Ai woke up early the next morning after her alarm went off and was surprised to find Seiya's ragdoll cat on the bed with her. She looked at the door that she knew she had closed last night to find it opened slightly. She looked back at the cat, wondering if it was possible for the cat to open a door on its own.
She shook the thought away as her first order of business was to find out how bad the media storm was going to be as the attack would've been reported by now. Sure enough, there were articles already posted on her attempted murder and she was rather shocked to see who the culprit was. She remembered him as one of the more nervous fans she ever met, so his face stuck with her for a while. On Twitter, there were loads of fans reacting to the attack. Some to lambast Ryosuke, but most were in awe at how she was able to perform right after a traumatizing experience. Not wanting to leave them in the dark, she made a statement about it.
'Hey everyone. Sorry for the wait. To everyone worried about my safety, don't worry I'm fine. I'm currently staying at a friend's place, but as for right now, I'll be on hiatus for a few weeks for things to calm down. I know it's disappointing to hear, but when I'm back, I'll be better than ever. And thank you for the kind messages, it really means a lot to me, but I have to sign off for now. I love you guys!'
And send. That should placate them for the time being. As she got up from the bed while scratching the cat's ear, she changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants and left her room. She noticed that Seiya's room was open. Out of curiosity, she took a peak into his room. While Seiya wasn't there, she spotted a desk with a PC and PS5 on it along with a few baseball cards. Next to the desk was a keyboard and an electric guitar which she assumed was for Seiya to make music and on the wall was a baseball jersey framed to the wall with the number '40' stitched to the back. There was also a glass shelf next to the desk filled with anime girl figurines.
From what she could see, Seiya likes gaming and is a big fan of baseball. Just as she was about to explore his room some more, she was halted by an amazing smell coming from downstairs. She followed the smell that led to the kitchen and saw that Seiya's mother, what was her name again? Mem? Anyway, Ai saw her preparing breakfast.
Spotting Ai, she turned to face her, "Oh good, you're up. I'm almost done with breakfast. If you don't mind, could you step on the scale?" Melissa asked Ai. Ai meanwhile, was busy staring at Melissa's right arm. Now that her sleeves were rolled up, Ai saw that it was covered in tattoos from the forearm to the shoulder. The tattoo was a beautiful garden that consisted mostly of ivy and roses with a few butterflies.
Ai, noticing that she was staring at Melissa's tattoos, immediately apologized, "I'm sorry. It's just I've never met anyone with a tattoo that big before."
"Oh no worries. I had this done in my twenties and it drew a lot of attention when we moved to Japan, so you're not the first person I caught staring at my tattoo. You should see Seiya's tattoo, his is much bigger than mine is." Mel told her.
"Seiya has a tattoo as well?" Ai asked.
"Yeah. Daichi is the only one in the house who doesn't have any. It's a tattoo of a… you know what, I shouldn't ruin the surprise. You have to see it for yourself, his tattoo artist did an incredible job on it." Mel said, obviously eager for Ai to see it.
"Did he get it recently? I don't think he had a tattoo in his last fight." Ai asked again.
Mel nodded at her question, "Yup. He got it a week ago since he had a free week. Now then, the scale?" Mel reminded Ai.
"Oh right." the moment she stepped on the scale, her eyes widen at the number it displayed, "Uh, I think your scale is broken. It says I'm 104 kilos."
"Oops. I forgot to mention the scale is set to pounds. So 104 pounds is around 47 kilos." she said, causing Ai to breathe a sigh of relief, and then wrote something down on a notebook.
Curious, Ai asked her about it, "So what are you writing and why did you need to know my weight?"
"I'm figuring out your meal plan. Since you're an idol, you'll probably need to maintain your figure and I don't need your boss hounding my ass because you got a little flabby staying here. You'll still be eating the same meal as us, but in smaller portions since I doubt you'll be doing much dancing while you're still in hiding here. Of course you can still do some simple exercises to stay in shape." she informed Ai, "Well, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Why don't you explore the house a bit? Get used to the place. You'll be here for a while after all."
Ai nodded at her suggestion, "Alright, thanks, Mem."
She took a double take when Ai called her that, "Uhh, my name is Mel."
"Oh sorry about that. I'm not really good with names, so I get them wrong a lot." Ai explained.
"Uh huh, but you remember Seiya's name just fine. Is there something I should know?" Mem, no, Mel said while wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.
"No, no. There's nothing going us between the two of us. We've only met a week ago after all and the only reason I can remember his name because it's easier for me to remember the names of talented people." Ai explained herself rather frantically.
"Oh, I suppose that explains it. Sorry about all the teasing, but you kinda made it pretty obvious." Mel laughed while Ai pouted in embarrassment. They were interrupted when the cat that was in Ai's room walking into the kitchen and meowing at Mel, probably for food. "Alright, alright, hold your horses." She addressed the cat. Mel then cut up a few slices of meat into a bowl and placed it on the ground for him to eat. Ai was a bit jealous that a cat had a better diet than she had when she was a kid. Mel then turned her attention back to Ai, "Anyway, I shouldn't keep you any longer. Go on."
Nodding at her, Ai went exploring to remember where the important rooms were. She found the bathroom and the toilet were separated at the back of the house. Seeing as her and Seiya's rooms were the only rooms upstairs, it's safe to say that the house only had one bathroom and toilet in the house.
She then went to the front of the house to the living room where Hachi… no, Daichi, that's it, was watching football on the couch. One look at the TV and she had no idea what was going on. She didn't know much about sports and even less about American sports. All she could tell was that people were ramming into each other. From Daichi's quiet cheering, she assumed the team he supported probably did something good. Next to him, she spotted the orange cat sleeping next to him on the couch.
Daichi, noticing Ai in the corner of his eye, decided to greet her, "Morning, Ai. You need something?"
"Oh, no. I was just exploring the house a bit since Mel's still preparing breakfast and I had nothing better to do." she answered nervously. While it was an innocent question, Daichi was an intimidating man to talk to.
Seeing her distress, he decided it'd be best to calm her down, "Why don't you take a seat over there? Might as well make yourself comfortable while we wait for breakfast." he pointed at the end of the couch.
"Oh, alright." she sat at the spot next to where the orange cat was sleeping. She focused her attention to the game and she still had no idea what was going on. She mustered up the courage to ask him about the game, "So, uh, how exactly is the game played?"
"Hmm, it's hard to explain it to someone who's never seen it." he took a few seconds to think before starting the explanation, "You see all the blue line and the yellow line on the field?" he pointed in which Ai nodded, "Well, the offensive team has to move the ball forward by at least 10 yards. They have 4 chances, or downs, to do it. If they cross the yellow line, then they'll get another 4 downs until they either score or they fail to get pass the 10 yards."
