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Chapter Text

“Rika Nonaka, will you do me the greatest honour and be my wife?”

It was her twenty third birthday. Tonight, her gameplan was to get through her father’s dinner as quickly and painless as possible. She should have seen this coming. Everyone important to her was here. Her friends sat on one side of the restaurant, her mother across from her father. And next to her sat her sick grandmother. The same grandmother who was too sick to grocery shop, never mind go out for an overly extravagant dinner.

Rika’s blood felt like ice was running through her veins when she saw him pull out the black box as he got down on one knee. His bright yellow eyes glittered almost as bright as his blonde hair. He looked like a Greek god, styled to the nines in a crisp fitted bright blue suit and black tie.

She looked at the purple velvet lined opened box in his hand, a very exorbitant four carrot princess cut diamond, encased by many other smaller diamonds sat encased in a thick silver band that blinded her. She frowned. The first thing that came to mind upon seeing it, was that all the jewellery she wore was gold.

The second thing to come to mind was her grandmother. Could she manage drama right now? Without moving her head, Rika’s eyes flited over to favourite person in the world.

Seiko was frowning amongst the excited squealing of her mother across from her.

That told her everything she needed to know.

Rika stood up, shaking her head, gathering all the courage she remembered having when she was a teenager. “No.”

The man on his knee eyes grew wide, embarrassed, “No? What do you mean no?” He stood up, towering her by two feet and quietly but spitefully whispered, “You need this.”

Rika hadn’t felt this empowered in years. “Kuroi, we haven’t talked about marriage, ever.”

Kuroi Takahoma was your average dude bro. Rika’s father had taken him under his wing when he was a teen. He was the son of his best friends, who tragically passed eight years prior. Kuroi Takahoma was the son Nekoda Nonaka never had. “We live together Rika. We might as well make it official. I love you.”

Rumiko gasped, “Baby he loves you!” She repeated in a dream like state. She was already very drunk, Rika doubted that she’d even remember this evening.

Rika looked over the restaurant to her friends. Takato and Henry were both already standing, when she made eye contact with them, they started to walk towards her. She steadied her voice, “I don’t love you, Kuroi.”

“Fuck, Rika don’t do this.” Kuroi said with a crazy aggression, he then felt the presence of the men behind her. He scoffed loudly, “Rika you’re so fucking dramatic, you don’t need your danmed hounds around me.”

Takato gave him a nasty look, crossing his arms over his broad chest, “She said no Takahoma.”

Kuroi shot Takato a sneer before changing his tone from aggressive to sweet, “Hunny, come on. We’ve been together for three years. Tell your stupid bodyguards to back off.”

“We are her friends Takahoma, not her bodyguards.” Henry said evenly.

“Same fucking difference, you fuck wits never gave me a fucking chance.” Kuroi growls.

“Kuroi, calm down.” Nekoda Nonaka said. It was the first time her father spoke since the proposal. Rika winced, knowing full well what was coming next from the elder redhead.

Nekoda sighed, running his hand down his handsome aged face, “Rika-Rose maybe you simply need more time to think about this.”

She breathed in and out and felt the warm hand of her grandmother curl her fingers around her wrist. She did not need to think about this.

“No, father, I don’t need more time. I’m done. I’m finally done.” She turned to Kuroi, “We’re done.”

Kuroi shook his head, and his tone got violent, “No. We’re not fucking done. We have to talk about this.” He reached out to grab her.

Takato stepped in front of him, “No I think she said enough to you.”

Rika swallowed, finding her courage, “I want you out of my apartment.”

Nekoda snaps, “I bought that apartment for the both of you. Rika you need to work this out.”

Rika snapped back, “Fine. I’ll move out.”

“You don’t have anywhere to go.” Kuroi yelled, stepping into Takato’s space.

Takato stepped forward, unafraid, “She can stay at our place as long as she needs for you to gather up your things.”

“You think I’m gonna let her stay with you?” Kuroi sneered, “Fat fucking chance I’ll let my girlfriend stay with you. You probably can’t wait to get your fucking hands on her huh? Was this your plan this whole time? You wanna fuck my girlfriend that bad?”

“That is enough Takahoma.” Henry cut in, stepping next to his friend, “Takato is married. You were at the wedding six months ago.”

“No, no, I’ve seen the way you look at her.” Kuroi continued, “I can’t say I blame you for looking at her like you want to fuck her brains out.”

“Kuroi that is enough.” Nekoda commanded.

Rika was shaking slightly; she was ready to leave. She stepped in front of Takato. “Let me be clear. I am breaking up with you. I don’t want to be your wife, or your girlfriend. I don’t want to be your anything.”

“Your fucking friends have been brainwashing you. I know it.” Kuroi muttered.

At this point, her friends all rallied over to the table.

“Think whatever you want Kuroi, just know that I don’t care anymore.” She looked over at her grandmother, who was smiling brightly.

Rika walked over to her and helped her up.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Kuroi asked.

Rika didn’t look at him, “We’re leaving.”

Henry fished out his keys and went to Seiko’s other side to help her up, “I’ll drive you guys.”

“The hell you are.” Kuroi stalked towards her but was taken down by Takato and Kazu.

“She is not going anywhere with you, you asshole.” Jeri said, in an icy tone.

“Oh, so all of you are showing your true fucking colours now huh?” Kuroi said from the ground. “Get off me!”

Some of the waitstaff called security and they filed into the scene.

Rika didn’t stick around to see what was going on. She and Henry walked her grandmother to his car. She sat in the back seat with her and started to breathe heavily.

“Rika, I am so proud of you.” Seiko said kindly. “I know that was hard. I’m so proud.”

Rika nodded, tears spilling from her eyes, “I’m proud of me too.”

-one year later-

“Alice, you said Ryo was going to come by?” Jeri asks after setting her tequila sunrise down on the counter.

Alice nods with a smile, “Yeah I actually messaged him this afternoon with the bar’s address.”

Takato perks up at hearing that. “Man, I haven’t seen Ryo since the funeral. I’m glad he’s decided to move closer to us here. I feel like he could really use some friends now.”

“Yeah, me too.” Alice says with a smile. “Henry, do you know if Rika is gonna make it out tonight?”

Henry replies, “I think so? She was finishing up a case the last I spoke to her.”

“That girl needs a break.” Jeri huffs, “I love her like a sister, and I hate seeing her work herself to the bone the way she is. She needs to let loose.”

Henry sighs, “She has a lot going on Jeri, with her not talking to her mom and her grandmother’s declining health.”

“Not to mention that absolute shit show last year.” Kazu mentions, trembling as he remembered.

Alice sips her red wine and looks over to Kazu, “Henry told me about that, it sounded truly awful.”

“You know I keep forgetting that you and Henry only started dating a few months ago. I feel like you were there the whole time.” Kazu says.

Takato smiles at the opportunity to tease Henry, “I agree Kazu, it does feel like you’ve been a part of the group for a long time. Henry why did it take you so long to ask her out? You’ve had a crush on her for years.”  

“Guys, please. Don’t embarrass me like this.” Henry says with a nervous laugh. His phone vibrates and he unlocks it upon seeing Rika’s name light up.

20:27 Rika Nonaka:

I’ll be there for 9

Don’t get too drunk without me

20:27 Henry Wong:

Glad you can make it out

20:27 Rika Nonaka:

Of course, I’m really looking forward to meeting Alice.

I don’t know about her past Hypnos stuff

20:28 Henry Wong:

Me too. Ryo is supposed to be coming by tonight as well.

20:28 Rika Nonaka:

Akiyama? I didn’t know he was in town

20:29 Henry Wong:

He moved here last week according to Takato and Jeri. He’s got a job at the University

20:29 Rika Nonaka:

The one near me?

20:29 Henry Wong:

Yup

20:29 Rika Nonaka

Small world… so Alice is meeting me and you’re meeting Ryo

Does it feel like you’re meeting eachother’s parents? Lol

20:30 Henry Wong:

Strangely enough, yes it does

Alice and Ryo both worked at the same Hypnos branch for years

They’re basically us, but there

20:30 Rika Nonaka:

Ah So he’s also overprotective over Alice?

20:30 Henry Wong:

I’m not overprotective

20:30 Rika Nonaka:

Sure…

20:30 Henry Wong:

Your one of my best friends

And you’ve been through some serious shit

Of course I’m going to look out for you

20:30 Rika Nonaka:

And I appreciate it. I’m about 20 minutes away

20:30 Henry Wong:

See you soon

“Hey Babe, you good?” Alice asks her boyfriend.

Henry pockets his phone, “Yeah I was texting Rika. She’ll be here soon.”

Alice sits back to prop her head on Henry’s shoulder. She quietly asks, “Can I ask, what did happen last year? I know she refused her ex’s proposal and then broke up with him, but you guys are making it sound like a blood bath.”

Henry sighs, “Its not my story to tell. I will tell you this, he was abusive to her, turned her into a shell of who she was.”

“Are you talking about that asshole?” Jeri asks with a serious look.

“Yeah, sorry I asked Henry about it.” Alice said sheepishly.

Jeri shakes her head, “He was a horrible human. Takato and Kazu actually had to physically fight him to keep him from getting to Rika that night.”

Alice’s eyes grew, “Oh, wow. I didn’t know it got that serious.”

Kenta sighs, “I’m glad I missed out that night. Rika ended up spending a few nights at my place because he didn’t know who I was.”

“What?” Alice asks, wide eyed.

“Yeah, he went to Takato and Jer’s first, then to Henry’s and even to my place demanding to speak to her.” Kazu said gulping down his vodka cranberry.

Alice drank down her wine before asking, “How did he know where you all lived?”

“Her father.” Jeri said simply. “Who is also a giant colossal asshole.”

Alice sat in shock, “No, that’s crazy. Wouldn’t he be concerned for his daughter’s safety?”

“No, because he had hand picked that twat for Rika. He only paid for her tuition if she went on a date with him. He was okay at first, but then her dad bought them an apartment together a few months before the whole thing went down and we almost never talked to her again after that. It wasn’t until her mom invited us for the birthday dinner that we figured out what was really going on.” Jeri explains, slamming her now empty glass on the counter.

“I’ll tell you about it later, Rika’s going to be here soon, and I don’t want us to talk about it anymore.” Henry said to Alice, “No more talking about this.” He addresses to the group.

“Okay Dad.” Kazu and Kenta say at the same time.

The whole table erupts with laughter just as Ryo walks in.

“Ryo! Glad you could make it man.” Takato calls.

“Hey everyone. Thanks for the invite. The whole team is here huh?” Ryo says looking around the table. He made his way around the table saying his hellos to everyone before sitting down next to Alice.

“You doing good?” Alice asks him as the waitress comes around with everyone’s orders.

Ryo shrugs, “Everything is a lot right now. It’s nice to see everyone though. Who knew we’d be living in the same city again?”

Alice smiles, “Its nice isn’t it?”

Ryo thanks the waitress as she hands him his whiskey on the rocks. “How are things?” he asks her, nodding to Henry who was in conversation with Jeri.

“He’s really good to me.” Alice says with a blush.

“Yeah?” He asks, swirling his drink.

Alice’s blush grows, “Yeah. He’s sweet, plans dates and stuff like that.”

“You have time for dates?” Ryo raises his eyebrows.

“I make the time for him—them. I mean them, the dates.” Alice squeezes the stem of her wine glass.

Ryo laughs, “Good. I’m happy for you.”

“Rika! You made it!” Jeri shrieks, jumping up from her seat next to Henry.

Rika is engulfed in Jeri’s arms, “Yeah sorry I’m late. The train was delayed.”

Rika made her hellos to everyone before taking the only seat available, next to Ryo.

“Hey Wildcat, long time no see.” Ryo greets her.

She rolls her eyes as the waitress hands her the drink she ordered as she walked in. “Hello Akiyama.”

Ryo smiles, nodding to her drink, “Whiskey sour?” he asks.

Rika nods, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“It’s one of my favourites.” Ryo says looking over her to Henry.

Rika turns around to see Henry slide his arm around Alice before kissing her head. “I guess everyone is on their third round?”

“Guess we have to catch up then.” Ryo says, holding his glass up to her.

She knocks her glass next to him and sips at her drink.

-Three hours later-

Rika stood at the door with Henry saying goodbye to Takato and a very drunk Jeri. Everyone had left except for Henry, Alice and Ryo.

“Alice.” Ryo calls, “Can you keep a secret?”
Alice giggles, “Maybe.”

Ryo slumps in his seat, “Its more of a grievance.”

“A grievance?” Alice raises her eyebrows.

Sighing dramatically Ryo pouts, “Yeah. Every time I see her in person, she is even more stunning than the last time.”

Alice looks to the door and then back to Ryo, “Rika? You still have a crush on her?’ She slaps his arm, “Ryo it’s been like six years!”

Ryo shoves her arm away playfully, “Shut up! And yes, I do. Sue me. She’s fucking beautiful. And she hates me. I always fall for the mean ones.”

“She’s not mean.” Alice scoffs.

“Would it be creepy if I asked her out?” Ryo casts his eyes down over his fourth whisky of the night.

Her tone grew soft, “Why would it be creepy?”

“Because I’m four years older than her.” He mumbles, head down.

Alice snorts, “Yeah, but she’s not eighteen anymore. She’s twenty-four. A whole ass adult.”

He sips at his drink and sets the glass a little too hard on the table. “I’m gonna do it.” Ryo moves to get up from the table.

Alice fully blocks him, pushing him back into his seat, “No, the fuck you’re not.”

“What?” Ryo asks, moping, “Why?”

Alice crosses her arms and points to Rika at the door as she spoke “Because she’s been through some serious shit this past year. Leave that poor girl alone.”

Ryo’s eyes grow dark, and he mutters sadly, “I’ve been through some serious shit this past year too.”

“I know, and I’m sorry Ryo.” Alice says taking his hand.

He rolls his head onto her shoulder, “Don’t pity me, Ali.”

Alice sighs, squeezing his hand, “Its another reason not to pursue her Ryo. You’re not ready for a relationship yet either.”

Ryo lets go of her hand and scoffs, “Fucking hate it when you’re right.”

Alice smiles and shrugs her shoulders, “Maybe just try to be her friend?”

Ryo knots his eyebrows, “You want me to try to be friends with the ice queen?”

She slaps his arm twice, “Hey, you wanted to date her two seconds ago.”

Ryo smiles, letting her know he was joking. “I’ve never dated my friends before.”

Alice shifts into a serious business-like tone. “I highly recommend it.”

“Yeah?” Ryo asks, eyebrows raising as if he was receiving insiders’ information.

Alice picks up her wine glass from the table, “Easily the best relationship I’ve ever had.” She said nodding to the door towards Henry, “And the sex is just, amazing.”

“Is sex better when you’re in love? Or does it just seem that way in the moment?” Ryo asks, genuinely curious.

Alice nods, holding her almost empty wine glass to her chest, “I think its better in love. I’ve had my share of loveless sex, and its way better this way.”

Ryo cocks his head to the side, “Whys that?”

“Because we know each other better.” Alice says without skipping a beat, “We’ve taken the time to learn our likes and dislikes, oh, and the foreplay is so intense its stupid. And the aftercare is just as good.”

Ryo is genuinely shocked in learning this information, “Even the aftercare?”

Alice nods enthusiastically, “Yes. It’s so much better when you’re in love. Its not even like a chore, we want to do it.”

Ryo shakes his head at her, “You should always practise aftercare Alice, its good manners.”

“Chore.” She sings.

“Are you calling Ryo a whore?” Henry asks, sliding back into his seat.

Alice and Ryo look at each other and start cracking up.

“You guys are having way to good of a time here.” Henry says looping his arm around Alice’s waist.

