Clear to cloudy
Target 59: My best friend Geraldino
Rinoka wakes up on a weekend morning in her adorable pajamas and sits up getting dressed. Her life had changed quite drastically since she met Kotsu. Even more so after the ring conflict. She was so sad that she could do nothing of use mostly, other than somewhat helping out with the defeat of Riccardo. She gets dressed and heads downstairs where her father is sitting on the couch with Geraldino. "G-Good morning father… G-Geraldino-san," She says bowing politely and her father looks back at her.
"Oh… you're up… go make some breakfast for us," He commands and Rinoka bows her head before Geraldino glares at her father.
"You're forgetting something aren't you? sir?" He says piercing his soul with his glare.
"P-Please dear?" Her father adds and Rinoka gets incredibly flustered. It was weird to have her father say things like that. But ever since Geraldino came to live with them, while they're in Japan it's been like that. She begins cooking some eggs and bacon and Geraldino gets up heading over.
"Need some help, Master?" he asks and she blushes.
"N-No it's… fine…" She says shyly. Since the ring conflict she's been good friends with Fumie as well thanks to meeting her though Ren and Kotsu. "F-Father…? C-can Fumie come over today?"
"S-sure dear…" he answers watching TV and Rinoka smiles a little. She's not had a friend over in years.
"T-then I'll get to cleaning!" She says finishing breakfast for the two men setting it down and her father sits and thanks her for the meal, however Geraldino sits her down instead.
"Don't worry master… I will do the cleaning. You just eat and clean your own room alright?" He says heading off to find the vacuum cleaner.
Rinoka and her father sits and eats in awkward silence as the two don't usually eat breakfast together. "R-Rinoka…?" Her father starts before shaking his head. "Nevermind… I hope you don't think you can order me around just because Geraldino is here!" He snaps at her and Rinoka jumps.
"O-Of course not father! I would never d-do that…" She says fidgeting with her fork.
-NII-
Rinoka finished tidying up her room setting her hair up nicely, letting Chido out of his box and he happily flies around her room landing on her shoulder. She's been sure to let him out at least once or twice a day so he knows that she cares about him. She heads out wondering how much she'll need to clean the house, knowing that Geraldino said he'd clean but as she looks around there's barely a speck of dust or a stain on any surface. She finds Geraldino in the kitchen laying under the sink working on the pipes. "Oh! Master! I noticed our sink seemed a little slow on the drain…" He says pulling a giant tuft of… something from the drain putting it in the bucket next to him and he reconnects the pipe testing the sink. "There… finished…" He says crossing his arms. "Your dad went to work for today. He told me to tell you to have a good day," He says smirking and Rinoka has a slight suspicion that he either forced him to say that or he's lying. She slowly tears up and Geraldino panics a little. "O-Oi… master!? What's the matter?" he tries.
Rinoka runs forward nuzzling against his chest. "I-i-i-it's just… y-you're so nice to me! I-I don't get what I did to deserve you guys all being so nice! B-Both you a-and Kotsu-san a-and Ren-senpai," She says sniffling and Geraldino just looks a little uncomfortable having a girl hugging him like he's her older brother.
"W-Well if it helps master… I'm only nice to you because you said you'd teach me how to draw…" He says pretending it's the truth and he gently pushes her away and gets down to her eye-level. "And don't you DARE think that you're a nuisance to us…" He says getting up patting her head. "that being said…" He says before running to a drawer near the couch where he sleeps. He pulls out a piece of paper showing it to the young girl like a little boy showing mommy his first drawing. Seems appropriate given the appearance of the drawing itself. "I've gotten better right?!" He says with excitement and Rinoka gets red in her head looking at it, simply from the fact that she can't bring herself to say its really REALLY bad, but doesn't want to lie to him either.
"T-The color is… nice…" She says preparing for him to retaliate but he just nods looking back at his drawing.
"I think so too… truly brings out the soul," he says nodding and Rinoka looks dumbfounded. 'S-Soul?'.
"B-but maybe… y-you should f-f-focus on t-the line-work… b-before adding color…" She says and Geraldino nods pulling out another drawing of two boys kissing, which Rinoka obviously made based on the appearance and quality.
"Like this right!?" He says before Rinoka leaps for it snatching it from him and she looks like she's about to cry.
"I-I-I-I-I t-told you not to l-look at my drawings w-without asking!" She says pouting and Geraldino stands up again and looks a little sheepish.
"S-sorry… they're just… really well-made…" He says and Rinoka quickly gets it packed away looking at the time seeing that Fumie will be coming over in about an hour and she gets frantic again.
"G-Geraldino-san! W-what should I do!? I-I've never… h-had a friend over!" She says and Geraldino sits her on the couch grabbing his reading glasses.
"Alright then… let's review," He says suddenly sounding professional and he takes out a notebook. "You should prepare some answers beforehand that could lead to fun discussions… here's a list of topics she'll probably mention since this is your first time together in private," He says scribbling something down and unlike his drawing his handwriting is top-quality and Rinoka looks over the extensive list being constantly surprised by this boy. "At the bottom there's a list of activities you might want to prepare for as well," He says and Rinoka looks at it as well. Pillow-fighting? Braiding each others hair…?
