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If Yusuke was being completely honest, he didn’t expect Akira to have a good relationship with his family. Perhaps his own familial experiences had colored his perception somewhat… in any case, though, finding out that Akira had a good relationship with his parents, Ryunosuke and Chiyo, came as somewhat of a surprise to Yusuke.
What was even more surprising was the relationship he had with his extended family. He was caught by surprise when he found Akira saying good night to someone in the middle of the day, and when he asked who he was talking to, he answered with, “Oh, sorry. That was my cousin.”
“You have a cousin?” Yusuke queried. “What's their name?”
Akira grinned. “I have tons of cousins, but just now I was talking to Marinette. She’s been having a little bit of girl trouble, so I’ve been giving her advice.”
“Are you really the best person to be giving her love advice?” Yusuke teased. “It took you quite some time before you told me how you felt.”
“Hey, we’re working out well enough now that I have,” countered Akira. “Besides, she’s the only one of my cousins who actually needs the advice. The others are either aromantic or already have a partner.”
“Do you see them often? I’d love to meet them someday.”
“That might not be easy,” Akira explained. “Most of them live in different countries. Marinette lives in France, and Ruby and Yang both live in America. Time zones are a mess. Ren lives in Japan at least. We try to call when we can though. I even set the clock app on my phone to also show the time zones where they are too.”
“Oh… I see.”
Akira thought for a moment. “I have an idea: why don’t you come with me to our family reunion next summer?”
Yusuke turned his head to the side. “People actually have family reunions? I thought that was made up for television.”
“Have you never been to one?” Akira asked, before immediately backtracking. “Right, sorry.”
“I think I’d like to come,” Yusuke said at last.
Akira grinned. “Hell yeah! I’ll text Mom to let her know. They’re gonna be so excited to meet you!”
Yusuke flushed humbly. “I’m looking forward to it, my love.”
The following summer, Akira and Yusuke piled their belongings into Sojiro’s RV and set off for Akira’s hometown. Akira was truly a country boy at heart, and was right at home in the sprawling country lanes. Meanwhile, Yusuke grumbled every time they hit a pothole, jolting his pencil out of position while he was drawing.
“Hey uh, just checking up on you. Are you getting carsick?” Akira asked him upon noticing his minor grumbling.
Yusuke shook his head. “Not carsick. Drawing in a moving car isn’t easy, though…”
“Didn’t you learn that on our last road trip?” Akira asked kindly.
“I made it work,” Yusuke shrugged. “Still, I didn’t hear you complaining about my parting gift to you.”
Akira smiled at the memory. He still looked at those drawings when he was reminiscing about that roadtrip. “That was very sweet of you, you know?”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Yusuke replied. “Are we almost there?”
“You really hate driving, huh?”
“It isn’t my favorite thing, admittedly.”
“Well, we’ve got another ten minutes or so,” Akira replied, checking the map on his phone. “Give or take a few. I’d get comfy if I were you.”
“Delightful…” Yusuke grumbled. “Remind me how you’re related to this Marinette and Ruby again?”
Akira drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Marinette’s mom and Ruby and Yang’s dad have the same grandparents, so they’re second cousins,” he explained. “My grandfather on my mom’s side was adopted by Marinette and Ruby’s great uncle, making me their second cousin once removed. It’s pretty simple.”
“I don’t think that’s how that works…” Yusuke muttered. “...And where does Ren fit into all of this?”
“He’s my dad’s sister’s kid.”
Yusuke held his head, slowly wiping his brow. “At least that one’s simple enough.”
Akira shrugged. “Look, just call them my cousins and you’ll be fine.”
“I won’t demand it of them, but… do Marinette, Ruby and Yang speak Japanese?”
“Marinette speaks a little, but she’s way more fluent in Mandarin, since she speaks it with her mom at home. She’s also pretty good at English.”
Yusuke frowned. “I thought she was French?”
“Yeah, but she learned English in school. Her girlfriend Kagami, though, is fluent in Japanese, so she can translate for us if it comes down to it.”
“What about Ruby and Yang?”
