Okay so I'm sorry for not updating! School has started and I actually planned to get a fair chunk of this story done in the summer, however I had a bit of a tizz and at one point decided to discontinue the story. However I soon got over it and hey presto! It's an extra long chapter as an apology aha.

Just a heads up; I've been looking forward to writing the next chapter since I started to plan the story! *squeals*

Chapter 5- Not of Importance

"Okay, let's run through this one more time."

Aoi groaner and flopped against the bar, burying her head in her hands. It was the day before her first evening at work and her cousin was attempting to teach her how to waitress properly. Yata, unfortunately for him, had walked in just before they began and had been roped into playing the customer. It was a little hard to understand him through all the stuttering, but Aoi thought she was doing well all things considered.

"But I'm tired." She groaned, and was rewarded with a slap to the back of her head with a dishcloth. "Ow! Hey!"

"Come on, stop being lazy. You're almost there." Izumo scolded her from behind the bar. "Just try it once more."

Aoi huffed, but pushed off the bar and slid off her seat, picking up her tray and flashing Yata a large smile.

"Welcome to HOMRA!" Her voice was chipper and bright, almost as if they hadn't had the previous conversation. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"I-I-I'll have the curry!" Yata told her, his head turned away. He hadn't once met her eyes since she'd been living there, and it was getting tiring. All the others seemed to like her well enough, so why didn't he?

"Coming right up." Aoi chirped, turning around to face Izumo before slumping her shoulders and sighing. "Was that any better?"

"Wonderful! Absolutely darling." Her cousin replied, waving the dishcloth about dramatically, like a rich man would a handkerchief.

"Did you really have to be that condescending?" The brunette took a seat and dropped her head into her arms. "It's tiring smiling so much."

Izumo chuckled and set a cup of tea next to her ear, earning him a grateful smile. "Well, you'll get used to it."

"Good morning everyone!"

"Ah, good morning, Totsuka." Izumo spoke and Aoi gave a small wave from where she was sat, her head resting on her hand as she sipped her tea. Totsuka, who had just entered the bar, came to sit next to her, petting her head playfully.

"Is that all, Kusanagi?" Yata piped up, looking determinedly at Izumo, his eyes unwavering. Aoi frowned and rested her chin on her arms, scowling into her cup of tea.

"Mm. You can go if you want. Be back at noon; Mikoto wants to talk to you."

"Alright. See you later." With that Yata grabbed his skateboard and was out of the door in a flash, letting it swing and slam shut behind him.

"Okay, what is his problem?" Aoi swung herself around on her chair to face Tatara, her cheeks blown out in irritation. "Is he this rude to everyone or is it just me?"

"Who, Yata?" Tatara laughed and petted Aoi's head again. She swatted him off with a pout, not wanting to be patronized but too close to the older man to get mad. "Well he's not rude to everyone. Just girls. And he's actually trying not to be rude, he just...ah...well, he just can't talk to them."

Aoi paused, her irritation quickly fading, replaced with curiosity.

"He...can't talk to girls?" Her voice was hesitant, head tilted slightly to the side.

"Yeah. I'm not sure why. Kusanagi, do you know?" Tatara directed his attention over Aoi's head and she turned around to face her cousin behind the bar.

"About Yata?" Izumo shook his head. "No, come to think of it, I don't. Maybe he just doesn't know any girls. The only one I know of that he sees on a regular basis is Anna, and she's so young it doesn't make much of a difference."

"Mm." Aoi nodded slowly, but Izumo was no longer paying attention; instead he was attempting to defend himself from Tatara's complaints about his comment on Anna.

Needless to say she felt awful for assuming the worst about Yata, though she wished someone had said something earlier. Still, she shouldn't have been so quick to get defensive about it.

"Oi." Aoi jumped as Izumo's dishcloth, a dangerous weapon if ever there was one, flipped her nose. "Come on, no slacking off; we might not be open for business yet but today is technically your first day working for me. I need you to wipe down the tables and make Anna dinner."