"B-B-But I don't know how to b-braid hair! I-I always wear mine like this!" She says and Geraldino laughs getting over beside her.
"Then I'll teach you… as a favor," He says and starts teaching her how to do a few basic braids.
-NII-
As expecting Fumie arrives after an hour, Geraldino opening the door for her. "Oh… you're here too… I thought it would just be me and Rinoka," Fumie says still quite angry at Geraldino for kidnapping her that one time.
"Well nothing's keeping you here, girl," he says before stepping aside to let her inside. As she gets inside Rinoka is standing in the livingroom bowing to her not really knowing how else to greet her.
"H-Hello Fumie-san… w-welcome t-to my house…" She says and Fumie runs up giving her a tight hug.
"Thank youuu! We're gonna have lots of girl fun!" She says and the two girls head upstairs.
"I'll be here if you need me," Geraldino says and Rinoka nods while Fumie just sticks her tongue out at him.
"What a jerk… why does he even live here Rinoka-chan?" Fumie asks as they close the door to her, Chido flying up and lands on Rinoka's shoulder.
"G-G-Geraldino-san i-is actually s-super nice to me… I-I don't mind t-that he's here," She says blushing slightly. She's well aware of how scary he can be.
"R-Really?" Fumie asks but instantly goes off the topic. "Well what do you want to do? I have some ideas if you don't!" She assures and Rinoka blushes a little thinking back to Geraldino's list.
"W-We could um… t-talk about… g-girl things?" She says not really knowing what girl things are as she's never really done that before.
Fumie smirks giving her a knowing look. "So you want to talk about Kotsu then?" She says and Rinoka blushes furiously her whole head growing red and Chido goes crazy flying circles around the room.
"W-w-w-w-w-w-why s-should we t-t-talk about K-Kotsu-san…?" She manages to get out.
"Because girls like talking about the boys they like. And I KNOW you like Kotsu. Riiiiight?" She asks and Rinoka slowly nods.
"I-I do…"
"And why is that?" Fumie says as they both sit on Rinoka's bed and Rinoka buries her head in her pillow from embarrassment.
"I-I-I… d-don't know..." She tries but Fumie isn't buying it and she just giggles at the other girl's fluster.
"Well I'll start then. I like Ren. Kotsu's big brother! Because he's very pretty and incredibly kind. And he has such an amazing outgoing way of talking to people, always trying to make everyone happy and I really like that! There! Your turn,"
Rinoka slowly lifts up her head. "B-but I…" She starts but seeing Fumie's curious eyes on her she lays her head down again. "B-Because… he's always so clumsy a-and m-makes s-so many mistakes… b-but even still h-he always keeps going without thinking about it…" She manages to get out remembering all the times where Kotsu did really weird or stupid things but he never once stopped to think if he should just stop.
-NII-
Kotsu sneezes, Reborn glancing to him. "Bless you,"
"I think someone's saying both good and bad things about me at the same time,"
Reborn tsks. "Keep dreaming Kotsu. No one's saying good things about you."
-NII-
"Aww! That's so cute!" Fumie says looking at Rinoka. "Any other reason…?"
"I-I like his face…" She says and her heart thuds a little. "he always looks so helpless… b-but he always wants to help where he can… e-even if he complains about it…" she says remembering a time when they were in kindergarten, where they went together, Kotsu sadly doesn't remember. She was running around playing with another girl when she fell and hurt her knee and a little Kotsu walked by seeing her crying and when he ran over to help he himself tripped and faceplanted, but he still just went to her.
"A-Are you okay?" he asks looking up at her with dirt on his face holding out a little flower he picked when he fell. "Here! It's for you!" he says and the little Rinoka takes it suddenly not feeling so bad.
"I think you two would make an adorable couple," Fumie says giggling and Rinoka blushes.
"B-But I-I'm his g-guardian! I-I don't think t-that would be-" "NO! Don't think like that!" Fumie interrupts and the two fall into silence for a few seconds.
"I think you'll manage Rinoka. Don't you worry. From what I heard Kotsu was really happy with your performance during that ring-thingy!"
"B-but I lost my own match a-and I w-was useless in the finals too…"
"What IS that game you play even…? Geraldino plays it… Kotsu-kun plays it… Ren plays… you play…" She says and Rinoka buries her head in her pillow.
"I-I'm not allowed to say b-but it's… it brings me closer to Kotsu s-so I want to get s-stronger to help him…" She says and Fumie just giggles. They ask for a few more minutes and in the end fall into comfortable silence when the door slides open.
"Oi… can I come in…?" Geraldino asks and Fumie jumps up about to kick the door closed.
"S-Sure Geraldino-san… what is it?" Rinoka asks and Geraldino opens the door and Fumie stops her kick, bursting out laughing seeing Geraldino standing in an pink apron on top of his normal gangster outfit.
"OI! Shut up girl!" He complains holding out a tray. "I baked some cookies…" He says showing it to them. "It's chocolate chip. None of those raisin crap," He says handing the tray to Fumie who looks… flabbergasted.
