A/N: Here is the long awaited Chapter 15, which again, I cannot apologize enough for how long this update took. This was actually done, uploaded and edited a few days ago but I held off until today to publish it. I felt that posting on the 2nd anniversary of story would be appropriate for the return.

This chapter is slightly longer than the average for this story since it combines manga chapters 227 and 228. While 227 had enough material for a full chapter, 228 is severely lacking, so I combined them in this. I've also taken some creative liberty with when the events of 227-229 take place, as it's fairly nebulous in the canon. For the sake of fitting it more neatly in the overall narrative this is happening directly after the events of the Misaki Arc.

My "Work Resuming" update will have been taken down to not skew the chapter count, but I will include a shortened version at the bottom of this chapter, along with a few more notes.

Over My Dead Body

Afternoon of April 8th, NYC...

Rui felt like a warmed knife slicing through butter as she glided through the cool, refreshing water of the gym's indoor pool. She admittedly had not thought much of swimming back in high school, in fact she had outright dreaded the activity in P.E. class during the warmer parts of the school year; couldn't stand the openness of wearing a bathing suit, even the school issued one pieces, in front of her classmates and teachers. That was then though, now she looked forward to the occasional trip to pool with Daniella, recognizing it for the good exercise and stress relief that it was for her.

As she reached one end of the pool and turned around to make for the other, a sharp whistle caught her attention. Looking briefly to the side Rui groaned as she thought, "Well... that part I still don't like. I think that's my cue". Standing along the edge of the pool were a handful of men openly ogling both her and Daniella, and though she couldn't tell which one, she was sure one of them had made the whistling sound.

Reaching the opposite end of the pool Rui made for the ladder and climbed out, very conscious of the eyes watching her. As she mentally thanked that the door to the women's locker room was in the opposite direction of the watching men, Daniella called out to her, "Had enough for today?"

Rui nodded as she checked the wall mounted clock before replying, "Yeah I think so, we've been at it for the better part of an hour. Don't want to over do it."

"Good point. I think I'm going to get a few more in, you go on ahead and I'll catch up!" Daniella called as she readjusted her goggles before diving back under the water to resume.

Knowing Daniella wouldn't hear any further response Rui simply made her way to the locker room door, not giving the clearly disappointed men observing her the time of day. Once in the locker room she quickly grabbed her towel and clothes before heading to one of the showers. Once stripped down and under the much warmer stream of water Rui felt her muscles start to relax after their recent exertion. Several moments passed before she ran her hands through her hair and sighed as she felt the warm water washing away the clinging chlorine of the pool.

Letting out a playful snicker as she peered over the shower door Daniella whispered just loud enough for Rui to hear, "So... how are you feeling?"

"Shit!" Rui exclaimed as she jumped slightly before whipping around at Daniella, "Don't do that! You scared me! And stop peeping like some kind of pervert!"

Daniella snickered to herself as she moved into the adjacent shower stall before responding, "Oh come on now. It's not like I haven't seen you naked before, and it's just us girls in here. But anyway, I'm glad we came here today, after all the stress you went through yesterday I'm surprised you made it through your shift. You needed to unwind."

Rui thought back on the previous day; not having heard from Natsuo after his unusual message she had been worried that something had happened, only for when she finally talked to him to learn that what had happened was far worse than anything she'd imagined on her own. While she had been relieved that everyone had made it out of the situation relatively unscathed, the thought of what could have happened had left her on edge and distracted the rest of the day. While she had managed to avoid making any huge mistakes at work, she'd made enough small ones for some of the regular staff to grow increasingly frustrated as the day progressed.

"Hello... Earth to Rui... come in Rui," Daniella probed in a slow, cautious tone, likely to avoid startling her.

Rui shook her head slightly before replying, "Sorry, I spaced out for a second there. What were you saying?"

"I was asking how Natsuo, your sister and friends are doing. You talked to him this morning for a bit before he went to bed right?" Daniella explained she she scrubbed her hair clean.

"Mhmm," Rui affirmed as she reached for her own shampoo to also give her hair a more thorough cleaning before continuing, "Natsuo spent all day resting. He said that once he woke up his whole body felt like lead and ached, especially where he got kicked. That and he wants to try and avoid going out until the bruising on his neck fades. My sister is resting at home too, she wasn't seriously hurt... not physically at least. From what Natsuo said his neighbor Kuwaba got off lighter than he did, but still got a nasty black eye... and Boss is fine, he checked in on them a few times to make sure he wasn't wrong about their injuries."

Daniella let out a long puff of air before saying, "And Boss is... the cafe owner who's former Yakuza... I have to say Rui, if I hadn't seen the state Natsuo was in on that video call I don't know If I'd have believed the story. You have quite the interesting cast in your life don't you?"

