Chapter Text
H.A.N.D. had once again sent a new recruit to the Section 6 office much to Yanagi's frustrations. She glares at the blond haired man that stands in the doorway for a brief moment before composing herself. She plasters on the fake practiced smile she has used the past few times this has happened. Then she takes a deep breath and calms herself.
"Who are you?" Soukaku asks.
"I'm the new sharpshooter for your section." The man says.
"We did not apply for one." Miyabi frowns.
"Well-" The man starts.
"State your name." Yanagi interrupts.
"Ueda Hideki." The man quickly answers.
"Ueda, we did not ask for a new sharpshooter. We are fine as we are." Yanagi says.
Hideki scoffs. "Are you serious? You still want to stick with him? I heard he hasn't been able to return to the field since that secret operation with Officer Zhu Yuan of New Eridu Public Security."
"Harumasa is just taking some time to rest." Soukaku says.
"Some time? Does he really need three months away?" Hideki glowers. He shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "You all know better than anyone that you can't do missions without your scout. All the mission reports on Section 6 show that you have only been entering areas you navigated before."
"We are making sure those areas are secure." Yanagi explains carefully.
"You can't be serious." Hideki scoffs.
"We are. It is just to make sure the ether activity is still stable." Yanagi says evenly.
"You're just making excuses." Hideki states flatly.
"Why do you think that?" Miyabi asks now.
Hideki examines all of them. Yanagi hates how his eyes seem to see right through her. "I think you had a cover up saying that senior Asaba had been part of that operation. His injury report isn't consistent with someone who would have done undercover work. He had been taken captive by those people, hadn't he? But all of you are trying to hide that."
"How could you tell?" Yanagi asks quietly.
"His connection to the illegal ether aptitude booster drug." Hideki answers. "It couldn't have been a coincidence that he was there when PubSec had been investigating it either."
"Why is this relevant?" Yanagi asks coldly.
"It's simple. You should remove him from his position in Section 6. It must be hard working with such a broken thing. All he is doing is holding you back. If you just replace him, Section 6 can return to being trusted and relied on by everyone." Hideki says.
Miyabi growls and lunges across the room at the man. "Do not say that about him! Harumasa isn't a burden!"
"Yeah! Harumasa is our important friend!" Soukaku glares.
"You're wasting your time waiting on him. Just leave him and move on. I could help you as your sharpshooter." Hideki says.
"We refuse." Miyabi throws Hideki out into the halls.
"Don't come back. We will tell the president that we rejected you." Yanagi says, shutting the door.
"I want to go home now." Soukaku declares. "I want to check on Harumasa."
"We still have some work we need to finish." Yanagi sighs.
"Can't I go first?" Soukaku says.
"Soukaku, you have homework to finish." Yanagi frowns.
"I helped her finish it." Miyabi speaks up.
"So can I go please?" Soukaku pleads.
Yanagi bites her lips. She gives in when Soukaku's eyes begin to water. "Alright. Just make sure no one is following you. We don't want anyone to know where we live. The last time Harumasa came shopping with us, people had bothered him."
"I will be careful, I promise!" Soukaku says.
"I texted Caesar. She is in town and said she can take you." Miyabi says from her desk.
"Yay!" Soukaku runs out the door.
Yanagi resisted the urge to run after her, but she sits back down. She sighs as she looks over the papers on her desk; some of it consisted of recruitment forms. She only skimmed over them before putting them in the shredder. Then she turns back to the stack.
"Yanagi, we won't get a new member." Miyabi states.
"I know." Yanagi says without looking up.
"I do not want to be someone who has hurt Harumasa." Miyabi continues.
"I don't either." Yanagi agrees.
"We will make sure to protect him. That is our duty as his friends." Miyabi says.
"We aren't just his friends anymore, Miyabi." Yanagi says softly.
"Oh yes. We also kissed." Miyabi hums.
"That's right." Yanagi smiles just a bit.
Miyabi glances towards her. "Can we kiss again now?"
"If you finish all your paperwork quickly." Yanagi says teasingly.
Miyabi looks towards the papers and begins writing away.
"Correctly!" Yanagi quickly adds. But she moves her seat closer to Miyabi's desk and gives her a quick peck on the lips.
Miyabi's ears twitch in delight before she resumes her work. Now with some motivation, she seems to be working quicker and more proficiently.
