My Boss My Hero- "Sakaki Makio Takes a Wife"
Title: Sakaki Makio Takes a Wife
Universe: My Boss, My Hero
Theme/Topic: N/A
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: MakioxJun, Kuroi, Mikio
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for the end of the series. Kind of. >>
Word Count: 3,191
Summary: The gang pressures Makio to marry. He’s got other ideas. Unfortunately.
Dedication: tomomichi- I got to talking about why MBMH is such a good show with her today and suddenly felt the need to write MORE. Also for sw_inku, who lets me rape her mind with youtube videos of the Kat-Tun VS NewS INTENSE BOY-BAND DANCE OFF OF ALL TIME.
A/N: Haha yeah, I did this all day instead of WORK ON MY SCRIPT. I am in trouble. >> But god I love Tego and his pedo-inducing smile-plus-hip-swish-plus-hair-bounce-combination-of-DOOM.
Disclaimer: Not mine, though I wish constantly.
Distribution: Just lemme know.
“Eh? Marry?” Makio grunted, blinking incredulously at Kuroi. “Like… marry, marry? In a tux and everything?”
The older man simply nodded, completely solemn.
A moment.
And then Makio sighed. Shrugged. “Er, I don’t think Sakuranantoka would like the idea of a dress so much, but hey, if you can get him into one I don’t…”
Kuroi cleared his throat. “Young master,” he began, slowly, “the gang is starting to talk about you…taking a wife.”
Another moment.
Makio blinked again.
Then, “Like I was sayin’, I don’t think Sakuranantoka would go for the dress thing…”
Kuroi sighed when he was forced to just come out and say exactly what he’d been dancing around all this time. “I mean a woman, sir. A woman.”
Makio stared.
Kuroi counted backwards from three in his head.
And then, right on cue (two…one…): “EH?!”
Kuroi winced as the sound level quadrupled in the third’s office-but that was to be expected, he supposed. He’d put this discussion off for as long as possible and now it was simply impossible to put it out there delicately without wasting any more of their precious time. Especially considering the fact that the Kantou Sharp Fang’s annual general management meeting was just around the corner. “As I was saying, sir,” Kuroi continued, once it looked like Makio wasn’t going to scream any more, “for the stability of the gang, some of the members in our different areas of operation are beginning to…well… talk. Of course, those of us closest to you understand, but all the same, it’s starting to come up a lot in middle-management.”
Makio’s eyes narrowed at the thought. “Damned old men,” he muttered. “The hell is it any of their business anyway?”
Kuroi looked nervous. “Well uh… there’s the matter of presenting a… stable family life, I suppose, sir. And while everyone here likes Jun-sama quite a lot, I’m not sure the whole group agrees on the… image… he would make for the gang-and your leadership- if he were to be officially recognized by the Sharp Fang. I think maybe if he were less… well, less…um….” When he couldn’t find an appropriate descriptor he sighed and trailed off, making a vague sort of back and forth gesture with his hand instead. “I’m sure you understand.”
Makio’s brow furrowed. He guessed he could understand, sort of. Jun wasn’t exactly the type to be living in a yakuza headquarters, to be honest.
He was too…
…fluttery?
…shiny?
…giggly?
…hair-tossy?
…cute?
Yeah, cute was probably it, Makio decided after a moment. Cute worked.
“He’s really fuckin’ cute, huh?” he said out loud, once he’d found the right word.
Kuroi looked relieved at his boss’s understanding of the matter. “Yes, sir. He’s really very cute.”
“So what, they think he’s not scary or somethin’ ‘cuz of that? Not a tough guy?”
The older man nodded once. “I think that’s a fair assessment.”
Makio grunted. Clearly, those old bastards in middle management had never seen Jun angrily waving a spatula in their faces after they’d tried pilfering some of the cookies he was making as a gift for the fellas who were coming back from a big job that night.
But Makio had.
Twice, actually.
Pretty damned scary on both counts, if you asked him.
“So…what do you suggest we do about this unrest, boss?” Kuroi posed after a while. “I mean, there’s always the option of taking a wife purely for… political purposes. Kazu and I have been screening potential girls for a few weeks now and…”
Makio held up a hand. “Nope. No girls,” he said, resolute on this one. He didn’t want to deal with any of that, truth be told, and after the whole incident with Umemura-san he was pretty damned certain he didn’t like the idea of any more girls involved with the yakuza than were strictly necessary.
“No girls? Then…what should we do, sir?”
