Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Boss, I-I know you don’t like these r-requests, but there’s two unpleasant requests for you to deal with… b-both of h-high importance…” a meek boy with a nervous stammer whispered to the intimidating woman he trailed behind.

“Which one pays more? I’ll look into that one first,” came the firm and sure voice, though a twinge of anger seeped through.

“W-Well… one doesn’t pay out immediately as it’s a marri-“ the small black-haired boy began, but was instantly silenced by the snap of a fan from the woman as she came to a sharp stop. She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes narrowed dangerously as she glared at him, red eyes dancing with her ire.

“I’ll handle the other matter first!”

Ten minutes later, the same woman found herself in front of a nervous, haggard businessman, one she recognized through his obvious public presence. Her receiving room had felt this serious air before, but never with such a high-ranked man. It angered her more to be entertaining a man who had been the very cause of many tense meetings in here before.

“Okumura-san… how interesting to see you in my den…. What brings you to this humble woman’s abode? And with such a disgraceful face even?” she asked, aware of her haughtiness, but if he was going to put her through hearing a request she didn’t like, she would offer him no comforts outside of what politeness required.

“Nijima Makoto-sama… I… I understand that being here with the request I have and this face that shames all who see it is highly unacceptable for a man of my honor and a woman of your esteem, but…. To be completely blunt, I’m desperate for your help!” The black-haired president pleaded as he laid his head down in a deep, formal bow to the yakuza boss.

“Please! I…. I made a mistake that…. That I cannot rectify without help, but that is so grave…. I would even lay down my life to rectify if need be….” His voice quivered in a way that reminded her of much less fortunate people needing her help.

“I’ll do anything you want, pay you anything you ask for just… please…. I need you to kill my daughter’s husband so she can return home…. And I need it done quickly!” The tension in the brunette’s shoulders spoke of her dislike for this kind of situation and solution to a problem.

“Why should I sacrifice my morals for you? Why should I dirty the hands of my men for a mistake that you made?!” She demanded, the ice in her voice crackling around the room and chilling the three guards in the room to their bones.

“Because! My one and only daughter is being abused so badly that even though she’s pregnant she’s black and blue and can’t even stand being hugged by me anymore! H-He’s threatened to k-kill her if she or I try to get her away from him…. L-Look! She’s two months pregnant but she’s so thin! Look! This is her before she married him and still lived with me and this is her just yesterday! Please!” He took a trembling gasp in as tears finally broke through both his voice and his eyes as he presented her with pictures of a beautiful girl smiling shyly at the camera in a school uniform and then again in a kimono, much thinner and sporting a few bruises on her face and wrists.

“Sh-she’s the only family I have left… How could I possibly leave the company to her just to have him kill her off?! I never should have given her to him but… but I was blinded by my greed and my daughter…. She was too meek to speak up back then about her reservations…. I should have noticed how her smile dimmed more each time she went with him to bond… I should have, but I didn’t!” The way his shoulders shook would move a softer heart to tears, but all it did to her was infuriate her more. 

“I was a terrible father, but I want to make this right! I want her to have a good life! This…. This isn’t what she’s meant for…. Please! I’ll give you anything if you’d just free her from him!” he sobbed as he stared up at the woman, pleading and sniveling like so many other people had done before her right where he was.

The woman observed him with her hellish red eyes and a derisive dismissal. “Don’t say things you’re not ready to deliver upon, Okumura-san.”

“Please! Just name it! You can have it! Is it my company? I-I’ll sign over the rights! I-Is it that you want to enslave me?! I’ll do that too! Please! Just save my daughter!” he begged, beginning to crawl towards her. The two guards she trusted the most stepped forward, stomping inches in front of him, blocking his path and leaving the two a small sliver of sight to make eye contact.

“So you’re even willing to sell your precious daughter over to a woman like me for a deal like this?” she goaded, smiling cruelly, knowing he’d never agree to such a thing.

There, he hesitated before taking another shivering breath. “Would….. Would you treat her better than him?” he asked in a quivering voice that had Makoto’s eyebrow rising suspiciously.

“Well, I don’t prefer to see women underfed and I don’t like the look of bruises on what is mine, but she would surely be my possession… Would that be better than what she’s currently receiving?” she asked, suddenly aware that this man was actually considering what she’d hoped would be a deal-breaker for him.

“She’s already someone’s possession, but she’s used as a punching bag… As long as she’s fed and not bruised that’s…. that’s still not the life I’d like her to have, but it’s a better life…” he admitted.

“So you’re willing to hand her over to the lesser of two evils?” she pushed, her aggravation growing again.

“Yes! Please! I can’t stand to watch her die so slowly! Please! Take my daughter away from that man and make her into your possession, just please cherish her more than he or I did!” he sobbed, shaking violently in front of her.

“You realize that I’m reluctant to take this request on because of what a terrible being you are, right? Do you know how many people have been right where you are now begging me to kill YOU for being such a slave driver, making their loved ones work until the unthinkable happens or they collapse and go to the hospital? Do you know how much I want to let you wallow in your own mistakes for the things you’ve done to your workers?” The tone she used was calm despite how her heart pounded angrily in her chest and begged her to lash out at this useless infernal man in front of her.

“Th-then in addition to my daughter I-I’ll also completely change Okumura Foods! I’ll make it one of the best places to work! I-if I fail to make progress within a year, you’ll have my daughter a-and you can use her against me…. B-but I promise! I’ll do whatever it takes, no matter what I have to endure!”

“Add in reparations for the ones who have passed or become unable to provide for their families and you have a deal. You have five years to make that company into the best place to work in Japan or I’ll let your daughter and your grandchild face the repercussions of your actions,” she told him coldly as she stood. “A contract will be brought to you tomorrow and I want your signature, inked thumbprint, and a drop of your blood on there as well. The contract will be executed as of a week from my receipt of it. Your daughter is to know nothing of it.” She turned from him and left as her favored guards, Ryuji and Yusuke picked up the male and began dragging him out of the room as he screamed his thanks at her, reiterating his promises. She took her annoyance off on the large suitor and sent him home with a bruised cheek and ego to match.

The contract came back to her with annoying speed, Akira, her first advisor telling her that it wasn’t even read over before the man signed and stamped it with his thumbprint and drop of blood. Before she knew it Goro was gone from her side a week later and returned with a terrified and shaking woman, thin and tiny in his arms.

“Set her down and call for Ann… You were allowed to bring her here, right?” she asked.

