2/2, Tues

Haru had taken some time to calm herself, and once she had done so, the girl still kept her face pressed into Akatsuki's chest.

For his part, Akatsuki didn't seem to mind, as he just patted her lightly over the head and rubbed at his lightly tear-stained cheeks. On a better day, he would've felt internally mortified at having cried as much as he did in public, especially in front of a long lost friend, but he'd make an exception for today, as it was a special occasion for both himself and the girl in his arms.

The duo remained this way for quite some time, just… enjoying the warmth of the other without a care in the world, though inevitably, they had to part, something that they were reluctant to do, though they did so regardless, with Akatsuki being the one to break the hug off whilst Haru pulled away, reluctantly, shortly after. Thereafter, the duo simply locked eyes with one another, refusing to break it, almost as though they were scared that, should they do so, the other would simply disappear the moment they looked away.

"... I think there's a diner near Aoyama-Itchome station. Do you… want to go there for dinner?" offered Akatsuki kindly after a few short moments of quiet, with him deeming the subpar diner to, currently, be the best spot to catch up with his friend, and to this, Haru, in spite of her initial apprehension, agreed to almost immediately with a stiff nod, and without pause, the boy motioned for her to follow him, which she did.

Along the way, Haru did consider taking Akatsuki's hand, and admittedly, the same applied vice versa, as the boy's fingers flexed a little as he considered taking the girl's hand in his own, but ultimately, they chose not to succumb to this desire and walk as per normal, with them silently acknowledging how there were still a few boundaries and walls between the two that needed to be let down before they considered doing such a thing.

Though… it didn't stop them from walking just close enough to allow their knuckles to bump on occasion.

Evening - Aoyama-Itchome Station Diner

Sitting before one another in one of the many booths of the diner felt… awkward to the pair, and as they waited for their orders to come, Akatsuki and Haru both avoided direct eye contact with one another for the longest of times.

Now that the initial adrenaline rush that came with realizing who the other was had left… the Shujin duo were just left with an awkward tension between them, which was to be expected; it had been years since they had actually spoken, after all, and even longer since they had last seen each other physically, so naturally, some ice had formed between the two in some way.

"... if you have anything to ask, now's a good time to do so," mused Akatsuki, with him breaking the ice with his voice without much issue. His tone was a little emotional than Haru had grown used to, though all the same, it was also familiar to her in an odd sort of way, though she did not comment on it as she perked up a little.

"... well, in truth, I think that you'd be the one to have more questions, Akatsuki-Kun," admitted Haru shyly, to which Akatsuki nodded somewhat melancholically. She wasn't exactly wrong with that… as the boy had many questions in mind, but even so, Augus wasn't as much of a dunderhead as some might think him to be. Aloof and eccentric in an introverted way he may be, the boy was still aware of how some questions were best saved for a later date, and as such, he opted to ask something… simple for now.

"... what've you been up to recently? Is life treating you well?" inquired Akatsuki lightly, with him leaning back a little as he spoke. Haru, for her part, was surprised that he had asked something so benign rather than a hard hitting question that she had been expecting, but even so, she took this as a good sign as she scratched her cheek lightly and slouched her shoulders in relief.

"I… I've been doing alright recently, Akatsuki-Kun. Life… has its ups and downs, but it's been manageable," assured Haru with a smile. Akatsuki took stock of how forced her happy tone of voice was, though for her sake, he spoke nothing of it as he nodded lightly. Best to not push the matter, not now at least. "What about you, Akatsuki-Kun?"

"Things are normal, I guess. Mother and mum are still living in Shizuoka," responded Akatsuki awkwardly, eliciting a nod from Haru all the while. Ah… memories were flooding back to her now that things had calmed down, and now that she knew of the boy's true identity. Her parents, prior to her mother… leaving for unknown reasons, had lived in Shizuoka for a few years before moving to Tokyo to expand the Okumura business, and there was where she had met Akatsuki for the first time oh so long ago.

It felt like a distant memory at this point… which was because it was one, but even so, the surge that came with remembering all that felt rather nice to Haru…

For quite some time, Haru and Akatsuki simply exchanged small talk with one another, with them only stopping once their food was served to them. They ate in companionable silence, with the boy eating with less etiquette than the girl, though she did not blame him, considering his upbringing. Their dinner was gone within a quarter of an hour, and thereafter, they continued to speak.

