Disclaimer: The following is a fan-written fiction, the views and opinions in this story are not intended to be viewed as those of the author. Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha, and Five Pound Gospel are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi, property of their respective rights holders and publishers. Please support the official releases.

CW: This story will contain violence, strong language, sexual humor and situations, drug use, Moroboshi Ataru, and Happosai. You've been warned.

|Lean On Me|

Ryūnosuke padded along quietly behind Nick, following the red-haired man like a rescued animal who just got pulled from an abusive ownership. Everything seemed to loom larger, and she didn't know how the world was gonna function anymore. But the genuine hope she felt for once kept him on his heels and excited about what lay ahead.

Nick didn't need to look back to see that the overwhelming magnanimity of his offer had caused the girl to clam up. There'd probably been several people who gave her honeyed words on how they'd help her out, only to leave her with that piece of trash who happened to provide the sperm for her conception.

This time things were going to be very different.

"Now, I really ain't too nice of a guy, by a lot of standards people like to get on about." He said, his voice rumbling with a gentle tone to keep her from fearing he might lash out at her. "But that's mostly down to people meetin' me in the wrong times and places physically and figuratively. Rest assured, though, I've got plenty o'kids of my own and–more importantly–I got daughters I hand-raised with the missus, so I ain't another geek off the street tryin' to play Pop."

"R-right…" Ryuunosuke replied.

"Most the time, I'd be more cautious so ya don't get spoiled from too much love and affection," Nick went on, "But since you ain't gotten any of that in a long time, a little fine handlin' ain't gonna hurt too much."

"Thanks," Ryuunosuke said, feeling more comfortable by the second.

"So, let's make a deal: You stick with me, and do as I say for the next couple days, and I'll help get you lookin' like the girl you really are," he went on, "That means you stay where I'm setting ya up at, you go to the doctor, and then we'll go shopping."

There was a gurgling sound as Ryuunsouke fought against the overwhelmed blush that accompanied her head heating up in affection overload. "A-all right."

"Part of this benefits package means ya gotta give up on the peeps who jumped you, though," Nick firmly added..

With a pulse of anger, Ryūnosuke almost lashed out at him in response, but when he looked back at her with a father's concern–like her health and well-being was the most important thing in the world to him, she couldn't find it in her heart.

Her shoulders sank, as she did the hardest thing a martial artist could do and tempered her pride. "Yeah, I ain't in the shape to go scrappin' right now. If I'm gonna take on that weasel, I wanna be in good enough condition to win it."

Nick made it easier to admit that weakness, by giving her a consoling smile and resting his hand on her head in a warm gesture.

"Attagirl," he said, while rubbing the top of her head. "Don't you worry, none. Once you're good to go, I'll make sure you're good for round two."

Ryūnosuke couldn't help her smile. "I'm already looking forward to it, old timer. What happens after Golden Week, though? I ain't going back to my old man…"

Nick nodded. "You ain't going back to him ever. By the end of the week proper, I'll have permanent accommodations fer ya all lined up–probably have you move in with me and the missus."

"No argument there, but he won't give up without a fight," Ryuunosuke noted, before she saw Nick's eyes glow with feral violence. "Uh?"

"Don't you worry none 'bout him now, once Golden Week's over…" Nick clenched his right hand into a fist. "So's he."

The glow vanished and the dark atmosphere went with it. "But that's then. Let's get to steppin'…"

Word had spread fast among the students that the school's biggest tomboy had arrived that morning in a girl's sailor uniform. By the end of classes in the afternoon there were large crowds of students–boys and girls alike–gathered everywhere they could to catch a glimpse of such a beautiful sight once thought never possible.

One of the people who found this development both interesting and suspicious was neither a guy who admired Ryūnosuke nor a girl who lusted after her. It wasn't even a student at all, but Tomobiki's nurse Sakura, who observed the hallways become practically a parade route as Nick and Ryūnosuke left their classroom for the teacher's office.

Because why would it be possible? Fujinami Ryūnosuke in a girl's uniform, or a skirt, or anything remotely feminine was something expressly forbidden by her obnoxious father–and something that until now she fought against but ultimately submitted to. What changed? Had the old man croaked? Was there some genie in a bottle that granted her the femininity she always said she wanted?

That man is suspicious. She thought as the two walked past her office. Ryūnosuke's following him around like a puppy expecting treats, when normally she hates men. He couldn't have won her over so quickly with just that Sailor Fuku.

Sakura's experience had told her that most of the men in her life, apart from her fiancé, had some manner of obscenity about them that made them vile. From her uncle's mooching to Mendō's desperation for female recognition, to Moroboshi's absolute essence of being. As such, she resolved to keep a close tab on this interaction between teacher and student, and make sure nothing untoward happened.

As the two went into the teachers' office and the spell was broken–prompting the other gawking students to remember that the world did not revolve around Ryūnosuke and depart for home–Sakura made her way over to the office door and stopped outside it.

Inside the office, which had no teachers present, Nick went over to his desk to gather his things to take home. Thanks to Fujinami smashing his blackboard, he hadn't gotten any of his classes done. "Well then, how'd you like the hotel?"

Outside the office, Sakura paused.

"It was great, teach," Ryūnosuke answered honestly, "I've always walked past fancy places like that… never thought I'd actually be in one."

Nick hummed. "Not even when that Mendō kid was around?"

Ryūnosuke snorted. "Please, like I'd ever go to a hotel on that loser's yen."

"I don't know what that kid's problem is; he has way too much money to be unpopular with girls," Nick noted.

Ryūnosuke responded. "It's because of Moroboshi, yannow? He always exposes Mendō's pervy side all the time. But whatever, I don't feel like talking about those immature losers."

Sakura didn't like that; she also didn't like the loaded chuckle Nick answered Ryūnosuke with. Behind her, Lum floated by–headed for the doors–then floated back and watched the eavesdropping nurse.

"Anyway, like I said… there'll be no more hotelin' for you; you're movin' in with me, kiddo."

Ryūnosuke lit up at that. "What about your wife?"

Outside, Sakura recoiled from the door, blanching in horror. In such shock she was, that she didn't notice Ataru standing beside the doorway, also watching her.

"The missus is ecstatic at the thought of finally meeting you, and we've already made room–not that we had to do much," Nick assured her.

Snapping out of her shock, Sakura pressed her ear to the door again, a blue flush spreading down her forehead. Shinobu had come to watch the scene as well.

"Well, it's nice that I won't be intrudin'," Ryūnosuke said.

"Please, you're no homewrecker. That's my job."

"Mm! And you're only halfway bad at it," Ryūnosuke sassed back.

Nick barked out a very loud laugh. "HA!"

With fire in her eyes Sakura slammed open the door, startling the students observing the scene. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

Nick and Ryūnosuke both turned and looked at Sakura.

Ryūnosuke tilted her head like a puppy hearing a strange sound.

Nick cupped his chin between his pointer and thumb as he took in the furious beauty before him. "Damn."

