Chapter Text
"today is my first working day. aren't you going to give me some gift as my success?" hanma laughed softly while standing in front of the mirror and straightened his tie.
"you already have to work, since you live in the commander's house," inui folded his arms and shook his head, thinking about this whole situation.
takemichi, who had been standing next to koko all this time, shifted his gaze to shuji, who flashed a suspicious smile.
"isn't it enough that I got you a job? selfish, you know," hajime rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers, and then sent another message on his laptop.
"come on, come on, you don't understand jokes, do you?" hanma made regret on his face with obvious falsehood.
"whoever deserves a gift here, it's only koko-kun. I don't even know how to thank you," hanagaki awkwardly scratched his head, sighing.
"more on that later. we're going out. I will accompany you to your boss, and then just listen to his instructions" kokonoi slammed the laptop shut and left on the bedside table "I'll pick it up later."
"don't cause trouble, hanma," takemichi muttered, looking doubtfully at the two guys leaving.
"hey, shouldn't you say something like 'have a good working day'?"
"shut up already and go work," seishu chuckled.
honestly, this whole job was... weird? hanma was told not only to work in a mask and change her hairstyle, but also to carefully hide her name. this was known from the very beginning, so takemichi suggested the usual nickname, with which the older guy unexpectedly easily agreed. however, this did not change all the absurdity that this work from dear koko had prepared.
"this is your workplace," his employer said with a restrained smile, writing something down in his notebook.
"thank you very much, sir!" hanma said with a grin, standing behind the counter.
"from this day on, you are a part-time bartender in our cafe. I sincerely hope that you are not... ahem, that we will work together" the young man looked at the time "well, I will be watching you on your first day to assess your abilities. and then my assistant will replace me," he continued to speak, standing next to Shuji.
"roger that, sir!"
takemichi asked inui during their conversation – oh, how seishu missed this hour-long dialogue at the table with his commander, who listened to the various stories of the young man with a smile.
"of course. you can rely on hitto, can't you?" replied inupi, taking a sip of hot tea.
"no, no, I don't doubt kaku-chan! it's just... suddenly someone from toman will show up there..." hanagaki said doubtfully, sighing.
"anyway, koko will sort it out. although, mikey's sister also works there... which is already problematic for hanma," another replied, frowning.
"ema-chan understood me and promised to help! you know, she's a very understanding girl."
"I bet you suggested something related to the draken," inui laughed a little.
takemichi snorted, and then his cell phone rang.
meanwhile, in the cafe there was, let's say, well, a very entertaining picture.
"so you are... the lost cat? what kind of nickname is that?" the girl asked with sincere incomprehension.
"take-chan came up with it for me, can you imagine?" shuji grinned, and she looked at him strangely.
"oh, are you talking about takemitchi or something? I never thought that you would become friends," the girl muttered, and then remembered her dialogue with hanagaki and fell silent.
"takemitchi?" hanma asked in perplexity, to which he was mysteriously smiled "ema-cha-an, do not interrupt our dialogue on the most interesting!" he whined.
"can you get to work already?" hitto shook his head, relaxing.
honestly, when takemichi, almost with tears in his eyes, urged emu not to tell anyone about hanma, she thought he was crazy. wasn't it kisaki and hanma who tried to kill her? of course, izana apologized for this (albeit reluctantly, but still), but this does not negate the fact of shuji's insanity. after hearing the story about memory loss, ema was doubtful at first, but when she saw kakucho (her brother's best friend, whom she was sometimes even jealous of, but understood that izana and hitto were like brothers) with him she vaguely consented to silence.
and now she even thought that such a hanma was very good. maybe.
the bell rang, telling about the arrival of a new client. hanma, who was imbued with the atmosphere, was about to greet the visitor, but he was ahead of him.
"who is this?"
three pairs of eyes focused on the guy with a menacing aura standing near the front door.
"hmm? good afternoon, what do you want?" hanma smiled innocently, although it was not visible behind the mask.
the young man walked up to the counter with suspicion in his eyes and stared at shuji, examining part of his face up close.
"izana" kakucho smiled encouragingly, "this is our new bartender. his name is... the lost cat" despite the absurdity of the word, he did not want to let takemichi down, so he did what he was asked.
"he reminds me of someone... and what kind of nickname is that?" izana unintentionally repeated ema's words, and hanma chuckled.
"what?" kurokawa blinked slowly, frowning.
"okay, let's drop this topic. did you want something?" ema decided to take matters into her own hands, shifting the conversation to another topic.
"your restless brother..." he began, but under the stern gaze of his sister sighed, "our restless brother begged me to buy him taiyaki. ryuguji ken is on a mission, and I'm the only one who was in the house. poor thing," izana said with a grin.
"I'm afraid to imagine what he offered you in return for taiyaki," kakucho chuckled, wiping his glass.