They got caught up with each other, which took quite some time, as it had been roughly two years since either of them had seen the other's face or even heard the other's voice. Unlike those other times in Shujin, however, their conversations were a lot more… lively, so to speak, with Okumura speaking with a more noticeable smile whilst Augus felt no need to act subdued, with him relishing in speaking to someone that he could properly trust, even if he's been separated from her for three whole years.

"I was homeschooled for Middle School and my first year of Highschool, but I managed to convince mum and mother to let me attend Shujin as a change of pace," said Akatsuki when Haru had asked about how middle school was. He called the experience exceptionally dull, which was understandable, seeing as how Haru had gone through that experience as well.

"Father's been expanding the Big Bang Burger company a lot recently. I heard that he should be able to get a new outlet opened in Hawaii! It's very exciting!" giggled Haru when Akatsuki inquired about Okumura foods. He was happy for her father and his success, though seeing her adorable smile as she squished her cheeks in happiness was so much better to him.

"Do you remember Shino? Well, he's going to be hosting an exhibit soon. He's been working in the Art industry for years now, and after he got married to Yamagi, he's stopped holding back with his brushwork," mused Akatsuki, smiling wistfully as he recalled the wedding day for those two. Haru vaguely recalled those two aforementioned names, though her memory was slightly fogged up by the genuinely happy look on Augus' face. It was… adorable.

"Akatsuki-Kun… how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

That last question made Akatsuki pause briefly before he let out a chuckle. It was good natured and made Haru's heart flutter, though she wouldn't admit it, not now anyhow…

All in all, their little talk did a lot to set the two at ease. Even after being separated for years on end, neither had changed in any major ways, and by all means, they were glad to see that the other was seemingly doing well for themselves. Even after half a decade spent apart, Akatsuki remained the stoic yet kindhearted boy that Haru had met all those years back, and vice versa, Haru remained the polite and gentle gardener that Akatsuki had always silently looked up to.

Amidst their conversation and catching up, however, Haru did take stock of how their talks mostly gravitated towards Akatsuki's twin mothers. She didn't mind that, but even so, she knew that Akatsuki was no orphan; the boy had been born, not adopted, and out of curiosity, she had asked about his father with an adorable tilt of her head.

"Akatsuki-Kun, if I may… what of Augus-San? Your father, I mean… Is he off on a business trip?" asked Haru, with her tilting her head lightly as she spoke. To this, Akatsuki went silent, with him almost scowling as he processed her question. Sensing that she had hit a sore point, Okumura, after taking a moment to consider her friend's reaction to her inquiry, was quick to realize her blunder as she covered her mouth with both her hands and gasped softly. "I-I… I'm sorry, Akatsuki-Kun! I didn't mean to-"

"No, no. It's fine, you… you wouldn't know," muttered Akatsuki sadly, with him scowling as he recalled that… cover up in regards to his father's incident. It was something that still hurt to think about these days, but he couldn't fault Haru for not knowing. After all, communication between Hanatsu and Okumura Foods had waned after the former had moved to Tokyo, and to his knowledge, it had taken Kunikazu around three months to actually catch wind of the incident and send his mother his regards.

For now, however, Haru's expression had fallen quite a bit, with her frowning heavily as she slouched her shoulders in disappointment. Disappointment in herself, rather, with the girl's eyes growing somewhat cloudy as she hugged herself in an attempt to dispel her guilt. Akatsuki took note of this almost immediately as he gulped and hastily racked his brain for a way to calm the girl down, and after a few moments of thought, he perked up, having remembered a… technique that he once used to ease Okumura out of her racing mind.

With just a bit of effort, Akatsuki leaned forwards and reached for one of Haru's curled up side bangs, and rather lightly, he brushed the back of his hand against it in a somewhat affectionate manner. He recalled doing this whenever the girl looked to be overthinking things, and it had worked wonders back in the day…

… though that was in the past, it would seem, as now, when he had attempted to use this tactic to calm his old friend down, the girl had tensed up and leaned away from his touch. Raising his brows at this, Augus watched as Okumura froze like a deer being shone down by headlights before her irises dilated in… fear. Sensing her sudden shift in mood, Akatsuki almost immediately retracted his hand and watched as Haru curled in on herself, just enough to be noticeable, and looked away from him, much to his chagrin.

