A/N: Writing this chapter threw me for a loop because of an inconsistency I noticed when reading the canon Misaki arc again that I then had to think of a way to rationalize.
Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far and Pewz, as for what you said in your Chapter 10 review: who knows...?
What Is This?
Morning of April 6th...
Misaki slowly regained consciousness, first becoming aware of the faint sound of a voice that was talking about an incoming warm front, and thought to herself, "Ah... Hina or Natsuo-kun are watching the morning news." As this thought passed she became aware of the level of brightness she could see through her eyelids, judging it to be later than she normally woke up, as well as a faint smell that she couldn't quite place.
She slowly opened her eyes and glanced to the side, in the sitting room she could see that the TV was indeed tuned to the morning news. She could not see anyone else, but assumed based on the other sounds she was now aware of that they must be in the kitchen. She then sat up, a little too quickly, for she was greeted with a sudden stabbing pain in her head and let out an involuntary yelp.
"Still feeling after affects? I guess you're hung over," a male voice said from across the apartment.
Looking up, she saw Natsuo approaching from the sitting room, having moved from the kitchen while she was wincing. Feeling her shame at her actions from the night before Misaki stuttered, "N-Natsuo-kun... I.. I um... w-what I mean is..."
With a small smile Natsuo reached onto the table to a pill bottle, tilted a few into his hand and grabbed the water bottle with his other before presenting them to her while saying, "Here. From the look on your face your head must really hurt. Don't try to move around too much until the medicine kicks in, breakfast will be ready soon."
Misaki looked up and noticed that Natsuo was looking slightly off to the side, seeing this she frowned a bit more and thought, "This is just as awkward for him as it is for me...". She carefully took the water and pills from him and quickly downed them, sighing in relief as the water soothed her dry mouth and throat. As Natsuo started to move back towards the kitchen Misaki managed to mumble a quick, "Thank you..."
"You're welcome," Natsuo replied, pausing briefly before returning to the kitchen.
Misaki's frown grew slightly at the brevity of his reply before she took another drink of water and then laid back down to wait for the pain in her head to subside. As she lay there listening to the sounds from the kitchen and the news on the TV she thought to herself, "Hina must already be out on her errands, I definitely slept later than normal. At least Natsuo-kun doesn't see like he's angry... I hope Hina told him what I said last night to her..."
About twenty minutes passed in relative silence, and much to Misaki's relief the pain in her head was beginning to subside. Just as she was beginning to think she might slip back into sleep she heard Natsuo ask, "Think you're up for some food? Having an empty stomach will probably make it worse after too long."
Misaki opened her eyes and sat up slowly, waiting a moment to see if the pain would spike again. When no new wave of pain came she looked at Natsuo replied, "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm sure getting some food into my system will help."
"Alright, come sit at the kotatsu and I'll bring it out for you," Natsuo stated as he offered his hand to help her.
Misaki hesitated a moment before shaking her head slowly to refocus herself and took Natsuo's hand as he gently pulled her up off the bed. As she got to her feet she wobbled for a moment, a brief wave of dizziness washing over her, causing her to reflexively blurt out, "Whoa!"
"You okay?" Natsuo asked with a concerned tone, putting his free hand on her shoulder to help stabilize her.
"Yeah... I'm okay. Just got light-headed there for a second, it's gone now though, thanks," Misaki answered as she took her first cautious step away from the bed. As Natsuo maintained his loose grip on her to make sure she didn't wobble again she suddenly became thrilled that he was on her left side, so he couldn't see the slight blush that had formed. As they neared the kotatsu she found herself thinking, "Being this close to him is... very awkward after last night... I really threw myself on him..."
Before she could continue with that train of thought Natsuo snapped her out of it by saying, "Alright here we are, make sure to lower yourself slowly." Misaki wordlessly nodded in response as she sat down, once she had Natsuo added, "Okay, food will be right out," as he quickly went to the kitchen and returned less than a minute later with a small bowl and the salt shaker.
Misaki leaned in to examine the food he had placed in front of her before thinking out loud, "Congee...?"