“Of course! The poor woman was right there as her husband pushed her out of the elevator first and a sudden malfunction sent it tumbling to the basement! The police were there and confirmed that he’d been killed and this poor lady hasn’t stopped trembling since! I figured a woman’s touch on this situation would be the best course of action since your sister asked me to get her out of there and away from the cameras.”

The woman was always impressed at the ways this man could magically make accidents happen with little to no time to prepare. This time it worked out very well for her and she stood as she came forward, offering a gentle hand to the woman.

“Sugimura-san, right?” she asked as she came forward as Goro gently set the woman on her own two feet. “I’m Nijima Makoto, my sister is the special prosecutor for this area so she’s probably sent you here for safe-keeping while she gets things settled. Please, I have a nice hot spring here so if you’d like, we can go soak for a little bit and if you get your appetite during that time we can go to dinner right afterwards, I’m sure Akira wouldn’t mind cooking extra… You’re expecting, right? He’ll make you the most nutritious meal possible,” she offered her with a soft smile.

The small woman looked up, milk chocolate eyes looking dully at the hand offered to her and then at the soft, welcoming face connected to it and nodded, slowly putting her icy thin, shaking hand in the proffered one. “A-A hot-t-tsp-spr-ring w-wou-woul—ld be go-good…. Ah, but-! B-But! I-I’m really clumsy! S-S-s-so pl-please don’t m-m-mind th-the bru-bruises, o-okay?”

She spoke in such a soft, tiny voice that the woman standing there couldn’t believe that such a bambi of a girl was actually being beaten on a daily basis. It only solidified her conscience behind the ‘accident’ she’d ensured happened. She smiled a bit more warmly at the small woman and nodded.

“Let’s go soak in the springs. I’ll make sure you don’t fall,” she promised as she carefully interlaced their arms and began leading her to the private springs she used.

“Th-thank you v-ver-ry much… I’ll do m-my best n-not to be a burden upon y-you…” she whispered to her kind hostess.

“I don’t think you’ll be a burden at all as long as you do your best to eat lots of food and rest. I’ll keep you close to me to make sure that nothing happens and that you have a good time here while everything is sorted out with your husband’s unfortunate and unexpected end. Please relax and know that you are safe. Your father will probably visit within a few days, but I’ll make sure that you stay here where it’s safe. After all, he’s a busy man, isn’t he? I’m simply an organizer so I’m never busy and I hardly ever leave home.”

“R-Really? Th-that must be nice… Th-this is a beautiful tr-traditional house…. I-I think it’s v-very relaxing here…”

“Thank you. I worked very closely with a great traditional Japanese architecture firm and they didn’t disappoint me, from the framework to the gardens outside… Although the lack of a gardener means that my vegetable patch has all but died on me. I wanted to keep them alive, but no one from the landscaping company would take care of that garden, calling it outside the realm of their experience. That’s about the only disappointment I’ve had to endure with this house.”

“A-a vegetable garden?” Haru asked, looking a little more animated. “I-I used to have a vegetable garden on the r-roof of my school…. It was…. It was my favorite pastime until my husband forbade it…” she admitted quietly, glancing at the woman like she was expecting a level of censure for her actions.

“Oho? Is that so? Well, if you gain a bit of weight and rest up well, perhaps you and I could go take a look at it and you can tell me why it’s failing,” Makoto hummed as she smiled more as they came to a stop outside a sliding door. “In here is the changing room for the spring. We need wash up first, but then we can rest in the waters uninterrupted.”

The nod she received in return made her even gladder she’d freed this woman from her captor. Their bathing happened quickly, though Makoto made sure that she went slowly enough that the pregnant and horrible abused woman had ample time to clean herself without rushing. She’d been able to restrain her flinch at the woman’s mottled skin, but the bile in her mouth left her wishing she’d handled this request the moment the woman had received the contract.

As they rested in the water, the young mother looked at her hostess and asked the question begging to leave her tongue despite the danger it could bring.

“S-So why… is it safe here with you and not elsewhere?”

Makoto leaned back in the water and relaxed more, eyes still closed. “Where would you be safer than a house that even yakuza wouldn’t come near?” The silence didn’t last as long as she’d hoped though.

“Why would yakuza not even come here?” she softly prodded, unable to let the question go.

Makoto sighed and sat up, smiling sadly at her. “Because what idiot would come to attack a house protected by the police and the strongest yakuza family in Tokyo?” she asked softly, hoping that would quiet the woman. It took a few moments of the woman looking at her in continued confusion before she came up with a logical explanation and relaxed.

“Oh! Because your sister is with the police and your lover is a yakuza! That’s…. that’s pretty bold, Nijima-san…” she told her with a small blush and a smile.

Makoto only chuckled at her and relaxed back into the water. “Would you like to take a nice meal with me after the bath?”

“My husband doesn’t like fat women…” the woman explained as she sobered up and quieted again, retreating into her shell.

“Well, he’s no longer with the living so I don’t think it really matters much… Besides, isn’t your child starving to death inside of you? You really should forsake the idea of being fat while you’re pregnant. Look at me, you see how much flesh I have? You have less than me and you’ve got a life inside you! I’m a healthy weight for a woman who isn’t pregnant. You should bulk up for the child’s sake, Sugimura-san.”

“I-If my husband is dead…. I-I’m going to take my father’s name back…. I-….. I know I shouldn’t say this about my husband given that he’s helped my father so much but…. I really hated that man…. S-so please… call me Okumura…. Or even Haru would be better than that man’s name.”

“Haru-chan, then?” she offered, waiting to see if she was called rude.

“Only if I can call you… Ma-Makoto-chan…” she stammered, turning red. “I-I… never had a friend before… s-so I’d like the illusion of it, if you’d allow me.”

Makoto smiled and leaned closer to her, still a safe distance away, but definitely not far. “Silly,” she admonished lightly as she gently took the girl’s hands into her own. “We could definitely be actual friends.”

The look on Haru’s soft, bruised face was worth the extra effort as the realization and happiness that blossomed there made Makoto’s chest warm and feel full as that beautiful smile filled her own heart with that same hopeful joy.

“M-Makoto-chan! I-I’d love to! I-! I have to ask permission to have a friend…” the deflation took away both of their smiles.

“Except I’m the one in charge of you for now… and I say it’s fine for you to be friends with me… In fact, as long as you rest and eat lots of food, I say it’s okay for you to make all the decisions you want regarding yourself… Ah, but you probably shouldn’t leave yet. Not until the cameras calm down and you’re much healthier, okay? And then we can both go out.”

“Y-Yes, that shouldn’t be an issue…. I’m sorry for intruding upon you like this, but please take care of me while I’m here, Makoto-chan.”

