“It took you long enough!” Stepping out of the car, letting the door click closed, Ash tilted his head to stare at her from over the vehicle’s roof. The gaggle of students surrounding her giggled, a few giving her murmured goodbyes before they ran off to their respective rides. As he nodded to the woman standing watch over the proceedings, her sharp eyes fell on him as she took in the controlled chaos of the end of the school day. He stepped around the front of the car to pull the passenger side door open. He wasn’t late—in fact, a glance at the clock in the car had shown he was early—yet Masako’s harried step showed an impatience that seemed extreme even for her. “Hurry up! There’s someone I need to see!”

“Someone important?” Waiting for her to settle into her seat, her bag rustling as she wrestled it into the space between her legs, he slammed the door shut before she could answer. Getting back into the driver’s seat, he focused a curious look on her. The excitement on her face was plain as day, her head bouncing in an overenthusiastic nod. The engine roared to life, lowering to a purr as she dug into her bag.

“Oh, yes.” Even though her attitude hadn’t improved in the slightest, the emotional guards the young woman kept slowly fell in the days he spent with her. Opening up the slightest bit more, small bits of her interests and personality shone through where he’d previously only seen indifference and callous immaturity. She perked up immensely as she turned toward him. They continuously rubbed each other wrong, but even he had to admit, he found her less annoying as time wore on. A smile lit up her features, and he wondered if it was the first true one he’d seen from her. “He’s a family friend! Our fathers work together a lot… he doesn’t visit often enough, and Mother said he’s coming by to discuss something important.”

“Like what?” Noticing the color that flooded her face, Ash held back a laugh. He could only imagine what the teenager had convinced herself of.

“She didn’t say, but I think I know!” Masako appeared giddy. It was an expression that almost didn’t suit her, the bright glistening of her eyes and the wide smile turning her into a completely different girl. “We’ve known him a long time, and I’m almost an adult…”

Almost an adult… you’re sixteen. Tch. Ash snorted. He realized she was serious when Masako gave him a dirty look. “What makes you think it’s about you?” he asked, keeping his voice gentle. He didn’t think she could handle anything blunter, her face twisting as he spoke. “It could be something for your dad, too.”

“I don’t need your ‘advice.’” Turning her head away, Masako sniffed. Her hands clenched on her lap, her phone trapped in one white-knuckled fist. “It just makes sense. I’m beautiful. He’s handsome. It’s the perfect match!”

Once he was sure that her gaze hadn’t left the window, he rolled his eyes. He ran his hands over the steering wheel as he considered his options. There had been plenty of ridiculous crushes when he’d been a teenager, but none where he’d seriously thought he could marry them. “Have you considered whether you’re his type? Or if he’d even want to be with someone that he watched grow up? How old is he, anyway? We don’t live in a romance novel, Suzuki-san.”

Masako gave him a dubious look. “He’s only twenty-five! How could I not be his type? Look at me.” Despite her best efforts to sound confident, Masako’s voice faltered.

Am I seriously about to break a teen girl’s heart? Goddamn, what has my life come to? “I feel like someone in his twenties wouldn’t want to propose to a teenager…” He hoped, at least, that none of the adults in her life would actually consider it. “…though you must really like him if you want him to.”

She went silent, staring at her phone with fingers tapping away at the screen. Her face scrunched, an angry noise escaping from behind her pursed lips. He gave her space, driving in silence until she looked up from her conversation with an irritable sigh. “Whatever. You don’t seem like the kind for love, anyway.”

“…What?” At the next red light, Ash gave her a puzzled look. He wasn’t a stranger to it, even if he poured his focus more into his career. It made more sense than chasing something that had hurt him more often than not. Not wanting to dwell too much on the vague ache that bubbled up at the back of his mind, he cleared his throat. “Who do you think I am?”

Masako laughed, gesturing in his general direction. “I mean, look at you! You’re hanging around a teenager that’s too cool for you.”