-Two more hours later-

“You   really make the sweetest couple.” Rika says holding her chin in her palm.

Ryo nods, “Yes, I approve.”

“Well, thank god for that.” Henry says with a chuckle, “Are you ready to go Alice?”

She nodded into his arm, “Yeah, I wanna go back to mine and shower.”

Henry lifted his eyebrow, “Is that an invitation?”

Rika groans, “Hello, the two of you sickos are still in public.”  

Henry and Alice laugh and say their goodbyes to Rika and Ryo for the night.

“And then there were two.” Ryo said cooly, nursing his fifth whiskey on the rocks.

Rika nods, “How have things been Akiyama? I heard your working at the University.”

Ryo sighs, “Things have been going to shit really. Dad’s hospice care and funeral drained all my life’s savings, so I am basically living paycheck to paycheck. And because I took such a long break from my research, all the funding was lost. So now I’m forced into teaching. I never wanted to be a teacher. I want to research.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.” She says with empathy. “If it helps, my mother has squandered all her money and re-mortgaged her home. So, I’m paying for her mortgage and my grandmother’s care, on top of all my own bills.”

Ryo smirks, holding his glass to her, “To being fiscally responsible to our shitty parents then?”

Rika laughs, “Yeah, to that.” She says touching her glass to his. “I am so sorry about your dad.”

He shook his head, “Its fine. We always had a rocky relationship; I knew he loved me in his own way. I just wished he was better prepared. He had no insurance, at all.”

Rika snorts, “That was irresponsible of him.”

Ryo sighs, “Exactly.”

“Gods you must be really going through it.” Rika looks at him with a little pity.

He shrugs, “I’m surviving.” Ryo looks up to her eyes, “You are much nicer to me when you’re drunk.”

Rika scoffs, hitting him playfully on his shoulder, “Fuck you, I’m a nice person.”

Ryo laughs and then gets serious for a moment, “I am curious though, doesn’t your family come from money?” His eyes widen after, “Shit sorry, I don’t mean to be nosey.”

Rika sighs, “No, its okay. My father is unbelievably rich. I have a trust fund set up, but I have to be married by the time I’m twenty-five to access it.”

Ryo raises his eyebrow, “And if you don’t get married?”

“I get to wait till he croaks.” She says with a snort.

Ryo busted out laughing. “Rika that’s horrible.”

Rika laughs with him, “Shit sorry, that was insensitive.”

“No shit.” Ryo says vociferously with a chuckle. “I forgive you though; he wants you to be married? That’s crazy.”

“Right?” Rika says slamming her glass down, “I’m too young for that. And too stressed. I don’t think I could manage a relationship right now.”

Ryo looks at her pensive, “You ever thought about just getting married and then having a quickie divorce?”

Rika sighs deeply, “You know, I’m almost desperate enough to consider it. The trust would pay off mom’s mortgage and my grandmother would be taken care of without having to think about it. I could even move her into a facility if she needs it.” Her tone was so soft and caring when she spoke of her grandmother.

“Would there be any money left for you?” Ryo asks.

Rika furrows her eyebrows and scoffs with attitude, “Oh yeah, its about eight hundred million yen.”

“Holy shit.” Ryo says loudly, eyes widening.

Rika nods slowly as she spoke, “Yeah, I had planned on never taking it. But I’m starting to get desperate. I even started modeling again just to cover a bit of my rent.” She winces, clearly regretting sharing the fact with Ryo, “Don’t tell the others.”

Ryo, who knew noting about the industry outside of the fact that she detested it when she was younger responds, “Yikes, you hate that.”

“I do. I really hate it. The problem is that I don’t have anyone that I would realistically marry. My father is so calculated and intrusive, he’d know if it was a fake marriage.”  She says bitterly.

Ryo smiles, “Kazu or Kenta unavailable?”

“Honestly at this point, I would entertain the idea.” She says seriously.

Ryo leaned into her, eyes wide again, “You’re kidding.”

She leaned into him, “I’m not.” She sat back flush against her seat, giggling to herself. Then she sat up straight as an idea entered her mind, “But you know who could work?” She turned to look him in the eyes, “You.”

“Me?” Ryo asks, shocked.

“Yeah,” She nods enthusiastically, “I know you’re not a total sleaze ball.” Her eyes light up as she dives more into the idea, “Father doesn’t know the history between us.”

“We have a history?” Ryo snorts.

Rika smiles wide, slamming her fist onto the table, “Exactly, we don’t. He knows all my friends; he doesn’t know you.”

Ryo took a sip of his drink, this was crazy. “I guess.”

Rika crosses her arms, talking more to herself at this point, “And you are the best looking in our group. Objectively speaking.”

Ryo smirks, “Is that important?”

Rika nods, “Yes. You are far more attractive than my ex. I’m around male models a lot, I should know.” She said seriously.

Ryo could have lived without the knowledge that Rika Nonaka, the girl he’d has a crush on for years, thought he was objectively hot. This was a dangerous idea. “I don’t know Rika, I have to admit to you, I’ve always had a little bit of a crush on you.” He winces a little, not meaning to confess to her.

Rika’s eyes light up, “Perfect! Channel that.” She says with determination and completely misses the point. “It could make this more believable.”

He couldn’t believe what as happening. He just confessed to her, and she completely dismissed it, “You’re serious huh?”

“Akiyama, it’s a flawless plan.” She nods eagerly.

He sighs, drinking a little more, “What’s in it for me?”

“I’ll give you twenty percent of the trust.” She says without skipping a beat.

“You’re fucking with me.” Ryo said, mouth agape.

“Nope. I think its perfect. It will really piss father off too which is a solid bonus.” She says with glee.

“Twenty percent? Are you serious?” Ryo asks, shell shocked. This is life changing money.

Rika shrugs and smiles, “Sounds like a good number to me.”

Ryo narrows his eyes, “You want to give me one hundred and sixty million yen just to fuck with your father?”

“Yes.” Rika responds, confident.

Ryo smiles, “Say less.”

“You’ll do it?” She asks, sitting up in her seat with excitement.

“For that much money? Hell yes.” He reaches up for a high five from her. He could push aside his feelings for her for this. He needs this as much as she does.

She obliges, “You are such a dork.”

“Should we celebrate this upcoming union with more shots?” Ryo asks.

Rika grins, “Yes.”

-The next morning-

It had been a very long time since Ryo Akiyama had woken up with an intense headache. His neck felt stiff, and his arm was just as bad. The warmth bathing one half of his face told him he was in front of a window filled with blinding sunlight. He cracks an eye open and is confronted with three things that command immediate anxiety.

One: None of the rooms in his apartment have a window facing the sun.

Two: This is not his couch.

Three: The self-proclaimed Ice Queen, Rika Nonaka is asleep in his arms.

Chapter Text

Ryo takes a closer look at the woman in his arms, praying that they didn’t do anything that they would regret. He sighs in relief when he notices his sleeve wrapped around her back. Rika still has her leather jacket on. He moves his arm up to see the time on his watch. It was just past nine, and he is positive he remembered leaving the bar after four.

He shifts on the couch. Yes, he is definitely still in the jeans he wore out last night. Arching his head forwards he can see that Rika is also, fully clothed.

“Thank fuck.” He whispers to himself. He feels like rotting garbage; he is far too old to be drinking into the wee hours of the morning. His body is going to put him through hell today, he could feel it.

Rika’s head is tucked into his breastbone. She’s snoring quietly with her arms cradled into her chest. He moves his hand up and down her back, trying to wake her gently.

Rika moves slightly groaning, nuzzling her head into him, protesting.

Ryo sighs, and whispers, “Come on Wildcat. Wake up Wildcat.”

Rika’s eyes snap open. She takes in her surroundings and promptly screams, “GET OFF ME!”

She jumps up, covering her chest with her arms. She was standing now, eyes wide in horror and breathing erratically.

“Don’t touch me!” She screams again, taking a step back.

“Woah, Rika, we just fell asleep.” Ryo says, sitting upright. He makes a move to stand up.

“Don’t.” Rika shouts shakily as she backs up into the wall.

“Okay, okay.” He surveys her stiff and scared expression, completely understanding what is happening right now.

His heart truly breaks for her in this moment.

Alice was right. Rika must have gone through some serious shit to warrant this kind of response. “Hey, I’ll leave right now if you need me to.”

All that could be heard is the heavy erratic breaths Rika was trying to control. She inclines her head to him, acknowledging what he said.

He locks his eyes with hers and says slowly and deliberately, “I’m going to get up.”

“You, you still have your clothes on.” She says quietly, eyes narrowing up and down his body.

 Nodding in agreement he replies, “So do you.”

Realisation seems to have dawn on her. She peers down to herself, still in yesterday’s outfit. He sees the cycle of shock, relief and then revulsion flash over her face.

Her stiffness dissipates, “Shit. Akiyama, I’m—”

“Don’t apologise,” he says firmly, “I don’t know what shit you had to deal with to react like that, but I can’t imagine it was pleasant.”

Rika could only nod her head.

“Can I use your bathroom before I head out?” He asks.

Breathing more even now, she nods her head and shifts it to the left. 

“Thanks.”

Rika turns on the spot and heads into her bedroom. She peels off her clothes and does a quick inspection. She believes him, she just needs to see for herself. She doesn’t feel sore anywhere, her neck is clear of any discolouration, there are no bruises on her hips, no bite marks marring her breasts. She turns around, no scratch marks on her shoulders. Perfect healed skin reflected back to her. She sighs content before slipping on a pair of black sweats.

She catches herself in the mirror again. Her eyes are cakey, concealer and mascara from the night before disintegrating into her skin. She can’t remember the last time she went to bed with her makeup on.

She thinks back to last night as she grabs a tissue to start rubbing away the mascara debris. Last night was the most fun she’d had in a long time. They must have come to her place at around five in the morning.

She felt horrible for putting Ryo in the position she created just now. Thinking how he reacted though, she felt a surge of heat creep up her neck. Some being embarrassment but the other, was it gratitude? She didn’t know. What she did know was that her gut instinct about him was correct.

Ryo Akiyama is one hundred precent, not a total sleaze ball.

She’d never been more confident or sure in her life.

Hearing the bathroom door open she slips out of her room quickly to catch him before he could leave.

“Akiyama.” She calls, “Wait.”

He looks at her a little sheepishly, “I’m sorry Wildcat, I definitely threw up in your toilet.”

“I don’t care about that.” She says dismissively. “Do you remember what we talked about last night?”

He blinks, “We talked about scheming your father into millions. Kinda hard to forget if I’m being honest.”

She takes a deep breath, convincing herself that it wasn’t a bad idea. “My offer still stands.”

Ryo’s eyes grow wide, “You can’t be serious Wildcat.”

“I am.” She says, completely serious.

Ryo looks at her. He takes into consideration what happened this morning and frowns, “Why?”

“Because we both need this.” She answers immediately, “And I trust you.”

“Yeah?” He believes her.

She nods.

He sighs heavily, head pounding with a ringing in his ears. “Okay, if we’re going to do this for real, we need to talk.”

Ryo silently gave his thanks to any gods out there for leaving a gym bag in his office. The walk from Rika’s place to his university property took four minutes. Its actually taking him longer to walk through the facility to get to his office.

As much as he despised teaching, it did come with a lot of perks. The large office, for one, use of the gym and the showers being another. Ryo lives almost an hour away from work, so leaving a week’s worth of spare gym clothes at work had become a habit of his.

The shower is quick and necessary, but he still feels like total and complete shit. His stomach is in desperate need of food.

His doctor and therapist had recommended exercise to help with his depression in the weeks of his father’s passing. He worked out everyday religiously. Physical activity was the only constant in his life right now and if he didn’t do it, he knew his day would be worse than it already was.

He ran it through his mind. Eat, a quick run, another quick shower, a nap on the couch and back to Rika’s this afternoon to talk logistics. This way he hits all the things he absolutely has to do and could talk to her with a clear mind.

-a few hours later-

Rika answers the door looking way more put together than he left her in, “That was quick, I thought you lived a few cities over?”

Ryo nods with his hands in his pockets, “I do. I have some stuff in my office, so I just went there. Its less than five minutes away from your place actually.”

“I see.” Rika lets him into the apartment.

Ryo kicks off his shoes and leaves them on the mat next to the door, slipping on a pair of slippers she had in a basket for guests.

The apartment looks pristine, exactly the same as he left it this morning. The front hall opened into the living room, a huge window taking up the majority of the perpendicular wall. There is a large white counter that separated the kitchen from the living room. It was completely bare except for a mug of pens and highlighters, and an open but sleeping laptop. There were three barstools, two tucked under the counter, the third one, closest to the window was out.

“Did you eat anything since I left?” He asks, taking in the emptiness of the apartment.

She shook her head and walks over to her couch. “No, I’m just sipping some water with electrolytes. I feel like if I eat, I’ll just throw it all back up.” She walks over to the coffee table picking up a glass tumbler that was next to a black cased tablet. The flatscreen television plays lo-fi music on a low volume.

Ryo raises his eyebrows, “Sounds healthy.”

She rolls her eyes at him, “Do you want one? I have a few in the fridge.”

He looks over at her white fridge. Nothing was on it. The counters around the stove were just as bare. She must be a minimalist, “No, I’m good thanks.”

She walks over to the counter and pulls out a stool for him. She taps at the screen so that it came back to life, “I started a document.”

He takes a seat with her and looks it over.

“Its just a rough timeline.” She says, angling the screen to him.

“Pretty detailed for being rough.” Ryo says, impressed.

Rika nods, “We have a timeline. We should be married for at least a few months before and after.”

Ryo crosses his arms over his chest and asks, “When is your birthday again?”

“End of June.” She replies.

He nods, thinking out loud, “Okay. So, if we get married in May, will that work?”

“I think that would be too close.”

“April? We would have been,” he uses his hands to gesture air quotations, “Dating for about six months then.”

“Yes. It makes the most sense.” Rika says, typing it into the document.

A thought crossed his mind, “You’re not afraid that people are going to think that I knocked you up?”

She shrugs, “People have assumed worse. Honestly, the opinions of other people don’t really concern me.”

“Danm Rika, you are kind of a badass.” Ryo laughs.

“I am badass.” Rika corrects him. “Are you scared for your image Hero Boy?”

“Wow, that’s an old name.” Ryo shakes his head, “No, I’m not afraid of my image. If a rumor spreads that you’re pregnant, I’m pretty sure the university won’t care if we’re married. Even so,” he says sitting back, “I’m twenty-eight. It wouldn’t be that shocking.”

“Do you want kids?” Rika asks, “Its good to know if anyone brings it up.”

“Yeah, good call.” At his age, he’s had plenty of married colleagues and friends that bring up babies like the weather. “One day maybe.” He should just be honest, a lot of his friends already know this answer. “Realistically, yes, I want kids, but it would be completely up to whoever ends up bearing said kids.”

Rika smirks, “Smart answer.”

“What about you?” Ryo asks, curious.

“I don’t want kids.” She says bluntly.  

He raises his eyebrows, “Not at all?”

She shakes her head no, as she types on the computer, “No. I had a single parent growing up. And I wouldn’t want that for my child.”

“You know it takes two people to make a kid right?” Ryo says light heartily.

Rika nods, “Yes, I passed high school biology.”

“So, we’re not having kids?” Ryo teases.

“Just the love-less marriage.” She replies.

“Wait,” he looks at her with a little concern, “We aren’t actually planning a wedding, right?”

Rika snorts, “Oh, God no. We’re going to city hall—during the week.”

Ryo sighs, relieved, “Okay good, that sounds perfect. This here,” He points to the screen, “This Charity event in May, what is that?”

“It’s a charity ball for underprivileged kids in rural Japan. Black tie event, lots of impressive people to connect with. I don’t actually mind going because I get to meet with a lot of Japan’s richest clients. I want to break away from Hypnos at some point, maybe work for a fortune five hundred company.”