“Of course, Haru-chan… Now, let’s get out of here and fill you up with lots of healthy and delicious food so that your baby can grow up nice and healthy… D-Do you want to keep it? I know you don’t like it father, and if you don’t want it, I’m sure I could-“

“I don’t like the father, but my child is still my child… I’m just glad it won’t have to grow up with its father. He… was going to take it away as soon as it could speak and walk properly.”

“That’s…. that’s pretty cruel,” Makoto conceded solemnly. “I could never imagine having a child of my own flesh with me for five years just to have it taken from me when it’s useful to a man…. But that’s fine! We don’t have to live in that kind of world anymore. Now, even women can get married to each other! You could easily raise that child without a man, especially with me as a friend~” The two carefully exited the spring, beginning to dry off as they talked.

“That’s a confusing situation for me to understand,” Haru admitted, looking deeply perplexed. “How do two women consummate the marriage or reproduce?”

“Well, there’s a few different ways that they can consummate the marriage and there are sperm banks nowadays so reproduction isn’t an issue. B-but really… unless you need to know how to consummate that kind of relationship, it’s best to just leave it be. Just know that where there is love, it is possible for women to make love,” Makoto explained, a faint blush on her cheeks that she tried to dismiss as an aftereffect of the springs’ heat.

“I-I see… Well, I hope that the women who get married have happier marriages than I did…”

“They’re usually a happy relationship, from what I understand of them,” she assured her as she offered her a new kimono. “You’re lucky~ We’ve got a woman here who works with an artist to create kimonos as beautiful as they come and the woman who usually models them is amazing at deciding what best suits people. Don’t you think this pink cloud kimono will look beautiful on you? Better than that yellow thing you wore here.”

“A-Ah, I heard that yellow is supposed to help you be happy….”

“Yes, but on you with your complexion in that shade it just made you look sicker than ever. At least this gives you some color and is sweet, like I think you are.”

“A-Ah I’m not really all that sweet!” The woman denied as she stepped back, clearly blushing. The color made Makoto’s chest fill up again, the color looking absolutely beautiful compared to the dark bruises on her face.

“That’s all you’ve been to me since you’ve arrived… but really, let’s get you dressed so that you can fill your stomach and feed that baby inside of you,” Makoto insisted as she closed the distance slowly.

“Ah… right…” The meek woman turned her back to the woman and together they put the simple but luxurious kimono onto the small woman. The hostess was able to get dressed without any help and before too many more words could be passed between them, they were on their way to the delicious smell of food.

“Makoto-chan~!” A blond called out as she rushed down the halls, grinning. “I see my choice was perfect~! Haru-chan looks amazing!!!!” She effused as she came up to them and began walking on the other side of the new woman. “It really brings out the light in her eyes and gives her the youthful look she needs to shrug that funk off! Shiho is going to be VERY happy to see that her designs are being applied to another model~! And-“

“Shouldn’t you start with introductions? I don’t think she knows you,” the woman knowingly intervened.

“Oh! Right~! I’m Ann Takamaki! I’m the beautiful model of all clothing before it ever gets out of the sewing room~ My wife is the seamstress~” she giggled as she smiled at the girl.

“I-It’s nice to meet you. Th-thank you for picking this out for me… I love pink…” The soft blush and smile on Haru’s face didn’t go unnoticed and Makoto was quick to step in.

“Very good job Ann… I want you to take some notes and details back to Shiho and see what she can come up with.” Ann smiled and skipped ahead of them.

“OOooOOooOoooo~! The Benevolent Iron Queen herself is praising me! I-I think I’m going to go see Shiho and tell her!” she told them, her tone changing as a dangerous glare from her boss scared her and made her flee.

“Just the right timing,” Makoto hummed as she relaxed her face before Haru could see her dangerous look. “We’re at the food.” The doors they stopped in front of opened with ease as her blond and blue-haired guards opened the door for them.

Laid out on a traditional table was a feast good enough for several people… but only two places set. “Take a seat,” she invited as she sat down and took in a deep breath of the food. “I want you to eat as much as you can of anything that looks good, okay? Don’t hold back as there will be more.”

The woman looked both enticed, but terrified at how much food was in front of her. “I-I don’t think I’ll be able to hold back with this many of my favorites here… A-are you sure it’s okay to eat my fill? What if I eat a lot? Isn’t that a burdensome thing to do?”

“It’s an insult to hold back,” she insisted as she nodded and clapped. “Itadakimasu!” she called out before beginning to add food to her plate, moving very slowly, like she couldn’t decide.

Haru tried to wait for her to take some from everything before she took from those plates, but she soon found herself impatient and cautiously filled her plate, glancing at Makoto as she did so, continuing a bit more quickly seeing the way the woman seemingly didn’t even notice her hand moving over the plates to get what she wanted. Only once her plate was heaping and the pregnant woman began eating did Makoto seemingly decide, quickly filling her plate as well and eating slowly where her guest ate much quicker, trying not to be rude, but knowing she’d failed as hunger took her over and she grew aware of just how starved she was.

Before Haru could regain her manners, she’d been through three heaping plates and seven glasses of water and tea. She didn’t remember much of the meal except that it was the best food she’d tasted in so long. As she looked down at her now slightly bulging stomach, she smiled at it, gently rubbing it.

“I’m sure that your baby is very happy to receive so much food. It’ll surely grow strong and healthy if you keep eating like that, especially in these early days,” Makoto told her with a smile as she finished off her first plate. “Are you still hungry?”

“No, not really, just…. A bit sleepy now….” She admitted with a yawn.

“Well then, now would be a good time to turn in for the night, wouldn’t it?” Makoto gently plied. “Let’s get you to your room. It has a lock on it if that helps you rest well,” she told her as she stood, offering her hand to the woman. Carefully, the thin woman took her hand let her help her up.

“That is a comfort, even if this place is safe, it never hurts to have another level of security,” Haru told her, even as her dissipating nervousness showed on her face.

“Well, as a woman you deserve your privacy, especially while resting. If you need anything to sleep well, let me know and I’ll acquire it for you. I personally prefer a small nightlight in my room so that when I wake up in the middle of the night it’s not impossible to navigate my way around,” she admitted even as the guards in the room knew the reason was different.

“W-well… something to hug?” she asked sheepishly. “I… I liked having a small stuffed animal to hug as I go to sleep.”

“I believe we have something like that. Ryuji, go search out something cute for her from Shiho,” she commanded, her voice taking a harder edge as she addressed her guard.

