Author's note: Epilogue dedicated to KatBlack, whose telepathic messages inspired me to finish the last few chapters in record time :)

Yashiro checked the caller name and smiled broadly.

'Kou-sensei! Good to hear from you again.'

'How are you, Yashiro-san?'

'Fine, just fine. How's the manga coming?'

'Really good, actually. I'm almost done storyboarding the final chapter.'

'Did you make do with just the bullet points on the mob situation?'

'I… managed.'

Did all the research myself and lost a lot of sleep, she added silently.

'That's great to hear.'

'I heard about your new position at headquarters, Yashiro-san. Congratulations.'

'Thank you very much. I plan to be a benevolent king when my time comes.'

'You're probably hard at work, so I'll keep this brief.'

'Oh, no, take as long as you like. I'm actually lying completely naked on a beach.'

'You - really?'

'Yep. Picture the nicest postcard you can. I'm there. Sans clothes.'

'Why?'

'I have an amazing body and the world should see it.'

'No, why are you there? On a beach?'

'Oh. I finally got around to making Doumeki take a compulsory sex holiday. In Bora Bora.'

'Bora Bora?'

'I asked him if he wanted to go anywhere in particular and that's the first thing he said for some reason. He's sitting here in beach trunks. Can you picture that?'

The silence implied that she definitely could.

'One little girl here has fallen madly in love with him. She keeps giving him little presents. Must think he's some kind of silent giant.'

As he spoke, Doumeki idly dug up some sand with a little pink plastic spade.

'That sounds very sweet.'

Too sweet, Yoneda thought.

'If you have a moment, I was hoping to talk to you about the ending.'

'Fire away.'

She tried to broach the subject delicately.

'Not that I'm not happy for you, Yashiro-san, it all sounds lovely, but I worry that your ending in manga form won't come across… realistically enough.'

'Realistically?'

'After everything you've been through,' Yoneda said. 'For you to have settled into, you know... happiness… seems like a stretch.' She cringed at how it sounded.

Yashiro smiled.

'There's all the mob stuff we're going home to in a few days,' he assured her. 'We're not about to drop all that and open a bed and breakfast. In fact, Ryuuzaki and I still have a bet going about which of us will die first. No such thing as a Yakuza happy ending.'

'I suppose.' She steeled herself. 'And are you and Doumeki-san still…?'

'Fucking pretty much whenever we're not doing something else? You bet.'

Yashiro could hear her blush.

'That's… nice.'

He laughed.

'Well, sorry to have bothered you on your vacation. If you're sure, I'll leave the ending as it is.'

'Sounds fine to me.'

'Enjoy Bora Bora.'

'Take care, Kou-sensei.'

Yashiro hung up, handed the phone to Doumeki and settled his head back against his hand.

'Kou-sensei doesn't think my newfound happiness is realistic. Or my newfound monogamy, I'm guessing.'

'Oh.'

Silence.

'Should I have told her about the threeway with Ryuuzaki?'

(In the office not long ago, through various tricks and manoeuvres, Yashiro had managed to channel Doumeki's jealousy into something else for the course of an amazing, intense few hours.)

'And the few times Misumi sort of… didn't leave the room?'

(Misumi watched, smoking, face unreadable, as Yashiro told Doumeki to show him the new trick they'd learned.)

The sun played on the water as Yashiro considered far away questions.

'Nah,' he decided. 'She'd probably edit it out anyway. Romantic comedies end happy, right?'

'Drama with dark sexual overtones,' Doumeki reminded him.

Startled, Yashiro looked up at him. 'You were actually paying attention that night?'

No response.

'You wouldn't happen to be carrying a flame for our mangaka, would you?'

'No.'

Yashiro chuckled. He closed his eyes.

'I'm taking a nap.'

Doumeki stared at his boss' newly bronzed body shimmering in the sunlight, to the booming applause of the ocean.

'Find me something to eat while I'm sleeping. I have a feeling I'll wake up hungry.'

'Any requests?'

He thought about it. 'Maybe you can wrangle up a jam sandwich somehow. No idea why but I'm really craving one. Don't think I've had one since I was a kid.'

There was a small pause. A wave rolled against the surf beyond their feet.

Then, Doumeki Chikara's face lifted into a smile. The faintest one imaginable. No one on the beach witnessed this small miracle.

'Crusts off,' added Yashiro, his eyes still closed.

It didn't even matter that Boss didn't remember.

'Oh!' Yashiro opened his eyes, as though he just remembered something. Doumeki's smile vanished just in time and he held his breath. Yashiro glanced sidelong at him and fixed him with his most lascivious of looks. 'When we go back to the room, bring the little spade with you.'

And with that, he closed his eyes again. Silence fell on their little stretch of beach.

Boss hadn't remembered. Doumeki's heart sank just slightly.

And then, when his eyes fell on the little pink spade in his hand, it soared again.

Crushed and elated. A feeling Doumeki still wasn't quite used to.

'Yes, Boss.'

Fin