TWENTY-ONE
She enters to find her wife bribing her uncle: "I'll give you copies of certain photos of Tsubasa's twenty-first birthday if you tell Mr. Kazanari for us," Maria asks, clasping her hands beneath her chin and pouting slightly.
It does not help that Genjuurou is seriously considering Maria's offer; the stern crease in his forehead lessens as he raises his eyebrows in intrigue.
"You will do no such thing," she has to save her dignity, so she strides into the room and comes to a halt behind Maria, hands resting lightly on her shoulders. "Though I do recall that we erased all traces of the… alleged photos." Somebody please tell her Maria did not make copies of those ridiculous photographs behind her back.
Maria twists around to address her, pout even more pronounced. "But it's in our best interest, darling!" she insists. "Or else we'll have to tell your father that we kept him completely out of the loop and told your uncle first."
Her eyebrows furrow in an instinctive grimace—she had forgotten entirely.
"You forgot, didn't you?" Maria reads her mind, and she glares at both Maria's wry expression and Genjuurou's blatant exasperation.
"Genuinely, I assure you. It genuinely slipped my mind," she asserts, tweaking a lock of Maria's hair in playful reprimand.
Maria huffs but returns to her point, "Isn't it worth it, though?"
Scoffing, she retorts, "Perhaps for you, but not for me." She eyes Genjuurou's smirk, just barely there. "Definitely not for me."
At last Genjuurou sees it fit to respond, for he cajoles her, "It can't be that bad, Tsubasa. After all, I was there for the main celebration, and you were very collected all throughout."
During the formal celebration, of course she had been collected—nearly the entire clan had been there to commemorate her coming of age.
The after party, however, was another matter entirely, and she is not about to let potential blackmail material leave the confines of her household, not on her life!
"We," she emphasizes by squeezing Maria's shoulder, "will tell Father later this week."
Maria groans. She stage whispers to Genjuurou, likely in an attempt to pay her back, "Tsubasa got drunk and spent the rest of the night playing ninjas with Hibiki and Chris. You wouldn't believe how many times she tripped over her own feet!"
Genjuurou takes a second to process it before he bursts out laughing. Maria throws her smug half-smirk at her.
Face red, she mutters, "Photos, or it never happened."
"But there are!"
"There are not," she insists, though later today she is going to ransack their home in search for whatever copies Maria may have hidden. If they are electronic, however….
Fear grips her.
It must show on her face, because Maria gives in, reassuring her, "I was just joking, darling. There are no pictures."
She sighs in relief. Genjuurou looks decidedly dejected.
"Only a fifteen-minute video stored in a really well-hidden flash drive."
The horror!
a/n: This is dedicated to the guest who asked for something funny :P I'm sorry, I'm very sick and sluggish right now, and I suck at humor, but I tried! I will probably try again... soon.
Anyway, please review!