Makio cracked his neck thoughtfully, the left side first and then the right. “We’ll just have to convince those old bastards in middle management to admit that they don’t know what they hell they’re talkin’ about,” he said, after a minute or two of deep contemplation.
Kuroi’s face fell at the familiar gleam in his young master’s eye. “Sir, with all due respect the general gang meeting is in two weeks and the topic is bound to come up. Starting a personal war over something like this isn’t…”
“Nah, it’s not that either,” Makio said, and grinned to himself, secretly. “I got an idea.”
Kuroi blinked. “Really?”
Apparently inspired, the sandaime of the Kantou Sharp Fang nodded, folding his hands under his chin and looking officious. “Cancel the convention reservations at the Hyatt. We’re gonna have the meeting here.”
Kuroi stared. “Here?”
Makio grunted. “Here.”
And then, after a very long moment (i.e. after confirming that the look on Makio’s face right now meant that any attempts to talk him out of the idea would be futile), Kuroi gave up and simply bowed. “Yes sir.”
He left the office hoping whatever it was his young master was planning wouldn’t end in an all out civil war.
Or that Makio’s idea didn’t have anything to do with convincing Jun-sama to put a dress on either.
He sighed.
Two weeks later, just as planned, all of the division heads from various branches of the Kantou Sharp Fang were invited over to the main headquarters-instead of the usual convention hall they rented- for their annual general business meeting.
“The hell’re we at the Boss’s house?” one area leader by the name of Ueda asked gruffly, slouching on Sakaki’s couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table like he owned the place. “’s like a fuckin’ tea party or somethin’.”
“Tell me ‘bout it,” his companion-Shibata-san- muttered, looking around the quiet mansion warily. “You don’t think he’s gathered us all in this tiny place because he’s gonna kill us when we least expect it or somethin’, do ya?”
Everyone went silent.
“Uh, you think he heard all those rumors going on about him and his little…pet?”
Everyone winced.
“Well, that’d be a dumb reason to kill all of us.”
Dumb, yes. But then again, the current boss wasn’t exactly known for his intelligence.
“And it’s not like it’s our fault if it’s the truth, right? Somethin’ like that… ‘s not good for our image is all,” Ueda grunted. “I mean, from what I hear. I haven’t seen the uh…the pet yet.”
A general murmur of agreement.
Which was broken up by a loud, enthusiastic, “Tadaima!!” ringing out from the main entryway of the mansion. “I got back a little early today, Makki! The midterm was really easy and I finished in half the time and…”
About two dozen heads turned to the doorway.
And for the first time in their collective lives, the various leaders of the Kantou Sharp Fang laid eyes on Sakurakoji Jun.
Jun in the meantime, blinked when he registered all the guests sitting in his living room. None of which were Makio. His exuberant speech petered off, abruptly. “And…er… hahaha…hi.” He waved tentatively in greeting, and hastily tossed his bangs out of his eyes so as to look more presentable.
As for the yakuza, there was just a lot of staring.
“That the uh…pet?” someone whispered after a moment, a bit loudly.
“I think so,” his companion responded, and didn’t bother to lower his voice, he was too busy staring.
“That’s a guy?” the first felt the need to ask, just to be sure.
“I think so,” his friend replied.
Jun pouted when he heard, and momentarily forgot his trepidation. “I’m definitely a guy!” he protested, and his bottom lip quivered just a bit when he did. Some of his hair fell back into his eyes.
Everyone winced-reflexively.
“Uh, sorry,” guy one suddenly felt the need to say, quickly.
“Yeah,” his friend added. “It’s dim in here. Totally the lighting.”
Jun brightened, instantly. “Oh. Well, it’s okay then! I’m sorry for just barging in like that… Makki…er, Sakaki-san told me he’d have guests over later today, but I didn’t think you’d be here until after dinner!” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Everyone swallowed when he tossed his hair back-again.
A beat.
Jun fidgeted.
“Um… er… oh, I know! If you’ll give me a second I made cookies for everyone last night!” he started after a moment, brightening. “I’ll be right back, ne?”
And then he toed his shoes off and ran towards the kitchen, hair flouncing idyllically as he moved.
Everyone stared after him.
“He made…cookies?”
“Guess so.”
“Er…that was a guy, right?” guy one repeated, because he still wasn’t so sure.
This time, everyone was silent.
Sometime later, when Makio arrived to the meeting with a limping Kazu and a doubtful Kuroi in tow, the sounds of unexpectedly raucous laughter from within greeted them all from the entranceway.
“What’s going on?” Kazu asked, around his split and swollen lip.