“Yes Boss!” he told her as he quickly left, almost like a soldier with the way he rushed off.

“Boss?” Haru asked, tilting her head.

“Yes, well, I employ them and some of them have taken to calling me Boss because of the tone I inevitably end up using. I’ve been unable to break their habits.”

“That’s a pretty nice title to hear a woman hold… I hope someday I can become a good enough woman to get that kind of a title,” the shorter woman smiled, making the powerful woman feel weak with desire to make that dream come true.

“I’m sure you will someday,” she assured her as the blond male came back, panting and holding out a cute bunny. “Ah, thank you, Ryuji. Will this do Haru-chan?” she asked as she took the stuffed animal and offered it to the woman ceremoniously.

“Y-Yes! It’s really cute! I-I’m really happy! Th-thank you Makoto-chan!” she quietly effused, looking up at the woman as she hugged the item to her chest as she looked genuinely happy again, making Makoto release the smile she knew would change how her men looked at her, but couldn’t bring herself to care.

“You’re very welcome, Haru-chan. Let’s get you to bed now.” She carefully began guiding the girl to her room, watching her effuse her happiness with small nuzzles to the stuffed animal and a pleased squeak here and there.

“Is it really okay for me to have it? It looks hand-made…” she observed after a moment.

“Of course it’s hand-made. Whenever Shiho is stressed or bored, but short on time or has a lot of scraps, she makes stuffed animals. Isn’t this one nice? The fabric actually matches a kimono I have. If you’d like, you can have that kimono to match the bunny. I have too many kimonos as is since those three have way too much time and creativity on their hands.”

“A-are you sure? …Are you sure today isn’t just a dream? I-It really feels like a dream come true…. I got rid of that man… I can eat as much as I want, bathe in a nice hot spring, enjoy stuffed animals again, and I can even sleep alone in a room that I lock…. It feels too good to be true.”

“Well, it’s reality so you’d better enjoy it to the max, okay? Then the dreams you have will be even better.” The two stopped outside the room Haru would use and the mother-to-be smiled beautifully at her.

“I will, if only because you asked me to… I hope that this dream-like reality can continue on forever…”

“If you want it to, I don’t see why it couldn’t,” she told her with a smile. “Now, get into bed before you really start dreaming standing up.” With a soft giggle, the girl went into the room and locked the door, allowing herself to relax into the bed and fall asleep soon after, thinking of nothing but her beautiful hostess and how perfect everything was.

Chapter Text

The next morning found the young mother well-rested and in a daze as she heard birds chirping outside of the window. Looking around, she couldn’t help but wonder where she was, until she suddenly remembered the elevator and the screaming and panic. She jolted up in her new bed and looked around like a frightened bird before rushing to the door, only to find it locked. Her heart pounded even faster as she fumbled to open the door.

It was only when the door gently clicked unlocked at her frantic scrabbling, the ease and lack of resistance surprising her, that she paused, suddenly remembering the rest of the day and the subsequent woman who had given her a lock not to keep her in, but to let her keep others out if she wanted.

Standing there at the door, Haru stared down at the handle with shaking hands as she slowly realized that it wasn’t such a scary place to be. She let herself calm down a little bit, a hand on her chest to steady herself before she slid the door open. Peering out both ways to see the halls empty, she tiptoed out and headed to the left, unaware where she was going. She just hoped that she would find her hostess or Ann.

After a few minutes of wandering, the brunette came to a crossway with a very ornate wooden door that looked incredibly out of place in the traditional Japanese house. Before she could make a decision to approach it or not, it opened and a very tall man with a hat on that covered his eyes and a tattooed neck stepped out, his muscular form almost as intimidating as the sharp glare he was giving her as his eyes roved her body.

The small sound of terror that escaped her prompted her to action, turning and attempting to run in the restrictive traditional clothing she’d wore to bed and not bothered to change out of that morning. A derisive ‘tch’ came from behind her as she felt her head spin and her balance give way. She knew what came next. It was a common enough pattern that she knew exactly what would happen next. The floor would be unforgiving. Her arms would be restrained and then pinned under a crushing weight that left her lungs empty and her bones aching. The pretty kimono would be-

But the floor never came. Instead, a single hand on her forearm firmly but gently stopped her descent and then a second burly hand wrapped around her waist like a sling and the next thing she knew, her milk chocolate eyes were staring at the simple painting on the wall, perfectly straight and beautiful… and new pain failed to blossom, even as the hands left her and did not come back.

The woman panted as she stared at the picture, hoping to all the gods in the world that she was just having a bad dream and that that large, terrifying man was gone. Instead, she saw a sucker come in front of her, held up by those same calloused hands.

“Take it easy there, Bambi. Ya don’t seem too stable first thing in the morning. Madam Boss Lady may come after me later fer this, but have this sucker and get yer sugars up so that yer not passin’ out all over the place or fallin’ and hurtin’ yer little one,” the gruff, deep voice told her, a menacing growl to her ears, but the gesture was so out of place that she was torn, unable to take action on one signal or another.

“Daddy? Who’s dat?” came a tiny voice as a small child came from that same ornate door and stopped in front of the woman to stare up at her. “Why’s she cwying?”

“Well, Kaoru, she’s just gone through some bad things and she just needs some time to calm down. Ya remember how you used to jump at every little sound? She’s like that. Here girl, take the sucker and calm down before the Madam Boss Lady thinks somethin’s wrong.”

“I believe quite a bit is wrong, Iwai…” came a cold and authoritative female voice. The male instantly fell to his knees and bowed low to the woman behind Haru. At noticing the woman wasn’t getting to her knees, he carefully nudged her leg, glad his son was getting into the bowing position without prompting.

“Hey! Girl! Bow before the Madam Boss Lady!” he hissed at her, making her tears come even faster as she shivered. A quiet throat-clearing made the male jump as he prostrated himself into the deepest bow before the woman.

“Haru-chan, Haru-chan, did this man hurt you?” Makoto asked as her soft beautiful hands came forward and gently began stroking her hair. The action soothed the fight or flight instinct inside of the panicked, frozen woman and slowly she was able to tear her eyes from the painting to look at the woman who smiled warmly at her.

“….N-No…. b-but…. I-I…. I’m scared,” she admitted with a strained and tight voice that betrayed how she wanted to cry. Gentle hands moved down her hair, arms, and waist, all ghosting contacts and slow movements. The next thing she knew, she was encircled in a soft, warm embrace that hid her away from the world, her face guided into the soft and welcoming material of a red kimono. Her sobs were soft at first, but soon she and that kind woman were on the floor and all those years of abuse and neglect came out via her tears and sobs.

