Authors Note: A sincerest apology to those who have waited for so long for me to update this fanfiction. Life takes us down many strange weird twists and turns; some good and bad. I have lost loved ones, changed careers, married, etc in the time I've spent away from the keyboard.
I would like to try and get more of this fanfiction completed- so we shall start small, shall we?
A thank you to , CoilyKhaleesi, and MissxBlackxKat- You guys have sent me messages- and I just found them. I dedicate this newest chapter to you guys.
Yumichika Ayasegawa
Yumichika couldn't remember the last time he allowed himself to be this drunk. He liked to think he was in better control of himself then this- but with the announcement of Captain's wife being pregnant, the whole squad was celebrating. Ikkaku had just kept pouring sake into his cup despite his protest. He could feel the alcohol flush in his face, and the sinking feeling in his gut as his best friend disappeared with one of the bar workers into the back rooms.
Many of the guys in the squad were talking about marrying. Seemed marriage was the major thing on everyone's mind these days. Doing their part to repopulate the Seireitei... Yumichika sneered at the thought and drank another cup of sake down. Even Ikkaku had mentioned maybe getting married in the future; and suddenly the future never seemed so unsure for Yumichika. He had always followed his friend from battlefield to battlefield. Sought stronger opponents and even battled their way through many barmaids.
"Your bottle of sake is nearly empty. Would you like me to bring you another, sir?" The voice was quiet, so much so that Yumichika barely noticed it above the loudness of the bar. His eyes focused on the quiet waitress who had worked the bar for years. She normally just collected dirty glasses and waited for orders to be yelled at her. She seemed to shy away from men, and more than once slapped one for being too handsy with her.
Yumichika allowed himself to drink in the violet eyes set in a pale face, off set by the angry scar that bisected her face. Her black hair was straight, waist length, and fell about her face, hiding her from the world. It was honestly the most beautiful hair he had ever seen. Always sleek and never a single strand out of place. He found himself reaching up and taking a lock of it into his hand, feeling the silky strands slide through his fingers.
"I must look quite pitiful if you are talking to me." Yumichika joked, allowing the last strands of her hair to slide away. "My name is Yumichika. What is your name?"
The waitress straightened up and stepped away from him, leaving quickly toward the back rooms without another word.
Yumichika let the smallest curse word escape before he forced himself to stand. He shouldn't have touched her. She didn't like to be touched, and he had just handled her. He found he was more lucky that she hadn't slapped him like she had so many other members of his squad.
He allowed the room to stop spinning some before he began to make his way to the back room, set on apologizing for his behavior. Never allowing myself to drink this heavy again.
Mitsuki hid in the back room among the crates of bottled sake, and barrels of other liquors the members of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads seemed to prefer. Well, maybe mostly the members of Squad Eleven. In the years she had worked in the small bar that had become her home, she had gotten to know-and hate some of them pretty well. Yumichika had always been a favorite. He never seemed to care to drink too much, nor put hands on any of the women within the bar. He always gave them respect as much as anyone could with the brutish members of his squad around him.
Somewhere along the way, Mitsuki realized she had made the mistake of developing a crush on the man. Something she considered most dangerous as he was known for preferring things of beauty; and she would never be beautiful. Her life in the human world hadn't been kind to her. At least, at the end. She too, had once been beautiful. Until a man decided she was too beautiful for this world.
She hadn't gone down without a fight though. She remember fighting tooth and nail to live, only to enrage her attacker. Her had cut her until she had no strength to fight. Until had had not enough blood within her body to even be saved, and left her. He had cut and stabbed her over two hundred times all over her body. She knew this, she had counted.
She found herself on the outside of the Soul Society, like many poor souls did. Having unfortunately remember her former life in such detail had been a blessing and a curse. Her skills as a bartender/waitress had ensured she found employment quickly. It also remembered she remembered ever agonizing minutes of her death.
Mitsuki shook her head to clear her thoughts. Yumichika touching of her hair had nearly undone her. To be so close to a thing of beauty, to be close to the man she had developed a crush on, and remember then what she was. He would never ever car for her the way she would want. In a way she hoped she would deserve.
Mitsuki took a deep breath in through her nose, and exhaled through her mouth. She did it a few more times, readying herself to go back out there and pretend nothing happened. A few moments later she felt composed enough to go back out.
Turning around she found herself running straight into the chest of Yumichika. A startled scream left her throat and she fell back, arms scrambling to find a purchase on something. Yumichika reached out to try and steady her, and wound up falling with it.
The pair crashed into a stack of crates, and Mitsuki knew she would be bruised in the morning, and she felt a wetness she hoped was only a busted bottle of alcohol, but with the extreme stinging- it was more likely a mixture of a wound with alcohol mixed in. With a groan she managed to roll away slightly, only after Yumichika lifted himself off of her.
"Who did this to you!?" The worlds were snarled.
Mitsuki eyes snapped up to Yumichika's face, where an expression of full rage had taken the normally smooth features. She found herself gazing down at her body. Her kimono had opened, normally not such a problem since she wore tight pants and a long sleeved turtle neck underneath. But the crates had ripped the material to shreds on more than just her shirt sleeve. Her entire stomach, the worst of her bodies damaged, was exposed. A mixture of being ripped and riding up in the fall.
Mitsuki quickly stood and wrapped her kimono around herself and found herself turning away, hiding. "I'm so sorry you had to see that. If you need more drink, please go out and find another waitress. I...I need to..." A sob escaped her throat. "Please just leave."
"Who did that!?" The question was snarled again, closer still to her. "I want to know who did this to you, so I might find them and tear them apart."
"I died over twenty years ago." Mitsuki whispered through her tears. "I don't know anything more on my killer than the fact he was male." She let herself look through her hair, sticking to the wetness on her cheeks. "Please, sir, just leave me alone. I don't want to be...I don't want to be told I'm ugly. Not by you."
Yumichika reared back as if she had slapped him. He reached out as if he might touch her, then drew his hand back. The next moment, he was gone.
It was only then that Mitsuki allowed herself to fully fall apart.
Yumichika burst out of the bar into the night air, feeling as though he couldn't breath. Rage tore at his rib cage, remorse stung his heart, and shame filled the rest of him. She feared him- not that he might hurt her physically... but emotionally. How many times had he told someone to their face they were ugly? Tore them down to make himself feel more beautiful. He was narcissistic to a fault, he knew that.
Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was her openly terrified face, but he felt guilt.