Ryūnosuke turned her head and stared at him. "Hey, you're married."

Nick looked back at the young lady. "I know, but there's nothing wrong with appreciating art."

"I beg your pardon!" Sakura said as she marched over. "You are a teacher, Sherman-sensei! How dare you engage in such impropriety with a student?!"

With an innocence unbecoming of his appearance, Nick stared at Sakura in confusion. "Impro… what?"

Her face flushed, with both anger and embarrassment, Sakura responded. "Speaking of such things as hotels and moving a student into your home behind your wife's back! What kind of animal are you?!"

Ryūnosuke raised her hands to chest level. "What? Whoa, hold on!"

Sakura turned to her. "Ryūnosuke, I understand that this man has bought you nice things–but that does not mean you owe him anything, especially your body!"

And Ryūnosuke turned green at the very implication. "Ew, ew, no! NO! It's not like that at all!"

Nick, staring at Sakura's backside, agreed. "Yeah, that mess you're spinnin' there's twisted, sister."

Sakura turned to face him and he met her gaze. "Is that so? Then what of this hotel talk?!"

"She needed a place to live other than with her monster of a father," Nick replied.

"Yeah," Ryūnosuke chimed in, "I got a whole room to myself for Golden Week, it was great."

"Am I missin' somethin' here? Or are you one of those types who goes to them-there love hotels, so you got confused?" Nick asked.

Sakura recoiled from him; her face flushed with more embarrassment than anger now. Ataru was likewise swept up in a fury, as he suddenly shot into the room.

"Say it ain't so, Sakura-sensei!" He wailed. "I thought you were saving yourself for me!"

Nick pointed. "Oh wow, now that's inappropriate."

"I AM SAVING NOTHING FOR YOU!" Sakura punted Ataru out of the office.

A moment later, Ataru replied. "I'm not picky, I don't mind sloppy seconds if it's you, Sakura."

Numerous crackles of electricity and Ataru's yells of pain followed.

Over the cacophony, Sakura turned back to Nick who offered a gesture of parler. "Relax, I'm not doing anything inappropriate with Ryūnosuke. Her mother Masako and I are friends. Hell, kiddo here is practically a daughter I never got to raise, and I'm just making up for lost time."

Sakura was taken aback less dramatically. "Masako is alive?"

Nick gave her a harder look. "Have you seriously been taking the word of the man who forced her to be a boy against her will at face value?"

When he put it like that, Sakura felt a lot more embarrassed.

Unfortunately, the insinuation that he was mistreating Ryūnosuke in all the worst ways left Nick feeling petty. "While we're on the subject, what in tarnation is this? Yer gonna jump on the first guy who treats this girl with a modicum of dignity and respect, then turn right 'round and look the other way with how her sperm donor treats her?"

Sakura felt the fight flow out of her fairly fast at that. "Ah… that's…"

Ryūnosuke decided she wasn't gonna let it slide, either. "Yeah, what the hell is with that, lady? You've only ever gotten on his case like once and then what?"

It became clear to Nick, that Sakura was a woman who enjoyed a position of righteousness in the school that often went unchallenged. Because she didn't seem to function well as she found herself both on the backfoot and in the wrong.

"It's… ah…" Sakura's face began to glow red, but not from her usual hot anger, as her well thought out and empirically sourced position of all men being scum wavered in her effort to explain herself. "There's a precedent to… ehh…"

Nick held up his hand, stopping her. "I'm going to be taking Ryūnosuke to her new home this evening. If her well-being concerns you, Nurse Sakura, you can accompany us, meet my wife, my kids, and have a look around the house. I'm not even that far away from the school."

At the offer, Sakura looked… relieved. Like he had said something reasonable and was the first person to ever say such a thing in years. Taking a moment to compose herself, she bowed in contrition. "I apologize for any offense my presumptions caused; for the sake of Ryūnosuke's well-being, I would appreciate taking a tour of her new living situation."

With a hum, Nick allowed the apology the air it needed before he replied. "That's fine, I rather appreciate getting more people behind this situation."

He turned back to his desk and finished packing his briefcase. "All right, let's get along, lil' doggies."

As Nick got up and left the office, Ryūnosuke and now Sakura following him, Shinobu turned to Lum and whispered. "What do you think, Lum?"

Lum gave Shinobu a questioning look. "About?"

"Following them, I wanna see what kind of place Mr. Sherman is putting Ryūnosuke up at," Shinobu whispered back.

Lum's curiosity was piqued, but forces literally beyond her control made her decision for her when she noticed Ataru already nonchalantly following Sakura and Ryūnosuke–as if he happened to be just going in the same direction they were when he obviously wasn't.

"Darling…" Lum grumbled as she floated after him. Shrugging her shoulders, Shinobu got up and followed.

As the two groups who happened to be going in the same direction left the school grounds, the bushes outside of Class 3-4 rustled ominously, and the elder Fujinami peered out of them and at Nick and Ryūnosuke.

"… That was your only chance, Fontaine…" He growled as power radiated from the bush. "… You won't get another…"

For the first time in a long time, Ryūnosuke felt a sense of peace she'd never expected to feel as she leaned back against the headrest of a strange machine filled with a warm fizzy liquid that swirled around her body and gently scrubbed away the aches and injuries that had been plaguing her all day inside and out. Not just her recent injuries either; every ache and pain she'd racked up from fighting her father, fighting Lum's alien friends, and surviving the dumb adventures Ataru's life had inflicted on her.

Despite being completely immersed in the fully sealed tank, Ryūnosuke felt safe. Like nothing in the outside world could reach her–not Ataru, not Mendō, and definitely not her father.

I almost don't wanna leave, She thought, I wonder if I could just stay here… and not have to worry about anything?

As if reading her mind, Nick called her through the chamber's intercom. "As nice as it is, it won't feed you, and you'll need to go to the bathroom eventually."

Ryūnosuke cringed at the thought. "Way to make it weird, old timer."

"The doc says you're donezo anyway, get ready for the release process," Nick advised.

Ryūnosuke sighed. "Fine."

When she exited the chamber, wrapped in a towel, she found a blue paper bag waiting in the place of the pants, shirt, and chest wrap she'd left behind. Opening it, she was surprised to find a pair of black sweatpants, a XXL size San Jose Sharks jersey, and a dark blue sports bra waiting inside.

"Hey, old timer," she called over the privacy blinds separating her from Nick in the medical machinery-lined room of the chamber. "Where are my clothes?"

"Covered in dirt and blood. I grabbed you some of my daughter's clothes; you and her are the same size, so it'll do until we get you some proper clothes."

After a few moments of silence Ryūnosuke emerged wearing the sweats and the jersey, before she handed the bag with the sports bra inside back to Nick. He looked inside the bag. "What, doesn't fit?"

"Nah," Ryūnosuke replied, "If I'm gonna wear any kinda bra, it's gonna be my own. Thanks for the thought, though."

"Mm, fair enough," Nick replied.