Through the entire incident there was nothing but soft whispers and warm hands that encouraged her to let it all out. She let herself just expel all of the terrible feelings she’d had to hide through the years into those red folds of material that reminded her a lot of a cleansing rose bath. When she had no tears left to cry and all of her sobs had fallen apart into tiny hiccups here and there and sniffles, she pulled back, ready to apologize for ruining the material when a cute pink square of material came to her nose. “Go ahead and use this to clean your nose,” that warm voice like a sunny day in the gardens told her. She couldn’t help but do anything but oblige as the kimono’s sleeve was used to wipe her tears away.

“I-I’m so sor-“

“You have good timing, Haru-chan, I was just about to go take a bath, anyways. Come with me. We can head to breakfast afterwards, okay? Akira told me he was making up some delicious crepes and pancakes for us this morning. Both will have lots of fruit on them and I asked him to make some meat go along with it so I expect he’ll give us some bacon. Do you like bacon?”

It took her a moment to fall into understanding, but she answered as she stood at the hostess’s prompting. “Y-Yes, I do, but it’s fattening so-“

“So you’d better eat a good amount! Remember, the whole goal of eating for you right now is to get more weight on your body so that your child has food to pull from even when you aren’t eating. You want it to be able to eat and grow at its own pace, right? So that it’s healthy, right? You need to eat lots to make that happen!” There was no response to that kind of argument but agreement she could make, especially after Haru had just surely ruined an expensive kimono and embarrassed herself so completely before a complete stranger, even if they did call each other friends.

The bath was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. Haru needed a few minutes to collect herself again and the silence, even in the presence of another person, was what she needed to put the ties back onto her emotions and bring things back into perspective. By the time they were dressed in yet more beautiful kimonos and on their way to breakfast, she was feeling much better and even initiated the conversation.

“D-did you sleep well last night, Makoto-chan?”

“Why yes~ I did! What about you? Did the lock help you get to sleep? Was the stuffed animal good enough?”

“Ah, yes, it was very relaxing. I slept very well last night, better than I have in years, I would say. And-“

“Meeeeeeeeeooooooooow!” The loud sound interrupted the two as a bright blue-eyed black-furred cat with socks looked up at them. Makoto chuckled softly and offered her arm out like she was catching a falcon. The cat yowled happily and jumped onto her arm before walking up her arm to sit on her shoulder like it was its destined location.

“Hello Morgana~ I see you’re in a good mood this morning. Did Akira give you a little something extra?” she asked as she smiled at him receiving a happy meow and headbutt. “This is our guest and my new friend Haru-chan. Be careful with her, she’s pretty hurt right now and she’s got a baby inside of her.”

The cat stared at her attentively, looking at Haru at the right moments to make the woman in reference think the cat could actually understand the words that the woman was speaking. Even more to her point was that the cat traveled down the strong woman’s arm and raised up at her, standing as he begged for a pet with a cuter mew this time than the previous needy yowls.

With a caution bred from many dealings with cats, the woman reached out and started petting the being’s head, watching as it purred and sat calmly on the woman’s hand. “Morgana, you’re going to make The Queen’s hand tired by sitting on it,” a soft male voice called, grabbing the cat’s attention and causing the woman to freeze up. A yowl later and the cat launched itself at its owner who simply leaned his head away from his shoulder. The black cat purred as it settled onto the male’s shoulder and stared at the women.

“Ah, Akira,” Makoto began calmly as she place a reassuring, gentle hand on the pregnant woman’s back, smiling a bit more as the muscles there began to relax. “How nice to see my wonderful chef~ Have you come to tell us to eat before Ann finds out it’s crepes?” she asked with a small mirthful chuckle.

“Actually, I was coming to tell you that she already figured it out and that she’s only just being held back by Shiho. You should come immediately while I cook up more. Is this our esteemed guest needing extra nutrition you mentioned last time?” he asked with a warm smile and a body language that spoke of complete and utter relaxation and calmness that helped to further soothe Haru’s nerves and allow her to let her body sag a little into the hand now holding her up effortlessly.

“Yes, this is Okumura Haru. Haru-chan, my chef, friend, and most trusted advisor for all things tactical, Kurusu Akira. Akira is the one who made dinner last night and breakfast today.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Okumura-sama. The Queen has told me a few things about you, but you are definitely in more need of my cooking than she made it seem. I’ll see to it that you and your child are always fed and happy so please call upon me whenever you feel hungry,” he told her calmly and humbly as he bowed to her, the cat jumping back onto Makoto’s shoulder in annoyance.

“Ah-Ah, please. Sama is taking it a bit too far. I’m just-“

“You are Nijima-sama’s friend and therefore someone deserving of the utmost respect, especially since she’s so close to you.”

“B-But she called you a lot more things that are more-“

“What he wants to say but can’t is that while he and I are friends, we’ve also got an employer-employee situation going on and I’ve saved his life so he’s very grateful and formal with me because of it. Meanwhile, you and I are simply friends on equal grounds. I did nothing to save your life, just became your friend and did my sister a favor by housing you. There’s nothing you need to thank me for like he has… and it’s very rare that I make friends with people that I don’t directly rescue from a terrible life so you’re a bit special in that respect. For his comfort, allow him to call you with the respect he feels is fitting for someone like you.”

It took her a few moments of indecision, biting on a busted lip and looking nervous to say no, but uncomfortable with yes. “Please, Haru-chan,” Makoto pushed just a little more. It worked and the woman was nodding before she registered the action. “Wonderful~ Now, come on! Ann will eat ALL of the crepes if we don’t get in there and claim them. Akira, make lots of extras in case we end up with two crepe-a-holics. I want her to have whatever she wants.”

The man nodded as Haru was led away from him. “I-It was nice to meet you, Akira-san! I’ll…. I’ll let you know when I’m hungry!” she promised as she headed for the dining room.

“You’d better,” Makoto told her with a playful voice. “He’s in love with cooking… but to be honest, he’s most enamored with coffee and curry. We have a chef above him that runs a café outside of here and that’s where he learned how to cook from, but the shop only sells curry and coffee. Sojiro-san has a lot of different coffees, though, so it’s always fun to go in there and see what magic he can brew into a cup for us. Oh, and if you’re ever hungry, just say so like you’re trying to call to someone a couple doors down and Akira will find you pretty quickly. He has an uncanny ability to hear when someone’s hungry and will come running to cook for you,” she told her even as she smiled up at a corner in the hallway, giggling.