"But I can't coo-"

"No excuses!"

Aoi leaned on the bar using her right elbow, using her left hand to tug the back of her boot higher up on her calf. So far the night had been fairly slow and she was, dare she say it, enjoying herself. The only people in the room were a few men, about her father's age, who were nice enough and hadn't caused any trouble. Unfortunately, she realised when the door swung open, slamming against the wall enough to make Izumo cringe from behind the bar, the peace wasn't going to last very long.

In walked a group of six, all men. They couldn't be much older than her, probably about Tatara's age, but they were loud, laughing raucously. It wasn't the kind of laughter that Aoi heard around the bar regularly, when Tatara performed some kind of magic trick and made Kamamoto almost split his sides, but the kind that gave her the chills, anxiety running deep through the pit of her stomach.

Pushing through, she forced a smile to her face and walked up to the booth that they sat down in, pulling her notebook out of the apron she wore above her short skirt and plucking the pencil out from behind her ear, tray tucked under her arm.

"Welcome to HOMRA! Is there anything I can get you?" She looked up at them all and smiled just like her cousin taught her.

One man, he had purple hair that covered one half of his face, turned to his friend and laughed, making some lewd remark about her that set Aoi on edge. Her cheeks were burning and she gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to tug her skirt down lower. It wasn't her fault they had no manners.

"I'm sorry, but harassing workers is against our policy." She told them, icily, though they were paying more attention to the length of her skirt than to her. Aoi actually had no idea whether she was telling the truth or not, but assumed Izumo wouldn't want them being so disgusting; and at any rate, she wasn't going to stand for it. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

"But darlin', we just got here-!"

"Lighten up a little!"

"It was only a joke-"

"Yeah, it's not our fault your skirt's so short!"

"You're just askin' for-"

"I am not asking for anything!" Aoi interrupted, hotly. By this point her entire face was flaming, through anger or humiliation she was no longer sure, but all she really wanted to do was go upstairs and cry. How could someone be so wrong? "You need to leave, now, or I'll fetch the owner."

"I think we hurt her feelin's-"

"Isn't that a pity?"

"There's no need to get the owner-"

"We were just havin' some fun-"

Aoi turned away, ready to fetch her cousin, but the man on the end grabbed her wrist, twisting it sharply and tugging her back to him. Unable to take it any more, Aoi grabbed the tray from under her arm and smacked him across the back of his head with a loud 'crack', forcing him to let go.

Breathing heavily she moved back from them a few steps, trying to reassert herself. She had to show she was in charge and get them out. Aoi swallowed and tried to speak.

"You need to lea-"

"Bitch-"

"Who does she think she is?"

"Better teach her a-"

"Oi."

Aoi, along with the men, looked around in shock at the interruption. At the bar sat Mikoto, whiskey glass in hand, burning a hole through them with his gaze. There was silence from everyone present for a few long seconds, before Mikoto spoke again.

"She said get out. So get out. You're annoying me, anyway."

"You heard him." Piped up Izumo (where was he when I was getting harassed?! Aoi thought, irritated) from behind the bar. "Get out. Now."

"Shitty bar-"

"Wasn't gonna stay-"

"Stupid bitch-"

Aoi breathed a sigh of relief as they left, pressing the tray to her chest and rubbing her left wrist where it had been grabbed. There was sure to be a bruise there in the morning.

It took her a few moments but she managed a smile, forcing weak knees to take her to the bar. They steadied with every step, and by the time she got there her heart rate was almost back to normal.

"Thank you, Mikoto." She started, gratefully. "I don't know what I would have done if-"

"It doesn't matter. They were annoying me anyway." The man spoke into his whiskey, refusing to look at her. Aoi bit back a smile.

"Still. I really appreciate it."

"You know you should savour this." Izumo added in, conversationally, leaning on the bar. "She isn't usually this polite."