Drying her hair off and tossing the unused bra in the bag, she followed Nick to the doors of the expensive looking, but clean and comfortable clinic in the middle of Taian. "So… a daughter about the same size as me, huh? What's she like?"

Nick opened the door to the street as he answered. "Sharp-tongued, smart, but a bit spoiled." He paused. "Okay, a lotta spoiled but all around a good kid. I think you'll like her."

Ryūnosuke frowned. "I dunno, I've met spoiled people before…"

Nick waved his hand back and forth. "Hey now, don't go comparin' her to the likes of them Mendō jackasses. She may be a bit of a brat, but she'll do good by you–she's gonna be helpin' you shop after all."

Ryūnosuke didn't expect that. Shopping with another girl? And a girl who knew how to dress like a girl. "Will she be able to find something nice for me to wear?"

"Oh yeah. After two violent tomboys and a shy introvert son, it's been nice to have an outgoing fashionista kid with an appetite for expensive things."

Ryūnosuke raised an eyebrow. "How many kids do you have?"

"Close to a baker's dozen, give or take," Nick replied with a laugh.

The answer startled Ryūnosuke. "That many?! Why?!"

"Always wanted a big family," Nick replied, "Yannow, make up for what I didn't have when I was your age."

Ryuunosuke folded her hands behind her head as she walked with Nick down the still busy street despite the late hour. "What you didn't have as a kid, huh? What were you like back in the Taisho Era?"

Nick let out a laugh. "I'm not even goin' gray yet, kiddo! Try harder with them old jokes."

Letting a giggle slip from her lips in turn, Ryūnosuke asked a more pressing question. "Say… you know my Mom, and she's been lookin' for me. When do I get to talk to her?"

"Your Mom's in Portland, helping my oldest with a few things related to the family business, but when she's done, she's coming straight here. If you wanna give her a call right now, though, you can."

Ryūnosuke blanched. "J-just like that? I can call her right now… and talk to her and hear her voice and everything?"

"Oh you sweet child, you shoulda been around when I was a youngin'; couldn't call anyone anywhere fer anything!" He pulled out his phone, thumbed it a few times, and handed it to her.

When she took it and looked at the screen, she found the contact info for Masako, with her mother's picture as the background. Even though this was a more recent picture, she was still as radiant and beautiful as the first picture she'd seen her in.

"She looks like me," Ryūnosuke mumbled, though her mother wore glasses, and her hair was so much longer.

Staring at the phone, and the talk button, she swallowed nervously. She looked at Nick. "Will she really pick up?"

"It's close to 0800 over there, and she's usually up way before then, so… yeah," he replied.

Ryūnosuke's heart wanted to seize in her chest and jackhammer out of it at the same time, as the enormity of what the phone she held in her hand represented made its weight felt.

"My mother… my real mother…" She murmured. "… I can just… call her…"

Nick leaned over to look as tears began to form in her eyes, then he reached over and pressed the call button. "Boop."

Nearly dropping the phone as she gave a squawk of indignation as the phone began to hum, Ryūnosuke gave Nick a look of disbelief and opened her mouth to tell him off.

"Hello, Nicholas?"

She froze when she heard a voice come from the phone, then looked at it.

"Oh, my goodness, it's almost midnight over there, what could you possibly want this late?"

The river had been crossed. Ryūnosuke realized there was nothing that could be done, now, except bring the phone to her ear. "… M-Mom?"

Complete silence was the response. Feeling a little awkward, Ryūnosuke gave Nick an anxious look, before she continued.

"… It's me, Ryūnosuke, y-your daughter…"

This time, the only sound she received was the phone on the other end of the line clattering to the floor.

"Are you sure this is all right?" Ryūnosuke said as she, Nick, and Sakura walked down the street towards her new home.

Nick glanced at her. "What, the home-visit? It's fine."

"No, I mean the other tagalongs," Ryūnosuke glanced back past a grimacing Sakura at Ataru–who was still nonchalantly following and pretending to be looking anywhere else but at Sakura's backside through the white labcoat she wore as the school's nurse. Behind him Lum followed, staring at the back of his head with simmering annoyance, while Shinobu brought up the rear, being more prescient of their surroundings.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Nick brushed it off. "It's fine; the Missus ain't used to havin' just the five of us at home outside the usual dozen and a half, so at least there'll be enough dinner for everyone."

"Dozen and a half–" Ryūnosuke tilted her head. "Who else do you got in this family?!"

"Various boyfriends, girlfriends, that sorta thing," he replied before tapping his chest. "When you're here you're family."

Sakura perked up at the implication of a free meal for her visit, and quietly placed it as a point in Nick's favor.

Behind her, Ataru was similarly intrigued. The appeal of a free meal was impossible to say no to for him as well–but as they neared the gate of a high wooden-fenced property that occupied most of the block they'd been walking down, he couldn't help but feel like something was missing.

A thought occurred to him, one so striking that it diverted his attention away from the school nurse's exemplary posterior and scowl at the sky. "Like hell…"

Sakura didn't even want to know what Moroboshi was thinking about as they turned and walked through the wide-open gate. Inside the property was a moderately sized Japanese style home. It was L-shaped, with a wooden veranda surrounding it and a koi pond tucked nicely into the corner the building's shaped made. Next to the building, occupying the rest of the wide lot, were two much more modern and clearly newly installed semi-cylindrical Quonset huts arranged end to end and both sporting doors with electronic keypads and cameras watching their corners.

Ryūnosuke stared at it with Sakura. "The heck is that?"

"The farm," Nick replied. "It's what my wife does to pass the time while we're here."

Ryūnosuke brightened at that. "Oh yeah, what does she grow?"

"Plants," Nick quickly answered.

Ryūnosuke lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, but what kind of plants?"

Nick thought about that. "Hmm… green ones?"

Sakura looked over at him. "That doesn't narrow it down, much."

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I'm a teacher, Miss Sakura, not a farmer. I don't know every single plant my wife grows."

The glass doors at the front of the house, leading to its sitting room, opened and out onto the porch stepped a young woman close to Ryūnosuke's age. From the first glance, it was obvious that she was related to Nick, having his piercing green eyes and fiery red hair that reached to her shoulders but was also pulled into two bunches on the sides of her head above her ears. Her skin was some shades lighter, though. She wore a purple top with matching shorts, and lilac-colored boots that stopped midway up her thigh. On her head she wore a pair of lilac-colored headphones with cat-ear shaped extensions with miniature speakers in their centers. In her left hand she casually gripped a handheld gaming console as she leaned on the open doorway.

"Hey Dad, hey sis…" The girl said, before noticing Sakura, Shinobu, and the ever-unmistakable Lum Invader. "Oh… shoot."

Ataru materialized beside her, fading to existence like a device used for movement through time and relative dimensions in space. When she turned him, she leaned back a bit from him as he leaned closer while asking, "And who are you?"

Nick, his face bearing no expression but conveying a threatening darkness, answered. "My daughter."