“Only because someone can’t protect herself.” The key pad beeped once he punched the code in as he tapped the fingers of his other hand on the steering wheel. He quirked his mouth as she made a face at him. The car rolled up the long drive once the gate rattled open. Ash shook his head. “I’ve been in a few relationships, you know. I’m just trying to warn you. As interesting as he sounds… don’t get your hopes up. That’s all.”

Making a noncommittal noise, Masako rolled her eyes. “Just wait and see.”

Ash laughed. “Sure.”

Once he shut the car off, he exited and leisurely made his way around to open Masako’s door. Before he could fully pull it open, she darted out and under his arm. Masako raced to brush herself off and straighten her school uniform. He wasn’t entirely certain what she was trying to fix; despite how late in the afternoon it was, there was barely a wrinkle to be seen in her crisp blazer and skirt. “How’s my hair?”

He contemplated his answer, eyeing her. There wasn’t even a single hair out of place, her dark locks pulled back into a neat half-up, half-down style. With a resigned sigh, he shrugged. “It looks fine. Same as usual,” he assured her.

Masako glowered, turning to duck and peer into the side mirror. Ash noted the other vehicle sitting several feet away; he thought it was fairly unassuming for what a friend of the family would drive, a silver sedan that had the smallest bit of wear on the back bumper. Compared to the vehicle next to them, it looked humorously out of place.

“He’s modest.” Masako’s gaze followed his. Her eyes softened. “He deserves better, but he just says-” Deepening her voice in an attempted mimic of the man, she made a hopeless motion with her hands. “‘Why would I buy a new car when this one suits me just fine?’”

“Hm.”

Upon entering the house, Masako kicked off her shoes and fled down the hall. Ash paused at the front door, glancing apologetically at the poor man the teenager blew past in her haste and received a resigned smile back. “She gets this way any time Zenz-san visits. You’ll get used to it.”

He rued the day that her heart would inevitably break. “Does that mean I should avoid wherever he is?” Ash asked, only half joking as a loud squeal echoed down the hall.

“Only if you wanna be fired.” The guard’s voice lowered to a conspiratorial whisper. “Or maybe worse, if the rumors are true.”

“Such as…?” Ash wouldn’t usually encourage gossiping, but the idea of subjecting himself to the lovesick fit Masako was throwing in the living room held even less appeal.

“Yakuza. I heard Suzuki-sama may have pissed them off, and that’s why they hired you.” The older man ran a hand through his graying hair, a nervous grin appearing on his face. “Do you think it’s true?”

Based off what he’d seen in the file on the family, Ash wouldn’t be entirely surprised. While he’d started to get to know the staff, he didn’t trust that honesty wouldn’t make it back to the ones they could hear talking in the house. “I couldn’t tell you,” he murmured, toeing his shoes off once he’d stepped just inside the foyer, “but if it’s true, at least we have the manpower to protect her. I apologize, I really need to catch up with her.”

He made his way down the hall at a slow, leisurely pace. Working with Masako had not been the first time he’d been in such a household, especially with the kind of assignments he had done as a trainee. Protecting celebrities, investigating the executives of a multi-national company’s crimes, even escorting the princess of a far off country that he couldn’t quite remember the name of meant he’d entered many extravagant homes. Of course, it also made his job that much harder. When he found the wooden floors waxed to a slippery shine and numerous fragile vases and other ornaments around the first time he’d entered the house, he’d groaned; it could only be a disaster if something happened in a building meant to be looked at rather than lived in.

Ash came to a stop just outside the doorway. The voices in the sitting room continued to chat back and forth, Masako’s high-pitched one monopolizing most of the quiet conversation. A moment later she went quiet, a new one responding in the affirmative to one of her questions. He furrowed his brow, confused. Something about that deep voice sounded strangely familiar.

“Faysal-kun, when’re you bringing Jess over?” Masako asked.

Entering the room, coming to a stop just inside the doorway, Ash froze. His eyes widened. He wished he could back out of the room and vanish, dread twisting his stomach.