Chapter 7: The Reunion

'4:45. Late again, as usual.' Tokiya sighed, glancing at his watch. He was sitting down under one of the clean white umbrellas outside Cream Explosion, watching Tanya throw a coin into the mall's fountain nearby. The rest of the Hokage Gang was nowhere in sight.

He smiled, remembering the scene earlier.

FLASHBACK:

"Ready to go?" Tokiya came out of his room holding an armful of what looked like colorful cloth.

"Yup." Tanya nodded. She pointed to what he was holding. "What are those?"

"I got these for you." He emptied everything he was carrying into a drawer on a desk. He held up a red beanie. (read: like the beanies hip hop people wear, and what some people use for cold weather.)

"Here." He slipped it on his sister's head.

"A hat?" Tanya asked, fingering the small, puffy ball of fluff on top of the beanie.

"So I can find you easily. I want you to wear one every time we go out together. The hats are for cold climate, I got you bandannas for warmer weather."

"So this is your way of making sure you'll be able to find me?" Tanya grinned.

"Exactly." Tokiya tugged on her ponytail.

END FLASHBACK

"Hey! Mi-Chan!"

"Mikagami-sempai!"

He turned in the direction of the two familiar female voices when two fists came hurtling out of nowhere and slammed into his stomach. He nearly fell off his chair.

"Tokiya, you girly IDIOT!"

"Where have you been, you moron? Leaving without saying good-bye… stupid BAKA!"

"What….was that…for?" Tokiya managed to gasp, trapped as he was in Recca and Domon's armlock.

"For going off to college without telling us where!" Recca used his free hand to mess up the Ensui master's hair.

"Good to see you, Mikagami-sempai." Yanagi came forward and smiled at him.

"Hello, Yanagi." Tokiya said, as Domon and Recca released him.

"Tokiya!" Kaoru slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, brat." Tokiya returned the gesture. "Nice to see you too." He began to fix his mussed hair and re-tied it back into a ponytail. "Hello Kagerou. Hey Ganko."

"Hello Tokiya." Kagerou greeted him. Ganko gave Tokiya a hug.

"Where's-?" Fuuko started to ask.

Tokiya nodded in the direction of the fountain.

"Where's who?" Recca demanded, following their gazes.

"All of you, please sit down." Tokiya gestured to the large table he had been saving. "I guess I'd better start with why I left without saying good-bye."

"This better be good." Domon commented, sliding out a chair.

Tokiya found all gazes on him. He took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"I'm sorry." He started. "I just didn't know why I left without coming to see any of you. Being part of a team was new to me. I didn't know the feeling of having comrades or friends till I joined you. The truth is, I didn't know how I was going to say good-bye, so I figured maybe it would be best if I just left."

"You really hurt us you know." Fuuko's eyes had a soft expression . "We wondered where you moved to when we heard you got accepted into Tokyo University."

"Yeah. And we were surprised when Fuuko said she bumped into you the other day at a park." Yanagi added. "After all these years, sempai. We didn't think you'd want to see us again."

"You got us worried." Kagerou crossed her legs. "Didn't you think we would be upset when we couldn't find you?"

"The thought did cross my mind." Tokiya admitted.

Silence. Then Kaoru spoke up. "I guess we're all relieved to find you're all right. I can drive me and Ganko and Miss Kagerou down here when we have a Team hangout, that is, if you won't be avoiding us, Tokiya."

Kagerou and Ganko nodded in agreement.

"I won't be avoiding you." Tokiya promised. "It's good to see you all again."

"I'll admit even I missed you, you big lug." Recca grinned. "It's about time you let us back into your life again."

They all laughed.

Yanagi returned her gaze to Tokiya. "Fuuko said something about two explanations. Is there something else you wanted to tell us, sempai?"

Tokiya nodded slowly, gripping the table. He met Fuuko's gaze, and she nodded encouragingly.

"I have a-"

"Sir, is this your daughter?" a security guard interrupted. He held a grimacing Tanya by the ear.

Team Hokage, except Fuuko, tipped over, animé- style.

"DAUGHTER?" Domon gaped.

"YOU HAVE A CHILD? YOU SLY DOG, YOU!" Recca thumped him on the back.

"For everyone's information, she's my younger sister, and what has she done?" Tokiya turned to the security guard.

"She nearly pushed that kid into the fountain." The guard replied, letting go of Tanya's ear, to point across the pavilion to a mother and her son, who looked to be Tanya's age.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Tanya's temper flared up. "IT WAS THE OTHER WAY AROUND! HE SHOVED ME FIRST! I NEARLY FELL IN!"

Tokiya registered the amount of shock on each of his teammates' faces. He knew why. Tanya's aura was firing up intensely.

"Tanya-"

"Tokiya, you believe me, don't you?" Her silvery eyes met his. "That boy he was pointing at started it!"

"Tanya, calm down." Tokiya pulled her onto his lap.

"I trust this will not be happening again?" The guard asked, sternly.

"No, sir. It won't." Tokiya answered.

"Good. You all have a nice day." The guard left and resumed his post at the entrance.

Tokiya looked down at Tanya who was still seething, then he turned to look at his friends, who were still gaping at him. All except Fuuko, who was staring down at the table, trying to hide a smile.