Makio, automatically tense, wasn’t sure. “I dunno. But we’re already late, and we don’t got much time before Sakuranantoka’s supposed to be back from class. So forget whatever they’re laughin’ about and hurry up with the plan, asshole.”
Kazu saluted obediently, one eye swollen shut and his nose still dripping blood from their preparations from earlier (i.e. the reason they were late). “Right!” the younger gangster declared, before taking a deep breath and fighting past his mild nausea. He told himself that this was all for aniki’s happiness, and that gave him strength.
Thus he threw himself forward without a backwards glance, stumbling into the room and screaming bloody murder, just like they’d rehearsed.
Two dozen heads (plus Jun) all turned towards the entryway again.
“Uuuugh,” Kazu groaned dramatically, and hoped this worked, because getting beat up for Sakurakoji’s sake still kind of grated on his pride, even if it was by aniki’s orders. “Uuuugh, help!!!”
Two dozen men stared. “The hell happened, Kazu?”
“Aniki’s boyfriend beat me up,” Kazu moaned, clutching his head theatrically before curling up into a fetal position right there on the floor of the entryway. “Oh, he’s such a scary guy, Jun-sama is! Oh god, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die!” And then he flumped over, twitching.
Silence.
“Oh! Oh yeah, and beware of Sakurakoji Jun! He’s a lot scarier than he looks!” Kazu exploded, one last time in addendum, before presumably passing out for real.
Two dozen heads turned to Jun, situated comfortably on the couch between Ueda-san and Shibata-san.
He pouted. “Kazu-kun, I did not!” he whimpered, and rose, hurrying to Kazu’s side. “What really happened, Kazu? Ne? Ne? Are you okay?” He shook Kazu gently, genuinely distressed.
The supposedly-unconscious yazuka cracked an eye open at the sound of Sakurakoji’s voice, panicking. “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed through his teeth, though everyone in the room heard anyway (sound carried really well in the house, and Kazu wasn’t subtle).
Sakurakoji pouted. “I came back early. What happened to you? Are you sick?” he asked, suddenly finding an explanation for Kazu’s apparently delusional claims. He turned to go back into the living room. “You just stay right there, I’ll go call a doctor right now and…”
Kazu’s hand shot out instinctively at the words, and before Jun could go, he grabbed the younger man’s wrist, hastily. Maybe a little bit harder than he ought to have, in retrospect.
Sakurakoji whimpered involuntarily.
Two dozen of Japan’s most fearsome yakuza got to their feet on instinct, prepared to defend Jun’s honor.
But before any of them could knife Kazu appropriately, Sakaki Makio himself stormed into the room-presumably called by the internal radar he had for detecting Jun-owwies-and smacked Kazu in the head. “Oi, don’t you remember the no touching, rule, asshole? You wanna die?!” Makio demanded, pulling his poor underling up by the lapels of his coat and glaring hard into his face.
“Sorry, aniki!” Kazu gasped. “Sorry! I didn’t think Jun-sama would be here already!”
“Well think next time asshole! And don’t grab so hard! He bruises easily.”
“Hai! Sorry!”
A beat.
And then Makio realized what Kazu had actually just told him.
He abruptly dropped the younger man. Spun around. Stared.
“E-eh?”
Jun smiled sheepishly at Makio, waving up at him timidly. “Okaeri, Makki.”
Behind him, two dozen yakuza bosses wanted to know what the heck was going on.
Meanwhile, from the doorway, Kuroi sighed as he watched the scene unfold; thinking to himself (a bit belatedly), that the putting-Jun-sama-in-a-wedding-dress plan might have actually been more successful than this one, all things considered.
No one moved for a while.
Though eventually, it was Sakurakoji who broke the awkward silence. “So… who wants more cookies?” he asked, and didn’t wait for an answer before darting back into the kitchen.
Later, after everyone had had their second servings of cookies and milk (and Kazu had stopped bleeding), Makio sat in his living room and stared in befuddled amazement as Jun held court, the young college student explaining why he’d come home early, and that he thought Makio’s friends were all very nice.
The group hemmed and hawed at Jun’s praise, and some of the bastards even blushed.
“Though Ueda-san really needs to get out of the habit of putting his feet up on tables, ne?” Jun suggested, nudging the culprit playfully.
Ueda blinked.
Makio tensed.
And then very quickly, the older yakuza pulled his feet off of the coffee table. “Haha, where’re my manners?” he asked sheepishly, and looked apologetically at Jun.
Jun beamed.
Everyone basked in the glow.
