A/N: Hope everyone is doing well! This chapter ended up being a bit longer than I had intended, but not by much. I hope you all enjoy it!
The Least I Can Do
Morning of April 21st – Tokyo
Natsuo groaned as he willed his body to move as the shrill droning of his morning alarm sounded, piercing whatever dream he had been having. With a sigh he disabled the alarm and got up to meander his way into the bathroom where he splashed cold water on his face to snap him to alertness. After a moment he examined himself in the mirror, muttering to himself, "At least the bruising on my neck is mostly faded at this point... I already missed the first few days of the semester as is."
After drying his face off he returned to the bed, where he'd unceremoniously dropped the phone after disabling the alarm to check for any new notifications. He saw that Miyabi had sent him the summary of the Forester meeting he had missed the day prior, he saw Kobayashi had sent him the list of this week's specials at L'Amant, and Fumiya had sent him a message regarding an upcoming movie they were planning on seeing. His eyes lingered on Hina's icon, which had remained in the "offline" status since she had messaged the entire family in their group chat. As he stared at the screen a new message came through, which immediately made him smile.
Rui: Good morning! I hope you managed to get some sleep and have a good first day back. I'm about to head to bed over here so I won't keep you from getting ready to head out, but since I'm on the dinner shift tomorrow we can talk more later?
He laughed at how she'd phrased it as a question before he typed out his response.
Natsuo: Like you need to ask? Of course we can. And yeah, I slept a bit better last night. I only got up just got a few minutes ago so still getting ready. You get some rest and I'll talk to you later after you wake up. Good night Rui, I love you.
Rui: I love you too, talk to you then!
Seeing Rui's icon change to "offline" Natsuo tossed the phone back onto the bed so he could continue his morning routine. While going through the monotonous task of preparing for the day his mind began to wander, thinking back over the last week and a half; Hina had timed her message to the family perfectly: It was fairly early in the morning in Japan, but late enough to ensure that Natsuo had been awake and that their parents were both at work while also being early enough in the night in New York that Rui had still been awake to receive the message. This one fact had led the four of them to come to the conclusion that Hina had thoroughly planned this – it hadn't been a spur of the moment thing.
Before he knew it he found himself replaying the events from that day in his head as he locked the apartment door behind him and began his trek to the station.
Morning of April 11th – Tokyo
Natsuo would have been lying had he told anyone he wasn't a bit worried about Rui that morning. He was attempting to focus on what he was reading, but he kept glancing at his phone waiting for her next message, re-reading their brief exchange from when he'd woken up.
Rui: Hey, good morning! I know I wanted to do a video call tonight before going to bed but I don't know if I'll be able to. I know last night our time got cut short but something came up that I need to take care of right away. I'm really sorry.
Natsuo: Good evening, it's okay. If something urgent has come up that's understandable. What's going on though? If it's something you can discuss with me that is.
Rui: That's the thing, I don't even know for sure what's going on and don't want to jump to conclusions. I promise I'll tell you as soon as I know definitively what the situation is. I'm sorry I'm being vague but I don't want to give you wrong information.
Natsuo: It's okay Rui, get to the bottom of whatever it is. I'm not going anywhere today so you can message me when you can.
Rui: Thank you! I promise that I'll message as soon as I'm done, before getting ready for bed. Love you!
Natsuo: Love you too!
Looking at the time stamps he realized, "That was only an hour ago? Feels like a lot longer." Returning his gaze to the book he was trying to read, he found himself not processing the words in front of him as he speculated, "I wonder if it has something to do what happened yesterday with Kajita-san? She mentioned he'd gotten into a fight with one of the other staff members at the restaurant, but she didn't know the specifics of it..."
He continued to zone out, lost in thought for another few moments before he was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a message alert, thought not the custom one he'd set for Rui. "I swear if Fumiya is gushing about Kasumi-san again..." he trailed off and his eyes widened as he read the message that had appeared in the family's group chat.
Hina: Hey everyone! I'm sending this in the group chat to make things simpler for everyone and so that nobody is out of the loop. I'm going to be traveling for a while, I don't know how long. There are some things that I need to take care of on my own. I'll check in every now and then but otherwise I won't be signed in to the messenger or accepting calls. I'm sorry if this worries you but it's something I need to do. I love you all!