"That's for sure. I'm glad that Natsuo got Boss involved when he did... the thought of what would have happened... you didn't see the bruises on his torso or neck... they look so awful... he could have been killed..." Rui choked out between deep breaths and suppressed sobs, the weight of the alternative outcome rearing its ugly head again.

"Hey now, it's okay Rui. Everyone is okay, don't drive yourself crazy with what ifs," Daniella advised in a comforting tone, "Natsuo may be reckless, but he's got a heart of gold. I highly doubt this is a situation likely to repeat itself. Just think of the story you'll be able to tell your kids and grandkids someday!"

Rui felt her face heat up, and not from the heat of the shower, at the mention of her and Natsuo's hypothetical future family. After a moment Rui shook herself before stammering back, "C-come on Daniella! W-we haven't even t-talked about having c-c-children yet!"

"Well, from your wording I see you're not exactly opposed to the idea..." Daniella trailed off, the smirk evident in her teasing tone.

Rui felt like her brain was steaming as she tried to hide her face, despite Daniella not being able to see her, and was quiet for a moment before mumbling in a barely audible tone, "I'm not... I think it would be nice..."

"That's the spirit!" Daniella exclaimed jovially with a hearty laugh.

The two continued their shower in relative silence and before long were dried, dressed and leaving the gym into the crisp early Spring air. As they were leaving the building Rui asked, "It's still early, you mentioned needing to go shopping today didn't you?"

Daniella slowed her pace as she reached into her bag to find the list she'd hastily written before leaving the apartment as she replied, "Yeah, we're running low on a lot and we've kind of put it off a little too long. Since we both have today off we can get everything we need in one go."

Before Rui could say anything in response she heard her message alert from her phone and fished the device out of her pocket. "Who would be..." she trailed off as she unlocked the screen and saw the message, continuing with, "...Al?"

Al: Hey Rui-chan, you're in Manhattan somewhere yeah? I'm pretty sure that's what Nat-chan told us when you left.

Rui: Yeah, I'm training at a restaurant in Manhattan and the apartment I'm staying at with my coworker Daniella is within walking distance of it. Why?

Al: I'm actually in Manhattan for a few days right now. We should catch up, it's been forever! Unless your schedule is packed, in which case no worries!

"Whose Al again?" Daniella asked, having located the elusive shopping list.

Rui looked up from her phone to reply, "He's a friend of mine and Natsuo's from high school. You talked to him once over video chat, the blonde guy."

"Oh right! How's he been?" Daniella asked as she put the name to the face.

"He's actually here in Manhattan apparently, asked if we could meet up and catch up since it's been so long," Rui answered while holding her phone up to show her.

Daniella's face shifted into an excited smile as she exclaimed, "That's great! We should have him over for lunch today, send him the address and we can meet him there when we're finished with the shopping."

"That's a good idea," Rui agreed with a smile as she responded to Al's text.

Rui: Daniella and I actually have today off, you should come over for lunch if you have time today! We're out running errands right now so give us an hour or so and meet us at the address I send you.

Al: Awesome! See you soon Rui-chan!

Rui: See you soon Al!

"Okay, I told him to give us an hour or so finish shopping and he'll meet us at the apartment building," Rui said as she sent the address to Al, who replied with a thumbs up emoji confirming he had received it.

Daniella nodded as she replied, "Perfect, let's get going then. This is going to be fun!"

It was only then that Rui realized what she had agreed to, and groaned slightly at the thought of these two bundles of energy and excitement being in the same enclosed space.


Lunchtime...

"Rui-chan! It's been too long!" Al exclaimed excitedly as he saw Rui and Daniella approaching before he bound up and caught Rui in an over-eager hug, burying her face into his jacket, arms flailing slightly as she maintained her grip on the shopping bags.

As Rui continued Al and Daniella could hear her trying to speak, "Cn brwatge tuo tigr le gu!"

Daniella could only laugh as Al, confused, looked down and asked, "Sorry Rui-chan, what was that?"

Managing to move her head so she was looking to side she rasped out weakly, "Can't breath. Too tight. Let go."

"Ah! Sorry Rui-chan! I guess I got carried away!" Al reeled back in slight panic as he released Rui from the bear hug he'd had her in. At this point Daniella was holding her sides from laughing at the exchange and Rui's now frazzled state.

Rui took a moment to take several deep breaths in order to regain her composure before responding with a small smile, "It's okay Al, it's good to see you again. Near death experience and all."

"Well as a way of apology, here, I'll carry those bags for you. It's the least I can do with you two inviting me for lunch," Al offered in a much calmer tone and holding his hands out to take the bags.

Nodding her head Rui handed off the bags she was carrying to Al before moving by him and saying, "Thanks Al, we're a few floors up. Sure you don't mind?"

"Not at all Rui-chan," he replied as she shifted the bags to one hand and turned to Daniella and continuing with his empty hand offered, "It's good to finally meet you in person Daniella. Let me take those too."

