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Disclaimer: In no way do I own or claim to own OHSHC. I am not selling this FanFiction and it is purely for personal use only.

Chapter 2– Ashioto

Something flared up in him in that instant; something familiar and still so very unknown. Was it fate, love, or just a whim of his body? No one can say, but the second he met with her eyes – those unbelievably gorgeous eyes – the world crashed down but he was miles off into the sky. He stood frozen as his fairy was pushed into that limousine. He stood frozen as it drove off down the pagoda street. He stood frozen long after heaven and hell came to an end; lost in those enchanting eyes.

Another light and then another, all down the street of pagoda trees, street lamps came on. With a splash from a small fish, Ritsu was brought back to reality. The girl was gone and her tsuchibue was in his hands.

Ritsu grabbed his school bag and ran home, the wind playing the instruments the whole way. When he came to the Kasanoda syndicate, all was quiet…too quiet. Ritsu pushed open the door and the place was empty. He only got a few steps though when Tetsuya came running to meet him.

"Wakaa, you've returned. Where have you been? Everyone's out looking for you." Ritsu pictured his men storming the depths of the sea for him. But that idea died when he realized they were probably just roaming the streets. "I wasn't paying attention and just got lost. You don't need to start a search party for me."

His words were matter-of-fact and crudely presented but Tetsuya understood this was the young lord's way of saying he was worried about his men on the streets at this hour. "I'll call them back then. Your father would like to speak to you. He told me to tell you when you got back."

"Yeah, thanks." Ritsu made his way to his father's room while Tetsuya called the guys. "Ishioto-san, the young lord has…"

"Did you find him? Is he alright?" Ishioto blasted.

Tetsuya held the phone an arm's-length from his ear until the blare of noise subsided. "He's fine, he just got a little lost on the way home."

A heavy sigh could be heard on the other end. "Thank god. I was sure those damn Mioji's had got to him."

"Mioji's? What do you mean? Who are they?" Tetsuya questioned.

"Kid you need to pay attention. They're a rival syndicate trying to steal our title as 'Most powerful yakuza in Kanto, Japan'; which means that the young lord is at risk." Ishioto explained agitatedly.

"I didn't know." Tetsuya stated. Ishioto groaned, "So far they haven't done anything beyond petty fights but we can't take that chance. You need to keep an eye on him. Keep him safe."

"Understood."

Inside, Ritsu entered his father's room and sat down on the pillow in front of him in the traditional fashion. Hayato had a very sobering expression across his features. "You had us all very worried, you know."

"Yes father." Ritsu professed. His stare focused on the rim of the pillow at his father's knees. Hayato noted Ritsu lack for eye contact. "The Mioji's activity has recently increased. It's too dangerous for you to stroll about the neighborhood on your own these days. You need to remember; as the heir to the Kasanoda syndicate, you are a prime target. Who knows when they'll attack?"

"Yes father."

"Starting now, I'm having Ishioto, Katashi, and Isamu guard you. I can count on them to see and react to trouble. They'll be inconspicuous but I'll be able to sleep better at night. A man only has one son to look after."

"Yes father." Hayato's face softened a little to hear his son's excuse. "So, has the path from school to home gotten longer?"

Ritsu thought for a moment if he should tell his father that his curiosity got the better of him. "I…got distracted and then I heard this music…and…"

"Go on: you heard music."

Ritsu understood why his father was so grave and severe before but it still made him reluctant to tell the truth, "I followed it to a shrine and saw a pretty girl."

Hayato seemed more interested now, "What was the pretty girl like?"

This threw Ritsu off guard, "Well, she wore a blue, furisode kimono with bird-of-paradise flowers, and her eyes were blue and green at the same time, like the sea."

Ritsu envisioned his beautiful fairy with the ocean eyes. He recounted the melody she played that would break the heart of even the most heartless. At last he remembered that he still had her tsuchibue. "Oh, she lost her flute-thing in the lake so I went to get it for her but she left before I could give it to her."

Ritsu pulled out the dirty instrument and showed his father. Hayato took it into his hands and examined it. "You can't give it back to her like this. You have to clean it properly."

"How am I supposed to do that? I don't even know how to play this thing." Ritsu said as Hayato handed the tsuchibue back to him. "I don't know but you could start by soaking it in water. Use a Q-tip swab to get inside and a cloth to polish it."

Ritsu looked at it. It was so covered in mud that you couldn't even see what color it was and it was almost fully crusted over. "Well," Hayato continued, "I think we're done here. See you at dinner."

