Author's Note: Back from my break, so as it turns out I was having a low fever for a bit and then it turned out to be Covid and that fucked me over for a while and it put me off writing. I only started to feel well enough recently to write so the quality of writing may not be as good as I like.
After Markus had made his deal with Kashiwagi, he requested to be dropped back close to his place, as he did not desire to stay in a Yakuza Car any longer. Besides, Markus felt like a target the longer and longer he stayed with Kashiwagi. Kashiwagi complied with Markus's requests, but before he finally let Markus go, he sent him a card of some kind and an old-fashioned cellphone to him, causing Markus to look at Kashiwagi in confusion as he explained their purpose.
"With that card, the rest of the Tojo Clan now knows you're under our protection, meaning you're less likely to be harassed by them. But that doesn't mean you will avoid being harassed by them in general, but that card will aid you in avoiding unnecessary confrontation with our people." Kashiwagi explained to Markus on the importance of the card as he nodded at that. "The phone is so we can talk later on if there is anything important that either you or I will need to share with one another, and that phone is on an undisclosed number, so very few will know to check in and tap on our calls." Kashiwagi said to him.
"I see." Markus nodded as Kashiwagi's car eventually stopped. "I suppose this is where we part ways for now then." Markus noted as Kashiwagi nodded. "I hope you don't take offense to this, but I sincerely hope that we don't meet anytime soon or at all if possible." Markus said with a small joking tone, that caused the driver to scowl at him as Kashiwagi snorted in amusement at that.
"Most normal people would prefer not to deal with Yakuza more than once, as such I can understand where you're coming from." Kashiwagi said as Markus got out. "Either way, I do wish you the best of luck Markus." Kashiwagi said with a small pleasant smile as Markus waved him off.
"Take care." Markus said as he watched as the Tojo Clan Cars drove off and once they were far away, Markus let himself calm down a bit as he let out a small sigh. He really hoped he made the right choice when it came to asking the Yakuza for help with Hikaru and the other infiltrators, he didn't have any combat resources and nothing to work with save for what he brought with him. And with Ai, Ruby, and Aqua in the potential crossfire or as one of the main targets, he couldn't take any chances.
Then he decided to head back home, if he was correct, Ai, Ruby, Aqua, and Nino should be making themselves comfortable in his place now. He only hoped that Ai kept Aqua and Ruby away from his room, while he did let Ai know about his origins, he still had plenty of potentially hazardous materials in his room that could be fatal to toddlers like Aqua and Ruby. Though in all honestly, his biggest worry was Aqua, since he did break into his room before.
As Kashiwagi's car drove away and Kashiwagi contemplated the words of Markus for a little bit longer, his driver spoke. "Patriarch Osamu." He spoke up to him respectfully.
"Is there something the matter?" Kashiwagi questioned his driver.
"I mean no disrespect, but why did you let that civilian disrespect you the way he did? You're the Patriarch of the Kazuma Family, and more importantly, you're one of the top officials within the Tojo Clan. So why is it that you let a single civilian stranger act so disrespectfully towards you, and by extension to Kazuma Family and Tojo Clan?" The Driver couldn't help but ask him as Kashiwagi smiled at the question.
"I have a simple question for you to answer before I answer your question." Kashiwagi said calmly as the Driver looked confused at that. "Are you willing to answer my question before I answer yours?" He asked.
"Of course, Patriarch Kazuma!" The Driver said enthusiastically and loyally as Kashiwagi smiled at his loyal man.
"How long have I been a Yakuza by your knowledge?" He questioned as the Driver blinked a bit and struggled to remember exactly how long he's been a Yakuza for.
"Over twenty years if not thirty years, going back to the early eighties?" He asked.
"You're correct, I have been in the Yakuza for close to three decades now at this point in my life." Kashiwagi said to him. "As such I have seen my fair share of men that left me in both awe and in worry." He started off. "As such, when you have been in the business for as long as I have, you start to get a sense of the kind of people you are interacting with. Which in our world as Yakuza, is especially important since you never know what kind of men you might be dealing with." Kashiwagi said to the Driver.