“They both know a bit of Mandarin from their dad, but Yang knows more of it than Ruby does. I’ve been trying to teach them Japanese, but it’s been slow going. Ruby enjoys it, though Yang isn’t as interested.”
“Why do I feel more confused about your family tree than I did at the start of this conversation?” Yusuke asked, making Akira chuckle. “This is without considering the extensions made ever since Sojiro and Mayumi got together and adopted Ann…”
“Come on, Yu, you’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
Maybe sketching out the family tree would help…? It was worth a try, at least.
This year’s family reunion was shaping up to be an interesting one, that was for certain.
By the time Yusuke had finished the sketch, Akira stared at it far longer than he should have, maybe even a little late.
“That’s… actually surprisingly accurate,” Akira mused once he’d looked over what appeared to be scribbles of varying line quality.
“Are you sure? I think I messed up in a few spots.”
“No, it’s accurate, you even remembered Qrow.”
“That story was hard to forget…” Looking uncomfortable, Yusuke admitted, “It reminded me far too much of Sojiro’s alcohol-related endeavors.”
“Since when did you know that?” Akira asked as he poked Yusuke’s nose. “Is there something between you and Sojiro I don’t know about?”
“I choose not to answer that.”
“Eh, whatever. We can talk about that later.” Akira waved off as he got out of the car. “Hopefully there’s still plenty of food left for me at the table… not that I can’t make us all curry.” Once he arrived at the door, Akira held up a finger to Yusuke and grinned.
“Hold your applause,” shouted Akira, all but slamming open the front door. “The favorite cousin has arrived!”
Immediately, a short girl with the same black hair as Akira (albeit less curly) ran up to him, practically tackling him to the ground with a hug. “Akira!”
Akira patted her on the head. “Rubyyyyyy! You got so strong over the summer, haven’t you?”
“Yang’s been teaching me how to box,” Ruby explained, giving Akira a small punch to the shoulder.
Ever the one for dramatics, Akira mimed being mortally wounded. “I fear I am not long for this world,” he exclaimed, fainting into Ruby’s awaiting arms. “Tell my boyfriend I love him.”
Ruby grinned from ear to ear. “Dork.”
“You love me, really,” Akira replied. “So, where’s Yang and Marinette?”
“Yang’s sparring with Dad outside, and Marinette and her parents are in the middle of cooking dinner,” Ruby explained. “Guess what? Marinette brought her girlfriends home!”
“Plural or singular?” Ruby held two fingers up with a cutesy wink, and Akira wiped a false tear out of his eyes. “Feels like only yesterday she was venting to me about how her love life hit rock bottom. I’m proud of her.”
“Speaking of partners…” Ruby grinned, quirking her eyebrows, “are you going to introduce me to your boyfriend?”
“Right, right.” Akira put an arm around Yusuke’s shoulder. “This is Kitagawa Yusuke, we’ve been dating for three years. Yusuke, this is my cousin, Ruby Rose.”
Yusuke offered out his hand for Ruby to shake, and she obliged, giving him a huge smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, miss,” he said in his best English, attempting to sound polite.
Ruby looked over at Akira. “He’s tall and funny. I like him!”
Yusuke wasn’t sure if that was a compliment, but he would put money on it being so.
“Come on, Yusu, I’ll introduce you to everyone else,” beamed Ruby, grabbing onto Yusuke’s arm. She had already given him a nickname, it seemed.
“It appears that I am being taken hostage,” he deadpanned to Akira in Japanese. “If I am not returned by sundown, tell Futaba she was always my favorite sibling of yours.”
“Come on!” Ruby called, dragging Yusuke with little force.
“I’ll be in the kitchen if either of you need me,” called Akira in english, as Ruby dragged him away.
Right off the bat… classic Ruby.
Uncle Tom and Aunt Sabine always went all out when it came to cooking for family gatherings and now that Marinette was getting older, she was starting to learn some of the tricks of the trade that weren’t being sold. Cooking was almost as fun as baking!
Knowing that his younger cousin loved to cook, Akira was excited to show off the skills he learned during his time living with Sojiro. Say what you will about the guy’s cooking skills with everything but curry and ramen, but he could cook a mean curry, and Akira was the proud holder of one Leblanc Secret Recipe.