And then Ataru was ten paces away from–and bowing politely to–the young woman. "It is an honor to meet you."

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Likewise. You're that Ataru guy, right?"

Ataru wanted to move closer, but he felt Nick's piercing gaze on him and remained where he stood. "The hero of mankind, Moroboshi Ataru, at your service, my lady."

The girl looked down at herself. "Dang, I am underdressed for meeting celebrities."

Nick introduced the others. "This is my daughter, Nicole."

Nicole threw out a v-sign. "You can call me Nick Jr. Not really. If you call me that, I'll bite your face."

Ataru opened his mouth, and Nick clamped a hand on his shoulder while Ryūnosuke clamped her own on the back of his neck.

With the message received, Ataru closed his mouth.

Shinobu, with a sigh, turned to address Lum's lack of reaction to Ataru hitting on a new girl–but Lum was not where she'd been hovering moments before. She was halfway over to the prefabricated huts, sniffing the air as she drifted towards the nearest one. "Lum…are you all right?"

Lum, sniffing the air, stopped and turned towards the voice. "Ah, Shinobu-cha… there's just something that smells funny coming from… there…"

She trailed off as she stared at Ataru, her gaze becoming glassy while her words drawled a bit at the end.

"You've been to a farm before," Shinobu said.

"Ah? Yes but…" Stopping, Lum shook her head and headed for the door. "Nevermind, let's go inside."

Nick gestured for everyone to follow and stepped onto the veranda. "Where's your mother?"

"We were just finishing up with yoga," Nicole said as she followed Nick and Ryūnosuke inside ahead of Sakura. "Mom took the twins upstairs, and I was gonna unwind with some Final Fantasy when you guys showed up."

"Cool," Nick said before he turned to Sakura. "Well, welcome to our humble abode, as you can see, we kinda stuck with the western aesthetic for the furniture but don't let that intimidate ya–take a seat, make yourselves at home."

As Nick said, the living room, covered wall to wall with white carpet, was furnished with two couches and a pair of sofa-like rocking chairs all pointed at a large flat screen television with a handful of gaming devices and a laptop set up at the base of the wall underneath it. Directly connected to the living room was the dining room, bordered at the kitchen by a set of cabinets that marked the line between the carpeting and kitchen tile floor.

Ryūnosuke walked over to the couch and sat on it, Nicole plopping down next to her. "So, what in the hay's goin' on?"

"Home visit, nurse Sakura thought Nick was my sugar daddy," Ryūnosuke replied.

"Ew, gross…" She then looked at her fellow classmates. "What about these guys?"

"They're nosy," Ryūnosuke replied.

Shinobu grew flustered. "We-well you didn't ask for us to not come along!"

Feeling very self-conscious, she found herself reluctant to just take a seat.

"I didn't say you couldn't, I'm just callin' it what it is," Ryūnosuke sassed back.

Ataru plopped down onto the couch across from Ryūnosuke and Nicole. "So, Nicole-chan, why haven't I seen you around school, hm~?"

"I'm home-schooled," Nicole replied.

Ataru leaned forward some, as Lum floated over and settled onto the couch right beside him, her nose tilted up as she continued sniffing the air. "Really? That's a shame… you'd be popular there."

"And that's why I'm home-schooled," Nicole said with a flat look. She looked in her father's direction and called out. "Because my parents fear my power and what I'd do with it!"

"Yer darn right," Nick called back.

Ataru folded his arms and nodded. "He is right to, even now you radiate a force that I can feel myself being drawn inexplicably towards and falling under."

"Knock it off or you can find yer own dang food," Nick added.

As Ataru remembered he was still deep in enemy territory, Nicole gave him a vicious smirk. "You heard the man; don't you got yer own tree to bark up, anyway?"

Ataru looked towards Lum. "It's not safe to be under trees during a lightning storm…"'

Right at that moment he felt a zap and let out a yelp. "Ah!"

Ryūnosuke and Shinobu both gave Ataru withering, admonishing looks… but Ataru seemed more surprised than in pain. In fact, he was gawking at Lum like something very different from the usual zap had happened.

When they looked at Lum, they too were confused. She was staring at Ataru with a more lovestruck expression than she normally gave when she was pleased to see him. Her eyes were half closed, and her lips parted like drool was about to leak from the corner of her mouth.

"She okay?" Nicole asked.

"Lum…?" Shinobu asked with concern as she took in the full red hue on the oni princess' face.

Lum mumbled something that the human ears in the room could only comprehend as windings font spoken aloud very fast, as she took Ataru's arm and hugged it while she leaned against him. Sharp pops of electricity followed, Ataru letting out yelps each time, before he physically dragged himself away from Lum and dove behind one of the cushioned chairs.

"At-cha-cha-cha…!" He said quickly as he stood up and clutched at his arm like it was numb. He sharply turned his head to look away from Lum. "See what I mean when I say that! Getting zapped is not fun, very painful!"

As Lum stared in confusion at Ataru's sudden withdrawal, her pretty blue-green eyes widened and the flush on her face disappeared into an ashen white. "I'm going out for fresh air!"

Without another word, much faster than when she entered, Lum flew to the door, out it, and straight up into the sky.

"That was weird," Ryūnosuke said.

Nicole, staring at Lum, let out a childish snicker. "She seems fine to me."

Ryūnosuke watched her go and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, whatever. More food for us."

In the kitchen, Nick noticed Lum leave, but paid no mind as he focused on Sakura's inspection. She was standing before a rather large pair of refrigerators that dominated the kitchen's right-hand wall.

"You have more than plenty of food, I see," Sakura said as she examined the foodstuffs, "Nothing is expired or wasted… there is a great deal of meat, though."

"We're a big family who need a lot of calories to get by," Nick replied.

"I am sure," Sakura closed the fridge, then turned to face him. "Just from seeing this place, there is no doubt the improvement to Ryūnosuke's quality of life. However, still call me skeptical of your intentions, Sherman."

"Normally I'd say that's fair, but you're literally worried I'm going to do what?" Nick held out an upraised hand perpendicular to his body. "Help her have a healthy home life with people who care about her?"

Sakura, mindful of the teens in the living room, spoke in a lowered voice. "There is something sinister that hangs in the air around you, a far from insignificant darkness that creeps outward from your center, like what I've seen is a shell that it wears to stay hidden."

Nick's eyebrows rose. "Pardon my troubled past, and whatever trips up them highfalutin' spiritual senses of yours, Ms. Sakura. Not every good father started as a good man–or even is a good man, for that matter."

"You know of that," Sakura murmured in surprise.

"I know a lot of things; I am a teacher after all. I also know you're here with good intentions, and that you're reasonable enough to not attack a man in his own house." Nick gestured to her. "I also reckon you've spent far too long amongst people who've given you a very black and white view of the world, and those power of yours aren't attuned to the compromises and circumstances that lead people to where they are."

