Hi everyone, I hope your days going well despite everything else going on in the world now. Continuing on with this fic of fueled for my need to make these rare pairs a smidge less rare, here is a new chapter. Glad to see a few people at least like my concept and here is to hoping more join the herd. On a side note what nicknames could be used for Mikan/Mondo? I've got a few in mind. Christopher Sabat in my mind for Daiya's VA is also my headcanon. I recall Daiya and Mondo appeared in a fighting game that may or may not have had voice acting but I don't remember.

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"How long till the next gas station? I'm dying over here!" Akane complained.

Once again Mikan was awakened to the sound of one of her friends complaining. Parr for the course at this point but no less troubling. An entire 2 weeks of prepping should of been more then enough time for everyone to pack the essentials. It was a medical mystery to Mikan every time as to how her athletic friend could eat so much yet barely gain weight. Looking around the jeep at the varying degrees of annoyed faces this wasn't the first time Akane had asked this.

"Then die or wait you bottomless pit for brains!" Hyoko helpfully screamed back.

*brrrr brrr brrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Before anymore back and forth could be had the loud sound of motors on an otherwise empty road filled their ears. Two motorcyclist sped past them and down the road to what looked like a small gas station.

"YES! THERE! PULL OVER! Gas station burritos come to mama!" Akane exclaimed while bouncing in her seat like a kid.

"Okay, okay I think I need the leg stretch anyways." Mahiru said with a sigh. They had been on the road for 2 hours now and could all agree to a break. Mahiru at some point had become a reluctant mom friend to them all. This was why it didn't surprise Mikan when she asked to tag along to see if they had extra bandages.

"Its best the group doesn't split up to much." She explained.

There was an odd moldy smell in the air but otherwise the small place was pretty clean and well stocked. Akane made a beeline in the direction of the snacks and food with Hyoko and Tenko. Kaede,Himiko, and shuichi stayed outside chatting and guarding the car.

One of the down sides of this store that Mikan quickly found out was that despite such small space it had very high shelves. While Mikan wasn't a small girl in height the shelf was still fairly high. The best bandages she could see seemed to be at the highest point. "Oops!" The young nurse exclaimed as a bottle of baby oil fell off the shelf. Would they kick them out for this? Would they be banned for destruction of property? Well okay maybe not banned but still.

"Its okay Mikan, I'll just let an employee know and maybe get some help." Mahiru said before leaving her side.

While she liked to believe that over time Mikan had become less codependent on others, she still felt a bit antsy by herself in situations like this. She'd been seeing the same therapist off and on for a year now which had helped a little. Any trips she had were genuine accidents now rather then her subconsciously hoping someone would notice her. It was an unhealthy thing she never really realized she was doing. It still hurt regardless of course so she tried being more wary of her feet and surroundings.

"Carefully, carefully, I can do this. Its just a small spill. YES!" It really wasn't a big deal but small things like this without tripping felt like something her therapist would be proud of for her.

"OH SHIIIT!" A male voice behind her suddenly yelled.

Unfortunately the achievement was short lived by the sound and feel of someone she didn't notice walking by. They apparently hadn't noticed the spill which wound up with them on top of her. The fall didn't hurt much thanks to what felt like a big arm cushioning the back of Mikan's head at the last second.

Opening her eyes in flustered surprise she saw an equally surprised big looking brunet man staring back. He quickly got up while helping her stand as well.

"Eh, fuck I'm sorry about that. Some idiot spilled shit on the floor." He said while sighing.

"Th-That was me, I'm sorry for making you fall. Please forgive me." Mikan replied while half looking at him and the floor in shame.

She didn't expect him to facepalm himself with more force then seemed necessary.

"Damn it, no I didn't mean to call you an idiot. I'm sure it coulda happened to anyone really." He said trying to reassure her.

Suddenly a voice slightly less gruff but still a bit intimidating spoke up.

"Name calling girls little bro? Mama would belt ya for that if she found out. Not cool." Behind the brunet stepped a man with a black hair styled in a slightly similar pompadour and body build as his brother.

"Oui, shut up! I was not trying to call her names, I just tripped is all. Sorry again for that um...?"
"My name is Mikan Tsumiki and no its okay honestly."

" Mondo Oowada and nah, accident or not I don't feel right almost making you cry there so..."Mondo trailed off seaming stuck on what he was about to say. He was no longer looking in her eyes and was looking frustrated at the shelf of ruined items. A bit of pink tinted his ears but Mikan wasn't sure if he was angry or just still flustered. From an outsiders perspective they'd think the shelf itself had wronged him somehow. Seeing his sibling's situation the older sibling rolled his eyes exaggeratedly before putting him in a half headlock.

"Bro,if your going to flirt with a girl at least have some damn manners. Invite her to see our hotel you twerp.".

Despite being slightly shorter he seemed stronger since Mondo struggled to get out of it and didn't flinch when kick. Mondo's kicks bounced off with an odd sound from the other man's leg.
"Daiya,I swear to god I'll rip off your other leg if you don't stop fucking around. It isn't even like that!" Mondo exclaimed.

"Really?"Daiya said with an indifferent tone to the assault to his leg. "I'd buy that if you weren't still holding her hand like a weirdo. Honestly, you'll be business less and girlfriendless forever if ya don't do better little bro."