Ai nodded at the explanation. While still a little confused, she was admittedly, getting a little interested. Daichi went on to explain more of the rules to her and when she started to get confused again, she started to change the subject, "So, what team are you rooting for?"
"The San Francisco 49ers, the team with the red shirt and gold pants. The team in red and white are the Washington Commanders and as you can see from the score, there's a bit of a gulf in class." he pointed at the fact that the 49ers are leading 35 to 3.
"So your family were from San Francisco?" she asked.
"We were. Well except for Mel, she's from Oakland which is right next to San Francisco. Even though we moved here 11 years ago, we're still fans of the teams back home. Except for Mel. She's still pretty upset that all the teams in Oakland relocated." Daichi explained.
Ai was intrigued by the family's history but before she could ask more, the front door opened, "Hey dad, what's the score?" she heard Seiya's voice from the door. He walked closer to the living room wearing a black hoodie and basketball shorts.
"35-3 to the 9ers. Make that 38-3, they just scored a field goal." he informed Seiya of the change in score.
"Man the Commies suck, it's like Dan Snyder never left." Seiya said and Ai of course didn't know what he was saying. He then noticed Ai sitting on the couch, "Oh, hey Ai. Didn't expect you to watch football with my dad."
"I was wandering around the house for a bit before your dad invited me to watch the game. I still don't understand a lot of the rules though." she admitted.
"Don't worry, it's pretty confusing for newcomers to the sport." Daichi reassured her.
Ai nodded at Daichi as thanks for understanding. She then turned her attention towards Seiya, "By the way, where were you? It looked like you were out pretty early."
"That's because I was. I left at 5 in the morning for my 6 kilometers run." he said nonchalantly. Ai meanwhile was amazed that he still had energy to walk back home. Of course he was still sweating to the point that the neck of his hoodie was wet and his breathing was heavy, but his stamina was still impressive to her. Seiya then proceeded to take off his sweaty hoodie to reveal an equally sweaty tank top. That was when she saw the tattoo Mel was talking about.
His entire left arm was entirely covered by a very detailed skeletal arm with a nice smoke design acting as the background, from his wrist all the way to the shoulder. She's never met anyone with a tattoo before so seeing two people with one in one morning was a bit of a shock to her.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower." Seiya proceeded to go to the bathroom while Ai and Daichi continued watching the game ended.
"Guys! Breakfast is ready!" Mel called from the kitchen.
"Perfect timing. You heard the lady, let's not keep her waiting." Daichi ushered Ai to follow him to the dining room.
"So, how good is the food she makes?" she asked cautiously. She knew how disgusting the food she had to eat was to maintain her idol figure.
"Let's just say her food is just a level below that of a professional chef." he answered. Ai didn't know if that was the truth or he was that biased towards his wife's cooking.
She sat at the dining table while Daichi took his seat on the other side. The moment she sat down, Mel served her with a plate of chicken breast, scrambled eggs and… brown rice. She breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't white rice.
"Is something wrong?" Mel asked her, probably noticing her sighing.
"No, it's nothing. Just that the food looks good." she excused, not wanting the family to worry about her rough history eating white rice.
"She's probably worried that your food won't taste good since she asked me that earlier." he told Mel. Ai could only meekly laugh as she didn't want to upset Mel.
"Well missy, I'll have you know my cooking is well liked by friends, family and professional baseball players alike, so I'm pretty confident you're going to like my food. Oh and sorry if you prefer chopsticks, the rice doesn't stick so you need to use spoons." she said and Ai was glad that Mel didn't take it personally. With nothing else to do, she got a spoonful of chicken, rice and egg and put it in her mouth.
The moment the food touched her tongue, she gasped in amazement on how good it tasted. "Told ya." Mel said to her. Ai had no idea how she made simple food tasted so good, but she wasn't complaining. She definitely wasn't complaining when she saw a shirtless Seiya coming to the dining room wearing only shorts and a towel draped around his shoulders, holding a cup of what she assumed was coffee, "Goddammit, Seiya. I know you're used to being half naked in this house, but couldn't you at least put on a shirt? There's a woman living with us now." Mel scolded her son.
"Calm down, mom. I'm sure she's seen me in less. Right, Ai?" he asked her.
"Uhh, yeah. I've seen him wear smaller shorts in his fights, so I don't really mind." Ai sided with Seiya which he gestured his hands at her to prove his point.
"Besides, it's such a hassle to go upstairs and go back downstairs just to get a shirt." he complained to Mel.
Mel just rolled her eyes, "Whatever. Just take a seat." he immediately took a seat right next to Ai. While she knew he had a nice body from the fight video she saw, but seeing it in person was an entirely different ball game. His abs looked more defined up-close and his tattooed left arm looked a lot more detailed and intimidating. She shook her head and had to remind herself that she's not a horny teenager anymore. No matter how hot Seiya was.
As they ate their breakfast in silence, it didn't take long for it to be broken by Seiya, "So... we saw the news report about your attack. If you don't mind me asking, do you know why that stalker tried to kill you?"
Ai paused for a second before finally answering, "I only met Ryosuke a few times during handshake events. I don't really know why he wanted to kill me or how long he was stalking me, but he was always so nervous when he'd try to talk to me. I never thought he'd try to do something like this," she answered half-honestly. She knew the reason Ryosuke tried to kill her was because she had children.
"Well good fucking riddance to him." Ai nearly choked on her food when Mel unexpectedly said that, "I don't care what his reasons were, if he thought killing an innocent woman, he was way too obsessed over was a good idea, then he deserved everything he got if you ask me."
Ai was pretty shocked that Mel would talk about someone who just died like that. "As much as I agree with you, honey, maybe we should talk about it some other time," Daichi interjected before addressing Ai. "I'm sure you're still in shock over what happened. We know a good therapist. We can give you his number if you need it."
"Oh, there's no need for that Mr. Kinzoku. I'm completely fine." Ai lied through her teeth.
Daichi, obviously not believing her, but decided to not push the issue. "If you say so. I'm not going to force you to see him, but I'll give you his number just in case."
"I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer." she would probably take him up on his offer in the future.
"I'll drink to that. Damn, should've gotten a beer, be right back." Mel said. At the mention of beer, Ai suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, that's right. After all the chaos that happened, I forgot that yesterday was my 20th birthday." she blurted out.
The family was slightly surprised by the sudden news and Mel stood for a second before addressing her, "I suppose I'll make an exception this one time. By all accounts, you had an awful birthday so this is the least you deserve." Mel then went to the fridge and brought two cans of Asahi beer and handed one to Ai.
