Over the next few days, Mikado and Masaomi created a system. Every other lunch, Mikado would teach Masaomi Japanese, Masaomi teaching him English for the others. After school every other day Masaomi would help Mikado with gym training, unless there was a test to study for. They took turns on Saturdays instructing the other in the ways of their culture, Mikado showing Masaomi the wonders of Japan, Masaomi telling Mikado about America and Britain. In the free time they would hang out as a trio with Anri.

Masaomi was a little unused to the scheduling of his free time, but for the sake of his grades and Mikado's effort (he had presented the schedule on Monday morning with the same determined blue eyes as the day before), he kept to it.

It was on one of the culture days, when Masaomi sat with his friend in the park recounting stories (with printed pictures) of various fried goods bought at festivals, when he saw it.

He'd just been showing Mikado a picture of a glass of fried coke when the sound of a motorbike rang out in the air. He looked up, only to see a woman wearing a full-body suit and a yellow helmet pull up beside Mikado. She soon had a cell phone in her hands, and typed something quickly on it then thrust it towards Mikado's face for him to read. The characters were too complicated for Masaomi, and he settled for sitting and watching this odd occurrence.

"Shizuo-san? Iie, Kida-kun wa yoi hitodesu. Kare wa, Shizuo-san o okora seru tsumori wa nakatta." Mikado said, voice tinged with worry that immediately perked the curiosity in Masaomi.

The biker woman typed something else for Mikado to read.

"Hai. Kono gokai o kaiketsu shite itadaki arigatogozaimasu." Mikado gave a small bow to the woman before she slipped the phone away and drove off.

"Didn't know you could drive in the park," Masaomi muttered under his breath. Then, to Mikado, "Who was she?"

"Ah! Kanojo no namae wa Celty desu. Sorry she did not say hello." Mikado smiled apologetically on the woman's – Celty's – behalf.

Masaomi shrugged. "No big deal. Sore wa daijobudesu."

The smaller boy looked uncomfortable for a second, fidgeting with his hands as Masaomi put the last of the fried food pictures together into a folder. "Ano…Kida-kun?"

"Mm?" Masaomi answered absentmindedly, wrapping the plastic folder in its elastic band.

"Be careful…near Shizuo-san."

Masaomi didn't like the tone of his voice, the same kind of hesitant worry that he got from his dad's secretary whenever he asked to speak to his dad, the kind that warned of bad things to come.

But he trusted Mikado.

"…Okay."

It was an hour later on the Saturday afternoon that was quickly growing overcast when Masaomi sat down for his first anime program ever.

…aside from dubbed shows on weekend mornings way back when, like Pokémon or Dragonball. He didn't consider those to 'count' anyways, because this was the real deal: all in Japanese, animated somewhere in the same country, with the original manga available at his fingertips several blocks away.

He was ready with his newly-made bowl of ramen sitting in front of the tv when the show came on, the opening panning over a girl with hair fanned out over the ground as sparkles floated upwards. The title of the anime was typed in colourful bubbles…he could only read the 'kimi' (you?) before the theme song continued with the same girl walking through multiple patterned backgrounds.

By the time the anime was halfway through, Masaomi was nearly blind from the bubbles and flowers and oh god SPARKLES that covered the screen in any instance of romance or friendship. He didn't remember Pokémon being like this!

However, despite the copious amounts of pink and blushing, the show was actually helping his pronunciation. He found himself following along with what they were saying, repeating as if he were listening to an instructional language CD. In no time he knew all of the character's names.

The credits had just begun to fade in and out when someone knocked on the door. Masaomi jumped up, striding over to inch the door open and peek through the crack.

"Dani?"

He swung the door fully open, staring at an older woman with dark brown hair and kind smile standing in the hall. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Masaomi in a familiarly firm grip that had the teen smiling into her shoulder.

"You're wearing the scarf I gave you," Masaomi pointed out, looking at the woollen gray Dolce and Gabbana wrapped around her neck.

"Of course! I wear it all the time, Masaomi," she replied, then put a hand to her hip, the other holding a plastic bag. "Now, are you going to invite me in or not?"

"I suppose…nosey woman," Masaomi rolled his eyes as he stepped aside, though there was a smile on his face.

Dani looked around as she removed her shoes, the door clicking shut behind her. "At least you keep the place clean."