"And you!" Aoi smacked her cousin's shoulder with the back of her hand. "Where were you when I was getting harassed? At least Mikoto had the decency to step in!"

Izumo merely shrugged, rubbing the shoulder she abused. "I thought you could handle it."

"Oh for God's sake-"

"Fushimi. What was it you wanted?" Reisi pushed another jigsaw piece into place and looked up, almost smiling at his subordinate over the rim of his glasses.

"You wanted to know what I thought about the Homra girl-"

"Yes, Aoi Tanaka."

"-and I think we're wasting our time." Saruhiko's voice was full of irritation, as if it was a pain to even try and get out of such a laborious task. "She's just a girl; she's not of importance to Homra."

Reisi looked back at his puzzle, appraising the bigger picture before homing in on a cluster of empty spaces in the centre. "You think so?"

Saruhiko sighed and clicked his tongue before answering. "Yes."

"I see."

There was a long pause.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Fushimi?"

"Do you wish me to carry on my investigation?"

"Yes, Fushimi."

Another sigh. Saruhiko decided to try being semi-respectful.

"With all due respect, sir-"

"You disagree." It wasn't a question. Reisi looked up again. "I believe we need more time and more information. My orders still stand. No objections."

Tch.

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

Saruhiko left the room, face contorted into a frown of irritation. His pale hand tugged uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt, moving the material aside so he could reach the scar underneath, tracing the old mark of loyalty with a long, creamy finger before twisting and using the nail to scratch deeply.

Playing the invisible babysitter to Homra and their new brat was getting to him, it was true, but that wasn't why he wanted his mission terminating. There really was nothing special about Aoi Tanaka; from what he could see she was an average teenage girl living with her cousin.

His frowned deepened. Reisi would never have him perform a useless task...so that meant there was something he was missing. Something he wasn't picking up on.

Resolving to pay more attention, more out of irritation and spite than actual commitment to his job or superior, Saruhiko went back to his dorm to prepare again.

There had to be something more to her...but what?

Aoi yawned and dragged her tired feet up the stairs, for once itching to remove her favourite boots from her feet. It was about one in the morning and her entire body ached. "Goodnight, Izumo, Mikoto."

"Goodnight, Aoi. Sleep well." Izumo gave a small smile, which the brunette returned. Mikoto gave a wave, wafting smoke everywhere from the cigarette between his fingers, and took a sip from his glass.

"Night." He grunted. Aoi grinned and headed up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Night!"

Once the door was shut behind her and Izumo was sure his cousin was upstairs, he turned to his friend with a smirk. Mikoto raised an eyebrow and grunted, questioningly.

"What?"

"It seems," Izumo picked up his own glass. "You have a fan, senpai."

"Fuck off."

Aoi kicked off her boots and flopped onto her bed face first. She really couldn't be bothered to get changed...but that would mean wearing the same uniform she slept in the next day...

With a sigh she rolled over and sat up, quickly changing and tying up hair before flopping down on the mattress.

Thankfully after the 'incident' with the customers Mikoto had to kick out the rest of the night had been relatively uneventful. She had earned tips, turned a few heads, and hadn't hated her job.

Though it had got her wondering what she wanted to do in the long term. Did she really want to spend her whole life working in her cousins bar? She'd have a job and a place to stay...but she'd hate it. After a few years she'd be sick and tired of it, it was inevitable, and she'd have to start again somewhere.

Aoi buried her face in her pillow and sighed heavily. There was plenty of time to consider the future and half past one in the morning was not one of them. She'd think about it in the morning. Maybe.

Rolling over and pulling the covers up to her chin, Aoi distracted herself with thoughts of that evening. Mikoto...he was normally so indifferent, but his eyes had been so intense...it had even scared her for a moment. It reminded her how little she knew about all of Izumo's friends and how odd they were, particularly him.

There was just...something about them. It was intriguing and mysterious and she just knew she'd never feel at rest until she found out what it was.