"What the hell...?" he wondered out loud as he saw his father and Tsukiko reply to Hina's message, asking her what was going on. He then hastily added his own question, which was almost immediately followed by Rui's. Just a moment later Hina's icon went gray, indicating she was offline, and Natsuo was startled by the immediate incoming phone call from Rui.
"Hello?" he instinctively greeted.
"Natsuo! Do you have any idea what's going with Hina-nee? Has she been acting any differently since the other night with what happened?" Rui questioned frantically, her voice raised to speak over the wind that was blowing wherever she was.
"Not that I'm aware of. I've been home resting when not helping Tougen-sensei so I haven't actually seen her. I know she took a few days off from work though, she wasn't hurt physically but she needed a few days to clear her head she said," he replied, recalling what Hina had told him last they talked.
Rui was silent for a moment as another gust of wind blew over the phone's mic, Natsuo could hear her muttering before a door opened and closed before she spoke again, "Well there must be something that everyone missed." They both paused as another message arrived in the group chat and they quickly read it before she continued, "Looks like mom is heading to the house to see if she can catch her before she leaves..."
"But knowing Hina-nee she probably didn't send that message until she'd already left. She could already be on a train out of the city by now..." Natsuo, finishing her trailed off thought.
A frustrated groan proceeded Rui's response, "I don't get why she's doing it like this. She could have just sat down with the three of you - could have video called me at the same time – to let us know what's going on and that she's going away. Why the secrecy? Why the going no contact? This is reminding me a little too much of when she disappeared last time..."
Natsuo's eyes widened slightly at this as he thought, "She's right. This is similar to when she left without a word after resigning from her teaching position...". Shaking his head slightly he added, "It's not completely the same though. This time she at least told us all that she's leaving."
"Like that's going to make us worry about her any less. Mom is probably losing her mind right now," she said with a huff, but concern plain in her voice.
"You should call Tsukiko-san. She always asks me to ask you to call her more... and while I'm sure she'd rather it be for something less serious she'd probably really appreciate it," he suggested reassuringly.
"You're right, I'll give her a call. Tonight has just been one thing after another... when I'm done talking to mom I'll let you know so we can do a video chat and I can explain what's been going on here," she responded, the weariness in her voice showing how tired she was.
Hearing how tired she suddenly sounded Natsuo asked, "Are you sure? You sound pretty beat already, you can call it a night and get some rest after talking to Tsukiko-san, it's okay."
"I'm sure. I appreciate the concern but this is something I need to talk to you about, and I don't want put it off until tomorrow. For both our sake," she answered with a tone of finality.
"Well that doesn't sound ominous at all..." he teased with a nervous chuckle.
He could hear the small smile in her voice as she responded, "It's nothing to actually worry about. I was able to clear everything up, it's just something you need to know."
"Promise?" he asked calmly.
"Promise," she confirmed, the same smile still evident in her voice. There was a brief pause before she continued, "Okay, let me call her; the sooner I do that the sooner I can call you back."
"Gotcha, talk to you soon Rui," he bid farewell with a smile of his own.
"Talk to you soon," she confirmed before ending the call.
Staring at the screen of his phone while it faded, Natsuo wracked his brain for anything he may have overlooked regarding Hina since the incident a few nights ago. After several minutes he sighed before sitting down and mumbled to himself, "It's no good... I could understand if she just wanted to get away for a bit after what happened, but 'things she needs to take care of'? And going no contact with everyone? Those don't make any sense at all."
Another moment passed before Natsuo quickly unlocked his phone and went through his contact list before finding the one he was looking for and pressing the call button. The phone only rang three times before a friendly female voice answered, "Hello! Thank you calling the Sunrise Hotel, are you calling to make a reservation?"
"Ah sorry no... this might not be something you can help with. Would it be possible for me to speak with someone in management?" Natsuo asked awkwardly.
The woman who had answered the phone replied without missing a beat, "I'll see if anyone is available, do you mind holding for a moment?"
"Not at all."
"Thank you, please hold."
Natsuo watched the analog clock he'd hung up on the wall while he waited and thought, "This really is a long shot... but I don't have the contact info for any of Hina-nee's friends outside of our shared circle. I'll have to check with Boss too after I talk to Rui again..."