He nods trying to take in all the information, “So its dinner and dancing?”

“Pretty much, but we can leave right after dinner if you want.” She offers.

Ryo raises his eyebrows, “And this is where you want to launch us as a married couple?”

“Yeah. There will be press so I think it will solidify our relationship to the world.”

“Press? Like cameras and paparazzi?”

She winces, “Yeah.”

“And you’re okay with that?” He asks indignantly.

She frowns, “I’m not, but for the sake of what we’re doing, it can work to our advantage. It’ll be the first time Father meets you as well, I’d like that to happen in front of as many people as possible.”

“You don’t want me to meet him before we tie the knot?”

Rika shakes her head quickly, “No, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Ryo nods, “Okay, you know him better than I do. I have some dates that might be worth writing down.”

She leans back and crosses her arms, “What dates?”

He smiles, “My birthday is in February, for one.”

Rika rolls her eyes, but smiles back at him, “Okay, what else?”

“I think I’m going to have an investors event sometime in January. It would look good if you were there.”

“What is that?” She asks as she types in the tentative date.

Ryo sighs, “I basically have to impress and convince rich people to hand over their money to my department to fund research ventures.”

Rika’s eyes widen slightly, “That sounds like a nightmare.”

He nods, “It is.”

“Okay, I’ve written that in.”

“And the last big thing for me is in March. I’ll have to be back home for a few days for my dad’s one year anniversary. I don’t want you to feel pressured into coming with me, but I’ll be gone for a few days while I deal with all of that.”

“Yeah, of course.” She says solemnly as she places the event into the timeline.

“I want to talk about living together, that might actually work out for me. My lease is actually up in two months, is that okay?”

She sips out of her tumbler, “It will sell the story. I can work in my actual office instead of home for a little bit. Its no big deal.”

“Are you sure?” He asks, looking at her.

She smiles, “Its fine Akiyama. I can sacrifice a little here for the greater good.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

“So, just so I’m clear, your lease ends on?”

“December 30^th.”

“Oh,” She pauses for a moment, and then her features light up, “What if we spend Christmas eve moving you in?”

Ryo grins, “That’s actually a great idea. I’ll be on winter holiday from school at that time.”

She shrugs, “I can be romantic.”

Rika types on her computer, pulling up an Excel spreadsheet, “We can split rent, and utilities. This is my monthly budget per month.”

Ryo leans in taking in the numbers, “I’m okay with that, I don’t mind pitching in for groceries and household items as well. I can see you’re taking on a lot from your mom’s.” He would be saving quite a bit of money. He’s shocked that such a big apartment was so low on rent. This was how she’s been able to afford her mother’s mortgage.

Rika nods and sighs heavily, turning to him, “We will have to be seen together.”

“Wow you don’t have to sound that upset by it.” He says, offended.

She rolls her eyes, “You know what I mean.”

“What are you comfortable with; how physical would you like to get?” He asks. Better to be completely upfront about a lot of this.

“What are you comfortable with?” she counters, a little embarrassed by the question.

He thinks for a moment, “I don’t have an issue with touching you, or you touching me in any way. I’ll leave that all up to you, what ever you’re comfortable with.”

“I generally don’t like to be touched.” She says directly, “But I’m okay with hand holding.”

Ryo thought back to his last real relationship, “What about hugs?”

“Hugs,” Rika sit back to think, “hugs are pretty intimate at its core. I don’t really like them if I’m going to be honest.”

“So just for show?” He confirms. He greeted all of his exes with a hug. Girls tend to like that sort of thing. He did too if he was honest.

“Yes. I’ll do it if I have to.” She seems to be thinking things through, “And we can kiss when we absolutely need to.”

Ryo perks up, “Oh yeah?” He was not expecting that.

Rika nods, an air of annoyance in her tone, “Yes. Specifically in public where my father can catch wind of it.”

“What kind of kisses are we talking here?” He asks.

“Simple ones, kisses on the cheek and the forehead. Maybe on the lips if needed. No tongue.”

He nods. It doesn’t actually sound that bad. “Seems doable.”

“I don’t want to have sex with you.” Rika says frankly. “Just to be totally transparent.”

Ryo smirks, “I kind of figured that with the whole not wanting to be touched vibe.”

“Okay. Good.” She says, relieved.

Ryo crosses his arms, “What are we going to tell our friends?”

“Oh. Shit I hadn’t thought of that.” Rika whispered, caught off guard by the question.

He had a feeling that she didn’t think about that. “What do they know about the situation?”

“Well, Henry and Jeri are the only ones who know about the inheritance clause.” She says and then adds, “And I guess by extension Takato does too.”

“Okay.” He says taking in the information, “So, are we deceiving our friends? Because I’m pretty sure Alice will see right through me.” He would be able to fool any one of them, but he’s close with Alice. She would know.

“I think we can trust them.” Rika says nodding to herself; her friends were some of the most loyal people she knew. “They’ll understand.”

Ryo frowns, “Alice may not.”

“Well, you’re going to have to make her understand because Henry is going to know.” Rika huffs. She did not need additional stress to add on top of everything else she has going on in her life.

“I can try. I make no promises.” Ryo shrugs indifferently. He was not in the business of lying to his friends.

Rika was slightly offended; her friends would get it—why wouldn’t his? “Does she have an issue with me or something?”

“No. Not with you per say.” He says shaking his head. He could see where she was coming from. “She told me last night that I wasn’t ready for a relationship.” He says, taking a moment to come to terms to what they were actually discussing, “And I agreed with her.”

“So what?” She says with attitude, “Its not a real relationship anyways. So technically, you’re not in a relationship with me.”

Ryo grimaces. “Okay, say I find someone I do want to date later on.” These hypotheticals were important. “Then what?”

“I don’t care what you do with your personal life Akiyama.” Rika says arrogantly, “We can’t hurt each other if this isn’t real.”

He raises his eyebrows, “You sure?”

Rika nods, confident, “I’m sure. Everything here we’re discussing is transactional.” She says sternly. “No feelings.”

“And what if we do develop feelings?” Ryo was starting to get frustrated.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Rika replies dryly.

“Why not?” He spits, then takes a deep breath. This was getting a little too heated for him. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together.”

“Well, speaking for myself, I am too stressed out.” She uses her fingers to count as she spoke, “Between my case files, taking care of my grandma and modeling, I probably won’t see you much.” She closes her eyes and rubs her temples, “I probably won’t even notice that you’re here to be honest.”

“Ouch, Wildcat, that was cold.” Ryo says with a little bit of hurt.

She shrugs, “Trust me. You may think you might fall for me, but I promise, the moment you move in, you won’t.”

He knots his eyebrows together, “What does that mean?”

She sighs melodramatically, “It means we live in a reality where we’re going to be roommates at most. And I am a terrible roommate, there is a reason why I live alone.”

Ryo studies her for a moment. She is so hellbent on any possibility that this could turn into something. “You sure seem confident that I won’t fall for you.”

“Well, you seem to have an idea of me in your mind.” Rika crosses her arms, “I’m sure the more time we spend together, the more real I become and therefore less attractive to you.”

“What makes you think I’m attracted to you?” He asks defensively.

Rika smiles, “Because you told me last night.” She smirks, “Your feelings will fizzle, I guarantee it.”

Ryo was dumbfounded. Did he really tell her that? He can’t remember right now. “So, you want to do this, even though you know I have feelings for you?”

“Do you have feelings for me?” Rika asks, inclining her head towards him, “Or do you just think I’m hot? Be honest.”

“Jesus Wildcat,” He was completely taken aback. She was so blunt and direct with her questions; it made him nervous. He would hate to go up against her in court.

“See? We don’t know each other that well.” She says with a victorious smirk, “The shock value of my looks will fade, better sooner than later.”

He sighs, “You could be right.” Feelings do tend to change when you live with someone. “This is a lot of money to wager what if’s on.”

Rika sticks her hand out to him, “So do we have a deal?”

Ryo rolls his eyes, and offers his hand to her, shaking it firmly. “Yeah. We have a deal.”                           

Chapter Text

“Rika, this is a reckless idea.” Henry says bluntly. He sits back with his arms crossed from her barstool.

“Yeah, I have to agree with him.” Jeri says with a frown. She shakes her head as she speaks from her spot next to Henry, “You can’t fake stuff like this, not for that long.”

“You know he has a crush on you, right?” Henry brashly says, trying to drive the point home to her.

“He does?” Jeri asks with interest, turning her head to him.

Takato’s eyes grow wide at the statement, he occupied the last barstool at the counter.

Rika nods from the other side of the counter and says confidently, “Yes. But he’ll grow out of it.”

Henry laughs exasperated, “What does that even mean?”

“It means he likes me because I’m attractive. We don’t know each other that well so I’m sure the more he gets to really know me, the more he’ll realise how stupid his crush is.” Rika explains.

Takato raises is eyebrows in shock, “What?” Rika usually was a level headed, no nonsense, facts only kind of girl.

“It makes sense.” Rika says with conviction.

“No, it doesn’t.” Takato said laughing at how preposterous the whole thing was.

Jeri pipes up, “And you think you won’t develop feelings for him in this endeavor?”

“No. I don’t think I will. It’s a business agreement.” Rika huffs, “We’re grown adults, we know what we’re doing.”

Henry sighs, frustrated, “You two are serious? He’s going to move in with you and pretend to be your boyfriend?”

Jeri shakes her head at how crazy it all was, “Its just so ridiculous Rika, you have to see it that way.”

Rika takes a deep breath, “You guys are my best friends, I didn’t want to lie to you. I don’t know if I could if I’m being honest. Ryo and I plan on eloping in a few months, and yeah, maybe we’ll have feelings for each other by then. I can’t tell you if they will be positive or negative feelings, but for right now, we’re doing what we think is necessary. You don’t have to like it, but I would appreciate your support.”

“Honestly, I’d rather you do this with Ryo than a complete stranger. He’s a good guy and it does benefit the both of you.”  Takato says diplomatically.

Rika gives him an appreciative look, “Thank you Takato.”

Henry sighs, she was ridiculous, but at least she was being ridiculous with someone they all trusted. “Okay, Rika, whatever you say.” He looks her in the eyes, “I want you to know that I don’t fully support this.”

Rika knows that was the closest thing to a blessing that she’s going to get out of him, she turns her head to the middle seat, “Jer?”

Jeri sighs, “I’m with Henry on this one. I love you Rika, and I don’t want to see anything bad happen to you again.”

“It won’t Jeri. I really trust him.” Rika says solemnly.

“I will be okay with this, if you promise to keep me updated. I want to be able to ask you anything and you have to answer me honestly.” Jeri says seriously.

“Of course. I always do.” Rika responds.

“You don’t.” Jeri scathes. “You keep all your feelings to yourself until you can’t take it anymore.” She continues with sass. “You can not lie to me Rika, I mean it. You tell me your honest emotions when I ask you, because this is a very dangerous game you and Ryo are playing.” She finishes sternly.

Rika nods, “I promise. I will be honest with you. I’ll be honest with all of you.”

Alice looks at Ryo like he has grown two heads, “Do you actually like her or is she just conveniently in front of you because you’re both lonely?”

Ryo frowns, “Alice, that’s not fair.”

“It is fair Ryo, I know you’ve had a little crush on her, and that’s fine and all, but moving in with her? Pretending to date her? Marry her? Ryo, it’s ridiculous.”

“I agree its not conventional in any sense but—”

“No buts.” Alice says sternly, “This is not fair to you. You are going to throw yourself into her, and you’re not even guaranteed that she’s going to be there for you.”

“We’ve already decided that we’re going to do this. I know it’s not what you want for me, but I’m an adult, and this ‘relationship’ will solve a lot of adult issues. My living situation, my commute to work, and let’s not forget the one hundred and sixty million yen. Its life changing money Alice. That will get me out of debt and help my research facility and maybe even fund a team.”

“I never took you as someone who would stoop so low just for a payout.” Alice says, repulsed.

“I’m not, and I never have been.” Ryo says seriously. “We’re mutually benefitting from each other. She needs to be married to someone her father doesn’t know in order to pay off her mother’s mortgage and afford care for her grandmother. Did you know she’s working eighty-hour weeks and still models whenever she can? Just to make ends meet on financial issues that she has really no obligations to fulfill.”

“Right, so I’m hearing that she doesn’t have to do anything. Her mother’s house should be her responsibility. Its admirable, sure, but there are other ways. She could have just moved back home to be closer. She doesn’t have to put in all that extra work Ryo, she doesn’t need the money that bad.”

“Respectfully Alice, its none of your business why Rika does what she’s doing. She’s taking care of her family using any means necessary.”

“Exactly Ryo. Any means necessary. She sounds desperate for all of this to work, and desperation comes at a cost. Your mental health is going to be the cost.”

“How I feel has nothing to do with what we’re doing.”

“Do you hear yourself? Ryo, I know you, you’re going to fall in love with her, and make her your whole world because you need to latch on to any emotion that isn’t grief.”

“Fuck you, Alice. Come back and say that to me after you’ve put both your parents in the ground.”

“Ryo, I love you like a brother. I wouldn’t say these things to you if I didn’t give a fuck about you. I am worried that if you go through with this, and she doesn’t feel the way that you feel, it will destroy you. No dollar amount can fix that.”

“Rika is not obligated to love me back; she doesn’t even need to like me to be honest. I understand that and I accept it. I’ve spent my whole life around people who I desperately loved and never received anything in return. That feeling is nothing new to me, Alice, I’ll be fine.”

A little of Alice’s anger dissipates, “Ryo, your dad loved you.”

“He had a pretty shitty way of showing it.” He says bitterly.

“I just hate that you might not be loved the way that you need to be. You do deserve that Ryo; you know that right?”

“What I deserve is a financial break. Rika is offering that to me. And honestly, once I move in with her, things could change. I may end up hating the way she lives, I don’t know.”

“She’s still recovering from her breakup. And your grief is fresh. You think that you can just fake your feelings around eachother?”

“I don’t plan on faking my feelings with her. I plan on being honest. We’re only acting like a couple in public. I don’t plan on carrying out the façade at home too.”

“So, your plan is to be honest with her?”

“Yes.”

“And you think she’ll react well to that?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m entitled to how I feel, and this whole charade is completely dependent on how much we trust eachother. She trusts me. That’s enough.”

“But will her trust in you as her friend grow into something more?”

“I don’t know Alice. I’m not going to force her to try either. This is such a fucking weird situation to be in but I’m in it.”

“You don’t have to be in it though.”

“Alice, I’m doing this. Weather you approve or not.”

“I think it’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

“Its my disaster to navigate.”

“I can’t promise to play nice if she hurts you.”

“Even if you’re dating her best friend?”

“Henry has nothing to do with how Rika treats you. If she fucks you up, I will fuck her up.”

“So, you will support me in this?”

“I don’t like it. But I love you. You can play house with Rika all you want but be careful.”

-a few weeks later-

Ryo types rapidly into his desktop computer, imputing information into slides for next month’s classes. His phone is perched on several textbooks open on speaker, “So, who am I meeting today?”

Rika stretches in her office in downtown Tokyo, going over her calendar on her own desktop. She replies to Ryo through her wired headphones, “My agent. You’ll come by the studio tonight around eleven and we can get dinner or something after.”

Ryo smiles, “So, a late-night date?” This whole, ‘fake dating’ has been less demanding on his life than he thought it was going to be.

So far, all it consisted of was taking pictures of each other at different restaurants through the city.

He learns that Rika does not cook and has no desire to learn; thus, she was taking him through an impromptu food tour of the area he worked around.