"Haru-Chan…?" muttered Akatsuki uncertainly, to which the girl whimpered. She definitely hated that gesture, thought Augus as he pulled back completely and stared at the girl with nothing but worry. The girl seemed to be on the verge of a minor panic attack as she closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down, and for the most part, it seemed to work, as her once dire expression slowly turned back into her usually composed one, and before long, she could look Augus in the eye once more and, well… she did not smile, but she did make an attempt to do so.

"I… apologise for that, Akatsuki-Kun. I… I-I… uh…" words seemed to be lost on Haru as she did her best to figure out how to speak her mind to Akatsuki, who remained briefly silent until he realized that Haru wouldn't be able to finish her statement. Her anxiety was spiking through the roof, no doubt, and he didn't wish for her to overthink things, and as such, he held a hand up to placate her.

"No, you don't have to explain, Haru-Chan. I… shouldn't have done that in the first place," cut off Akatsuki, with him sounding sincerely apologetic as he spoke, with him silently acknowledging how, in spite of his good intent, he had still invaded her personal space, and although they were friends years prior, he wasn't sure if their relationship could still be that of friendship after being apart for so long, not yet at least.

In response to his words, Haru blinked in surprise at this as she watched Akatsuki shut his eyes and sigh before he took a big sip from his cup of grape juice, effectively emptying the cup all in one go.

At the same time, Haru, despite her initial worries, found herself trusting in Akatsuki's words as she hummed lightly and drank what was left of her tea, and moments later, in near perfect sync, both cups were set down with twin, gentle clinks onto the table, almost perfectly parallel to one another.

"... it's getting late," pointed out Akatsuki, with him frowning lightly as he glanced up at the diner's clock. Haru had done the same and found herself surprised to see that it was close to seven in the evening, and with a gasp, she turned back towards Augus and scratched her cheek meekly.

"Oh! I apologise… we must've been talking a lot! Or perhaps I had eaten a little slower than I'd like," apologised Haru, to which Akatsuki chuckled lightly. Ah… well, at least some things have not changed, he reckoned.;in the past, Okumura had always been so eager to take the blame for things that were never truly her fault. Her heart was a lot more righteous than even he could comprehend. It wasn't a bad thing, per say, but it did make her a little easy to manipulate at times.

She was just lucky that Akatsuki had no intention of doing as such.

"It's fine. The food was nice, and it's always nice to savour what you eat rather than rush through it and choke to death. That… and it was also nice to take some time to catch up with you," mused Akatsuki. The sarcasm was very much obvious in that first half, something that made Haru giggle lightly as she smiled at his words, though not as much in the second, with his words causing her cheeks to heat up, though that aside, not long thereafter, the two got up, with Augus paying the bill despite Okumura's protests, and left the diner, with the former sticking by the latter as she rang for her chauffeur to come pick her up. "Is Javor-San still your driver?"

"Y-Yeah! He's still with me, even now!" confirmed Haru with a smile, to which Akatsuki chuckled.

"Heh. His name is still weird, though," pointed out Akatsuki, prompting Haru to splutter out indignantly on the behalf of her chauffeur as she waved a finger up at him.

"Sasha is a unisex name, Akatsuki-Kun!" defended Haru with a pout, to which Akatsuki snickered lightly. She was right on that front, though Augus was more used to it being a girl's name rather than a guy's. Regardless, for a while, the two simply engaged in idle chatter as they stood by and waited for Okumura's chauffeur to arrive and pick her up, and when he did, it was already close to seven-thirty, and Haru had been swaying thanks to fatigue.

Akatsuki had no problem with letting her use him as a prop to lean on. On the contrary; he had slung an arm around her shoulder to keep her from falling onto the ground. The sight had caused many a passerby to assume that they were an item, with some of them cooing in his direction from time to time, something that made the tips of Augus' ears burn a light shade of pink whenever he heard them, though he thought very little of it so as to not distract himself too much, and when Haru's ride came into view, he lightly shook her, waking her up.