Uncle Tom and Aunt Sabine were more than ready to let him cook alongside them, so Akira set up a pan on the stove and got to it.
After a minute or two, Tom cleared his throat to say, “You learned a thing or two in Tokyo, huh? You definitely seem more mature than when I last saw you.”
“Uncle, when you last saw me, I was twelve,” Akira countered, making Sabine chuckle a little to herself at her husband’s expense.
“Everyone was so sad when we heard about your false arrest,” Sabine added, giving Akira a sympathetic look. “It was simply awful. Your parents were inconsolable for days after you left.”
“At least I got through it all,” shrugged Akira, scraping the diced-up carrots and onions into the pan. “Sure, it sucked, but I made it in the end.”
Tom and Sabine moved together in an easy rhythm - a skill that they had no doubt cultivated over many years of being together. Hopefully, one day, he and Yusuke would reach that level of synergy.
“So, are you going to teach us how to make the wonderful-smelling curry?” asked Tom.
Akira laughed. “Not a chance. I think Sojiro would kill me.”
“You were always the type to stick to your guns,” Tom said, a look of fondness on his face. “I admire that, Akira.”
Stirring his curry, Akira tried not to blush too much.
The number of people Ruby introduced him to in the span of a few minutes had Yusuke’s head spinning. There was her half-sister Yang, Yang’s girlfriend Blake, Blake’s boyfriend Sun, their dad Taiyang and even their dog Zwei, who was a very cute, if slightly pudgy, corgi.
Yusuke had never been a huge fan of dogs (it took him a while to adjust to Morgana, so perhaps it was just animals in general), but Zwei was pretty cute… When Ruby asked where Akira’s pet cat was, he informed her that Morgana was currently being petsat by Haru, explaining how close they had become since the two had met.
Last, but most certainly not least, was Ruby’s partner Penny. Her face when she was described as the single most important person to her in the world, probably ever… except maybe Yang amused Yusuke to no end.
Penny was a little taller than her partner, with striking green eyes and fluffy orange hair that reminded Yusuke of Futaba. As he reached out to shake her hand, he couldn’t help but notice a scar running down her cheek. It wasn’t the only one, either. When Penny realized that he had noticed, she looked nervous for a moment. Then, Ruby squeezed her hand reassuringly, and Penny shook off the insecurity, brushing her hair behind her ear.
Seeing Penny’s scars, he lightly tapped the spot behind his hair where Yusuke had his own scar - a glass wound above his eyebrow that Madarame had given him in a drunken stupor - and he wondered why he ever felt the need to hide it.
She would make for a fascinating model… hm. This gave Yusuke an idea. He brushed that bang to the side, revealing that spot, and he could see Akira smiling at it.
“Penny, please don’t take this the wrong way, but I cannot wait to draw you,” he stated matter-of-factly. “Ideally, I would paint you; however, I left my canvas at home, so it seems we will have to wait.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, right, sorry! I should’ve warned you. Akira’s boyfriend is quite the artist!” Ruby explained. “Apparently, he’s always asking to paint or draw people!”
“My apologies…” Yusuke bowed.
“Eh, don’t worry about it, Yusuke,” Akira chuckled, patting Yusuke on the back. “Let’s just say my natural chaos tends to run in the family.”
“Is that what they call autism in Japan?” Ruby smirked, tapping her foot while looking at Akira.
“Oh, shut your mouth,” Akira mock-scoffed as he ruffled Ruby’s hair affectionately.
The weather was pleasant enough, so Yusuke asked if Penny would mind him sketching her outside. The girl agreed without a second thought.
He’d been sketching her for about fifty minutes when Penny suddenly asked, “How did it happen?”
Startled, Yusuke wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Then, she pointed at her own forehead, to the same spot where Yusuke’s scar lay.