Rika adds some court dates to her calendar from her meeting notes. “Sure. I can take you to Oshii’s, it’s a hole in the wall about a block away from the studio. They have the best beef dishes.”

She closes her eyes and daydreams about the food, she was constantly on the go and was living off of protein shakes and very little amounts of 7/11 convenience meals.

She’s had four ‘dates’ with Ryo, using each one as an excuse to eat all her favourite meals through the city.  

Ryo saves his slides and starts the process all over again. He didn’t mind meeting her for dinner. When it was just the two of them it was easy to forget what they were doing. He genuinely had a good time with her. It was when they had to act in front of people they knew, that made him slightly anxious. “Sounds good. Why do I have to meet your agent?”

Rika sighs, “It’s the fastest way for my Father to hear about our relationship. He owns most of the Agencies in Tokyo, including the one I’m contracted at.”

“Couldn’t you tell him that we’re in a relationship?” Ryo asks frankly.

They’d been at this charade for just over a month. It was a dual edged sword of being able to say whatever he actually thought out loud to her, knowing that he never needed to impress her in any means because their relationship wasn’t real.

But it was almost too easy to pretend to be her boyfriend in front of others, and he always felt a sense of unease after the fact.

Rika laughs bitterly, “Absolutely not. I despise that man, and I will not talk to him unless its unquestionably necessary.” She hated that this is what she’s had to resort to, but it is what it is.

“Right, okay.” Ryo says, picking up on the fact that she did not want to elaborate.

She was eternally grateful that he got along with her so well. The knowledge that this wasn’t real made it easy for her to just be herself with him. “You can be a little more hands on tonight if you want.”

Ryo smirks. For someone who claims that she doesn’t like to be touched, Rika lets him get away with more than he thought she would. “Is that your way of giving me permission to feel you up?”

So far, Rika has let him hold her hand every time they walked around the city. He’s been able to wrap his arm around her shoulder twice, both times she leaned into him, and one time he’s gotten a way with a little kiss to her temple. The last time they went out together, they were on a very crowded train, and she had let him hold her to his side.

“Why do you have to ask like that?” Rika groans embarrassed.

Ryo laughs, “Because I like to tease you.”

Rika rolls her eyes but smiles, “Asshole.”

“Does your agent know I’m coming to pick you up?”

“Nope. Element of surprise.” Rika grins on the other side of the call. This plan of hers was so brilliant. This way, Father would hear about the relationship and therefore not be as blindsided when they got married. She figured he would do a month’s worth of investigations on Ryo before he even brought it up to her.

“I see. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

“It will be okay Akiyama. Just act like a devoted boyfriend who’s desperate to marry me and everything will work out fine.”

“What are you shooting for today?”

“Some celebrity perfume brand. I’m just doing the promos, hopefully it wont run too late. I’ll text you once I know for sure.”

“Okay, I’ll just be in my office, creating this semester’s slides.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“It’s the best.” Ryo says dryly.

-Later that night-

“Miss. Nonaka, there is an Akiyama here for you.”

“Thanks, you can send him in.”

Ryo walked into the studio and was led by a security agent to Rika’s dressing room, “Hey, Wildcat, crazy security they have here.”

His jaw dropped a little when he saw her. She was in a black robe that was open, revealing a deep cut crop top. Her red hair was pulled back into a sleek, tight bun. Her eyes were masked in sweeps of smoky seductive dark makeup, and her lips were a pouty pink. He almost didn’t notice her black sweatpants and Ugg boots that contrasted with the whole ensemble.

“Yes, they are the best, you, okay?” she asks when she notices his dazed look.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You don’t look like yourself.”

“Honestly, for things like this, the more makeup the better. I was even wearing a brown wig.” She nods over to the head bust on the counter.

“I’m not saying it looks bad, its just, not you.”

“Exactly. I don’t want it to be me. Its going to take me about ten minutes to get most of this off. You can sit on the couch in the meantime.”

“Thanks. I guess that makes sense.”

They could hear footsteps approaching the door.

“Babe, I’d wish you’d let me schedule you more.” The door swung open, and a pink haired woman walked through. “You are so crazy talented and hot. Like I was a little turned on watching you tonight.”

Rika rolls her eyes; her agent was always gassing her up. “Thank you, Mimi, but I’m just doing this for the checks, you know that.”

Mimi stops in her tracks as she stares at the man in the room, “Who is this delicious morsel of a man on your couch babe?”

“Hello. Akiyama Ryo, I’m her boyfriend.” Ryo says standing up and smiling, offering his hand for her to shake.

Mimi’s head strains to follow his eyes as he stood, “Tachikawa Mimi. Oh, my you are tall, what agency are you with?”

Ryo laughs, “Oh, no I don’t model. I’m a university professor.”

“Hold on, hold on, did you say boyfriend?” Mimi asks, fully comprehending what Ryo said a sentence too late. She swivels on the spot, “Rika Nonaka you started dating again and didn’t tell me?”

Rika shrugs from the vanity, “Its new Mimi.”

“New my ass, you let him come to the studio.” Mimi says smartly.

“We’ve actually been friends since we were kids, but yeah it’s only been a few weeks.” Ryo says conversationally.

“Oh my god, that’s so cute. Oh, I love it.” Mimi squeals. “Goodness, for real though, Rika, you’re 5’8, you must be what, 6’4?” She says looking between the two.

Ryo smiles, “Close, 6’5.”

“Oh, wow, good job Rika.” Mimi says to Rika with a wink.

“Thanks, Meems. Do you think you could keep it quiet for now? I don’t need everyone in my business.” Rika says as she pulls her bun free from the hair tie.

“Oh my god, yes of course Babe.” She turns to Ryo, “You said you’re a professor?”

He nods, “Yeah, I teach first- and second-year biochemistry.”

“Rika!” Mimi practically shrieks, making Ryo jump back a little. “You guys have to double date with my husband and I! We have so much in common. My hubby’s got a doctorate in computer engineering.”

“Hard pass Meems.” Rika says as she aggressively brushes out the hairspray from her hair.

“Aw you never want to do anything fun with me.” Mimi pouts.

“Maybe in the future. I’d love to meet him.” Ryo says to Mimi with a smile.

Mimi fans herself, “Oh dear, seriously Hun, if you did ever want to model on the side, I will represent you.”

“Mimi.” Rika says warningly.

“Rika he practically drips sex appeal with that smile of his, what am I supposed to do? Just stand here and not try to scout him?”

“Thank you?” Ryo says uncomfortably.

“Leave him alone Mimi.” Rika says, standing next to Ryo.

Ryo smiles, tucking back a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear, “Ah, you look much more like my girl now.” He skims his fingers down her jaw and leans in to quickly kiss her forehead.

Rika quickly thanks god for only removing her fake lashes and heavy eye makeup. The layer of foundation on her cheeks dutifully hid the intense blush blooming over her skin when his lips brushed her forehead.

“Oh my god, you guys are so sweet.” Mimi croons.

Rika rolls her eyes and grabs her duffle bag. “I’m just going to change, and we can head out.”

Mimi looks at him a moment, “I feel like I’ve maybe seen you somewhere before Ryo.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, I’ve definitely seen you somewhere before.”

He crosses his arms, “I don’t know where we would have run into each other.”

“Were you at a wedding a few years ago?” Mimi asks.

“The last wedding I went to was maybe four years ago. My college roommate got married.”

“The Takashi’s?” Mimi asks.

He nods, “Yeah, TK Takashi, we were roommates for three years.”

“The Takashi’s are family friends of ours. You were at the wedding.” Mimi says brightly, “That’s where I’ve seen you.”

Ryo offers her a smile, “You’ve got an impressive memory. Personally, I don’t remember much from that wedding.”

Mimi laughs, “Ah well, you remember more when you a forced to be sober. I was pregnant with my son back then.”

“What’s going on?” Rika asks, re-emerging from the changing room dressed in black leggings and an oversized black hoodie. The Uggs has been replaced with sneakers.

Mimi grins, “Your man and I have mutual friends in common.”

“Really?” Rika asks with genuine interest.

“Yes, he used to be roommates with one of my good friends. I remembered him from the wedding because I was pregnant at the time, and he looked absolutely amazing in a suit.” Mimi gushes.

Rika sighs, “Could you not be a massive flirt for ten minutes?”

“No can-do babe, its part of my charm.” Mimi says with a smile. “Ah, its already ten. I missed bedtime again.”

“At least you don’t book me often.” Rika says with a smirk.

Mimi shakes her head, “You are such a little smart ass you know?”

“Its part of my charm.” Rika says mockingly.

“Ugh Rika you always remind me of why I keep you on a light rotation. None of my other clients speak to me like this.” Mimi says with a good-natured laugh.

Rika shrugs and says off hand, “It’s the nepotism.”

“Its not as bad if your aware of it. At least you have respect for the people who work here. Rumiko trained you very well.” Mimi says. “Anyways love bugs, I’m off for the night. Don’t forget, you need to give me your schedule for January so I can plan the shoots.”

Rika nods, “Will do Meems. Get home safe.”

Ryo waves, “It was really nice to meet you, Mimi.”

“Oh, you too babe. You kids have fun tonight.” Mimi says with a wink as she walks out the door.

“Ready to get out of here?” Ryo asks.

Rika nods, “God yes. I’m starving, I got here at four.”

Ryo gives a low whistle, opening the door for her. “That’s a long time.”

“Hey just a heads up, I’m going to kiss you at the end of the hall there.” Rika says to Ryo as they’re about to leave the dressing room.

“Oh yeah? Our first kiss?”

“Don’t make it weird.”

They walked down the empty hall and just before they make the turn to head for the exit, Rika stretches on her tip toes, using one hand to pull his neck down to her and kisses Ryo on the cheek.

“Disappointed?” She whispers into his ear.

Ryo slides an arm around her waist, pulling her body flush against his forcing her other hand to rest on his upper chest, he was testing her limitations, “I knew you were going to chicken out on me.”

She grins mischievously, rising to the challenge and quickly pecks his lips.

Ryo stood there, dumfounded for a second before smirking. “You are a fucking tease.”

She smirks back at him, “Come on, I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”

“So, Mimi is going to tell everyone about us huh?” Ryo asks taking her hand into his.

Rika shakes her head as they walk down the hall towards the exit. “Oh, no. Mimi won’t tell a soul. Well, she’ll probably tell her husband.”

“So, what was the point of me meeting her?”

“Mimi is a lot, but one thing she is for sure is loyal. The security on the other hand…”

Ryo laughs out loud, “You’re joking.”

“I wish I was. Those men are the absolute worst when it comes to hot gossip. It’ll only be a matter of time before everyone at the agency finds out. It will work its way back to Father.”

“So, the kiss?”

“Was for the security camera. There was one in each corner.”

“You are kind of an evil genius, you know that?”

“I have my moments.”

It’s a short walk from the studio to Oshii’s. Ryo tightened his grip on her hand as they walked down a narrow alley.

“Are you sure you’re going in the right direction?” He asks testily, it was after midnight now.

“Don’t worry Pretty Boy, I’ll protect you if anything happens.” Rika snickers, lacing her fingers in-between his and squeezing.

Ryo frowns as they walk deeper into the dark alley, “You know what I mean.”

“We’re fine Akiyama, its just around the corner here.” She says, pulling him out of the alley and into a brightly lit street. The restaurant’s name is painted on a white cloth that was nailed above a door across the road.

“Was there a reason you took me through a sketchy ass alley instead of through the well-lit streets?” Ryo asks as they cross the road.

Rika shrugs, “It was faster.”

A small bell rings as they enter the restaurant. It’s a tiny cozy place, with two tables facing the window and three barstools at the bar.

“Welcome.” A large burly man says in a monotone as the door closes behind them.

“Hello Mr. Hiroshi.” Rika responds.

“Miss. Nonaka, welcome back.” Mr. Hiroshi says glancing up at her with a ghost of a smile on his face. It immediately disappears when his eyes reach their joined hands.

Rika feels Ryo’s fingers move back and forth over the flat gold rings on her index and middle fingers.

“And you are?” Mr. Hiroshi asks evenly.

“The boyfriend.” Ryo answers. “Akiyama Ryo.” He says with a head nod.

Mr. Hiroshi smirks, “Smart mouth. He’s a good match for you.” He nudges his head to the table closest to him. “Sit, Kuga will be out soon.”

They sit down; hands still linked on the small table. Ryo brings his other hand over to fiddle with the rings on her hand.

“He seems intense.” Ryo says.

“He’s all smoke.” Rika says offhand, “Here, take a look through the menu.” She says handing him a laminated sheet of paper that was leaning against the window and the table.

“These don’t look that remarkable.” He says as he looks over the menu on the table.

Kuga the waiter comes by to take their orders. Rika orders her usual while Ryo orders the house special.

The bell on the door rings again.

“Welcome, back again Mr. Takashi?”

“Back again.” He says tiredly. “She gets whatever she wants.”

“It’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Thank you.”

Ryo brings his head up, to see the new Patreon. A tired blonde man was about to take a seat at the counter. “TK?”

The blonde’s tired face morphs into a smile, “Ryo? What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? At this time too?” Ryo asks as he gets up to greet his old friend.

TK pulls him into a hug and sighs, “She craves this place at least a few times a week. I just wish she wanted it during the day. I thought you lived in the next city over?”

“I do; I’m actually just here with Rika.” Ryo says to him, motioning to her at the table.

“Hello.” Rika waves from the table.

“Rika?” TK says making a face, “You’re not the model Rika Nonaka, are you?” He asks blinking fast, “I’m not deliriously tired?”

She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms, smirking, “And what if I am?”

TK blows out a low whistle, “Manifestation is really a thing.”

Ryo coughs noisily, “How is Phinn?” He asks loudly, “Does he know that he’s going to be a brother yet?”

TK smiles, “Yeah, he’s very excited about it. He doesn’t quiet get it yet, but we keep telling him that he’s getting his own baby.”

“Rika, how long have you and Ryo been hanging out?” TK asks, curious.

Rika smirks, knowing this was an opportunity to really establish their relationship publicly. “We hung out together a few times in November, but we’ve been officially dating for over a month.” Rika says with a smile. “TK, was it? Were you Ryo’s roommate back in college?”

“Forgive me, I am so tired with work and my family. I forgot to introduce myself, TK Takashi. Yes, Ryo and I go way back. You guys been together a month huh? How’s that going?”

“He’s nice I guess.” Rika says in a bored tone.

“I’m right here.” Ryo deadpans.

TK smiles, “I like you Rika. Now that I know you’re in my city you have to come by the house. Phinn misses you.”

“He’s met me three times and he’s two, that child does not know who I am.” Ryo says with a chuckle, “Kari just wants me to cook for her again.”

“I was given explicit instructions to ask if I were to see you in person again.” TK says seriously.

Ryo laughs again turning to Rika, “When his wife, Kari, was pregnant with Pinn I had made her a few dishes, and she ended up craving them a lot.”

Rika raised her eyebrows, “I didn’t know you could cook Akiyama.”

TK scratches the back of his head sheepishly, “Yeah, I feel kind of bad, but that’s why I haven’t really reached out. I didn’t know where your head was at with everything, and I didn’t want to bombard you with her. Wanted to give you some space you know?”

Ryo nods, understanding, but feeling a twinge of hurt at the comment. Sure, TK was busy with his family, but to not reach out at all? Ryo would have welcomed the chance to cook for Kari again if it had meant he would be around other people. He wished people would quit giving him space to grieve.

“When is she due?” Rika asks conversationally.

“Late March.” TK replies.

“Do you know the sex yet?” She asks.

“Nah, we don’t care either way to be honest. We didn’t find out with Phinn either. As long as baby’s healthy, its all I can really want.”

“That’s so refreshing to see.” Rika says with a smile.