Daniella beamed as she handed her bags over and responded, "It's great to have you here Al! I'm just glad we happened to have the day off while you're in town."

The three made their way up the flights of stairs, Daniella and Al chatting about the city in general, and before long they had entered Daniella's apartment. Taking their shoes off at the door and moving into the living room Rui asked, "So Al, what are you doing here in Manhattan? Do you have family you're visiting?"

"Nah, my family lives out west. I got a job as an English conversation teacher back in Tokyo, here on an overseas study trip," Al explained as he made his way to the kitchen to deposit the shopping bags.

"You're here with your students then? They're okay to have you out and about?" Daniella asked, concerned they had inadvertently taken him from his duties.

Al gave her a thumbs up and grin as he answered, "No worries there. They actually arrive tomorrow, I was sent ahead to make sure everything at the hotel and campus was good to go."

"Well that's good. I wouldn't want your visiting me to be an excuse for ditching your students in a foreign city," Rui teased with a deadpan expression.

While helping Daniella unload the bags Al dramatically placed his hand over his heart and cried, "You think I'd do something so irresponsible?! You wound me Rui-chan!"

Before Rui could respond to Al's dramatics she heard someone knock on the door to the apartment. "Yeah yeah I'm sure. Someone's at the door, I'll be right back," she stated as she turned back towards the door. As she opened the door and saw who it was she asked, "Kajita? Everything okay?"

Tokiya, his brow furrowed slightly, explained, "I was about to ask you the same Tachibana, I thought I heard shouting just now. I actually came by because I was out shopping and found a deal on artichokes, and I ended up buying more than I had intended. I figured that you or Daniella would be able to make use of them though." As he said this he held up a small bag containing the aforementioned vegetables.

"Oh thank you! We actually just back from doing our own shopping but I'm sure we can find a use for these," Rui responded graciously as she took the bag with a smile.

Before either could say another word they heard Daniella ask as she came around the corner, "Is that Tokiya I hear?"

Giving his usual curt nod Tokiya answered, "Good afternoon Daniella, I was just explaining to Tachibana that I ended up with extra artichokes and thought you two could make good use of them."

"Well that was thoughtful of... Oh! Where are my manners? Come on in, we're about to make lunch, you should stay and eat with us!" Daniella exclaimed as she waved him.

Tokiya turned his gaze towards Rui with a slightly raised eyebrow who in turn nodded and said, "You're more than welcome to Kajita. We're already making extra for a guest so it's not an issue."

"I see, well then it would be rude to turn down your invitation. Is there anything I can do to help?" Tokiya offered as he closed the door behind him and removed his shoes.

Rui laughed softly before answering, "Don't worry about that. You're our guest, you just make yourself comfortable."

Tokiya gave grunt of acceptance before he wordlessly followed Rui out of the hallway and into the living room, where he and Al locked eyes. The two men stood quietly, studying the other for a moment before they simultaneously turned to Rui and asked "Who's he?" Realizing they had both asked they snapped their gaze back to the other.

Rui, having missed this small and quick interaction, proceeded to introduce the two men, "Kajita this Matsukawa Alex, or Al for short. He's an old friend of mine from school. And Al, this is Kajita Tokiya. He's a colleague that works at my father's restaurant and also came over here for training."

Al closed the distance between himself and Tokiya and held out his hand with a grin, "Good to meet you Kajita-san. I hope we can get along, any friend of Rui-chan is a friend of mine." While his words and expression were friendly, Al's thoughts went down a different route, "Oh I don't like the vibes of this guy. Don't worry Nat-chan, I'll find out if this guy is after her and stop him!"

Tokiya reached out and shook Al's hand as he replied, "Likewise. Please forgive my intrusion, had I known an old friend was visiting I would have waited to come by." As the two men shook hands, a bit rougher than necessary, Tokiya thought to himself, "An old friend from school? 'Rui-chan?' This man seems overly fond of Tachibana. If he has any intentions beyond that of friendship I owe it to Fuji-san to keep an eye on him and prevent him from acting on it."

As the handshake ended Daniella chimed in, "Now that introductions are out of the way: you two make yourselves at home while Rui and I whip up some lunch for us."

"You two play nice now," Rui added with a laugh as she followed Daniella into the kitchen.

The tension that enveloped the living room could have been cut with a knife as the two men sat in silence, each observing the other; Tokiya with his cold and calculating stare, and Al with his increasingly agitated expression. As the silence stretched into minutes, and Al felt himself start to squirm under Tokiya's impassive expression, he let out a long sigh before awkwardly asking, "Soooo... you a chef in training too?"

Tokiya's eyes widened almost imperceptibly at this question, which he felt the answer to was obvious, before he replied, "While not the phrasing I would choose, that is one way of putting it. Like Tachibana I'm dedicated to improving my skills."

"You have to admire her drive don't you? I met Rui-chan before she had decided she wanted to be a chef you see, and while she seemed almost... lost then, once she sets her mind to something nothing can get in her way," Al reminisced with a fond smile on his face.