He gestured to himself. "I've seen the exact sorta business the lack of a good parent starts up. You only need to look out into that living room to see two living examples… and a third that just floated out the door. It's that reminder that my kids or any kids I claim as mine get the parent they need–before it reaches the concern of is one deserved."

Sakura mulled on that, ignoring the undercurrent, then gave him a respectful nod. "I understand… if more men were like you, this world could truly be the shades of gray we try to portray it as."

"If only," Nick concurred, before he smiled. "Also, try not to be alarmed when you meet my wife, 'kay?"

Sakura grew curious. "Why so?"

"We're cut from the same cloth, her and me, and them senses of yours may cause you some distress."

At that moment, footsteps down the carpeted stairs leading to the house's second floor alerted Nick, and he headed back towards the sitting room. In the living room, Nicole looked up and waved at the woman who came to the bottom of the steps. From the first glance she was obviously American, meeting the stereotypes most Japanese associated with them in anime–she was very pretty, with shiny, straight blonde hair that reached down to her back, and wide blue eyes filled with matronly kindness when her gaze fell upon her guests. She wore a green maternity dress over a blue striped long-sleeve shirt, showing off her stomach rounded by pregnancy.

Making her way over, she bowed in greeting. "Welcome to my home, I'm Nicole's mother, Helena Sherman."

Shinobu was on her feet right away, bowing her head in turn. "Thank you for your hospitality, Helena-san."

"Oh, think nothing of it, I've wanted to meet Ryūnosuke's friends–and Ataru."

Ataru stepped up. "Madame, you wound me with your surgical exception, but mark my words I have been Ryūnosuke's closest ally and supporter of her expressing her femininity since we first met."

He looked her over. "Also, I expected the apple that is your daughter to not have fallen far from the tree, but here she lies right at your feet."

Helena placed a hand on her cheek, smiling at his flattery. "My, you're a charmer."

Ataru placed a hand on his chest. "This one only speaks the truth. Fair Miss Helena, I humbly request permission to court her."

Still smiling, Helena replied. "No."

Shinobu grabbed Ataru by the ear. "Are you serious?!"

Ryūnosuke grabbed him by his collar. "Yeah, what is wrong with you?!"

"The only time you're guaranteed to miss is if you don't take a shot," Ataru explained himself without shame.

Nicole snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "I like that, not a bad way to live."

Helena brought her fingertips over her mouth to suppress her giggle. "But it's a very good way to die."

She looked at Shinobu and Ryūnosuke. "Please, don't go grabbing others in this house like that, we don't do that without consent."

At that, both Ryūnosuke and Shinobu let him go as Nick and Sakura returned to the sitting room.

Helena placed a much gentler hand on Ataru's shoulder and gave him some very good life advice. "Take every shot you think you can but remember that the consequences fall on you if you miss."

Ataru was not prepared for how cold her hand was on his shoulder, or how he suddenly felt like he was ten years younger, and his very angry mother was bearing down on him for something he knew he did.

"And if you keep on acting like a horndog around my children, I may have to fix your attitude, sweetie," she warned.

Something deep down in the male genetic memory triggered in Ataru, and with a quick nod, he acquiesced. "Oh, uh… 'kay."

Helena drew back, and Ataru retreated to sit back down on the couch. Clapping her hands together she turned to Nick. "I want breakfast for dinner, how about you?"

Nick smiled at his wife. "Breakfast for dinner sounds amazing."

With that, Helena all but skipped past him. "Steak and Eggs, sausage, blueberry waffles~! Pancakes, bacon, home fried potatoes~!"

Ataru, seated on the couch, shook his head as he snapped out of the fearful episode Helena's touch had put him through. "Hmm… was that the color of the Conqueror?"

Shinobu shrugged her shoulders. "I think that was her just being a Mom."

Nicole confirmed it. "Yep. Mom's the scariest person in the house."

Nick chimed in jokingly. "She has to be, given all you animals she's brought into the world."

Sakura, intrigued by the ease with which Ataru was cowed, looked back at the woman now going from cabinet to cabinet in her kitchen, grabbing cooking implements. Recalling her interactions with Ataru's parents, her brow furrowed, and she let out a hum.

"You okay, there?" Nick asked.

Sakura murmured back. "I'm thinking about how my world needs to be grayer."

"So, you're homeschooled?" Shinobu asked Nicole. "What do you do when you're not studying?"

Nicole sighed. "Mostly work on the hydro farm or playing video games. I'm not exactly allowed to go much anywhere without Mom or Dad along."

"Mostly to prevent problems," Nick said.

Sakura looked at him. "Problems?"

Nick nodded towards Ataru. "Problems."

Sakura understood and felt even more assured of this household for Ryūnosuke.

Nicole grumbled, before she took Ryūnosuke's arm. "But now that you're living with us, I can now go around town with someone who isn't my parents or my cousin!"

Ryūnosuke flushed, as Nicole looked at her with such expectant eyes. "Y-yeah, I'd look out fer ya, you're basically like my little sister now, right?"

"I mean, given everything, you are my big sister. We're only just getting to know each other now."

Ryūnosuke's face turned almost as red as Nicole's hair as being not just a girl, not just a daughter, but a sister–and a big one at that–hit her straight in the heart.

Shinobu thought it was the most precious thing in the world.

Sakura was genuinely amazed by how happy Ryūnosuke looked as she bashfully accepted the role of big sister from Nicole.

Ataru, his head formerly cleared of his lustful thoughts, thought Nicole cuddling up to Ryūnosuke was pretty cute. It was then that a thought occurred to the young man–one that reached back to the earlier afternoon when Nick was confronting Ryūnosuke's former tormentor that wasn't him.

"… This and that…" Ataru whispered.

The pleasant moment abruptly screeched to a halt, when a familiar voice bellowed from outside.

"FONTAAAAAAAAAAAAAINE! GET YOUR BITCH ASS OUT HERE!"

As one, Sakura, Shinobu, and Ataru all spoke. "Ah, forgot about him."

Ryūnosuke palmed her face. "Oh no… he knows where I live…"

Nick was unbothered. "It actually makes this easier for me."

He called the kitchen. "My star~"

Helena made her way over into his line of sight. "Yes, my night?"

"If you're not too busy, could you come out with us, the sire is here."

Helena's eyes narrowed, and her pleasant features lost their warmth. "I see. I'll be right out."

"You know, old timer," Ryūnosuke said as she stood in a dressing room closet at a clothing store, "Last summer, when I started attendin' school here? I got a Sailor Fuku from Moroboshi, Mendō, and a few of the other dumbass boys."

Outside of the dressing room, standing beside Nicole who was wearing a cute floral print sundress she had yet to get permission to buy but was happy to take selfies in anyway, Nick cocked an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, but rather than just accept it… I decided that I wasn't worthy of wearin' it unless I beat my old man, first," Ryūnosuke replied.

Nick hummed. "And what happened?"

