Chapter Text
Majima woke up on Kiryu’s warm chest to the muffled sound of crying. It was coming from the next room over, a noise that he otherwise would not have been able to hear if not for his heightened senses. Kiryu was proof of that – the man remained fast asleep, his brow relaxed as he breathed in and out with a peaceful slowness. Kiryu’s digital alarm clock displayed the time in a haunting yet soft red glow: 3:00. It seemed that Haruka had awoken far before the sun could even peek above the horizon. The faint crying spoke of nightmares, of fears concerning what could be waiting in the darkness. Majima was not exactly a pro in the art of comforting others, but hell, it was worth a shot.
He stretched on Kiryu’s chest, the man beneath him barely stirring. Majima immediately missed the warmth of Kiryu’s lean body when he jumped to the floor, but he would survive. Majima wasn’t the greatest of people, but he wasn’t enough of an asshole that he could ignore a crying child.
Haruka was sitting up on her bed when Majima lightly padded into the room. She clutched a fuzzy red pillow close to her chest as the tears freely flowed from her eyes. Although his dark fur made for a perfect camouflage amongst the darkness, Majima’s glowing eyes gave away his presence. Haruka sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand when she saw him, but her lips remained pursed.
Majima approached her slowly, his mind echoing a chiding shout of how he was not cut out for this type of thing. Dragging her knees to her chest, Haruka extended her hand to pet Majima’s soft head, and then the flow of tears resumed like a dam had broken. “I miss my Mama,” she whispered to him, and damn if that didn’t just demolish what was left of his heart. The poor girl’s sadness wasn’t due to any nightmares – she was lonely, craving the tender, comforting touch of a parent.
With a huff, Majima placed a paw on her knee as if to say, “Hey, I’ll be right back. I’m not leavin’ ya.” Then he scampered back off to Kiryu’s room, feeling somewhat sorry for what he was about to do. Mostly, though, he was excited to see the look on Kiryu’s normally stoic face. Following a graceful hop back onto Kiryu’s chest, Majima unsheathed his claws and prodded them against the man’s flesh.
The reaction was almost instantaneous. Kiryu yelped and his hands shot out to lift Majima off of him before he had even fully come to his senses. Blinking a few times to allow his eyes to adjust, Kiryu held Majima away at arm’s length. “What the hell?” he mumbled, the exhaustion evident in the way his eyelids struggled to stay open.
Majima didn’t have time to swoon over his messy, unstyled hair or the rumbling tenor of his tired voice. He batted at Kiryu’s arms until the man blinked and set him on the ground. “What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?” Kiryu asked with a glare. Majima needed to find another tactic before Kiryu ended up hating him.
He resorted to meowing loudly and tugging at Kiryu’s pant leg with his teeth, desperately signaling for Kiryu to follow. For a moment, Kiryu watched in silence, creating a bubbling of annoyance in Majima’s stomach at his lack of communication abilities. Then, at last, Kiryu shuffled his feet in the direction that Majima was leading, careful not to step on Majima’s tiny paws. Fucking finally.
With soft steps, Kiryu followed Majima into Haruka’s dark room, and only then did the man hear Haruka’s muffled crying. Majima imagined that Kiryu was new to this whole comforting thing as well – they had been yakuza after all. To them, showing emotion had always been a sign of weakness, a sign of defeat. If tears did flow, the best they could’ve hoped for was a pat on the back followed by a curt “snap out of it, man.” Bottling up their feelings was the norm, so playing therapist for others wasn’t exactly a strong suit of theirs. Yakuza weren’t built for parenting, but if anyone had it in them to try, it was Kiryu.
The way that he ducked down to Haruka’s level to talk to her with a softened gaze communicated empathy in a way that Majima had never gotten the hang of. Majima did love kids, but talking to them always made him self-conscious of his perhaps frightening appearance – he didn’t want to scare them. But Kiryu spoke to Haruka with a naturalness that had Majima leaning forward, eager to fully take in Kiryu’s caring words.
“Haruka,” Kiryu said, wiping away a stray tear with the pad of his thumb. “What’s wrong? Was it a nightmare?”
Haruka shook her head. “No…I just…Uncle Kaz, I don’t want to be an orphan. I want what all the kids on TV have…a Mama who reads them bedtime stories and a Papa who hugs and protects them. I don’t want to be all by myself. I miss my Mommy, even though I never really knew her.”