"Well, now that you're not here to help me out…"

Dani took off her coat and scarf, leaving them on the couch and squinting at the television which was now playing another equally-feminine anime with a really tall girl and a short guy. "Is that…a girly anime?" She straightened and put her hands on her hips with a smirk. "Didn't know you watched that kind of stuff."

"Shut up," Masaomi scowled as he snatched the remote from the couch and flipped the channel to the news.

"What the hell is this?" Dani demanded as she held up the empty ramen cup. "Curry ramen? Have you been eating instant ramen this whole time?"

Masaomi rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Uh…yes?"

Dani sent him a scathing glare, thrusting her fist out to bop him none-too-gently on his head before grabbing the plastic bag she'd left on the couch and bringing it to the kitchen. "And here I was worried you were taking bad care of yourself," she threw sarcastically over her shoulder.

As she began to pull an assortment of groceries from the bag and stuff them in the fridge, Masaomi's inner voice switched to that of an announcer. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of 'Danielle Chang Cooks Your Dinner'! Here now is the woman herself, washing her hands in preparation. What will she make this time? Stay tuned to find out!

There she goes! Is that…fresh eggs? Seaweed? I see some chicken stock over there! Looks like she's going to make some seaweed and egg soup! *wild applause* Now the question is what she'll cook to go along with it!

"Masaomi, fill this with water," Dani said, thrusting a pot towards him. Due to his natural lack of talent for food preparation, his job during Dani's imaginary cooking show was to fill things with water, wash the dishes, and stay out of the way.

Fifteen minutes later, she was stir-frying something that made Masaomi's mouth water after so many days of instant ramen made with a kettle. Sure, having a new flavour each day was interesting, and he was particularly fond of the spicy kimchi version, but at some point he had started to miss home-cooked meals.

"So," she started casually over the noise of the hissing oil, "Your father is worried about you. He asked me to see how you're doing."

Masaomi looked up from where he was leaning on the counter, watching her back. "We both know that's a lie."

A sigh. "As much as you want believe otherwise, your dad does care about you." She glanced back at him, but he was looking away stubbornly.

Rolling her eyes at his childishness, she returned to the food. "How's Japan going?"

"Other than almost getting flattened by cars every day, not understanding a single word people say, and getting chased down by some madman with super strength?" Masaomi ranted. Dani raised a brow at the stir fry. "Fine. Just peachy."

"A madman with super strength?" She asked sceptically, causing Masaomi to point over at the television still playing the news in the living room, showing clips of an angry blonde tossing around street signs and vending machines, sometimes even small people.

"Heiwajima Shizuo?" She said in perfect Japanese.

"You know him?"

"He's only on the news every other day," Dani replied, shuffling the stir fry from the pan like baby ducks into a pond. "They even have a special segment just for him. 'The Monster of Ikebukuro's Daily Destruction Report', or something like that. Load of sensationalized crap, if you ask me."

"Yeah, well, he chased me down about fifty blocks. I had to climb onto the roof of a 7-Eleven just to get away!" Masaomi ranted. "Everyone in this place is insane."

"I bet you not everyone," Dani replied as she gestured Masaomi to set the table.

"…Maybe not."

Dani's mouth split into a grin as she crossed her arms, a knowing glint in her eyes. "I know that look, Kida Masaomi. Who is it this time?"

"Not telling! It's a well-known love fact that if you utter the name of your crush it'll ruin your chances forever!" He cried melodramatically with a grin, plunking two bowls and sets of chopsticks down on the table.

Dani set down two glasses of milk. "That's a load of bull."

Masaomi sent her a warning look. "Really, Dani, I don't want to mess this up."

Her eyes widened for a moment at his candidness, then brows furrowed for a moment as they sat down, Masaomi doling out soup to both of their bowls.

"Fine. But I trust I'll meet this wonder boy someday?"

"Of course; I'll invite you to our wedding," Masaomi winked.

They continued the rest of the meal with light-hearted banter, Masaomi teasing Dani about her mother hen tendencies while Dani replied with digs to his blonde hair and resemblance to a baby chick.

It was when they were washing dishes together (Dani scrubbing, Masaomi drying) that she dropped the bomb.

"Your brother is getting married."

Masaomi almost dropped the dish he was wiping, but caught himself just in time to place it back into the dish rack nonchalantly.

Dani took his silence as the cue to continue. "He gave me the invitation to pass to you. It's going to be in the spring."

She watched him expectantly, but all Masaomi did was put the dish away indifferently. After a long pause of silence, he finally looked up at her and said, "I don't care."