Natsuo nodded as he sat down and explained, "I made it soft for you. Since you're obviously still not well I figured it would be best if you ate something light to start off with. If it's too bland you can add salt to it... which might be a good idea if your body needs more salt after you got sick last night."
Misaki looked around curiously before asking, "What about you? Aren't you going to eat?"
Natsuo actually let out a small chuckle as he grinned slight while replying, "I ate earlier. It's already going on nine o'clock you know. I only started cooking yours when I noticed you move a bit in your sleep, you were pretty much a rock up until then."
"I see... I guess I was right that I ended up sleeping in..." Misaki hung her head slightly before she started eating the rice porridge slowly, adding a little salt after the first two bites. As she ate, Natsuo quietly watched the news program, eyes shifting to check on her progress every now and then, but never for more than a second or two. When she was about halfway through her meal Misaki spoke up, "Natsuo-kun... I'm so sorry about last night. I was completely out of line."
Natsuo shifted his attention fully onto her as he sighed, scratched the back of his head and replied, "Yeah... you were. Hina-nee told me what you told her last night... and I understand. And I won't lie, I was pretty mad last night, I thought Rui was going to pop a blood vessel."
"Oh... Rui-chan..." Misaki lowered her head to the table and groaned before adding, "With how long the flights are... should I expect her to be coming through that door any minute now to strangle me?"
"You should be okay," Natsuo said with a chuckle, "I told her it seemed like you were drunk, and she messaged Hina-nee to confirm. I also messaged her this morning letting her know what you told Hina-nee last night."
"And what did she say?" Misaki asked anxiously.
Natsuo pulled out his phone to check before answering, "She hasn't replied yet – she's on the evening shift today so it might be a little bit still before she has time to respond. But she did assure me she'd wait until I told her what the cause was before she would get on a plane to set you straight."
Catching on that some of the tension had lifted, and that he was taunting her, Misaki let out a small laugh of her own as she said, "Rui-chan is generous to hold off on passing her final judgment on me. I get the feeling she isn't someone I want to cross."
After their laughter quieted Natsuo asked, "How's your stomach? Think you'll have any issues keeping it down?"
Misaki shook her head and took another bite before answering, "It's a little upset, but nothing serious. My head hurts way more than my stomach, so this shouldn't be an issue."
"Glad to hear it, I'm sure I speak for both of us when I say I'd rather not have a repeat of you emptying your stomach into the sink," Natsuo said with a wry grin as he turned to face the TV again as Misaki grumbled and her face turned a bit red in embarrassment.
The two returned to their silence as Misaki finished her breakfast, once she had Natsuo quickly moved and took the bowl into the kitchen to clean it. As he was doing this Misaki called out to him, "Natsuo-kun... thank you. Not just for breakfast, but everything else that you've done for me up until now. After what I did last night you'd be fully justified in kicking me out... but you're still going out of your way to help me..."
Misaki trailed off as Natsuo came back into the sitting room, and let out an exaggerated sigh before replying, "I know there's no point in telling you this, but you don't have to thank me. This is what friends are for right? Yeah I'm not a fan of how you acted last night, but that's doesn't mean I'm going to kick out a friend who's already going through a hard time."
Misaki's head shot up to look at him as she choked back a few tears and said, "I think that's the first time I've heard you call me your friend."
"Of course you're my friend Misaki-san, you think I'd put up with all of this if you weren't?" Natsuo asked with a teasing grin.
"You make a good point," Misaki answered with a quiet laugh. Once she finished she added, "I think I should take it easy today... so that means I can't check in at places or put any applications in except online."
Natsuo waved his hand dismissively and said, "Don't worry about that, just rest up for today. I mentioned it to Hina-nee yesterday but I didn't get a chance to tell you: if this Hojo guy is stalking or trying to find you, I don't mind if you have to stay here longer as a result. I don't want you putting yourself in a bad situation, so you don't have to worry about the original time frame we agreed to."