Kiryu stared with a hand awkwardly planted on Haruka’s back. Majima could practically hear the gears in his mind turning as he searched for something to say – there was no instruction book for something like this. “I…I miss Yumi too,” Kiryu said, his voice hitching slightly. “And it’s okay to miss someone. I missed my parents when I was little, even though I never met them. I know what it feels like, but…if you want, I could try to be like both your dad and your mom. I could do all of the parent stuff and make sure you never feel alone, okay?”
With that, Kiryu held out his arms, inviting Haruka to a hug. Haruka sniffled and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck like that was what she had been waiting for, affirmation that she was more to Kiryu than a kid who he had to babysit. Kiryu saw her as his own child, and when Kiryu squeezed his arms around her, Majima felt that he could have snorted from the gushiness.
Kiryu sat down on Haruka’s bed and looked around her room, his face seemingly dropping from the emptiness of it. There were no books to read and few toys to play with. The realization appeared to hit Kiryu with such force that he had to close his eyes with an intense tightness and collect himself. “How about I make up a bedtime story for you?” he asked after some time, and Haruka’s face lit up. She cuddled up beside him, getting herself comfortable as she enthusiastically nodded.
“Alright…” Kiryu said, now appearing a bit anxious. For Haruka’s own good, Majima hoped that he was a decent storyteller. Unable to help himself, Majima jumped up to join the pair, curling up on Kiryu’s cozy lap.
“Once upon a time…” Kiryu began, “there was a little girl with long, dark hair and pretty brown eyes—”
“Can she be a princess?” Haruka asked with a smile.
“She was also a princess who lived in a huge palace,” Kiryu added. The soft, pleasant look growing on his face made Majima’s heart race. “But this princess was special…she had magical powers that made everybody in the kingdom love her.”
“What kind of powers?”
“Well, she…” Kiryu paused to look around the room, his gaze resting on the drawings taped to Haruka’s wall. “Whatever she painted came to life right before her eyes. When she was in her garden and painted a bird, it would fly right off of the page and into the sky. She could draw a fish on her paper and it would flop around all over her ink until she put it safely into her pond.”
Haruka giggled at that.
“Then, one day, when the little girl was out gathering seeds and shells to crush up for her paint, a scary man approached her. ‘Are you the princess?’ he asked in a low voice. The princess was scared, but she stood up tall and said, ‘Yes, I am.’” Majima was enjoying the voices that Kiryu had adopted for the different characters. There was almost a glimmer of excitement in Kiryu’s eyes as Haruka rested against his side. It was a sweet scene, one that left an odd feeling of yearning in Majima’s chest.
“The scary man stepped closer to her,” Kiryu continued. “’If you’re the princess, I want you to draw me lots and lots of money,’ he said. ‘I want to be rich and powerful. If you don’t help me, then there will be consequences.’”
“I don’t like this weirdo,” Haruka muttered.
Kiryu chuckled. “The princess looked the man up and down, weighing her options. When she picked up her paper to draw, the man watched excitedly, thinking that the little girl was going to draw him money. Instead, the girl drew a sword and pointed it at the man. ‘Nobody threatens the princess,’ she said, and the scary stranger gasped. He drew his own sword and the two battled, but the princess held her ground. After the man was tired out, the princess drew herself a beautiful horse and rode far away from the palace to a place where nobody knew her.
“Nobody asked her for favors anymore, but she was so lonely. She missed her home and her gardens, and she cried in frustration. Then, an idea hit her. She drew herself a new home, a wonderful cottage that was even better than her palace. It was small but warm and comfortable, surrounded by trees and a clear stream full of tiny fish. She drew a huge garden with colorful trees and koi ponds that was far more calming than any other garden she had ever seen. But she was still lonely. After thinking for many long days, she came up with a new painting, one of a long dragon as blue as the ocean. When the dragon came to life, the princess said, ‘Mr. Dragon, I’m so lonely out here in the forest. What should I do?’ The dragon put a claw to his chin while he thought.
“’I can keep you company,’ he said. ‘I may not be the company you’re used to, but I can try my best to make sure you’re not lonely.’ The princess was willing to try, so she and the dragon talked for hours every day. They talked about their favorite colors and went on adventures all through the forest. The two found out that they had a lot in common, and they became great friends. The princess wasn’t as lonely anymore – she was happy. When she drew new birds or flowers, she did it with a smile on her face, and soon the forest became a paradise full of the most beautiful sights in the whole world, and people came from all over to see it.”
