Notes: Hi everyone! Today marks my fifteenth anniversary on FFN! (And I opened this account when I was fourteen... what the hell have I done with half my life.) I wanted to post something for the occasion so... chapter 3 of Rainbows it is!

This is unbetaed, again (I still haven't gotten up the nerve to bug my beta to look at chapter 2), so any and all errors are my own.

And I... actually don't have much else to say this time? So I hope you enjoy!

Waiting for Rainbows
Chapter 3: I'm continuing on in my corner of the planet

"Hinata-kun! Where were you last night?!"

Hinata bit back a groan and leaned his forehead against his door, halfway through unlocking it. After finally making it back to his dormitory that evening, all he wanted was to wash up and go to bed; was that so much to ask? "Hi Ishimaru," he sighed regardless, hoping for the conversation to drop there.

Ishimaru didn't seem to take any note of Hinata's exasperation, however, and continued his line of questioning. "You didn't give any prior notice that you would be absent last night! What is this meaning of this?"

Hinata grit his teeth, resigning himself to the inevitable. Most officers became somewhat lax about the dormitory rules after a few weeks, but even after being there for a year, Kiyotaka Ishimaru was just as insistent as ever that he and others adhered to them. Hinata liked the guy just fine—forceful though he was, Ishimaru was passionate and good-natured—but Hinata was really reaching his limit and needed some time to himself to wind down.

He took a deep breath and turned to face his hallmate, forcing an apologetic smile. "Yeah, sorry about that. I accidentally missed the last train and had to stay with a friend last night."

Ishimaru studied Hinata with some measure of skepticism. "What friend? We officers are the face of order, so we can't be engaging in unwholesome relations, you know!"

"Yeah, I know, I stayed with Naegi," Hinata said without a second thought. He didn't like to lie, but Ishimaru was not the person to let know that he had stayed at a woman's apartment, especially that woman being Kirigiri. "It's nothing to worry about, all right? But I'm tired now, so I just wanna take a bath and get to sleep, so if you'll excuse me..."

Ishimaru immediately brightened, the stern frown melting from his face. "A bath! Yes, that is a most excellent idea. Would you mind if I joined you, Hinata-kun? What better way to build camaraderie between men than to bare our bodies and souls!"

Hinata had to suppress another groan. All he wanted was to have a relaxing bath to calm his nerves, but being a communal bath, he really had no right to refuse others from using it. "If you want, sure. I'm not sure I'll be much good conversation partner tonight, though," Hinata said.

"Excellent!" Ishimaru laughed heartily. "I'll go gather my bath essentials, then, and I will meet you there!"

As the raven-haired man disappeared down the hall, Hinata gratefully opened his door and stumbled into his dorm room. He sat down heavily on the floor and, as his muscles relaxed against the tatami, he seriously considered standing Ishimaru up for their bath date.

That sounded really weird and Hinata vowed to never think that phrase ever again.

He hadn't bathed in two days, though, so he couldn't rationalize going another night without a bath. Sighing, he picked himself back up and gathered together his towel, shampoo, and a change of clothes before heading to the dormitory bath house.

When he arrived at the locker room, Hinata noticed that there were a few storage compartments already occupied by other residents' belongings, so he wouldn't have had the bath to himself even if Ishimaru hadn't shown up.

"Ready to get in, Hinata-kun?" Ishimaru appeared at Hinata's side, already stripped of his clothes with a towel about his waist.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh lightly. "Give a guy some time to get undressed, will you?" He pulled his shirt up and over his head, then looked back at Ishimaru. "You can go on in before me. I'll be there in a minute."

"Very well! I'll be waiting for you, then!"

Hinata sighed as Ishimaru disappeared into the bath, then returned to undressing himself. After wearing much of the same clothes for two days, it was a relief to finally replace them with a clean towel around his waist, though he wouldn't feel completely refreshed until after washing himself off.

Upon entering the bathhouse, he wasted no time in washing his hair and body, then turned to the large bathtub to look for Ishimaru among the other men.

"Hinata-kun, over here!"

Hinata grimaced as Ishimaru's voice echoed off the walls. "You don't have to yell, I see you," he answered, walking over and stepping into the blissful warmth.

Hinata sighed as he lowered himself into the bath next to Ishimaru, relishing in the hot water as it lapped against his skin. He let Ishimaru lead the conversation as he relaxed, only half paying attention to his hallmate's anecdotes from his own post a few stations east of Kibougaoka. Ishimaru was plenty passionate about the job, and cared a great deal for the wellbeing of the citizens, and though Hinata wasn't exactly paying attention to the words, the warmth behind them helped to calm down his swirling mind.