Ai opened the can which let out a hiss. She nervously took a sip of her first alcoholic beverage which was in direct contrast to Mel who basically chugging the can. She coughed a bit due to the combination of the carbonation and taste. The taste was a bit weird, it wasn't as bitter as she expected from how the president described his alcohol and she could taste a bit of a nutty flavor as well. The bitterness is something she needs to get used to but overall, it wasn't bad.
"Congratulations, you're officially an adult in the eyes of Japan. Also, it's better to drink after or while you're eating. The alcohol will enter your bloodstream faster on an empty stomach." Mel gave Ai some drinking advice.
Ai thanked her and the four of them continued with their meal with Ai periodically taking sips of her beer. The more she drank, the more she's getting used to the taste. She could understand why people like drinking so much.
"Looks like you're enjoying yourself. Unfortunately for me, I'm not allowed to have a drink today." Seiya complained to his mother.
"Oh please, it's not like I'm not letting you drink for the whole month, you have cheat days on Saturdays and you can drink to your heart's content after your fight." Mel responded which Seiya just shrugged in acceptance.
"Just make sure you don't pass out this time." Daichi joined in on the conversation.
"I make no promises." Seiya told him.
"Speaking of fight, who's your opponent?" Ai asked.
Seiya perked up a bit at the change of topic and answered, "He's a former WBC champion from Russia, Alexander Kazak's his name. From the looks of it, he'll probably be the second most difficult opponent I'll face."
"Then who was the most difficult?" Ai asked and rather than answer, Seiya pulled out his phone and showed her a video. It was him facing against a fighter from... she wasn't sure. She didn't know what country has a blue horizontal bar between two white and red horizontal bars for a flag, named Suatong. His looks didn't stand out apart from the giant tiger tattoo on his back. She watched the fight, curious on why Seiya wanted her to see it until a wicked left kick to the chin knocked Seiya out cold.
She gasped at the sheer impact of the kick, "And you still want to fight after that?" she asked him, thinking how he was still fighting after that.
"Of course I do. Sure the loss was demoralizing and my jaw was dislocated, but I'm not gonna give up that easily. Besides, there's no shame in losing to the current Muay Thai champion, in fact, it's a net positive for me since a relatively unknown fighter like me managed to push a world champion to the limit." Seiya explained to her.
Ai found Seiya's outlook on his fighting career pretty admirable despite a devastating loss. She hoped that Seiya's music doesn't suffer because he's focusing on two completely different careers. Their meal would eventually end and Seiya and Daichi had to leave for the gym which was called Undisputed apparently. Daichi left first to open up and Seiya caught up a few minutes later, fully dressed for training and left as well.
That left the two women alone in the house, "Now then, I remember you saying that you'd be helping around the house last night." Mel reminded her which caused Ai to laugh nervously. She then promptly grabbed Ai's arm and pulled her into the bathroom, "Don't think you can get out of this one, young lady. First order of business, cleaning the litter boxes."
She can only accept her fate after carelessly giving out promises. In that moment, she wondered how her kids were doing.
Aqua turned on the TV the moment he woke up to see if the news about Ai was already reported. He couldn't get a hold of Ichigo or Miyako's phones due to how busy they were so the TV was his only option.
"Damn it, Ai. Why did that girl tweet something without consulting me? At least she didn't reveal anything incriminating in the tweet." Ichigo sighed in frustration.
"Yes, yes, we're sorry for the inconvenience Sasaki, but as you can see, things are a bit hectic right now so I think it'd be best if you come tomorrow instead," Miyako said on the phone talking to Chasers' manager. They've been incredibly busy ever since they dropped Ai off at the Kinzoku residence.
"In news of the idol Ai's attack, we've received confirmation of the identity of her attacker by a man named Ryosuke Sugano." Aqua's attention to the news started talking about Ai and was shocked by what he saw. The news showed the picture of Ai's would-be killer and it was the same man that killed him when he was still Gorou Amamiya.
The gears in Aqua's head started turning. How did he find out that Ai was in a hospital in Takachiho and how did he know where to find Ai's residence when she just moved in? As the broadcast continues, they elaborated that the culprit was only a student without any notable skills. Aqua doubted he had the know-how to locate Ai with such precision. Someone was feeding him information and it must've been someone quite close to Ai. It couldn't have been Ichigo, it would be stupid of him to get rid of his agency's highest earner. Not to mention that he cares about Ai too much to do such a thing.
It couldn't be any of the B-Komachi girls, they weren't even that close. Aqua briefly thought Seiya Kinzoku had done it, but immediately ruled him out as he and Ai only met a week ago. So that left only one possible culprit, his and Ruby's father. Ai was pretty tight-lipped about his identity but considering how small Ai's social circle was, it was likely that he was in the same industry. As a black six-pointed star formed in his right eye, he knew he had to kill his father so Ai could live and he'll do whatever it takes to find his identity, with or without Ai's help.
"Hey! Why didn't you wake me up?! I've been wanting to watch the news on mama!" Ruby yelled at Aqua as this wasn't the first time he's done this to her.
"Calm down, the news already confirmed what we already know. Ai was attacked, her attacker died and she's going on hiatus." Aqua hid the fact that their father was the real culprit. As much as he wanted to kill the man, he wasn't going to drag Ruby into this.
Ruby pouted in annoyance. "Well hopefully we can see mama again soon."
"You might get your wish today." the two turned their attention to Ichigo, "I severely underestimated the fallout of Ai's attack and we don't have the time to take care of you kids, so we'll have to send you to your mother. Hopefully the Kinzoku's wouldn't be too annoyed."
"I already called the Kinzoku's and they're fine with them staying for a few days, so I can take the kids there," Miyako informed them.
"Good, you can take the twins at their house." Ichigo told her, but Miyako wasn't finished.
"Actually, there's more. Daichi asked if Strawberry Productions would like to be one of Seiya's sponsors in his next fight." Miyako told Ichigo. He took a few seconds to contemplate on it.
"I don't see the harm in it. It might look strange for an idol agency to sponsor a fighter, but he's already signed with us so it shouldn't be too much trouble. Alright, after you drop the kids off, go to their gym and iron out the details. You have the address right?" Ichigo asked Miyako.
"Yeah, it's called Undisputed Gym. What time is the press conference again?" the two kept talking about their plans for the day. Ruby, meanwhile looked like she was about to explode after hearing she can be reunited with Ai.
"You hear that, Aqua? We can see mama again!" Ruby said excitedly while hugging Aqua.
"Calm down, will you? It hasn't even been a day yet. But it will be nice seeing Ai again since she needs all the help she can get right now." Aqua said as he gently pushed Ruby off of him.
"What do you mean?" Ruby asked him.
"Think about it. Someone found out where she lived and proceeded to try and kill her in her home, a place where she was supposed to be safe. At best she'll be in shock and at worst she's traumatized, so she needs all the moral support that she needs," Aqua told Ruby. Of course he left out the fact that their father was the real culprit.