Yanagi smiles to herself and makes a mental note of this. "Miyabi will do work if properly rewarded. Will this get her to attend meetings too?"
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He flips through the different channels on the television quickly. So far, there was nothing that caught his eye. He would have watched one of the tapes rented from Random Play, but he did not want to watch the horror movies alone. Since he couldn't find anything, Harumasa switches it off.
"Mrow?" Yumi looks up at him with big eyes.
"Were you watching?" Harumasa asks the cat.
"Mrrp." Yumi stretches her little paws and hops to the ground, walking down the halls.
Then he was alone.
Harumasa sighs and lays down on the couch, curling up into himself. He wishes he could do more than just lay around all day doing nothing. He had been permitted to return to work in the H.S.O., but he always felt people watching him when he went to the office. He tried his best to ignore it, and everything had seemed fine.
But then some people harassed him while he had been helping Yanagi, Miyabi and Soukaku with some shopping. He had only been separated from them for a short moment. That was when some clearly displeased people had approached him. Harumasa doesn't know what he had done to receive their ire, but one of those people had dumped a bucket of hot cold water on him.
If Miyabi hadn't shown up when she had, he was sure things could have been worse. Miyabi had chased those people away while Yanagi tended to him. Soukaku had rushed off to borrow a first aid kit from some workers nearby.
Since that day, he barely step foot outside of the home. It was hard for him to focus now, and he could hardly hold his bow without his hands shaking. He was sure they were all going to get tired of this sooner or later. And if they did, Harumasa wouldn't blame them. He was just wasting their time with how much he froze up like this.
"I'm sorry." He has said far too many times now.
Yet every time, they would reassure him that everything was fine. Harumasa wanted to argue against it, but he kept his mouth shut. He knew it was stupid for him to have doubts like that. He knew that they loved him and would do anything to make him happy, so all he could do was try and get better. Slowly but surely, he would get there.
"I am lucky to have them..."
A knock on the door alerts, telling him that someone was here. But it couldn't be Yanagi, Miyabi, or Soukaku since they all had keys. They would be able to unlock the door themselves. Was it a visitor then? No, it couldn't be. Yanagi had made it clear that no one was allowed to have surprise visits. Everyone that showed up would usually send a notice ahead of time.
Harumasa slowly pushes himself to his feet and walks to the door. Yumi scambles ahead of him and hisses at the door. If Yumi was acting like that, then it meant it was a stranger. So he backs away from the door and the knocking grows louder.
Whoever it was begins pounding on the door harder now, like they were trying to break it down. "I know you are in there! Open the door!"
Harumasa stumbles back and falls on his back. Yumi yowls loudly in response, puffing herself up and screeching at the door loudly.
"Are you really that much of a coward that you won't answer?!" The stranger growls. "You must be really messed up in the head now, Asaba Harumasa. I am surprised they are so adamant on-"
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" A familiar voice is heard on the other side of the door.
Harumasa hears some shouting, but he cannot make out the words being said as panic grips at his chest. His heart pounds so loudly that it was all he could hear. His lungs burn as he struggles to breathe. He curls into himself and covers his ears with his hands, just waiting for it all to end.
At some point, the door had opened and hurried footsteps rush over to him. He feels cold hands touch his shoulder and looks up to meet Soukaku's frantic gaze.
"Are they...?" He quietly asks.
"They're gone now! Caesar dragged them away!" Soukaku quickly says.
"Caesar?" He asks with a frown.
"She drove me here! I wanted to come back home early!" Soukaku helps him to the couch. She quickly rushes to the kitchen and grabs a glass of water before rushing back to him. "Here, drink this!"
Harumasa takes the cup from her with shaky hands and sips it. The water is cold and soothes his throat. Then he finishes the entire cup, handing it back to her. Soukaku takes it and sets it on the coffee table besides the couch. Her hands hover over his shoulder as she meets his eyes.
"You can hug me, Soukaku. It's okay." Harumasa says.
Soukaku doesn't wait before diving forward and wrapping her arms around him with a sniffle.
"Are you okay?" Harumasa pats her back.
"Someone showed up at the office again saying they were going to replace you!" Soukaku sniffles.
"Oh... I guess Yanagi and Miyabi did not like that." Harumasa says.
"Y-Yeah. Nagi and Miyabi got angry." Soukaku wipes away her tears.