"Of course." The Driver nodded at that, before he caught onto what Kashiwagi was hinting at. "Do you mean to say that Markus is on par with those kinds of people we must be wary of?" He questioned in concern.
Kashiwagi snorted. "If it was simple as that, then I would have been simple polite and nothing else. No, there is something about Markus that once reminded me of a man that I once mentored and looked after as my own subordinate." Kashiwagi said with a fond smile on his face. "Markus, despite being rough around the edges, reminded me of one Kiryu Kazuma." He stated to the shock and surprise of the Driver.
"The Dragon of Dojima himself?! That Kiryu Kazuma?!" The Driver exclaimed in surprise at Kashiwagi's words.
"Of course." Kashiwagi said calmly. "Despite being different on the outsides, but on the inside they're the same kind of men. Men who would be willing to go through an entire army of men to protect those they cherish. The same kind of conviction that leads them to take on serious threats no matter the risks to their health. The same kind of code that they both operate on and follow strictly." Kashiwagi said to the Driver.
The Driver was silent for a moment, as he was stunned by what he heard but regained his composure to speak again. "And you believe that this…Markus is on par with the man famed as the Star of Kamurocho? The Dragon of Dojima himself?" He asked.
"Of course, he's the same kind of man, and I do not know about you, however I prefer not to engage in any sort of disagreement with men of their nature." Kashiwagi said as he stared at of the car window with a neutral look on his face. "Making an enemy of that kind will surely spell unnecessary danger for us." He said as the Driver became silent and Kashiwagi simply kept to himself as his car drove him back to base.
Markus simply let out a grunt of relief as he finally made it back home, after passing by Wu-Fei and Kai-Ming, and exchanging some much-needed word with them, he was finally ready to put an end to this day. Then he saw his land lady. "Ah hello there Hui-Fang, nothing hectic going on now is there?" He greeted the old Chinese woman pleasantly as she scoffed at his words as if it was some kind of joke.
"Hectic? Markus, you brought back a woman and two kids and now they come back with another woman, which makes me wonder what's going on in that apartment of yours." Hui-Fang said suspiciously at Markus, who only blinked back and held his gaze for a moment with her, before they both started chuckling.
"Come now, Hui-Fang you know that I don't like to invite trouble into my home, and besides, the family are friends of mine and needed help is all." Markus reminded her as Hui-Fang waved him off in good nature.
"Yes, yes, I know Markus, but I also know the signs of a woman in love as well, I may be old, but I am not senile yet, she clearly carries a torch for you." Hui-Fang said teasingly as Markus snorted at that.
"Think you may be too late on that front." Markus retorted as Hui-Fang's eyes widened. "Because this afternoon, she confessed and I accepted." He answered as Markus had a happy smile on his face. "That's right Hui, this guy is no longer in the singles department." He chimed with a cheesy tone.
Hui-Fang was silent before she started laughing happily and clapped for him. "Well seems like this old lady got outplayed!" She cackled as she smacked Markus's shoulder. "Bah, you shouldn't be listening to a grandma trying to incite you, when you out to be with your woman, good luck and take care Markus!" She said cheerfully as Markus chuckled as he took the elevator to get to his apartment.
And as Markus opened the door, he announced himself. "If you guys are here, I'm back from my meeting." Markus said casually, catching the attention of Nino, Ai, Ruby, and Aqua. And the moment that Ai saw Markus was by the door, she quickly got up and rushed to Markus, just as he got inside and closed the doors just in time, as Ai hugged him hard tenderly. "Hey Ai." Markus's voice got softer. "I'm back now." He said tenderly.
"Welcome back Markus." Ai's voice spoke back as it came muffled since she was hugging directly into Markus's chest face first. Which was to be expected since Markus was tall for a man, and Ai was on the shorter side. And as Ai stopped hugging Markus, she looked up with a relieved look on her face. "I was so worried; I was concerned when you went off with those Yakuza and their Patriarch." She said to him with a relieved tone before it suddenly became anxious. "You didn't do anything crazy like join the Yakuza now, did you Markus?" Ai suddenly asked seriously. "Because if you did, that's going to make Ichigo burst a vein at the fact that I'm now dating a criminal." She explained as Nino snickered in amusement at that.