Even with the scar on her face- he had always like her. She kept their cups full, with little fuss, unless you touched her. Then she took care of the problem herself. She wasn't ugly. He had never thought she was ugly. He was. He was so ugly on the inside, and he wanted to feel as beautiful on the inside as she looked on the outside.
Remembering the numerous scars he had seen on her stomach, the rage boiled up again. He felt like he was choking. He needed to get away, needed to get somewhere no one would hear him- because the rage was threatening to escape a different way.
He took off at a dead run, leaping over walls, buildings, and running across roof tops until there were none left. He then jumped thru tree branches, relishing in the burning in his legs and lungs as he carried himself further away. The moment he stopped running, the screams began to escape his throat.
He screamed until he was hoarse and couldn't utter nothing else more than a whimper. He slid down the tree he was stationed high in, sitting on limb he had stood on. He curled in on himself, replaying that scene in his mind again and again. He had to make it up to her somehow. Had to show her he didn't think she was ugly. Had he done something to make her think so? Was it just his reputation? He knew he had probably voiced things about the men in their squad out loud in the bar. Had she heard that? Formed her own opinion on what she thought he would think?
How could he fix this?
The more he set there, the more the whole night replayed. From Ikakku's words of maybe settling down in the future, to his friend leaving with a barmaid. The touch of her silky hair, and the stark fear of his possible cruel words.
Marriage, hair, fear.
That silky hair, eyes full of fear, and marriage...
Marriage and silky hair.
It had been a whole week since Mitsuki had seen Yumichika. She had swept the moment away in the back room as best she could. She kept herself busy with work, spoke even less than normal for herself, and pinched her tip money tightly to buy herself some new clothes. She had been able to sew most of the holes in her clothes up, but they looked ratty and very damaged. Thanks to all the women in the Soul Society buying everything up, kimonos and women's clothing in general had gotten a lot more expensive. Even a cheap plain kimono like she preferred had gone up nearly triple in price.
She turned to place the dirty cups in the bin to be washed, and turned to find Yumichika now sitting at the table, a box sitting in front of him. He was staring at her with an expression she wasn't sure how to take. His clothes were clean, pressed, and he had gotten a hair cut. A braid now hung down toward the front of his face. More colorful feathers decorated his eyes, and were tucked behind his ears.
She felt a flush climb her face and she quickly turned to make her escape when he spoke: "I wanted to tell you I am sorry."
Mitsuki turned back to him, awkwardly. "Why? It's not your fault I'm clumsy."
"I'm apologizing for ever giving you the impression that I might find you ugly." He spoke softly. The bar was quiet, only a few patrons around, since it was only about three in the afternoon. "I don't, and never have thought that about you. I find myself loathing myself at the thought that you felt this."
"I...It's not you. It's me. I know I am. I'm like this because someone thought I was to beautiful. That's what he told me. So he ensured that I was ugly- like him. Those were his words." Mitsuki murmured.
"He was wrong." Yumichika told her, shoving the box toward her. "I brought you a gift. Please take it."
Mitsuki felt a bit awkward, so she sat down and and eyed the box warily. "I think your words were apology enough sir."
"My name is Yumichika, please use it. What may I call you?" His words were smooth, charming, and she felt heat staining her cheeks again as she stared hard at the stained wood of the table.
"My name is Mitsuki."
"That's a perfect name for you." Yumichika told her, again pushing the box toward her. "Please open this. If you don't like it, I can get you something else."
Feeling awkward again, Mitsuki lifted the lid off of the box and found a beautiful purple kimono folding up. Delicate flower patterns had been painted along the edges and sleeves in white and pale pinks. Instantly she felt tears stinging her eyes. "I cannot take this."
"Of course you can." Yumichika told her. "You will look beautiful in it. I knew it would match perfectly with your eyes, complexion, and hair."
"Its much to nice for a barmaid." Mitsuki whispered, putting the lid back on the box. She slid it toward him and stood up. "It would be ruined here."
"I don't want you to wear it to work in." Yumichika stated, reaching out to touch her. His hand stopped just above one of the stitched areas of her sleeve. "I was hoping you would allow me to take you out to dinner. I want you to wear it on our date."
Mitsuki stepped further away. "I don't also like being made a joke of either, sir."
Yumichika sat in the chair for a few minutes, staring at the box on the table. He didn't think it would be easy winning her over. Instead though, he felt like he had made it worse. She thought he was making fun of her? Making a joke out of her?
"I think you should take your conquest somewhere else."
Yumichika looked up to see the stern owner of the bar staring down at him. The man was nearly as old looking as Captain Yamamoto himself, but his attitude was of no nonsense. He had kicked people out of his bar for simply annoying him. Beady grey eyes bore into him as he repeated his statement.
"But I don't see her as a conquest." Yumichika murmured. "I really want to take her on a date. Get to know her..."
"And what, marry the girl?" The bar owner barked out in a laugh. After a moment of silence the bar owner's eyes got wide. "You want to marry her?"
"Yes. I think I do." Yumichika murmured, pulling the box toward him. He picked at the corners of it, staring through it more than at it. "I want to show her she is beautiful. I want to give her a life she deserves. I want to shower her in everything she could ever want."
"And in return?" The bar owner asked, eyes narrowing once again.
"I hope she can make me feel even the smallest bit beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside." Yumichika answered honestly.
The bar owner turned and started to limp his way back toward the bar. "She's in the back doing inventory for me. Tell her I said she needs the day off, and if she doesn't leave with you, I will fire her ass." As the owner got behind the bar he muttered, "And hire her back tomorrow anyways."
Yumichika snatched up the box and headed to the same back room he felt all of this had truly started in. True to the bar owner's word, Mitsuki stood in the back with a board held in one arm- balancing a small pot of ink, a brush, and a paper on it. She stopped and made a note as she went thru checking each crate and barrel.
She flinched when she caught sight of him. "You can't be back here." She told him softly, turning away from him.
"That's funny, because your boss told me where to find you. I'm also suppose to tell you if you don't take the day off and come with me, you're fired." Yumichika said teasingly, hoping to get something out of her.
She dropped the board she was holding with a clatter and turned toward him, mouth parted in shock, though her eyes were beginning to set ablaze in rage. "Why won't you leave me alone!? I don't want to be the butt of whatever joke you're trying to play. Whatever bet you lost or are trying to win. Just leave me alone."