He was broken out of his thoughts only a minute or so later when a tired, but friendly male voice greeted, "Thank you for holding, I understand you wanted to speak to someone in management?"
Returning his focus to the call Natsuo replied, "Yes that's right, thank you for taking the time to speak with me."
"It's no trouble, how can I assist?"
"Well... my older sister works there in the hotel. Her name is Tachibana Hina. Just a little while ago she messaged our family that she'd be traveling – but didn't say where or for how long. I was wondering if she'd informed anyone there of where she'd be."
"Ah yes, your mother just called in regarding this; she must not have had a chance to relay it. I can tell you what I told her: Tachibana-san requested a leave of absence for 'personal matters'. This request was approved under the condition that if she does not return to work within three months her position will be considered abandoned, ending her employment. I'm afraid that's all we know, she did not make us privy to her plans while on leave."
"I see..." Natsuo paused for brief moment before continuing, "Thank you for telling me what you could."
"You're most welcome sir, I am sorry I did not have more information for you though. Please, if you speak to your sister, let her know that everyone here wishes her the best. From what I've heard so far this morning she did not inform any of her coworkers, even those she is close to," the manager requested, his voice softening ever so slightly.
"I will. Thanks again."
"And thank you sir, have a good day."
"You as well," Natsuo stated as the phone call ended, feeling a small amount of frustration that the only thing he'd learned was that Hina had three months to return or her job at the hotel would be forfeit. Checking his messages he saw that in the group chat Tsukiko had sent a message with the same details while he was calling the hotel.
Coming to the conclusion that if Tsukiko had been calling the hotel he would have a bit more time before he heard back from Rui, Natsuo made his way to his laptop and starting pulling up all of the social media accounts that he was of aware of for Hina, hoping that maybe one of them would have some kind of clue. Ten minutes later however Natsuo was sinking down in his chair with a groan, "She's made all of her accounts private... she's really serious about not keeping in touch with anyone."
Before he could do any other digging an incoming video call from Rui popped up onto his screen, and with a smile he accepted the call. As the video feed loaded Rui's tired face appeared, with a small but happy smile as she greeted, "Hey. Sorry that took a bit longer than I expected, mom was on the phone with Hina-nee's manager when I called. Did you see her message?"
"I did, but not before I also called and spoke to the same manager. It was the first thing I thought of, but I'm going to check with Boss later today to see if he knows anything," Natsuo replied with a sigh and dejected chuckle.
"Good idea... Hina-nee and Boss are close, so he may know what's going on. The question is whether he'll tell us or not; I'm sure that Hina-nee will have sworn him to secrecy," Rui mumbled as she sank back in her chair, the fatigue both physical and mental clearly evident.
Nodding, Natsuo added, "True. But even just knowing that he knows will be a small relief – knowing that there's some point of contact that can let us know if something happens." Rui nodded her agreement as she closed her eyes. There was silence between them before Natsuo asked, "Tired?"
"You have no idea..." she trailed off as she sat back up and opened her eyes again.
"You can go to bed if you want to, it's getting late over there and today has been a long one for you."
"No not yet, I still need to tell you about what happened here... besides... I really just needed to see and hear you after all of this..."
Knowing that once she'd decided on a course of action there was little point arguing, Natsuo acquiesced, "Okay, if you're sure. How could a I refuse after you say that?"
Rui smiled softly before she launched into her description of what had transpired over the last two days: how the whole kitchen had been caught off guard by Tokiya and Ben's short fist fight, the comments both had made that she overheard, Tokiya not replying until much later, her learning of his suspension and finally of Daniella learning what Ben and Liam had been saying that which caused the entire incident – which Natsuo found himself clenching his fists while trying to contain his own anger at.
"That's disgusting, they should be ashamed of themselves. I knew that it must have been something serious to make Kajita-san react that violently... but I never would have thought it was something like this," Natsuo seethed as he pushed his anger down. After a moment he asked, "There's something else though isn't there?"
Rui shifted nervously before answering, "Yeah... Daniella and I talked about it all for a bit and she put forward a theory as why Kajita would do that... and I couldn't think of anything else that made sense, so I confronted him in order to confirm it." She watched as Natsuo silently urged her to continue before adding while glancing away slightly, "I asked him if he was in love with me. He said that he was, that he was unsure of when it started but that he'd been trying to deny it from the moment he realized what he was feeling."