"Ai, considering I'm a dimensionally displaced Courier with no actual ID, I think me being potentially a Yakuza is less of an issue to worry about if Ichigo ever finds out about my past." Markus said as Ai blinked at that, before she nodded seeing the logic. "Besides, I didn't join the Tojo Clan or the Kazuma Family, if you were worried. We made an…arrangement of sorts that would benefit the both of us." He then said, catching Ai's attention and worry at that.
"What kind of arrangement?" Ai asked in worry. "It's nothing illegal, is it? Oh, please don't tell me you got involved with the dirty side of the Tojo Clan, the mess and chaos they left can still be felt ten years later." Ai quickly spoke up in worry.
"Calm down, it's related to Hikaru." Markus said more quietly as Ai felt a chill down her spine at that. "Apparently Hikaru is working with someone, who's connected to a larger group, that's messing with the Tojo Clan, so in exchange for info and details, I made a deal to keep ourselves aware in both knowledge and some potential helpers to deal with them or guard against them." He quickly explained to Ai.
"What? Why did you make an agreement with them Markus? They're Yakuza, they're dangerous people." Ai said in worry, not seeing a reason for Markus to deal with them.
"Because I value your safety more." Markus stated, causing Ai to look surprised as he elaborated. "The Patriarch of the Kazuma Family promised not only to help us keep a look out for Hikaru and any of his associates. But he also promised to send men to protect you guys, as undercover bodyguards." Markus explained to her. "And in exchange, he wants every possible scrap of information on Hikaru and his associate."
Ai turned silent at that before she looked at Markus with a complicated expression on her face. "Was my safety, really worth it for you to work with Yakuza? I know that you said that the danger that Hikaru and co posed a serious threat, but was it truly worth it to put yourself in the same lineup as them?" She couldn't help but ask. 'Am I really worth all that trouble for you Markus?' Was what Ai seem to be asking through her questions at the core of her question for Markus's reasons.
"Yes." Markus said rather bluntly to Ai, that she actually blinked in surprise for a moment. "You are worth that much to me, and I rather suffer some indignity than lose you." He stated so firmly that Ai couldn't help but flush a bit at his words. To Markus, Ai was being silly with her thoughts, he agreed to be in a relationship with her, and even beforehand, he still cared a lot about her safety. To simply ally with the Tojo Clan, was not ideal for Markus in any conceivable way, especially since he was trying to stay under the radar, but Ai meant a lot more to him than his desire for secrecy.
"Markus." Ai whispered with a smile as she then hugged him again and kissed him gently on the lips, to the excitement of Nino, and the dismay of both of her kids. As Markus simply kissed her back and enjoyed the moment before they both ended their kiss upon needing air. "That reminds me, since you're back home, what do you want to do for dinner?" She asked Markus before she became thoughtful. "Though eating Chinese Food is okay with me, I would like some variety in my culinary experience." She added in.
"I'm actually pretty okay with just about anything really." Nino chimed in. "I haven't eaten a lot of Chinese food so anything is actually pretty interesting with me." She said before she sheepishly looked at her body and added more in an embarrassed tone. "But nothing too fattening please? I have to look good and all, and I really don't want mess up my waistline if possible." She chimed to Markus.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! If you're taking requests Markus, I want something sweeter like maybe sticky rice or maybe shrimp dumplings!" Ruby said in excitement now excited at the potential of eating something unique and tasty.
"Then I would like to make some requests as well then, I want some fried tofu skin." Aqua added in jokingly as well.
Markus simply sighed as Ai giggled at their reaction. "You people are going to drain me dry of my patience and money, aren't you?" He said with a tired yet amused look on his face. "I suppose this is what happens if I open up my place for people to come and go." Markus said as he remembered, fondly, the memories of when he and his companions hung out in House's Lucky 38 Suites and Bar back then.
God above did he miss them so much, after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, all of his companions had gone their own way on their own paths. Cassidy decided to rebuild her Caravan once more, and with the fallout of Crimson Caravan and the Van Graffs fucking around with other Caravans so they can maintain a monopoly, the NCR put the bulk of their bueractatic weight on those two and placed some nasty punishments on those two for trying to monopolize the NCR's money.