"Is that what has happened to you before?" Yumichika asked now, feeling rage beginning to build within his chest again. "Is that what other men have done to you!?" He set the box on a crate and approached her and placed hands on her small shoulders. "This isn't me trying to be cruel or win some bet. I want to court you! You are everything I wish I could be! You are so beautiful. Inside and out."
He knew words enough wouldn't sway her. Not with whatever abuse she had put up with since coming to the Soul Society. Without a second thought, he swept her up into his arms and kissed her. She was so light he held her body up in one arm, and with his free hand, tangled his hand into that silky hair. He swallowed her gasp of surprise down and pressed upon her the truth of his feelings.
Moments later, he pulled away, gazing down into her glassy eyes and enjoying the sight of her swollen lips. It was only then that he realized her own hands were tangled within his own hair. "I want to court you. Take this is far as you are willing to let it go. I only ask that you give me a chance." He told her, between small sips from her lips. "You think you can work with that arrangement?"
"Yes." Her voice was a mere thread of sound, but in that one word, he heard her hopes, her fears, and dreams.
Yumichika honestly felt like the puffed up peacock his squad mates like to accuse him of being. Mitsuki's arm was linked with his as they strolled down the streets, looking at what the vendors had to offer, and sampling different foods. She wore the kimono he had bought her, looking as beautiful as he knew she would.
"What do you think of this?" He asked her as they stopped by a vendor selling all kind of hair adornments. He showed her a beautiful pair of carves wooden hair chopsticks.
"They're pretty, but I wouldn't wear them?" Mitsuki answered.
"Why not?" Yumichika asked her. "Let me show you." He gathered her hair up into his hands and began to gently twist. Once he had it gathered into his hands, he seen the scars that went up into the hair line at the base of her neck. He kept at his task and styled her hair in a way that still allowed it to hang down over her neck while pulling it mostly up. He placed the chopsticks in place and the vendor happily provided a mirror.
Yumichika didn't miss the way she tried not to look at herself while looking at his handiwork all at once. "I could never do that on my own, Yumichika." She told him honestly.
"Guess I will have to do your hair for you everyday." Yumichika answered, smiling. He placed money in the vendors hand and led her own, ignoring her protests of the money spent. "We are on a date. I'm allowed to spoil you."
The day continued in such fashion, with him buying her things she tried so hard not to accept. He felt on top of the world with each more smiles he got, the more freely she spoke, the touches she gave without seeming to think about it. She didn't flinch when he touched her, or brushed his lips on her cheek or brow. She still flushed and looked away if he tried to kiss her lips while in public. He found her shyness all the more beautiful.
"What the hell is this!?" Yumichika froze and felt ice grip his heard as he heard some of the guys from the squad yell at out him. "How did you get that frigid bitch on your arm? Probably good money involved if you're trying!"
Yumichika watch as the joy just died right out of Mitsuki's eyes and he found himself crushing her to his side, a hiss escaping his lips as he turned to face the men he knew he would be killing later. "You best return to the barracks now. If I see you outside of them before I have dealt out my punishment, I can ensure you that your fates will be a thousand times worse. And you will apologize to Mitsuki now!"
"We were just playin..." One of the men said, his smiling fading just slightly.
"I am not." Yumichika told them, right hand going toward his zanpakuto.
"Uh, sorry miss." the third guy said, before they scrambled away toward the barricks.
Once they were out of sight, Yumichika found himself leading Mitsuki to a nice restaurant he knew was nearby. There was private dining rooms which he knew she needed. Privacy, away from eyes.
Once they were seated in the room and Yumichika sent the staff away, he pressed kisses onto her face until she met his eyes again. "I am going to make sure they pay for saying that." He promised her.
"It will always be like this." Mitsuki told him softly. "No one will ever believe that you are honestly interested in me. They'll always think its a joke, a bet, pity, or duty."
"I don't care what they think. All I care if what you think. What you feel. What you want. Please do not let your fear of what others think halt our journey before it has even begun." Yumichika begged softly. "I will do whatever I need to do to keep you. If you want us to only meet behind closed doors until you are more comfortable, I am willing to do that. You want me to dress less obnoxiously while we are out, I can do that too."
A small giggle escaped her lips before she covered her mouth with her hands and looked away embarrassed. "I'm sorry...but how would I find you if you didn't stand out?"
Yumichika felt a smile curve the corner of his mouth. "I do stand out, don't I?" He pulled her closer to him, and then just decided to pull her fully into his lap. Once he had her tucked fully against him and comfortable, he laced his fingers within hers.
"I will keep trying." She whispered. "To not doubt you. Please just be patient with me."
It was only a few weeks later when Yumichika found himself cleaning up his room in the barricks even more, wanting to make room for Mitsuki's things. He didn't know if they were quite ready to live together...well, he wasn't sure if she was ready for that step. He honestly was ready to have her everyday.
Today however, was because she was going to stay the night. He honestly wasn't sure if it would turn sexual or not. But he had suggested she stay the night, as he'd love to wake up to her face. She had blushed and looked away, only to agreement moments later.
"What's gotten into you?" Ikkaku stood in his doorway, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"I don't understand what you mean?" Yumichika murmured as he continued to clean. "You know I've always like my room to be tidy."
"That's not what I mean and you know it." Ikkaku snapped as he straightened up. "You have been disappearing as soon as your are dismissed for the day, you apparently have been spending a lot of time at the bar, and you eviscerated three of our squad mates. This isn't like you."
Yumichika paused on folding some of his excess clothes and instead closed the drawer. "I'm dating someone."
"And that requires you to become an alcoholic and try and murder our squad mates?" Ikkaku asked.
Yumichika sighed. "She's a waitress at the bar. I go to the bar to see her and to make sure the squad is treating her right."
"You're seeing one of the barmaids? Do you know how many of our squad had probably rolled her in the bed alre-" Ikkaku couldn't finish the sentence as Yumichika pulled his zanpakuto and placed it against his throat.
"Not my Mitsuki. She isn't like that." Yumichika hissed.
Ikkaku placed his hands up and stepped back. "I don't know who you are talking about. So she must be new."
Yumichika was suddenly bothered by the fact that his best friend had failed to notice Mitsuki. She had worked at the bar for going on 18 years. Nearly the full time of which she had been dead. Had served and poured his drinks, and Ikkaku had so completely dismissed her as anything of interest because she wasn't a typical barmaid. "I need to get back to cleaning."
