Fires And Family | Paradox Live

1

"Himari, I'll be asking Kanata to see me tomorrow afternoon."

Himari turned around to face Iori fully. "Afternoon? Ok, that gives me enough time." She reached out and placed her hand on Iori's, feeling the slow rise and fall of his stomach as he breathed. "By the way, I'm taking Anne-chan and Reo shopping tomorrow. Reo wanted to start looking for your stage outfits for Paradox Live right away."

Iori chuckled. "Don't let him buy too much. He always gets so excited over clothes."

"We're just window shopping for now. He's looking for inspiration. And Anne-chan wanted to get something anyway so we asked her to join us, then we'll get lunch together."

"Sounds like fun," Iori turned a crooked little smile on her. Himari moved closer to him and pulled the blankets up around them. Iori turned off the bedside lamp and settled in with a sigh.
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Himari put the last of the carefully sealed containers into a bag and paused before closing it up. Was she forgetting anything? With everything in here there should be enough for a couple of days at least, three if they stored it properly. She would write notes on how to keep everything for Kanata.

Once the notes were done she stowed them into a side pocket of the bag and was just zipping it shut when Reo came bounding into the kitchen.

"Ane-san, are you ready? Anne-chan said she'd be here soon."

"Mhmm. All done. I'll just give this to Iori-san and be with you."

"To Aniki? What is it?"

Himari picked up the bag and smiled. She bopped Reo on the nose and said, "Don't you worry about it. Just something for his work. Now wait here for me."

Reo nodded. "Okay!"

Himari made her way to the office at the front of the house where Iori carried out his business when he wasn't at Club CANDY. She found Iori there behind his large desk looking through some papers with a very serious expression. When he flipped the file shut as soon as she entered, Himari knew it was something he didn't want to be questioned about. She put the bag down on the table and went around to give Iori a quick kiss.

"Tell him there's some tips for storage in the side pocket. Anne-chan will be here soon, so we'll be leaving, alright? Do you need me to get anything?"

Iori shook his head. "Just have fun, 'kay?"

Himari nodded. "We'll be back before dinner."

With another peck on Iori's cheek, Himari stepped out of the office just in time to see Anne come into the foyer. She smiled and motioned to her that she'd be with her in a moment. Then she leaned into the living room and called for Reo.

"Reo, Anne-chan is here. Let's go."

"Yay! I'm coming!"
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At dinner that night, Reo excitedly told the others about the ideas he was considering for their stage outfits. After having an all pink ensemble quickly shot down by Satsuki, he sulkily admitted that going with colours that better suited each person's personal aesthetic would probably be a better idea. By the time Himari brought out Iori's post-dinner tea, the kids had cleared away their plates to the sink and run off into the game room nextdoor. Hokusai was still at the table listening to Zen and Iori talking and tickling his little white cat under the chin. Himari placed the tray she carried down and sighed.

"Have those two run off already? Hokusai, would you take their ice cream to them?"

Hokusai nodded. He took the tray with three bowls Himari handed to him and disappeared into the game room with his cat at his heels. Himari began to clear away the remaining dishes from the table with a fond smile. Zen immediately jumped up from his seat and offered to help.

"Don't worry about it, Zen-san," Himari assured him. "I wasn't here to help with lunch, and it's not much anyway. I'll take care of it. Besides, your ice cream will melt."

At that moment, a confusion of loud shouting began from the game room.

"Ah," Zen sighed, turning to the connecting door. "Those kids. I'll go see what they're doing."

Himari shared an amused smile with Iori as Zen went off with his dessert to dole out discipline. She took half the collected up dishes over to the sink and was just about to return for the rest when a warmth pressed her up against the counter and an arm reached past her to place a pile of dishes into the sink. She smiled.

"Thank you, Iori-san."

Iori put his hands on her waist and leaned his chin on her shoulder. "That stuff you prepared for Kanata was probably a good idea this time."

Himari began washing a plate with a curious hum. "So usually it's not a good idea, is that what you're saying?"

Iori laughed and Himari could feel the rumble between her shoulder blades. "No, just that he turned down a job. Says he's got something else lined up. They may be a bit tight on money for a while."

"Oh. I wonder what he's working on."

"Good question."

Himari held back a giggle as the hands on her hips began to wander over to her stomach. She cursed how tickilish she was and said, "Iori-san, if you keep that up I'll never get the washing up done. Go sit down before your tea gets cold."

"Alright~!"
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As Himari lay in bed that night with the cool night air raising the hairs on her bare shoulders, she studied Iori's sleeping face for what was not the first time. Not that she often lay awake staring at him while he slept, but occasionally when it really hit home with her how much there was between them that they did not talk about she couldn't help but wish there was something she could do to win his trust more. On nights like that she did have a tendency to spend a couple of hours just watching his breathing as a way of comforting herself. It was soothing just being near him and knowing he was relaxed.

Because Himari knew quite well the kind of stress that came with being a yakuza boss, and for Iori it was double that because he was the boss of a gang that had been nearly annihilated. He would surely feel the weight of being responsible for reinstating his group as well as maintaining what reputation he could without the full strength of the family.

And then there were the kids. Iori loved them so much and losing the rest of the family had made that love so much more desperate. He would certainly be doing his very best to make sure nothing happened to them or Zen, because what happened that night two years ago couldn't have been the end of it. Whoever had initiated that tragic event surely wouldn't be happy that the six of them had escaped. Perhaps even now they were making plans to have what remained of the Suiseki group wiped out. Iori must be worried about that too.

It was at times like these that Himari wished she could be of more use to Iori. She wished he would tell her more about his work, because aside from Club CANDY, he didn't let her be a part of his business. She didn't even really know what Iori had to do with Kanata, except that he would occasionally give him work to help out their financial situation. She wasn't too worried about that as she trusted him to not let Kanata do anything dangerous, but it did smart that it was just another thing she wasn't fully aware of.

Himari couldn't help but laugh at herself. 'Of all things, you'd think being left out would be the one that would bother you least...' she thought as she finally closed her eyes.