"Agreed, once Tachibana sets a goal for herself she will do all in her power to reach it. That's the main reason why when we were offered the chance to come here I advised her that it was an opportunity she would regret passing on if she stayed behind in Tokyo," Tokiya remarked as he readjusted his seating on the chair, slightly surprised at the more serious tone Al had taken, contradicting his outward appearance.

Al sat up slightly straighter as he asked, "Wait, you urged Rui-chan to come here on this overseas training?"

"I did. Working alongside her at her father's restaurant I saw her skills clearly firsthand, as well as the potential she had if she fully applied herself. I thought it would be a waste if her skills were squandered," Tokiya replied, slight admiration creeping into his voice.

Multiple emotions flashed across Al's face before he relented. "Well... it's hard to argue with that. Rui-chan, as far as I know, has always had a knack for cooking. Taking care of making meals for her mother and older sister, fending for herself when she had to and making food for us all on occasion back in school to name a few examples. I'm glad she's gotten an opportunity to pursue this, I only wish it hadn't taken her so far away from everyone."

Tokiya was silent for a moment before he admitted quietly, "Honestly... she was not herself for the first few weeks after we came here. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but it must not have been easy for her to leave her life behind for such an extended period."

Al's eyes locked on to Tokiya's as he snarled, "You didn't think anything of it? Or were you just satisfied getting her away from her friends and family, to somewhere where you'd become one of her pillars?"

Tokiya's eyes narrowed as he coldly probed, "What exactly are you insinuating?"

"Oh you know exactly what I'm insinuating," Al retorted as he leaned forward, hands on his knees balled into fists as he continued, "You see a girl torn on what to do and you just tell her to uproot herself with you and leave her home and loved ones behind for more than a year?"

Gripping the armrests of the chair tightly Tokiya shot back, "As I have said, I simply did not want to see her skills squandered. But since you clearly have your own agenda, allow me to ask why you've come all the way here."

"My own agenda?! Nice try deflecting but I'm on to you!" Al seethed, his voice beginning to rise in volume as he stood to his feet.

Tokiya also rose to his feet in response as he countered, "You're the one who is deflecting!"

The two men, now standing directly across from each other, their faces twisted in anger, shouted simultaneously:

"You'll take Rui-chan from Nat-chan over my dead body!"

"You won't persuade Tachibana to leave Fuji-san!"

As the two men stared at one another in silence once again, both processing what had just happened, rapid footsteps approached before Rui came around the corner and frantically asked, "What happened?! All we could hear was shouting, is everything okay?!"

Al looked to Rui, back to Tokiya and then back to Rui before stammering, "Y-yeah it's all g-good Rui-chan. A huge s-spider dropped onto my face from the ceiling and I panicked. Right Kajita-san?"

Tokiya blinked a few times before answering, "That... that's right. No need to be concerned though, it just looked like an ordinary house spider. It was just... very sudden and Matsukawa-san panicked as he flung it off of him."

"Oh... well could you two do me a favor and find it and put it outside? Last thing I want is for Daniella or I to get surprised by it at some point. Lunch is almost ready, just a few more minutes," Rui requested as she started backing towards the kitchen, eyes darting here and there searching for the offending spider.

"No worries, we'll take care of it Rui-chan!" Al cheered as he started crawling around the floor and looking under furniture.

"Indeed, leave it to us," Tokiya added hastily as he too began looking under nearby furniture.

Rui nodded gratefully as she turned and left while saying, "Thanks you two."

Once they were sure Rui was indeed back in the kitchen the two men stood back up and Al, having actually located a small spider, made his way to the window before opening it and placing the spider outside and closing the window again with a sigh. As he turned and made his way back both he and Tokiya said simultaneously, "Explain."

This being the third time they had done this, Al groaned before he relented and spoke, "I thought you were trying to weasel your way in and steal Rui-chan from Nat-chan."

"Nat...chan...? Do you mean Fuji-san?" Tokiya asked hesitantly, the overly familiar nickname feeling foreign in his mouth.

Al nodded enthusiastically as he explained, "I went to high school with both of them, and while we didn't get off to the best start those two are the best friends I've ever had. I'd do anything for them."

"So to confirm... you have no intention of trying to convince Tachibana to leave Fuji-san for yourself?" Tokiya questioned, starting to piece together what was happening here.

"Wait that's what you thought I was here for?" Al asked, his eyes widening. When Tokiya nodded Al explained, "No no no. I'm here on work and happened to have free time today. I remembered that Rui-chan was training at a restaurant nearby and wanted to catch up. And you weren't..."

When Al trailed off Tokiya elaborated, "With your overly familiar tone with Tachibana, I suspected the worst. I met Fuji-san briefly when he visited in February, and felt I should look out for her while he can't be here."