Misaki felt a tear roll down her cheek before she could do anything about it and she quickly moved to wipe her face before she took a breath and responded with a wide smile, "Understood, I promise to not take an unreasonable amount of time regardless. And I will pay you back for your kindness someday, you and Hina both. I will also have to repay Rui-chan for not flying back here just to kill me in my sleep."
"As much as I want to say you don't have to repay us, I know there's no point: you'll do it no matter what I say. Though I believe including Rui in that is a good idea, I may or may not be looking forward to this hypothetical cooking contest between you two with pork shogayaki..." Natsuo trailed off with a sheepish smile.
"Hina told you about that?" Misaki asked with a giggle before continuing, "Honestly so am I, not that I think I could be a better cook than an actual chef... but I'd like to see how I compare."
Natsuo nodded as replied, "When I mentioned it to Rui she didn't seem opposed to the idea. I'm sure if you thank her for sparing you she'll still participate."
"Well then I will make sure to that I do!" Misaki said in a very Hina-like cheer before grimacing as she felt a wave of pain in her head.
"Alright, don't get too excited or you'll get that headache back in full force. I'll refill the water bottle for you, do you need any help getting back to the bed?" Natsuo asked as he walked over to get the bottle.
Misaki shook her head as she carefully got up and walked towards the bed, replying, "No I think I'm okay. I think a little more rest and water and I'll be good by the afternoon."
"That's good to hear," Natsuo replied as he brought the bottle to the sink to refill. While he did so he thought to himself, "If there's a silver lining to this it's that she won't be out and about for that Hojo guy to find her. That gives Boss' contacts time to dig up some information, hopefully he hears back from them soon."
Unknown to Natsuo, Misaki was also thinking to herself, "I can't let what happened last night happen again. I have to quit using. I will. For them."
Meanwhile...
The sound of a phone ringing cut through the sounds of a shower, causing the occupant to sigh heavily before thinking out loud, "Of course a call would come in right now." The shower cut off and the door slid open to reveal Kobayashi who quickly reached for his phone, checking the caller ID before answering, "Ichiban, that was fast."
"Good morning to you too brother," Ichiban replied sarcastically.
"Sorry, good morning," Kobayashi apologized as he shook his head slightly.
Ichiban chuckled from the other side before saying, "And yeah, turns out that subtlety isn't exactly these guys' strong suite. So we were able to find something pretty quickly."
"So what did you find so far?" Kobayashi asked in a serious tone.
"Not good news unfortunately..." Ichiban replied vaguely.
Kobayashi let out a sigh before saying, "To be honest I wasn't expecting much good news. Alright let's hear it then."
"Well for starters we were able confirm that this gang is definitely using that neighborhood as their hub, and the leader is some guy named Kai, but like I said before the Kodan family hasn't been able to pin him down yet," Ichiban explained.
"Right, you mentioned that last night. I'm surprised honestly, even if the Kodan family was in disarray for a bit the fact he's managed to evade them means he's at least somewhat competent. Still a fool for trying to take Yakuza territory, but a competent fool," Kobayashi stated as he thought about what would happen once the Kodan family got a hold of this Kai.
Ichiban gave an affirmative grunt in response before continuing, "That's for sure. We were also able to get an idea of what kind of operations they're running, but no specific details yet. As far as we can tell right now they're primarily dealing with drugs and stolen goods."
Kobayashi frowned before replying, "Drugs? That's bad... there's a lot of money in that, the higher the investment the more aggressive they'll be if something jeopardizes it..." he trailed off for a moment before asking, "What about this Hojo guy, is he connected to this gang?"
"No word on that yet, sorry. We've gotta be careful not to step on any toes looking into this, since it's not our territory. But I'll keep my guys looking into it, and I'll keep you posted," Ichiban answered with an apologetic, but determined tone.
"Thank you, I really appreciate that you're doing this," Kobayashi thanked him whole-heartedly with a small smile.
"No need to thank me, I'll be in touch," Ichiban replied before ending the call.