Staring at it himself in this context (despite getting to see it pretty much every day) made Makio wonder if he shouldn’t have beat up Kazu earlier after all. Though he thought it had been a pretty damn brilliant plan if he’d ever thought of one.
But, he supposed, this was okay too.
No one had asked him about getting married yet after all, and he was pretty sure he’d gotten a thumbs-up or two from some of the guys in the back after Jun started talking about how he used to go to dance lessons with his big sister when he was small since there was no one else to watch him at home. “It was funny because even though I wasn’t the one taking the lessons, the teachers would let me join in too, and they all said I was much better than her! Though I guess I’ve always been a lot more flexible than neesan, so it makes sense,” Sakurakoji chuckled, and the thumbs-ups in Sakaki’s direction suddenly quadrupled.
Makio made a mental note to look up why Jun being a good dancer was a thumbs-up for him-later. Though he had a sneaking suspicion it had nothing to do with dancing at all. Mostly because he didn’t really do it, himself. So having a partner who could just seemed kind of pointless, but whatever.
As long as they weren’t bugging him to marry any girls or anything.
Though truth be told, Jun in a dress still wasn’t a bad idea, no matter how many ways Makio threw it.
“Ah, we should probably get the general meeting underway,” Kuroi interrupted, after letting the group schmooze around with Jun and Makio for another fifteen minutes or so.
Everyone, he noted, looked visibly disappointed when they heard the news.
Up until Jun flashed a winning smile and stood, pert and cheerful as ever. “You all should stay for dinner tonight too, ne?” he suggested, and no one could complain when he looked at them like that. “In the meantime, I won’t hold you all up anymore. It was nice meeting you all!”
“You too, Jun-sama!” everyone echoed.
He beamed and waved one more time, before flouncing out of the room. “Have a good meeting, ne?”
They all watched him go.
“So,” Shibata began after a moment, “where did you two meet?”
Makio bit into another cookie and shrugged, nonchalantly. “High school.”
The gang members looked at each other for a while.
“Huh,” Ueda grunted, sounding thoughtful. “High school, eh?”
Twenty four yakuza all took a moment to say, “Hmmmm.”
Kuroi-sensing danger- quickly stepped in and changed the subject.
In the meantime, Jun retreated upstairs as quietly as possible and headed straight for his and Makio’s room, finally letting out the big, nervous breath he’d been holding the entire time downstairs.
He paused just outside his door however, upon seeing Mikio leaning against the wall nearby, the younger Sakaki reading a book casually. When he saw Jun though, he paused and marked his page meticulously, before greeting his kouhai. “Welcome back, Jun-kun,” he said, cheerful as ever.
Jun offered a small, relieved smile. “Thanks.”
“So,” the older man began nonchalantly, “how did it go?”
Sakurakoji huffed at the reminder, tossing his hair out of his face again. “I did just like you said,” he admitted. “So I think it went well. I hope it went well.”
Mikio smiled. “Good work, Jun-kun.”
Jun chuckled a bit. “Thanks. And thanks for the heads up, Mikki-senpai. It could have gone badly if I hadn’t known what was going on ahead of time.”
Mikio just beamed and waved the younger man off with a fluttery little laugh. “Just some gossip I heard around the rumor mill, is all. But it’s always best to be certain about these things, ne? For everyone’s sake.”
Jun smiled back. “Of course.”
And looking at the pretty college student like that, Mikio truly felt that his big brother was really very lucky to have found himself such a sharp young man who was willing to stay by his side no matter what. He sighed a little to himself at the thought, wistful. “What would niisan do without our help, ne?” he said, inexplicably understanding how his mother must have felt all those years ago for just a moment.
Jun, oblivious to everything behind those words, simply shuddered at the thought. “He probably would’ve tried to get me into a wedding dress or something,” he muttered, only half joking when he thought about it.
Mikio didn’t respond to that, and that was all the answer anyone ever needed.
Instead, the older man simply proceeded to head downstairs lazily, waving over his shoulder and telling Jun, “I’ll go tell the cook to prepare for extra guests at dinner tonight. Twenty four, ne?”
“Right,” Sakurakoji responded, and as he watched Mikio saunter off, felt like he could have smacked himself for forgetting such an important detail in his haste to retreat earlier.
He still had a lot to learn, it seemed. And truth be told, it was all a little bit daunting when he thought about it seriously.
But after a moment, Jun took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips, determined.
Being the wife of a yakuza boss wasn’t going to be easy, sure.
But he told himself that he could do it. That he would do it.
Because after today (i.e. after Kazu’s concussion) Jun was convinced now more than ever, that Makio really- really- needed him.
A lot.