"The old man got it from me and burned it." She sighed. "I hadn't been able to get ahold of another since…"

Nicole stopped her Instagramming to look back and forth between her father and the closed closet door as her father asked. "What did you learn from that, kiddo?"

"Something I ignored… and kept ignoring until around now," Ryūnosuke replied, "That if I'm gonna be a chick, I need to let go of that macho crap."

"Close…" Nicole said, before looking at her father.

Nick nodded affirmatively. "Nothing so extreme there, hon. Ain't nothing wrong with having a bit of pride, yer human after all. Ain't nothin' macho or girly about it, it's the human condition."

Ryūnosuke called back through it. "I guess not, but what I had wasn't pride. It was straight up stupidity… I got beat up a few days ago, and even with some people offerin' to help, I was so hurt and embarrassed from that L, I just ignored them and threw myself at the first chance to get the get back, yannow?"

"Yeah, I was there when I found you," Nick replied cheekily.

Speaking in a more somber tone, Ryūnosuke continued. "When you found me there by the river… all I could think about was how I could try to get back at that weasel… or my father, or Moroboshi… all the people who don't really care about what I wanted or who I was. And I started realizin' that no matter how much I fought, I would never get to where I wanted to be. I'd been pummeling my Dad for years, and thwacking Moroboshi non-stop… but nothing ever changed."

She opened the door and stepped out dressed in the Sailor Uniform she'd always wanted to wear, but never got the chance. "Then you showed up… and when you offered to help, something I had turned down before out of that dumb macho crap my Dad drilled into my head. But for the first time, it didn't feel like someone tryin' to get me to do what they wanted, so I just said eff it… and accepted."

She looked down at herself, then at her reflection in the dressing room door's mirror. "I wish I had said yes to those two Furinkan girls… I wish I'd just taken the sailor fuku when Moroboshi and those other numbnuts gave it to me. I wish… that I had the nerve to stand up to the crap my sperm donor not only made me put up wit–but put in my head, too."

Turning to Nick and Nicole, she bowed to them. "… But looking at it from where I am now, I figure that I couldn't have done it alone. Not once, not ever. So, thanks… thanks so much for doin' this for me… for lettin' me be a girl."

Nick reached out and rested a hand atop Ryūnosuke's head. When she looked up at him, he gently ruffled up her hair.

"Sometimes a little help is all anyone needs to get to where they need to go, kiddo. And the role of a parent is to give their kids that push," he said. "I am far too late in bein' there for you, and I failed ya in not bein' able to find you until now… but from here on in? You need yer old man? He's right here for you to lean on."

Ryūnosuke smiled up at Nick, and rather than try to keep the tears that formed in her eyes down like 'a real man' would… she let them flow and make her smile even brighter.

Stepping onto the veranda and then onto the path that led to it, Nick walked out into the front yard of his home and over towards the gate. There, wreathed in shimmering air, his body seized with power, was the elder Fujinami–his gaze locked on Nick's every movement.

Behind Nick, Ataru, Shinobu, Ryūnosuke, Nicole, and Sakura emerged onto the veranda to watch the confrontation. Across the front yard from the house, Lum was perched on the overhang above the veranda, watching the confrontation carefully.

"Did you seriously expect me to not follow you to the ends of the Earth, Fontaine?" Fujinami-san asked.

Nick shook his head. "No, I knew this was a comin'. I just didn't want it t'be in the middle of class, is all."

He bared his teeth slightly in a tight grin that was none too friendly. "… Yep… them kids didn't need to see what's about to happen."

Fujinami-san agreed. "For the first time in a long time, we agree on something."

He looked over at Ryūnosuke, leaning against the one of the veranda's supports with a dispassionate expression, before returning his attention to Nick. "Do you remember when you believed? When you understood?"

"When I was ignorant and misinformed?" Nick nodded. "Sure do. Wann't the first time, either. Everyone makes mistakes, some more than others."

"And some bigger than others," Fujinami retorted.

Nick's eyes narrowed, his expression darkening. "No bigger mistake in my life than trustin' you on anything."

The front door of the home slid open again, and out stepped Helena. In her arms she held a small child of about six years old, a boy with bright blonde hair like hers and green eyes like his father's. Trailing beside her was a girl with her father's red hair, and her mother's blue eyes.

Shinobu looked at the two children and cooed at how cute they were.

"Hector, Imogen," Helena said to the children gently, "Your father's about to destroy a man."

Both children, sleepy as they were, perked right up when they saw their father facing off against a strange looking man. Shinobu cast Helena a weird look at that.

Sakura looked at Helena. "Is it a good idea for them to see… this?"

Helena nodded. "It is important they have no illusions about their father. His good side and bad should be on full display." She glared at Fujinami-san. "But most importantly, they need to see what he does when someone threatens family."

"I see…" Sakura watched pointedly as well, ready to see the resolve of a father.

The women and children watching the confrontation did not escape Fujinami-san's notice, and he looked over towards Helena, the small children, and Nicole. Immediately recognizing that wild hair, his usually stoic scowl deepened into a glower.

"Oi, Fontaine… that woman, those kids… are they… yours?" He asked.

Nick's smile returned, slight and far from his eyes, but there in the form of a smirk. "As a matter of fact. The lovely lady is the one who tied me down and branded me with her name–my wife of twenty-two years, Helena. And the kiddos are my fourth, Nicole, seventh Imogen, and eighth Hector."

Sakura, Shinobu, and Ryūnosuke all looked at Helena, a tad baffled. "… Twenty-two years?!"

The woman barely looked twenty-two-years-old, let alone married for that long.

Understanding their looks, Helena rested a hand on her cheek. "What can I say? I'm a very happy wife~"

Ataru, on the other hand, noted a discrepancy. "… Oi…"

And Fujinami-san directly called it out. "I'm sorry… Fontaine… do you mean to say that you… you… seduced my wife while you were already married?"

A pin drop could be heard, as even Lum stopped thousand-yard-staring at Ataru to look at Nick when she heard that.

Ryūnosuke, shocked, broke the brief lull. "H-hold on… what do you mean you seduced her while you were married?!"

Sakura was startled. "… Is… is that true?"

Ataru folded his arms and nodded. "Hmm… I see… so that's what kind of man you really are…"

Nick shrugged his shoulders. "It's the first true thing he's probably ever said to any of you," he admitted, "I did indeed seduce your wife, and we even fell in love with each other. Still are."

Fujinami managed to grin rather smugly. "And you would say that… in front of your wife?"

Helena smirked. Sakura did not know what to make of that smirk, but she certainly felt what Nick had warned her about in that instant.

Nick beamed. "Of course, she's the one who told me to do it!"

Sakura, Shinobu, and Ryūnosuke all pitched over as one, falling flat on their faces–while Ataru's lower jaw disengaged from his skull and dropped towards the ground. Nicole, meanwhile, buried her face in her palm and sighed. "Oh, here we go…"

Fujinami-san was taken entirely off his game in that instant, recoiling from Nick in likewise jaw-dropping disbelief. "EHH?! WHAT?!"