Kiryu went on to detail the many amazing feats that the princess accomplished and the family that she found for herself. As the story concluded with a classic happily-ever-after, Majima found his own eye becoming very heavy, his tiredness finally sinking in. He was impressed by Kiryu’s endearing tale and the careful thought that the man put into every word. Kiryu was thoughtful and kind, he was smart and empathetic. Everything he did made Majima yearn to live alongside him, to embrace Kiryu’s domestic life with a tame sincerity that was unfamiliar to him. He wanted the gentleness of Kiryu’s life – he wanted Kiryu.
Haruka yawned beside him, rubbing her eyes as night dragged on. “Was I the princess, Uncle Kaz?” she asked quietly, a knowing smile stretched across her face.
“Yeah,” Kiryu laughed, and when Haruka finally fell asleep against him, Kiryu sat there stiffly. He didn’t move, barely even blinked, for fear of disturbing his tired daughter. It was like a balancing act, and Kiryu was afraid to make one wrong step. Relaxation came eventually, though. Kiryu was much too exhausted to avoid sleep’s grasp, and when he finally did drift off, Majima purred softly in his lap until his thoughts faded into a calm nothingness.
The days came and went with a contented slowness, like sap flowing steadily down the truck of a pine tree. Majima comforted Kiryu at night, and sometimes Haruka joined them, sliding under Kiryu’s blankets in the middle of the night. It was pleasant. The stress-free days left Majima’s muscles feeling looser than they had in years, and although his mind wandered, most of his thoughts were dedicated to how the simple life suited Kiryu.
The hours ticked by at a snail’s pace while Kiryu and Haruka were away, but the airiness they brought with them when they returned was enough to make up for it. Majima hadn’t exactly resigned himself to his new body – he still searched for ways that he could become normal again – but he accepted that he couldn’t think too much about it. There was only so much that a cat could do, after all. Perhaps the transformation just had to run its course, or at least that’s what Majima had started telling himself.
However, it wasn’t too long before Kiryu began returning home in a frantic state, hair unkempt and eyes darting all around. Majima had never seen him act so wild, so nervous. He looked like a dog on the verge of snapping, but instead of letting Haruka catch a glimpse of his emotions, Kiryu would lock himself in his bedroom until it came time for him to make dinner. By then, Kiryu had always got a handle on himself, a new coat of hair gel offering a façade of security amidst Kiryu’s supposed mental breakdown. Majima could not even begin to imagine what was eating at the man’s mind.
Another week passed, and Kiryu rarely came home. When Majima saw Haruka’s worried face, he felt anger and frustration. He had thought that they were making progress, that Kiryu had finally accepted the role of a parent in Haruka’s life. Now he was absent, leaving Date to bring meals and check in every now and then to make sure that the apartment hadn’t burnt down. This wasn’t fair to Haruka – it wasn’t fair to anyone.
That night, when Kiryu finally stumbled through the door long after the sun had left the sky and Haruka turned in for bed, Majima was up waiting for him. Again, Kiryu looked disheveled and downtrodden, but his stressful yakuza affairs were no excuse for leaving his family behind. Majima narrowed an eye at him from his spot on the floor and Kiryu paid him no mind. Sliding off his shoes and into his plush red house slippers, Kiryu stepped around Majima and into his room.
Majima wasn’t giving up that easily. He followed Kiryu, keeping his disappointed glare clearly painted on his face. He hoped that Kiryu got the message.
When the man sat on the edge of his bed, his head immediately went to his hands. Majima observed the way that Kiryu’s shoulders shook silently and the way his breath hitched. When he looked up again, a single tear was rolling down Kiryu’s cheek reminding Majima of the morning dew that coated his windows in the Millennium Tower’s penthouse. Kiryu quickly wiped the tear away and grit his teeth, the hard wall of his upbringing falling back into place. Majima’s gaze softened, but only slightly.
“I don’t know where he is,” Kiryu whispered to him, not expecting an answer but seemingly craving the company. “Nishida called and told me he was missing. I thought that it was another prank, but now I know…he’s really missing. I’ve looked everywhere – I called so many times that his voicemail box is full. He might be dead.”
Majima took in the words, his eye widening. The realization hit him like a dump truck. Everybody thought he was missing. Majima had been so focused on getting his body back that he hadn’t even stopped to think about how long it had been, about the people who were missing him. How could he have been so dense?
