#polite uncle

Slon:

How strange it was to be betrayed; it wasn't something he was unfamiliar with, he's had a co-worker or two (or ten, he's lost count) who have sold him out (or at least tried to) and sure it had made him upset but that was part of the job. You never know who you can trust, even if you build camaraderie with them.

This was different. He didn't think it was possible for emotional ache to actually translate to physical pain, he thought that was all in the movies and romance books. He'll have to ask Vorona about that at a later date.

His lover (ex lover?) doesn't even know they've been found out. He's not sure how to confront them if he has to be honest about it. He doesn't understand why they would do that to him; he thought he'd been putting in the work to make them work. He thought his feelings were reciprocated.

He shakes his head to himself, a deep kind of sadness consuming him. How strange, how devastating, how confusing. Perhaps too many emotions all at once. "Maybe I need a professional opinion," he mutters to himself. He's pretty sure that's a thing that exists, professionals of love. If there are professional assassins, surely there must be professional love advisors. He wastes no time looking for and setting up an appointment with a professional. If Vorona were there with him to see what he was choosing to do, she would have thought him silly. Vorona usually was his impulse control anyway, and without her there to stop him, he calls this so called love professional and hopes for the best.

Egor:

He tries to will away his feelings. They are unnecessary to his career after all. He shouldn't have gotten into a relationship in the first place, in retrospect maybe he was delusional.

If Egor had any friends who understood how his mind worked, they would have told him that he was putting too much logic into something that dealt with the matter of the heart. They would have told him to consider talking to his partner to either formally end their relationship or if they were willing to put in the work, mend it. But Egor did not have friends. He only had people he was acquainted with, people he was relatively friendly with, but he didn't have any friends with whom he could discuss this with.

Egor has always been practical anyway, and perhaps he'd already overstayed his welcome in Japan. Leaving things behind without a trace was something that he was already used to. This time though, he supposes that it will be harder than it ever was.

Akabayashi:

The man across from Akabayashi felt the sweat drip down his back. It was supposed to be a simple exchange of information, and he's pretty sure he didn't do anything to warrant the man's wrath.

The man with the scar over his eye had a friendly smile but it definitely did not reach his eye. His hands furled and unfurled around his walking stick. If you listened closely, you could almost hear the crack of the cane's material splinted under his fingers. Whatever was ailing the man was making him seethe, anger barely controlled because he was still on the job.

Akabayashi took a deep breath. He tried to relax his posture, to look as relaxed as he usually did. It wasn't the man's fault that he was mad, in fact the man was very pleasant and the information he provided was complete. He had to end this conversation soon before he did something to someone that didn't deserve it. "Well, splendid work as always. You may leave."

The man squirmed a little bit and hesitated. Ultimately, he nodded and stood up. "Uh, please contact me again for--"

"Yes, of course," Akabayashi said with a nod. "Thank you, you take care now."

Akabayashi waited until the man was out of sight before leaving himself. He feels like his younger self again, struggling to keep his emotions in check. He should talk to his partner, but he doesn't think he's in the right headspace to have that conversation just yet. The anger is consuming him in a way that was familiar and it almost scares him how easy it is to slip into his violent tendencies.

Out of sight, in an alleyway where people wont see him. He punches the wall once, then twice, then again and again and again. He doesn't know how long he's been there, he doesn't register the pain in his fists until he's walking back to the Awakusu headquarters.

Aosaki greets him in one of the lounger rooms, raising an eyebrow at him when he sees the blood on his knuckles. "Did you kill someone?"

Akabayashi takes another deep breath, then shakes his head. "No, it's nothing." Akabayashi ignores the suspicious look Aozaki sends him. "Got a cig?"

Aozaki looked surprised this time, so surprised that the takes his cigarettes out of his pocket and offers one to Akabayashi. "Didn't know you smoked."

Akabayashi takes the lighter that Aozaki offers. "I don't."

"…heh," Aozaki just shakes his head, taking a cigarette as well. He and Akabayashi just sit together in an almost comfortable silence.

Shiki:

It was easy to compartmentalize his feelings. It's something that he always did anyway. No use in overthinking things. He is a busy man, he handles a lot of men, and he can't let them know of the inner turmoil that he feels. He's just glad that he found out himself, instead of having someone tell him. The rumor mill would go crazy if someone found out, and it wouldn't do any good for his men to doubt him.

Shiki is but a simple man and though he loves his s/o he wont immediately notice the changes that they’ve made. For one thing, he’s always busy and at the end of the day he is tired; he’s not a young man anymore after all, so he doesn’t have the energy that he used to so he’s too tired to really pay attention to the things around him. Second thing, he doesn’t care about appearances. His standard of beauty isn’t what a person looks like on the outside, but what kind of person they are on the inside. But he does a person who is dressed sharply, so its not the body that matters its just how a person holds themselves.