Their parting was a short one, with Haru too exhausted from the day's events, if not physically, then emotionally, to say anything more than a quick goodbye to Akatsuki. The chauffeur, one Javor Sasha, seemed worried for her sake, though he said nothing of this for now as he smiled at Augus as he shut the door to the vehicle, and thereafter, he tipped his driver's hat his way, a surefire sign of respect and, perhaps a tiny bit of recognition, before entering the car.

Akatsuki watched as the vehicle sped off until it was out of view, and once it was, he felt as though a part of him had left with it, but even so, he reasoned that it would return tomorrow. Haru would probably be on the roof after all, and if anything… he just wished to spend some time with her, like they did back in the good ol' days.

For now, however, he just settled on returning home and heading to sleep.

Nighttime - Okumura Estate

"Where have you been, Haru?"

His question came out cold, though there were a few hints of worry in Kunikazu Okumura's voice, and upon acknowledging his inquiry, Haru fidgeted a little before responding.

Odd… did her fiance not tell her father about the whole debacle with Akatsuki? She had expected him to do so, considering his unsavoury dickwaving attitude, but still… she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and, with renewed bravery, she responded to her father with a hand to her chest and her cheeks puffed out in an awkward show of courage.

"I… was with a friend," responded the girl meekly, to which her father raised a brow.

"Was Sugimura-San not escorting you home today? Surely, you had not abandoned your fiance for some friends of yours?" commented Kunikazu, with him almost scowling at his daughter's words as he spoke. Haru flinched a little at his tone, though she still held strong at them. On a normal day, she would have apologised for her decisions, but today, she found herself with an extra helping of courage thanks to her reuniting properly with Akatsuki, and with some determination, she sighed softly and responded.

"O-Oh! Actually, Sugimura-San allowed me to be with my friend! He… he was kind enough to grant me some time alone."

Technically not a lie, as Sugimura did leave both herself and Akatsuki alone after the latter had issued his threat. It… wasn't hard to see why he had done so in the first place, though Kunikazu did not need to know about that part in particular.

For his part, Kunikazu seemed somewhat surprised to hear that Sugimura Takahashi, the young man that refused to budge for anything, had allowed Haru some time to herself, but even so, he didn't seem keen on pushing the matter, not yet at least, as he hummed to himself and nodded his head lightly.

"I see… Sugimura-San was very kind to do as such, but please try to prioritise his feelings over these friends of yours next time. He is your fiance, after all," hummed her father, with Haru flinching at the word as she nodded uncertainly, and moments later, she was dismissed… only for Kunikazu to halt her before she could leave the door. "One more thing, Haru. Who was this friend of yours?"

"My friend… o-oh! Mixta-Kun! He was Mixta-Kun!" stated Haru, with her using the boy's middle name to keep her father off track. Although she herself wasn't too knowledgeable in regards to the finer details of Okumura Foods, she was aware of how her father's relationship with Akatsuki's parents had soured years prior, and as such, to let him know that she was buddy-buddy with their son would've been… a bad move.

Thankfully enough, Kunikazu seemed to buy into his daughter's words as he nodded in acknowledgement. An unspoken do not taint the company name could be felt reverberating through the air as Haru left for her room, and upon getting there, she readied herself for bed and plopped down onto it with a sigh.

'So tired…' thought Haru as she buried her face in the pillow. Shutting her eyes, the girl attempted to get some shut-eye as soon as possible, though right as she did so… a spectral Akatsuki suddenly appeared in front of her, mere inches away from her face, prompting her to gasp and shoot up from her bed at lightning fast speed.

"UWAH!" proclaimed Haru as she jolted up, only to sigh and cover her face and blush intensely. Great… she was daydreaming about her long lost elementary school friend… was that normal? Probably not…

God, she felt like a total creep right now, but still, she had to admit that the mental image wasn't all that bad. Akatsuki had aged very well in the past few years, as she recalled him being an incredibly messy boy. He still had an air of scruffiness to him, but even so… there was also an air of matured professionalism around him as well. He had grown in their years apart, and she was quite a fan of the new stuff she was seeing right now.

That being said, however, Haru's memories of Akatsuki were foggy at best. The duo had met during their last year of elementary school, and in middle school, they had been separated. For the first year of their middle school, they had kept in touch via social media, but in the second, all conversation between the two abruptly ceased. For her part, Okumura couldn't remember why it had happened, though she still recalled the devastation she had felt at the realization.