Majima yowled and pawed at Kiryu’s legs, the words “I’m here, I’m right here!” heavy on his tongue. Kiryu only plopped back onto his pillow and turned away from him, his muscles remaining stiff and alert all throughout the night.
Majima arose early the next morning, careful not to disturb Kiryu. The birds sang outside of Kiryu’s apartment window, and light chatter could be heard from the street below. A stray leaf blew past the building, a sure sign that fall would soon be upon them. Majima had to hurry up and get things back to normal already. He could just envision the Majima Family office burning to the ground without him there, not that he cared all that much. Kiryu was his number one priority.
Haruka was still fast asleep when Majima began meowing in her ear. He did feel guilty rousing her from what he hoped were peaceful dreams, but he’d be damned if he let Kiryu leave her behind again. Eventually, she blinked awake, a hint of annoyance present in her narrowed gaze. “Too early,” she said.
Majima scoffed and pawed at her clothing drawer, sure to let out his loudest, most annoying meows until Haruka gave in. Sleep soon became impossible, her weariness fleeting and replaced by exasperation. It was his first small victory of the day.
His next would be getting Kiryu to take the both of them along on his journey. When the man was dressed and ready to go, Majima led Haruka to him and tugged on Kiryu’s pant leg with his teeth. Majima’s strength certainly could not compare to Kiryu’s, especially not now, but his tenacity forced Kiryu to stop. When Majima climbed Kiryu like a tree, something he had always wanted to do, Kiryu hissed in pain and wiggled uncomfortably. “What are you doing?!” he cried just as Majima finally rested comfortably within Kiryu’s grey jacket.
Then, Haruka told ahold of Kiryu’s hand before the man had a chance to protest. “We’re coming,” Haruka said like she had read Majima’s mind. “You’ve been leaving us behind too much. We want to come today.”
Kiryu sighed. “It could be dangerous.”
“Everything is dangerous these days,” Haruka retorted. “I can’t just stay cooped up, though.”
Kiryu cradled Majima to his chest with his free arm and closed his eyes tightly, a strong inhale flowing through his nostrils. “Okay,” was all he said. He probably didn’t have the mental energy to argue.
Majima’s spot in Kiryu’s jacket gave him a perfect, comfortable view of the roads. He remained alert, searching for any familiar faces, any clues that could help ease Kiryu’s mind. Kamurocho was busy as usual with shoppers lining the sidewalks and office workers hurrying to work in their freshly-ironed suits. The streets weren’t yet flooded with the intoxicated patrons who were draw to Kamurocho’s nightlife like moths, but it was still only noon. Things would be calm for a while.
They turned corners and examined alleyways with a fervent quickness that had Haruka nearly running to keep up on her short legs. Some passersby gestured to the passenger in Kiryu’s jacket with excited whispers, but Kiryu’s stone-cold gaze kept them at a distance. He didn’t want any distractions – Majima guessed that wearing an expression that could strike fear into even hardened criminals helped with keeping the disturbances minimal.
Only when Kiryu hesitantly lifted a manhole cover to peer into the sewers below did Haruka ask, “Uncle Kaz, what are we looking for?”
Kiryu huffed at finding only darkness occupying the sewers and set the manhole cover back into place. “We’re looking for Majima. I know you don’t like him, but he…he’s complicated. He’s not a bad guy, I promise.” Majima begged to differ.
“Oh,” Haruka mumbled, and Majima couldn’t help the slight cringe at her change in tone. “Has he been missing?”
“Yeah. For a couple of weeks now.”
Haruka had enough kindness in her to look concerned at that. She was an angel. “Well, I hope we find him,” she said. The irony of it all made Majima want to burst into humorless laughter. The jokes just kept writing themselves, but Majima only wished that it was not at his expense.
At that exact moment, Majima’s saving grace entered his line of sight. Exhilaration intermingled with the blood in his veins at the appearance of the one who had hexed him, her white hair hanging loosely across her black cloak. Majima gritted his teeth at the cockiness with which she sat at her table in front of the Champion District. He thought that he had told her to get lost, but he was also glad that she didn’t. She was the only one who could save him from being damned to live as a fluffball for the rest of his days.