"I see..." Natsuo muttered in a steady tone, trailing off as he watched Rui's expression.
Rui quickly snapped her gaze back to Natsuo as she exclaimed, "But he also said that he had absolutely no intention of acting on those feelings! He sees how happy you make me and doesn't want to interfere with it, he's hoping that now that he's admitted it to himself he can properly put it behind him! He even told me that if you want to talk to him directly about all of this that I can give you his contact info."
Natsuo continued to stare into the camera, his face unreadable as he sat in complete silence. After a moment he leaned forward, his face being hidden behind his hands as he threaded his fingers together in thought.
"Say something," Rui requested quietly.
Letting a small sigh, Natsuo looked up slightly, his mouth still obscured – but corners of his mouth could be seen rising slightly as he asked, "Is this the part where I say 'told you so'?"
Rui could only stare as she processed what he said, before letting out a small, "Huh...?"
Uncovering his face fully, with a teasing grin Natsuo repeated, "Told. You. So. I was right about Kajita-san just like you were right about Miyabi-san."
"You jerk! Don't worry me like that! I thought you were seriously angry just now!" Rui shouted as he face turned bright red in equal parts anger and embarrassment.
Natsuo began laughing as he managed to replied, "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. How often do you ever get to legitimately say 'told you so' to someone?"
As Natsuo's laughter started to die down, Rui sat in silence. Her anger and embarrassment fading into quiet nervousness as her face fell into a pout. After a moment she quietly asked, "So... you're not angry?"
"Well... I can't say I'm happy to be proven right about this... but no, I'm not angry. I'm glad you found out the truth and told me right away, but more than that: I trust you completely, and if you trust what Kajita-san told you then I will too," he explained, his smile shifting from teasing to loving.
Rui let out a large breath as she visibly deflated in relief as she whispered, "Thank you..."
The present – Tokyo
Natsuo snapped back to the here and now as his short subway ride arrived at the college's station and he exited the train and made his way towards the campus. The first few days after what had happened had been hectic: he'd spoken to Tokiya about what had happened, he'd asked Kobayashi about Hina and while he clearly knew something he hadn't given anything away, he'd been helping Tougen-sensei and when able helping his father and Tsukiko try to track down anything about where Hina was or why she'd left.
With a sigh he muttered, "It's going to be a relief getting back to a 'normal' kind of craziness." He was already dreading having to catch up on assigned readings and homework from having missed the first few days of classes, as well as the Forester recruitment event later that day which Miyabi had kept him up to speed on, but he had to admit they would be good distractions.
Realizing how tired he'd likely be by the end of the day he thought to himself, "I think I'll stop by L'Amant on my way home... now that I think about it I should get Boss something to thank him for his help..."
Later that afternoon...
"I am the campus goddess! I have appeared to take pity on the poor soul who failed to make any new friendships at the orientation!" a member of Forester declared, inciting an animated reaction from a new student who had come to check out the drama club.
Natsuo watched from the sideline with an amused smile as he commented, "There's quite the impressive turnout, and everyone doing performances have really gone all out."
"They certainly have, I think we'll be able to count on plenty of new members this year," Miyabi agreed, turning her focus from the the performance to Natsuo.
"What was it that Nara-san said? That the recruitment rate from this kind of thing is about thirty percent?" Natsuo asked as he tried to recall the figure that had been quoted to him.
Nodding her head, Miyabi replied, "Something like that. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but thirty percent is about right." When Natsuo didn't immediately continue the conversation she asked, "How are you doing Natsuo-kun? Have your... injuries healed up?"
"For the most part yeah. I still have some aches, but nothing I can justify missing more classes for. Thanks for asking," he answered while giving a quite chuckle.
Miyabi sighed in relief before commenting, "That's good. I think I almost passed out when you told me what had happened. All of this from you being too nice of a person for your own good, just like Mari-san said." She paused a moment before asking, "Any word from your sister?"
"Not a word since that one message she sent out. I'm convinced that Boss knows something, but Hina-nee most likely made him promise not to tell anyone unless something urgent happens. We'll just have to take what comfort we can from that for now," Natsuo replied with a defeated shrug and sigh.
