him from how she was positioned, but that made it all the more noticeable.

"I'm not asking much of you, y'know. A little entertainment, food, occasional work... Y'know what I won't tolerate, though?"

There was a pause that made her far more uneasy than if he had continued. Breathless and gasping to try to slow her heart and cut through the adrenaline rush, Kinu was able to force a questioning tone out. Not much in the way of actual speech, but it sufficed.

"Shitty communication."

"But I really wasn't doing-"

"You already admitted to intentionally deceiving me, haven't you?"

Pursing her lips, Kinu tried to think of something clever. Something that would downplay the situation. Nothing readily presented itself. As she waited, she became aware of the hair that had spilled over her face and blocked her view. Tried to shake it away and clear a path in front of her eyes.

"Haven't you?" More demanding than before, the words tickled her eardrum, and the hair in her face was brushed back.

"Uh… Well, uh-" Another pop rang through the kitchen, and Kinu jerked forward, halted by the hand over her wrists.

"Uh isn't an answer." The next three were enough to bring her laughing fit back. "Don't toy with me!"

This had worked perfectly! He was livid, and Kinu was sure that this was the exact rush of emotions she had anticipated. Her stomach was doing summersaults, and her mind was filled with euphoria, terror, and blind amusement that it had been so simple. So easy. It took her breath away, more than the pain, or the feel of him against her. Her entire body buzzed with the intoxicating spill of emotions she knew he'd give her.

She didn't know if she wanted to cry from the sensation, or laugh at the situation, or tell him off for being so forceful after she'd told him the truth, but she did know that she was shaking.

"You can't stop me!" It wasn't the same kind of fear as thinking she would be harmed, or was in danger. More like anticipation, anxiety, and something mysterious, and taboo. When she tried to wiggle away again, the hand on her wrists tightened.

"Take your punishment like a man!"

"No!" She laughed back at Takasugi, feeling his palm squeezing into her, as he had before. More definite, and groping. More exciting.

"Shinsuke… What are you doing?"

On the opposite end of the kitchen, Kawakami stood in the doorway; hair in disarray and unsure of whether to enter or flee. He was frowning. Looked as though he'd thrown on the first pair of pants he'd seen. A sidelong glance was cast at the girl under Takasugi; bright red and trembling with another wave of giggles, then the pink patch of skin in his hand.

Okay, so, this didn't look very good.

"I got him- to spank me again-"

"Again?" Kawakami echoed the word, still looking at Takasugi. Couldn't he see they were in the middle of something?! This wasn't the time for an explanation!

"H- He's mad- dramatic and emotional-"

"Nobody asked for your opinion!" Glaring down at the girl, Takasugi slapped the already rosy skin of her ass, and she shrieked before bursting into a fit of breathless laughter.

"Erm… Shinsuke… That's not a very good punishment, I think she likes it…"

"Right now, sure. Tomorrow, on the other hand..."

"We're doing this again tomorrow?"

"No!" Snapping down at Kinu, Takasugi narrowed his eye at Kawakami. Was he just going to stand there? "Bansai, pick a team. Stay and watch, or get out. And Matako, I know you're around the corner." If this was how it was, he supposed he'd pull her underwear back up.

Patience had already worn thin, and Takasugi wasn't trying to spare any on his teammates. Kinu was awful. Just terrible. He hadn't believed her for a second, obviously. Like she could get an actual boyfriend without a taser and chloroform. Or keep quiet about it, for that matter. If she wanted to mess with him, he was going to make her pay. The fabric was secured in place, and preserved some of her dignity, but she hadn't cared in the slightest when he'd exposed her.

The next whack, made the girl lurch forward, forcing words out of her as a way to escape.

"Ah- I'm sorry! I- I'll behave, I'm sorry!"

"Do you even know how to behave?!"

"Yes! Yes- I- I can-"

Bullshit. Takasugi didn't believe that for a second.

"Couldn't you perverts take this to… well, anywhere but the kitchen?"

"You wanna be next or something, Bansai?! Get out!" This time, Kawakami joined into Kinu's maniacal laughter. He displayed his palms and backed away, as if to save himself before Takasugi could decide that he would, in fact, subject himself to spanking another man. A lock of blonde hair fell past the edge of the doorway, and a single blue eye met Takasugi's gaze. "Same goes for you!"