“Oh, that… It happened when I was a child. My… foster father and I got into an argument and… well I’m sure you could gather what happened next.” He wasn’t sure why he was sharing such a personal story with Penny. Perhaps it was due to the bond they had already formed as artist and subject? He and Ann got along quite well, so…
Penny shuffled a little in her seat. “I see…”
“Really, it wasn’t so bad, once it healed up,” he continued. “So, are you going to tell me your story? That’s what we were doing, right? Swapping tales?”
“I thought I was modeling.”
Yusuke immediately backtracked. “Oh, I apologize. My mistake.”
“No, don’t worry! I am perfectly okay with exchanging our experiences.”
The way she spoke, Yusuke knew Penny must have had much more experience with Japanese than Ruby. “Like you, I was young when it happened,” explained Penny, fidgeting with the ends of her sleeves. “My father was driving me home from school when the brakes failed and we crashed. I don’t remember anything that happened after that… well, not until I woke up in the hospital.”
“Your father… did he…?”
Penny shook her head vehemently. “No, no, he’s okay! It did take him longer to recover than me, however. I think the word is… senescence?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Yusuke praised. That was an awfully complex word for a non-native speaker. He really must ask who taught Penny Japanese; they were clearly very skilled.
“I recovered from most of my injuries quickly, but I suppose some of them never faded,” concluded Penny, as Yusuke put the finishing touches on his sketch. “Oh, is it finished already?”
“Yes, take a look.”
Yusuke was rather proud of this particular sketch. Capturing the details of Penny’s appearance had been a fun challenge, particularly her freckles.
Looking at the sketch, Penny seemed entranced. “I look beautiful…”
“I didn’t draw anything that wasn’t already there,” Yusuke stated, tearing out the page to hand to Penny. “You can keep it, if you like.”
Before they could continue the conversation much further, they were called in for dinner by Akira. “I miscalculated, there’s plenty more ramen than I thought.” Akira yelled to him from the other room. “Phew! I was worried back there.”
It was so interesting to see the eating habits of people from other countries, or maybe that was just Akira’s relatives. Yusuke couldn’t tell.
Marinette, her partners and parents ate more heavily than Yusuke and his boyfriend. Yusuke supposed the French were known for having light breakfasts but eating larger meals at lunch and dinner.
Yang and her dad had worked up an appetite sparring, so they helped themselves to some extra portions of curry. Meanwhile, Ruby, Penny and Blake ate a little less. Ruby even tried to copy her cousin by using chopsticks, but only succeeded in frustrating herself.
And then there was Sun. At the time, Yusuke wasn’t quite sure how the boy was related to the family. He would later find out that he was Yang’s paramour (since they were both dating Blake), who came along to the reunion to give moral support. While he had had some hesitation due to prior experiences meeting the family of one of his lovers, Sun eventually succumbed at the mention of free food.
In any case, Sun had a seemingly bottomless stomach. There was no end to the amount of food he could put away, which was amusing, if a little surprising.
Yusuke was a little displeased by Sun’s insistence on eating with his hands - really? For curry? - but he admired the boy’s tenacity, if nothing else. He got the feeling that Ryuji and Sun would get along very well.
“So, Marinette… Akira has told me you’re an artist?” Yusuke said, hoping he had remembered his French correctly.
Swallowing down a bite of curry, Marinette replied, “Yes, I’m studying fashion design at I.F.M., actually. Getting into such a prestigious school took a lot of work, but I had fun making my portfolio, so I can’t complain.”
“I can empathize,” Yusuke said, poking his food around his plate. “My highschool - Kosei High - was one of the best in Japan, but that meant I had to work incredibly hard to keep my scholarship, especially since the school paid for my housing at the time.”
Ruby gasped. “Akira, does your boyfriend have a tragic backstory?”
“All our partners do,” sighed Akira. “Don’t pry about it too much, okay?”
“I make no promises,” Ruby grinned.
“Speak for yourself,” said Marinette sadly, gesturing her head at a redheaded girl with orange tips, “Alya doesn't have a tragic backstory.”
“There were some jackasses, back in Martinique,” mumbled Alya. “I don’t think about it much, ‘cause I wouldn’t have met you if that hadn't been the case.”
Having learned Alya was a journalist, Akira made a mental note to introduce her to Ichiko.