The two men once again stood in silence staring at each other, both coming to the same realization, "I completely misjudged him." After coming to this realization Al started snickering, trying to contain it before abandoning that attempt and breaking out into a full laughing fit at the absurdity of the situation.

Watching as Al attempted to pantomime his thoughts while laughing uncontrollably; first pointing at himself, then Tokiya, then shrugging both shoulders, Tokiya found himself chuckling at the situation. And while he did not match Al's energy, it was admittedly the most he'd laughed in a long time.

Absorbed as they were in the relief of their assumptions having been wrong, the two men did not noticed Rui and Daniella return with lunch. As the food was placed on the central table between the chairs and couch Rui called, "I'm glad to see you two are getting along! Lunch is served!"

"Yeah, come on over and let us in on the joke guys!" Daniella cried in faux dejection as she and Rui took their seats on the couch.

Al and Tokiya, their laughter mostly spent, look to the girls, back to each and nodded slightly before returning to their chairs to enjoy an afternoon with friends old and new.


That evening...

"Honestly, I can't believe you two almost attacked each other over such a simple misunderstanding," Rui sighed as she was seeing Al to the door.

Al chuckled, his trademark grin plastered to his face as he replied, "I mean, can you really blame us? As far we both knew the other was just some random guy trying to get close to you while Nat-chan isn't around." Seeing Rui's deadpan expression pointed his way, Al cut the laughter and added, "In all seriousness though: I'm glad you've got people looking out for you here. And I'm sure Nat-chan is too."

Rui's eyes shifted to the side as she muttered, "Well, it's not like I don't appreciate it. But try to be a little less eager to jump to conclusions like that alright?"

"You got it Rui-chan," Al answered quickly before pulling her in for another hug, this one less crushing, which she happily returned.

As she exited the hug Rui remarked, "It was good to see you again. Once I'm back in Tokyo we should get everyone together for dinner. Like old times."

"I'd like that, I'm sure everyone would," Al paused as he glanced behind Rui where Tokiya was approaching, also taking his leave, "And that includes you Kajita-san."

Surprised at having the invitation extended to him Tokiya replied, "I'm not sure about that, I wouldn't want to impose on such a gathering."

Rui turned with a huff and scolded, "None of that Kajita, he's right. You're my friend and colleague, you get along surprisingly well with Al, and I'm sure Natsuo would be happy to have you there. It would be good for you."

Tokiya opened his mouth to protest, but found that any argument he had died in his throat when seeing the resolution on both of their faces. With a small smile he relented, "Very well then. I can see trying to convince you otherwise would be an exercise in futility."

"Ha! That's the spirit! I'm looking forward to it. I'm glad I was able to meet you while I was here Kajita-san," Al cheered as he put his hand forward for another shake.

Tokiya let himself chuckle slightly at Al's exuberance before shaking his hand and replying simply, "Likewise".

Daniella, who had hung back and observed all of this spoke up, "Are you sure neither of you want to stay for dinner? It really is no issue."

Al shook his head regretfully as he responded, "As much as I'd love to, I do have some little things to take care of tonight before the students arrive tomorrow. If I stick around for dinner I'm sure I won't have enough time to get it all done. If I have time before heading back to Tokyo I'll let you know though."

"I'll hold you to that! You didn't get a chance to meet Will today, I'm sure you'd get along," Daniella beamed, having thoroughly enjoyed the company on what had at first looked to be an ordinary quiet day.

"I also must be going. I wasn't originally planning on being here this long and have some organizing and meal planning to do still," Tokiya added as he moved closer to the door before adding, "Thank you for having me though. Today was... fun."

Rui looked around at the faces of her friends, thankful that she had such wonderful, if slightly eccentric, people in her life. With a bright smile she cheered, "It was! I can't wait to do this with everyone back home!"


Evening of April 9th – NYC

The following day had flown by from Tokiya's perspective; there had been an unexpected surge between the lunch and dinner rushes due to another nearby restaurant having to close because of a burst pipe. He had barely had time to think about anything besides the tasks he had been given without cease, though the same was true for everyone. As he bid farewell to a few others he had worked closely with all day he noticed that someone was missing from the exodus and thought, "That's odd. Did Tachibana rush out that quickly?"

As he looked around he thought he heard something from the kitchen and went to investigate and was shocked to see Rui still hard at work at one of the prep tables. He walked closer and announced himself by way of asking, "You're still working Tachibana?"

Rui turned towards him as she replied, "Not exactly. With how busy it was today I didn't get a chance to work on this until now, and I'd rather not have to lug it all back to the apartment. I cleared it with the manager, as long as I clean up after myself and lock the door on the way out he said it's fine."

His curiosity piqued, Tokiya moved over to her table and questioned, "And what is it you're working on?"

"Oh, I didn't mention it to you, but I'm learning a new dish. I was thinking about entering it into this weeks antipasto competition... but I can't seem to get the flavor right," Rui replied as she turned her gaze back to what she was working on.