In one swift movement, Majima jumped out of Kiryu’s jacket and onto the rough street, Kiryu and Haruka both grabbing for him with gasps. Majima dodged their hands and took off running, weaving in and out of careless feet and keeping his sights set on the fortuneteller. She was not hard to miss – she stood out like a beacon amongst Kamurocho’s regular crowd. When Majima was finally upon her flimsy table, Kiryu and Haruka’s footsteps close behind, he arched his back and hissed. As he moved to knock the woman’s crystal ball to the ground below, she wagged a finger at him, her smile soft yet patronizing. “Now is that any way to ask for help?” she whispered to him just as Kiryu scooped him up and deposited Majima back into the safety of his jacket.
“Sorry about that,” Kiryu said to her. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately.” They were all lucky that Majima couldn’t open his mouth to give the old woman a piece of his mind.
“It’s alright,” the fortuneteller said with a laugh. “I must’ve done something to set him off.”
God, Majima wanted to scratch her. He settled for burying himself in Kiryu’s clothing and hiding his face against the man’s grumbling stomach. Kiryu needed to get some food in him for crying out loud. What were they still doing out here?
Then, in a moment of absolute luck for Majima, Kiryu decided to pull out his cellphone and show the woman a picture, the hesitancy in the movement evident by the way Kiryu’s muscles tensed against him. “Can I ask you if you’ve seen this man?” Kiryu said, his voice quiet. “He’s…a good friend, and I’m out looking for him. Any information would help.”
Majima perked back up. Hell yeah, Kiryu, you beautiful, amazing genius! He wanted to kiss Kiryu so badly, to hold him in a never-ending embrace for being so goddamn smart. How or why Kiryu had a picture of him on his cellphone wasn’t even important. It was flattering, though.
Majima watched the fortuneteller study the picture intensely like Majima was any old guy she might see walking the streets and not a yakuza who stuck out like a sore thumb. She hummed thoughtfully, acting like she was thinking long and hard about where she could have seen the eyepatched man. In an instant, she perked up as if hit by a revelation. “Oh!” she said. “Yeah, I’ve seen him. It was just the other day.”
“Really?” Kiryu asked, eyes glimmering with hope. “Did he look hurt?”
“Hurt? Nah, he was purrfectly fine,” she said with a sly wink. Majima rolled his eye.
“Well, if you see him again, could you ask him to call Kiryu? I hope that isn’t too much to ask.”
The woman raised an eyebrow, looking Kiryu up and down with a smirk. “So you’re the guy, huh?”
“Wha--?”
“Nevermind,” she interrupted. “You seem worried, so I’ll let you get back to your search. I’ll tell him, but I’m sure he’ll come around soon. You have my word.”
“Thank you,” Kiryu said. His face twisted with confusion, but he seemed too weirded out to ask any further questions. He bowed his head politely and left with a wave that Haruka mimicked. As they turned, Majima caught the strange woman shoot him one final wink before Kiryu’s body blocked her from his field of vision.
Majima awoke the next morning the way that he had grown accustomed to, head resting on Kiryu’s strong chest with arms wrapped around him. He yawned and stretched himself across Kiryu, the sleepy man below him burying his face in Majima’s hair and giving his head a small kiss. Majima smiled and lazily opened his eye. The sun shining in brightly through Kiryu’s window made him groan wrap his arms around Kiryu, stretching his muscles in the process.
Wait, were those arms?
Majima shot up and took deep breathes. He felt to make sure that everything was in place, flexing his fingers and toes and rolling his shoulders. He was back, and there wasn’t a hair out of place. Joy flowed into him, filling up until it overflowed with an excited, “Holy shit!”
Kiryu’s eyes flew open, and a surprised yell expelled all remnants of sleep. Nearly throwing Majima to the floor, Kiryu scrambled backwards to the corner of his bed. “What the fuck!?”
“Okay, Kiryu-chan, I know this probably looks weird—“
“Why are you naked?!”
Majima looked down at himself to find that he was indeed naked. “Shit.” He rushed to grab Kiryu’s blanket and wrap it around himself. It wasn’t that he was ashamed, but he’d rather not scare Kiryu away so soon. He still had one hell of an unbelievable story to tell. “Alright, Kiryu-chan, listen. This is gonna sound crazy.”
Kiryu stared at him, seeming more embarrassed at seeing Majima naked than anything else. A blush dusted his cheeks, and Kiryu refused to look in his direction. “Okay,” Majima began, taking a long breath, “So ya know that fortuneteller lady that was hanging out in front of the Champion District? Well I met her a few weeks ago – had a bit of an argument I guess ya could say. Anyway, long story short, she turned me into a cat and ya found me and I changed back and here we are.”