"That I can do easily." Ruby said proudly as she puffed up her chest.
"There's another thing Ai needs help with and that's her safety." Aqua said, which Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "We can't really do much when it comes to her safety, we're just kids. So we need to have someone to protect Ai at all times and as much as I'm not a fan of it, I think Seiya is the best option right now."
Ruby was excited at what Aqua was suggesting, "So are we going to hook those two up?"
"Not yet. We still don't know what kind of person Seiya is. For all we know he could be abusive, so we need to make sure that he's actually a decent person first." he explained.
"Oh, so we evaluate him whether he's a good match for mama or not. For once, you have a good plan. Alright, Operation: Matchmaker is a go." Ruby declared excitedly. Of course there would be problems if Ai and Seiya got together but Aqua couldn't give a damn about that. Ai's safety was his top priority.
"Kids! We're ready to go!" Miyako called for the two of them and they left for the Kinzoku residence.
"Again, we apologize for the intrusion." Miyako said as she bowed in front of Seiya's mom.
"I know we agreed to this, but just so you know, you're really testing us with the suddenness of everything." Mel replied, obviously annoyed with the situation. The three of them were initially a bit surprised to see a tattoo on her arm now that she wasn't hiding it.
"I understand completely and thank you again for taking in the kids for a few days. I'll negotiate the compensation with your husband along with Seiya's sponsorship for the fight." Miyako placated the blonde woman.
"Fine. Kids, why don't you play with Ai? She's in the living room brushing the cats." she told the twins.
"Okay, let's go, Aqua." Ruby pulled Aqua with her to get to Ai where she was brushing Corpsegrinder on the couch. The seat next to her was a pile of fur that could be confused as another cat.
"Mama." Ruby called out quietly. Turning her attention away from the cat and had a big smile on her face. She then picked both of them up into a hug.
"Hey, how have you two been?" she asked them.
"We're fine. We should be asking you that, living in house full of strangers." Aqua redirected her question back to her.
"Oh, it's been alright so far. The family's treating me well, the food is amazing even the cats here get to eat fresh meat. Also, did you know Mel and Seiya have tattoos?" Seiya has a tattoo as well? Ichigo probably won't be too happy with it considering Japan's taboo regarding tattoos.
"Alright, have you kids had lunch yet?" Mel came in and both of them shook their heads, "Okay then, I'll whip up something quick for you two. I'll be ready in about thirty minutes." with that, Mel left for the kitchen.
"Just you two wait, her cooking is sublime. Now why don't we watch some TV while we wait?" as Ai turned on Netflix. They spent the next 30 minutes watching some child-appropriate anime much to Aqua and Ruby's disappointment.
"Food's ready you guys!" Mel called out from the kitchen. Ai motioned for them to go there with Ruby looking pretty eager after Ai praised Mel's cooking. Aqua was also pretty curious on how the food was tasted. They took their seats in the dining room, ignoring that the other cat was sleeping on one of the chairs.
Ai was served chicken with rice while he and Ruby were served chicken sandwiches, "Hey, how come they get to eat burgers and I only get chicken and rice?" Ai complained to Mel.
"Because they're kids and they like to run around, so they burn a lot of calories-" Mel responded. Ai pouted slightly and silently ate her rice with a smile on her face because it was still delicious.
After hearing Mel's explanation, Aqua and Ruby glanced at each other nervously knowing they had to keep up appearances better. They both looked at the sandwiches and they did look really good, so they took their first bites and they understood why Ai was excited with the food. The chicken was crispy and juicy at the same time with the perfect balance of chicken and breading and the sauce and caramelized onions only enhanced the flavor. They understood why Ai wanted them to try the food so badly.
"Oh god, KFC could learn a thing or two from you, Mrs. Kinzoku." Aqua praised the American woman's cooking.
"Yeah, I don't think mama can make food this good." Ruby chimed in but was immediately smacked in the shoulder by Aqua. He subtly pointed at Ai who stopped eating and looked like a depressed statue.
"If you think that tastes great, imagine what I can do if I had the time to let the chicken marinate." Mel replied casually and the mention of marinated chicken only made the twins more eager to what she had in store for them in the future. Luckily, she didn't see Ai's reaction to Ruby's words as she was in the kitchen getting her own meal which was the same as Ai's.
"So when does Seiya get home?" Ruby asked.
"Usually around 4:30. He'll usually play video games after training, but I think he'll be willing to do a small performance for you two if that's what you wanted." Mel correctly guessed the reason for Ruby's question, "Looks like his music left you wanting more, huh?"
"Yeah, he sounded awesome. I can't wait to hear more from him after his fight." Ruby gushed over Seiya, causing Ai to get jealous.
"Well I hope your father can give him and the rest of the band the platform they deserve. Their music is too good for them to perform for a few dozen people." Mel referring to Ichigo, still believing the twins were his and Miyako's.
"Considering how well Ai and B-Komachi turned out because of him, I don't see how they can fail." Aqua reassured her of Chasers' music careers.
"Yeah you might be right. Hopefully what I saw from your parents, these past few days isn't proof of their management skills." Mel said as she threw another jab at Ichigo and Miyako.
"Well anyway, why don't we head to my room after we eat so you two can get settled in?" Ai interrupted trying to change the subject.
"Sounds good. Unfortunately, we don't have any futons since we didn't exactly expect that we'd host multiple people in our home, so is it okay for you two to sleep with Ai on the same bed?" Mel asked.
"Yeah that's fine." Ruby said as they continued eating. Once they were finished, Ai called for the twins to the room she was staying in. When they entered, the first thing that greeted them was an opened luggage full of clothes.
"Uhh, Ai. You did remember to unpack, right?" Aqua asked her.
Ai only nervously laughed, "Oops?" she said while playfully knocking herself on the head with her tongue sticking out. So the three of them went on to unpack Ai's clothes.
The three of them spent the rest of the day either watching TV or playing with the cats. Aqua had to admit that cats were fun to be around and he might consider asking Ai to get them one in the future.
Then the sound of the front door opened where they saw Seiya, holding grocery bags. They also saw the tattoo Ai mentioned and Aqua had to admit, he was impressed how anatomically correct the bones were.
"Whoa! That looks so cool." Ruby on the other hand, voiced her opinion of the tattoo rather vocally.
"Oh right, Miyako mentioned you two will be staying here and glad you like it. You should've seen her face when she saw my tattoo." Seiya laughed at the image, "Oh the boss is gonna be pissed when I get my hand tattooed."
"You're getting another one?" Ai asked.
"Yeah, I already made a booking with the tattoo artist a while ago. The plan was always getting my entire arm done, but she was reluctant to do my hand because doing the hands hurt a lot and she doesn't trust newbies to keep their composure during a painful session so she did the sleeve first." he explained to them.