“Mr. Takashi, your order is ready.”   Mr. Hiroshi says from the counter.

“Thank you.” TK says with a quick bow. “I’ll text you our calendar.” He says to Ryo.

Ryo nods, “Of course. I look forward to it.

“It was lovely meeting you in person Rika.”

Rika waves, “You too.”

Their food came and Rika inhaled her plate. It made him smile to watch her eat real food. She looks so happy, and it was contagious.

“This is really good.” He comments as he takes his first couple bites.

Rika smirks triumphant, “Obviously Akiyama, I have incredible taste.”

Ryo was quiet during the rest of his meal with her. She could sense that something was off.

“Hey,” Rika calls to him, grabbing his hand. “You good?”

He blinks slowly. He was still hurt thinking about what his friend had said. But she didn’t need to know that. “Yeah. I’m just exhausted.”

She nods, “Yeah, its almost one.”

“I’m not as young as I used to be.” He says with a tired smile.

“Let’s get you to bed old man.” Rika says getting up.

He pays Mr. Hiroshi their bill and cracks his neck, “I think I’m gonna crash in my office. Its closer, and I don’t feel like a two-hour train ride tonight.” He says as they walk out the door.

It was much colder now that it was so late. Rika leans into him and squeezes his hand for warmth. “Just stay at my place.”

“Our first kiss and our first night together? I don’t think I’m ready Pumpkin; this is going all too fast for me.” Ryo teases in a high pitch voice.

Rika laughs, a real belly aching type of laughter.

Ryo can’t help but laugh with her, the sound was irresistible to him, it made him feel a hundred times better.

They make the walk back to her apartment ten minutes later.

“Do you need the shower at all?” She asks, as they walk in the door and kick off their shoes.

Ryo raises his eyebrows, “Um, I don’t have anything to change into.”

“I might have something for you.” She says walking into her office.

He follows her with a frown, “I don’t know if I’m interested in wearing your ex’s clothes you keep for yourself.”

Rika snorts, “As if. I chucked anything he ever touched. There isn’t a single hair of his left with me.” She says as she opens the closest and pulls out a box.

“Samples.” She says with a smile, “Perks of working with an agency. Sometimes they give us samples.” She rummages through until she finds a pair of sweats.

She tosses it to him, “These might fit you.”

“Why do you have men’s pants as samples?”

“Because men’s clothing is so much cozier than women’s. My goal is to look as much like a rectangle as possible when I look for sweats.”

Ryo barks out a laugh, “A rectangle?”

“Yes, shapeless and baggy.” She says with a grin, “It’s the most comfortable.”

Ryo inspects the grey pants; they were a very thick fabric and did look like it might fit. “I’m learning so much about you tonight.”

“I’m multi-faceted.” She says with a shrug.

“I’ll pass on the shower because I’m exhausted.” He says, throwing the pants over his shoulder.

Rika nods, “Okay. I’ll grab you a blanket and a pillow for the couch.” She says, rummaging through a different box. “You can change in here, I’m gonna throw this on the couch and take a shower.”

“Thanks.”

She walks out closing the door behind her. Tossing the blanket and pillow onto the couch, she starts to strip off her oversized black hoodie, leaving her in her leggings and her white bra. On the walk back into her room, she reaches around her back to unclip her bra as Ryo walks out of the bedroom.

He watches the plain white bra fall into her hands, her slim bare back towards him. She stands in her door, tossing the clothing into the room. He watches her toned arms and her back muscles flex as she pulls her hair into a bun at the top of her head. She slips off her leggings just inside in her bedroom door, peeling them off, revealing her long, sculpted smooth legs, and a lacey white thong that disappeared between the cheeks of the tightest, most delectable round ass he’s ever seen.

He blinks a moment before stepping back into the office and closing the door quietly.

He closes his eyes and takes a ragged breath. It’s been nearly a year since he’s been this hard, this fast. He was grateful that he slipped off his boxers and was only wearing the sweats. His cock ached against the fabric, with the vision of her naked body burned into his mind. He quickly fishes it out, not wanting the weeping head to soak through the pant.

He gasps holding himself. It’s been far too long since he’s done this. He quickly looks around the room, thanking god that she was a ‘tissue box’ type of person. He grabs a few from her desk and collapses on her chair, taking deep breaths to control his volume as he starts to pump himself.

He hears the shower turn on and lets out a loud groan. He pictures her creamy back, wet and soapy, the water cascading down bringing the suds down her beautifully perfect ass, dripping down her legs.

He gasps, a thin coat of sweat coating his body, he pumps himself hard and rips his undershirt off.

He angles his cock upwards, groaning at the stretch, he moans brokenly, picturing the way the water would drip from the center of her legs.

He groans raggedly again, his imagination running wild as he pictures his mouth at her core and his hands squeezing that flawless ass.

“Fuck!” he bellows as he mercifully finishes, hard and fast. He knew he wouldn’t be able to control it, long streams of his cum coating his stomach.

“God fucking danmit.” He whispers amongst his heavy breathing. He curses his six pack, as his release was settling in-between the crevices of his muscular body.

He sits there for a moment; a heavy wave of exhaustion washing over him and loses himself in the white noise of her shower. He shivers, the movement bringing him back to the present. Sighing he uses the tissues to clean himself up as best he can.

He frowns; it was just too much. “Please take forever in that shower.” He mutters as he pulls his pants up and carefully opens the door. He tiptoes to the sink. “Seriously, no paper towels?” He whispers to himself. He eyes another tissue box at the coffee table and darts for it.

He gently opens the tap, a thin stream of water flowing out into the dark sink. He soaks the tissues and wipes himself clean. He looks around the pristine empty kitchen, and opens the cabinet under the sink, glad to have found the trash bin. He washes his hands thoroughly before heading to the couch. He crumples into it, pulling the covers over himself just as the shower turns off.

By the time she exits the shower, he is knocked out, fast asleep.

Chapter Text

Rika has been struggling with insomnia all her life. She hasn’t slept a full night since she broke up with Kouri. If she was being honest with herself, she probably hasn’t slept a full six consecutive hours in almost three full years.

She doesn’t miss him in the slightest, doesn’t think about him anymore but the anxiety he left behind was like cholesterol clogging her arteries. She put up with too much for too long and the long-term effects had caused lasting damage.

She looks into the bathroom mirror, frowning at the deep purple shadows under her eyes. Sighing, she slides into her pyjamas of baggy shorts and a thin loose long-sleeved top.

She taps her phone to life.

2 December, two-twenty-two AM.

They have officially been at this charade for a whole month. Idly she wonders if she should make one of those cringy ‘month anniversary’ posts but decides against it. It wasn’t in her character, that would just raise suspicion.

She walks to her kitchen to fill her water bottle for the night. Her feet stop as her eyes catch her couch.

Ryo Akiyama is sleeping peacefully on her couch.

Her first thought was that she was jealous. Falling asleep just because you were tired felt like a superpower to her at this point.

The blanket had moved over him, covering his body vertically. One of his legs is sticking out. The pants looked like they fit fine. Her eyes travel upwards.

He is shirtless.

She could feel her cheeks burning and is annoyed that he had the nerve to sleep half naked on her couch. His sweat was going to seep into the fabric. She was mad because he didn’t even shower. Disgusting.

But she is more upset with herself for staring at him.

Rika isn’t oblivious, she knows he works out. Whenever he held her to him, she could feel the hard tension of his body. She just didn’t think he would be this toned and defined.

She swallows, allowing her eyes to wander down the tanned skin of his collarbone, over his large peck, his dark brown nipple, and down his abdomen where three abs poked out of his muscular stomach from the blanket.

She bites her lip, eyeing his strong muscular arm. Arms are her downfall. She pushes out the image of those arms wrapping around her to hold her close.

A quiet whine nearly escapes her at the sight of his deep set ‘V’ that settled near his hips. The grey pant hugs his leg, and she curses. What was so hot about muscley men in sweatpants and why did it affect her so?

She shakes her head clear. She needs to get her water and get out.

She practically flies to her room as soon as the bottle is half filled. Letting out a weighty sigh she sets the bottle on her nightstand.

Her body aches with exhaustion but her mind is wide awake. Lifting her comforters she nuzzles into the heavy weighted blanket and closes her eyes, taking a deep breath, letting her limbs sink into the mattress.

Her arm reaches for her phone. Two-thirty-four AM.

The phone has a little clock in the corner, reminding her that the alarm will go off in less than four hours.

She rolls over to her nightstand and pulls the drawer open.

The clattering of pill bottles rattle as she digs around for the right ones. She needs to take her anxiety and insomnia medication. She prays that the insomnia one will kick in faster tonight instead of its usual hour.

Finding the correct bottles, she downs the two capsules with the water, slams the drawer shut and rolls back onto her pillow.

Rika could have sworn that Ryo Akiyama was shirtless last night. She watches him in her kitchen, fixing the two of them coffee in the low grey sweats and a loose undershirt.

Ryo does a double take upon seeing Rika stroll into the kitchen. Her red hair is everywhere, and she looks sick. Her eyes are deeply inset dusted in a purple hue. She looks like she hasn’t slept for a week straight.

He knows from being with his ex’s that women could absolutely transform themselves with makeup. He just didn’t think in a million years that Rika would be that type of girl.

In the grand scheme of things though, it does make sense. She is a model; she has the knowledge and clearly the talent to mask up under makeup everyday.

If they were truly dating for real, he would have asked about it. Something about women hiding under makeup did bother him.

Its not like she lost her beauty just because she presented a flawless face, but he did feel a little foolish for thinking that she was the peak of perfection.

Ryo is grown enough to recognize that this is his problem, and not her’s.

Rika’s bare face made her a little more human to him, less angelic and goddess like.

Ryo makes the conscious decision to ignore it all together, deciding that he has absolutely no business bringing this up to her.

“Thank you for letting me crash here.” He says as they make eye contact, “How do you take your coffee?”

Rika observes that he was very much comfortable in her kitchen. The small white coffee maker she owned was tucked next to the fridge out of sight. She kept a bin of pods and two mugs next to it for her morning coffee.

“No problem. Um, black. I have sugar but I don’t have any cream, sorry.” The heavenly smell of coffee invades her senses as it brews. She almost moans.

“That’s okay, I don’t mind, the sugar should be fine.” He did mind and made a metal note to open all the cupboards to see what else she was missing from her kitchen. “You don’t really grocery shop huh?”

She shakes her head, “I don’t cook.”

Ryo hands her the hot mug, “I can see that.”

She curls it to her chest, inhaling the scent with a genuine smile.

He feels a swirl in his stomach. Bare faced Rika was so freaking cute right now. He turns around to load the next pod, mentally storing the image of the small wrinkles in the corner of her eyes to his memory.

“You do though, right?” She asks, flicking her eyes to his.

He nods as he speaks, “I do. I was kind of worried about not having enough space for my kitchen appliances, but I don’t think that will be an issue.” He says adding a spoonful of sugar to the steaming mug.

“You’re not wrong.” She nudges her head to the cabinets, “All of these cupboards are empty.”

Ryo looks at her dumbfounded, “You don’t even own a rice cooker?”

“I mean, if I want it that bad, I can just get the microwaved pouches.” She says with a shrug.

Ryo looks visibly offended, “Oh, no. That is disgusting.”

Rika waves her hand, dismissing the statement, “Its convenient. Do you like cooking?”

He nods, blowing on his coffee, “Yeah, its very relaxing to me.”

“I see. My grandma says the same thing.” She says offhand, sipping the hot coffee, “Well, when you move in, you can have free reign of the kitchen.”

His eyes grow a little wide as he sips his coffee from his mug. “You sure?”

Nodding, she continues, “There’s no point in me dictating a space that I have no use for. I want you to be comfortable here.” Rika says honestly. The last thing she wants is for their living situation to turn into an awkward mess. They have such a good rapport now and she is hellbent on this working out.

Ryo looks genuinely touched by the offer. “Thank you. That actually takes away a bit of my stressors. Should we talk about logistics of me moving in a few weeks?”

She nods, opening her phone and leaning over to him so he would see the screen. “Yeah. I’ve already talked to my landlord about adding you to the lease. I also looked at a few moving companies already.”

Ryo is very impressed, scrolling through the details on her phone, “You are really organised.”

“I want this to be as smooth as possible.” She says, inhaling her coffee, some of her loose hairs getting caught in the mug and in her mouth.

Ryo instinctively leans in to pull the strands out of her mouth. His fingers grazing her soft cheek and smoothes it down behind her ear, running his fingers down the long strand to get the coffee off.

A jolt runs through her, and she jerks away.

“I, danm, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.” Ryo stammers as he wipes his damp fingertips over his sweats.

Rika takes a small breath, “Um its okay. I guess I should get used to it. It sells the narrative.” She says a little defeated.

Ryo scoffs, “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable Rika.”

She shrugs and discloses, “I just don’t like to be touched all the time.”

He crosses his arms and leans back into her counter. “Why not?”

“I don’t know.” She says defensive, “Its uncomfortable.”

“Another person’s warmth is uncomfortable?” He questions, raising his eyebrow.

“Yes, and unwelcome.” She says with a death glare.

“Okay.” He says with a resounding nod, “I won’t touch you anymore.”

She grimaces and sighs as if she was frustrated with herself. “That’s not what I want either.”

Ryo frowns. She’s okay with touches and then she isn’t okay with touches. He thought the beauty of a fake relationship was the brutal honesty. He doesn’t have the mental capacity to play these games with her. “Then tell me Pumpkin. What do you want?”

She groans and rolls her eyes, “I want you to not call me Pumpkin for one. And two, I just need a warning.” She pauses and admits, “I don’t mind it most of the time. If it’s you touching me, I can tolerate it.” She takes a small breath trying to control her anxiety, “but sometimes I get, I don’t know.”

Ryo observes her confusion, recognising that she was anxious. She has issues with touch, but he’s allowed to touch her. He thinks he understands. “Do you get overwhelmed?”

“Yes.” Rika exclaims in relief. “Exactly. Sometimes its too much. Especially if I don’t know what’s coming.”

He thinks back to the morning she yelled at him to get off her. She was absolutely terrified. She jumped just a moment ago as well. And he hated how defeatedly broken she sounded when he told him that she should get used to his touches a moment ago.

“I can do that. From now on, I will tell you if I’m going to touch you.” He says nodding.

Rika offers a small smile, “Yeah? You’re not mad?” The fact that he would offer her a warning eases her anxiety.

He looks deeply insulted, “Why would I be mad?”

She shrugs, “I dunno, lack of access?” Fake or not, they needed to touch. She understands this. This whole thing was her idea.

In her mind, he would touch her when he needed to, and she would reciprocate; no matter what situation they were in.

The lines on Ryo’s forehead harden, “You think I would be upset because you set a boundary for yourself?”

It makes her nervous, like she was in trouble. “Yes?”

He sighs, “You must have dated some real assholes.”

Rika nods, draining the rest of her coffee, “You have no idea.”

Ryo looks her in the eyes, “Well, I promise you this, if you communicate something to me, I will be a decent human about it and listen.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.” She says gratefully.

-A few weeks later-

Rika comes home most days exhausted. Her day started in the office at six am and she left late into the evening, headed to her grandmothers for a visit. Seiko was asleep for most of the time.

Rumiko was no where to be seen.

Rika checks through her medications, ensuring that she had enough and re stocks her pantry with quick snacks.

Yesterday she spent two hours washing, cutting and storing vegetables so that Seiko could still cook when she wanted to.

Today Rika deep cleans all the bathrooms and does a load of laundry.

She doesn’t wake her grandmother up when she locks up for the night. She leaves her a handwritten letter for her to find when she wakes up.