Slowly stepping into the doorway, the pink clad woman flicked her eyes between the floor and Takasugi, squirming.

"Ah- I mean… I- I could… If Shinsuke-sama likes…" She fidgeted closer, and Takasugi sat up. Kinu started to move as well, but he pushed her back down, earning another low round of giggles. She was out of her mind, and it pissed Takasugi off that it happened to be more adorable he'd expected. Takasugi could honestly say that he'd never had anybody laugh the entire time he'd done something like this. It didn't have the malicious ring of mockery, or any hint of defiance. The sound was wholly playful. Contagious. But he wouldn't give her the satisfaction.

Suddenly closer, Matako turned her head; one hand over her mouth, and the other holding down the backside of her satin slip.

"If… Shinsuke-sama, please spank my bottom too!"

Frowning, Takasugi finally let the weight off Kinu, and her arms hit the floor, one covering her face as she turned her legs beside herself, and flattened against the hardwood.

"You can't be serious." Was everybody in this house insane?! He couldn't do that to Matako! And he wasn't about to dish out spankings like candy! Takasugi wouldn't have been surprised if Takechi came next; offering an actual paddle and getting on all fours beside Kinu.

"Please! If that's what it takes to make you happy, I'm willing to take her place and fully satisfy you!"

"Does this look sexual to you?" Squinting at the woman, Takasugi thought better on that question. It wasn't sexual right now, and both he and Kinu knew it. To anybody else, it definitely looked sexual. It didn't help that the moment Kinu had started to move he'd grabbed the scruff of her neck and pushed her back, much to her delight. Though Takasugi applied no force to the hand on the small of her back, it was enough to keep her down. She was high, what could he say? She got the giggles when she smoked. "Don't answer that."

"Shinsuke-sama you don't have to do this to... to her! You can use me for your desires..." Adding to the last bit, voice significantly lower, Matako averted her gaze. "No matter what they are… I like fast scary rides, and I can go on those spinning gravity things without falling..."

"This isn't an amusement park."

Behind the woman, Kawakami stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets. He shot Takasugi one the most amused grins he'd ever worn. Was enjoying the awkwardness.

What was Matako implying? Takasugi didn't think Matako had ever tried to be so direct with him, sexually, but he had another woman here! Literally in his hands. "This isn't the time. I'm a little busy right now, if you couldn't tell."

"But Shinsuke-sama-"

"Matako, get out!"

Unchanged by his shift of tone, Matako crossed her arms. She looked away, her pretty face wracked with the most obvious uncertainty. Like she had something to say. She did her best not to look directly at the girl curled at the edges of his knees, but when her eyes flicked down to Kinu again, her cheeks went as red as the edges of skin framing Kinu's gray underwear.

Kinu's laughter had long subsided, and Takasugi was about to let her up and write any ounce of continued fun off as ruined when Matako walked to the table.

"So, can I watch, or no?"

As unexpected as that was, Takasugi really couldn't answer her. It made no difference to him, but he wasn't the only one on display here; so it wasn't his place to make that decision. Glancing behind Matako, he met Kawakami's raised brow with a look of his own, then directed the question to the appropriate party.

"Is that alright with you, Kitten?"

Unnaturally gentle, the man's fingertips brushed the hair from her face again, despite her hands being free. Just as featherlight as before, his hand grazed the sting of his work, and she bit back a gasp. She looked up at the woman standing over them. Frowning at Kinu, but it seemed more curious than outright angry.

Kinu was more angry than her. She'd told Kinu that Takasugi was gay. Had known that he wasn't and was trying to trick her into giving up and leaving. Kinu hadn't told her that she knew the truth yet, but here Matako was, trying to take her place.

"Hm..." Interesting. The fact that Takasugi had asked her instead of answering for both of them gave her an odd reaction. "That's uh… fine." She wasn't sure what it was, but it made her feel funny. Like she had the final say. He'd always given her a choice, actually, and it hadn't fully registered to her before, but here she was, laying on the floor beneath everyone while telling them what they could and couldn't do.

The smile that stretched across Takasugi's face was wicked.

"Bansai, pour her a drink." Motioning to the woman claiming a seat at the table, Takasugi refocused his attention on the one under his hand. "Now," He started, gripping her waist to fix her back into position. "what did I tell you about saying uh?"