"Let's go home now," he said again.

"Right..." I lowered my arms.

Rikiya sighed with relief and stepped out from behind Anzai.

After things had settled down, we locked up the bar and went home. Anzai seemed quite tired as he got into bed as soon as he could. I joined him and yawned. He turned to me and suddenly wrapped me up in a hug.

"Anzai... Are you okay?" I asked.

He nodded against me. "I just want to stay like this...for tonight..."

The whole night?! I hoped he couldn't feel my heart pounding...but how could I say no to him? I hugged him back and closed my eyes. We soon drifted off to sleep.

As the yakuza boss said, another man came to the bar before we opened to discuss our deal and to ask me to sign a contract. I was going to agree on whatever percentage of profits he wanted no matter what, but I was still surprised it was less than 90%. It was actually a feasible amount that still gave me breathing room.

It felt strange... He was the only one I ever had a pleasant experience with. He was terrifying and I felt he could have killed all of us by now if he wanted to, but he seemed decent otherwise. I couldn't believe I actually thought that though.

I felt very glad that the ordeal was now over. I hoped we could put it all behind us for now. I knew it'd be hard to forget some things... Especially for Rikiya... But we had hope that things could always get better. I knew that if my friends were here for me, and I was here for them, we could accomplish anything.

Anzai nudged me with his elbow one night while working. "Shukishi seems distracted lately."

I glanced over at the sofa he was on with girls surrounding him. He was on his phone and not being very attentive to their conversation. His expression looked a bit serious.

"Do you think there's something wrong?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. Just something I noticed."

Of course I knew all my friends worked for me, but I felt I'd rather not have to tell them how to do their jobs and be something like a nagging boss... I also felt bad if something serious was going on with him. I was totally willing to help if I could. A lot had been going on lately so I was sure he knew he could come to me with anything he wanted to. And if he didn't want to, he should know there's a work-life balance that one should try hard to keep...

As days passed, he seemed more and more distracted by his phone to the point that he stepped outside so he could finish whatever he was looking at in peace. At least that's what it seemed like to me. Anzai and I looked at each other. Then with a silent resolve, I stepped outside as well.

Shukishi immediately noticed me. "Ah, Nari."

"Hey... Is something wrong?" I asked.

He pocketed his phone. "My bad, have you come to scold me?"

"I'd rather not... But if this continues, I might have to. I totally understand if something is wrong though and you have to take care of it."

"Getting scolded by you wouldn't be so bad..." He smirked.

"I'm being serious! If something's wrong, just tell me. You can get some time off, you know. I just want my customers to feel important while they're here. It means a lot to me that they're happy when they come here." And it wouldn't be the best to lose customers and lose profits right now...

"Of course... I've seen just how happy people are when they're at the bar. And I know how important it is right now to keep them happy. I'm sorry I've been ruining that lately. There is some personal business that's been distracting me, but I'll work harder."

"Thank you..." I thought for a moment, thinking about that day at the hospital, waiting for Anzai to recover... "You know, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to quit though. I feel like I forced you all to work for me."

"You didn't force us. We're working here because we want to. You gave me something to do after I quit my job," he beamed.

"Oh yeah... What happened with that anyway? You got the office job you've always wanted only to quit a few years later."

"I haven't told you the story yet? It's pretty simple, I thought an office job that paid well was what I always wanted. But I felt like it was too soon after college. I wanted some more excitement in my life. When I heard you wanted to open a bar, I thought that I could help you and gain an interesting job in the process. So I may have helped you to fulfill my own agenda, but of course I wanted to help you as a friend as well."

"I didn't know that... but I'm glad you wanted to work for me regardless. You really helped make the bar what it is now. I'm really grateful for that."

"You're too kind, Nari... but I don't hate that about you. It makes me want to shape up. I'll put my personal business on the back burner when I'm working, I promise. Shall we head back inside now?"

"Do what you need to do though, I understand. Hearing that you want to work harder is enough to let me know that you care. But yeah, we should head back in. The girls are waiting for you."