Boone went back with First Recon, after some much-needed heart to heart talk and taking out Legion Fuckers at Bitter Springs. Last he heard; Arcade became a teacher further West in the NCR Territory. Veronica finally found new life as part of the Iron Revolutionaries, now advanced non-military equipment and matter while allowing the core parts of the Brotherhood to live on. Lily finally regained enough senses and decided to go out exploring to find out more about her past, but not before giving Markus a bone crushing hard hug before he left. Raul decided to become a full-time mechanic and devote himself to fixing things, there was enough killers in the wasteland as he puts it.
Rex met Roxie from Big Empty, and he quickly had to get help from the Rangers to wrangle up all their cybernetic puppy terrors from chewing and killing anything that they could get their teeth on. It was also kind of embarrassing that he had to call for Ranger backup on this. Bright side was that the Rangers loved the adorable little potential murder machines and thanked him greatly for giving them gifts in the future. Even Hanlon got in on the action with his own little cyber puppy to raise.
ED-E…he was going to miss that guy, was one of his constant companions, especially all the way into the Divide. But like usual, ED-E had his own thing to do and continued on East for reasons unknown to Markus. Which he suspects had something to do with what Dr. Whitley, ED-E's creator had in mind for him before he sent him off with the data stored inside of him. Markus honestly didn't know for sure, but he only hoped that ED-E was okay, no matter where he goes across of what used to be America.
"But sure." Markus said as he focused back onto the talk as the three cheered. "I'm a bit put out by today so I will indulge a bit, any other requests you folks want to make?" he asked as Nino, Aqua, and Ruby put down additional requests and some that Markus put down were crossed out due to how unreasonable they were. "So, what about you Ai?" He then turned to her as she blinked. "Want anything in particular?" He asked.
"…Well how about some roasted duck?" She requested. "Haven't had roasted duck in a long while, and some fried noodles please." She added in as Markus nodded and put down the request for that as he looked at the list of food that he was going to have to order.
'Wu-Fei is going to be happy with the amount of food I'm going to be ordering from him." Markus chuckled in amusement as he placed the order down with Wu-Fei's place. And he also decided to make it a delivery order, he was honestly a bit too tired to be going over to his place to be picking up the food order. He needed to let his body rest at this point now.
Roughly half an hour later as Kai-Ming delivered the food order to his place and Markus couldn't help but wince a bit internally at the amount of money he was forking over, despite having saved up in case of emergencies. He still paid a good amount of money for a large amount of food. And as he was enjoying his fried rice, Nino was making happy noises as she was watching TV with Aqua and Ruby also joining in. Meanwhile Ai was carefully examining the food she was looking at in her plate and trying to portion it correctly.
But Markus was kind of curious as to what Nino, Aqua, and Ruby were focusing on and turned to see the channel on some…idols he assumed? "What the heck are you guys even watching?" Markus questioned Nino and the kids as the jumped a bit at his voice as Markus voiced his thoughts. "Are you guys watching some Idols performing or something?" He asked curiously as Ai looked up from her food to turn her attention to Nino as well.
"Well yes." Nino answered. "Right now, we're watching a program called the Princess League, basically these Idols from across Japan and the likes compete against one another." Nino explained as she pointed to the two biggest focuses on the program. "One of them is T-Set, they're a Kansai based Idol Group working for Osaka Talents, they're actually pretty big." Nino explained to Markus.
"Is that so?" Markus asked as Nino nodded and he turned to Ai as she seemingly focused on T-Set for a bit before noticing Markus looking at her, and giving him her full attention. "You ever seen them sing and dance before Ai?" He asked curiously.
Ai simply shook her head. "Not in person, since B-Komachi is a Tokyo based Idol Group, but we have heard about them before. Ichigo mentions them to be one of the top Idol Groups in Japan, and it's safe to say they got some pretty good talent in their group. Also helps that the one managing Osaka Talents was a bigshot action movie star with plenty of fame and fans. Which helped made them popular early on." Ai explained. "Ichigo wanted me to know about potential rivals early on." She quickly added in, upon seeing the next question Markus was about to ask her.