Setting his phone back down Kobayashi let out a long sigh before thinking out loud, "A gang operating in the area that's dealing drugs... the girl Natsuo-chan set Fumiya up with sees Misaki-chan collecting money from a man in an alley... and then a shady guy shows up looking for her... I really don't like how all of this is fitting together. I hope it's just a coincidence, but I should take some precautions just in case."
He paused to think for a few moments before he picked up his phone again and quickly dialed Fumiya's number. Within a few rings Fumiya answered, "Hey Boss, everything okay?"
"Yes, sorry to bother you Fumiya but some urgent personal business has come up. Can you manage the cafe on your own for a day or two?" Kobayashi asked in an overly cheerful voice.
"Huh?" Fumiya responded initially with confusion before continuing, "I mean... yeah I can do that if it's just a couple days. Anything I should worry about? Is this about what you told Natsuo you'd look into?"
"It might be, I don't have a definitive answer on that at the moment. I still have a friend looking into that, and I'm going to do some leg work of my own. Don't mention it to Natsuo-chan though, I don't want him to worry if it ends up being nothing," Kobayashi answered, trying to be as reassuring as he could be.
Fumiya was quiet for a moment, his reluctance not to tell Natsuo evident when he eventually responded, "Alright, you're the Boss. I'll keep quiet on it for now, not that I know what you've found so far. Probably for the best not to cause a panic."
"Thank you Fumiya; to make up for it I'll pay you double time for this, and give you a few days off with pay once this is settled," Kobayashi added, his signature cheerful tone returning.
"I won't let you down! I should get going so I can start prepping to open!" Fumiya replied ecstatically before he ended the call.
Kobayashi chuckled to himself before he once again placed his phone down and went back to finish his shower. As the water started up again he thought to himself, "Now then... how am I going to get in touch with Kazuma after all this time..."
Evening of April 5th – NYC...
The door to staff room flew open, only not slamming into the wall because of the stopper as Rui all but ran to where her coat and bag were stored away. Daniella caught the door and pursued her, being closely following by Tokiya as she called out, "Whoa there Rui! I know you want to see what update Natsuo sent, but your phone isn't going anywhere."
"I know, but I don't want to wait anymore. I need to know what's going on," Rui said shortly as she fished her phone out and powered it back on, having turned it off earlier in the day to keep herself from checking at every chance.
"Is something wrong with Fuji-san?" Tokiya asked curiously.
Daniella glanced towards Rui with a questioning expression, when Rui gave her a nod she turned to Tokiya and explained, "Not exactly. Natsuo is letting a woman named Misaki who was evicted from her apartment stay at his. He's staying at his family's house while Rui's older sister stays with Misaki."
"I see... that's generous of him. So I assume Tachibana is expecting an update regarding this, but why the urgency?" Tokiya asked for clarification.
"Well..." Daniella trailed off as she turned to Rui again.
Rui sighed as she continued to wait for her phone to finish booting up, an update showing in progress before she answered, "Last night Natsuo was at the apartment while my sister went out for a few hours. Apparently Misaki-san came back to the apartment and threw herself on Natsuo. Hina-nee got back right after and helped Natsuo get her off of him, then she got sick and passed out. According to both of them she seemed like she was drunk. That's the last I heard, Natsuo said he'd message me once he knew more."
Tokiya's eyes had widened slightly as Rui explained the current situation, once she had finished he thought for a moment before he said, "That is... certainly a lot. Is it safe to assume that you're holding off on deciding what to do to this woman until you see what information Fuji-san has sent?"
Rui nodded briefly as her eyes went back to her phone as the update finished and she made her way to her messages. While she did this Daniella added, "When she was talking to Natsuo this morning I think she was ready to jump on the first flight to Tokyo, he managed to calm her down though."
"Okay! He did send me a message a few hours ago, apparently she woke up during the night an explained herself to my sister," Rui chimed in with a sigh of relief.
"Oh? What did she say?" Daniella asked eagerly.
"Apparently while she was out checking on job applications she ran into a friend of hers, and was invited to go have a few drinks. She said everything going on hit her at once and she got carried away, and when she remembered what she when she got back to the apartment she felt awful about it," Rui answered as she read through the message again.