Ikkaku left and Yumichika instead found himself calling the room good and leaving to head to the bar. He was going to take her out to a nice dinner before he brought her back to the barricks. Maybe they would walk through the vendors a bit again, so he could spoil her more. She was only working a few hours until the other barmaids came in. Knowing it was getting close to the time, he hurried.
"I heard that the really pretty guy from Squad Eleven was seen with Mitsuki."
Mitsuki felt the need to twitch as she realized she was now the center of the other barmaids gossip. It wouldn't be long before they started pestering her for answers, or started with their snide comments. More than likely both. She put away the last of the dirty glasses she had cleared of the table and waved at the bar owner. She was done for the day and planned on leaving as soon as Yumichika showed up to gather her. While she wasn't sure what the night would hold exactly, part of her wanted to wonder into work late the next day. Wanted the other barmaids to wonder where she had been, and demand to know all the details she would never give them.
"Mitsuki." She turned and approached the bar owner. "Listen, you've been a great and faithful employee to me for many years. So I want you to know, that I want you to leave this job soon. That man you're seeing wants to marry you, you know? You should let him take care of you. This place isn't for you. You have always deserved better than this. And I want you to know, because I've overheard you two talking- that I won't be upset if this is the last time I see you for work. If you stopped showing up here, I would be happy for you, understand?"
Mitsuki swallowed and nodded. She could feel the flush in her face and also knew the moment Yumichika came up behind her. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yes." She turned with a smile.
"Do you need to grab anything?" Yumichika asked, motioning toward the area he knew she had a small room, barely bigger than a closet.
"Um, yeah, I guess I should do that, huh?" She murmured and headed toward the room.
Yumichika stood there and watched her go with an inquisitive stare. "Did something happen?" He asked the bar owner, turning to face him.
"Told her I wanted to leave here soon. This isn't the place for her. I took her in to protect her. She's got you now, so I want her to leave." The old man said, picking up a glass to wipe the water spots off of. "Try and convince her not to come back sooner than later though, would you?"
"Excuse me." Yumichika felt irritation feel him as someone latched onto his arm, voice pitched high and annoying in his opinion. "You aren't really with her are you?"
"I'm giving you seconds to remove your arm from my persons, before I remove it for you." Yumichika hissed. "And yes, I am with Mitsuki. An ugly person like you couldn't understand an emotion like love."
The barmaid removed her arm and got the most insulted looks she could muster. "You must truly be desperate then. You could have had a better time, and view, with any of the others of us."
"Yumichika." He spun to find Mitsuki waiting on him, a bag clutched against her chest. "Let's just go. They aren't worth it."
"Let's go then." Yumichika murmured, taking the bag from her, and linking his fingers through hers. He gave the dirtiest look he could manage at the barmaid. Conveying in a look that if she said a single bad thing more; it very well might be the last words she ever spoke.
Once they were outside within the light of day, Yumichika tried to lighten the situation. "The old bar owner wants me to talk you into moving in with me! What do you say?"
"Do a lot of people ask you questions like that? About us?" She murmured instead.
"People are nosy by nature. So yes, I do get questions about us, sometimes." Yumichika answered.
"But are they always like that?" Mitsuki pressed. "Are they always in disbelief like that? Shock?"
"Sometimes." Yumichika answered. "But only from the ugly people. Don't let it bother you."
"It bothers you." Mitsuki whispered.
"Yes, it does. On your behalf. I know you doubt this. I know you also can't help it. I know that those people are just picking at a slowly healing wound that I am trying so hard to heal. So yes, it bothers me, because they can't see past the surface. I was once like them, and I think that's what bothers me the most." Yumichika told her, bringing her to a stop and pulling her closer to the wall of the building they were closest too.
"You thought I was ugly?" Mitsuki asked, heart break taking over her face.
"No, I did not. I can honestly say I never thought that about you. More that I did see a person that wasn't conveniently attractive and would immediately label them ugly. Now I realize that made me ugly. And people are ugly on the inside, far more than they ever are on the outside." He lifted their linked hands, and pressed a kiss to each of her knuckles. "I love you, and I want forever with you."
"Lately...I've been thinking that you might be happier without me." Mitsuki told him, pulling at her hands to disengage. "I want you to be happier even if that means without me."
Yumichika dropped her hand out of shock more than anything. In that moment, Mitsuki grabbed her bag and disappeared quickly into the crowd.
Mitsuki had hid out in the cheapest little hotel she could find in the Soul Society. It was barley a step above the bar she had lived in for nearly the past two decades. She knew she couldn't go back to the bar. The owner would be upset with her, and she probably couldn't work among the other barmaids anymore anyways. She didn't want to deal with their sneering faces and snide comments when she came back single.
She loved Yumichika so much it hurt, but hearing those comments out of the barmaids had hurt. It had hurt more knowing he was hearing this sort of thing a lot. How long had he had been sticking up for her, breaking himself into pieces while he tried to put her back together?
She shook her thoughts away and looked at the newspaper in front of her. There was a few job listings she was looking at. Part of her knew she couldn't go back to working at a bar as a waitress. If Yumichika decided to look for her, that would be only too easy. But she needed some sort of income. She could afford to stay at the hotel for a few weeks and still have some money, but it would come to an end eventually.
She needed something he wouldn't expect. She needed to change up her patterns and behaviors. As much to hide as to heal herself. For too long she had let herself live in self pity. She had drug down Yumichika with her and never even realized it. Maybe one day she'd be a better person, and if she was lucky, he'd still be single and willing to forgive her.
She seen an add and knew it would be good for her. It was a bar, yes, but more close to the type of bar she worked when she was alive. Karaoke. She hadn't sang in years, but it was like riding a bike, right?
She pulled her hair up in a high pony tail, away from her face. And left her kimono sitting on the bed. Only in her black underpants and t-shirt, she looked so different from her usual self. She had used the hair and folds of fabric to hide. This was as good as a disguise as she had.
Mitsuki stood in front of the woman that ran the karaoke bar. "My name is Mitsuki, and I understand from the paper that you are looking for a singer?"
"We are. Our last one went and fell in love and got herself married in all of this insanity that has taken over the Soul Society. I don't have to worry about that happening with you right? Its getting tiring already trying to find someone when they are just getting a job until they have a ring on their finger." The woman took a drag off of a long tobacco pipe and exhaled. Her hair was thick, blond, and piled onto of her hair with some chop sticks shoved messily into it. Her eyes were deep blue and lined heavily in black, while her lips were painted a blood red. Her clothing consisted of a kimono that seemed it might be a size or two too small.