Kiryu’s deer-in-headlights look didn’t dissolve quite yet, but he looked lost in thought. “If this is another prank of yours…Majima, I was so worried. I looked everywhere for you. This isn’t funny.”
Majima frowned and took Kiryu’s hand in his own, movements frantic. He wasn’t sure if Kiryu would ever believe him and was afraid that the man of his dreams would forever see him as the deranged man who broke into his house naked. “I swear, this ain’t a joke. I was here the whole time. Ya named me Jiji and I got ya to go comfort Haruka when she was cryin’. Would any other cat do that? I was even missin’ an eye!”
Kiryu’s eyebrows raised at the realization. He took a moment to think things over, likely looking for any gaps in Majima’s story but eventually coming up blank. “Was it…was it really you, Majima?”
Majima laughed through an excited “yes!” and gripped Kiryu’s cheeks between his palms. “It was me and I know it’s insane, but I loved every second I got to spend with ya!”
“Majima…” Kiryu’s eyes almost sparkled. He was at a loss for words, but the hint of a smile on his lips was a good sign. “Would you…um…do you want to borrow some clothes?”
Kiryu ended up supplying him with a spare Serena t-shirt and pants that were a bit too large, but they smelled like his detergent. Majima used all of his willpower to keep from taking the fabric to his nose and inhaling the distinct scent. Instead, he decided on grabbing Kiryu by his collar and pulling him into a quick kiss. It was short, sweet, and barely even passed for a first kiss, but it was one of the most exciting moments of Majima’s life. Afterwards, they stood awkwardly for a few moments, simply standing side-by-side and searching for something to break the ice.
“Wait a goddamn second!” Majima finally cried and grabbed Kiryu’s hand once more, pulling him out of his bedroom and toward the front door.
“What? What’s going on?” Kiryu asked, quickly regaining his balance after a stumbling from the force of Majima’s tug.
“We’re adopting a cat for Haruka.” The poor girl had been through enough – she didn’t need to lose a pet too. Every kid needed company, and Majima had seen firsthand how excited Haruka was to take care of a cat. It was the least the they could do. “Haruka can sleep cuddled with her new friend, and I could keep sleeping in bed with you,” Majima said, only half joking.
Kiryu didn’t object – he simply followed Majima out the front door with a smile on his face and a skip in his step.
With an armful of new children’s novels and a black kitten adopted from the local shelter safely tucked in a breathable box, Majima and Kiryu made their way down East Taihei Boulevard on the hunt for any available taxis. They had spent awhile on a story to tell Haruka that would explain Jiji’s absence. Saying that the pet she had grown attached to had run away simply wasn’t going to cut it – it would make Haruka feel that she had done something wrong. The truth was definitely out of the question as well. Revealing that Majima had actually been the kitty that she loved and cared for would just be plain weird. Eventually, they decided to tell her that Jiji had actually belonged to someone else, someone who was very worried about their missing cat. She would likely be sad but come to understand. They hoped that the new kitten would make up for the sudden loss -- Haruka was a caring pet owner and would certainly provide all of the love and attention that her new cat needed.
An empty taxi finally in sight, they rushed forward, Kiryu holding an arm out to hail it. Majima watched the excitement in his movements, the way he rushed to relieve the weight of the books from Majima’s arms and the smile that graced his lips. Majima was in love, there was no doubt about it. He only hoped that there was a place for him in Kiryu’s life, a spot in the man’s domestic safe haven that he could shimmy into without disturbing the peace. Kiryu’s soft expression filled him with hope.
As the taxi slowed and pulled to the side of the road, Majima heard a voice beside him ask, “So everything worked out then?” Majima startled at the sudden presence of the fortuneteller, unsure of whether to feel angry at the spell or grateful that she had pushed him closer to Kiryu. “No need to thank me,” she whispered a bit too close for comfort.
Majima turned his back and looked at Kiryu loaded their precious baggage into the backseat of the taxi. He smiled and wondered how he could stay angry at the woman when he had been given the opportunity to learn about Kiryu, to enter the man’s life with a tactfulness that would have otherwise eluded him. At last, Majima uttered a genuine “thank ya,” but when he turned the woman was no longer there. Instead, Majima managed to catch a glimpse of a slender white cat turning a corner into the Champion District, tail swishing behind it with a familiar cockiness. Majima could only chuckle.
Kamurocho sure was one strange place, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.