Akabayashi always compliments his s/o, but he doesn’t really understand why they keep changing how they look. If it makes them happy, then he wont stop them unless it starts to cause them bodily harm.

Aozaki is kinda dense, sorry buddy. He doesn’t notice the little things right away, so his s/o is going to have to do some real drastic changes to catch his attention. He too doesn’t care about physical appearances though, so he doesn’t understand why his s/o is putting so much effort in trying to impress him. They’re already dating, it’s not like anyone else is going to catch his attention.

Shinra? Dating Shinra is both a blessing and a curse. He’s embarrassing but honest, so he will constantly tell his s/o that they’re beautiful the way that they are. He will keep saying these kinds of things until his s/o believes him.

Okay but like, that child sounds almost as if she was the one who killed the wife. Yandere vibes =))

Shiki thinks it’s pretty cute, but all that fluff aside he decides to enroll his daughter into a martial arts class so that she can learn to defend herself. It makes him feel better knowing that she’d be able to fend for herself, and he doesn’t have to worry so much anymore. Heck, he even asks her if it’s alright with her to have her name changed as a safety precaution.

Akabayashi thinks its cute too but it makes him sad because while he loves his daughter no one could ever possibly take the place of the woman that he loves with the entirety of his being. The sentiment is well appreciated though, and he tries to force a smile to tell his daughter that they’re gonna be a team now, a team that has to take care of each other. He too eventually enrolls his daughter into a martial arts class (aka under Mikage).

Shiki has to say no because he does have a reputation to keep up. If people were to see him with cute nail polish, they’d probably not take him too seriously even though he’s got power in the Yakuza. And he wouldn’t want to let his daughter to paint his nails, and then have to remove it because he think that she might feel bad so he just tries to explain it the best he can that he has to be “scary” and pink is too nice a color to be considered “scary.”

Akabayashi, however, is all for it. People take him seriously, but at the same time they don’t. He’s got this attitude that makes people feel like they can be comfortable around him (as long as you don’t get on his bad side). So he happily lets his nails be painted. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t really think about “oh it’s a girly color” or shit like that. He knows girls are strong, so all the kind of talk that makes girls the “weaker” sex is something he thinks is stupid. Paint his nails, sweetheart.

Aozaki says no flat out, which he regrets because it came out too harsh. He is just not used to talking to smol children, even if said child is his own. He sighs, tries to explain that he isn’t really into that kind of stuff. He does, however, volunteer Akabayashi or any of his subordinates to appease his daughter’s need to paint nails.

Shizuo too is like Akabayashi. He just doesn’t give a damn about gender roles and stuff like that. So he just sits down on an itty bitty chair and watches as his daughter paints his nails. He asks if she can do all that fancy nail art that he sees some girls do, and his daughter says that she’ll practice so that she can “make daddy’s nails the prettiest!”

Shiki: Aw man, he thinks its really cute and he gets a good long chuckle out of it. He tells them if they’re prepared to handle the responsibilities then they can very well be just like daddy if they want to. Though he will warn them of all the dangers of it. Shiki is very supportive of his child, but of course he also wants his child to be safe. Very Responsible Father Shiki strikes again.

Akabayashi: He thinks it’s adorable and takes one thousand pictures that he also prints and keeps in his wallet and then distributes to everyone he knows. While he wont deny his child what she wants, he will very gently and carefully lead her to the path of righteousness and justice. He’s already too deep into the yakuza business to actually quit, but he’d rather have his child safe from the underworld.

Shiki: Jokes on you, Shiki keeps a really good lock down on his weaponry. There is absolutely no way his child can break into his gun closet because he is a Very Responsible Father.

Akabayashi: He is also a Very Responsible Father however there are times he is forgetful, or times where he is in too much of a rush to double check before he leaves home. It causes an uproar at the school to be honest, and while teachers are questioning his fathering skills, he counters by asking why the security at their school was light also. And, with his Yakuza connections anyway, the bad rumors/shit talking about Aka and his kid dies down out of fear.

Shiki gets a little flustered. They’ve got such a motherly vibe that he sometimes remembers his own mom when he sees his s/o. He can handle grown ass men threatening his life but his s/o being openly affectionate embarrasses and flusters him more than he’d like to admit.

It is pure bliss for Akabayashi.

As much as he liked his s/o, business always came first with Shiki... Sorry to say but it’s not gonna look good for his s/o at all. In fact, even Shiki might get into trouble for fraternizing with the enemy.

 It’s worse for Akabayashi though, since he’s already someone the Awakusu considers as someone to be wary of since according to rumors it was Akabayashi who killed the boss of the previous family that he belonged to. It’s really, really bad for Akabayashi, and probably a whole lot worse for his s/o. While Shiki would get into trouble with their higher ups, Akabayashi probably wont even get a chance to defend himself or his s/o.