"I may not have known him for as long as you all have, but I have a feeling that if Mari-san isn't worried about her then everything will okay in the end," Miyabi reassured him with a confident smile. Natsuo was quite for a moment before letting out a louder chuckle than intended, causing the current scene's director to admonish the two of them for causing a distraction. Once everyone's attention was back on the scene Miyabi quietly hissed, "What was that for? What was so funny?"
"Sorry, it's just... that's exactly what Boss said after we brought Misaki to the rehab center: 'everything will be okay'. You're right, I'm going to try and keep thinking about it like that," Natsuo explained with a sheepish smile.
Miyabi smiled at his decision to try and keep the more positive outlook on Kobayashi being privy to information he and his family weren't, but still a felt a twinge of jealousy she had to push down. Turning her gaze back to the scene being performed she thought to herself, "I get that my intentions were... less than pure... but why does Ogura-san get the first name without honorific treatment... No! Stop it Miyabi. You promised." She had been true to her word in no longer pursuing a romantic relationship with Natsuo, but still had to push those feelings down when they would pop up every now and then.
This was one of those times.
"Hey, I think your turn is almost up. I was thinking about stopping by L'Amant for dinner once we're all done here. Wanna tag along?" Natsuo asked as he took note of the scene director turning his attention to Miyabi in order to wave her over.
Being snapped out of her thoughts by the unexpected invitation and stammered out a response, "W-what? Oh! Uh... S-sure! That sounds nice."
"Break a leg out there Miaybi-san!" Natsuo cheered as he motioned her towards the director and stage.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself Miyabi nodded gratefully replied, "Thanks Natsuo-kun." With that said she made her over to where she needed to be, taking more breaths to clear her mind and calm herself to get into character.
"Miyabi... have you been drinking?" her scene partner asked cautiously.
Snapping her gaze to her partner Miyabi cried, "Huh?!"
"Well... your face is all flushed and you seem a bit... off?" her partner observed with a questioning tone.
Miyabi let out one last sigh before composing herself and countering with a confident grin, "I'm okay, let's show them how it's done."
That evening...
"Are you sure you don't want to give acting another try?" Miyabi asked as she and Natsuo left the station and started making their way towards L'Amant.
Laughing at the question Natsuo answered, "Oh I'm sure. Don't you remember how awful I was at that first training camp I went to?"
"Well that was your first try ever... I don't think it's fair to judge whether your good at it or not based on just that. I mean, nobody is perfect from the very beginning," she countered with a laugh of her own.
"Even so, I think I'd ultimately be better suited to the logistical side of things than being on stage. Assuming that I'm not able to get over my writer's block to help with script writing that is," he remarked as his gaze focused on the door the cafe up ahead of them.
Miyabi silently regarded him for a moment before asking, "So still no luck with that either?"
Pausing to think for a moment, Natsuo's face morphed into a state of trepidation before he tentatively replied, "Well... I may have thought of a subject that I think I could write something decent about, but I haven't tried yet."
"Really?! That's great news! What is it?" she exclaimed jubilantly as she caught up with him.
"I can't say yet. It's just a thought I had today so I haven't thought it all through yet and don't know if it will pan out," he answered vaguely as he chuckled nervously to himself.
Miyabi, at first disappointed by his response, shook her head before she stated, "Well I'm sure whatever it is will be good. And the fact that you have something you're considering is already a step in the right direction I think." She paused before adding, "Not to bring down the mood... but about what you asked me about regarding Nene-san: I haven't been able to get a chance to talk to her privately, and she hasn't responded to texts. Once I'm able to figure out what she's up to I'll let you know."
"I appreciate that, I really do. Thank you," Natsuo replied with a somber smile.
At this point their conversation halted as Natsuo opened the door to L'Amant and they were greeted boisterously by Kobayashi, "Good evening and welc – Oh! Natsuo-chan and Miyabi-chan! It's turning into quite the get together in here tonight!"
In response to Kobayashi's greeting two other patrons, Fumiya and Kasumi, turned their heads to see them enter and greeted them as well.
"Natsuo! Serizawa-san! Good to see you!"
"Hey Fuji-kun! Come sit with us!"