"I'm sorry you guys had to deal with that... If I had gone in, maybe things would be different." Harumasa frowns.
"Harumasa doesn't need to be sorry! Harumasa didn't do anything wrong!" Soukaku pouts. "I should be comforting you... That person outside scared you."
"Don't worry, Soukaku. I'm fine." Harumasa tries to reassure her.
"Are you sure? Should I call Nagi or Miyabi?" Soukaku asks.
"We shouldn't bother them when they are working." Harumasa says.
"But they would be upset if they found out we hid this..." Soukaku pouts.
Harumasa thinks it over for a moment. "Alright... send them a message then."
He knew there was no arguing when it came to Soukaku. Soukaku wouldn't let him win no matter how much he tried. Harumasa scoops Yumi up into his arms when the cat runs over to the couch.
"Alright! I messaged them now!" Soukaku says. She fiddles around with her fingers. "When will Harumasa return to work?"
"I don't know, but hopefully soon." Harumasa says quietly.
"There is no rush! Harumasa doesn't have to hurry!" Soukaku says.
"Thank you, little Soukaku." Harumasa whispers.
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Yanagi and Miyabi had rushed home the moment they got the message from Soukaku.
"Haruamsa!" Miyabi bursts through the doors. Yanagi is at her heels.
"Shush!" Soukaku shushes her. "He is sleeping!"
Yanagi sighs and shuts the door behind her. "That's good."
"Where is the person?" Miyabi asks.
"Caesar took them to Public Security." Soukaku answers.
"Good." Miyabi hums. She makes her way around the couch and sits down, running her fingers through Harumasa's hair. "How did they find our house?"
"They may have followed us here before." Yanagi mutters.
"I will ask Zhu Yuan to get answers." Miyabi sends a quick text. "She said she will let us know when she has more information."
"That is good to hear." Yanagi smiles. She stands up and begins to head to the kitchen.
"I'll make dinner!" Soukaku says, rushing to the kitchen.
"Soukaku, I can handle it." Yanagi says.
"Nuh uh! I want to do it!" Soukaku pouts.
Yanagi frowns. "Are you sure? It is a lot of work."
"I am! I can do it!" Soukaku says reassuringly.
"Alright then. I'll let you handle it." Yanagi gives her a pat on the head.
Soukaku smiles brightly before vanishing into the kitchen. Asaboo, Miyaboo, and Soukaboo run after her. Seeing as the bangboo would likely assist her, Yanagi sighs with relief. She hopes that dinner would turn out well.
A small movement alerts her and she turns back to the couch.
"Mmm?" Harumasa slowly opens his eyes. "Yanagi? Miyabi? You're home?"
Miyabi hums and leans down, giving a kiss on the lips. "Yes, we are."
Harumasa makes a flustered noise. "D-Don't do that so suddenly!"
"Why?" Miyabi tilts her head. "We are already dating."
"J-Just give me a warning first! I just woke up!" Harumasa whines.
"Relax, Miyabi just loves you." Yanagi chuckles, gently cupping his cheek. She smiles softly when Harumasa leans into the touch like an eager cat. "And I love you too. You are a precious treasure I want to hold on to."
"You're teasing me now..." Harumasa whines as he pushes himself up into a sitting position.
Yanagi gently shushes him. "Just let us spoil you for a little."
"Is that really okay?" Harumasa asks tentatively.
"Why wouldn't it be okay?" Miyabi tilts her head.
"Soukaku told me about what happened at the office." Harumasa says.
"We aren't replacing you." Miyabi quickly says.
"But... what if you have to?" Harumasa asks quietly.
"We won't." Yanagi says firmly. "You'll get better."
"What if I don't?" Harumasa asks next.
"You will." Yanagi holds his hand.
"We will make sure to be with you." Miyabi reassures, holding his other hand.
"Are you sure?" Harumasa asks.
"We are. We will be with you every step of the way." Yanagi smiles gently.
"And if people disagree, then we will not listen to them. We will do things our own way." Miyabi hums.
"I don't deserve this..." Harumasa whispers.
"You do." Yanagi wraps her arms around him. "You deserve all of this love and care."
"If you do not believe us, we will keep repeating it until you do." Miyabi adds, hugging him as well.
"You understand that, right?" Yanagi asks.
For a moment, there is only silence. Then Harumasa lets out a sob before leaning into the hug. For Yanagi and Miyabi, that was a good enough answer.