"Y'see," Nick went on, "Unlike most salarymen who work far from home so mangaka don't have to draw Dads without puttin' 'em in the dirt–I make a concerted effort to keep in contact with me and mine. Keeps the bonds strong and the hearts fond. And when I told my bright burnin' star of one Fujinami Masako, she said to me…"

Nick offered his hand up and presented Helena, who continued. "'Nicholas Fontaine Sherman, you take that woman, make her yours, and bring her to me, so she can be ours.'"

Bringing his hand back, he rested it on his chest. "I like to say I'm a good and obedient husband, so rather than disobey and disappoint, I cucked you one good just for her."

Nicole, who was now aiming her smart phone at the scene, kept her face in her palm. "They're so embarrassin'… "

Sakura was spellbound at Helena. "… You… you really just let your husband… and it was fine?"

Helena nodded. "Of course; I love my husband very much. He's the father of all my children and one of the most important people in my life along with them. If there was anyone who I needed to share the happiness he brought me with, it was Masako."

She smiled to Ryūnosuke. "Your mother is such a kind and sweet woman. Just like you're a darling young lady."

Turning her head, she glared death at Fujinami-san. "Neither of you should be subjected to the whims of a delusional child who treats the women in his life as playthings for his immature amusement."

Bringing her thumb to just below her eye. She tugged down her lower eyelid and stuck her tongue out him. "SO THAT'S WHY WE CUCKED YOU!"

"That's right~!" Nick said. "Did you know your ex-wife is partial to women as well as men?"

"Sure is~!" Helena sang. "She kept Nick and I REAL warm at night!"

Nick pointed at him. "Bro you coulda HAD that, you worked on a beach surrounded by ladies in bikinis, and she was INTO IT!"

Helena swooned. "But no, you were too busy being a little punk to care what she wanted, huh?"

Shinobu was in a complete daze. "I… I am not hearing this… she… they…?"

That people like these existed in the world struck her dumb.

Ataru was green with envy, no more needed to be said.

Lum sat cross-legged on the roof, her head tilted to one side as she replayed what she heard over and over in her head.

Sakura just stared at the two older adults, jeering and mocking Ryūnosuke's father… no… sperm donor like a couple of teenagers. She understood completely what Nick meant now, that they were cut from the same cloth–the darkness that radiated from Nicholas, Helena's was such that it cast a shadow upon his.

But both were bright as the noon day sun compared to what she could see emanating from the very man they were mocking.

Ryūnosuke, who had been made to learn so many things in the last few days… watched as the two people who barged into her life to save her from it, mocked and belittled the man who tormented her for most of it. All she could do was smile bigger and bigger, as she watched her sperm donor get angrier and angrier.

"Doesn't feel good, does it?" She asked viciously. "Gettin' laughed at because YOU'RE SO PATHETIC!"

"That's the spirit, sweetie~!" Helena cheered.

"Fontaine," he said abruptly, and Nick stopped laughing.

"Myes?" Nick asked.

Fujinami assumed a front stance. "I am going to defeat you, then I am going to take back everything you've taken from me. My son, my wife, my happiness. Then, I am going to take more. Your wife, your family, everything you've ever achieved. It will. Be mine."

Nick smirked but didn't assume a stance of his own. "And there it is~"

Fujinami-san, the ground shattering beneath his feet, fell upon Nick with a mighty haymaker. His fist surged like a raging demon, aiming to smash into and through his jaw, but Nick had stepped out of the way before he even swung it, and was already behind him. "Hey Nicki, remember when I said I was gonna show you that move your older sister picked up in Shanghai?"

Nicole brightened. "You're gonna try it?"

"Yeah, pay attention!" Nick replied before he once again sidestepped to the right, avoiding Fujinami's high kick. "Whoo doggie, I can feel the heat off that one!"

"FONTAINE!" Fujinami yelled, coming at him with another barrage of punches.

"It's Fontaine Sherman!" Nick replied as he bobbed and weaved around each punch with such a wide margin that a truck could be driven safely through it. "When I married my wife, I took her name. She insisted on it, and I obliged, but can you blame me? Look at her."

Fujinami roared and redoubled his effort, but Nick circled around him, escaping his punches and staying out the reach of his kicks. "If you were ever looking for Masako, you should've looked for her name, too."

He leaned back, his body curling back below a left cross. "Masako Fontaine Sherman. Of course, not officially. Marriage laws be a shame like that, but she even puts it on her business cards."

Nick dipped again to his right, as Fujinami tried to punch down, and hit only the dirt of their front yard.

As Fujinami ripped his fist from the small crater he made, Nick looked back at Ryūnosuke. "By the way, that Fujinami nonsense is done. You're Ryūnosuke Fontaine Sherman, now and forever."

Ryūnosuke felt the tears fill her eyes as she grinned and pumped a fist. "Sure thing, Pop!"

"That's my daughter!" Nick chimed back before side-hopping from another punch. "Whoah!"

"THAT'S MY SON!" Fujinami roared.

"My goodness, you are a lame," Nick said of his skills as a fighter. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're this pathetic. You've spent the last sixteen years beating up on a little girl–thinking you're hot to trot the whole time."

"WHAT GIRL?!" Fujinami roared back. "YOU KEEP CALLING MY SON, MY CHILD, SOMETHING HE WILL NEVER BE! SOMETHING I WILL NEVER LET HER BECOME!"

The circle kept moving, Nick leading and Fujinami-san following–their footprints in the dust becoming a spiral curling tighter and tighter.

"Did I just catch that?" Nick dipped under yet another punch.

"HE IS MY FIRST BORN! I NAMED HIM! I RAISED HIM!" Fujinami yelled, with every desperate brawler's punch and kick. "HE CAN ONLY BE MY SON! HE IS MY HEIR! HAMACHIYA CANNOT GO ON WITHOUT A MAN!"

"It was never about her," Nick said flatly, coldly, as Fujinami's fury turned hotter and wilder. "All you ever cared about was that stupid tea shop."

Fujinami kicked; Nick slid to the right. "Not Masako."

Fujinami punched; Nick stepped to the right. "Not Ryūnosuke."

Fujinami lunged with his whole body, and Nick just turned right and walked away. "Just you, and that damn tea shop."

Reaching the center of the spiral, Nick turned to face Fujinami, a building breeze catching his long hair and blowing it to his side.

The same breeze hit Helena, Sakura, and the children on the veranda at the corner of the house. As Sakura noticed the building, and the two men facing off in front of the house… her eyes widened.

"… What is he…?" She asked before she looked beyond what others could see and recoiled. "… Ah."

Nicole, smartphone in hand, stepped up to the edge of the veranda, a big grin on her face as she kept her camera locked on the scene.

"Everything I've taken from you, and made mine?" Nick raised his right hand and gestured for Fujinami to come at him.

"You never deserved in the first place."

