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School Rumble (Broom and I)

"What?" Jana huffed, hands on her hips. "What do you mean I was terrible?! I thought I did pretty good!"

"To another song somewhere else," Emma replied flatly. "What beat were you dancing to?"

"The one in the song!" she protested. "Come on! I wasn't that bad, Sophie?" she said hopefully, eyes glittering like a puppy who needed attention.
 
"Uhh...well...you certainly have a unique style of dancing." Sophie said with a nervous smile. She saw it too, though. Jana needed a lot of work...more so than the others. "Look, we need all five of you. It's okay if we need to practice a little more to get you up to speed."

"A lot more." Angel corrected. "Jana, you move violently. It's the opposite of graceful, you're jerking around like you're having a seizure! And Justin, you aren't moving enough. Stop being so shy, you're hot now aren't you?"

"Whatever, Angel..." Justin grumbled as he looked away.
 
It wasn't long until the PR machine roared to life about Sophie leaving to tour in Volaysia. It was a big deal, after all, in lots of ways. It signaled a new beginning, the excitement of the tournament, of a famous pop star had started, and Turuga started to sink back into a slightly old routine. The bait had been sprung, and Nicolas didn't really care much about how they got to Volaysia, it wasn't his problem. Yoko was so confident that nothing would go wrong, there was nothing he could do to change her mind, so why would he concern himself with it?

It was hard not to see the effect everything had, really. The kind of people that Kishi would hire weren't anywhere to be seen in DC, even if some of them started trickling back in. People talked about Komoku with such strange expressions on their face, people didn't believe that he was such a good guy now. He was a murderer, and still, he walked free. Was there justice in that? It seemed like nobody had a real answer for it all. People found it odd that nobody questioned it.

It disgusted him, truly. Komoku was a loyal dog, but he was just that: a dog. A mutt. He and his two Korean thugs had a single purpose, but he never liked Dujae, or Sejae. Sejae was always too sharp for his own good, and Dujae was a lazy idiot. Komoku got all the glory, and all the benefits without none of the downsides. He murdered a man, yet Nicolas was the one imprisoned for starting it in the first place. Was that justice? They had become friends over a common bond, and yet the one guy he expected to turn away the DC at any given moment was practically a member. Beyond that, he was the bitch of Mei. The girl who ruined everything. Now was his chance to set everything right, in it's proper way.

He had a visitor to see at a hospital, and while he wasn't a flower guy, it was all about the intent behind them, right? He held a bouquet of orange lilies, sitting them down near the window. He was surprised, really...when he saw so many well wishes and cards, he wondered how many of them were honest, or how little of them were sincere. But Komoku, as always...looked fine. Even resting, he looked unpleasant, intimidating.

"Still sleeping, huh?" Nicolas murmured, sitting next to the bed with a sigh. "I suppose it's understandable, Luce did quite the number on you...not surprising, you always did brute force your way through everything," he said dryly. "It's strange, isn't it?" he asked, to the empty room in particular, head tilted. "It feels like a long time ago when you were just some dumb thug in Blue, who wanted to help me show those 'DC pricks' how weak they really were, and you did it, didn't you?" he chuckled. "You brought their damn tower down, killed a man, too. And now...now you're here," he said thoughtfully. "So now, I can make things right." he said, leaning forward.

"Everyone that could be a threat to me is gone, Komoku," he explained easily. "Your little gook brothers are gone, miles away, hundreds of miles away. Jana is gone...your precious little sister and that bitch of yours are all that's left. Do you know how many people you upset when you became a traitor?" he purred. "Do you know how many of them have been waiting for a chance like this? I'm going to go to that new little headquarters, I'm going to find Mei, and I am going to savor the look on her face when I take everything away from her, and there is nothing you can do to stop me," he said, rising up smoothly. "And your sister will be after that, then everything will be back to how I planned it to be." he said, heading for the door.

"When you wake up, your world is going to be exactly where it belongs: the gutter." he said, turning the knob on the door to leave.
-

Komoku Rokujo was a wild dog. People used to fear him, they'd look at him and say that Turuga would be better off without him. He scared the weak kids, pissed off the stronger ones, and was a thorn in DC's side for so long. He used to think that it meant his teeth were getting dull. He had a normal life now, he had more friends than he knew what to do with, he had a sister that wasn't always worrying about him, he had a girlfriend that was going to have a kid soon. People looked at him like he was a reformed criminal, and that bothered him, but it was true, wasn't it?

Yes, he was a bad person. He was a violent person, some urges were so deep into his bones that he couldn't fight the rush of bloodust when a fight took place. But Nick? Nick was a worse person, Nick was the worst kind of person. The kind of person that let his ego judge everything. No matter what it took, he couldn't let this pass without him being...being there. Even if it broke him again, he would not let Nick touch Mei, touch Masami...or touch anyone while he still drew breath. Fucking hell, waking up hurt like a motherfucker, and why the hell was everything in the room going off like crazy? He had to get up, which...wasn't so bad. Most of the pain was around his ribs.