"Single, as of recently." Mitsuki murmured. "I'm looking to find something new. Well, everything new. I want a new job, a new look, a just new everything. I'm tired of hiding in my pities and fears. So maybe one day I will be worthy..."
"Of love?" The woman stood. "I understand that all too well. My name is Kyoko, and this bar is the love child of myself, and my deceased husband. I know all too well how it feels to stand on an edge and wonder where it all went wrong. . .and want to fix it." She swept toward another table and nodded at a thick book. "I try to keep up with music that's popular even on earth. Feel free to look thru these lyrics, and listen to the music of the songs and figure out what you want to sing. I will come back in an hour, and you can preform for me. Make it from the heart."
Mitsuki was left alone then. She approached the book and began to flip through the pages, most songs looking okay. Some she recognized from her time alive. Kyoko had arranged everything by genre, and for whatever reason, she found herself in the romance section. She looked through lyrics until she found something that stuck out. Words familiar even though never sang.
When Kyoko returned, the song was already queued up on the karaoke machine.
Mitsuki sang with all the emotions she had felt since Yumichika had come into her life, as more than another member of the endless bar s.
"Then only for a minute! I want to change my mind, because this just don't feel right to me. I want to raise your spirit! I want to see you smile, but know that means I have to leave..." She sang the words out, and felt tears slipping down her face. She might have bombed this interview for the job, but the singing was like a healing balm on her broken heart. Maybe she was hasty in leaving Yumichika, but it still felt like it was the right thing to do at the time. He would find someone better, or maybe he wouldn't. Maybe she could be better, and later they could try again. Maybe they never crossed paths again, and that was okay too.
Yumichika found himself helping Yukino out of her futon after Kenpachi had left the couples room. "I'm like four months pregnant and I'm already having trouble getting up out of this bed!" The woman moaned. "I will kill that dumb ass for a better bed!"
"I'm sure that's just foreplay for you two." Yumichika murmured as he got the woman to her feet.
"Are you okay Yumichika? You don't seem your normal, narcissistic, cheery self." Yukino tried to make a joke of it, but her face was serious. "Is everything okay, really?"
"I was seeing someone, but she left me. I feel my...'normal, narcissistic, cheery self' might be the exact reason it happened too. Maybe I tried to hard to protect her from the outside worlds thought of our relation..."
"Her?" Yukino seemed generally surprised. "No offense, but I thought you were...?"
Yumichika's smiled was a bit bitter. "Into men? I am...and women. I like beauty. In all of its shapes and forms."
"How did she end up leaving you though?" Yukino asked, making her way to a chair sitting in the corner.
"Her self confidence was frail. And I tried hard to keep her from hearing anything bad about herself. But she did overhear stuff. She thought she was going to make me happier by leaving me. That I would be better off without her. I professed my love for her, and she left me." Yumichika was shouting by the end of it, a tear managing to escape and slide down his face. "And the truth is, she will probably have been better off if she had never met me."
Yukino wrapped her arms around the man. He hugged her back, his arms almost a tad too tight.
"What are you going to do to win her back?" Yukino asked after a bit.
"I can't even find her." Yumichika whispered. "I was prepared to beg at her feet, in the middle of the street. But she was gone that quickly. I imagine she is good at hiding because of being a murder victim. Experience has taught me that those who died gruesome deaths know how to keep their spiritual energies very low when they don't want to be found."
"She's a murder victim?" Yukino asked. "How recent?"
"I think around two decades?" Yumichika murmured. "Why?"
"What if you avenged her? If her murderer isn't dead, then you can kill him. She would feel that. Feel that shackle released from her." Yukino explained excitedly.
"She doesn't know even what he looks like. And its not like I can go ask her more questions about it." Yumichika murmured.
"We just have to go to the right people. Go find my husband. Tell him to meet us outside central command. We will need a captain to sign off on you going to the human world." Yukino made her way toward the rest room to get ready.
"That still won't let me know how to find her killer!" Yumichika snapped in frustration.
"If you love her as much as you say you do...You will find him quickly if he lives." Yukino said over her shoulder, her eyes serious.
"Make sure you get some clothes to blend in." Yukino told him as he held his orders for a brief mission into the world of the living. Even more surprising- while Kenpachi had got him these orders, Yukino had managed to get something better. Records of where Mitsuki lived when she was alive. Yukino then pressed a small sphere into his hands. "It's best he sees you when you kill him. Otherwise it will feel too much like a natural death if a Shinigami in their spirit form does it. You want his body to be found- beaten and broken. Like he left her. That sort of impact will be felt. This will ensure any other victims he has had will be freed from his influence too."
"Understood," Yumichika said, placing the small sphere somewhere safe. The papers were tucked away next. "I will cover more ground in my spirit form, but once I close in...if I close in I will take on the physical form."
The pair walked back toward the Squad Eleven barracks where a gate would open for him in just a scant few hours. Yukino continued to pump him up with her words, and he felt the smallest of smiles form on his lips. It felt like years, rather than days, since he had smiled. Without thinking of it, he stopped and hugged the woman to him. She would never know what she had done for him. Even if he never got his Mitsuki back- he would still do this for her. Because she deserved the beauty of revenge.
Mitsuki had both her hands over her mouth as she hid around a corner, just having caught Yumichika in an embrace with a beautiful woman. Of course he would find someone quickly, and of course she was be beautiful.
She had almost cried out, in emotional pain, when she had seen the pair embrace. She had ducked away quickly, for privacy, and not to be seen. She felt like a fool to even think that she would ever be able have a chance with him. Maybe it all had been a cruel joke after all? Not even a week apart and he was with some beautiful woman? They seemed to know each other very well. Maybe she was even aware of it?
It hurt, to think she was a joke, something for the pair of them to laugh at.
She tried to take a breath and felt like she choked on it. Tears poured down her face, while her skin turned red at her inability to even pull in the smallest gasps of breath. This hurt far more than leaving him ever had. Knowing that what they had, now, was more than likely fake.
"Breath."
Mitsuki found herself staring up at the same beautiful woman she had just seen Yumichika with. She began to look around in a blind panic, expecting the man to turn the corner next.
"He isn't here. I sent him to the Squad Eleven barracks. He has a mission coming up. He didn't see you, but I did." the woman told her softly. "You must be Mitsuki. He has spoken so much of you."