Only upon him bring it up did both Mondo and Mikan look down at the same time to see they were indeed still holding hands from earlier. Immediately Mondo stopped kicking and let go of her before turning away grumbling something unintelligible as he walked off.

"Hey! Who are you and what are you doing talking to my friend?!" Mahiru said as she arrived in time with an employee of the store.

"Sorry miss is that man bothering you? Sir please don't harass our customers." Said the employee.

This got another eyeroll from the elder brother but less exaggerated and more sincere in his annoyance. "Typical. The only thing a guy that looks like me must be doing when talking to a girl is harassing her right? Just so you know, your friend almost cracked her skull open from slipping and my little brother saved her. Ain't that right Mikan?" Daiya nodded to her with a wink.

"Y-Yes, I wasn't being careful. Sorry for worrying you but I'm fine."The nurse agreed.

This didn't seem to deter Mahiru from putting herself protectively between them and glaring up at him.

"While I appreciate you helping I've got a feeling you wanted more then a thanks." She said suspiciously.

Daiya put his hands up in front of himself as if surrendering while taking a step back grinning a little at her in response.

"Hey now, I'll admit I did actually have something extra I was going to ask but it wasn't nothin sketchy. I'm not that kinda guy promise." As he finished talking he pulled out a few cards and passed them both to the girls along with the employee.

"My uncle owns this old hotel resort not to far from here. Its under new management by us Oowadas and still under some renovations but not a bad place. Invite your family, friends, or..." He trailed off with a pause bit a like mondo earlier but Mikan had a feeling at this point he like being a bit dramatic. " Any couples can also get discounts. You got a boyfriend who'd like to visit with ya or a girlfriend? We don't judge." He finished with a shrug.

Analyzing the card had Mahiru face go from suspicious to slightly mortified as the address and name was the very hotel they were heading too. She hadn't expected him to even have a job let alone be a co-owner to a hotel. He certainly wasn't dressed like one with his messy long jacket, plain black ripped jeans, and white shirt. Mahiru just though he was some random biker trying to hit on her friend. All the same people with jobs could still have alternative motives just like anyone else. Mahiru didn't miss how he was not so subtlely looking side eyeing her instead of Mikan when he mentioned the couples discount.

"We've actually got reservations there now so we don't need the cards but thank you. Also I don't have a boyfriend mainly cause I don't need one right now. Do you have a problem with a girl wanting to stay single?" The photographer asked.

He shock his head no with hands lowered slightly as he tried not to come off as intimidating while speaking. "Nah, Nah, absolutely nothing wrong with that. Was just asking for the sake of asking ya know."
If Mahiru wasn't convinced by his words then something in the smirk he was giving her was convincing her even less. It was now her turn to exaggerate an eyeroll in response.

"Whatever. Thanks again for helping my friend I guess but we've got to go make sure our friends aren't eating the gas station food without paying first. Again. I hope the next time we have to see you that your dressed and act the part of your job. We will leave negative reviews on your hotel if it turns out to be sketchy. You look half homeless if not for the motorcycles I'm assuming are yours outside. Come on Mikan." Not waiting for a reply she dragged Mikan off to find what snack isle their friends went.

Daiya watched the red head disappear down an isle before searching for his bother. He couldn't deny she was cute but it would probably judge his past as a biker as reason enough to not care for him. Not that he honestly would blame anyone for that but finding people who didn't judge was hard. Didn't matter to much anyways since the hotel policy they had mentioned not dating clients in case it led to false or assumed harassment charges. "Don't mix business and pleasure boys, never ends well." Its what their uncle told them while explaining the business.

Eventually daiya found his brother sorting bags of candy near the front desk. Sorting things and keeping his hands busy sometimes helped Mondo calm down when he was frustrated. It was a healthier habit then shouting that his therapist helped Mondo learn to cope with nerves. Sure he probably didn't help much with that headlock but a little teasing between brothers never hurt.

"Your gonna wanna at least buy one of those before someone thinks your trying to steal. Your girlfriend's friend got an employee who made me think they've got a problem with our style." Daiya told the back of his brother's head. Without turning around he could tell Mondo was giving him a telepathic death glare and half eyeroll as he paused before sorting again. He waved around a few take 5 candy bars while he spoke

"Okay, first of all fuck you. Second of all she isn't my girlfriend. Third of all I could hear the your cringy attempts to smooth talk the red head to visit our hotel. You got no one to blame on hating your less cool looking style bro."

Stealing a bag of chips he just sorted he snorted at the last remark. "Whatever lies ya gotta tell yourself to sleep at night man. Hurry up though, we gotta meet with the other guys to get suited and see how far repairs are going." Daiya remined him.

"I know, I know get off my back." Mondo said.

He probably wouldn't see Mikan much with work but he hoped if they crossed paths he could at least make a few new friends. While talking to pretty girls still made him nervous he had at least tamed down his shouting habit for the most part. Whether it was this new world of running a business or making some kind of connection with a girl he just prayed neither feel apart to badly.

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Loved finishing this up. Wish I had the timing skills to have made something with them for valentines day. Since we know barely anything about Daiya other then the flashback and that one cutscene from a fighting game I was trying to go with slightly more serious big brother who is also a goofy flirt sometimes. Not sure if I pulled it off or made him come on to strong.