Markus nodded at that and then saw the other girl on stage with T-Set, strangely enough there was something about the girl that felt weird to him. "So, who's the other girl on stage for the Princess League?" Markus soon asked.
"Ah, that would be Haruka Sawamura, she's a new Idol from Okinawa, she's supposedly really talented. But the biggest reason for her sudden rise in popularity is because of the company she works for, Dyna Chair, Mirei Park, the President of Dyna Chair is a big expert on the entertainment world. And is especially knowledgeable about the Idol Industry since she was an Ex-Idol." Nino explained to Markus. "And of course, there isn't much that is known about Haruka's background of course like T-Set's." Nino added in.
"I see." Markus hummed as he turned back to the channel and focused a bit more on Haruka, there was something weird about her that felt off to him before he shrugged it off. "So, Haruka's a big rookie of sorts then, yes?" Markus asked as Nino nodded at that as surprisingly Ai spoke up about Haruka.
"In some places, they call her the Japanese Cinderella as she quickly forced her foot into the Entertainment Industry and has been going up and up in fame and skills." Ai added in before she smiled with an amused look on her face. "They even call her the next bid Idol after me, and some people even call her the next Starry Idol after me." She said with a smile on her face.
"As if she can be mama's successor!" Ruby protested loudly. "Mama's the best Idol, and Haruka is nowhere near good enough to be anything close to a potential successor to mama in any way shape or form." She huffed in annoyance as she crossed her arms while giving Haruka the stink eyes.
Ai just laughed gently at that. "Don't be so upset Ruby." Ai said as she went to her daughter and pulled her into a warm hug. "There's always going to be a bigshot Idol or so, and it just so happens to be me. And if anything, I don't mind Haruka being the next big Idol after me, she's quite nice and is clearly dedicated to being an Idol like me." She said to Ruby, calming her down bit by bit. "And besides, that doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to be your number one Idol right~?" She then said playfully as she winked and stuck her tongue out cutely as she bopped her head.
"Besides as good as Haruka is, a lot of the main push for her to get into the spotlight is from Mirei Park." Nino commented as she still watched the Princess League. "She's good at what she does, but she's also incredibly demanding and harsh, T-Set actually used to be with Dyna Chair until she did something to drive them away to Osaka Talents." She explained to a surprised Markus as she then elaborated. "You didn't hear this from me, but from former employees at Dyna Chair will always complain about how Mirei Park is a Tyrant when it comes to management and pushing her interests forward no matter how poorly she treats people." Nino said as Ai and Markus couldn't help but frown a bit at that.
"Speaking from personal experience, that kind of attitude always makes an enemy, and all it takes is one bad day, from even the nicest guy." Markus said, thinking about Elijah and how he had him, Christine, and Dean by the explosive collars. Or when Dr. Hildern sent countless people to die for not warning them about the dangers. Sidenote, Angela Williams and Keely "coincidentally" found a shit ton of skeletons in Thomas's closet and now, Hildern was kicked out of the OSI.
"Well moving on." Nino said as she sensed the potential tension relating to Mirei Park's bad boss tendencies. "I heard from local gossip that Mirei Park wants Haruka at the Dome as well." She said as Markus raised an eyebrow at that as Ai hummed at that. "The delays that we have been getting, due to circumstances outside of our control is pushing our Dome Concert back further and further." Nino explained.
"And you think with Mirei Park's tendencies, she might try something to force us off from our Dome Concert?" Ai guessed as Nino nodded. "Well, it can't be helped, we were supposed to go earlier, but the recent events have been pushing us back on what Ichigo Productions had in store for us." Ai shrugged.
"I suppose for you Idols, it's only a matter of time when you come face to face with Haruka if your Tokyo Dome Concert is pushed back hard enough. And neither Ichigo Productions or Dyna Chair is willing to back down." Markus hummed as he turned his attention to Haruka on TV again, he swore there was something about that girl that triggered a gut instinct reaction of sorts, and he had no idea why this girl was bringing out something like this in him.
Ai soon spoke up though, quickly turning his attention to her, though the way her eyes narrowed a bit, told Markus, he did not miss the way that Markus was observing Haruka. Though the way her eyes gleamed told him she was more curious than anything else. "Well, if worse comes to worse, we can just do back-to-back performances, might not satisfy everyone but if we do a long-term performance and alternate each day, it would keep things fresh for the viewers and allow us to catch our breath." Ai commented.