"This is going to be a long story." Kagerou broke the silence. "Why don't I treat you all to something to drink? I can tell we'll be sitting here for a while."

"So that's why you wanted to meet up at an ice cream place, despite this chilly weather." Recca said, smiling at Tanya, perched on her brother's lap.

"If you will kindly read the display menu, Sea-Monkey, I picked this place because they also serve hot drinks here." Tokiya settled Tanya on his right leg.

Kagerou chuckled as she stood up. "Don't start the story without me. I'll be right back."

She returned with a tray of steaming paper cups.

"It's hot chocolate." She said, setting the tray down after she passed around the drinks. "Now you can start talking, Tokiya."

So, Tokiya talked. He told them everything that happened from the day he received the child custody letter. Tanya too, was listening intently. He explained all of it, and the reason why he didn't know his parents were alive.

When he finished, everyone was looking grave.

"I am so sorry about your parents, Mi-Chan." Fuuko leaned forward. "It must've been hard for you when you found out."

Tokiya nodded, mustering up a faint smile, as he brushed his hand through Tanya's ponytail.

"Is that a smile?" Koganei grinned. "We haven't seen one of those on your face in the longest time. We should have Tanya around with us all the time."

"Team Hokage's newest member." Recca added.

Tokiya's smile grew wider. "She has an Ensui."

"WHAT?" everyone exclaimed.

"Show them, Tanya."

Tanya removed her Madougou from her jacket pocket and passed it to Recca.

"It's like yours, Tokiya. A longer version, and what's this groove for?" Recca ran his finger down the weapon.

"It's a double blade." Tanya explained, breaking her Ensui in two down the groove line.

"Cool!" The rest of Team Hokage leaned forward to examine it.

"She powers that with fire." Tokiya said. "And I'm telling you with complete honesty, Recca. She can be the one to give you a run for your money."

"Fire?" Recca stared at Tanya, astonished.

Tanya looked up at her brother and saw him wink. She smiled and snapped her fingers. Fire danced on her thumb.

"She-"

"She can-"

"No way!"

Tokiya smirked at them. Tanya balled her fist to put out the flame and then asked if she could be excused to go play by the fountain again. He nodded and let her slide off his lap. After she scampered off, he said, "You should all try sparring with her."

"SPARRING?" Domon sputtered. "With a pint-sized, fire version of you?"

"She's really good. I'm betting you would go down in ten minutes, Gorilla."

"NANI?" Domon made to stand up.

"Calm down, Domon-san." Kagerou admonished him with an amused look and turned to Tokiya. "It seems you two have bonded quite a lot since you've met. Making up for lost time?"

Tokiya nodded.

"It's refreshing to see you like this, Tokiya." Kagerou took a sip of her drink. "You've grown up a lot, and you're learning to open yourself up. Don't stop."

"You've been keeping yourself holed up too long. Let it all out." Yanagi added.

Tokiya felt himself blush at what they said. He knew it was the truth, and these were the only people he could talk everything and anything about with.

"Is there anything else you want to tell us?" Kagerou asked him.

"No." Tokiya answered truthfully. "Not at the moment."

"Then we should show Tanya around this mall." Kagerou suggested. "Give the little one a tour."

"I need to go to the supermarket." Tokiya replied. "Perhaps some other day?"

"No way, Mikagami-sempai!" Yanagi spoke up, surprising all of them with sudden boldness, instead of her usual shyness. She gave Tokiya a mischievous grin. "If you think we'll let you take your cute little sister away from us before we at least take her shopping, you're badly mistaken."

"Well, I-"

"Oh, come on you Eskimo!" Fuuko grinned. "I'll help you with your grocery shopping while the others bring Tanya around."

Before he could stop himself, Tokiya heard his voice say "All right."

Fuuko stood up and caught Tanya's eye. She waved for the little girl to come back over.

Tokiya took his sister's hand. "I have to go to the supermarket with Fuuko to pick up a few things for home. Everybody else will take you around the mall. We'll catch up."

"We'll take you shopping!" Ganko said, hugging the younger Mikagami in a bone-crushing grip. "And dress you up in cute little outfits!"

"We'll bring you in all the stores!" Yanagi added.

Tanya looked horrified and gave her brother an 'I-can't-believe-you're-leaving-me-with-these-people' look.

Fuuko brushed the bangs off the little girl's forehead. "Don't worry, sweetheart." She bent down and gave her a squeeze. "They're usually this crazy."

"We haven't had anyone to spoil like this since Ganko started middle-school!" Yanagi declared.

Recca tickled Tanya in the ribs making her squeal in delight and dodge aside. He chased her around their companions.

"We'll take care of her, Fridge Boy, don't worry." Domon caught Tanya as she passed by him. He hoisted her up onto his shoulders.

Tokiya exhaled exasperatedly. "For some reason, I am not very much assured."

"Snow Man!" Kaoru teased him. "Since when have we ever given you reason not to trust us?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"It was a rhetorical question, and you know we'll take care of Tanya just fine." Kaoru crossed his arms.

"All right." Tokiya finally agreed after a few moments. "Just don't let her out of your sight."

He and Fuuko watched as the rest of their teammates laughed and headed off to the escalator. Tanya's red beanie bobbed along, being as she was still perched on Domon's shoulders.