WORLD OF SUITS

~ Michi ~

I sighed and stretched out after changing. "Another day of work done. Good deal."

"Let's go home!" Musca cheered.

"Yep, out the door." I left the café, feeling satisfied. "Maybe I should go out for dinner tonight, huh?"

"Oh, what are you thinking?"

"I'm craving something sweet. Maybe…" I trailed off when I noticed Ikki's fangirls standing outside the building in the front. I controlled my expression as it tried to twist into a scowl, instead working to look neutral as I quickened my steps to go past them.

"Hey, you." A girl grabbed one of my pigtails and yanked it, halting my progress.

"Ow! Hey, what the hell is your problem?" I snapped, not trying to hide my dislike now.

Rika stepped forward, looking smug. "We just want to talk to you. No problems with that, right?"

"The grand high bitch herself, to what do I owe the honor?" I growled.

"Michi, you need to be careful!" Musca warned. "Everyone else left before you. It's possible that no one will come to help, and you're surrounded with you against five girls. Don't antagonize them anymore."

I gritted my teeth. She had a point… But what did they want?

"We saw you with Ikki yesterday," One of the girls said, tone accusatory, as if I had done something wrong. I said nothing, choosing to wait for them to get to the point already.

"Stay away from him. Or else." Rika narrowed her eyes into slits.

I sighed. "Or else? Gee. Real intimidating. Look, you don't control what Ikki or me for that matter do. Thinking you can just by trying to corner me is pathetic." What was their problem? I didn't understand their possessiveness or obsession with Ikki. What kind of hold did his eyes have?

I felt a sharp tug and realized my hair hadn't been let go of yet. Then another girl pulled out scissors, and before I could react the majority of it was snipped off, the long strands drifting to the ground in a useless pile. I stared at it openmouthed for a few seconds before throwing a punch at the nearest person, connecting with her stomach and sending her to the ground as the wind was knocked out of her.

"You wanna mess with me, huh?! Bring it on!" I went in low and tackled another girl, but ended up just letting her go when I realized that they were just running away now. "Tch… They're cowards," I muttered, running my hand through what remained of my pigtail. This sucked. It had taken forever to get it this long.

"Hey!" I looked up as Rika called back to me. "It's a warning, you hear me?!" Then she was gone.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt?" Musca touched my cheeks, trailing down to hold my shoulders.

"I'm fine. Sorry you had to get freaked out like that." I sighed, feeling tired now. "Let's go. I want ice cream now." I ambled towards my apartment, unable to stop touching my hair. It wasn't that sad, since it'd just grow back, but it pissed me off in a major way. Stupid fangirls, going that far…

"Hey, Michi, it looks like someone's in front of your door…" Musca peered up the stairs as we headed up.

"Eh?" I frowned, but then my mouth hung open when I realized who was sitting there, a bag next to them.

"Hey, Michi." Shin stood up, looking at the ground.

"Uh… Hi? I'll be blunt, what are you doing here?"

"I…" He pursed his lips, then sighed. "Would you mind if I stayed with you for tonight?"

"Uh. Uh." I felt my face and ears turning red. "Why?"

"It's just that… Things at home aren't great right now. Ever since I brought up talking to you again my dad and I have been fighting pretty much nonstop. I just need a little bit of time to collect my thoughts. So…" He narrowed his eyes at the ground, looking ashamed.

I took a breath. "No way!"

Shin looked up at my face, startled. "Oh. Alright. I understand. I'll ask Toma."

"Come on, you idiot." I grabbed his hand and dragged him back down the stairs.

"What are you doing?"

"Right now, I'm going to talk to your dad. If it's this bad, then we need to fix it."

"Michi, it's maybe not the best idea –"

"Shut up!" I snapped. "Shin, you look so hurt and sad right now. No way am I going to let that continue, got it? If you have an issue, you confront it head on. We're going! I feel like kicking someone's ass anyways, after those stupid girls… Rah!"

"Okay fine, just stop dragging me."

I let go of him and slowed my pace, so we were walking side by side. "Good." Now, what in the world was I going to say?

"… What happened to your hair?"

"Oh. Nothing." With the problems he had right now, he didn't need to be worried about me too.

Shin frowned. "You mentioned stupid girls just now." He paused as he gave it some thought. "You hate Ikki's little group… Did they do it?"

Crap. He'd figured it out fast. "Yeah. The craft shop I mentioned to you, Ikki and I went there. Apparently one of the girls saw us, so they got me after work and told me to stay away from him. But don't worry. I got in a good punch and a tackle too."

"… Maybe you should stay away from Ikki."

"Nope. Don't wanna. I'm especially not going to give in to their demands and let them win."

"Yeah, that sounds like you. But be careful, and call me if you're ever in trouble again."