"You know you don't have to pretend around me," Dani said sadly. "I know every part of you."

"You practically raised me." Masaomi said. "He didn't."

"Look, I'll leave the invitation on the countertop. You can choose to read it or not." Dani slipped out the silvery embossed card, made with paper that probably cost more than twenty ramen cups combined.

"I'm not going," Masaomi said coldly as Dani finished up with the dishes.

"Samantha is a perfectly nice woman."

"It's not 'flawless-Christian-volunteer-charity-worker-Miss-Rhode-Island' Samantha that I don't like."

Dani sighed and leaned back against the counter, all the dishes now placed and drying in the rack. She crossed her arms. "It's been years, Masaomi. Don't you think it's time to set aside your immaturity and wish Ryan a happy marriage?"

"Ryan? Is that what he calls himself now?" Masaomi scoffed. "I know a Ryouta, not 'Ryan'."

"You'd know if you gave him a call or even sent an e-mail that he cares for you. He's made some mistakes," at this, Mikado rolled his eyes, "but he's willing to fix them."

"What are you, his shrink?" Masaomi snapped.

"Don't give me that," Dani retorted. "I'm not just some groupie you can push around."

Masaomi let out a groan. "I'm sorry! This is just all so stupid! He couldn't even send me the invitation himself!"

"He knew you would've thrown it out the moment you saw it," Dani said. "I may not be your mother, but you know I'm the closest thing you've got."

Masaomi stared at the ground guiltily, silent for a moment. She was right. It was Dani who had taught him to ride a bike, insult bullies, and write essays. She was smack dab in every photo album he had.

"Why do you keep working for him?" Masaomi murmured.

Dani paused in thought. "Your dad isn't the easiest guy to work for. But I'm one of the only ones qualified. Not many people can handle constant travel and speak so many languages. It's why he fired all his past secretaries."

"If I have to be honest to you, you should return the favour." Masaomi called her out. "You don't have to stay just for me, you know. I don't want to be a burden to you, too."

"You're not a burden," Dani said frankly, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "And I can't just abandon the kid who's practically my son. No one deserves to grow up alone." The fondness in her voice was apparent as she reached over and rested her arm over Masaomi's shoulders.

She took a closer look at him. "Hey, you've gotten taller! You're almost to my shoulder now!"

Masaomi caught up the rapid change in atmosphere, sharing the familiarity with Dani in a sense that they could easily go through the motions in tandem. He smirked. "Yeah, well, I'm sixteen now."

"What's that condescending tone supposed to mean? You're still a kid to me," Dani grinned then her fist thrust forward in a flash to plant a playful noogie onto Masaomi's head.

"Dani!" Kida shouted in a macho manner and not in any way resembling a small girl's scream. He slipped out from her grip quickly.

"Ah! Faster and stronger now too. Soon I won't be able to pin you down!"

"You haven't been able to pin me since sixth grade!"

"Or maybe my surrender was all a dream?"

Masaomi scoffed. "More like you ever pinning me was all a dream."

"Oh, Masaomi," Dani shook her head pityingly, "you've may have improved in combat but not in debate."

"Whatever. How long is your break?"

"Mmm… supposedly for the rest of the day, but who knows with your dad."

"Great! Let's go out, I wanna show you some cool stuff."

"Oh, Kida Masaomi, I'm flattered! But I'm much too old for you," Dani pressed the back of her hand to her forehead, fluttering her eyelashes dramatically.

Masaomi snorted loudly and grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the front door. "Yeah right, ya old coot."

"Wow, Masaomi! Dirty talk already! You're so forceful~!" The two laughed in the doorway as they slipped on their shoes.

A few minutes later they were down on the street, the grey blanket of clouds darkening. "So, where are you taking me, oh chivalrous knight?"

"Well, my ancient hag," Dani gave Masaomi a firm smack on his arm, "I am going to show you the wonders of Japanese vending machines."

"Oh really?" The Chinese-American woman replied, sounding intrigued as he led them across the street.

"There's a really weird one somewhere near here…there!" Masaomi waved his arms in a theatrical gesture, jazz hands included, encompassing the body of a vending machine that sold not drinks, not snacks, but neckties.

"Wow…" Dani stepped closer to peer inside the glass, where various colours and patterns of ties sat in packages ready for the taking.

"Isn't it crazy? And one a few blocks away is all dark during the day, but at night it lights up to sell porn magazines!"

