Faking Catching Up

Chitoge took in a deep breath of the fresh air as she wandered down the street. Her eyes were closed as she took in the scents and sounds around her. The sun was warm on her skin as she walked down the street, her arms crossed behind her had as she enjoyed how the warmth of the sun mingled with the cool breeze. It had been a while since she had taken anything that even resembled a vacation, and while she had technically come here on business, that was no reason not to enjoy the little bit of downtime that she had now.

The 'reason' that she had come back to Japan was to sort out some books in the Japan office of the company. Apparently they were planning on opening a new office somewhere and they were going to need the okay of someone in charge before they could proceed with that as well. There was certainly plenty of work to be done, but to her, none of it was as important as taking a minute to finally breath, and maybe finding at least a little bit of time to meet up with some old friends.

As she wandered down the street, her nose picked up on the light and sweet scent of deserts wafting through the air. When she finally opened her eyes again she found that her nose had brought her right to the sweets-shop that Onodera's family ran. She bit her bottom lip and wondered briefly if she had subconsciously walked here first because this was where she would find the answers to the most important, and most unasked questions that she had floating around in her mind.

Her hand came up slowly, a little bit shaky, and she curled her fingers gingerly around the handle. Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe this wasn't the first place that she should go. What if Onodera didn't want to see her, or something? What if everyone was still mad, and all of this had been a horrible mistake? She swallowed her fears, and pulled open the door, stepping inside as the bell on the door jingled to signal her entry.

The inside of the shop looked exactly how she remembered it. There were still beautifully decorated cakes, the smell of fruits, honeys and other sweet things floating through the air, and a general atmosphere of a happy place where a family lived and worked together.

The girl standing behind the register had a classic beauty to her. Her bangs framing her face, and some of her black hair pulled back into a short ponytail. She seemed to be busying herself with editing something that Chitoge assumed was a recipe. The hat that was part of the uniform of the sweet shop didn't sit exactly straight on her head, like she had a little bit too much work to be bothered with straightening it out. When she finally looked up, Chitoge was a little shocked at how much it looked like the version of Onodera that she had left behind five years ago.

The girl spoke up in a bit of a shocked voice, "Kirisaki?" She blinked for a moment and then looked over her shoulder quickly before looking back at Chitoge, "Um…are you here to get some cake…or were you hoping to talk to my sister…?"

Chitoge smiled weakly, rubbing at the back of her neck, "Haru. I didn't recognize you for a minute there." She let out a weak and awkward chuckle, "Yeah…I guess I was hoping to catch Kosaki."

Haru nodded and hopped off of her stool, "She's in the back. We're pretty dead in here, so I'll go get her for you."

Chitoge smiled and watched Haru disappear with a nod. She then turned her gaze to the rest of the shop. It really did look and feel exactly the same. It was weird. For some reason she had expected things to change. Maybe she had expected to see Raku here, having given in to Onodera's mother and started working at the shop. Maybe she had just expected to see something that told the world how much happier Kosaki Onodera had become since she had been allowed to be together with her one true love. Sometimes things just have to keep being what they are, she supposed.

As Onodera came out from the fact, Chitoge's first thought was how much more mature she looked than when she had last seen her. Her eyes had a little bit less of that innocent roundness that they had before, and something about her face just seemed a little less like the innocent klutz from high school. Chitoge noticed that even though Onodera wasn't wearing any makeup, her face still held a natural beauty to make the hearts of men quiver. If she had any doubts before, she now had an understanding as to why Raku might prefer her.

Kosaki Onodera's eyes went a little bit wider, and her hand came to her mouth as she recognized the blonde woman who was in their shop, "Chitoge!?"

oOo0oOo

It had been half an hour since the two women had gotten themselves a table and a sampler of cakes that they could talk over. Chitoge had asked questions about how the sweet shop business was going. She found out that Onodera still made beautiful looking sweets, but had trouble when it came to making things that tasted edible. From what she had said, they had been taking on a lot of work doing wedding cakes recently.

Onodera had asked questions about the places that Chitoge had traveled to for business, and what sort of crazy things she had seen, and what sorts of fun adventures she had gotten herself into. Chitoge had been all too willing to share exciting stories of far off places with her friend.