Kagami shrugged. “My mother was simply awful. That’s about it.”
Yusuke winced in sympathy. “At least we can have some solidarity about it,” he said, giving Kagami a reassuring smile. “Crappy parents club?” he said in Japanese.
Returning his smile, just a little, Kagami replied, “Crappy parents club.”
After dinner, Yusuke and Kagami continued to talk. Conversation bounced from Japanese politics to cultural differences and eventually Kagami’s upcoming fencing tournament.
“Marinette mentioned that you were a fencer,” Yusuke stated. “I was thoroughly invigorated when I heard this. I used to be quite the swordsman myself, but I haven’t had an opportunity to practice for some time.”
“Is that the case?” said Kagami, a glint in her eye. “Perhaps we should have a match, then.”
The glint in Kagami’s eye was only matched by the glint in Yusuke’s. “I won’t go easy on you.”
“Good. I like a challenge.”
Though Marinette hadn’t expected her girlfriend to bring a set of fencing foils with her to a family reunion of all things, she honestly couldn’t claim she was surprised. That was simply the kind of person Kagami was.
Yusuke gave the foil an experimental swish, turning it over in his hands. “I’ll admit, I’m not used to wielding such a blade.”
“Are you backing down?” asked Kagami, holding her foil perfectly - as if it were an extension of her own body.
Yusuke had no idea how at one point a blade had once actually been such, but Marinette had no intentions of bringing up Riposte or any Miraculous business at the moment.
Shaking his head, Yusuke replied, “Of course not. I think you’ll find I’m a fast learner.”
Tugging on Akira’s sleeve, Marinette whispered, “I think our partners are going to kill each other.”
“Nah, this is just enrichment for Yusuke. It’s like when dogs play-fight.”
“Or, in your head, a fox.”
Akira flinched. “Huh?”
“You think Yusuke’s a fox, don’t you? I won’t deny he’s objectively pretty.”
Akira tried not to make his relieved wheeze too loud. “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”
“Oh, whatever. The real shame, though, is that this fight is a fox against a dragoness.”
“You’d be surprised,” Akira said, as they watched Yusuke and Kagami set up for their duel. “In fact, I’m willing to bet that he’ll win.”
“I’ll take you up on that bet. How much?”
Akira reached for his wallet as Kagami tossed a foil to Yusuke. “I wager 3,500 yen… I should probably check the conversion rate for that, but I think it’s about 23 euros.” He pulled out his phone to check the exact answer for that question. “…Yeah that checks out.”
“I’ll be nice and wager 30 euros, then.”
Pulling out his phone, Akira checked the math. “That’s worth another 1,050 yen. You sure?”
Marinette grinned, watching the duel begin. “Absolutely.”
Admittedly, Yusuke was far too out of practice with swordplay to reasonably expect to defeat a skilled swordswoman like Kagami.
He didn’t expect to be thrashed quite as thoroughly as he had been, however.
Perhaps he should have paid more attention when Marinette described Kagami as “A dragoness on the fencing mats.”
Still, he wasn’t one to take defeat poorly, so he graciously accepted Kagami’s hand when she offered it out to pull him to his feet. Being a good sportsman didn’t cost a single yen, after all.
“You’re self-taught,” Kagami told him, “but very talented. If you weren’t rusty, you may have beaten me.”
“Let’s just say it’s been a hot minute since we’ve done anything along those lines.”
Out of the corner of his eye, however, he spotted Akira winking as he handed Marinette a few thousand yen, which made him smile a little to himself. How charmingly Akira it was for him to believe in Yusuke so much!
Making his way over to Akira, ready to gaily bemoan his defeat, Yusuke spotted Penny approaching Kagami. “Would you mind having a match with me?” she asked, a gentle smile on her face.
“With pleasure,” Kagami replied. She offered her foil to Penny, but the woman held up a hand.
“Oh, there’s no need,” said Penny, pulling out her own blade. “I brought my own.”
Ruby’s cheer of “Go get ‘em, Penny!” was near-deafening.
“I still think Kagami’s going to beat her,” interjected Marinette.