Gaining a breath, to fuel the rage the suddenly filled her chest, Mitsuki spit out: "I'm sure he has! How you two must have laughed at the thought of the poor scared girl thinking she had landed a Prince Charming!"
The woman blinked a few times then threw her head back and laughed: "Oh my! Don't inflate his ego anymore by letting him ever hear you call him a Prince anything! And why would we laugh at you? He's been moping around so much that even the most depressed member of our squad was looking like a ray of fucking sunshine!" The woman crossed her arms and stared down at the shorter woman. "I'm Yukino, by the way. Wife of Captain Kenpachi Zaraki."
She said wife like it was nearly a bad word, and that quickly, Mitsuki's rage turned into embarrassment. "You aren't Yumichika's girlfriend?"
"Let me put it this way- the first time I met Yumichika, I tried to kill him. He has or had, no personal boundaries. He isn't shy, and has no filter. Well, he's actually worked on that quite a bit. We are friends, now. I think he's worked on himself a lot because of you. Don't get me wrong, around the guys he's still every bit of a prissy peacock. But when he's alone, or just the two of us, he's a lot softer. In his words and actions. You have impacted Yumichika in a way that will always be a part of him now. And he misses you dearly. He's been looking for you. You're very good at hiding."
"I don't like being the center of attention." Mitsuki murmured, feeling incredibly stupid and awkward.
"It's more than that." Yukino told her, eyes moving over body. "You are very good at shedding your outer shell, like a butterfly leaving its cocoon. And when you tired of it, you hide again. You have become very good at hiding, and protecting yourself."
"I think I should get to work." Mitsuki muttered and skirted around the woman. She disappeared quickly into the crowd. When she looked back over her shoulder, the woman was gone.
Yukino kept her pace and followed Mitsuki. That way she could pass the information onto Yumichika when he got back from living world.
Yumichika stepped into the living world and found himself surrounded by people on their ways in their busy lives. Too busy to take notice of all the movements of the spirits that moved about them. Yumichika flash stepped himself onto a high point and knelt down, closing his eyes. Focusing, even after two decades, he could feel the traces of Mitsuki even now.
So this is what Yukino meant. He thought. I am so attuned to her, I can feel the places she frequented, paths she often walked. And something more.
He found himself flash stepped to a building and stopping at its entrance. Few people came and went, and after watching only a moment, he deduced it was an apartment complex. Mitsuki must have lived here, once upon a time. He followed the faint trail only he could feel, and stepped into an apartment on the sixth floor.
The apartment was old, and it hid its age poorly. An older woman sat in a chair, knitting, while a young woman stood at the stove, cooking. "Dinners almost ready, grandma!" She called as she transferred some cooked rice to two bowls and went back to stirring what she was cooking in the pot. When she turned around, Yumichika was struck by the same violet colored eyes he had seen in Mitsuki's face.
Yumichika allowed himself to explore the apartment, looking at photos, and going through the pairs things while they ate their dinner. Exploring revealed a far more tragic story than Mitsuki had ever let him know. A daughter. She had left a daughter behind, but had never once mentioned her.
He allowed himself to stay awhile and explore the pair. Soon enough the younger woman gathered her purse and left. Yumichika himself was prepared to leave himself, when the old woman called out, "Don't take her from me."
He turned back to find the old woman staring directly at him. Curious, he found himself kneeling in front of her. "You can see me?"
"I've seen the reapers ever since my daughter died." the old woman answered, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. "Please don't take my granddaughter. Isn't it enough that my daughter has been taken from me, so young? Now you come for her daughter? My granddaughter?"
"I'm not here for her, or you." Yumichika assured, patting her old withered hands. "I have come seeking Mitsuki's killer."
"Why now? Why did he get to live a longer life while my daughter suffered!?" the old woman asked, crying.
"I'm not here because its his natural time. I'm here because I am going to avenge Mitsuki. Your daughter is very alive and happy, in the spirit world." Yumichika whispered, wiping away the tears from the same eyes the her daughter and granddaughter held. "I am a lucky man to have met your daughter in the next world...Though she failed to tell me she had a daughter."
"That's probably because she didn't want her reputation to soil her daughter, Ai. Mitsuki was swept up in a romance with a man she thought she would marry. She fell pregnant, and when she told the man, he gave her a devastating blow. He was doing all of this on a bet. They thought Mitsuki was so high and mighty, because she was simply pretty. She didn't have boyfriends in school because she took her studies seriously. And after falling pregnant, she was denied colleges. So my daughter gave birth alone, and took a job at a bar to help raise her daughter." The old woman looked lost in her memories. "Then the man tried to come back into her life. I guess he let it slip to his family that he had a kid. They wanted him to make it right, or at least be a part of the kids life. That meant giving Mitsuki child support. Mitsuki died before the court day ever rolled around. I think they wanted to get custody, or partial custody at least."
And like that, Yumichika could see threads. Most beautiful, linking the old woman to Mitsuki's daughter, Ai. He could even feel the threads that were severed, that represented Mitsuki, still as beautiful as they were when connected. Even though they no longer led anywhere. But there was one ugly thread. Deep red, tattered, and matted, kinked up and snared as it wrapped around the old woman's wrist, one of Mitsuki's threads, and leading to Ai. . . And somewhere else. Mitsuki's killer...was her daughter's own father.
"I have to go now. I have a soul to reap." Yumichika said, standing.
"Wait!" The old woman cried. "When...When its time for me to go, will you bring me to my Mitsuki?"
"I can't promise that." Yumichika told her honestly. "I am a soldier, and normally don't help gather souls. But I promise you this, when you arrive in the soul society, I know Mitsuki or I will feel it. And we will come and find you,"
The old woman nodded, tears leaking from her eyes. "It won't be long." She admitted.
Yumichika looked at her again and felt the truth of her words. "You're very sick. You haven't told Ai, have you?"
"How do you tell your granddaughter that she will soon be very alone?" The old woman asked.
"I don't know. I know she would rather be prepared though. Or she will end up feeling like she is abandoned." He left then, not wanting to waste more time. He knew that the old woman would have loved to ask more questions about Mitsuki, want to know who it was that stole her daughters life. But knowing all of that wouldn't really help her.
Seeing Mitsuki would ease her fears. Just knowing the man was dead, is all she needed to know. Knowing who he was, knowing half of him lived in her home, wouldn't make the pain go away. More so, he now knew that Ai could never know her own father was responsible for her mother's death. He sensed she probably hadn't been very old when it happened either. Certainly too young to remember her mother even.