“It works like that pretty much all the time for whatever you need. Calling out that you could really use a new kimono or stuffed animal will bring Ann to your side ready to bring you to the haven her wife created of fabrics and sewing supplies. Shiho is pregnant like you right now, but she’s due in two months now and has a bit of trouble getting around with how large the twins have gotten.”

“Twins?! Th-that’s…. going to be rough when they’re born.”

“Well, she has a loving wife and plenty of others who love babies around here to help her out so I think she’ll be just fine~ She might even have a bit of trouble keeping everyone away with the way Ann likes to brag about anything and everything Shiho. Here, let’s eat and then perhaps a stroll in the gardens?”

“Ah! Can we go to the gardens?!” she asked, looking excited at the prospect.

“Of course. But first,” she told her as she motioned to the table filled with food again. “We must eat to make sure that you have plenty of energy for you and the baby to use.”

“Yes, of course!” she agreed as she took her seat.

“Itadakimasu,” Makoto told her the moment she was seated. She took her time staring at the food and trying to ‘decide’ while she let the woman take her fill of what she wanted. It took the meek woman less time to break down and just take what she wanted this time and by the time she finished she was rewarded with a smile as her friend began filling her plate. “Looks like we made it before Ann ate all of the crepes,” she commented with a pleased smile as she began eagerly eating the confectionary treat.

“They’re really, REALLY good!” Haru chirped as she looked down at her fruit-filled crepe with a smile. “That Akira-san is really nice and good at cooking… He’s much less scary than that other man…. What does that other man do here?” she asked with a shiver.

“He’s actually the head of security and security planning for the rest of the house. He was coming out of the armory where we keep a lot of the collectable arms that are being used as investments. As a gun-enthusiast, he’s quite useful at keeping them clean and valuable. We have someone who does the security monitoring and he’s the one who goes and terrifies the bad people who might want to steal from us or otherwise cause trouble. He’s VERY good at his job, but he’s also a WONDERFUL father to that boy. His ex-wife had a bad habit of beating that child and when he found out about it he came to me for help. His ex-wife no longer has any chance of seeing the boy and he’ll grow up with few, if any, lasting problems because of it.”

“O-Oh…. He…. He’s a father to that little kid?”  she asked, still trying to get her mind wrapped around the idea.

“Of course. He’s gruff, but he’s had that scary glare in his eyes ever since he was a teenager, so he’s had to deal with a lot of flak for it. He’s actually quite nice. Usually carries suckers around with him since cigarettes aren’t allowed here.” Makoto continued to eat very slowly, observing the way the girl paused and frowned down at her plate.

“I-I see… I just saw him and couldn’t help wanting to run away….” With a pause in her own meal, Makoto laid her hand on the woman’s arm encouragingly.

“That’s his job… but he has admitted that it bothers him how he makes little children cry.”

“I suppose I wasn’t the best of people to him… and then crying like that….” The girl looked guilty and embarrassed at the reminder of her morning breakdown.

“He understands well enough. His son was just like you whenever anyone tried to touch him so he’s already been through that situation before. He won’t say anything or hold it against you. Whenever you can, just try to talk to him or get to know him. If you want, I can always accompany you when you talk with him to make it a bit better,” she offered as she continued to stroke her arm comfortingly.

“Th-that would make me feel better,” she admitted with a blush of shame.

“Wonderful. Come on, eat up so we can go to the gardens. You wanted to see them, right?” The reminder was all Haru needed to nod and continue to eat her fruit-filled treat. The two of them continued to silently eat, peaceful and happy to enjoy the meal together. It was broken on when a rap came on the door before opening and showing a meek male bowed down.

“Boss, I apologize for interrupting your breakfast, but there are two items of business that will need you attention today. Neither are things you hate, but one does upset you… What would you like me to do with your petitioners?” he asked, not nearly as nervous as the day he’d had to announce the male who ultimately sold the girl to this woman.

“Is one of them Okumura-san?” she asked calmly, not stopping her meal for him or even looking in his direction.

“Y-Yes… but he’s not the one I said would upset you.”

“I see… Send him to my receiving room and offer him some of the nice tea. Inform him that I require a meeting with him before he sees his daughter. Tell him I fully expect to see tangible results when I walk in there or there will be repercussions that he will not like. As for the other problem, keep it contained and I will see to it after I allow the Okumuras to have their time together… Will it most likely end up in a private meeting in the confidential room?” she asked, eyeing the male finally to assess how bad the situation was.

“…It… it may….” He finally answered, shaking in his spot.

“Then prepare my room for me…. And proper attire for a meeting of that kind.”

“Y-Yes, Boss!” he squeaked before closing the door and rushing away quietly.

“My father’s here?” the pregnant woman asked as she continued to eat her food. “D-Does that mean I’m leaving?” Her sad tone made Makoto want to harm her father for such a terrible offense, but refrained from showing any of those desires while she basked in this innocent woman’s presence.

“Not at all. Your father approached me a little while ago to ask for a favor, actually. You see, he doesn’t like how his company has become and he’s looking to completely and drastically change it to make it into the best place in Japan to work for in five years. He wanted my advice and he also understood that if there ever became a time when you left your husband or even while you’re with him, you may be targeted by his enemies and the opposition against the changes he wants to make. Therefore, he came to me to ask that if there ever came a time in which he didn’t feel like he could protect you, he would leave you in my care. I believe he will be leaving you in my care and simply visiting you while he makes these changes given that your husband’s death was no accident.”

“I-It wasn’t an accident?!” she asked, looking confused. “But the elevator broke and-“

“And you’re just lucky you got out before the elevator took you out as well. According to my sister, the way the wires were cut, it was obviously an assassination. They may still be targeting you given that you have that man’s offspring in you. We’ll make sure that you’re safe, though.”

“I-I see…. That’s…. scary….. but…. At least my father wants to make the business better.”

“Yes, I was very happy to hear that from him when he came to me for help. I think you’ll see that he’s a changed man. Hopefully you’ll have a good relationship with him even though you don’t live together. Keep eating.”

“Ah, yes, sorry!” the girl squeaked as she continued to eat a bit more vigorously. “D-did you ever… get a chance to meet my husband?” she asked softly, glancing at her curiously.

“No, but I knew enough about him from some of my clients to know that he wasn’t the kind of man that I would particularly appreciate meeting. I’m going to go ahead and meet your father, get the business portion out of the way, and that way when you’re done you can just go to him and visit with him. That blue-haired man at the door will take you when you’re done. Yusuke, be sure to treat her with the utmost respect,” Makoto told them as she stood. She smiled at the bow she received.