Ruby rolled her eyes. “Of course you do, she’s your girlfriend.”
“Touché, cuz.”
“I’ll admit, I’m actually curious to see this,” Akira remarked. Leaning in from his seat, he checked, “If I remember correctly, Ruby and Penny met at a martial arts class, right?”
“Yeah, we go to separate schools in the area.” Ruby answered. “I sent you the video from our last class, right?”
“What is with this family and falling in love with fencers?” Akira questioned, scratching his head, as Kagami and Penny squared up.
Ruby’s eyes widened. “I think we have a type.”
Marinette laughed. “You’re just figuring this out now?”
“… I’m gonna go ask Mom and Dad after this.” Akira’s voice squeaked. “I should also ask Tom- oji if he’s ever used a sword.”
Compared to the katanas Yusuke was used to using, Penny’s weapon of choice was a shorter, more western-styled blade, but he could see that many of the same techniques still applied. Kagami seemed to have realized that her usual techniques were no use, so she turned to attempting to disarm her opponent.
Penny, meanwhile, established the great connection she had with her weapon, dodging and weaving through swipes and swings with perfect timing and precision. Despite the difference anyway, both fighters, while struggling at first, were fast learners, adapting on the fly once they recognized a pattern.
Ruby’s eyes were glued to the battle the entire time. Akira would sometimes glance to his cousin, unable to keep a straight face when seeing the look of awe she had.
Kagami was recognized as a threat by Yusuke and Penny, because they decided to gang up on her. Alya comforted her paramour as Kagami left the “battlefield” for the porch.
With Kagami gone, Yusuke and Penny turned their attention towards the other.
The duel ended with them lunging for each other at the same time, blades millimeters away from each other’s necks. Had the swords actually been sharpened, someone could have (and probably would have ) gotten seriously hurt. Thankfully, they were using practice blades instead, since this duel was mostly for fun. Satisfied, they called it a draw.
Once their battle was over, Akira and Ruby both leapt to congratulate their partners, with Ruby excitedly rambling about the techniques Penny used. Meanwhile, Akira grumpily asked Yusuke if he had to scare him like that so often.
Chuckling quietly, Yusuke offered out his hand to Penny. “You fight quite valiantly.”
“We both did!” Penny responded, taking his hand and shaking it.
After their duel, Yusuke spent some time refining a few of the preliminary sketches he had done of Penny. While he gave the finished drawing to her, he still had plenty of other sketches to work with.
“These are amazing…!” squealed Ruby.
“I have to agree!” praised Marinette. “Alright, Yusuke, you have yourself a deal.”
“A deal?” Akira inquired. “About what?”
“About our neighbors back home,” Ruby answered. “Did we mention Mr. Nunnia?”
“No…”
“Yeah. Nunnia business.”
Akira pouted as everyone laughed with and at him.
The drive home was a peaceful one.
“So… did you have fun?” Akira asked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.
Yusuke couldn’t help but smile to himself. “Of course. I will admit, I likely should have expected your relatives to be as…” He trailed off for almost a full minute. “I cannot quite find the right word to use, but it is very obvious they are related to you based on how they were.”
“I honestly wasn’t expecting you to get along with their partners as well as you did.” Akira pointed out. “Until Mari came along, I was the one who’d go and then sit in the corner until an activity or meal happened and then return to that until it was over. From there, I finally had some conversations with Yang, then Ruby came along, Ren and I caught up after so long…” He couldn’t help but smile as an idea came to him. “You know what? How about I tell you those stories on the way home?”
Yusuke looked up from his sketchbook, his eyes half-lidded as Akira saw in the mirror. “That would be a rather nice way to pass the time.”
“Here’s a fun story: when Ruby and Yang were kids, they caught a wild crow and tried to keep it as a pet.”
“How long did that last?” Yusuke laughed.
“Well…”
Before falling asleep, Yusuke’s thoughts drifted to the little box in his backpack with a code he was sure Akira couldn’t crack.
He had already been welcomed by Akira’s family, after all. Soon enough, he would be able to call himself Ruby and Marinette’s cousin-in-law.
The thought pleased him immensely.