"Ah, good you're back. You got the meat?" Mel asked which Seiya responded by lifting the grocery bag. "Then help me put them in the freezer."
"On it. If any of you need me, I'll be in my room." he addressed the three of them before heading to the kitchen.
"Why don't we visit his room later?" Ai asked the twins which they agreed.
As the three of them continued watching TV, Daichi returned not long after. He took a glance at the three of them playing with the cats and decided to start a conversation. "I take it you kids are having fun?"
The usually excited Ruby was uncharacteristically quiet so Aqua spoke first. "We did. We're considering on getting cats on our own."
"You should. Try talking to your parents about it, pets will do wonders for kids growing up." he said before heading to the kitchen.
"What's wrong? You're usually more chipper than this." Aqua asked Ruby.
"I'm fine, he looks scary is all." Ruby told him.
"Aww, no need to be scared, Ruby. He might look scary, but he's a kind man. He taught me a bit about football although I zoned out about halfway." Ai reassured her which made Ruby feel a bit bad for judging someone like that.
At that moment, Daichi returned to the living room with a tub of Rum Raisin ice cream, from her favorite brand no less. He took a seat on the arm chair and turned on the TV cartoon with a square blue dog because the kids were there.
"Before you ask, no, you're not allowed to have any ice cream. Even if I wanted to give you some, I'd rather not be crucified by my wife," Daichi interrupted her train of thought which caught her off guard.
"I wasn't going to ask you to give me some ice cream." she denied rather badly, while slowly avoiding eye contact with the delicious ice cream.
"Because you've been staring at my ice cream for a good ten seconds." she blushed in embarrassment after getting caught.
"Well, I was just surprised that we share a favorite ice cream flavor. By the way, why are you allowed to eat ice cream?" Ai responded trying to lessen her embarrassment.
"Because I'm a man in my fifties who doesn't need to maintain a certain weight unlike you with your idol business or Seiya with his fights." Just like with Mel earlier, she pouted in disappointment.
"So should we go to Seiya's room now?" Aqua asked in hopes of cheering her up.
Fortunately, that worked as she gave him a small smile, "You're right. Come on, let's go see what he's up to," she led the kids upstairs to Seiya's room and sure enough, there he was sitting in front of his computer.
"Snrrk, you look like a nerd," Ruby snickered at Seiya wearing glasses which was met by Aqua punching her in the shoulder again.
"Oh you mean my glasses? They're blue light glasses, I wear them to protect my eyes when I use my computer a lot, so expect me to wear them often at night." he then continued, "So you guys need anything?"
"We just wanted to know if we can hang out. Also, Ruby kinda wants to hear more of your singing now that she's here," Ai told him.
"Ok then, take a seat on the bed." the three of them obliged and Seiya turned his chair to face them, "So, any requests, Ruby?"
"Hmm…" she hummed as she tapped her finger on her chin. "Why don't you pick? Just don't pick a song that sounds too violent. By the way, why do metal singers scream a lot in their songs?"
"Well because metal music is very emotional in nature. We're not shy singing about something a lot of people are uncomfortable to share. Don't think of it as we're screaming at you, think of it as we're screaming with you." Seiya explained and the three of them were intrigued, "I think I have the perfect song in mind. You kids probably don't know this song so Ai, have you ever heard of Last Resort by Papa Roach?" he asked which Ai shook her head. "Really?" he then picked up his guitar and started singing.
"Cut my life into pieces. This is my last resort. Suffocation. No breathing. Don't give a fuck if I cut my arm, bleeding."
He then played a pretty noticeable guitar rift. Ai and Ruby might not know the song, but Aqua knew the song was pretty popular when he was Gorou Amamiya, "Doesn't ring a bell? Anyway, the song is pretty upbeat, but the lyrics are super sad so I made some changes to reflect the emotions of the lyrics, hang on." he then turned to his computer and pulled out a keyboard from the desk.
(play Last Resort (Reimagined) by Falling in Reverse)
The moment he started singing, they were automatically captivated by not only his voice but by how drastically different the song sounded. When he said he changed the song to reflect the lyrics, he did that and more. While the original conveyed anger and teenage angst, Seiya's cover conveyed sadness and hopelessness.
Aqua didn't want to admit it, but he started to cry as the song continued along with Ai and Ruby, Ai because she could understand the lyrics and Ruby because the song sounded sad. Seiya yelling "I'm crying!" in anguish only amplified the feelings.
Aqua wasn't a psychologist, but he could tell the emotions Seiya was pouring in his voice was genuine. He didn't know what happened to him, but hopefully this would mean he won't do anything to Ai, but he should still do some investigating to be completely sure.
(stop playing Last Resort (Reimagined) by Falling in Reverse)
As the song ended in a final yell, the trio gave Seiya a small standing ovation. "How did you even come up with something like this?" Ai asked him as she wiped away her tears.
"Like I said, I found out how sad the lyrics are so I decided to reflect it in the song and it helps that I can relate to the song." Seiya cringed a bit as he noticed he shared a bit too much. "Anyway, you kids know any baseball? I have a lot of baseball cards I've been collecting since I was a kid." he decided to change the subject to show off his card collection. It was at that point that they learned despite being a kickboxer and metal singer, Seiya Kinzoku was, as Ruby said, a nerd if the baseball memorabilia and anime figurines on full display was any indication.
Later that night
"So, do you think Seiya's the right guy for mama?" Ruby whispered to him as to not wake Ai up who was sleeping on the edge of the bed so the twins would sleep next to each other. They couldn't really spend more time with Seiya since he sleeps early and they also had to take their baths early because Seiya had to take an ice bath after everyone was done but after the amazing steak dinner, they couldn't complain much.
"I'm still not sure yet. He has good parents and he obviously takes good care of himself, but him saying how he could relate to a song about suicide and depression is worrying." Aqua told her.
"But that doesn't mean that he's going to hurt mama, it sounds like he needs help and maybe mama's womanly touch is just what he needs." Aqua could see a few things wrong with that idea and he was reconsidering his plan on getting the two to be together.
"I think we should just leave them alone for now." before Ruby could even protest, Aqua interrupted her, "I know the whole thing is my idea, but after Seiya let it slip that his mental state isn't actually the best, I think us trying to force them together might make things worse for both of them."
Ruby, now feeling dejected, asked him, "So are we aborting the mission?"
"I guess so. The most important thing is that Ai's safe here. When she eventually has to move out, we'll figure something out." he could only sigh in defeat.
"Well hopefully him and mama can still get together on their own. They'll be living together for a year so hopefully they'll spend a lot of time together," Ruby, always the optimist, was rather convinced that the two will eventually be a couple.