They were silent for a brief moment before Tokiya asked, "Was there anything else in Fuji-san's message?"
Rui shook her head slightly as she replied, "Not really. He sent that a few hours ago when he took over at the apartment so my sister could go run some errands that have built up. He said Misaki-san was still sleeping off whatever was in her system when he sent it."
"I see... well at least it was just because she had way too much alcohol and wasn't in her right mind..." Daniella trailed off before asking, "So are you heading to Tokyo to deliver your wrath?"
Rui managed a small laugh before replying, "I don't think that will be necessary. If she's as remorseful as Natsuo's message says then something like this won't happen again. Though I do intend to get an apology from her in person once I'm back home... and I'm more motivated to out cook her now."
"Out cook her?" Tokiya asked with a confused expression.
"Oh! According to my sister, Misaki-san makes a pork shogayaki that can 'give mine a run for its money'. So she came up with the idea of Misaki-san and I having a cooking contest to whose is better, and she and Natsuo will be the judges," Rui explained with a smile growing on her face.
Tokiya cocked his head slightly as he asked, "Pardon me if this comes across bluntly, but why are you looking forward to a friendly competition with her? Shouldn't you be much more angry at this woman for what she did?"
Rui took a moment to think before she replied, "If I ignored the context that she wasn't in complete control of her actions... yes, and had this happened before Natsuo and I worked out some stuff back in January I probably would have snapped. Plus, from what Hina-nee has been telling me the last few days she and Misaki-san have become pretty close already. She hasn't talked about having a good friend like this in a long time... so I'm grateful to her for that. With that in mind, and knowing I can trust Natsuo, I can look past this... but like I said I will be getting that apology from her in person."
"I'm glad you can look at it like that Rui, I know I've said it before but it's good to see how much better you've been since hashing things out with him back then," Daniella said with a smile as they all got their coats on to head out.
"It really has been a huge relief," Rui paused before quickly adding, "I have to run to the store to grab a few things, I'll see you back at the apartment!"
Daniella nodded as she replied, "Got it, see you then!"
After Rui rushed out the door to make it to the store Tokiya hesitantly asked, "It may not be my place... and you certainly do not need to answer, but 'worked out some stuff', 'hashed things out'?"
Daniella turned her gaze towards him and thought for a few moments before saying in a stern tone, "It really isn't my place to go into details, so all I'll say is that Rui and Natsuo had some... issues that they worked out when she visited in January. She hasn't brought it up to anyone over here but me, so don't go asking for any other details if you know what's good for you."
"Understood," Tokiya replied simply with a no of his head.
"Good," Daniella stated with a nod of her own before continuing, "Alright I better head off too. Have a good night!"
"You as well," Tokiya replied as he watched her leave. After a moment Tokiya looked down as he thought to himself, "There it is again... this pressure in my chest. This has been happening more and more since February... I got checked out by a doctor but they said I was fine. What is this? And when hearing that Tachibana and Fuji-san worked out their issues why did I feel... disappointment?"
Tokiya remained silent as he continued to process his thoughts and began to make his way home. A few minutes into his walk he stopped and his eyes widened as he came to a realization before muttering quietly to himself, "Shit..."
Afternoon of April 6th – Tokyo...
The day had passed by uneventfully for Natsuo, save for exchanging additional messages with Rui after she'd gotten off work and home after finishing a quick errand. Natsuo was relieved that Rui had shelved Misaki's transgression for the moment, but made sure to tell him that she expected an apology from Misaki in person the first chance she got. After eating her breakfast and taking the medicine Misaki had slept until about noon when Natsuo prepared another light meal, and the two occupied themselves with TV and card games.
"I win again!" Misaki cheered happily as she scooped the small stack of crackers they were using in place of poker chips towards her.
Natsuo sighed as he looked at how few "chips" he had remaining and said, "Yeah yeah… I guess Texas Hold'em just isn't my game."
"You really don't have a poker face at all Natsuo-kun, I almost feel bad winning so much," Misaki teased with a playful smile.