"nothing like that. now for a whole week at toman's meeting, he won't take away my chance to have a conversation with hanagaki. you know, I'm already tired of this dwarf coming, whining and taking away an interesting person." kurokawa sat down on a chair, rolling his eyes.
hanma listened to this conversation with interest. apparently, everyone here knows takemichi. and it didn't make him very happy. and why – he did not understand. or didn't want to understand.
"taiyaki, then? no problem, minute!" ema exclaimed and ran away somewhere.
"hello?" takemichi said uncertainly under inui's questioning gaze, and then put it on speakerphone.
"my brother is here," ema said bluntly, deciding not to stand on ceremony.
"why today?! which one? is it kurokawa or...?" he was hoping for the first answer, because izana, surprisingly, was more understanding than mikey in this regard. still, the idea of the murder was imposed by kisaki, not his puppet - hanma.
seishu blinked in shock.
"izana, izana. he didn't realize it was hanma. well, he said so," the girl replied, chuckling.
"but kurokawa-kun is not stupid. he would have known right away. something's wrong, I think," hanagaki muttered, looking at the table.
"if that's the case, he'll say something to me or hitto-kun. that's it, I have to go, bye, hanagaki!" ema said goodbye and hung up.
"wow," inui said a little later, "well, he was lucky on the first day, of course."
"I hope they don't kill each other there... but you know what?" takemichi exclaimed, sighing.
"what?"
the bell rang again, but this time not one person appeared, but two.
"hello" the young man said with a wry smile, and the guy next to him only nodded to the audience with restraint.
"hanagaki? and inupi? and what have you forgotten here?" ema folded her arms on her chest, anxiously glancing at the thoughtful izana, who was looking at takemichi with a vague expression on his face.
"yes! why did you bring your dog here?" hanma began to complain, to which he received a cold look from seishu.
he wanted to hit shuji on the head, but shuji easily dodged with a smile.
"hey, don't destroy my cafe, damn it!" kakucho said with irritation, "so, did you come for something specific?"
"the commander wanted to have a snack in your cafe," inui answered for him, looking doubtfully at izana, who had already got up from his chair.
"oh, kurokawa-kun, why are you here?" hanagaki feigned surprise, but did anyone believe it?
"greetings. It's been a while, hasn't it? can I talk to you for a bit, takemichi?" izana shook his head, after which his earrings made a "ding" sound.
"how many friends he has," hanma whispered thoughtfully and yawned, covering his mouth with his hand.
"yes, of course," the guy easily agreed, coming to the conclusion that most likely the dialogue will be about hanma. but why with him, and not kakucho? or an ema?
"great. it won't take long, let's go outside. inupi, I'm not going to kill him, calm down your ardor," izana grinned when he saw how Inui already wanted to follow them, and headed for the exit.
"inupi, it's okay. kurokawa-kun is my friend, he won't hit me or something like that," hanagaki smiled awkwardly, following izana.
"my intuition tells me that everything will not be too rosy," ema said softly, wiping the table for the hundredth time.
"are conversations with kurokawa rosy?" inui replied in confusion, sitting down on a chair.
"hey, he's not as bad as he looks. get to know him better for a start," kakucho seems to have turned on defender mode and sighed, "although the current situation is really strange. who knows what will happen?"
"who is this izana?" hanma interjected into the dialogue, and everyone looked at him in surprise. and then it dawned on them.
"oh... yeah, funny guy," shuji commented after explaining, grinning.
however, he was still a little worried. such a cruel person was interested in takemichi? besides, this secret dialogue... what if he asks for something frankly strange?
"somehow they took a long time," seishu tapped his finger on the table in annoyance.
"inupi, don't worry so much. izana would never hurt takemichi," kakucho replied, although he himself was confused. what if izana stops controlling herself again? brr, he didn't want to think about it!
the bell rang and a couple of guys entered the room. one looked smug, the other... a little embarrassed. well, as a little.
"commander?" hanagaki called uncertainly, and said waved his hand.
"ah, it's all right. it's just..."
"it's just that the idea of hiding hanma in this way was stupid. you're lucky it was me and not a dwarf," izana smiled mischievously, a twinkle was almost visible in his eyes.
"you're the same height..." muttered takemichi, to which he received a chuckle from ema.
"so you also know who I am," shuji stated, cocking his head to the side.
"of course. who in general..."
"kurokawa-kun! you promised," hanagaki hissed, closing izana's mouth, whose shoulders shook in silent laughter.
"I remember, I remember, but I just decided to test you a little. тo offense," he chuckled, watching takemichi fuming.
so. hanma has a lot of new information. firstly, he was clearly involved in the criminal world, since such an authoritative person as kurokawa izana knows him. and secondly... why does the above mentioned guy cherish hanagaki so much? and why is it so unpleasant?
he had plenty of time to think about it, but in the meantime he had to work a little. still, takemichi and his dog are clients.