END
EDITS LIKE WOAH.
Universe: My Boss, My Hero
Theme/Topic: N/A
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing/s: MakioxJun, Kuroi, Mikio
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for the end of the series. Kind of. >>
Word Count: 3,191
Summary: The gang pressures Makio to marry. He’s got other ideas. Unfortunately.
Dedication: tomomichi- I got to talking about why MBMH is such a good show with her today and suddenly felt the need to write MORE. Also for sw_inku, who lets me rape her mind with youtube videos of the Kat-Tun VS NewS INTENSE BOY-BAND DANCE OFF OF ALL TIME.
A/N: Haha yeah, I did this all day instead of WORK ON MY SCRIPT. I am in trouble. >> But god I love Tego and his pedo-inducing smile-plus-hip-swish-plus-hair-bounce-combination-of-DOOM.
Disclaimer: Not mine, though I wish constantly.
Distribution: Just lemme know.
“Eh? Marry?” Makio grunted, blinking incredulously at Kuroi. “Like… marry, marry? In a tux and everything?”
The older man simply nodded, completely solemn.
A moment.
And then Makio sighed. Shrugged. “Er, I don’t think Sakuranantoka would like the idea of a dress so much, but hey, if you can get him into one I don’t…”
Kuroi cleared his throat. “Young master,” he began, slowly, “the gang is starting to talk about you…taking a wife.”
Another moment.
Makio blinked again.
Then, “Like I was sayin’, I don’t think Sakuranantoka would go for the dress thing…”
Kuroi sighed when he was forced to just come out and say exactly what he’d been dancing around all this time. “I mean a woman, sir. A woman.”
Makio stared.
Kuroi counted backwards from three in his head.
And then, right on cue (two…one…): “EH?!”
Kuroi winced as the sound level quadrupled in the third’s office-but that was to be expected, he supposed. He’d put this discussion off for as long as possible and now it was simply impossible to put it out there delicately without wasting any more of their precious time. Especially considering the fact that the Kantou Sharp Fang’s annual general management meeting was just around the corner. “As I was saying, sir,” Kuroi continued, once it looked like Makio wasn’t going to scream any more, “for the stability of the gang, some of the members in our different areas of operation are beginning to…well… talk. Of course, those of us closest to you understand, but all the same, it’s starting to come up a lot in middle-management.”
Makio’s eyes narrowed at the thought. “Damned old men,” he muttered. “The hell is it any of their business anyway?”
Kuroi looked nervous. “Well uh… there’s the matter of presenting a… stable family life, I suppose, sir. And while everyone here likes Jun-sama quite a lot, I’m not sure the whole group agrees on the… image… he would make for the gang-and your leadership- if he were to be officially recognized by the Sharp Fang. I think maybe if he were less… well, less…um….” When he couldn’t find an appropriate descriptor he sighed and trailed off, making a vague sort of back and forth gesture with his hand instead. “I’m sure you understand.”
Makio’s brow furrowed. He guessed he could understand, sort of. Jun wasn’t exactly the type to be living in a yakuza headquarters, to be honest.
He was too…
…fluttery?
…shiny?
…giggly?
…hair-tossy?
…cute?
Yeah, cute was probably it, Makio decided after a moment. Cute worked.
“He’s really fuckin’ cute, huh?” he said out loud, once he’d found the right word.
Kuroi looked relieved at his boss’s understanding of the matter. “Yes, sir. He’s really very cute.”
“So what, they think he’s not scary or somethin’ ‘cuz of that? Not a tough guy?”
The older man nodded once. “I think that’s a fair assessment.”
Makio grunted. Clearly, those old bastards in middle management had never seen Jun angrily waving a spatula in their faces after they’d tried pilfering some of the cookies he was making as a gift for the fellas who were coming back from a big job that night.
But Makio had.
Twice, actually.
Pretty damned scary on both counts, if you asked him.
“So…what do you suggest we do about this unrest, boss?” Kuroi posed after a while. “I mean, there’s always the option of taking a wife purely for… political purposes. Kazu and I have been screening potential girls for a few weeks now and…”
Makio held up a hand. “Nope. No girls,” he said, resolute on this one. He didn’t want to deal with any of that, truth be told, and after the whole incident with Umemura-san he was pretty damned certain he didn’t like the idea of any more girls involved with the yakuza than were strictly necessary.
“No girls? Then…what should we do, sir?”
Makio cracked his neck thoughtfully, the left side first and then the right. “We’ll just have to convince those old bastards in middle management to admit that they don’t know what they hell they’re talkin’ about,” he said, after a minute or two of deep contemplation.