"So! How have things been on your end, Hinata-kun?"

"Me?" Hinata had lowered himself far enough for his chin to brush the water surface, and he sat back up slightly so that he wouldn't swallow any water while talking. "Er... things have been..." Now that his thoughts had slowed to a comfortable crawl, he found it difficult to pinpoint what exactly he should talk about to maintain a conversation.

One thing was for sure, though: if he didn't want Kirigiri to know about the potential yakuza, then there was no reason to tell someone he had only known for half as long.

"Things are fine," he said finally.

Fortunately, Ishimaru didn't pry—nor even seem to think that he should, for that matter. "Excellent!" he cheered. "The less incidents there are to speak of, the better, after all!"

Hinata laughed, hoping it didn't sound as nervous as he felt. "Yeah, I guess so."

Well, there hadn't been any actual incident yet, strange encounters at the izakaya notwithstanding. So that much was true.

"And how has Naegi-kun been, anyway? He should come by and visit sometime!"

Hinata stared blankly at Ishimaru for a moment, the gears in his head struggling to figure out why Naegi would come up in the conversation, before he remembered—right, he had claimed to stay with Naegi the night before. "He's fine. Busy." Hinata sat up further; it was starting to feel like he might fall asleep in the water if he wasn't careful. "He works three jobs, and your koban's pretty out of the way. I still can't figure out how he accidentally got off the train at your station that one time."

Ishimaru laughed at the memory. "Yes, that's a bit of a mystery! But a little bit of mystery is a fine way to spice up life, don't you think?"

Exhaustion setting in full-force, Hinata laid his head back against edge of the bath. "At this point I just want some goddamn answers..." he muttered.

Ishimaru tilted his head inquisitively. "About why Naegi-kun got off at the wrong station?"

Hinata blinked up at the tiled ceiling for a moment. "No, not that," he sighed.

"Then what?"

Rather than elaborating, Hinata pushed himself up into a standing position and stepped out of the bath. "Sorry, Ishimaru, but I'm about to fall asleep. Not even sure what I'm talking about anymore."

"That's definitely a sign that you should get get to bed!" Ishimaru agreed. "It wouldn't be good for your health to fall asleep in the bath, after all!"

"Forget being bad for my health, I'd probably die." Hinata suppressed a yawn before adding, "Good night, Ishimaru."

"Good night, Hinata-kun! Make sure you get a good rest!"

Hinata felt like he was moving on autopilot as he left he bathhouse and got dressed, and before he knew it he was in his own bed for what seemed like the first time in ages. He closed his eyes, finally feeling at ease, and blond-haired strangers were the furthest thing from his mind as he slipped into restful sleep.

The next day was, thankfully, completely normal. Hinata went to work as usual, he did his job as usual, and he was finally beginning to put aside what had happened two nights earlier. It seemed like it was just going to be some sort of one-off occurrence that wasn't going to become relevant to his life ever again.

He left work as normal and headed towards Kagayaki, grateful to return to his usual life.

"Hinata-kun, there you are! Thank goodness!"

He hadn't taken more than a single step inside the pub when Hanamura's voice reached him, and the panic tinging his words made Hinata frown. "Yeah, I'm here," he said cautiously, pulling off his jacket. "Is something wrong?"

"Ohh, Hinata-kun, it's terrible!" Hanamura was obviously agitated, wringing a rag between his hands. "I was just about to text you, I'm really glad you showed up..."

Hinata approached the bar in long strides so that the pub owner wouldn't have to keep yelling across the store. He leaned against the bar and lowered his voice to a more respectable volume. "Just spit it out, Hanamura. What's got you so spooked?"

"It's that guy! From two nights ago!"

Hinata looked off to the side, mouth drawing into a thin line. Of course. It would have been ridiculous to think that everything might have just ended like that. "What about him?"

Hanamura gripped the rag so tightly Hinata thought it might very well rip in half. "He's here! He rented out space upstairs and is demanding to— to speak with you."

Hinata inhaled deeply through his nose, trying not to openly sigh in exasperation. Of course it wouldn't end so neatly. Of course the guy would be back.

Of course Hinata would end up being involved.

"Fine," Hinata breathed as he pushed away from the bar, standing straight. So the guy was waiting for him upstairs. The second floor of Kagayaki was for larger parties, and was partitioned off into six different rooms, one of which the stranger had apparently rented out to wait for him. "I'll go talk with him. Which room is he in?"

"Hinata-kun..."

Hinata turned back to Hanamura, who still looked excessively nervous, despite the fact that Hinata had just said he'd deal with it himself. "Yeah?"