Dani shot him a sharp look. "You haven't bought any, have you?"

"Of course not." Masaomi wrinkled his nose. "They only have girl ones."

The secretary looked back to the vending machine, placing a finger to her chin in thought as her eyes leapt from tie to tie. Finally, she pulled out a few bills and coins and shoved them into the correct slots, pressing a button resolutely. Masaomi watched as one of the packages fell to the flap door, where Dani stuck her hand to pull it out. She turned to face the blonde.

"This is my gift for you," Dani said, holding out a silky golden yellow tie, "to wear to your brother's wedding."

Masaomi stared at it with pursed lips, conflicted between promising something he couldn't and not taking the gift from his most important person. Dani gave him an encouraging smile and took his hand in hers, placing the package on his open palm then guiding his fingers to close around it.

"There you go."

He looked up at her dark brown eyes, swimming with affection as she leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. "Wǒ ài nǐ, dìdì."

"Wǒ ài nǐ."

Just then, a muffled, persistent beeping started from Dani's pocket. She sighed, pulling out her phone and peering at the tiny screen. She looked up at Masaomi, but he was already frowning.

"I'm sorry, Masaomi. I'll send you an e-mail," she said regretfully as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

"I get it. My dad can hardly tie his own shoes, let alone be without his secretary for a few hours," Masaomi grumbled. She sighed at his discontent and ruffled his hair fondly.

"Zàijiàn."

"Bye."

He watched as she walked away, heading towards the main street to hail a cab. One arrived right away, and she slipped in, giving Masaomi one final wave before the shut door was another layer between them and the car drove away.

Just as the yellow taxi pulled out of sight, the first drops of rain plopped onto Masaomi's nose. He wiped them away with a scowl and started to head back amidst the drizzle. But soon enough, the drizzle became full-on rain, and Masaomi found himself cursing his luck as he darted underneath the shelter of a closed storefront, peering out into the street where prepared strangers passed with umbrellas in their hands.

Well this sucks, Masaomi thought, feeling positively rotten as he contemplated the pros and cons of running the last few blocks to his apartment in what was becoming an almost violent downpour.

"Kida-kun?" A soft voice reached his ears over the noise of the pounding rain. He turned his head to see Anri, wearing casual clothes and standing under a blue umbrella.

"Anri-chan. Konbanwa."

"You…good?" Her English accent was thick, but Masaomi could appreciate the effort.

He shrugged. Body language was an easier form of communication.

The two of them stood there for a while, staring at each other, rain droplets rolling off of the umbrella.

"You…love Ryuugamine-kun?" Masaomi jumped at the sudden change of subject and the breaking of the rain's calming lull.

"How did you…?" Masaomi took a deep breath. "Hai."

Anri gave a small nod. "Good."

Masaomi wanted to ask what she meant, but of all the questions he had, none of them would come out right in Japanese.

"Ki o tsukete. Mikado wa yoi hitodesu." Her voice was soft but warning. Even if Masaomi hadn't understood what she said (though she kept it simple enough that he did), the meaning would've been clear.

He nodded sombrely in reply, and, satisfied, she walked out into the rain. Masaomi watched as she left, caught in wonderment over her observation skills and the clear honesty with which she spoke to him.

And he smiled with the knowledge that, even if he was gone, there would always be people who cared for Mikado just as much as he did.

Īe, Kida-kun wa yoi hitodesu. Kare wa, Shizuo-san o okora seru tsumori wa nakatta. No, Kida-kun is a good person. He did not intend to offend Shizuo-san.

Kono gokai o kaiketsu shite itadaki arigatōgozaimasu. Thank you for resolving this misunderstanding.

Sore wa daijōbudesu. It's alright.

Wǒ ài nǐ. I love you

Dìdì. Little brother

Zàijiàn. Bye

Ki o tsukete. Be careful.

Mikado wa yoi hitodesu. Mikado is a good person.

In case anyone can't tell the difference, Dani speaks Mandarin to Masaomi in the end bit.

Hello! I'd just like to clarify right away if I can, that there are no drrr! gangs in this AU.

I'm sorry if reading a fic with a bunch of translations needed bothers anyone! It'll only last for as long as it takes for Masaomi to fall into using Japanese, at which point I will pretty much write in all English with occasional reminders that he's speaking Japanese (ex. "I'm a jellybean unicorn," he said in Japanese.). He'll have a good grasp on Japanese at least by March in story-verse (it's autumn right now in story-verse)