"I will. Anyways, it's done now." I'd have to cut my hair evenly later. "How bad is it really, you and your dad?"

Shin shrugged. "We just blow up at each other for every small thing because we're both frustrated."

"… You've been frustrated for a long time, haven't you?" The burden of shame would wear on anyone, even someone like Shin who was good at staying composed in most situations.

He just shrugged again, but reached for my hand and held it tightly. We were silent until we got to his house. I hadn't thought of anything to say. I just couldn't figure it out. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah. Are you?"

"I'm gonna wing it." I grinned. "Wish me luck."

This got a small laugh out of him. "Good luck. I'm here too, though. It'll be fine, probably."

"Probably," I echoed, looking down at our hands after he let go. "Hold on."

"What?" He opened his mouth to speak more when I grabbed his collar and stepped closer, but was silenced when I kissed him. When I leaned back with a sigh, he was staring at me. "What was that for?"

"That was me taking my first kiss back from you. Also for luck. Let's do this." I tossed my head and followed him inside as he shook his head in amazement.

His dad was seated at a table, reading. "You're back. Shin, there's dinner for you here, I'm going to bed now. Just make sure to wash you own dishes, and –" He abruptly cut off when he saw me.

"What's up?" I waved.

"Shin, not now. I'm tired, and going to bed. Later, just later." He started to leave the room, fleeing.

"Hey!" I went after him, grabbing him roughly and forcing him back into the chair, not releasing him and instead gripping his shoulders. "If not for me and if not for myself, you're going to listen to this for Shin's sake, you got that?" When he didn't reply I took it as a signal for me to keep going. "Look. What happened wasn't your fault. I can't blame you for defending yourself. And even though people are treating you differently now, under law your actions were deemed justified. That's why you're not in a cell right now. You need to hold your head high. Do you have any idea what effect it'll have on someone if their parent is always walking around ashamed? Look, I'm here because I care about Shin, and if you do too then you're gonna take every word I'm saying to heart. No matter what anyone says, it's your duty as a father to set a good example."

His eyes widened at this. I knew that I was saying things that he hadn't expected. Instead of making this about him or me or my own father, I was making it about Shin, and a father's duty. Any parent's duty, really.

I took a shaking breath, feeling my heart beat faster with my passion. "Look… My father didn't always set a good example for me either. He was an angry drunk, he was late to work a lot, and he didn't always listen to me when I wanted something in life. I'm telling you now not to make the same mistakes. You had better not, you hear me?!" It was as if my voice rang for a moment, and a stunned and awed silence was left in its wake.

"I'll think about it. I will. I promise you."

"That's not good enough! This conflict has gone on for too long already. Starting tomorrow, whenever you do anything you do it proudly knowing you haven't sinned. Understand?"

The man before me took a deep breath as tears started running down his face. "I will."

"Good. Shin, you don't let him off the hook. You make sure he listens, okay?"

Shin nodded, gazing at his father. "Things need to change." He spoke quietly.

"I know. I know. I won't let you down anymore."

"You know I'm here for you."

I smiled, sensing a first step being made, and bowed to say a goodbye and leave the two of them alone before exiting as quietly as I could.

"This day has been absolutely full of surprises. You seem really exhausted now." Musca rubbed my back as I stood outside to collect myself for a minute. "But you were brave with everything."

"I'm just going to eat and go to bed." Soooo tired…

"Well, be happy." Musca was looking at her hand. "You've completed the Heart route."

"Wait, seriously? That's… Well, that's great." But I didn't have as much of a personal excuse to be around Shin anymore. "For him, it's wonderful. I'm very glad." I sighed. The best thing had happened.

"Michi."

I spun around when I heard Shin. "Hey –" Before I could say anything else he grabbed me in a tight hug, surprising me away from speaking any more.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you –"

"O-okay, I get the point… You're embarrassing me," I mumbled.

"No matter how many times I say it, it won't be enough."

"Still, stop it." I blushed nervously as he backed away. He was smiling so brightly, and it wasn't good for my heart. "I hope everything gets better now."

"Me too. I think it will."

"Hey, so… About hanging out with you on my next day off." Now was a good time to talk to him about it. I'd just done something awesome, so he couldn't get too mad. "I accidentally made plans with someone else on the same day, so… Sorry, but I should go with that other person."

He just looked at me for a moment, but he nodded, and his expression turned mischievous. "Make it up to me by letting me stay with you tonight."

"What? But your dad…"

"He really does need alone time now, no bullshit. I already have a bag packed from earlier. So?"

I glared at him. "Stop being so pushy." I turned away and walked a few steps. "Ugh… Come on then."

He laughed and ducked inside to grab his bag. "Thanks."

"I told you to stop saying that." This… This would be interesting… Ow, my heart…