He flash stepped, hurrying until he found an area where he could scope out.
Surprisingly, he seen Ai walking to a cafe...where a snarled ugly mess of red tattered mess of threads ended at the feet of the man she greeted.
Curious now, he allowed himself to get really close.
"You look more like your mother everyday!" the man told her. He seemed to be in his forties, his dark hair salt and peppered. He wore an expensive suit and looked nearly out of place at the little obviously local cafe.
"Thank you." murmured Ai as she sat. "You said you had information on who my father was?"
Interesting. Yumichika thought. This suggests that after Mitsuki died, the family might have ceased attempting to be part of Ai's life. . . or someone used it as a convenient excuse to not having to see a daughter that looked so much like his victim.
"I can do better than that. I am your father." He told her.
Yumichika quickly found an alley and pulled out the small sphere, the pill, and popped it. He felt himself becoming flesh, instantly. His clothes changed into dark slacks, and a black turtleneck. Walking back to the cafe, he took a seat at the table next to the pair, and placed an order with the waiter that approached him. "Green tea, please."
He sat there, eyes trained on the ground where he could see the ugly tangle of red threads. He had obviously taken more lives than just Mitsuki. Those red threads lead to several places, and mostly severed.
He only half listened to their conversation, only really taking note when Ai asked to be left to her thoughts. He watched her father stand, and leave a card on the table in front of the young woman. While he wanted to immediately get up and follow, that would be a little to obvious.
"Who are you?"
Yumichika turned to find Ai had addressed him. "I'm sorry?"
"Who are you? You aren't being as oblivious as you try to play. You come to this cafe, sit at table next to the only occupied table, out of over twelve to choose from. Who are you!?" Ai snapped.
Yumichika stood up and leaned over her table, plucking the card the man had left behind. He read the information quickly before tucking it into his pants pocket. "I'm investigating the murder of your mother." He settled on honesty.
He watched her eyes go wide and flick around the area, and then settled on the pocket he had tucked the card into. "You're too young to know anything about my mother's murder. Who are you really."
"I'm older than I look. If you value your life, or your mother's memory at all, never get into contact with that man again." He told her, turning to leave. "Tomorrow, everything will be right in the world."
He felt the urge to move quicker. He didn't know Ai. She could very well tip off her father before he had a chance at him. While he could still reap his soul in his Shinigami form, he wanted to do it like this. He wanted it to hurt.
Yumichika stood in the alley, his sword already drawn as he waited. The man had parked his car in the alley while he ran into a business that he could only assume was a pleasure house. He had been waiting for about two hours when he appeared again, talking on his phone.
"Yeah, I met her today. She looks exactly like her mom. If I can get her on my side, I can marry her into a wealthier family and cement stronger ties. Then my son can inherit a good bit thanks to his that bitch's daughters sacrifice."
Yumichika pressed harder back into the shadows as the man just walked by him. Without a second thought, he stabbed his sword through the man's middle. Careful to miss the most vital of organs. The guy yelled out, by Yumichika quickly drug him further back into the shadows. As he walked by the dropped cell phone, he gave it a hard stomp, destroying it.
"Who the fuck are you?"
Yumichika withdrew the sword so he could spin the man around. "My name isn't important. There's a name you should know though- Mitsuki. I believe you killed her."
"I didn't kill the bitch. I'm too important to get my hands dirty like that. I just paid someone else to do it. It was just business."
Yumichika felt his face morph into a snarl as he slowly pressed the blade in again. "And how many people have you paid someone else to kill? It doesn't matter if you were the hand, or the dagger itself. All their deaths are tangled into the threads of your life. I see them all- a stained, ripped, tangled web of red. And when they find your body, they will know what you have done. . ."
Ai wasn't that surprised when she found two cops standing outside her apartment door the next morning. Their caps were off and they asked if they could enter. Worried about if she was going to be tied into a murder, she complied.
"We are sorry to come this late. Last night a body was found of a man. It looks like he was murdered, but he had a confession letter on him. Details of things he had done. We came to let you know that the murder of Mitsuki Hayashi is no longer a cold case. We are moving it to solved." The older officer told her.
Ai looked at her grandmother, who didn't seem all the surprised either. "I...Thank you for telling us officer. Thank you for letting us know my mother could rest in peace."
The officers bowed at the waist and seen their way out. As soon as Ai was sure they were gone, she turned to her grandmother. "I. . .think I know who killed mother."
"It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that the man who did it suffered." her grandmother told her. "I seen a reaper here last night. A beautiful man with feathers-"
"And a braid in his hair? At the front? He had black hair?" Ai asked now. When her grandmother gave a startled nod. "He came to me grandmother! I had got a message on my Instagram- from a man claiming to know about my father. I met him, because I was curious. The man said he was my father. Then that man showed up and sat beside us at a table. The cafe was empty- he had choice of seats. When I confronted him, he took the card the man left behind and told me to stay away from him."
Her grandmother began to cry then. "How dare that man! How dare he try and come into your life after he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with you! Then he steals your mother's life and thinks its okay to try and be a dad when you've grown!?"
"It's okay, grandmother. I promise it will be okay." Ai whispered.
"For now, it will be." Her grandmother agreed.
Yumichika was back in the Soul Society, still dressed in the dark slacks and turtle neck he had been wearing when he avenged his Mitsuki. He kept his eyes on his feet for a few steps, before the threads appeared before him again. He could see all the victims of that bastard, but only one thread in particular interested him.
As he began to run past people, uncaring his was covered in blood. He could feel it in his hair, on his skin, making his clothes stick to him. It didn't matter then. He just wanted to know the Mitsuki was okay. He wanted to let her know that her daughter was grown, beautiful and happy.
Kyoko approached Mitsuki and had to yell into her ear. "You know that song you auditioned with? Can you please sing that? The crowd is rowdy, so maybe that song will calm them down some. Entrance them, and make them focus on their dates instead of making them try and start a drinking contest in my bar!"
Mitsuki nodded and made her way to the small raised area of the bar that she would stand and sing at. Patrons used the stage up front, but she got to stand behind the safety of the bar. She was happy to sing for the moment. All day she had felt weird. Like a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders that she never knew was there.
As she held the mic in front of her face and began to sing- she continued to pour drinks from her spot. The bar was nearly silent as she sang her sad ballad of love and heart break.