The following few years were mostly a blur to her thanks to her father introducing her to Sugimura and him aspiring to launch himself into the political scene. Haru was, admittedly, supportive of this as she loved her old man a lot, but still… in more recent times, she did start to wonder if Okumura's methodology was the most commendable. Sugimura Takahashi's family was a massive influence in the political sphere, after all, and as the months trudged on, the young Okumura heiress wondered if her father was marrying her off to leech off their power.

In truth, the thought sickened Haru to her core. She could respect the Sugimuras as a political power, but Takahashi himself was… well, she hated him, to say the least. The womanizing prick only really saw her as a trophy to be had, and though he had a lot of power behind his name… Okumura wanted none of it. She just… well, she just wanted to live an honest life in peace, not to be sold off to someone that would see her as a glorified sex doll!

'Guh…' groaned Haru mentally as she turned around on her bed, mumbling incoherently to herself as she hugged one of her stuffed animals tightly. She really wanted to just crawl into a hole and seal herself off right now; it would've made shit easier for her, she reasoned, but at the same time, she didn't wish to run from her problems either. The Okumuras were famous, or perhaps infamous, for never backing down from a challenge, and by all means, Haru was no different. She'd find a way to circumvent this issue with her marriage, one way or another…

… odd, she didn't remember herself feeling this upset about the marriage prior to now, nor did she ever feel such an amount of courage flowing through her body. It was almost as though meeting with Akatsuki once more had set something inside her off, and truth be told, she wasn't opposed to the sensation.

Though alas, the sensation was mostly buried under her fatigue, and even if closing her eyes had regaled her with the sight of her old friend, she still managed to fall asleep with little to no issue.

Akatsuki's apartment - Aoyama Itchome district

By the time he had returned home, Akatsuki felt beat, and with a grimace, he threw himself onto his bed, not bothering to get washed up, and mumbled incoherently into the sheets.

To say that he was overwhelmed… would be an understatement. Akatsuki prided himself with being a level headed child, one that could work extremely well under pressure, but even so, nothing had prepared him for reuniting with his long lost friend! Though then again, he supposed that he did forget about her, though it wasn't particularly intentional…

It felt… strange, to say the least. Akatsuki remembered Haru, how could he forget the girl that he secretly adored since elementary school? But even so… so much of her had changed since they last spoke, and at the same time, so much remained the same. Okumura was taller, no doubt about that, and her side bangs were a little curlier than he remembered, but her fashion sense was still the same; that cardigan fixation the girl had was nothing if not adorable.

Okumura's personality remained almost entirely intact, if anything. As with how she was almost half a decade prior, Haru was polite, non-confrontational and overall an incredibly sweet person, though Akatsuki knew that she wasn't all soft and cuddly. Five years prior, the girl had a mean streak hidden beneath the surface, and he had no reason to believe that it was gone completely. Still though, it was nice to see that Haru was still mostly the same, even after so long…

Brrrrrt

"Hrg…"

The vibration of his phone caught Akatsuki's attention, and with a grunt, he rolled onto his back, slid his hand into his pocket and fished his phone out of it. Bringing it up to his face, Augus saw that it was his mum, Atra Mixta, calling in. Figures, he supposed, though before he could answer the call, he accidentally dropped his phone onto his face, prompting him to grumble in annoyance.

"Ouch…" mumbled Akatsuki, only for-

"A-Akatsuki? Are you alright…?"

… damn, apparently his nose had hit the answer call button on impact. Just his luck. With a frown, Akatsuki removed the phone from his face and held it up to his ear, and once it was up, he spoke.

"Yeah, I'm fine mum," Akatsuki apologised. His tone was somewhere between apologetic and noncommittal, and it would've sounded downright annoyed to anyone unfamiliar with how Augus spoke, though his mum knew enough about him to overlook it as she sighed worriedly through the line.

"Oh! That's good to know! I… I just got worried after you didn't pick up my previous phone calls," muttered Atra sheepishly, to which Akatsuki huffed. A slither of a smile appeared on his face as he acknowledged how much of a worrywart Atra could be. She loved him with every fiber of her being, and he knew this. Hell, Augus loved her back with almost the same amount of intensity… but he had to admit that her protectiveness over him was just a little excessive.