Natsuo motioned for Miyabi to join them as he said, "I'll be right there, just a sec." He then walked to the bar where Kobayashi was standing and presented him with a gift bag while saying, "This is for you Boss. Late as it is, it's a thank you for all of your help lately."
"Oh you didn't have to do that!" Kobayashi exclaimed as he took the bag from Natsuo.
Shaking his head, Natsuo retorted, "Are you kidding? That's the least I can do. I don't even want to think about what would have happened without you getting involved."
"Well it would be downright rude for me to refuse it now, so: accepted. Now you go join the others, I'll get yours and Miaybi-chan's usual drink orders ready to start you off with," Kobayashi insisted as he tucked the bag behind the bar and got to work on the drinks.
As he arrived at the table Kasumi asked, "So Fuji-kun... you're not two timing Rui-chan are you?"
Miyabi's face went bone white as Natsuo nearly tripped and he bellowed, "Of course I'm not! We're just friends!"
As Natsuo regained his composure, Miyabi turned to Kasumi and introduced herself, "My name is Serizawa Miyabi. Natsuo-kun and I are both members of Forester, the drama club at our college, that's how we became friends. He mentioned he was going to stop by here on his way home and invited me along, and since I love this place I accepted."
Kasumi regarded her for a moment before replying, "Alright that checks out. My name is Hazuki Kasumi. Nice to meet you Serizawa-san, I'm actually one of Fuji-kun's neighbors."
"Oh I see! And.. are you two...?" Miyabi trailed off as she motioned towards Kasumi and Fumiya.
Fumiya, with a proud smile, answered, "Well we only just started seeing each other recently, but... I think things have been going well so far."
"That they have," Kasumi agreed with her own smile.
Watching the three of them interact so easily Natsuo couldn't help but smile and envision the scene with Rui included, then chuckled to himself at envisioning how Kajita would react to being around Kobayashi. This thought led to another one, "Hell, maybe we could try and set him and Miaybi-san... nah that wouldn't work."
The three were broken out of their conversation, and Natsuo his thoughts, by the arrival of another person saying, "Sorry for the wait, here are your drinks. Are you all ready to order or to you need a few more minutes?"
Confused by the clearly female voice, Natsuo turned and his eyes widened at the familiar silver-gray hair hiding the left half of the woman's face. "Misaki?! What are you...?" he exclaimed in surprise and confusion, now noting she wore a similar uniform to what Fumiya did while on shift.
"Don't you remember? Boss offered me a job that night before I went into the rehab facility," Misaki teased, feigning offense.
"Of course I remember that, I just didn't expect you'd be starting so soon!" Natsuo retorted, picking up on her teasing and answering with his own faux irritation.
The two were silent a moment before Misaki dropped the act and giggled to herself before explaining, "Well, I finished the initial detox, and the facility thought it would be good for me not to be cooped up all the time, keep myself busy as it were. They agreed to limited time off site as long I'm supervised."
"Which I gladly accepted responsibility for. I know Misaki-chan here means it when she says she wants to turn her life around, and it's good to get out of that place for a bit and start earning some honest money," Kobayashi added from the bar, "So agreeing to be her "guardian" during the process didn't even warrant a second thought."
Misaki then took their orders, and when Kobayashi went into the kitchen to prepare them she took his place at the bar to handle drink orders from the four and other patrons that began to come in.
While waiting for the meal the conversation had begun to dwindle down when Fumiya remarked, "I still can't believe all of that happened... and all because of you setting up that mixer." Natsuo simply waved his hand dismissively at this.
Kasumi cautiously asked, "Does Serizawa-san know...?"
"I know what happened with Ogura-san. Natsuo-kun had missed a few days of prep with Forester so he explained it to me while I was keeping him to date with what we were doing," Miyabi explained as she unconsciously looked over at Misaki happily working away.
"It's unreal... I never imagined Misaki-neesan would be involved with something like that," Kasumi pondered as she followed Miyabi's gaze.
Natsuo thought for a moment before asking, "You weren't home that night right Kasumi-san? I'm glad you didn't get mixed up in it like Kuwaba did."
"Me too! I mean – I feel bad that I wasn't around to help out, but you and Kuwaba looked like hell the next day!" Kasumi responded, eagerly at first but becoming sheepish towards the end.