Leaning over from the other side of the table to get a better look Tokiya asked further, "What's the base of the dish? It looks like a mousse."

Rui nodded before answering and offering him a spoon, "Mhm. It's shrimp based, give it a try and give me your opinion."

"Sure," Tokiya stated simply as he took the spoon and tried the sample of the dish. He chewed it slowly as to make sure he got a proper sense of the texture and taste before swallowing. He thought for a few moments before he spoke, "The texture is exactly what it should be, so your technique isn't in question. You're right about the flavor though... I wouldn't say it's bad but it isn't that good either."

Rui sighed in resignation as she rubbed her temples and responded, "I know... for a moment I thought maybe I was so tired that my taste buds weren't working, that's why I wanted you to confirm it. I've tried all sorts of seasonings but nothing seems right so far. Nothing has made it really pop!"

"Hmm..." Tokiya hummed as he looked around the table at the veritable mountain of different seasonings Rui had tried thus far. After another moment he wondered aloud, "If seasoning the mousse itself isn't doing it... what about trying to accent it with some kind of sauce?"

"A sauce huh? I guess that would be the next logical step from seasoning the mousse itself..." Rui trailed off as she thought, "Leave it Kojita to immediately think of that, I should have sooner!"

"Now the question is what kind of sauce to try? What are you trying to express with this dish?" Tokiya probed, noting the slightly surprised expression on Rui's face. As this happened he thought to himself, "While I could simply suggest something, this is her personal project, it would be better for her in the long run to come up with the idea herself. I'll just give her a nudge in the right direction."

Rui thought for just a moment before answering, "Relaxation and refreshment... something that would put someone who's stressed at ease, even for a moment."

Tokiya nodded, slightly surprised by the response, but not enough to be thrown out of the mentor mindset he had put himself in as he suggested, "Then in that that case you want something sweet but not overbearing. Something that will stand out at first but then let the savory flavor of the shrimp shine."

Rui closed her eyes as she contemplated the description that Tokiya had given her, riffling through her mental filing cabinet of culinary knowledge for something that would fit. After just a moment her eyes opened as she pondered, "I wonder if this will work, it might be too weird." She then proceeded to start gathering ingredients while Tokiya watched.

Before long Rui had returned with the ingredients, Tokiya listing them off as he took note, "Brown sugar, pure maple syrup, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and... oranges. So an orange sauce then Tachibana?"

"I know it sounds weird, orange sauce is generally only used with poultry. But it does match the profile you described," Rui answered, voice full of determination.

"It does seem... weird, as you put it. But I say it's worth a try, worst case scenario is that you have to try something else," Tokiya replied, before moving to take his jacket off and offered, "Since I'm here allow me to help. It's been a long day, and with two of us it will make the process and cleanup that much easier."

"That's appreciated, thank you!" Rui cheered as she got to work prepping the ingredients for the sauce. The two worked in relative silence as the ingredients were prepped, measured, and combined into the orange sauce, the process taking the pair about fifteen minutes in total. Once it was done Rui got another of the prepared mousse out of her dedicated refrigerator, split it in two, plated them and drizzled the sauce onto them.

As Tokiya took his spoon and plate he teased, "Well, let's see how weird it is."

"Moment of truth time!" Rui exclaimed as she took her bite of the new concoction. They both chewed in silence for a long moment before Rui gasped, "It's... It's actually good! I was worried that maybe the flavors would clash, but it's exactly what I wanted. You get an initial kick of the orange sweetness, but then that fades and you're left with the subtle savory flavor of the shrimp."

Tokiya nodded in agreement before replying, "You're right. I'll admit that an orange sauce wouldn't have been the first thing I thought of, but you're on to something here Tachibana. It would seem that thinking outside the box every now and then has its uses."

"You say that like you didn't help me figure it out," Rui remarked with a deadpan.

Shaking his head, Tokiya countered, "Did I though? All I did was ask what you were aiming for, and then suggested a flavor profile to match that. You thought of using the orange sauce yourself, and would have sooner or later even had I not put you on that track. This dish is all you, a Tachibana original. It's an indication of far you've come since we arrived here."

Rui stared wide eyed in silence before letting out a small giggle and a bright smile as she replied, "I think that's the first time you've openly complimented my cooking and the progress I've made. Thank you Kajita!"

Tokiya was left momentarily speechless at her heartfelt gratitude, but composed himself quickly as he suggested, "Since this sauce seems to be a clear winner, I would suggest adjusting the flavor of the mousse slightly in order for them to better compliment each other."

"Already planning on it, but that's for tomorrow. No need to rush it tonight when I've already made a huge step forward on it. It's been a long day, let's clean up and get out of here," Rui hummed as she began tidying up the prep table. Tokiya silently agreed as he began bringing the various tools to the sink in order to clean them, many hands making for light work.