He had to tell Mei. God, how long had he been out?
 
Without Jana around, Mei felt lonelier than ever. It wasn't like she didn't know she'd end up feeling this way when she told Dujae to call her for help, but getting Kitten back was far more important than her feelings. She couldn't even count how many weeks it had been since Komoku was awake, and if it wasn't for her growing baby she would have sworn she was stuck in time now that everyone was gone.

It had been hard, but she managed to rework the chain of command to something more normal to fill the gaps that the others had left. Remy and Levy had volunteered to Patrol Red, they knew the streets better than anyone being that they were from there. Both of them had gotten better after being trained in DC, so she had faith in them.

The only person who could truly fill Jana's role was Damian, who had been doing more administrative work than anything since DC had gotten rebuilt. He was meant to be more of a defense for anyone who may have been stupid enough to attack HQ directly, but things had settled down since the tournament. Besides, Mei had Kuki, and Koko was here now too. Things would be safe enough.

When Mei got the phonecall from the hospital, her face went pale. She expected the worst, but what she got was the opposite. He was finally awake, and she could barely process what they were telling her. Something about him trying to leave too soon, that he needed to see her right away. "I'll be right there." Was all she told them before hanging up and collecting her things. She had to see it, she had to see him again. She had to talk to him. She missed him so much it hurt, and she barely realized that there were tears running down her cheeks by the time she got out of her office.

It took her ten minutes. When she got to his room, she had to stop just to stare at the door. Why was she scared? He was waiting for her, on the other side. She could finally talk to him again! She opened the door and when they looked at each other, the tears started up again. "Komoku!" She cried out before running to his side and hugging him tightly. "Thank God...you're awake! I missed you so much!"
 
That first hug hurt, a lot. It slammed right into his ribs so hard that it sucked the breath out of him, but god, he didn't care. He slid his arms around her and tugged her in close, face nuzzled into her hair with a heavy, long breath. Nick's words hung over him like a sickness, and seeing her fine was...well, it was a relief. "...I think you broke my ribs again, you dumb girl," Komoku said dryly. "God, are you crying, too?" he sighed. "Come on, I'm fine, okay? I'm right here."

...He was bad at this emotional stuff, still, but he didn't know what to say. Everything hit him all at once when she slammed into him like a football player, literally.
 
For the first time in weeks, she laughed. Really laughed. He was...still Komoku even after all this. The tears didn't stop, even though she was laughing. "I can't...I can't believe it. I missed you so much, I..." She clutched his hospital gown, afraid that if she let him go he'd disappear. It was so hard, everything had been so hard without him. "I'm so glad you're awake, Komoku. I'm so glad you're okay."
 
Komoku tilted his had at her, tilting her chin up to face him. "What," he said faintly. "You thought a few broken ribs and some time in a hospital bed would keep me down?" he smirked, thumb brushing over her tears to kiss her gently. "I'm fine, Mei. I'm a little sore, but...I'm not going anywhere. So stop sobbing all over me." he said, looking her over carefully, brow arched. "You look like shit," he stated plainly. "Whose been feeding you? Don't tell me Jana, she can't cook for shit."
 
Feeling his lips against hers was enough to stop the tears. It was the most comforting thing she had ever felt in years, to feel the familiarity of his hands against her face. She didn't care how rude he was being, he was being Komoku and that was enough for her. "She was, for a little bit. Umm, Aiden has actually been cooking meals. I let him and Eva stay with us since...well they can't stay with their mother." She hadn't seen Eva since Jana left, she wasn't acting like herself at all. She was withdrawn, angry, and eventually she just stopped going back to the condo. She had still been in touch with Aiden as far as she knew, but she wouldn't tell him where she was.
 
"Aiden?" Komoku grumbled, that was an old feeling he wasn't familiar with. Aiden was cooking his girl food? Ugh, this was distracting him. "Whatever, Mei," he sighed carefully. "Mei, something really bad is going to happen," he stated. "Nick...he visited me today," he murmured. "He...said something about Jana and the others being gone? What's going on?" he asked. "How long have I been out?"
 
"It's been almost two months." Mei told him as her smile faded. Why on earth would Nicholas visit him? She hadn't heard from him since she let him go for giving her information about Shi and Zhao. She knew he was in the tournament, but he dropped out for whatever reason. "Kitten was kidnapped. Sejae went after her alone, and Dujae wanted to follow him. I don't know what they'd be dealing with over there, so I told him to bring Jana, too. What else did he say? Were you awake when he came?" Or was it some weird dream he had just before waking up?
 
"No, not...really," Komoku admitted. "Kind of, I caught wind of some of what he said," he muttered, expression darkening. "But he obviously knows something about what's going on, Mei. I think he's going to try again." he said, motioning to the flowers left by the window. "He came to gloat, basically...that he'd fix everything and I couldn't do anything."