"Sorry mum. I… I was just… outside is all. I had my phone on silent," apologised Akatsuki sheepishly. He wasn't exactly lying on either front, as his phone was on silent back then, and he was indeed outside as well. He just preferred not to tell his mum about who he was with just yet.

For the most part, Atra seemed to buy into his partial lie, and with a hum, she sighed and responded.

"I see. Just… please pick up next time? I get worried at times, you know?" mused Atra, to which Akatsuki huffed. Oh yeah… did he ever. His mum's worrying was rather excessive, to the point where it became akin to paranoia at times. Hell, him even being here was a miracle all on itself, as it took no small amount of convincing to get him into a normal highschool! All that homeschooling following his father's dilemma was just… boring, to say the least.

"I know, mum. Sorry to worry you," muttered Akatsuki meekly. Atra nodded at this through the line, though not much else was said between the two from there on, with the silence itself stretching on for an uncomfortable amount of time as the duo had trouble figuring out what else to say.

"I… I'll hang up now. You still have lessons tomorrow, and it's getting late. Don't forget to brush your teeth before you sleep, young man!" chided Atra after some time, to which the boy flushed a little at the reminder.

"Alright mum. I… I'm hanging up now. Goodnight."

"Goodnight!"

And with that, the line went dead, and Akatsuki set the phone down by his side and laid atop his bed in awkward silence. Part of him wished to just stay like this forever, though he eventually got up and got cleaned up before plopping back down onto his bed once more. Dressed in a red sleeveless shirt and baggy pants, the boy looked a lot scruffier than he did whilst in his Shujin uniform, and as he laid on his bed, his mind eventually began wandering off to various topics on his mind.

Key of which being-

'Haru…'

That girl just kept invading his brain, regardless of whether he wanted it to happen or not. The boy was already prepped for sleep, but young Okumura just kept appearing in his head over and over, without pause. Hidden memories that involved the girl came back to him in full, and a small handful of them did cause him to blush a tiny bit, truth be told, but still, he was able to push most of them to the back of his mind as he grimaced and forced himself to go to sleep.

His dreams were then invaded by curly-haired girls with black eye-masks, armed with battle axes and grenade launchers. All in all… it could've been worse!

2/3 - Wed

Early Morning - Shujin Gates

"Haru-Chan."

"Akatsuki-Kun…"

Their greetings were spoken in near perfect sync with one another, and behind the Okumura girl, her chauffeur snickered from inside his car at just how synchronised it was. Haru reddened a little at sound on instinct, but even so, she didn't let it bother her too much as she bowed lightly at Akatsuki, who sighed a tiny bit at just how formal she always was.

"You don't have to be so formal, Haru-Chan," chided Akatsuki, sounding more casual than he had been all those weeks prior. To this, Haru's cheeks reddened a little as she scratched her cheek meekly, though not long after, Augus grinned and motioned for her to not think too much on it. "Well, if you want to, then you can keep doing it, I guess."

"I… I'm sorry. It's just a force of habit," apologised Haru awkwardly. Akatsuki snorted at this.

"I won't hold it against you for that. But either way, we should get moving. Don't wanna be late for class, right?"

"Mm… oh, actually, I forgot to ask! Could… I have your phone number please?"

"Oh. I forgot to ask too. Sure, here it is."

The contact number exchange was kept short and sweet, but even so, it meant quite a lot to the recently reunited duo. Akatsuki in particular seemed just a tiny bit more upbeat than he usually was as he pocketed his phone, and Haru held hers close to her chest as she smiled widely and bowed her head in thanks.

"Thank you, Akatsuki-Kun. If you ever wish to… uh… hang out, please, don't hesitate to call or message me!" invited Haru politely. Akatsuki almost snickered at her use of slang, though he managed to snuff the sound out as he offered a lopsided grin and nodded lightly.

"Yeah. Same to you. I don't mind freeing up my schedule, especially if it's for you."

And as Haru's cheeks flushed a tiny bit as she realized what he had just told her, and as Akatsuki's eyes widened in embarrassment at his own words… a faint echo could be heard from the depths of their souls… and though neither of them were sure of just what it meant, exactly, they thought very little of it before they bowed and hastily parted ways.

All the while, several students who had been observing the two promptly began to gossip about them, and, much to the dismay of both Haru and Akatsuki, the rumors between the Empress and the Seven Of Wands would only increase from here on out.