Letting out a chuckle, Natsuo replied, "Yeah I'm sure you feel so bad about winning... alright, one more hand all or nothing." As he said this he pushed all of his remaining crackers into the center of the tabletop.
"Oh? That's pretty bold of you considering your losing streak... I'm in!" Misaki chimed as she also pushed all of her crackers in.
With the bets placed the deck was shuffled, their two hole cards dealt and the community cards flipped. After reviewing all the cards Natsuo grinned confidently as she showed his cards and said, "Flush, ten high, hearts."
Misaki narrowed her eyes as she countered, "That's a pretty good hand, but..." she paused for dramatic affect as she revealed her hand, "Straight flush ten high."
Natsuo blinked multiple times as he confirmed her cards before he deflated with a groan, "Even with the best hand I get all day I still lost..."
"Take this is a sign: gambling is not in the cards for you Natsuo-kun," Misaki laughed as she scooped all of the crackers her away and began to nibble on one of them.
"Ha-ha very funny, think of that all on your own?" Natsuo deadpanned as he reached for his phone that had just starting vibrating. Not immediately recognizing the number shown on the screen he answered, "Hello?"
"Is this Fuji Natsuo?" the caller asked briefly.
"Yes, how can I help you?" Natsuo asked in turn.
"This is in regards to Tougen-san's discharge scheduled for tomorrow. We understand that you'll be assisting him once he is released, there's some paperwork that needs to be taken care of before that though, today preferably. Would you be available to come in and take care of that?" the caller explained with a courteous, yet stern tone.
Natsuo mentally cursed before he answered, "Ah right, that had completely slipped my mind. Yes I'll be there as soon as I can to take care of that. Thank you."
"Excellent. When you arrive head to reception, we'll let them know to expect you and they'll direct you to where you need to go. Have a great day Fuji-san." the caller explained.
"Got it, you have a good day as well," Natsuo returned before the call ended.
Misaki chimed in between nibbles on her current cracker, "Something come up?"
Natsuo stood up as he checked the time and thought for a moment before replying, "I need to head to the hospital Tougen-sensei has been at. He's being discharged tomorrow but there's some paperwork they need me to fill out since I'm going to be helping him once he's home," Natsuo paused for another moment before asking, "Hina-nee should be back soon, will you be okay on your own for a bit?"
"Oh! Yeah I'll be okay by myself, I'm feeling much better than I was this morning," Misaki asserted as she sat up before continuing, "Honestly I'm just going to be enjoying my winnings and watching TV one way or the other; so no need to worry."
Natsuo smiled as he chuckled, "Just don't eat all of your winnings at once or you'll upset your stomach again. I'll message Hina-nee so she knows I had to step out early, I'll probably be heading straight back to my family's' house after I'm done there." As Natsuo was saying all of this he started packing up the small amount of items he'd brought with him that morning.
"Understood. If I don't see you later then have a good day Natsuo-kun, and again: thank you for looking after me today," Misaki replied as she bowed her head slightly.
Finished getting his things together Natsuo drawled, "And again: you don't need to thank me. Have a good day, I probably won' be by tomorrow. Remember what I said earlier: I don't mind if you have to stay longer because of everything, so take your time."
Misaki gave a silent nod as Natsuo waved and left the apartment, once she was sure he was out of ear shot she grumbled, "But I do have to thank you... You and Hina don't know the half of it..."
As time went by Misaki realized she'd eaten about half of the crackers and decided to heed Natsuo's warning and put the rest away before she upset her stomach. While moving out to the kitchen to get the box they had come in she felt herself shake and then wobble before catching hold of the counter. "Dammit. How am I already feeling the withdrawal?," she thought to herself as her eyes darted to her coat near the front door, specifically the visible pocket before shaking her head, "No. I told myself this morning I would stop. For Natsuo-kun and Hina's sake, I don't want them to see me like I was last night again. I can do this."
Having reaffirmed her decision to herself she made her back to the kotatsu to store her snacks away for later and resumed watching the daytime drama was currently on. Before too much longer went by the sound of the door unlocking and opening drew her attention as Hina called out, "I'm back! How are you feeling Misaki?"