“Yes, My Benevolent Queen,” he responded in a deep velvety voice that spoke of composure and respect.

“Wonderful. Ryuji, you come with me,” she told him, smiling as the delinquent-looking blond grinned and nodded.

“Yes Boss Lady!”

“Perhaps someday I’ll unify what all of you call me,” she huffed at them, causing a few chuckles and laughs to come from the males.

“And perhaps someday the canvases in my room will be blank for more than a week,” Yusuke mirthfully chuckled as he straightened up.

“Hmmm…. That futile of an effort, eh? I suppose I’ll just have to continue to endure memorizing new names from everyone and learn to respond to them all.” With that, the woman left, the male in the room closing the door behind her silently.

Haru was left alone with the male and the situation did not leave her in good nerves. ‘Maybe if I talk to him it’ll make this easier? Maybe he’s like that other guy and he won’t hurt me….’ she thought as she tried to calm down and continue with her meal.

“S-So… do you always guard her?” she started, unsure of how to get him to talk and calm her nerves.

“No, I simply guard My Benevolent Queen when I feel like it. She doesn’t actually need guarding, but I like to do it anyways when I’m not painting or with my beloved.”

“O-Oh….. wh-who’s your beloved?” she asked, nervous still, but glad to hear he had a lover.

“Akira…. And Goro,” he told her, his facial expression oddly blank. Hers went blank as well as she tried to compute that.

“Akira-san…. And Goro-san?” she asked as she looked perplexed. “H-how does that work?”

“Well…. Akira is extremely charismatic and alluring…. And Goro also wanted him….. but Akira isn’t someone who could be happy with only one lover… So Goro and I put aside our differences and agreed to share Akira. Now we don’t mind each other and even, I dare say, probably have mutual feelings. However, I have the feeling that Ryuji will end up in this interesting messy relationship soon enough if the way he blushes is any indication. Especially since he’s finally gotten over his crush on our sweet queen. A necessary step for all who come here, but one he held onto pretty stubbornly.”

“Eh?! Akira-san has that many people in love with him?!” she asked, shocked but relaxing as she realized the lack of threat this man offered her.

“Well… I’d say Shiho-san and Ann-san also had feelings for him at one point as well considering Shiho-san chose him as the sperm donor for her children.”

“He’s nice, but I didn’t think he had such a strong level of charm….” She murmured, surprised.

“Well, he’s a charmer for sure, but he’s nowhere near as charming as Makoto-sama herself… except, where Akira is open to all lovers, Makoto-sama is very much reluctant to show even a tiny bit of favoritism. She has been solicited by many people for her hand in marriage, but each one she sends away with a cold glare and a threat.  Luckily for us, when she’s taken us in, she only glares at us until we retract our offer and go back to normal. It’s painful at first, but in the end it’s quite fair to us who want her because she only wants one lover.”

“That…. Sounds complicated… But I understand her feelings well… I’m ready to see my father,” she told him as she slowly stood. He nodded and opened the door for her, allowing her to exit first before leading her along to the correct room.

“That’s a good number of corrections for the past week… If you continue on this path, I may even find a way to reward you, Okumura-san… For now, wait here for your daughter to meet with you. Remember our agreement. I’m going to deal with a troublemaker so feel free to keep her occupied for as long as you’d like in this room alone,” Makoto told Haru’s father as she stood at the door, her words coming through the screen to Haru who stood outside of it.

The door opened to reveal the woman and the two blinked as they met, a warm smile spreading across the hostess’s face. “Welcome, Haru-chan. I trust your meal was just as good without me there?”

“Y-Yes, it was good. Yusuke-san was kind to me as well,” she told her as the woman stepped aside.

“Wonderful. I have to attend to some business for a bit, feel free to catch up with your father. Anything you could want will be delivered by Yusuke here, especially food. I’ll come for you when I finish up in a while.”

“A-Alright… good luck with your business,” she told her softly as she stepped around the woman and came to stand in front of her kneeling, quivering father

“Th-thank you Nijima-san! Thank you so very much! I promise the company will be a paradise for workers! Thank you!” the middle-aged male called out as the woman left with her blond guard.

“F-father…. Wh-what brought all of this on?” Haru asked as she came to take a careful seat at the table.

“N-Nothing, Haru…. Nothing. Come here…. Give your old man a hug,” the weariness in his voice and the gratefulness in his eyes made the woman realize just how much her poor father had aged in the year since she’d left her home.

“J-Just don’t hug me tightly…. I just ate.” The man did nothing but smile, nod, and hold his arms out to her. Carefully, like the injured and abused being she was, she inched closer and sat in his lap as she carefully hugged him. He was cautious to close his arms around her, doing so slowly and gently and leaving her room to escape if she wanted to despite his desire to hold her close and never let go again.

“How has Nijima-sama been treating you?” he murmured as they embraced.

“Very kindly,” she breathed out with a smile. “She is patient and nice…. And she encourages me to eat and rest quite often. She’s…. she’s so nice I could almost imagine that mother would have been that wonderful. I want to be a mother who is as kind and composed as Makoto-chan… I’m really glad she’s the one who is taking care of me while they look for the people who assassinated that man… I think she and I will end up being friends for life.”

The man sagged in relief as his tears came out quickly.

“I’m so glad! I knew coming to her was the right choice even if it was risky… she really is benevolent… Just… please Haru, never anger her,” he told her as his voice sobered up.

“I won’t! I won’t be rude to her after all her hospitality and kindness!” The earnest way the woman protested and promised him relieved his worried heart.

“I see… I’m sorry… I’m still… having a bit of an adjustment to my change of heart… I should know that my sweet daughter would never do anything like that. You’ve always been such a good child for me… I’ve neglected you too long. From now on, so long as Nijima-sama doesn’t mind, I’ll stop by more often and you and I can begin having the relationship we should have had when you were in school, but couldn’t because I was too wrapped up in my greed.”

The young woman gasped and tossed her arms back around his neck, hugging him tightly, a sentiment he reciprocated at half-force. “I’m so happy father! I’m really, really happy to hear you say that! Thank you! I promise I’ll continue being a good girl! I love you so much father!” she sobbed out happily.

“I love you, too, Haru…. Please, continue to be a good daughter and I’ll work extra hard to be the father you deserve.” The two continued to cry and hug as they spoke and caught up with all that had happened lately. Yusuke watched on with a small smile on his lips, knowing that his leader would be happy to see this tape later, especially after she finished extracting the information she needed from the poor idiot who decided to go against her. The thought of what she was doing at that very moment made his stomach churn, but he knew it had to be done. After all, how else were they going to clean this city of its rat problem if she never learned where the nest was?

