Bon and I walked down the hallways happily. I was happy that he was holding my hand and he was just happy as far as I could tell. Once we finally passed his dad I pointed to him.

"There he is." I said.

He was wearing a janitor's outfit and had a mop in hand. Bon's happy mood changed and he was in Yakuza mode. "Hey, you old Bonze, What're you doing?!"

I gripped the bridge of my nose, "Huh? I'm cleaning the floor."

"... Your clothes?!" Bon said stressfully.

"Well, nothing's restraining me anymore, From now on I think I'll just work at Toraya to support Torako."

"What are you-?!" Bon was interrupted by Konekomaru.

"Ah, chief Bonze, you were here, Bon and Okumura-chan too! Come with me, fast!"

We all ran over to a room where one of Shima's brothers and Mamushi were sitting calmly on one side while their siblings and fathers were on the other side freaking out.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO OUR SISTER YOU MONKEY?!"

"IT CAN'T BE TRUE JUU-NII SUCH A SKINNY SNAKE GIRL?! I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA MARRY SOME HOT BLONDE CHICK WITH A CURVY BODY!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU PERVERTED MONKEY?!"

"QUIET!" The bald monk that was, I assume, Mamushi's father, had steam shooting out of his ears and nose. He no longer resembled the snake that was tattooed to his head, he was more of a bull with a red blindfold on.

"Uhm, what's going on?" I asked. All of the attention was turned to me.

"I'm trying to get our fathers to marry me and Mamushi!" Juuzou said happily. Mamushi blushed and shrieked.

"Like a child like that would understand!" Said girl screeched.

I pouted, "I'm not a child!" I went on ignored.

"Juuzou, it looks like Mamushi doesn't really agree, maybe you should discuss this better?"

"I don't think we'd come to an agreement anyway."

"HA! Sister would never be with the likes of you!" I covered my ears as an attempt to save them.

"Mamushi, do you really disagree?" Juuzou asked.

"... I'm going to be punished. I cannot marry." I rolled my eyes and Bon nudged my side.

"Well, then you can think of being married to me as a punishment!" Juuzou said happily. I stifled a giggle at her face, Bon was doing similar actions to hold back laughter.

"I'M NOT A SIMPLETON AS YOU ARE!... And... I wouldn't think of it... as a punishment." she said blushing.

While others in the room were complaining I cooed. I'm sort of a romantic at heart, so this was sweet.

"Juuzou-san." "YESSIR!" "Because of what happened, Mamushi will be stripped of her meister and removed from the order, and her eye, will never be back to the way it used to... Are you still fine with her?"

"I am! Please, I'll say it again, Umabami-sama, please let me have Mamushi!" Juuzou bowed gently.

Umabami-sama bowed even further as a form of respect and ended up hitting his head, "Please take care of her!"

Juuzou did the same, "Yessir, I will!"

"I'm so happy for them!" Daruma said happily. Bon was in shock at this point while I was about to start squealing in happiness. "See? Even without pushing hard, everyone is going their own ways. Let them be."

Bon was back in Yakuza mode as his father walked away, I held his hand to keep him from blowing up fully. "You're the one who overdid it all these years. Why didn't you just quit?!"

Daruma looked back at Bon with a smile, "Because you were important to me."

Bon was taken aback, "Ar-aren't you going to read the sutras again?" he said sadly.

The man didn't look back this time, "...You don't need lullabies anymore."

I bit my lip as Bon's gaze didn't turn, neither of us noticed when Shima and Leo came along until Shima said, "Oh hey Bon, Kushi-chan, Koneko-san. Been looking for you. You see Rin is demanding that we go on a tour, so is everyone ready to go on a trip with him?"

I rolled my eyes, "One moment, go ahead Miwa-san." He looked at me wearily then nodded.

As he herded the two other boys away I turned to Bon.

"Are you ok?"

"... I at least wanted him to try." He said sadly.

My eyes softened and I clung to his middle. He flinched a little but then began to hug back. "Bon... R-ryuuji, it's fine, you can still come back to rebuild. Maybe you could even have your own temple, your dad could come by and see how well you're doing and you could rub it in his face or whatever." I smiled softly to him.

He gave a light chuckle, "Thanks, Utsukushi." I blushed, he normally just called me 'Okumura' or 'Kushi' with the occasional honorific. But this way felt more caring. He looked past my head and chuckled more, "You like that huh?" I looked back and saw my tail waving happily. I squealed and grabbed it to try and hide it but it continued to elude me. Bon eventually took hold of it, and smiled.

"How is it that you are so weird, yet so cute?" I blushed and tried to hide it as his lips pressed against my forehead.

"How is it you think I'm weird, Shima and Leo are practically twins, Izumo can't talk to people without insulting them, Shiemi just can't talk to people, Konekomaru is as his name states: Kitty boy, Yukio has occasionally shot Rin for not doing his homework, and Rin is a happy go lucky half-demon who doesn't care if he dies as long as we're safe and you call me weird?" I retorted.

He raised an eyebrow, "Anything else?"

"Yeah? You look like a chicken." I smirked when I saw the tick mark, but once he scooped me up onto his shoulder like a sack of flour, I began squealing. It didn't help that he was holding my bare thigh, since I was in a skirt.

"B-bon! Put me down! Right now!"

"No, I'm gonna carry you whether you like it or not... I've been meaning to ask, what was with the dream thing? I said do something Utsukushi would never do, I never told you to kiss me."

I blushed and stopped struggling. "Well, for one you were drunk, and probably would've believed anything at that point. Two, I couldn't hesitate or you probably would've come to and realized it wasn't a dream."

"And that's what you thought of? Kissing me? What if that made me come to?"

"... I don't have a fast acting brain like Rin, nor a smart one like Yukio."

"That's not true." he said angrily.

"Yes it is, I'm not as smart as Yukio or as athletic, and I'm not as strong and willing as Rin. That's why I'm the weakest!"

He almost threw me to the ground but I stood up and he gripped my shoulders while staring me straight in the eyes, "That doesn't matter, you risked your own life to save ours just as many times as Rin, you're just as smart, if not smarter then Yukio. Don't you dare insult yourself like that again." "Bu-" "No Buts! You're my friend, you always will be, I don't care about others' opinions on you, you're my best friend."

My eyes began to tear up and he began to panic, "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell! Oh geez, please don't cry."

"Thank you." I muttered.

"What?"

"Thank you, no one's really told me anything like that other then the old man and my brothers."

He seemed shocked, "R-really?" He pulled his composure back in line, "That's impossible! You're a beautiful, independent, kind, and strong-willed woman. I don't see how anyone could miss that!"

I stared at him in admiration, "Really?! No one really cared about me enough to tell me something like that! I was mainly made fun of back home!"

He blushed, "Man, not even your friends?"

I scoffed, "What friends? I was called 'Ugly Duckling' for most of my school life!"

He stared at me as I pouted, "So..."

"So, you all are my first friends, Rin's too. You were the first to treat me like a normal person, my first kiss, and well... the first person that has ever made me stutter and blush so much." I scratched my cheek nervously.

He smiled and held out his hand, "They're waiting for us, you can tell me all about it on the way." I took his hand and he pulled me closer to him. I blushed as he had his arm draped over my shoulder, still holding my hand.