Just as they were about to sleep, they heard the sound of the door opening. On instinct, Aqua quickly grabbed Ai's phone from the nightstand to turn on the flashlight and aimed it at the door. After what happened the day before, he was half convinced that someone was about to kill Ai again but instead of seeing a man at the door, he saw two cats entering.
"Aqua, I think the cats know how to open doors." Ruby stated the obvious. Corpsegrinder proceeded to jumped onto the bed and snuggled between Ruby and Ai. It was obvious he's grown attached to Ai. Meanwhile the other cat opted to sleep on the chair.
"Let's just go to sleep." he said after calming down and placing Ai's phone back on the nightstand.
"Way ahead of you." she then snuggled up against the cat causing the ragdoll to let out a soft meow. He really wished he could be as carefree as Ruby right now but he had to find a solution to keep Ai safe, whether have someone there to protect her, or getting rid of the threat. The star in his eye once again turned black before finally falling asleep.
"Are you sure that he has a tattoo?" Ichigo asked Miyako. After the press conference about Ai's attack, breaking the news to the rest of B-Komachi and repelling the vultures, they finally were able to start planning on Chasers' debut. Of course, fate seemed to want to screw with Ichigo after what Miyako told him.
"Like I told you yesterday, I'm positive. It basically covers his entire arm and we never saw it because we've only ever seen him in long-sleeved shirts." Ichigo rubbed his head from the migraine that he was developing. He didn't have much of an opinion about tattoos but he knew that the old heads in production do. While it wasn't uncommon for artists here to have tattoos, but most of them were small enough to be concealed, not big enough to cover an entire limb.
"That's fine, we can still salvage this. He is a metal singer, so it's not so strange for him to have a tattoo after all." Ichigo hoped as he sighed in resignation.
"Songs that hopefully will be as good as the ones in the demo. By the way, Sasaki will bring along Murakami with her to help with selecting the songs for their first album. Since he works nights, she said he'll be willing to help us with this. They should be here in a few minutes." Miyako informed him.
"Alright, on to B-Komachi now." they went on discussing what each of the girl's gigs after their month long break. Thankfully Ichigo didn't book much for the girls that month because their funding for the Tokyo Dome concert would mean that they could afford to give B-Komachi a break. "Huh, now that I think about it, we finally achieved our goal of performing in the Tokyo Dome, didn't we?"
Miyako paused for a moment before realizing what he meant. "Yeah, you're right. God, it certainly doesn't feel like it. We couldn't even celebrate properly after the concert." Miyako complained.
"Well, we should hold one after things cool down and that we're sure Ai's safe to go out." Ichigo said. Just then, Miyako received a text from Sayaka, telling her of their arrival.
"You know you should tell your employees about me. They still think I'm auditioning for your idol group." Sayaka said in an annoyed tone as she and Hiro entered the meeting room.
"Well you do look the part. Who knows, maybe you'll get a decent following." Hiro joked to her.
"Only to be then hounded into oblivion after they find out I'm a married woman and ruining their image of me as their untainted jerk-off material? Ooh, that's a tough choice." Sayaka fired back which caused Hiro to laugh nervously and shot the Saitous an apologetic look.
"You'll have the time to tell them when you get more acquainted with each other, but first I have a few questions. Mainly, why didn't you mention that Seiya has a tattoo?" he asked in a frustrated tone.
"Don't tell me you're having buyer's remorse now. We already signed the contract after extensive negotiations if I might add." she replied. Ichigo said nothing and only gave a clear answer after Hiro nudged her on the elbow, "Fine, it's because we were in the dark about it as you guys were. He showed up the night of the concert and showed us the tattoo, so I couldn't even give you a heads up even if I wanted too. Besides, if you want someone to blame, blame Yuma. He's the one who designed the tattoo."
"Any other information that could potentially jeopardize the band's reputation?" he asked that sarcastically, but seeing Sasaki and Hiro glancing at each other meant that there was, "Alright, spit it out."
"Speaking of Yuma, he's an assistant manga artist so his drawing skills are very good, the tattoo design is proof of that, but apart from his work as a manga artist, he also draws… uhm," Hiro explained but hesitated to fully explain.
"He draws doujinshi. A lot of doujinshi. He does it as a side hustle and according to him, he makes a bit of money. Don't worry, he uses an alias when he publishes his more... lewd content." Sayaka interrupted him and gave them the facts straight.
Ichigo rubbed his forehead as Chasers seem more and more problematic. "Well, at least he's smart enough to hide his identity, so that shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Also, it's probably safer for him to keep publishing his works. He has a pretty big following, so him quitting along with the timing of Chasers' debut could lead to netizens to pinpoint that a member of Chasers draws hentai for a living." Sayaka added her 2 cents.
"I hate you so much right now." Ichigo voiced his displeasure at Sayaka which she only smirked, seemingly proud that she's making her boss' job harder.
"Okay, that's enough Saya. I promise you two, apart from Seiya's tattoo and Yuma's art, I don't think there's anything questionable about our friend group that you need to worry about unless if you think something like my job as a bartender as a topic of concern as well." Hiro defused the situation while also subtly hinting that Ichigo was overreacting.
"Fine. I suppose managing teenage idols for so long made me forget that I'm dealing with adults. Whatever, let's talk about why we're here anyway. You have all the songs with you, right?" Ichigo directed the question to Sayaka.
She promptly pulled out her laptop from her backpack and showed the complete list of Chasers' songs which consisted of a few dozen of them, "Take your pick."
"Just play whatever song's first, we'll be listening to them all anyway." Ichigo told her. She nodded and promptly play the first song in the folder.
(play Alleviate by Imminence)
When they heard the piano, they thought Sayaka played them the wrong song until the drums and Seiya's voice came in a bit later. They weren't expecting Seiya to incorporate violin and piano into his song and how seamlessly he was able to do it. They especially weren't expecting for the song to be so emotionally charged.
The two stayed silently as the song was drawing to a close.
"Am I destined to wear these chains? Remind me once again. Why everything goes up in flames. Alleviate the pain."
(stop playing Alleviate by Imminence)
The song ended as they heard Seiya couldn't control the trembling of his voice during the final verse which amplified the emotions of the song.
"Wow." was all Ichigo could say after finishing the song.
"*sniffle* I think I'm going to need a minute." Miyako said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"We totally get it. We had to do multiple sessions for a few of these songs because we know what Seiya was going through at the time." Hiro told them, which piqued Ichigo's interest.
"What do you mean? Didn't you say there's nothing else going on?" Ichigo asked them.
"You don't have to worry about that. He went to therapy and he's okay now, for the most part. In fact, his therapist recommended him to write songs to help him heal so he poured all of his emotions into these songs. So these songs you'll be hearing are Seiya's emotions laid bare." Sayaka declared and for once, she had a somber look on her face.