Rika knows that she loves these. She usually jots little notes from the day down on a legal pad. She’ll rip out the yellow paper and continue to scribble on it at the house if she happened to be asleep the whole time Rika was present.

By the time she gets to her own door its past ten. She goes to the gym in her apartment, running on her favourite treadmill, trying to burn out the frustrations and anxieties from the day.

She did not get any sleep the day before.

She eats a protein bar and stands in a scolding hot shower for far too long.

When she gets out, she sluggishly gets dressed, takes her meds, makes herself a tea and scrolls through her phone for the first time.

Rika missed three messages from her ‘boyfriend.’

She is terrible at checking her messages of she wasn’t expecting anything.

Ryo has been consistently texting her good night since their first ‘date’.

It was sweet.

19:06 Ryo Akiyama

I hope you remember to eat something real today Wildcat

19:07 Ryo Akiyama

Protein bars are not real meals

23:44 Ryo Akiyama

Goodnight Wildcat

Sweet dreams

She smiles inwardly. It wasn’t real, but she appreciated the texts none the less. She’ll miss them when he officially moves in next week.

01:24 Rika Nonaka

Protein bars count

Goodnight Akiyama

She opens her notes app, going through her checklist of items to do before he moved in. The two of them completely emptied her office over the weekend.

She spent her spare time this week boxing up a lot of her belongings and storing them in her bedroom.

Ryo will be bringing in a whole kitchen and a few bigger pieces of furniture.

She was panicky about moving in with her ex, but she found an odd sense of calm whenever she thought about Ryo moving in.

It had to be because he was moving into his own room. 

They were going to be roommates.

The only people who came into her apartment on a regular basis were their friends who knew about their arrangement.

Ryo is also incredibly mature and responsible.

With her ex, Rika was always worrying about their expenses, and whether there would be toilet paper left in the bathroom.

Rika had a very detailed excel sheet with all her expenses, that Ryo also now has access to. Everything down to the last coffee pod was listed and accounted for.

Ryo had even come up with a few formulas to anticipate when the best time to replenish some items in the apartment. It made budgeting very smooth.

They worked so well together; while her friends doubt this working in her favour, her gut tells her otherwise.

She closes the app, plugs in her phone and tries to sleep for the night.

Before they know it, her apartment is covered in cardboard, and the movers have assembled all of Ryo’s furniture.

Christmas eve was a perfectly busy day of organised chaos.

Rika watches Ryo unpack the last of his things outside of his new bedroom door.

“Do you collect crocheted blankets or something?” she asks as he pulls three of them out of a garbage bag and starts to re-fold them on his bed.

He has three sizes in three different colours. The biggest one is a mix of greens and yellows; it was queen sized and the heaviest. The second one is a mix of maroons and reds, it was almost as big as the bed, maybe a foot shorter. The smallest one was about half the size of the bed. This one was the nicest one in Rika’s opinion. It was a mix of light blues with his last name stitched into the side.

“Would you believe me if I told you I had more of these in storage?”

Her eyes widen with a smile, “Akiyama, do you have a secret crochet hobby?”

Ryo barks a laugh, “No, I do not need anymore of these.”

She laughs with him, “Then why do you have so many?”

“Well, since we’re not really dating, I don’t have to worry about what you think of my blanket collection.” He says, winking to her with a perfect smile.

Rika raises her eyebrow, with her arms crossed, “Has anyone ever made fun of them before?”

“No, but the only time a girl was in my apartment was when I was planning on sleeping with them, so I didn’t want the grandma style blankets anywhere visible.”

Rika snorts, “They don’t really fit your hot shot personality.”

“Ah, I knew you would understand.” He says with a smile. “These were all made for me by my mom. She was the one who had a crochet hobby.”

Rika’s face softens, “She was very talented. Is that blue one your baby blanket then?”

“Yep. She made it the size of a single bed so that I’d have it for a while. I found it when I was packing up the house. My old man kept it in very good condition. I couldn’t leave it behind.” Ryo says rubbing the back of his neck.

“That makes sense. Do you want to put one of them on the couch?” She spoke without really thinking.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t really match the décor out there.”

She nods her head, “Yeah. This is your home now too.”

He sighs, “I don’t want to overstep. I already feel like moving into your personal space is a bit too much.”

Rika shakes her head in disagreement, “Don’t be. Like you said, we’re not actually dating. We’re roommates at most.”

He nods, “Yeah, your right, here you can pick which one you want on the couch.”

She eyes the red one, thinking that the pop of red would work nicely in the room. “I like this one.” She says picking it up. The fibres are soft, and the blanket itself is very heavy.

Ryo smirks, “That’s the tv blanket.”

Rika shrugs, “It definitely feels like a blanket you snuggle into binge watch tv.”

“It’s a good choice.” He nods, approving of her pick.

Rika frowns as she enters her bathroom the following morning. While she was relieved to see a drying washcloth hanging over the tub, she was equally disgusted with the lack of body care product he seemed to own.

Three in one wash and shampoo?

He has got to be kidding her.

She gags dramatically, picking up the offendable bottle with her index finger and thumb, tossing the nearly empty bottle into the trash.

She inspects through the bathroom a little more intensely. An electric razor, a can of shaving cream that is tucked into the corner of the sink, peppermint toothpaste, and a battery-operated toothbrush similar to hers.

No facewash. No lotions and no sunscreen.

Her brows wrinkle. Is he for real?

Do people actually live like this?

Frowning she takes a moment to consider all the shit he went through this year. Rika tries her best not to judge, but he was such a man, thus making it very difficult.

She washes her face and starts her skincare routine, sighing heavily at the deep-set shadows under her eyes. Her concealer is really putting in the overtime these days.

She could hear footsteps outside the hall and swears out loud. The door is wide open, and she had forgotten to put a robe on. She was getting ready in her underwear, a thin lightweight workout bra and a matching thong. She hears his bedroom door shut and sighs.

Too late. She smirks thinking that they were even now from that night he spent on her couch. He flustered her, and now she’s flustered him.

Or at least, she hopes she did.

Her eyes widen.

What. The. Hell.

Why did that thought cross her mind? She calms herself down, telling herself that she is allowed to be attracted to him. It’s much easier to tolerate his touches if she doesn’t hate it.

She just has to be careful that it doesn’t turn into anything more than that. The last thing she needs is to put a man’s emotions over her own.

She will not make that mistake again.

She sighs and leaves the bathroom to get dressed for the day. When she gets into the kitchen to pour her coffee, Ryo is there, dressed in his casual tan suit, plating her some breakfast.

“Did you get coffee yet?” She asks as she waits for hers to brew.

Ryo was using a paper towel to wipe down the counters, “Not yet, I’ll probably make some to go.”

Rika sees the black stainless-steel mug on the counter. She swaps out her mug with his and brews the coffee for him, “Sugar and cream?” She asks as she spoons in one heap of sugar.

“Uh, yeah thanks. I could have done that.” Ryo says sheepishly.

Rika shrugs, sipping her coffee, “I’m already here. How did you sleep?”

“Okay I guess.” He says, handing her the cream from the fridge. “Just a dash of that.” He says quickly.

Ryo is very particular about his coffee.

“But yesterday you put a shit ton, and a crap ton of sugar.” Rika says with a frown.

“That’s because I slept like shit yesterday.” He says dryly.

“So, you make your coffee different everyday?” She asks.

“Yeah. Depending on how I sleep.”

“Really? Does the coffee make that much of a difference?”

“To me it does.”

“I see. So, shitty sleep means a shitty coffee?”

He laughs, “A shitty coffee?”

“Yeah, when you drown it in sugar and cream its not coffee anymore, its dessert.”

“Yeah, I see the logic. It does feel like a treat after a shit night.”

She nods, “I’m usually right Akiyama.”

“No arguments here.” He says with a smile.

“But last night you slept okay.” She says to herself, “So an okay sleep is one sugar one cream then?”

Ryo nods, “Yeah.”

“What if you get an amazing night’s sleep?” She asks, genuinely curious.

“Just some cream then.”

“Interesting.” She says, sitting at a barstool. She opens her phone and quickly types all the new information down on her notes app. If he was going to make her breakfast every morning the least she could do was make him coffee.

“What time did you get up? This looks like a lot of work.” She says observing her kitchen. It looks lived in.

The usual bare counters now had a variety of seasonings, spices, and some glass jarred ingredients that now lived against the counter, along with a few small appliances. Her sink has washed and drying pots and pants air drying in it. “I think the same time as you, around five. I went for a run downstairs and then made us some breakfast after my shower.”

She nods. She is usually out the door by six. “You are very efficient.”

“Rika, did you move my bathroom stuff?” he asks as he hands her a steaming plate.

She snorts, “Your one and only skincare bottle?”

He shrugs sipping his coffee, “Well I had another one in my gym bag. I ended up needing to use it this morning.”

She frowns. She’s going to have to find that and toss it too. “It was empty. Just use mine.”

Ryo groans, “You have so many bottles in there. I don’t want to use your stuff Rika.” He stands at the sink washing the dishes from the morning.

She rolls her eyes, “Its fine Dr. Akiyama, I’m sure you have the ability to read the labels in there to figure out which product is what.” She says sarcastically, inhaling the food.

He frowns, crossing his arms, “Rika, I’m not using your girly shit.”

She rolls her eyes, passing him the plate for him to wash. “Its not girly shit. Its basic hygiene products. One bottle of bodywash, one bottle of shampoo and another for conditioner. And one more for facewash. Different products, different functions.”

“Seems excessive.” He says with a headshake.

She sips her coffee. “Just use them until you can replace yours. Honestly, its no bother. All of my stuff is unscented, except for my hair products. So you won’t have to worry about smelling like a girl.” She teases.

He sighs, holding out his hand for her empty mug, “Fine. But only because I’m a little tight this month because of moving costs.”

Rika inspects his skin. It looks dry as hell. “You can use my facewash and moisturiser too.”

“Oh, I just use the shampoo. It’s on my head anyways.” He says casually.

Rika’s eyes grow wide. “No. That is wrong. You are wrong.”

“What?” he laughs at the face she makes.

“Please, never, ever do that again. Are you actually stupid?” She asks.

Ryo laughs, drying his hands, “Relax Rika, it doesn’t break me out, and its cheaper.”

She shakes her head, “No. You are wrong. Does your face just feel hard all the time?”

“What?”

She leans over the counter up to him and cups his cheek. She tsks, “Yeah, your face feels like sandpaper.”

He bats her hand away, “Its manly skin.” He huffs.

She makes a disgusted face, “Its unfortunate skin. You will be much happier if you wash your face with actual facewash. Your skin will thank me.”

He sighs, “Its fine.”

“Just use my stuff.” She demands, impatient, “Shampoo, conditioner, facewash and then body wash. In that order.”

“There’s an order?” He’s never known.

“Oh my god.” She says aggravated, “You have got to be shitting me.”

He laughs at how provoked she was getting. It was adorable.

“You are such a man.” She scathes.

He shrugs, “Yeah, well what do you expect?”

“I expect you to understand basic hygiene. Just because you don’t know better doesn’t mean you can’t learn.” Rika scoffs unapologetically.

Ryo smiles, “Well Wildcat, aren’t I so lucky to have you in my life to show me the light.”

Rika rolls her eyes and stalks out of the kitchen.

He rolls his eyes. He’ll use it for now, just until he can get a new bottle of his usual stuff.

The next time he takes a shower; he’s intoxicated by the smell of the shampoo. Its vanilla scent fills the steamy shower as he rinses it out of his hair. He’s been making a conscious effort to not be a complete and total pervert when it came to daydreaming about her, but old habits die hard.

He grunts, irritated. It smells like her, and it makes him hard.

He pumps some of the body wash into his hands, “Fuck. This is going to be annoying.” He mutters, palming himself. He’s been so buried in his grief that self pleasure is more of a chore than anything.

At least the body wash had no scent to it. He groans, leaning into the tiles, letting the lingering scent of vanilla take over his senses, and imagines her in the shower with him. He envisions her lathered skin, a vision much more real now that he’s using the same soap as her.

Her lilac eyes are completely relaxed, smiling up at him. He shivers. Over the years he’s come to appreciate those spellbinding eyes of hers. He imagines holding her from behind, massaging a perfect soapy breast, her nipple taught under his touch.

Losing himself in the fantasy, he pumps his weeping cock more steadily. He would touch her slowly, savouring her skin and slides a finger into her hot core.

He would suck on her neck, bringing her pleasure in three different spots at the same time. He moans thinking about the sounds she might make for him. He imagines his fingers deep inside her, one of her hands over his on her breast, the other clutching onto his forearm as he pumps his fingers in and out of her.

Groaning at his imagination, he cums pretty quickly.

Relieved, he washes the rest of his body with the washcloth and is genuinely surprised at how soft his skin is.

He wrinkles his eyebrows, running his hands over his abs and arms. He can’t stop touching himself. He’s never been this soft in his life. It didn’t negate the tough skin of the muscle, if anything, his skin seems even stronger.

He reaches up to his cheek. Rough, hard, like sandpaper.

He might as well try the facewash. He massages it into his skin, feeling the roughness dissipate in real time on his fingers.

Okay, yeah, he understands now. He rinses his face and takes a deep breath.

This shit was superior; he could admit when he was wrong. His whole body felt brand new, and this was only the first time. How much more would his skin improve if he continues to use these products?

He looks closely at the white bottles. He doesn’t recognize the brands, but they all say things like ‘fragrance free, dermatologist tested, and suitable for adults and babies.’

Would it feel any different if he used the conditioner?

He replays their conversation in his mind, trying to remember what she said about the order.

He feels a heavy weight settle in his stomach. He aches, reeling from the swirl of emotion that gathered and hit him all at once.

‘Just use my stuff.’

Her seeming obsession when it came to his self care seemed far too high maintenance at the time. But it is clear as day now that she didn’t get passionate for no reason. Rika wouldn’t give a shit about his skincare if she truly didn’t care for him at all.

Ryo feels a deep wave of gratitude for her. This was probably the kindest thing anyone has done for him in a very long time.

How pitiable was he? He sighs, thinking that it may be time to schedule a check in with his therapist.

He sighs and makes a mental note to look at her budget to see how much all this stuff costs.

He was not going back.

Chapter Text

Rika decides that it was time to get out of bed. It’s not like she’s going to sleep. It’s her first day off since Ryo moved in. She looks down at her phone, it was just past seven. She sighs and tries to think about how much sleep she got. Two, maybe three hours this time? Purely because she didn’t have to be anywhere.

Ryo should already be at the university, teaching. With this knowledge, she doesn’t put pants on and walks freely around her apartment in a flimsy tank top and her underwear. They were granny panties anyways, basically shorts in her opinion.

Taking advantage of Ryo’s mug collection, she finds the biggest one and brews two pods of coffee into it, exaggeratingly moaning at the smell.

She sat on her couch facing the window and doom scrolled until her battery drained. Looking around, she couldn’t find the cable to charge it. She huffs.

11:38 Rika Nonaka

Did you take the living room charger?

11:46 Ryo Akiyama

Yeah my bad

Its in my room plugged in next to the bed

Left mine at work and needed it for the overnight charge

11:49 Rika Nonaka

K

11:56 Ryo Akiyama

Sorry Wildcat

11:56 Rika Nonaka

Its fine

Rika builds up the mental energy she needs to get up from her spot. Maybe she should eat something while her phone charges. She walks down the hall into her old office, Ryo’s bedroom.

She’s been in here a few times. Nothing really of note stood out to her. His desk was stacked with books, and his queen bed was unmade. 

She scanned the lower walls looking for the outlet that has the charger. She frowns, finding it poking out of the pillow, meaning it was plugged into the tightest spot against the wall and the bed.

She crawls into the bed, reaching in the tight space to pull the wire out. It was just out of her reach.