Which was true, no matter how much that pissed him off, it was true. He couldn't do anything feeling like this.
 
"What?" Mei glanced over to the flowers by the window, and her expression darkened. Orange Lilies...she knew what they meant. She knew how Nicholas thought. He left them to send a message, not to wish Komoku well. She..couldn't even enjoy this, could she? There was always something that she had to deal with, always. She held his hand tightly as she went over the options. It was true, a lot of important people were missing, and she herself couldn't do much in her current...condition. But she had Damien, Kuki...Kokoro. Aiden would help, probably.

"I've defeated him before and I can do it again." Mei said simply as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She needed to text Damien, whatever he was working on could wait. This was troubling, especially when she didn't know when or how he'd attack.
 
Komoku watched her a moment before shifting closer, shifting his arms around her to pull her in. He knew that look on her face, the bags under her eyes as he nuzzled against her neck. "Mei," Komoku rumbled against her neck. "Put your damn phone down for two seconds, and take a breath for me, girl. Everything is going to be okay, I'm okay, we're okay, we're going to stay okay," he reminded. "Stop burning yourself out."
 
Mei was torn, not that she could pull away from him. On one hand, she wanted to stop worrying, but it already had started. The last time Nicholas tried something, people were hurt. Many, many people were hurt...and someone died. Someone died. She could never forgive herself if something like that happened again under her leadership.

"I've already been burned out. For weeks." She admitted as she moved her arms around him. "It's one thing after another, and it's hard to stop when so much has to be done. Our baby will be here in three months, and I still have a school to run. Now I have to deal with Nicholas, and it's all my fault. I should have kept him in jail where he belonged..."
 
"Mei," Komoku muttered. "The fuck is wrong with you? The fuck took the wind out of your sails? Is this what you're going to be like?" he grumbled. ""Yeah, lots of people died, because of me, I murdered that guy, not you, The blood is on my hands, not yours, You can jump through every single hoop you want, but that's my responsibility to feel miserable over, not yours, Nick would have gotten out on his own eventually, he's a bastard like that, You can sit around and be sad that you caused problems, or you can stop being a whiny brat about it and fix it, Because you have the power to do it, and regretting what's already happened is just going to make it harder for you to think straight, You're not going to make me slap a pregnant girl, are you?"
 
"I was in the middle of fixing it, jerk..." Mei muttered as she held him tighter. "You stopped me, remember?" He had a point, but it always bothered her when he talked about himself like he was a murderer. She once saw him as such, but...it was different. He was different now.
 
"Don't be cute," Komoku smirked, pinching her cheek. "That just proves my point better. Come on, Mei. I know from personal experience that you can do this shit in your sleep, and if Nick thinks that just because I'm not able to fight that this is going to be easy, he doesn't know the kind of DC you've made."
 
"He doesn't..." Mei muttered as she hid her face from him. "I know everything will be fine, now that you're awake. I was just angry that he had to pick now of all times to pull this garbage. He will fail, and I will put him back where he belongs. But I have to warn the others so they'll be on the look out for him, and whoever else he manages to convince to aid him."
 
"That sounds more like the Mei that gets me rock hard," Komoku grinned. "I'm going with you, I may not be able to do shit, but I will be damned if you're alone on this one."
 
Mei blushed a little at that. Now that she thought about it, it had been a while since she had even had the urge to have sex. She didn't realize how much she missed it until she found herself tingling with excitement when she remembered all the times they did have sex together, and how good it felt. Still, she kept herself calm and pushed the thoughts away to focus on his want to leave. "My father has to discharge you, I don't think anyone here will do it."
 
"Your father?" He said flatly, brows arched. "Really? This place may as well be a prison then, can't I just sneak out, or something?" Last he knew, Mei's father was the opposite of a fan of him, in fact, he was pretty sure he recalled something about him being some dirty street dog or something. It all kind of blurred together in his head at the moment.
 
"No," Mei told him as she crossed her arms. "He performed your surgery, only he'll be able to look at you close enough to determine whether or not you can go home. When you came here in your...condition...father was very worried about you and rushed you into surgery himself. I think that maybe, somewhere inside his heart, he does care for you, Komoku."
 
"Wait wait wait," Komoku said quickly. "...Your father, was worried about me?" he said skeptically. "Your father? Big frowny faced dude, looked at me like I gave you scabies? That father?"
 
"Yes, that father." Mei said with a sigh as she crossed her arms. Of course he would find it hard to believe, especially with their last encounter together. "He even visited you a few times. Your father was here too."
 
"I'm glad he has the capacity to give a shit when I'm half dead," Komoku muttered, except for once, there was that lack of bite to it that always seemed to accompany his snark as his eyes trailed off into a distant look. He still did remember, though. Hearing his name, the faint panic before Luce had hit him with that first blow. It was...shocking, honestly. Maybe it was just the fact that it was his father, he didn't know, he didn't really know if he thought about it while...under.

His head was a jumbled mess of feelings.
 
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