Hanamura paused for a moment before he finally spoke again, meeting Hinata's gaze directly. "He rented out all the rooms. The entire second floor."

That got Hinata's attention. From Hanamura's reaction, it didn't seem that the guy had rented out the entire second floor for its intended capacity of 72 people. "Fine, I'll go up and meet with him," Hinata sighed, folding his jacket over his arm and getting ready for whatever was awaiting him on the second floor.

It really didn't seem to bode well.

He climbed the rickety stairs and upon reaching the top he opened the door to the party room, only to be met by a silver-haired woman in glasses. Thinking back, Hinata realized this must have been the woman he encountered two nights earlier, the one who had called for the Benz. She was even still carrying that covered sword across her back. "Uh, hi," Hinata managed to choke out, not entirely expecting to run into someone at the very entrance to the room.

The woman looked him over quickly, her emotionless eyes betraying no clue to her intentions. "Hello. The young master is waiting for you inside. Allow me to lead you to him."

She spun on her heel efficiently, and Hinata followed as she briskly walked into the room and towards the innermost partitioned area. The one where the occupants would be least likely to be heard from the hallway, Hinata couldn't help but note. The woman opened the sliding door to the small room and gave a shallow bow.

"I've brought him to you, Young Master."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks," came the mumbled reply from inside.

There, lounging casually at the low table, was the blond-haired stranger that Hinata hadn't been able to figure out, ever-present scowl on his face. Hinata had to suppress a nervous gulp; the atmosphere really felt like he was getting into something dangerous.

The man pointed at Hinata. "You, come on in and sit. We need to talk." He turned his gaze then to the woman standing dutifully by the door. "You can go do whatever, you know. I don't need you watching over every little thing I do."

"After what happened the other night, I must beg to differ."

The man grumbled under his breath, his hand fisting around a glass on the table—it seemed to be filled with water instead of booze this time, Hinata noted with some amusement. "Just go, Pekoyama," he finally ground out.

The woman—Pekoyama, apparently—bowed once more before closing the sliding door, her footsteps fading away as she returned to her post by the hallway. Once she was gone, the man turned his steely gaze onto Hinata. "So. You're Hajime Hinata."

Hinata felt a chill run down his spine and he froze for the briefest of moments, halfway through lowering himself into a sitting position. "How... do you know my name?" he asked cautiously as he folded his legs underneath him.

"The cook told me."

Hinata clenched his jaw, feeling like he was just barely holding back a scream of irritation. He would really have to talk with Hanamura about not giving his name out to people who were probably the fucking yakuza.

He licked his lips, hoping that his voice wouldn't crack with how dry his mouth felt. "And you are?" he prompted. Hinata would not be put on the defensive in this conversation—he needed to retain some control—but at the same time he hoped he didn't come across as too antagonistic.

The stranger, however, didn't seem to take offense—if anything, the sourness in his expression seemed to wane. "Ah, right. I'm Kuzuryu. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu."

Kuzuryu. Hinata repeated the name in his head, determined not to forget it before returning to the koban the next day. If I even make it out of here alive, he thought grimly.

There was a brief silence as Kuzuryu seemed to study Hinata from across the table—his eyes were a clear golden color, Hinata realized suddenly. They were rather striking, and Hinata wondered why he hadn't noticed them two nights earlier, when they had been in much closer proximity.

Finally, Kuzuryu nodded minutely to himself and took a sip from his glass. "Feel free to eat anything you want, by the way," he muttered, gesturing at the plates of appetizers that had been set out on the table between them—karaage, edamame, tsukemono, and more.

Despite having shown up at the izakaya for dinner, Hinata suddenly wasn't very hungry at all; the very idea of eating had his stomach churning with nausea. He shook his head, not entirely trusting himself to be able to open his mouth to even speak.

Kuzuryu shrugged, then reached for the chilled bottle of water to refill his glass. "Suit yourself. It's not like I poisoned it or anything."

The fact that you'd even think that doesn't inspire much confidence! Hinata clenched his fists against the fabric of his pants, fighting the urge to shout that retort out loud. That probably wouldn't go over very well in such a touchy situation... but just as Hinata thought that, he realized that something didn't seem quite right.

He actually couldn't sense much danger at all anymore.

"So," Kuzuryu continued after placing the bottle back on the table. "How long have you been around here?"

Hinata stared blankly for a moment; was Kuzuryu engaging him in small talk? Further confirmation that the situation wasn't as shady as it had originally seemed should have been somewhat comforting to Hinata, but on the contrary, it was only making him more tense.

Was Kuzuryu trying to bring his guard down? He couldn't risk falling for the bait if that were the case.