Kuroi’s face fell at the familiar gleam in his young master’s eye. “Sir, with all due respect the general gang meeting is in two weeks and the topic is bound to come up. Starting a personal war over something like this isn’t…”
“Nah, it’s not that either,” Makio said, and grinned to himself, secretly. “I got an idea.”
Kuroi blinked. “Really?”
Apparently inspired, the sandaime of the Kantou Sharp Fang nodded, folding his hands under his chin and looking officious. “Cancel the convention reservations at the Hyatt. We’re gonna have the meeting here.”
Kuroi stared. “Here?”
Makio grunted. “Here.”
And then, after a very long moment (i.e. after confirming that the look on Makio’s face right now meant that any attempts to talk him out of the idea would be futile), Kuroi gave up and simply bowed. “Yes sir.”
He left the office hoping whatever it was his young master was planning wouldn’t end in an all out civil war.
Or that Makio’s idea didn’t have anything to do with convincing Jun-sama to put a dress on either.
He sighed.
Two weeks later, just as planned, all of the division heads from various branches of the Kantou Sharp Fang were invited over to the main headquarters-instead of the usual convention hall they rented- for their annual general business meeting.
“The hell’re we at the Boss’s house?” one area leader by the name of Ueda asked gruffly, slouching on Sakaki’s couch and propping his feet up on the coffee table like he owned the place. “’s like a fuckin’ tea party or somethin’.”
“Tell me ‘bout it,” his companion-Shibata-san- muttered, looking around the quiet mansion warily. “You don’t think he’s gathered us all in this tiny place because he’s gonna kill us when we least expect it or somethin’, do ya?”
Everyone went silent.
“Uh, you think he heard all those rumors going on about him and his little…pet?”
Everyone winced.
“Well, that’d be a dumb reason to kill all of us.”
Dumb, yes. But then again, the current boss wasn’t exactly known for his intelligence.
“And it’s not like it’s our fault if it’s the truth, right? Somethin’ like that… ‘s not good for our image is all,” Ueda grunted. “I mean, from what I hear. I haven’t seen the uh…the pet yet.”
A general murmur of agreement.
Which was broken up by a loud, enthusiastic, “Tadaima!!” ringing out from the main entryway of the mansion. “I got back a little early today, Makki! The midterm was really easy and I finished in half the time and…”
About two dozen heads turned to the doorway.
And for the first time in their collective lives, the various leaders of the Kantou Sharp Fang laid eyes on Sakurakoji Jun.
Jun in the meantime, blinked when he registered all the guests sitting in his living room. None of which were Makio. His exuberant speech petered off, abruptly. “And…er… hahaha…hi.” He waved tentatively in greeting, and hastily tossed his bangs out of his eyes so as to look more presentable.
As for the yakuza, there was just a lot of staring.
“That the uh…pet?” someone whispered after a moment, a bit loudly.
“I think so,” his companion responded, and didn’t bother to lower his voice, he was too busy staring.
“That’s a guy?” the first felt the need to ask, just to be sure.
“I think so,” his friend replied.
Jun pouted when he heard, and momentarily forgot his trepidation. “I’m definitely a guy!” he protested, and his bottom lip quivered just a bit when he did. Some of his hair fell back into his eyes.
Everyone winced-reflexively.
“Uh, sorry,” guy one suddenly felt the need to say, quickly.
“Yeah,” his friend added. “It’s dim in here. Totally the lighting.”
Jun brightened, instantly. “Oh. Well, it’s okay then! I’m sorry for just barging in like that… Makki…er, Sakaki-san told me he’d have guests over later today, but I didn’t think you’d be here until after dinner!” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Everyone swallowed when he tossed his hair back-again.
A beat.
Jun fidgeted.
“Um… er… oh, I know! If you’ll give me a second I made cookies for everyone last night!” he started after a moment, brightening. “I’ll be right back, ne?”
And then he toed his shoes off and ran towards the kitchen, hair flouncing idyllically as he moved.
Everyone stared after him.
“He made…cookies?”
“Guess so.”
“Er…that was a guy, right?” guy one repeated, because he still wasn’t so sure.
This time, everyone was silent.
Sometime later, when Makio arrived to the meeting with a limping Kazu and a doubtful Kuroi in tow, the sounds of unexpectedly raucous laughter from within greeted them all from the entranceway.
“What’s going on?” Kazu asked, around his split and swollen lip.