With every ounce of his rage, Fujinami just let out a hysterical scream, and leaped at Nick, arms outstretched to grab his neck and wring it until it snapped. Turning in place one final time, Nick went low and then came up and launched his first attack since his opponent started swinging a precisely aimed uppercut that slammed into his chin and lifted him off his feet.

The breeze that was building abruptly exploded into a gale, as a full-blown whirlwind shot up from around Nick, carrying Fujinami spiraling high into the air above the Sherman residence. Spinning at high speed at first, his body began tumbling end over end as the powerful currents of air bounced him back and forth like thousands of full-bodied blows from the same trucks that could drive the gaps between his strikes against Nick before.

Lum had to hunker down onto the roof, crouched down and curled up to keep from being blown away. The wind whipped at the witnesses on the porch, Nicole screaming a cheer as she fought to keep from losing her phone. "FREAKING AWESOME, DAD!"

Ryūnosuke, buffeted by the wind, watched as her sire flailed around high in the air–hanging there like balloon in the breeze–before gravity overcame the fading whirlwind and he plummeted back down.

Below him, Nick looked at his right arm and grumbled. "Yeah, that wasn't even a quarter as strong as what was suggested. Sheesh… what did I get wrong?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well, I got the tornado part right, and that's the hard part."

Reaching up with that right hand, he caught Fujanmi's falling body on his upraised palm. The nearly ripped apart man letting out a painful squawk as he was further broken by the impact.

Ryūnosuke and Ataru both winced and looked away, while Shinobu looked faint.

Helena brought her hands to her heart and sighed. "Oh, if I weren't already along, we'd be making another baby tonight~"

Sakura wanted that happiness. Not exactly this… but definitely to be able to look on her fiancé the same way Helena looked at her husband.

I should give Tsubame a call. She thought.

Nick looked up at the softly gurgling man all but impaled upon his hand, and then let out a sigh. "You done?"

"… I…won't… let… you. I will… die… before… I let… her go…" He groaned. "… Hamachiya… must…"

Shaking his head, Nick replied. "Dyin' is off the table, Fuji. I won't let you."

He heaved Fujinami to the ground, into a heap. "You deserve so much worse, and I look forward to you thanking me for it."

He turned to Helena. "Helena, my star, call The Miz to clean up this hot mess."

The little girl who'd been following Helena like a duckling then shot off like a pistol round, dashing over to her father and springing up for him to catch. "DADDY!"

Nick caught her. "Heya Imo~" He nuzzled her. "You see that? Wasn't it cool?"

"YOU MADE HIM FLY!" Imogen said, holding her arms up high.

The boy, Hector, squirmed from Helena's arms and rushed over as well, hopping up and down to be picked up as well–which Nick did not hesitate to do.

"Hey now, what'd you think of your old man there, son?" He asked him.

Hector put on a bit of a look, a precociously snobby one. "Mmm… Fatima's was better."

Nick pouted at him. "… Yeah, it was. She's just cooler than me."

Hector hugged him. "It's okay, you can be better next time."

Hauling both his kids over without a care in the world, he stepped up to his newest child, and smiled down at her. "What about you, kiddo? Was your 'Pop' cool or what?"

With a big smile, Ryūnosuke reached up and gently punched Nick in the chest. "Yeah, you were pretty cool."

Ataru, stepping up behind Ryūnosuke, hummed in contemplation–then poked the small of her back, making her leap forward with a squeak of surprise and collide with Nick's front. As soon as she bumped into him, Hector and Imogen both hugged her, and Nick did his best to draw her in with them.

Shinobu, uncomprehending, gawked at Ataru as he nodded sagely, like he had done something for reasons known only to him.

In his mind, the logic was plain and clear as day. A happy Ryūnosuke is one with a family that loves and supports her. If I can support her happiness, she will become more beautiful and womanlier than she already is–which will even better for dating!

He nodded once more. It was flawlessly thought.

Ryūnosuke looked up at Nick. "You weren't just sayin' all that junk to make that jerk mad, weren't ya? Are you all that close with my Mom?"

Helena joined the hug, embracing her from behind. "We sure are, sweetheart. You're a Sherman now, one of us now and forever."

Ryūnosuke liked that. "Oh… so uh… how does that work? I mean, does this mean I got two Moms now? Who do I call what?"

"You call your mother, Mom. I can be Helena," Helena replied.

Ryūnosuke blushed bashfully. "… I kinda wanna call you Mom, too…"

Helena cooed. "Aw… you can call me whatever."

Nicole strolled by. "This moment has been cute and all, but I was told something about Breakfast For Dinner."

Helena gave her a sidelong look. "I'll get here faster with your help, young lady."

Cracking her knuckles, Nicole obliged. "Dibs on making the waffles, then… you never use enough blueberries.

Nick pulled away, leaving Helena to carry Imogen while he held Hector. "Come on, let's head back inside."

Sakura gestured to Fujinami. "What about him?"

"Fuck 'im," Nick replied. "He's not out problem anymore."

"Nick," Helena said sharply, "Language. Not in the house, especially in front of the kids."

Flinching, Nick held up a hand in contrition as Hector and Imogen let out "Ooooooohs!" at his foul word. With a shrug of her shoulders, Sakura followed them inside, with Shinobu and Ataru being last.

A twitching heap where he still lay, Fujinami watched as his son disappeared in the house–his broken body unable to move even as he wanted to reach out and plea for him not to leave. Gurgling, he tried to inch his hand towards the house, using all his willpower to move… when Lum floated down to the ground in front of him.

Looking up at Lum, Mr. Fujinami managed to open his mouth despite the shattered jaw. "… S-save… my… s-son…"

Lum looked back at the house, then at him. "I think I understand humans a little more, now. Ryūnosuke-cha hated you all along. But not as much as you hated her."

Fujinami stared, puzzled at Lum, before electricity began to crackle around her body… first as small pops and zaps, but soon growing to the roar of an industrial tesla coil.

"I owe you one zap… for every time I wanted to zap you but didn't because I thought you were just being like an Oni," she said.

Inside the house, everyone jumped when there was a tremendous thundering roar, followed by a boom of thunder that caused the lights to flicker briefly. As everyone looked to one another, confused, Lum floated away from the massive scorch mark on the ground where a now spasming Fujinami lay, and off into the sky.

She was relived, her zaps were back to normal after that weirdness in the Sherman home. Once she was high enough, she looked back down at it, and where Ataru was probably putting his foot in his mouth trying to flirt. She wasn't too worried about it, everyone in that house seemed to not take his antics seriously and there was no way he was going to get anywhere near Sherman-sensei's daughter with her parents around.

A blush spread across her face and she hugged herself as she thought about what had happened in the living room. "That was so embarrassing… getting like that around Darling, in front of everyone like that…"

She smiled and looked up into the sky, where she could see her UFO hovering among the clouds. "I think I'll stay the night on my ship to cool off…"

… And after a good night's sleep, she'd try to find what made her act so unexpectedly.

Ryūnosuke is free, but for how long...?