"I've been working in Kibougaoka for two years now," Hinata answered, trying to mask the caution in his words.

"Hmm..." Kuzuryu hummed thoughtfully, eyes trained on his glass as he swirled the water within it. "Nice place?"

What in the world was going on? Kuzuryu was being... amicable, and Hinata had no idea how to take that. "It's nice enough. It's not the best area, but it's nothing to complain about."

Kuzuryu's gaze flicked back to Hinata's direction, and he leaned forward slightly, arm propped atop the table. "You really think that? You have no complaints about being stuck here?"

Stuck... Hinata frowned at the shorter man. Was he stuck in Kibougaoka? He could think of a few residents who could be described as being "stuck" there, but as for himself... Brows furrowed in frustration, Hinata finally found the nerve to take charge of the conversation. "What did you call me here for exactly, Kuzuryu?"

Kuzuryu stared at Hinata for a moment longer, and Hinata couldn't exactly pin down the expression in those golden eyes; skepticism? No, it was almost like he was being studied like a specimen underneath a microscope; Hinata tried not to squirm awkwardly upon making that connection. What the hell was going on?

"Right," Kuzuryu sighed, leaning off of the table and back into a casual sitting position. "Anyway. It seems like I caused you some trouble the other night."

"Uh, well..." Hinata considered how best respond to that. "I mean, yeah, you got pretty damn plastered there, but it wasn't exactly, er..."

Kuzuryu grimaced. "Sorry you had to see something unpleasant, then."

You've got nice eyes.

The words immediately shot to the forefront of Hinata's memories, and he stubbornly pushed them back again. "It wasn't... that unpleasant. Though you probably shouldn't do that again."

"Shut the fuck up, I've heard more than enough of that from Pekoyama already." Kuzuryu grumbled and reached a hand into his inner jacket pocket. As he pulled out what seemed to be an envelope of some sort, he said, "So anyway, part of why I called you here was to pay you back for the trouble."

He tossed the envelope upon the table, and as it landed in front of Hinata he saw a few crisp bills slide out, Yukichi Fukuzawa's face staring up at Hinata ominously.

Hinata's stomach dropped. It was an envelope stuffed with ten-thousand yen notes.

"I can't accept this," he said immediately, pushing it back across the table. "I think you've vastly overestimated how much your bill came to, so—"

"Are you a dumbass?"

No, Hinata wasn't a dumbass, and he knew perfectly well that the money wasn't meant to cover what Hinata paid of Kuzuryu's bill.

He wasn't entirely sure what the small stack of notes was meant for, but none of the possibilities he could think of were anything good.

"I'm not taking it," Hinata repeated firmly. "Look, I don't know what was going on with you that night, but it's none of my business, and I'm not going to be telling anyone about it anyway, so you can take this back. Seriously."

Kuzuryu growled, his hands fisting on the table. Hinata could tell that he was doing a fantastic job of pissing the guy off, but he wasn't going to back down. "I'm not giving you this for fun, you know. This is a matter of pride, jackass. I don't wanna be owing anyone any favors. You really wanna piss me off over a little bit of cash?"

"Haven't you considered that maybe you're encroaching on my pride here, too?" Hinata growled back, aggravation steadily rising. "I didn't help you because I wanted some sort of compensation for it, that's just bullshit. I wouldn't be a police officer if I wanted—"

"The hell did you just say?"

Hinata froze, his blood chilling in his veins as he realized what he had just admitted to.

There was no longer he could logically deny that Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu was yakuza.

And he had just told that very gangster that he was an officer of the law.

Hinata knew that he must have gone pale at that moment, and his head swum as he watched Kuzuryu's face, in contrast, grow ever redder in rage. "I— That is, I—"

"Get the fuck out of here," Kuzuryu snarled.

Hinata felt like he was going to faint, and he swayed as he reached for his coat, hoping that he could stand up properly to make an escape. "I— wait, I'm not going—"

"Get the FUCK out of my face, you goddamn fucking cop!"

Hinata shot straight upwards, wobbling just slightly on his feet as he dashed to the sliding door and out of the partitioned room. As quickly as his feet could take him, he ran past Pekoyama into the hallway and down the stairs, taking them two at a time, not even bothering to answer Hanamura's concerned questions as he sped out of the pub.

Shit. Shit.

Kuzuryu was definitely yakuza.

And he knew that Hinata was a police officer.

Hinata was one hundred and ten percent sure that he'd be dismembered, encased in concrete, and dropped into Tokyo Bay before the night was done.

Notes: You don't know how happy I am to finally be free from exclusively calling Kuzuryu "the man," "the stranger," etc.