“Fuck me.” She mummers, “How the hell did he reach that?”

She decides to just plug her phone in and made herself comfortable on his bed.

It was already unmade, he wouldn’t notice if she spent an hour here. She breathes in deeply; his bed smells like a mix of him, his cologne and the vanilla shampoo they shared. It was comforting. She nuzzles into the pillow, curling her body into herself, scrolling through her phone.

18:06 Ryo Akiyama

I’m picking up take out

I know you didn’t eat anything real today

18:11 Ryo Akiyama

Rika?

I got you your usual from Oshii’s

Be home soon

She woke up from the buzzing on her cheek. She looked at her phone and the messages. “Fuck.” She whispers to herself.

She unplugged her phone and ran out of his room into her own.

18:18 Rika Nonaka

Thanks

She quickly throws on some pants and a sweater. She slept. She slept the entire day. She can’t remember the last time she slept so long and so deeply. She counted in her head; six hours. Six hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Just as she steps out of her room, Ryo walks into the front door.

He places the to go bag on the kitchen counter and heads back to the door to hang his coat. “Hey Wildcat, how was your day?”

“Fine.” She says, watching him head over to the sink to wash his hands. “Do they let you teach in a hoodie?” She asks conversationally. She doesn’t recall ever seeing him in one.

“Oh, no.” He says with a laugh, “Just when its really cold out, I like to layer up.”

“That makes sense.” She says with a nod.

“So,” he asks as he plates up the takeout, “was I right?”

She knots her eyebrows, confused. “About?”

He gives her an expectant look, “What did you eat today?”

She offers a knowing smile, “Um, I had a coffee.”

He shakes his head, “What am I going to do with you?” He says handing her a plate.

“Hopefully continue to feed me out of pity.” She says with a smirk.

He barks a laugh, and they settle into a comfortable silence, eating their dinner.

“Hey, do you have any plans for new years eve?” she asks.

“Technically yes. “

“What does that mean, technically yes?”

“It means that I told everyone that I was spending it at home with my girlfriend.” He says with a smile.

“Well, your girlfriend is headed out for New years.”

“Good. You should have a good time. You’re young.”

“You are only four years older than me; you’re not even thirty yet.”

“And yet, my back tells me otherwise.”

She laughs, “Come with me.”

“Nah, I don’t want to intrude on your plans.”

“You won’t be. It will just be grandma and I. Might be nice to have someone to make it to midnight with.”

“Are you sure? That’s your family. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

Rika shakes her head. “Its fine. She falls asleep pretty quickly. I don’t really want to spend new years eve working.”

“That’s just sad Pumpkin. I can’t believe you’re lying to me. Right to my face.”

“What? I haven’t lied.”

“You don’t want to work New years?”

“Fine.”

“Uh huh. You already told her I was coming, didn’t you?”

“She wants to meet you.”

“She knows who I am.”

“Yeah, from when you were a teenager. She wants to meet you as my boyfriend who now lives with me.”

“That’s fair. I get that. I, well I just.”

“Akiyama?”

“I don’t think I can.”

Her eyebrows knot. “What do you mean? You don’t have any other plans.”

“Correct, but I don’t think I’m ready to see her like that. Not yet.”

“Like what?”

“Sick.”

Realisation dawned on Rika. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t think about that.”

Ryo shakes his head, “Its fine. It’s whatever, I just know I’ll have a hard time with it.”

“I understand. I’ll make something up.”

“Thank you.”

The Next day

“So, Rika, tell me, how are things going between the two of you?” Henry asks.

While Rika didn’t really celebrate the holidays, Henry’s large family used it as an advantage to spend time together. They had planned a café trip back in November.

Rika sips her large black coffee from a fancy café mug, “Surprisingly well actually.”

“Really?” He asks skeptical, hands tapping the edge of his teacup.

She nods and leans back into her seat, “Yeah. I mean it was a little weird the first few days, but we have a routine now.”

Henry rolls his eyes in speculation. “A routine? You guys haven’t lived together a full week yet.”

Rika shrugs, “Well so far, so good. No complaints from me.”

He groans and gives her a look, “Rika, you promised to be honest with me.”

She sighs, “I am being honest. He cooks for us which is nice. And he’s much more willing to communicate.”

Henry waves his hand indicating for her to tell him more, “Meaning?”

Her eyes roll at the gesture. “Meaning that he actually listens to me.”

“Because of his giant crush on you.” Henry says with a nod as he sips his tea.

Rika shakes her head with a little laugh, “Because he’s a decent person, you’re awful.” She says with a playful smile. She continues, “A few weeks ago, he even,” she pauses, eyes widening. This might be too embarrassing to tell. “Never mind.”

“Rika.” Henry says warningly. “Come on, you promised.”

She sighs, “Right. Um, he slept over before he moved in, and the morning after he had moved some of my hair out of my face. He could see that I was uncomfortable and apologized to me.”

“As he should.” Henry says with a nod, pouring himself more tea.

Rika’s hands closed around her mug, “But he made me have a conversation about it. We actually discussed how he’d warn me before touching me from that moment on. And he has. He’s a man of his word.”

“I see. Well, I’m glad to hear that. Did you tell him what you’ve had to deal with in the past?” Henry asks, curious.

She quickly shakes her head no. “I don’t want to. It’s in the past and I’ve moved on.”

Henry sighs, “Rika, you don’t just move on from something like that.”

“Well, I have.” She says arrogantly, and Henry doesn’t argue with her.

Rika’s eyes widen again for a moment, “You didn’t tell Alice, did you?”

Henry quickly shakes his head, “No, not the details. Just that he was a controlling asshole.”

Rika sighs, relieved. “Okay. Good. I don’t want Ryo to know.”

His eyebrows knot, “Why not?”

“Because that is a version of myself that wasn’t me. All he knows is that I was in a relationship and then I ended it. I had the power in that version of the story. I don’t want him to think of me as some pathetic girl who just let herself be abused by some idiot just because I was in love with him at the time.”

Henry frowns, “Rika, nobody thinks of you like that.”

“I think of me like that.” She says bitterly, “I was so naïve and stupid to fall in love so hard and fast. I didn’t see any of the red flags that were just so obvious.”

His eyes soften and he reaches for her hand, “Hey, you didn’t deserve what you went through just because you fell in love for the first time.”

She shrugs, shaking his hand off her, “Feels like it. Love is a giant scam.”

Henry snorts, “Its not.”

Rika puts her elbow on the table, her cheek resting in the palm of her hand. “Maybe a curse then. You know every adult in my life growing up was single?”

Henry rolls his eyes and light-heartedly scolds her. “Rika, you’re being ridiculous.”

“Or, realistic.” She says with a shrug, “History shows us that I was never meant to fall in love in the first place. And if I did, it is doomed.”

Henry laughs, “Wow Rika, you are being so dramatic right now.”

“I’m serious.” She says sitting upright.

“Uh huh.” Henry says with a smile. “But honestly, everything between you and Ryo are good?”

Rika nods, “Yeah, they are.”

Chapter Text

Ryo’s phone vibrates on the table. He sighs, ready to block the call, but he recognises the number. It was Rika’s old landline.

He pokes his head out of his room. He could hear the soft music echoing through Rika’s door across the hall. She was still home.

He answers the call, praying that Rika’s phone wasn’t dead and that this wasn’t an emergency.

“Hello?”

“Hello Ryo, Sweetheart.” Seiko’s sweet, aged voice replies.  “I hear you won’t be able to make it tonight. I wanted to apologise for taking Rika away from you.”

“Oh, no, Mrs. Hata, don’t worry about it.” He smiles cradling the phone on his ear, “I know out of the two of us, you’re her favourite.”

Seiko laughs, “You are as charming as ever Sweetheart, you haven’t changed much since you were a teen.”

“Thank you.”

Seiko sighs dramatically, “Are you sure you can’t make it? I hate the idea of you ringing in the new year alone.”

Ah, he was being guilted. “It won’t be the first time, I think I can manage.”

“Rika and I will just be watching tv in the family room and maybe play some card games if you change your mind.” She says optimistically.

His eyebrows knot. “The family room?” From what he understands Seiko is immobile.

“Well, I’m not bed bound yet. I refuse to ring in the new year cooped up in my room.” She huffs in a way that reminds him so much of her granddaughter. “I know Rika said you’ll probably be too tired from working so late, but you are more than welcome to come over at any time.” She says to win him over. “Even after midnight. She speaks so highly of you.”

She pauses for a moment. “I think you’re the first one to truly take the time to understand my Rika.”

Ryo nods, scratching the back of his head, “Yeah, I think she understands me too.”

“She deserves to have you here with us Ryo, I know she probably doesn’t show it. I’m going to be a little mean here and tell you a secret.” Seiko says quietly.

Ryo feels his stomach drop; anxiety starts to swirl in his stomach. He’s already keeping more secrets than he was okay with, but this family seems to have an inkling for them. “Um, okay.”

Seiko takes a deep breath. “Last year, I wished for my granddaughter to find someone who will care about her as much as she cares for them. A partner that she could truly be herself with.

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but Rika doesn’t just show her affection freely. She needs time and patience, but once you’re in with her, receiving her love can be the most wonderful feeling. I can tell by the way she talks about you, Ryo. I think my wish came true. I just want to see it for myself before the year is over.”

He sighs, and quietly replies, “You are being mean.”

“I get what I want. It’s a trait I’ve seemed to have passed down.” Seiko says with a laugh. 

Ryo snorts, “I don’t think that’s a bad trait to pass.”

“So, you’ll come?” She asks hopeful.

Ryo sighs heavily. It didn’t take much to break him these days. If seeing her granddaughter happy was her wish, then he will try to grant it. “Yeah. I’ll come. But I’m doing this for you, not her.”

Her tone is honeyed in appreciation. “Thank you, you truly are a Sweetheart Ryo.”

“I’ll see you tonight then.”

“Bye Sweetheart, oh, and don’t forget to bring some warm clothes. I’m sure Rika will love to watch the first sunrise with you, I know it’s been a little fantasy of her’s since she was little.”

Ryo frowns. A what now? “A fantasy?”

“Yes.” Seiko carries on as if she has the towns latest hot gossip. “She won’t admit it, but her dream date was always to watch the sunrise on New Year’s Day.”

He knots his eyebrows, “She never did that with, well, you know?”

“No. She would be hopeful every year, but alas, that spoiled child was always disappointing my Rika.” Seiko says bitterly. “I want to hear all about it this year from her.”

She was really pushing it. He has a feeling Rika didn’t necessarily want him to know about this dream date of hers, but it was terribly endearing to see how much her grandmother wanted to see her happy. Even acting as her wing woman for her to experience her perfect date. “I make no promises Mrs. Hata.”

“Well at least now you know about it.” Seiko says with a knowing tone.

He snorts, “Thank you for that.”

“Bye Ryo.”

“See you later Mrs. Hata.”

Ryo closes his eyes and starts to wonder how he keeps getting suckered into these situations. Then he laughs at him self, because he knows exactly how.

He takes a deep breath and walks across the hall to Rika’s room.

He’s about to knock on the door when he hears her voice singing along to the song playing from her speaker. He pauses for a moment to listen.

Her singing voice is soft and full of emotion; she’s a little off key but she can carry a tune and its endearing to hear. He waits for a break in the lyrics and knocks on her door.

The music pauses and she opens her door.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asks. She looks so odd. One of her eyes was a sullen, deep purple. It almost looks as if she had a black eye if he didn’t know any better. The other was completely normal, even though he knew that it wasn’t, it was a little bit of a mind fuck.

He leans into her doorframe with his arms crossed, trying his best to ignore her face. “Your grandmother called me.”

Rika’s eyes widened and she takes a deep breath. “She must have gone through my phone. I’m sorry Ryo.”

“Its okay. She means well. At least, I think she means well.”

Rika snorts, “She does. What did she say?”

He sighs, “It looks like I am coming with you tonight.”

“Oh, Ryo, no. You seriously don’t have to.”

“Too late. She guilted me with her old lady charm.”

“You are easily swayed.”

He sighs, “Yeah. The people pleaser in me is hard to dismiss. Can you tell me what I’m going to walk into?”

Rika nods, “Come, sit. I’ll tell you as I’m getting ready.”

He’s seen her room from the door but has never actually been inside of it. It’s not that different from the rest of the apartment.

The bed has a bright white comforter, bright blue pillowcases, and a heavy grey blanket neatly folded on the end. Her headboard is also white, as was the nightstands and the dresser.

Her vanity has a large mirror framed with an LED light strip that was on now, the counter was littered with various makeup supplies from the bathroom. The vanity chair had a set of black silk pyjamas laying over the back of it.

She has a few pictures of her family, and her friends framed on her dresser along with a few mementos and her bright blue mini-Bluetooth speaker.

Her tablet and laptop were plugged in and charging on her nightstand. The closet door is closed, but her laundry bin is overflowing. He recognises some of the outfits from the past few days.

He walks in and sits on her bed. “Why are you wearing makeup? Is it not just family?”

She frowns, “Akiyama, don’t ask a woman why she’s wearing makeup. You come off like an ass asking things like that.” She says sternly.

He scratches the back of his neck, “Yeah sorry.”

“Its fine.” She says offhand and sits at her vanity. She reaches for her phone and turns the music back on but lowers the volume to a background volume so they could talk.

Ryo watches with interest as she applies a powder with a big fluffy brush under the concealed eye.

“She has an autoimmune disease. It makes her so tired she can barely move. And not moving has made her weak.”

“Okay, she’s just bedridden at the moment?”

She nods, “For the most part. Some days are better then others. She’s determined not to be stuck in bed, but her body is about as stubborn as her mind is.”

Ryo nods, “I see. So, she’s still eating and breathing well on her own?”

Rika blinks quickly, her mind going somewhere dark for a moment. Why would he ask such a thing? And then she remembers why he did ask her. “Yes. She eats fine and has no difficulty breathing.”

“So, no machines?”

Rika shakes her head, “No machines.” She starts to apply her concealer under the other eye.

Ryo’s eyes zone into the magic of her makeup erasing the discoloured skin. “Alright. That makes me feel better. I should be fine tonight.”

She’s fully covered the eye now, using her hand to fan it dry. “You sure?”

Ryo watches her pat in a thick powder under the eye. He nods, “Yeah, it will be fine. She seems like she’s just going to be tired.”

She nods again, “For now that seems to be the bulk of it. The fatigue I mean. I try to help where I can. I’ve been going over and doing all the cleaning. She has one of the neighbours drop off groceries and I’ll usually prep them for her.”

His ears perk up, “Prep them?”

Rika rolls her eyes. “You know, washing and cutting everything up for her.”

“So, you do know how to cook, you just choose not to.” He says with a smirk.

She sighs, grabbing her fluffy brush again. “I’m not the greatest at it. She always tells me off for cutting the daikon and the carrots too unevenly. But I’m doing what I can.”

Ryo watches in awe as she moves the brush around her under eye, removing the thick powder. She must have done that with the other side when he came in. She looks completely normal now. “She’s lucky to have you.”

“I guess.” She says with a sigh and starts to collect all her makeup items on the desk.

“If you’re wearing makeup, does this mean that I have to dress up?”

“No. We’re going to head over at around eight. I’m wearing pyjamas.”  She says, nodding over to the ones hanging over the chair.

“I don’t think I own a matching set of pyjamas.” He says with a frown.

Rika snorts, “I can’t picture you in pyjamas. Just wear sweats, honestly, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Okay. And I take it we’re spending the night?”

She blushes, “Yeah. Is that okay?”

“Its fine. I can sleep on the couch; I’ll probably be up before you guys anyways.”

She nods. “Thank you, again. For going along with all of this.”

He shrugs. “It’s nothing.”