Makio, automatically tense, wasn’t sure. “I dunno. But we’re already late, and we don’t got much time before Sakuranantoka’s supposed to be back from class. So forget whatever they’re laughin’ about and hurry up with the plan, asshole.”
Kazu saluted obediently, one eye swollen shut and his nose still dripping blood from their preparations from earlier (i.e. the reason they were late). “Right!” the younger gangster declared, before taking a deep breath and fighting past his mild nausea. He told himself that this was all for aniki’s happiness, and that gave him strength.
Thus he threw himself forward without a backwards glance, stumbling into the room and screaming bloody murder, just like they’d rehearsed.
Two dozen heads (plus Jun) all turned towards the entryway again.
“Uuuugh,” Kazu groaned dramatically, and hoped this worked, because getting beat up for Sakurakoji’s sake still kind of grated on his pride, even if it was by aniki’s orders. “Uuuugh, help!!!”
Two dozen men stared. “The hell happened, Kazu?”
“Aniki’s boyfriend beat me up,” Kazu moaned, clutching his head theatrically before curling up into a fetal position right there on the floor of the entryway. “Oh, he’s such a scary guy, Jun-sama is! Oh god, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die!” And then he flumped over, twitching.
Silence.
“Oh! Oh yeah, and beware of Sakurakoji Jun! He’s a lot scarier than he looks!” Kazu exploded, one last time in addendum, before presumably passing out for real.
Two dozen heads turned to Jun, situated comfortably on the couch between Ueda-san and Shibata-san.
He pouted. “Kazu-kun, I did not!” he whimpered, and rose, hurrying to Kazu’s side. “What really happened, Kazu? Ne? Ne? Are you okay?” He shook Kazu gently, genuinely distressed.
The supposedly-unconscious yazuka cracked an eye open at the sound of Sakurakoji’s voice, panicking. “What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed through his teeth, though everyone in the room heard anyway (sound carried really well in the house, and Kazu wasn’t subtle).
Sakurakoji pouted. “I came back early. What happened to you? Are you sick?” he asked, suddenly finding an explanation for Kazu’s apparently delusional claims. He turned to go back into the living room. “You just stay right there, I’ll go call a doctor right now and…”
Kazu’s hand shot out instinctively at the words, and before Jun could go, he grabbed the younger man’s wrist, hastily. Maybe a little bit harder than he ought to have, in retrospect.
Sakurakoji whimpered involuntarily.
Two dozen of Japan’s most fearsome yakuza got to their feet on instinct, prepared to defend Jun’s honor.
But before any of them could knife Kazu appropriately, Sakaki Makio himself stormed into the room-presumably called by the internal radar he had for detecting Jun-owwies-and smacked Kazu in the head. “Oi, don’t you remember the no touching, rule, asshole? You wanna die?!” Makio demanded, pulling his poor underling up by the lapels of his coat and glaring hard into his face.
“Sorry, aniki!” Kazu gasped. “Sorry! I didn’t think Jun-sama would be here already!”
“Well think next time asshole! And don’t grab so hard! He bruises easily.”
“Hai! Sorry!”
A beat.
And then Makio realized what Kazu had actually just told him.
He abruptly dropped the younger man. Spun around. Stared.
“E-eh?”
Jun smiled sheepishly at Makio, waving up at him timidly. “Okaeri, Makki.”
Behind him, two dozen yakuza bosses wanted to know what the heck was going on.
Meanwhile, from the doorway, Kuroi sighed as he watched the scene unfold; thinking to himself (a bit belatedly), that the putting-Jun-sama-in-a-wedding-dress plan might have actually been more successful than this one, all things considered.
No one moved for a while.
Though eventually, it was Sakurakoji who broke the awkward silence. “So… who wants more cookies?” he asked, and didn’t wait for an answer before darting back into the kitchen.
Later, after everyone had had their second servings of cookies and milk (and Kazu had stopped bleeding), Makio sat in his living room and stared in befuddled amazement as Jun held court, the young college student explaining why he’d come home early, and that he thought Makio’s friends were all very nice.
The group hemmed and hawed at Jun’s praise, and some of the bastards even blushed.
“Though Ueda-san really needs to get out of the habit of putting his feet up on tables, ne?” Jun suggested, nudging the culprit playfully.
Ueda blinked.
Makio tensed.
And then very quickly, the older yakuza pulled his feet off of the coffee table. “Haha, where’re my manners?” he asked sheepishly, and looked apologetically at Jun.
Jun beamed.
Everyone basked in the glow.
Staring at it himself in this context (despite getting to see it pretty much every day) made Makio wonder if he shouldn’t have beat up Kazu earlier after all. Though he thought it had been a pretty damn brilliant plan if he’d ever thought of one.