Ritsu bowed to his father then got up and left. He went and got a large bowl out of the kitchen and a Q-tip swab out of the first aid kit in the bathroom. Filling the bowl with water, he took it all to his room and began cleaning the instrument. He would dip the flute in the water and rub off all the dirt that had hardened over the surface. With each rub, more color was revealed. It was the same color as his fairy's enchanting eyes. After that, every other dip would be to loosen the mud that had dried up on the inside. This took much longer since the Q-tip was limited in how far it could go and every so often, he'd break in and the swab would be trapped inside.

Since he was absent for dinner, Hayato had Tetsuya deliver it to Ritsu's room but Ritsu was too busy to even notice his growling, empty stomach or the savory smell of the food just outside his door. Tetsuya looked in and recognized this familiar focus. The last time he was like this, he was plucking petals from a flower to decide his love for Fujioka. Perhaps this was just like that time.

By the next day, he had gotten all the mud out of the inside after breaking, pulling out, and replacing eight Q-tips. He was late getting to sleep and had trouble staying awake in class. After falling asleep one too many times, his teacher took pity and told him to get some rest in the infirmary. As he slept, his fellow classmates discussed their own ideas as to why.

"Kasanoda's pretty tired today. Is he alright?"

"Maybe he had to do a stake out last night."

"No way, Yakuza heirs don't do grunt work. He probably had an important meeting and they had to do it early in the morning when the keisatsu patrols weren't as strong."

"What if he has a cold."

"Maybe, let's ask him at lunch."

When lunch came around, Ritsu was at a table by himself polishing the tsuchibue with a satin cloth. His new friends noted that he didn't even have a lunch in front of him. "Oi, Kasanoda-san!" Ritsu finally looked up to see Hirotou Yuki and Arisawa Seiji coming to join him.

"Hey." Ritsu replied.

"What's up with you today? You've been really sleepy." asked Yuki concernedly.

"Sorry about that, I was up late cleaning this." Ritsu showed them the tsuchibue.

"Is that a tsuchibue? I heard they're one of the easiest things to learn how to play." Yuki claimed excitedly.

"Are you taking up music now?" asked Seiji.

"No, this girl I saw at a shrine dropped it in the lake so I went to get it but she left before I could give it back." Ritsu confessed.

Yuki lit up like the sky at midnight on New Year's Day, "Kasanoda-kun, that is so sweet! Was she pretty? Did your eyes meet? What was she like?"

"Hirotou-san, chill out." Seiji said as he pulled Yuki out of Ritsu's face. "So you going to see this girl tonight to give it back?"

"Yeah." Ritsu replied, rubbing the tsuchibue some more to make it gleam.

Yuki clenched up and squealed, "That's so romantic, Kasanoda-san. Did you get her name?"

"No, I've never even spoken to her."

Yuki squealed once more. "Oh, I wish I could go too but I have violin lessons. It's not fair."

"I have a tea ceremony to attend." Seiji declared, "Sorry I can't come. But you need to eat something, Kasanoda-san. You only have one body; you need to take care of it."

"I know."

When the bell rang, instead of going to the Host Club like usual, Ritsu darted down the front steps, out the front door, and through the main gate. He ran and ran until he finally came to the pagoda street. Out of breath, he walked the rest of the way to the shrine and sat down under the same shidareyanagi tree that his fairy rested under. He waited and waited and waited for his fairy to return but she never came.

Maybe she didn't have plans to come that day. Maybe she had to be somewhere else. Whatever the reason, she wasn't there and the sun had already begun to set. He knew better than to stay out late again so he got up to go home. Ritsu noticed his boys following him as he left. What could they have been thinking as he sat there all that time?

There were people about but fewer than midday. Only two other people needed the same crosswalk at the same time he did. As the red hand flash to a white person walking, the woman next to him sped across while the teenage boy strolled behind him. Their footsteps echoed in his ears.

Three cars had made it to the T-intersection; one green one to the right of the turn, and two to his left, one blue, one red. The blue turned right into the T while the red stayed behind to cross over. Suddenly, a loud hum was closing in on his ear and the last thing he heard before seeing a dark brown Cadillac racing towards him at full speed was "Long live the Mioji's!"

A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I'm sure I've failed to truly capture Kasanoda's personality but I only have two episodes to work off of so please don't hate me forever. Also, I believe I forgot to insert translations in the last chapter so here are the translations for chapters 1 and 2.

Pagoda no Michi (title) = Path of pagoda trees
Tsuchibue = ocarina
Shidareyanagi = willow trees
Gokurakucho = Bird-of-Paradise flowers
Furisode Kimono = Kimonos with swinging sleeves
Ashioto = footsteps
Wakaa = young lord

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and plan to read more...even though we all know what's going to happen next...or do we...?