Fumiya chimed in at this, "Yeah we went out to dinner and a movie that night. I wish I'd been there to help, but I'm glad Kuwaba-san and Boss were there."
As the night progressed the four, plus or minus Misaki and Kobayashi depending on other patrons, talked well into the evening about several topics ranging from what the drama club was planning, to the movie Fumiya and Kasumi had seen, to musical preferences, etc. Not long after the new couple had left Miyabi got up and said, "I'm going to head out as well. Thanks for inviting me along Natsuo-kun, I'll see you at the next meeting?"
"I'll be there," Natsuo confirmed before taking another sip of his drink.
Miyabi nodded at his confirmation before calling out, "Good night Mari-san, Ogura-san! Everything was fantastic as usual!"
Kobayashi poked his head out of the kitchen to reply, "Thank you Miyabi-chan, come back soon!"
Misaki bowed slightly as she responded, "Good night to you as well Serizawa-san."
After Miyabi had taken her leave, and Kobayashi retreated back into the kitchen to finish one last order before closing the kitchen, Misaki moved opposite to where Natsuo had relocated himself to at the bar. After a moment she teased, "Serizawa-san seems like a nice girl. I hope Rui-chan doesn't get jealous of that little double date you just had."
With a ground Natsuo shot back, "Don't you get started on that too. If you must know, Rui is well aware of my friendship with Miyabi-san, and while she did get jealous at first we've already worked through that."
Misaki smiled as she said, "Good. Just wanted to make sure."
"Yeah yeah, sure," Natsuo replied, having readjusted to Misaki's tendency to tease during the evening.
"There was something else I wanted to mention to you now that the others are gone though," Misaki stated, a more serious expression on her face.
Her tone catching his attention, Natsuo put his drink down and gave her his full attention as he probed, "And what would that be?"
Misaki was silent as she collected her thoughts before answering, "Before she left Hina came by the rehab center. I wasn't able to see her because I was in full blown withdrawal by then, but she left her phone number with the staff. Once the center agreed to letting me come here to work Boss paid for a new cell phone for me, and I've been in touch with Hina."
"You have?! Is she okay?! Where is she?!" Natsuo asked frantically.
Holding up her hand to signal him to quiet down she replied, "I have – only a few times. From what I can tell she's okay; she told me that she realized something about herself that she needs to handle on her own. And before you ask again I don't know where she is right now, only that she's still in Japan since she mentioned still wanting to visit me in rehab when able. Neither her or Boss know I'm telling you, but I just wanted to make sure that you and Rui-chan know she's okay, so please pass that along to her for me."
Natsuo took a deep breath as she pushed down the questions he wanted to ask. After recomposing himself he simply smiled and said, "Thanks Misaki. I'll let Rui know, it'll mean the world to her."
"It's the least I can do," Misaki replied with her own smile.
"Actually... there's something I wanted to talk to you about too, I just wasn't expecting to see you so soon," Natsuo remarked hesitantly after a moment.
Misaki's face showed her confusion as she asked, "Oh?"
"You remember how I've had writer's block?" Natsuo asked in turn.
"Of course. It's such a shame, I wasn't lying when I said that I enjoyed your book that was published last year," Misaki answered as she tried to recall exactly when and who she'd learned that from.
Natsuo nodded before he continued, "Well today I thought of something that can actually feel that I want to write about."
Misaki instantly cheered, "That's great! But... why did you want to talk to me specifically?"
"Well... you see..." Natsuo trailed off, though Misaki couldn't decipher the reason for his hesitation. After a moment he finished his statement, "I needed to talk to you first because it's your story that I want to write."
A/N: I've always enjoyed the present - flashback - present format in stories, so I didn't want to change the format from the canon chapter 230, but my flashback ended up being much longer than the one portrayed there. As I'm sure you've noticed this is where the ripple effect is starting to get more noticeable, as opposed to the Misaki arc which I had play out mostlythe same except for Natsuo and Hina swapping places.
Miyabi, Misaki and Tokiya are all characters that while reading the canon I legitimately felt bad for. Their relationships with Natsuo and Rui are well written and compelling, but they get the short end of the stick and then they just kind of fade into the background once their role is finished. I'll be trying to keep them more relevant than they were in the canon, as I feel they were under utilized.
Let me know what you all think, thoughts and opinions are always welcome!