But, he supposed, this was okay too.
No one had asked him about getting married yet after all, and he was pretty sure he’d gotten a thumbs-up or two from some of the guys in the back after Jun started talking about how he used to go to dance lessons with his big sister when he was small since there was no one else to watch him at home. “It was funny because even though I wasn’t the one taking the lessons, the teachers would let me join in too, and they all said I was much better than her! Though I guess I’ve always been a lot more flexible than neesan, so it makes sense,” Sakurakoji chuckled, and the thumbs-ups in Sakaki’s direction suddenly quadrupled.
Makio made a mental note to look up why Jun being a good dancer was a thumbs-up for him-later. Though he had a sneaking suspicion it had nothing to do with dancing at all. Mostly because he didn’t really do it, himself. So having a partner who could just seemed kind of pointless, but whatever.
As long as they weren’t bugging him to marry any girls or anything.
Though truth be told, Jun in a dress still wasn’t a bad idea, no matter how many ways Makio threw it.
“Ah, we should probably get the general meeting underway,” Kuroi interrupted, after letting the group schmooze around with Jun and Makio for another fifteen minutes or so.
Everyone, he noted, looked visibly disappointed when they heard the news.
Up until Jun flashed a winning smile and stood, pert and cheerful as ever. “You all should stay for dinner tonight too, ne?” he suggested, and no one could complain when he looked at them like that. “In the meantime, I won’t hold you all up anymore. It was nice meeting you all!”
“You too, Jun-sama!” everyone echoed.
He beamed and waved one more time, before flouncing out of the room. “Have a good meeting, ne?”
They all watched him go.
“So,” Shibata began after a moment, “where did you two meet?”
Makio bit into another cookie and shrugged, nonchalantly. “High school.”
The gang members looked at each other for a while.
“Huh,” Ueda grunted, sounding thoughtful. “High school, eh?”
Twenty four yakuza all took a moment to say, “Hmmmm.”
Kuroi-sensing danger- quickly stepped in and changed the subject.
In the meantime, Jun retreated upstairs as quietly as possible and headed straight for his and Makio’s room, finally letting out the big, nervous breath he’d been holding the entire time downstairs.
He paused just outside his door however, upon seeing Mikio leaning against the wall nearby, the younger Sakaki reading a book casually. When he saw Jun though, he paused and marked his page meticulously, before greeting his kouhai. “Welcome back, Jun-kun,” he said, cheerful as ever.
Jun offered a small, relieved smile. “Thanks.”
“So,” the older man began nonchalantly, “how did it go?”
Sakurakoji huffed at the reminder, tossing his hair out of his face again. “I did just like you said,” he admitted. “So I think it went well. I hope it went well.”
Mikio smiled. “Good work, Jun-kun.”
Jun chuckled a bit. “Thanks. And thanks for the heads up, Mikki-senpai. It could have gone badly if I hadn’t known what was going on ahead of time.”
Mikio just beamed and waved the younger man off with a fluttery little laugh. “Just some gossip I heard around the rumor mill, is all. But it’s always best to be certain about these things, ne? For everyone’s sake.”
Jun smiled back. “Of course.”
And looking at the pretty college student like that, Mikio truly felt that his big brother was really very lucky to have found himself such a sharp young man who was willing to stay by his side no matter what. He sighed a little to himself at the thought, wistful. “What would niisan do without our help, ne?” he said, inexplicably understanding how his mother must have felt all those years ago for just a moment.
Jun, oblivious to everything behind those words, simply shuddered at the thought. “He probably would’ve tried to get me into a wedding dress or something,” he muttered, only half joking when he thought about it.
Mikio didn’t respond to that, and that was all the answer anyone ever needed.
Instead, the older man simply proceeded to head downstairs lazily, waving over his shoulder and telling Jun, “I’ll go tell the cook to prepare for extra guests at dinner tonight. Twenty four, ne?”
“Right,” Sakurakoji responded, and as he watched Mikio saunter off, felt like he could have smacked himself for forgetting such an important detail in his haste to retreat earlier.
He still had a lot to learn, it seemed. And truth be told, it was all a little bit daunting when he thought about it seriously.
But after a moment, Jun took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips, determined.
Being the wife of a yakuza boss wasn’t going to be easy, sure.
But he told himself that he could do it. That he would do it.
Because after today (i.e. after Kazu’s concussion) Jun was convinced now more than ever, that Makio really- really- needed him.
A lot.
END
EDITS LIKE WOAH.