"I shouldn't keep them waiting then."

I smiled when I returned to Anzai's side.

"You two had a good talk, then?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think we'll be alright now."

Shukishi's behavior shaped up after that. The personal business he mentioned still bothered me though. Was it something serious? Was there a way for me to help? I didn't want to pry if he didn't want me to though.

Rikiya sat at the bar after work to talk. "Recently I impulsively bought a new game... I feel kinda bad about it, like I should have used that money for something more important. But isn't keeping my siblings and myself entertained also important? It's multiplayer, so it's not like I bought it for myself! Hah... I don't know."

"It's important to treat yourself," I said. "I'm glad you can play with your siblings too, I'm sure that's a lot of fun. I want to play with them too!"

"I thought you hated video games," Anzai said.

I turned on him. "Only when I play with you! You never let me win!"

"With practice, I'm sure you could beat me someday."

"Or maybe you should let me win!"

"What do you play, Anzai?" Rikiya asked.

They began discussing games that went over my head. As I watched them talk though, I wondered if they could get along surprisingly well.

I smiled at Rikiya as I leaned across the counter. "So when can we come over and play your new game?"

"Wait, that wasn't an invitation to play it with you!" He exclaimed.

"I want to play it," Anzai said.

I noticed that Rikiya couldn't say no to his earnest eyes. He sighed and gave up pretty quickly.

"Fine... You can come over next weekend..."

"I can't wait to see everyone again!" I said.

"Yeah, they miss you for some reason..."

"Aw, does that mean you miss me too?"

"Why would that mean that?!"

The day was soon upon us. Anzai and I caught a taxi to Rikiya's place. When we entered the house, the kids were really happy to see me. I matched their excitement and spun Sassa around while Rikiya yelled at me to stop.

The further we got inside the house, the more fixes I saw were made. I felt proud knowing this was becoming a better home for all of them, slowly but surely. I almost didn't realize how skinny the kids were before either. I noticed they had been eating well.

"What happened to your hair?" Rinji asked me.

Miiko hit his arm. "That's rude!"

"It's alright," I laughed. "I just wanted a change. I didn't realize how heavy my hair was until I cut it, you know! It's like 20 pounds have been taken off my back!"

"20 pounds?" Rinji looked shocked.

"There's no way it actually weighed that much," Rikiya said as he put snacks down on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Anyway, we'll have to take turns playing. Who wants to go first?"

All the kids' hands went up in excitement. He chose Miiko and Rinji to play first, then me and Sassa, then him and Anzai. Sassa bounced excitedly on my lap. She's so cute, I want to squeeze her...

Miiko and Rinji played the racing game for an hour or so until Rikiya said it was someone else's turn now. I played next with Sassa and helped her hold the controller. Then after our time was up, I sat with the kids on the floor and played and talked as Rikiya and Anzai's game began to sound heated.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Miiko asked me.

"Nope. I think I like boys more than girls though," I winked.

"Oh... Sorry... I didn't know. What about boyfriends?"

Rikiya suddenly laughed loudly. "I finally passed you!"

Why are they fighting more than playing...

"Hm... There was this one boy I liked in the past, but it didn't work out. What about you? Are you interested in anyone at school?"

Miiko fidgeted. "I don't know... There might be some interesting people at school..."

"You got distracted too," I heard Anzai say.

"Damn it..." Rikiya cursed.

"You're still young, so it's not like you have to date," I said. "But if you are interested in someone, I say go for it. You should live out your youth to its fullest."

"That makes you sound old," Rinji chimed in. This kid was always too blunt...

Miiko elbowed him. "Can I ask what made you more interested in boys than girls?"

I looked down at Sassa falling asleep in my arms. "I'm not sure... I've always just felt that way. I guess I was born like that. Not that it's a bad thing, you know."

Miiko nodded. "Yeah, people are different. It's a good thing to be different from each other."

I've always felt like she was quite mature for her age. I knew Rikiya had to grow up fast, and I'm sure he was trying to protect his siblings from that. But it seemed she felt she had to grow up with him.