"Don't forget that we could just get canceled." Nino pointed out as Ai's face froze at that. "Yeah, we may be B-Komachi but Tokyo Dome is beyond expensive trying to get the works set up. There's no way that the folks at Tokyo Dome is going to let us hold off a concert indefinitely, not when they got other people wanting to use it." She explained in a deadpanned tone.
"Speaking as the only non-Japanese native here, and haven't fully explored everything, mind telling what's the big deal about Tokyo Dome?" Markus soon asked, as he legit had no idea what the big deal about Tokyo Dome was supposed to be about. But from the way that Nino and Ai were going on about it, and how Ichigo keeps on talking about how it was going to be one of the biggest highlights of B-Komachi's entire career. It seemed like an extremely important thing to people in the entertainment industry.
Both Nino and AI looked at each other as they remembered that Markus hailed from both a world and time in which such things like the Tokyo Dome or the American equivalent of the Madison Square Garden had no importance in Markus's world, which made it a bit harder to explain, but they tried their best for him. He was still learning everything he can about this world, and this time to the best of his ability.
"Well to explain it Markus as best as we can." Ai started off. "Tokyo Dome is one of the largest indoor stadiums in Japan, it's host to a multitude of important events from Baseball Games, Concerts, Football, Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing, and countless more. When you're in the Entertainment Industry as a live performer like us Idols. It's the literal pinnacle of what we can hope to accomplish as performers. It's the dream and wish of everyone who enters the Entertainment Industry like us, to reach the Tokyo Dome one day and perform to our very best to show all of Japan what we can do." She explained rather beautifully to Markus.
Markus can only blink in surprise at how important it was to Ai, and Nino. "Huh…" Was all he had to say to that, causing both Idols to snort at his lackluster reaction at that.
"Only you can find what I said about the importance of Tokyo Dome is to us and treat it like a strangely uninteresting yet unusual sight." Ai sighed out with an amused look on her face.
"Context Ai, context." Was all Markus had to say as both Idols giggled.
After some time, Nino did have to leave and as the day ended and Aqua and Ruby went to sleep, Ai and Markus entered his room. "Alright Markus, so what's do you have to share with me? Any other big secrets you're holding onto that may be relevant to us right now?" She asked curiously as Markus mentioned he had some stuff to share with her in private.
"Not exactly groundbreaking big news secret to share with you." Markus said. "But it's important enough that I think I should share it with you regardless." He said as he went over to his closet and Ai's eyebrows rose as he went digging through it and soon pulled out two suitcases of sorts…one of which looked surprisingly high tech as Markus put away the normal one.
"Something from your world?" She asked as Markus nodded and to her surprise, saw a comprehensive sci-fi finger print or DNA Scanner of some kind and soon the suitcase was unlocking itself and Ai could only blink in surprise at how advanced it was as Markus turned to her.
"I haven't had reason to use this yet, but I figured it would be important for you to know about this…in case shit really does hit the fan and you need to leave the country for your own safety." Markus said seriously as Ai's face smoothed over into understanding. It was some kind of insurance that if all else fails, Ai can escape Japan with Aqua and Ruby.
"Markus." Ai said softly.
"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but I rather be prepared." He said as he opened the suitcase and Ai's face lost composure as she choked on air at what she saw. A pile of gold bars! That was more than enough for Ai to get out with Aqua and Ruby as Markus picked up a gold bar and placed it on table for her. "One hundred percent pure gold." He confirmed as Ai was in awe she never saw a gold bar before.
And as she moved to pick it up, she blinked in surprise at how heavy it was…well the gold bar did look big. "That weights about thirty-five pounds." Markus said as Ai looked shocked at that. With such money, Markus should have easily been able to get himself a nice place, but then again, she remembered that Markus had been trying to stay under the radar.
And he showed it to her as insurance for her to get away safely. Ai couldn't help but hug Markus, words were nice and all, but Markus always showed his care through his actions.
She was truly lucky to have fallen in love with him.