-

Chapter Text

“I don’t know why, but I’m nervous.” Ryo says as he holds onto the shopping cart.

Rika had mentioned that her grandmother had wanted a few items to stock the house with. She looks at the wall of vegetables, scanning through the rows to find the best produce. “Why’s that?”

He sighs, “It’s your family.”

Rika rolls her eyes as she inspects a cucumber. “You’ve met my family.”

“Yeah, but not as your boyfriend.” Ryo frowns.

Rika shrugs as she places a few of them in the cart. “Its not going to be that different Akiyama. You’re thinking about this too much.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Am I?”

“Yeah.” She smiles and shakes her had slightly. Her grandmother was not someone Ryo should worry about, but it was pretty cute how worried he was. “Just act like normal. She’s not expecting us to be all over each other or anything. She knows that I’m not a huge fan of PDA.”

Ryo nods absorbing the information, none of which was soothing his nerves. “So, no touching?” He quickly replaces the cucumbers with much more firm ones.

“An appropriate amount of touching.” She says with a shrug.

“What does that even mean?” He asked aghast. He doesn’t want to mess this up. He wonders how she could be so calm about this whole thing. Were multiple scenarios not running through her mind like his was?

“You can kiss me at midnight?” Rika offers as she tosses in a plastic container of tomatoes.

“That’s it?” He asks, nervous. “Won’t she think somethings up?” What would that even look like? Its not like he could hold her hand the whole time. He frowns, removing the plastic container, replacing them with two batches of tomatoes that were on a vine.

Rika sighs, frustrated, “Well I don’t know then. Touch me when it makes sense.” She aggressively throws in a bag of potatoes and a bag of onions and walks ahead of him.

“How am I supposed to give you a heads up?” Ryo argues. He trades out the bag of potatoes with one with more grams in it for less money.

She walks ahead and grabs a few garlic bulbs and tosses them into the cart. “Its fine. For tonight, you can touch me as much as you want. I’ve been mentally preparing for it. Its fine.”

Ryo frowns deeply. “Wildcat, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You won’t Akiyama. I’m comfortable around you already, we’ll be okay.” She holds his forearm and looks him in the eyes, “Trust me.”

“Grandma? We’re here.” Rika calls into the house as they put all the bags down. They were slipping off their shoes as her reply came.

“I’m in the kitchen Rika.” Seiko calls out in the house.

“You ready?” Rika asks, flicking her eyes to his.

Ryo nods, “This is the first real test.”

“Yeah. Okay, follow me lets get this stuff dealt with.” Rika says grabbing some of the shopping bags.

“Hello, come in, come in. Oh, I’m so happy to finally meet you Ryo.”

“You’ve met me before Ms. Hata.” Ryo says sheepishly.

Seiko smiles, “But how many years has it been? At least a decade surely.”

“We brought you a lot of stuff this time.” Rika says with a smile. “It’s much easier to haul this all around when you have help.”

Seiko’s eyes grow wide at the bags in their hands. “Wow, Rika this looks like you’ve bought the whole store.”

“I took advantage of muscles back there.” Rika says nodding to Ryo behind her.

“Ouch, that’s kind of rude Wildcat.” Ryo says in mock defense, “I’m more than my looks you know.”

“Uh huh. Sure.” Rika says laying the groceries on the counter.

Seiko’s eyes grow a little wide upon seeing the many bags littering her counter and floor. “Rika, really this is too much, I’m going to have to freeze some of it.”

“You have space in the freezer. I checked the last time I was here.” Rika says nonchalantly.

“If you say so. Why don’t we get this out of the way now then?” Seiko suggests. “Ryo sweetheart, I have some drinks in the fridge if you’d like to take a seat while we unpack all of this. I think there may be some game on the television. I don’t follow sports so I’m not too sure. This looks like it may take us a while, I apologize.”

“Oh, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been dying to see Rika in the kitchen.” He says with a sly smile.

“Rika, what is he talking about?” Seiko asks, confused.

Rika’s cheeks start to burn, “Akiyama you ass, you can’t keep your mouth shut for two minutes, can you?”

“Rika, are you not cooking for Ryo?” Seiko asks sternly, “Are the skills I’m trying to teach you going to waste?”

“Don’t worry Ms. Hata, she does what she can.” He says with a smile, “But the kitchen is my sanctuary, and I would prefer if she stayed away from it all together.”

“Really?” Seiko asks, shocked.

Ryo starts to unpack the vegetables from the bags as he responds to her. “Yeah, I had to fend for myself a lot as a kid, and when I was in college, I took it a little bit more seriously. I really do love it.”

Seiko’s eyes grow wide similarly to how Rika’s does. “Interesting. Well, I am happy to have the help.”

They make quick work of unloading the bags, Rika started washing the fruit and vegetables in the sink while Seiko dictated where she wanted Ryo to house everything else that they brought from the store.

Rika has set out cutting boards and knives and was peeling a potato down to its core.

“Wow Wildcat, you do suck at this.” Ryo laughs. “Please let me take over before you desecrate that poor potato.”

She frowns. “I am doing my best here.”

Seiko smiles kindly, “And I appreciate it, truly I do.” She says with a kiss to her temple.

Ryo takes a pairing knife and expertly peels the potato in one smooth move, leaving one long thin string of skin.

“Wow, Ryo that is so impressive.” Seiko says, very much captivated.

Ryo smirks. “I know a good recipe for frying these.”

“With how thin you’ve got this you could make them into chips.” Seiko says as she joins them in peeling. “Rika, why don’t you start dicing them? It’s easier than peeling and we can get this done in no time at all.”

Rika sighs, admitting defeat in the realm of potato peeling. “Yeah, okay. I can do that.” She starts to dice the vegetable as Seiko starts her interrogation.  

“So Ryo, how do you like living with my granddaughter?”

“She’s bossy.” He says without missing a beat.

Rika scoffs, “I am not.”

Ryo raises his eyebrows to Seiko. “She threw away all my bathroom stuff.”

“All? What do you mean all Ryo?” Rika scathes in her defense. “It should be illegal to sell body wash, shampoo and conditioner all in one bottle. I did you a favour and you know it.”

Ryo rolls his eyes, “I didn’t say that being bossy was a bad thing, now did I Wildcat?”

“You were insinuating that it was a bad thing.” Rika mutters.

Seiko laughs, “You two sure are something. What made you decide to move in so quickly?”

Ryo’s cheeks heat up a little. “Well to be honest, it was closer to my work. What turned into an hour commute is now a five minute walk. And we split bills so its much cheaper on rent and groceries.”

“I see, all very practical reasons.” Seiko says nodding her head. She turns to face Rika, “And you? Why did you move a man into your place so soon? It’s been less than a year since you moved the last man out.”

A thick tension seeps into the kitchen.

Rika sighs, “I already told you Grandma, it just made sense. We barely saw each other, so living together just seemed like the most natural thing to do next.”

Seiko moves onto a bag of carrots and asks with a frown, “You kids don’t think you’re moving too fast?”

“It is fast.” Ryo answers carefully, “But also not. We’ve known each other for a long time now.” He concentrates on dicing the carrot into perfect little squares. It was mesmerizing to watch. “We’ve been friends since we were children, and I’ve been hopelessly in love with you for years.” He says flicking his eyes to Rika’s.

Rika feels her stomach drop and her cheeks burn. What was he saying? It does make sense to claim that he loved her. Why would she let him move in otherwise? She hopes her grandmother will fall for his crafted story.

“Living with your granddaughter is the greatest honour Ms. Hata. I hope you don’t feel like I’m taking advantage of her, because I’m not. It’s like Rika said, it just seemed like the most natural next step for us.”

“I see.” Seiko says quietly.

“I did have a few selfish intentions.” He says with a sly smile.

Rika’s eyes grow wide. What the hell?

Seiko narrows her eyes at him, appalled by his bluntness. “Selfish intentions?”

Ryo’s smile seems almost diabolical. “Yup. Since moving in, I’ve been able to feed her properly. Did you know she was living off only protein bars and coffee prior to me moving in?”

Seiko laughs, breaking the tension.

“You make it sound like I’m incapable of living on my own.” Rika says rolling her eyes.

Seiko shakes her head, “Ryo, you truly are a sweet man.”

He shrugs, “It’s the bare minimum, really. We always worked well together, don’t we Wildcat?”

Rika nods, “Yeah, that’s true.”

Ryo’s eyes catch the awkward way she was holding her knife, making every cut of the carrot uneven. “What did that carrot ever do to you?”

“It rolls; I have no idea how the two of you are getting your cuts like that.” She says using the knife to point at their piles.

Seiko smiles at her and in a soft tone lets her know, “It takes practice.”

“But you’re also doing it wrong.” Ryo says with a frown.

“How is there a wrong way to cut a carrot? It’s just going to get thrown into a stew anyways.” She huffs.

Ryo lets out a breathless laugh and asks looking into her eyes, “Can I show you how to do it the right way?”

She held his gaze for a second, understanding the subtext of his question. ‘I’m going to touch you, is that okay?’

Rika rolls her eyes and huffs a dramatic, “Fine.”

Ryo gets up from his spot and stands behind her. He places his hands over hers and steadies them.

Seiko leans back into her chair, watching with great interest.

Rika can feel her heartbeat pick up as his warmth engulfs her back. She doesn’t really hear him as he talks her through the instructions. He takes control of her arms, moving them in practiced motions, slicing the carrot in even pieces.

All she can focus on is his warmth and the strong smell of his cologne. She’s used to it lingering in the apartment and from the distant hand holding that they practice, but this is too much. She can make out the faintness of the shampoo and what can only be described as him, but this is overwhelming.

She tries to focus on the very sharp knife in her hands but can’t. Her mind feels like its going blissfully numb, the smell swirling around her lower stomach and coiling into something that she doesn’t immediately recognize.

“Do you get it now?” He asks.

Yes, she thinks. She does get it; this cologne must be trashed immediately along with the three in one body wash. His scent drowned out her senses and brought out something in her that she didn’t think could be brought back. Something that she should have more control over; her grandmother was right in front of her for fucks sake. She was getting aroused.

“No, this is pointless.” She says shaking him off her, “I’m gonna start bagging these for the freezer.”

“Oh well Ryo, you tried.” Seiko says with a chuckle.

“Is this too much?” Ryo whispers, even though Rika had settled herself into his shoulder. He had an arm around her waist, holding her so close he could feel her ribs against him.

Ryo had fried the potato skins and made a miso dipping sauce to go with them, effectively cementing his status as Seiko’s best friend in the kitchen. The two of them prepared the rest of dinner, and the evening seemed to slip away from them.

He felt like he needed another shower, the smell of oil seems stuck in his hair and clothes.

It was nearly ten when the dishes were put away and they had settled in the living room to watch a movie to pass the time waiting for midnight.

Rika nods a no, letting her weight really fall into him. He was shocked that she was getting so comfortable with him on the couch. They did finish off a bottle of wine with dinner, but she wasn’t anywhere near drunk.

“This one is a classic.” Seiko says clasping her hands together, “Ryo I’m so excited that you’ve never seen this before.”

“There wasn’t too much Disney in my house growing up.” He replies.

Seiko tsks, “Ah, that’s such a shame. This one is my favourite.”

“Is this movie about,” he pauses as the opening credits roll, “Cats?”

Rika holds up the case to him, “The cats are on the cover of the DVD. What did you think it was about?”

Flustered he answers. “I don’t know. Maybe an over privileged family? It’s called the Aristocrats.”

“Oh, he’s not too far off Rika.” Seiko says with a smile.

Rika laughs, “It’s called the Aristocats, Akiyama.”

“You’re lying.” Ryo says seriously, taking the case to study it. “Don’t lie to me Wildcat.”

Seiko smiles shaking her head, “She’s right.”

Bewildered, he tosses the empty case on to the coffee table. He thought that his life would include more Disney movies in his lifetime, but preferably with his own hypothetical children in the future. Not at this current moment with the self-proclaimed Ice Queen and her grandmother. “So, I’m going to spend my evening watching an animated movie about cats?”

Rika shrugs, “Kittens if we’re going to be specific.”

“Kittens,” he says stunned, “Never in my life did I think I was ever going to watch a movie about kittens.”

“We don’t have to.” Seiko says, pausing the movie.

Ryo shakes his head no, “But it’s your favourite.” He nods his head to Rika, “And you’re her favourite, so naturally the film must be studied.”

Rika snorts, “Smooth.”

“Okay then.” Seiko smiles brightly, pressing play on the movie.

As the movie plays Ryo finds himself truly enjoying it. Rika cuddled closer to him throughout the movie, her knees tucked under her legs, and inching into his lap.

About halfway through, Ryo feels her slump into his chest, she had fallen asleep.

He shifts his body so that she could nap without being sore, assuming the film had at least forty minutes left to it.

“Is she sleeping okay?” Seiko whispers, “At home I mean?”

“Not really.” Ryo answers truthfully.

Seiko nods, “I wish she could. She’s always had horrible insomnia. She must be absolutely exhausted to be able to fall asleep without her medication.”

Ryo swallows, not knowing that Rika needed to be medicated to sleep. Her makeup routine suddenly makes sense to him. She doesn’t want to worry her family.

Seiko sighs watching her sleep. “Poor thing has been on and off the medication ever since you guys defeated the D-Reaper years ago. I don’t think she realizes that she’s been using my bank card to pay for her prescriptions; she collects mine with hers and always brings me back the receipt. This last year really tested her; she’s on the strongest dose now. I always worry about her not getting enough sleep.”

Ryo nods, understanding the connotation of what she was saying. According to Alice, Rika had a very nasty breakup, and it was a nightmare for her to secure her own place and finally settle again. Seiko was simply looking out for her granddaughter.

 Ryo looks down to the woman sleeping on his chest. “I don’t really know what happened, but I hope I can be the opposite of whatever that experience was for her.” He says as he pulls her hair tie out of her hair, slipping the elastic over his wrist. His fingers start to comb through her hair as he reflects over the few weeks that they have been living together. Rika is up at the crack of dawn, and she comes home late in the middle of the night. She drowns herself in work, takes care of Seiko and then comes home to continue working. He could only imagine how much she silently struggled daily if she wasn’t sleeping at night.

Seiko smiles, “Oh sweetheart, you already are. You’re here. You’re watching a cheesy movie with us.”

Ryo smiles as he strokes her hair. It was like silk between his fingers, and he found himself needing to touch it.  “Are you testing me Ms. Hata?”

She raises her eyebrows, “Me? Testing you? On what? Your loyalty to my granddaughter? Or on how you treat her when you don’t want to do something?”

He frowns as she speaks, he twists the strands in-between his fingers at the base of her neck, gently pulling at the base of her skull. “We don’t like him, do we?”

Seiko sighs shaking her head, “No, we don’t. Her ex was very much like the villain in this movie.”

Ryo nods, letting go the hair and running his hands through the tangled strands, combing it away from her face.

“You’ll take care of her, right?” Seiko asks hopeful.

Ryo combs her hair behind her ear. “If she’ll let me.” He answers honestly. He doesn’t know when he’ll get another chance to play with her hair like this again. “She’s a strong woman all on her own, I don’t think she needs me all that much.”

Seiko sighs, happy. “Ryo, where have you been all this time?”

He smiles a little sad, “I’ve been patiently waiting. The fates just wanted to make us wait I guess.” He feels guilty for lying to her. He meant it earlier when he said that he had been in love with her, but he couldn’t handle the weight of someone else’s happiness right now. He wants to love her properly; make her his whole world, it just wasn’t the right time emotionally for either of them.

As much as he enjoyed the physical contact she offers, he knows its all for show and that is something he could handle.

“Speaking of patiently waiting,” Seiko says with a grin, “I need to talk to you about your date tomorrow morning.”