Later that night...

Tokiya sat at the desk in his bedroom, trying to focus on the recipe he was forming, but found that his thoughts kept slipping. With a frustrated sigh he thought to himself, "What is wrong with me? I thought I'd managed to push this feeling away, I haven't felt it in months now. Seeing Tachibana smile at me like that though... No! Tachibana is my colleague, a good friend – nothing more. She has Fuji-san and is happy. Fuji-san and Matsukawa-san both trust me to look out for her. I can not... will not betray that trust."

With a groan Tokiya dropped his pen onto the desk, accepting that he would not be able to finish his work that night. He then got up and shuffled to his bed where he unceremoniously flopped onto it before rolling over onto his back. After a moment he thought out load to himself, "I will not betray their trust for some attempt to satisfy my own selfishness that would be doomed from the start. Tachibana is the first actual friend I've had... I will not ruin that."


Meanwhile...

Rui had returned home with a proud smile, and had gone about her evening routine riding the emotional high of having made the breakthrough she needed, albeit with some minor assistance. Having cleaned up and eaten her light dinner she was eagerly awaiting a response from Natsuo to let her know he was awake so she could sneak in a video call before going to bed. What felt like hours was in reality only minutes before her phone alerted her to a message, and her smile grew even wider as she looked at the brief exchange.

Rui: Good morning! If you have a few minutes before your day starts can we do a video call?

Natsuo: Good evening! I just got up, so give me a few minutes and I'll call. I have time before I have to head out.

Rui happily moved to her desk and made sure the appropriate program was open on her laptop, and true to his word Natsuo was calling in just a few minutes. Eagerly accepting the call, and seeing how tired Natsuo looked she cautiously asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Compared to yesterday? I feel like a million yen. The bruising on my neck is the only real issue, but it's still chilly enough out that I can hide it with a scarf. But enough about that, how are you? You seem to be in a particularly good mood tonight," Natsuo asked in turn as he smiled at her obvious joy.

"Remember how I told you I've been working on a new dish to submit into one of our weekly contests? I was stumped on it for a while, but tonight I was finally able to make a breakthrough on it! I did admittedly have some small help from Kajita, but now I just need to do some fine tuning on the flavor and I'm sure it will be a hit!" Rui gushed as her smile and eyes shone.

Seeing how happy and proud she was, Natsuo couldn't help but smile in turn as he responded, "That's great Rui! I knew you'd be able to figure something out. What was the solution, and how did Kajita-san end up helping?"

"So the base of the dish is a shrimp mousse and – hey don't make that face it's good!" Rui cut off as she saw the perplexed expression on Natsuo's face at the mention of "shrimp mousse". Giggling slightly at his hasty correction of his expression Rui continued, "I had tried all kinds of seasonings, but nothing was quite right. Then Kajita suggested using a sauce to accent it, and after asking what I was aiming for he suggested a flavor profile. With his suggestion I thought of something a bit... out of the box."

Noting Rui's silence after her last statement Natsuo probed, "You want me to try and guess what it was?" After she gave a joyful nod of her head Natsuo gave several guesses, each more outlandish and earning increasingly animated responses from Rui. After their shared laughter from his guess of "chocolate fondue with raspberry jam" had died down he asked, "So what did you end up using?"

"I had the idea to use an orange sauce. Its sweet but not overpowering flavor gives you a kick right away, but it quickly fades and lets the shrimp's flavor shine through. So now I just need to adjust the mousse slightly to better match," Rui explained as she wiped her eye, which had tears forming from her laughing fit.

"An orange sauce... like the kind used for chicken or duck? That is definitely out of the box, can't say I ever would have thought of combining those," Natsuo remarked as he tried to imagine the combination of flavors. "What did Kajita-san think of it?" he asked after a moment.

"He said it wasn't the first thing he would have thought of, but that it was good and an indication of the progress I'm making. I hadn't thought of it before he said that, but before I went home visit I felt like I had plateaued, but now I feel like I'm moving up again," Rui reflected with a proud smile.

Natsuo smiled again at this before he replied, "And you'll keep moving up, you've always been amazing Rui, sometimes you just need to be reminded of that. We're all so proud of you, I'm proud of you. Thank Kajita-san for me when you talk to him next."

"I will. I'll probably see him tomorrow on my out, I'm on the breakfast shift and he's on dinner shift," Rui stated as she made the mental note, but then continued, "Oh! Speaking of Kajita, you'll never guess who he made friends with."

"Oh do tell," Natsuo laughed eagerly.

"Al!" Rui chimed with a laugh of her own.

The dumbfounded expression on Natsuo's face spoke volumes before he managed to find his voice again, "How in the world did that happen?!" He then sat enraptured as Rui relayed the events of the previous day to him, including the misunderstanding that Al and Tokiya had initially had with each other.