"Much better than this morning, Natsuo-kun made sure I stayed hydrated, took my medicine and ate lightly. How was your day Hina?" Misaki asked in turn with a smile.
"Oh it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, pretty boring actually," Hina answered as she hung her coat up, but as she did she accidentally knocked Misaki's off of the hook it was hanging on. Hina bent down to and picked it up but noticed something small hit the floor as she did so; as she picked it up to examine it her eyes widened and she let out a small gasp before asking, "Misaki... what is this?"
Misaki turned to face Hina as she entered the sitting room and the color drained from her face when she saw what Hina was holding. After a moment she managed to stammer, "W-where did y-you find t-that Hina?"
"It fell out of your coat pocket when I picked it up off the floor," Hina murmured before asking again, "What is this?"
Misaki lowered her eyes and replied dejectedly, "There's no point trying to lie to you Hina... it's cocaine..."
Hina took a sharp inhale before she took on her teacher tone and asked, "Why do you have cocaine Misaki?"
"It's a long story... but the short version is that I have an addiction. After what happened I already decided to quit, but I haven't had a chance to get rid of it yet," Misaki explained, still not meeting Hina's gaze.
"After what happened... Do you mean last night?" Hina questioned, once Misaki slowly nodded her head in answer Hina thought out loud, "So that's why I couldn't smell any alcohol on you or when you got sick..."
Misaki said nothing and waited for Hina to begin berating her – but was caught off guard when Hina took the seat across from her and took hold of her hands in a comforting way. Misaki raised her head and was stunned to see Hina with tears in eyes, after a few seconds she was able to collect her thoughts enough to cautiously probe, "Hina...?"
"I had a feeling there was something going on that you hadn't told us... I understand why you wouldn't want us to know, but if you've decided to quit then I'm going to help you," Hina assured with her usual smile and a slight squeeze on Misaki's held hands.
Misaki was stunned, her eyes widening in disbelief as she murmured, "But... why would you..."
Hina sighed, "Do you really need to ask that? It's because you're my friend, because I care about you Misaki. I won't pretend that I know a lot about this kind of stuff, but I know that getting over an addiction isn't easy so you're going to need help. The last thing you need is someone demeaning you or abandoning you."
Hearing Hina's words Misaki felt herself start to break down, not trusting herself to speak she thought to herself, "How? How can she be like this? I haven't done anything to deserve this kindness from her..." As her thoughts began to run rampant she fully broke down into tears, and Hina moved in order to embrace her. Between sobs she managed to get out, "You're too nice for your own good! You know that right?"
Hina said nothing, but chuckled slightly in response as she embraced Misaki more tightly to assure her she meant it. Several minutes went by before Misaki's sobs grew quit and Hina stated, "Now, I know it's going to be unpleasant but we have –"
Hina was cut off by loud, aggressive knocking coming from the door to the apartment, which she was glad she'd remembered to lock. The knocking paused for a moment as a man's voice called out, "Open up! I know Misaki Ogura is in there!"
Misaki practically jumped out of Hina's embrace, and when seeing Hina's questioning expression she whispered, "It's Hojo..."
A/N: A quick note regarding something from last chapter and this chapter – Kobayashi's contact in his former Yakuza family is never named in the canon, so I pulled the name "Ichiban" from the Yakuza series for him. Another character whose name is never given got the same treatment with the name "Kazuma".
And the inconsistency I mentioned? Did anyone else think it was weird that Kobayashi found out about the gang dealing drugs the morning of one day, and we don't see him again until the night of the following day? So for this I gave the reasoning of him looking further into it, doing "leg work" of his own before telling Natsuo to avoid making him panic.
There will be a slight delay with Chapters 13 and 14, so 13 will not be up next week. I will have both chapters up by the beginning of December which will close out the Misaki arc of A Retelling. I will then be taking a small break while I re-read parts of the canon and work out the road map for the next arc or two. I will have more info on that when I post Chapter 14.