Finally they came to a lull in the conversation. Chitoge wore a kind smile on her face as she pushed a piece of strawberry cake around on her plate, "So how are things with everyone else?"

Onodera who had just popped a piece of cake into her mouth, chewed for a moment with her finger still to her lips. It seemed more like she was thinking about where to start with that topic than actually pausing to swallow so that she didn't talk with food in her mouth. Chitoge smiled softly as she finally got a little evidence that this really was the same Klutzy Onodera that she had known all those years ago.

"Well, Ruri is working on translating books." She started after swallowing the mouthful of cake, "That was kind of a big dream for her, so that worked out." She paused "Oh and I hear she's dating Shuu, who is a teacher now. I mean, those two always did have a weird chemistry."

The blonde smiled softly as she looked down at her plate again. Most of this wasn't really new information, but it was nice to know that Ruri and Shuu had figured out that they loved each other. It made Chitoge's heart feel a little bit lighter when she heard about love stories that worked out. She felt like it somehow proved that love was still a thing that was real and worked out or something.

"Haru is finished up with school now, so she's been working here, preparing to take over the shop." Onodera smiled and leaned forward, cupping her hand to the side of her mouth for a whisper, "Honestly I think mom would rather have her going around trying to find someone to be with than spending all of her time slaving away here, but she'll never say it out loud."

Chitoge chuckled softly as she looked across the table to her friend, "What about Raku?"

Onodera's face seemed to freeze for a moment, and then a weak smile formed on her lips, she looked away a little, as if she wasn't sure she could maintain eye contact, "Raku is…" She bit her bottom lip for a moment and then spoke up again, "I guess you haven't talked to him yet?"

Chitoge furrowed her brow as she looked over at Onodera, "No. I figured I might run into him here."

The brunette winced slightly at that and fidgeted a little in her seat, "Um…yeah, Raku doesn't really come around here much anymore." She forced a larger smile but when her eyes met Chitoge's again, there was an unspoken sadness to them, "You should probably talk to him about it."

Chitoge narrowed her eyes slightly as she tried to read between the lines and see the hidden meaning behind that message, "I thought…" She paused for a moment before speaking again, "Are the two of you not-"

"No, no, no." Onodera waved her hands a little flustered and closed her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes just a little to peek out at Chitoge, "No, we never…that never happened."

That didn't make sense. Chitoge stared down at the crumbs on her plate that used to be cake. Most of the things that Onodera had told her made perfect sense, like one plus one making two. Somehow, the moment that they had added Raku to the equation everything had gotten messy and weird, and that just…She had left so the these two lovebirds could get together. How had something that was essentially true already fall apart when the only barrier keeping them apart was removed?

"Why not?" Chitoge looked up, her blue eyes watching Onodera's reactions carefully.

Onodera poked her fingers together and looked out the window beside their table. It looked like she was reliving some fond memory. She looked like she was about to start speaking, about to spill the beans and answer all of Chitoge's questions. It looked like the lips were forming on her lips, but then she just let out a long sigh instead.

"It didn't work out." She turned her gaze back to meet with Chitoge's and the blonde woman knew that she would get no more answers on that topic, "You should probably talk to Raku about that."

Chitoge felt herself shrink into her seat a little bit, "Sorry…I didn't mean to reopen any old wounds."

Onodera's happy smile returned, though now it seemed to hold a pinch of bitter sadness, "No, it's nothing like that." She reached across the table to cup her hands around one of Chitoge's, "It really is more his story to tell though."

Chitoge nodded quietly and stared down at the table again. Somehow their pleasant little catch-up session had gotten a little weird and uncomfortable, and really, she wasn't quite sure how to deal with that. Onodera seemed to be sharing in the same awkward mood, looking around as if hoping that she'd find inspiration for another conversation floating in the air.

Suddenly the dark haired girl jolted up. She looked down at her wrist with a start and then stumbled out from behind the seat, "I have to get back to work!" She pushed away from the table and waved back weakly as she hurried to get back into the kitchen, "Sorry, Chitoge. It's been great catching up."

Chitoge brought her hand up in a weak wave as she smiled softly as she muttered, "Bye, Onodera."

With the elder sister gone, Chitoge looked back down to the table, thinking about the things that she had just learned. It was clear that SOMETHING had happened, and that it was something that Onodera wasn't comfortable talking about. None of that made sense though. They were set to be a couple and live happily ever after. How had that perfect fairytale ending fallen apart?