She kept her head down, singing as she continued her work. Drinks were taken from hands, gently, as they raptly listened.
She had missed singing, and it hadn't taken too much time for her to get back into the swing of thing. More so, her love for music felt revitalized as she listened to song in her free time, hanging at the bar in her off time. Kyoko paid her well, allowing her to continue to rent her little hotel room while she searched for something she could afford to rent herself.
She grabbed another bottle of sake and set it on the bar and looked up to find a bloody Yumichika standing in front of her. The final notes seemed to almost die in her throat as he jumped over the bar and crushed his lips to hers. She was so surprised she didn't know how to react. Vaguely, she realized that she could feel her own clothes also soaking with some blood, and she worried he might be injured.
She pulled back only to see Kyoko swing a bottle from behind him, smashing it over her Shinigami's head. The bottle shattered, but Yumichika just looked over his shoulder at the woman, annoyed expression firmly in place.
"Kyoko! It's okay! This is..." Mitsuki trailed off.
"I'm her boyfriend and I'm stealing her away!" Yumichika snapped, grabbing Mitsuki and throwing her over his shoulder. The next moment, they were exiting the bar, and a moment later, they were on a roof. Mitsuki found herself shutting her eyes tightly as she tried to hold on for dear life. She knew that Yumichika wouldn't drop her, but that didn't seem to calm her fears any.
"Mitsuki." She opened her eyes to vaguely realize they were in a bedroom. A few looks around let her know this was his own bedroom. His eyes moved over her face, worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" She croaked. "You're covered in blood! Are you hurt? What happened?"
"This?" Yumichika looked down. "It's the blood of your murderer. . .Or rather, the man who paid to have you murdered."
"It's the..." Mitsuki found herself sitting on the edge of his bed, her legs to weak to suddenly support her. "You went and found?"
"I did. I also met your mother, and your daughter." Yumichika told her as he knelt before her.
"You seen Ai?" Mitsuki whispered. "How was she?"
"She was beautiful, and smart. Like her mother. Luckily, she looks nothing like her father."
"Why would that be important?... He paid to have me killed?" The words seemed to leave her mouth more like an exhale. "All because his mother wanted to be a part of Ai's life!? That's why I had to die!?"
"I don't know his reasons. You aren't the only person he paid to have killed. I made sure, before I would let him die, to get every dirty little detail out of him. Wrote it all down, and left it with his mangled body." His eyes were cold, clinical as he told her this. He looked away briefly then back to her, his eyes warmer, and a smile curling his lips.
"I missed you. I wanted to... I wanted to do something for you. I thought maybe if I could release the shackles of your past... I'm terrible at this."
"You went and found my killer... and kill him? To win me back?" Mitsuki asked, her face a mask of disbelief.
Yumichika rubbed a hand over his face, "It sounds really, really terrible when you say it like that. But yeah, that's what I did. I went to the living world, found your family, traced the man that killed you- and found him talking to your daughter. Then, I killed him once he had gone his separate way from her."
Mitsuki shook her head in disbelief before throwing her arms around the man. "I can't say I am sorry you killed him, but knowing he was talking to my daughter... Thank you. Thank you for your gift Yumichika."
Yumichika wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss on her brow, about where the huge scar on her face started. "Please come back to me. Move in with me, be with me, marry me, whatever you want. I will take you however you will allow. Just please don't leave me alone."
Mitsuki pulled away, laughing and wiping away tears. "Are you proposing or asking me to move in?"
"Does if have to be one or the other? Yes to both, whatever you want the answer to be." Yumichika smiled, tilting his head, while his hands reached up to brush away a few stray tears. "I love you. I want you with me always- or for as long as you are willing to put up with me."
"Maybe I should be the one begging for you to take me back. I left you." She murmured, nuzzling into his hands. "But yes, Yumichika. I will move in with you. Hold onto that proposal though, please. Let's make sure this goes where we want it too."
1 Year Later
Mitsuki was helping Yukino wrangle Michio into his clothes for the day when Yumichika appeared by her side, quite suddenly.
"Is everything okay?" She asked softly, noticing a sort of strange expression on his face.
"I need you to come with me, please." Yumichika murmured, taking her hands into his. "I made someone a promise, and I intent to keep it."
"Okay?" Mitsuki gave a worried glance over to Yukino before being lifted into her boyfriend's arms.
In an instant he was flashing stepping them through the Soul Society, set on a destination.
"Where are we going?" She asked as the buildings and streets blurred by.
"To the Zaraki district We are meeting someone." He told her simply, though he offered her that boyish smile he gave her when he was assuring her that everything was okay.
Soon enough, they were at the gates. With a wave of his hand, they were opened to allow them to pass through. Yumichika took her hand and led her through the streets to a destination that only he seemed to really know. She watched as he stopped, closed his eyes, and then took them in a direction.
"At last." Yumichika murmured, as they got close to the edge of the district. A group of people sat around, seemingly beggars, but Yumichika began to navigate until he came upon an old woman.
"You remembered." The old woman said, standing to her feet slowly. Her eyes watered and she reached out to him.
"Of course I did, and I brought Mitsuki." Yumichika told her, taking her hands.
The old woman peeked around Yumichika, eyes going wide. "Oh! Oh my baby! My daughter!"
Realization hit Mitsuki hard, as she realized Yumichika had brought her to her mother. She threw herself into her mothers arms, hugging her tightly.
Yumichika took a step back and allowed the reunion of the two women. He kept a close eye out, still not going to allow anyone to hurt them or interrupt them.
Much later, he led Mitsuki and her mother back toward the gates. He knew he could easily convince Captain Kenpachi to give the old woman some job for room and board in the barracks. It had become quickly known that Mitsuki wasn't going to leave her mother alone in the Zaraki district to fend for herself.
Once they got to the gate and passed through with a not so subtle glare at the Shinigami that had tried to stop them, they were making their way to the Squad Eleven barracks at a much slower pace then they had left them.
Even later so, Yumichika was removing his clothes from the day when Mitsuki's arms wrapped around him. "You're amazing."
"I know, but you can tell me more." Yumichika joked, turning around to embrace her. He gladly pressed his lips to her when she offered them. "Or you can repay me in kisses. Those are more amazing than words of praise."
He felt her smile against his lips. "I love you."
"And I love you." He responded, pulling away to smile down at her.
End of Yumichika's story.