"Wh-what exactly happened to him to make him write these songs?" Miyako asked, still a bit teary-eyed from the last song.
"If you want to know, you should ask Seiya. We rather not reveal our best friend's trauma to a couple of strangers, no offense." Hiro informed them.
"Not to mention that Seiya can be very vindictive. We've been friends for long enough to know how bad he can be and trust us, it's bad, really bad. So we're sorry that we'd rather not be on his bad side," Sayaka chimed in with a rather ominous fact about Seiya.
"We'll deal with that another time. Right now we have to pick the songs for Chasers' first album and if they're as good as the ones we've heard, it might take a while." Ichigo steered the conversation towards the songs.
"Do you need me to filter out any deathcore or death metal songs? I know that those types of music might turn off the casual fans which is why the band rarely performs them." Sayaka suggested.
"We'll be the judge of that. Play one." Ichigo told her which she obliged.
(play To the Hellfire by Lorna Shore)
The song started of fine with an acoustic guitar that gradually transitions to an electric guitar. Everything sounded normal until whatever sound Seiya made came up. I did not sound like something that came from a human.
They thought he was going back to his normal but no, he made those noises throughout the entire song. Not to mention that the fast-paced nature of the instrumentals made their hearts beat faster than normal.
As the song was winding to its end, they thought that was the end of it but nope, Seiya decided to save the best for last. The song ended with a brutal breakdown, with Seiya making noises that sounded like a pig being slaughtered.
(stop playing To the Hellfire by Lorna Shore)
"Wh-what was that?!" Miyako asked frantically, still in shock after what she had heard.
"That is deathcore. I did say Seiya poured his emotions into his songs. Anger, resentment and hate included," Sayaka said nonchalantly.
"We're not releasing those songs so you can filter them out." Ichigo told Saya.
"Alright, that'll save us some time, but there's still a few hours' worth of songs so we better get started." Sayaka replied, but of course she still had a bit of trolling to do, "By the way, the guys aren't professionally trained musically. Seiya's a musical genius, give him a few minutes with an instrument he's never seen before and he'll make magic. The problem is that Seiya's a shit teacher and his idea of a lesson is to copy whatever he's doing. So it's your call to make, continue with the way things are or you can hire an instructor to properly train them."
Ichigo once again rubbed his forehead in frustration regretting not asking more questions about the band, a rookie mistake on his part, "Murakami, you've handed in your notice at your job, right?"
"Yeah, I still have to work for another two weeks though," Hiro answered.
"Then I'll call in an instructor to help the lot of you. Whatever Kinzoku did might've worked for now, but I'm not risking it. Sasaki, tell me when the others have finished their notices as well, I want all of you to be on the top of your games after Kinzoku's fight." with that, the four of them worked on selecting the songs for Chasers' debut album.
Ai was bored. It was the weekend and her time with her twins were up. Unfortunately, aside from chores she didn't have much to do. So there she was on her bed with Corpsegrinder lying on her chest. It still amazed her how quickly the cat has taken a liking to her.
"Well might as well watch a movie downstairs. Come on, Corpsegrinder." she got out of bed carrying Corpsegrinder like a baby. When she arrived at the living room, she spotted Daichi and Mel were already there. The married couple were on the couch with Mel lying down with her head on Daichi's lap while her husband caressed her hair. This was the first time Ai had seen them being romantic. Ai expected them to watch a cheesy romcom, but they were watching Alien instead. Not exactly the choice she'd go for but whatever works for them.
Still, she felt a bit envious seeing them like that, wishing she could experience whatever they're feeling right now. Well, she could only hope. Not wanting to interrupt their moment, she quietly made her way back upstairs. The moment she was upstairs, she spotted Seiya in his room playing his computer with a glass and can of Guinness on the table. She forgot that he didn't have any training today. With nothing better to do, she might as well hang out with him.
Since his door was opened and she got permission from him to come in if it was, she let herself in. She was disappointed that Seiya didn't turn away from his game. She then laid down on his bed and placing Corpsegrinder back on her chest. Still not getting his attention, she decided to use her trump card, "Haaahh," sighing dramatically.
"Yes, Ai?" that got his attention, but he didn't turn away from his game.
"I'm bored, I need someone to talk to and you're basically my only friend here." which was a bit depressing now that she thought about it, "So come on, let's talk. Might as well get to know each other since I'll be here for a while."
He paused his game and turned around to face Ai, "Jeez, is your relationship with the other idols that bad that you consider a guy you met a week ago as your only friend?"
"Yeah about that, we don't actually get along. At best, we're just colleagues that want to tear each other down to be the most popular, but at the same time have to begrudgingly work together." she revealed to him.
"After hearing that, I really hope that doesn't happen to the band." Seiya voiced his thoughts.
"I don't think you have to worry about that. The rest of B-Komachi never liked me because unlike them, I never came from a musical or arts background so imagine their disappointment when some hick from an orphanage was chosen to be the center." she didn't know why she was revealing all this information to Seiya but for some reason, she feels like she could trust him, "But I don't think you'll face that same problem with Chasers. You look like you were already good friends, that's a better start than what I had."
"I hope you're right. I've seen enough celebrities become assholes after they got famous or they were always assholes in the beginning. I guess I'm just worried that me or the rest of the guys will let the fame get to our heads."
Ai could understand where he was coming from. She saw firsthand how the entertainment industry would corrupt people but she highly doubted that would be the case. As a liar, she knew how to spot another liar like herself, but Seiya was not one of them. Since the day she met him, she could see it in his eyes that he wasn't a liar and as far as she was concerned, that made him a good person in her books.
"You'll be fine. Trust me. I've met a lot of shady people in my career and you're not one of them. I mean, who else would allow a strange girl they met a few days ago to stay with their family for cheap? Well, admittedly a few, but that's because they just want to sleep with me." she covered her mouth instantly. She had no idea why she blurted the last part out loud.
"Snrrk," but evidently it worked since Seiya found that amusing, "Thanks, I needed that. I'm not exactly sure what goes on in the entertainment industry, but I guess it's not all bad if you came out of it unscathed."
That's because she was already broken when she entered the industry. Those words were left unsaid as she didn't want to bring the mood down. "I won't lie, I'm a bit excited to see you perform again. If you could perform like you did at the Shelter or the time the twins were here, I think you and the guys have what it takes. Speaking off, how did you form Chasers?" she asked him.
"Well…" he took another sip of his beer before he starts his story, "me, Roki and Saya met in elementary school when my family first came to Japan. During my first day there, there were these three bullies that were all up in my face, thinking they could just pick on the new foreign kid. Jokes on them, it only took one punch to the nose to get them off my back. Funny thing is the other two didn't want to get close, so they just abandoned their buddy groaning on the ground. Of course I did get in trouble, but thanks to my mom tearing a new one into the principal and I only got away with a one-week suspension. I did get double training from my dad as punishment though."