She sighed softly and then slowly pushed herself to her feet, "Well, I guess I know where I've got to go next."

oOo0oOo

The mansion that housed Raku Ichijo and the rest of the Shuei-Gumi had always looked like some weird Japanese castle to Chitoge. She wasn't sure why somewhere in her mind she had expected that it might have changed, but as she looked at it, she knew deep in her heart that it was always going to look like this.

She smiled softly as she slowly walked up to the intercom, preparing to announce herself. When she got there though, she paused, staring at the button as a shiver ran through her body. Was this really the place that she was supposed to be right now? She had run away five years ago, and it seemed like things hadn't worked out as well as she had expected them to in her absence. What if she pushed this button and Raku hated her and didn't want to see her? She bit her bottom lip and held her quivering finger up to the button, contemplating what might happen if she pushed it.

It wasn't too late, she knew. No one had come out to investigate a visitor at the front gates, so she was guessing that they probably didn't even have a camera set up. She could just put her hand back in her pocket, turn around, and go off to visit with someone else. It probably wouldn't be hard to find Ruri and Shuu. She could stop here and leave this particular adventure for another day.

She knew if she let herself she'd talk herself out of this, so before she could think anymore, she pushed her hand forward, pressing down on the button. The intercom system let out a dull mechanical buzz as her finger pressed down the button. She chewed on her bottom lip as she pulled back her finger slowly and stood at the front gate, waiting for a response.

A red light came on the intercom followed by a gruff voice crackling through the speaker, "Yeah? Whattaya want?"

She smiled weakly "Is Raku-" She bit her bottom lip to stop herself, "Is the young master in?"

There was a long silence on the other end before the voice came back with a questioning tone, "Young mistress?"

Chitoge continued to smile awkwardly as she looked at the intercom. It had been a very long time since anyone had referred to her with that title. She supposed that it made sense though. Everyone in the Shuei-Gumi had just always called her that. She doubted that they actually even knew her real name. Some things just couldn't be helped.

"Yeah. I'm looking for Raku. Can I…" She bit her lip again as she once again thought about the possibility that he would still hate her after all this time, "Can I talk to him?"

There was another long pause before the voice came back again, "The young master is actually out on some Shuei-Gumi business at the moment."

Chitoge narrowed her eyes at that statement. Business? Wasn't his plan to become a city official? Knowing how he did things he should have been well towards that goal by now, so what was he still doing working for his yakuza family? Then again, family came first, so she supposed she could understand that.

Or was that just an excuse? She felt a cold sweat form on the back of her neck. Was Raku avoiding her?

"He'll be so happy to hear that you're back in Japan." The voice cut through her doubts, and left a smile on her face. She guessed Raku didn't hate her after all, "I mean, just talking to you through e-mail has been rough on him."

Chitoge stared at the intercom for a moment. E-mails? She hadn't sent Raku any e-mails. She had been too terrified of what she would get back out of that particular exchange. Was this some kind of test, or jab at the way that she had cut off all contact? It didn't sound that way. Even with the crackling distortion of the intercom, the gruff voice that she was talking to had sounded so sincere.

"Y-yeah…It's been rough on both of us." She tested the waters, looking around to see if something jumped out at her for her lie. Nothing did.

"Do you want to come in and wait for him?" The voice seemed a little bit unsure about the question, "We're not sure when he's supposed to get back, but our doors are always open to the young mistress."

She shook her head, and then realizing that without a camera, there was no way that they could see that response spoke up, "No, that's fine. I'm in on a little business of my own. I'm sure I'll eventually run into him."

"Alright." The voice came back again, "We'll have him send you an e-mail the moment he gets back home. He'll be so happy to see you."

Chitoge continued to wear her awkward smile as she took a step back from the gate. This was all too weird. If Raku really was so angry with her that his family was going to give her the runaround she would have thought she'd be attacked or something. Instead it was just weird talk about e-mails that she hadn't exchanged, and talk of how Raku was going to be 'so happy' that she was in Japan.

She bit her bottom lip and stared at the gate to the Yakuza fortress, "It almost feels like it was five years ago." She swallowed hard on the thought, trying not to put words to it, "Like everyone is…still pretending…"