"... But after that they seemed to warm up to each other pretty quickly. Though I suppose Al just has that way with people, it's hard not to feel welcome around him. I suggested it to Al and he invited Kajita, but once I'm back home we should get everyone together for old time's sake," Rui concluded as she rested her head on her hand.

Natsuo's expression suggested that he'd just had his understanding of the laws of reality shattered as he laughed and responded, "I'll be damned. I never thought those two would end up getting along. And I agree, we should have a big get together for everyone... but not until we've had a chance to have some quality time together of course."

"Well that goes without saying. I can't wait to be home with you... I love you," Rui practically sang as her smile shifted from amused to loving.

"I love you too," Natsuo replied with a matching smile and warmth.

The two were silent for a moment before another voice, in English, from the bedroom door caught Rui by surprise, "Good night love birds! I don't have to speak Japanese to know that was adorable!"

Rui's face turned bright red as she heard Daniella continue on her way to her own bedroom, her hands coming up to cover her eyes. After a silent moment Natsuo asked, "Forgot to close your door?"

"I did," Rui mumbled simply. The resulting chuckle from Natsuo, along with assurances of how cute she was, simply caused Rui's brain to fry further.


Afternoon of April 9th – NYC

Tokiya entered the restaurant and made for the door to the employees only section, in an uncharacteristically sluggish manner. His turbulent thoughts had prevented him from falling asleep until the Sun had started to crest the horizon. Stifling a yawn he muttered to himself, "I never thought I'd be thankful to be on the dinner shift... hopefully it won't be as busy as it was yesterday."

As he was passing by the kitchen to get to the staff locker room Tokiya overheard two of the regular staff conversing near the doorway.

"See that, you think she's already leaving for the day?"

"Looks like it. You think she's finally given up trying to prove to us that she's actually a hard worker? She's only here because she's Mr. Mikimoto's daughter and everyone knows it."

Hearing this, Tokiya froze in his tracks as he thought, "They're seriously thinking that Tachibana gets preferential treatment? She works harder than any of the other trainees because she's Mikimoto-san's daughter. She wants to prove herself and not be in her father's shadow." Before Tokiya could act though, the men resumed speaking, and what he heard made his blood boil.

"You know what I heard? I heard that Japanese women are crazy about white guys. I think I should show her a good time to make her loosen up."

"Ha! I say you go for it, but doesn't she have a boyfriend or something back in Tokyo? I could have sworn I heard something like that."

"Yeah, he even visited her on Valentine's. But that'll make it all the more satisfying to hear her moaning and -"

The man was cut off by Tokiya grabbing his shoulder in a vice grip as he snarled, "Excuse me, but who and what do you think you're talking about?"

The man, who Tokiya now recognized as one of the most vocal complainers about the Japanese trainees, his name was Ben, shot back as he turned, "I fail to see how that's any of your fucking business." The other man Ben had been talking to, noting the the murderous glean in Tokiya's eyes subconsciously took a step back.

"I got the distinct impression you were talking about Tachibana, she's my friend. I'm not about to just stand by while some pervert skulks around plotting about her and bad mouthing her," Tokiya seethed, not noticing how his grip had tightened further.

Ben looked confused for a moment before mockingly replied, "Oh I get it now. You've got the hots for her too but you don't have the balls to make a move. Well don't worry pal, once I break her in I'll be bored and you can have your turn."

Tokiya didn't know what happened. One moment Ben was talking, the next moment all he saw was red before his vision cleared and he found himself standing above Ben, his right hand clenched into a fist and aching as he shouted, "Over my dead body asshole!"

All conversation in the kitchen ceased, and all eyes turned to stare in dumbfounded shock at what had just happened. Somewhere in the kitchen, a single mixing bowl clattered to the floor, its metallic reverberations echoing painfully in the silence.

A/N: I hope you have all been well and that you enjoyed this chapter. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive about this small section of the story since the focus is temporarily shifted to mostly Rui's perspective, but I think it came out decently. At this point events in the world are mostly the same, but it's the interactions between characters in these events that are differing. A good example is my change that it's Rui that comes up with using the orange sauce herself instead of Tokiya flat out suggesting it. My reasoning here is that because Rui is in a much better mental and emotional state in this version of events her culinary skills aren't being held back, and Tokiya recognized that all she needed was a nudge in the right direction.

I have the next few chapters mapped out, and unless I've misjudged any of them they should be returning to my usual of converting one manga chapter at a time.

As I said in my initial "Work Resuming" update, while I am back to working on this I will be going at a slower rate than I had been before my absence. This is in order to hopefully avoid the burnout that resulted from the breakneck speed I was going at originally. I think right now my goal will be to aim for two chapters a month, so roughly one every other week. This is of course not set in stone, and it might take me some trial and error to get the balance right, but I think that two chapters a month will be much more sustainable in the long run than one every week was.

Until the next update, I wish you all well. And I thank you for your support.