"The day I got back, Roki and Saya approached me, telling me how awesome I was and they've been a pain the whole year. We got to talking and that's how the three of us became friends. Saya and Roki were already friends by then and they started dating two years later. That was also the reason why they call me 'Hook' because I threw a nasty right hook. Then once we reached junior high, we met Hiro, Yuma and Shouta because Saya and Hiro are cousins. Our two groups kinda integrated and we've been close ever since."
"Then one day after school, the seven of us were just hanging out until Roki from out of nowhere suggested that we should start a metal band and we were like 'Why not?', so we formed Chasers. We started doing covers of popular songs, but soon enough I started writing my original songs after something terrible happened and my therapist suggested it, so that's how Chasers was born."
After that lengthy story, Ai could understand him a bit better but 1 thing about his story puzzled her. "You mentioned that there were seven of you, but at the concert, there were only six of you. Did that something horrible involved that friend?"
He had a sullen look on his face before taking chugs of his beer and finishing it, "Yeah, you're right. She did something unforgiveable to me. I'll probably tell you about it one day, but not today."
She placed the cat off her chest and reached out and placed her hand on top of Seiya's, "I understand. You don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable sharing."
He looked at her and his expression soften, "Thanks. You don't have to worry so much, I've been seeing a therapist for what happened and according to him I've made great progress."
She smiled back, "Well it's good to know you're doing better. Just make sure you stay okay, I don't want anything bad to happen to my best friend."
"So I've been promoted to best friend already, huh?" he chuckled, obviously amused as he scratched his chin with his left hand which gave her a view of his tattoo.
"Well you are my only friend. Makes sense that you'd be my best friend as well. By the way, you never mentioned much about your tattoo. Does it have to do with what happened?"
He looked at his tattoo before answering her, "Sort of. This is for my fighting career. Fighting comes with a lot of obvious risks. Death and a shortened lifespan are some of them. This tattoo helps reminding me that every time I step into that ring, I might not walk out. I know you'll probably be asking 'Then why choose to be a fighter knowing all the risk?', because it helped save my life. Pretty ironic, isn't it? The sport that hurt me physically has helped me heal mentally along with my music and this tattoo is a way for me to acknowledge the risks."
The more she learned about Seiya Kinzoku, the more breathtaking he seemed. When she first met him, she just thought he would just be a handsome singer in a sea of handsome singers, but he was something most of them aren't. He was authentic as Ai didn't detect a single lie from his story. This set him apart from almost every artist she knew he wore a mask whenever they're on stage and she knew he would find success if he kept being himself.
"You can let go of my hand now." the moment he said that, she looked down and saw that her hand was on his for a bit too long.
"Oh, haha. Sorry, I forgot that was there." she laughed it off, hoping that he didn't notice the nervousness in her laugh.
He snorted in apparent amusement so he probably noticed. "Hey you two, lunch's ready." Mel called out to them from the door before heading back downstairs. They both jumped in surprise, not realizing that Mel was standing there for who knows how long.
Ai then realized what Mel just said, "Wait, it's already noon? Goodness, I didn't realize we've been talking for that long."
"Yeah. You know, I quite enjoyed the talk we had. We should do it again before I leave for Bangkok." he suggested.
Ai smiled at his suggestion, "Yeah, I'd like that as well." she answered as Seiya picked up his beer can and glass and the two of them went downstairs.
(3 weeks later)
"Alright, listen to your dad's corner advice and try not to get yourself hurt too badly. I think Saitou would prefer it if you still resemble your passport photo." Mel told Seiya as she gave him a big hug.
"Don't worry too much, mom. You know I come back mostly in one piece." he replied as he hugged her back.
"'Don't worry too much' he says. I'm your mother, of course I'm going to worry about seeing my son of potentially get his skull kicked in again." Mel scolded him playfully. She then went to her husband and kissed him on the lips. "You make sure Seiya and Hana both win their fight."
"No promises. Both of their opponents aren't pushovers and Hana already lost to her opponent once." Daichi replied as stoically as always.
"Just make sure they both win. I'll give you something special when you get back." Mel replied in a sultry tone, not being subtle whatsoever.
"Guys, we're right here." Seiya motioned to himself and Ai.
"Alright, alright, I've had my fun. Now go on you two, don't want to miss your flight now." Mel shooed them out.
"Alright, I'll see you in a week, Ai." Seiya said to her as he held out his fist.
"Good luck, Seiya." she returned the fist bump as he and Daichi got into their car and left for the airport.
"So, it's just us ladies for the week. You have anything you want to do?" Mel asked.
"Actually Mel, can you teach me how to cook? I kinda want to have meals like you make every day. If you don't mind, of course." Ai asked. Of course she hid the fact that she wanted to do it for her kids after what Ruby said out loud.
"Not at all. In fact, I've got my old cookbook so you can refer to that anytime." Mel offered.
"You have a cookbook?" Ai asked in surprise.
"Yeah I had it published years ago but since cookbooks are a dime a dozen, it didn't sell well." Mel revealed to Ai.
"Wow, that's a shame, but I'll take you up on the offer." Ai accepted but Mel's conversation with Daichi earlier did spark a question in her mind, "By the way, who was the Hana you mentioned earlier?"
"Oh, Hana Kuroda. She's Daichi's first ever student at his gym ever since he opened it. We've known her for 10 years now and Seiya even calls her his sister. Anyway, she's the ONE Atomweight champion in MMA and she'll be defending her title." Mel explained and Ai was intrigued.
"Wow, can't wait to see her in action then." Ai said rather excitedly.
"Heh heh. Yeah, I suppose you do." Mel said in a rather nervous tone.
Ai tilted her head in confusion, "Is something wrong, Mel?"
"No, nothing's wrong. Come on, let's start your cooking lesson." Mel dodged the question so Ai decided not to pry further. So the week went by as Mel taught Ai how to cook along with her regular chores until eventually, the day came for Seiya's fight.
AN:
Well, that took me a while. I know, I know, it's been a year but I can explain. Half the reason for the long wait is because my job took on a massive project that sometimes I have to work weekends. The other half is purely my fault for procrastinating and I apologize for that. I also apologize if the chapter isn't up to standard. It has been a while since I've written anything.
Anyway, thank you for altajir95 for all the support over the year and becoming my unofficial beta. I've also added a minor detail in chapter 3 adding a motorcycle in the Kinzoku's driveway so feel free to check it.
I think that's all. I can't promise when I'll update the story but I try my best not to take another year. As for my other stories? I absolutely have no idea what to do about them.
Anyway I think that's all, see ya.