"Y-you…? YOU know how to bake?"
"Yeah… problem? What're you girls even talking about in here?" he asks and Fumie pouts.
"Confidential girl things,"
"Boys. Got it," He says closing the door again heading downstairs cleaning after his baking. He managed to not spill a single drop of batter anywhere or make a mess.
"What's WITH that guy!?" Fumie says almost annoyed that he's this… 'normal'.
"H-he's very nice a-and he helps me out around t-the house a-and I-I help him get better at drawing…"
"You draw?! Can I see some of your pictures?" She asks excitedly and Rinoka's face goes red again.
"N-No…! T-those are… private…" She says remembering the drawing Geraldino snatched before Fumie arrived. "T-they're really… weird…" She says but Fumie decides to push a little.
"Pleeeease… I promise I won't tell Kotsu about them," She says grinning and Rinoka just blushes and reluctantly heads to her drawer pulling out a notebook and she hands it to Fumie.
"Please don't laugh okay?" She says grabbing her pillow again as if to defend herself. Fumie opens it up her eyes sparkling.
"Wow… these are so good Rinoka!" She says before smirking knowingly. "I didn't know you had such lewd tastes," She says and Rinoka just gets embarrassed again.
"I-I told you not to make fun of me," She complains pouting behind her pillow hugging it closely and Fumie just moves closer smiling happily.
"I'm not making fun of you! This is really good!"
"T-thank you…" She starts the two go through most of the things Geraldino put on his list meaning Rinoka was sort of well-prepared for the events, like braiding each other's hair, playing dress-up and such. In the end they head downstairs after just playing around for a long time and Rinoka's dad has returned home so Fumie greets him and he looks slightly uncomfortable as he's not used to having strangers in his house. Geraldino just sort of… arrived one day and allowed himself to live there.
"Hello Mister Rinoka's dad! I'm Fumie, her friend," She says cheerful as ever and Geraldino looks back from the couch to make sure her dad doesn't do anything bad.
"H-hello… nice to meet you… I suppose… m-my daughter has never been good at making friends after all…" He says shaking her hand and Geraldino gets up.
"Well! What do you all want for dinner!?" He says glaring at them all and Fumie just glares right back.
"How about… me and Rinoka make curry for us all!?" She says and Rinoka nods slowly. She's never been a good cook, but having to make dinner for her and her father every day means she DOES know a few things at this point.
The two begin making dinner, finding all the things that Geraldino went out to buy to ensure they can have the dishes they want. They get out a recipe book they keep at home and begin, but after just five short minutes Fumie feels a giant shadow looming over her. "Oi, girl… you're forgetting to add the oil, so the pot doesn't get burned… stupid," He says and Fumie notices that she DID miss that part in the recipe.
"Y-you're right!? But don't call me stupid!" She demands poking his chest to get him to step back but he definitely doesn't budge. He turns to Rinoka who's chopping vegetables.
"Master. Please make sure that all of the pieces are small enough to fit at least five on a spoon. Otherwise it'll feel too chunky to eat," he says showing her how to by expertly chopping a carrot into pieces, something that doesn't surprise Rinoka since she's seen him fight and cutting things up is the ONE thing she'd expect him to be good at.
-NII-
After a long time of Geraldino standing behind the two girls, correcting their mistakes before they happen and Fumie is honestly surprised as Geraldino doesn't strike her, or anyone for that matter, as the type who knows how to cook. As the dish is standing and cooking by itself the brutish cosmic flame sets the table while, Rinoka and Fumie take care of cleaning the kitchen. They all sit down to eat and everyone take a bite of their curry all at once, Rinoka and Fumie both being quite surprised by how good it is, while Geraldino just slowly nods, Rinoka's father not really having a visible reaction. "This is pretty good girls," Geraldino says nodding to himself.
"Well… y-you w-w-were a big help G-Geraldino-san," Geraldino just shakes his head.
"Nah… I barely did anything…" He says taking another bite.
Fumie glares at the gangster from across the table. "You have no business being this good of a person after kidnapping me!" She suddenly says both Rinoka and her father almost choking on their food.
"Oi oi… calm down. I ALREADY told you! It was a mistake!" Geraldino retorts and Fumie just pouts and moodily eats her food. He notes Rinoka and her father looking strangely at him. "I-It was for the game… I mistook her for the target I was given," he says and Rinoka seems to get a little calmer. "Hey old man. I put those times behind me. I'm on the other team now," He says hoping her father will understand somewhat.
"Suuuure…" The elder man says eating in silence afterwards.
"But… I think I'll be nice enough to forgive you for that Geraldino-kun," Fumie says and Geraldino just tsks.
"Not that I need your forgiveness. But thanks," he adds and Rinoka looks at the ice wolf and she can't help but enjoy his company. He might not be book-smart but he has a TON of experience in lots of other things. He can cook, clean, do laundry, bake, braid hair, she's even had a few good talks with him, so he's good there as well. Truly he is just about the best friend she's ever had and he's a gangster and, at least to her, he's one of the five most powerful people in the whole wide world.