Chapter Text

Haru was left with her father for two hours before he had to reluctantly pull back and head to his next meeting. “Be good, Haru. That woman…. That woman isn’t someone you want to anger. She’s been incredibly kind to you compared to some of the things that are said about her… Don’t anger her,” he reminded her as he stood at the door. “I love you, my precious daughter.”

The girl just smiled at him and shook her head. “You don’t have to worry, father, I won’t anger her. She’s been so kind and polite that I could never give her anything but respect and politeness back. Don’t worry about me and go make the company a better place… I-I love you, too, father.”

“Alright dear… I’ll be back in a week or so, if not earlier if I can.” With that the man turned and left quickly, afraid that even more tears would come out if he didn’t leave quickly.

Haru, for her part, couldn’t help her tears. Yusuke stood next to her and sighed with a small smile. “Let us go see if Akira has something to cure your sadness. He is usually good at fixing any problem in a variety of manners.” The woman nodded and followed the male as he led her away from her father and farther into the house until they reached the kitchen where Akira stood.

“Akira, love, our guest needs a cure for tears caused by temporary partings,” Yusuke announced as they walked in. Akira smiled over his shoulder at them and nodded.

“I heard from a certain girl that that might be the case. I’ve been working on this already and it should be done soon enough. Okumura-sama, please take a seat at the table. Yusuke, can you grab that one sunshine herb seasoning up on the top shelf? Thank you.” It wasn’t long before the two were easily cooking together, their conversation soft and non-inclusive of Haru… but Haru had other company.

Morgana had calmly taken up residence on her lap and purred loudly as he seemed to curl into and around her stomach, as if protecting her child in his sleep. The woman gently stroked the animal as she calmed herself with his strong, reassuring purrs. “Isn’t he just the best?” Akira asked as he set a dish of hamburgers in front of her. “I promise they’ll taste just like Big Bang’s but are MUCH healthier,” he promised as he set the condiments on the table for her.

“Ah, thank you very much! And yes, Morgana is a very sweet cat. I used to want one back when I was a child, but my father didn’t allow it because we were gone so often on trips and meetings. It’s very nice to meet a sweet cat that I won’t be scolded for petting,” she told him with a smile as she looked at the burgers.

“These burgers look really nice~” she assured him as she began adding ketchup and pickles. She hesitated before taking the pickles off and adding mustard instead. Quietly, she began eating the burgers, tears slowly coming back to her eyes as the taste of her father’s restaurant’s food flooded her mouth. “So delicious!” she effused as she continued to eat the burger, smiling as hot, perfectly cut fries were set down next to her.

“Be careful, they’re really hot,” he warned. The girl continued her meal quietly, eating with vigor despite having breakfast not that long before. Both men didn’t bother her and Morgana was sweet enough to simply glance up at her eating and then go back to napping on her. When the meal was finished, the woman sat there, smiling as she rubbed her stomach and relaxed. “Could I perhaps go lay down for a nap?” she asked, remembering how insistent her host was that she simply eat and rest.

“Of course, Okumura-sama. Please, follow me,” Yusuke told her as he bowed. With a sad smile, she tapped Morgana’s head.

“Morgana, I have to go lay down. Could you please get up?” Despite how polite she was, the cat looked at her stomach and then her eyes before resolutely meowing at her, loud and angrily.

“I don’t think Morgana’s done with you,” Akira chuckled behind ladle. “Perhaps just take him with you?”

“A-Are you really okay with that?” she asked, looking nervous, but excited.

“Why wouldn’t I be? He knows his way around this place really well. I’m not worried he won’t come back. Besides, he’s got another four hours of naps on his schedule before he has anything else planned,” he encouraged with a gently rub to the cat’s ear, a move that made Haru jump at the proximity and tense up.

“Ah, I apologize, Okumura-sama!” he instantly responded as he pulled back. “I didn’t mean to get in your personal space like that. Please, feel free to take him with you. He’ll be a good napping partner.” She nodded, slowly calming her racing heart as Morgana finally stood and placed his paws on her sternum, carefully leaning on her as he mewed cutely at her, as if comforting and distracting her. She picked him up, cradling him on his back. The cat didn’t look pleased, but didn’t move from her grasp either.

Silently, she bowed to the male before heading to the door, waiting on Yusuke to lead her back to her room. When she arrived, she simply nodded to him before closing the door in his face gently and locked the door. As she laid down, Morgana took it upon himself to make her as comfortable as possible by taking over the position of ‘item she cuddles while sleeping’. The early afternoon sun made for a wonderful nap.

Makoto wasn’t sure what time it was when she finally emerged from the room in the basement, a red cloth kimono covered in splotches of darker red. She carefully walked up the stairs, ignoring the red on her face and in her hair as she headed to the baths, knowing she HAD to clean this filth off of her as soon as possible. A small voice buzzed in her ear, but she ignored it for it didn’t pertain to her bathing. Anything and everything else could wait.

The bath was militant, quick and efficient with no luxuries being taken. In five minutes she was clean…. But then she felt the need to clean once more….. and once again after that. It was only when she tried to wash herself for the fourth time that a gentle hand touched her shoulder, shaking her from her cleaning ritual.

“MakoMako…. You’re going to make yourself bleed if you continue scrubbing that hard…” the short orange-haired girl said as she stood fully clothed in front of her leader. “Why don’t you put a kimono on and go greet HaruHaru? She needs to wake up from her nap soon. It’s been three hours…” Despite the gentle voice the girl used, the woman sitting below her still flinched at each word she said. It took a long moment of staring at the floor for the young girl to sigh and begin pulling on the woman. The woman allowed herself to be pulled along, dressed, and then led to a certain girl’s room. A calm, measured knock was all that was given before the short girl rushed off and Makoto was left standing listlessly in front of the door.

Haru awoke at the knock and looked around, confused, but happy and well-rested. It took her a moment to get to the door and open it, Morgana at her side, just as sleepy. She paused at seeing her friend there, blank and unresponsive. “Makoto-chan?” came her soft inquiry as she tapped the back of the woman’s hand. A few blinks later and Makoto was able to look at Haru instead of staring at the space around her.

“O-Oh… Haru-chan…. H-How did I get here? Wasn’t I just-“ the woman paled and grimaced before her face blanked and worried Haru again.

“M-Makoto-chan! Umm… Makoto-chan! Why don’t you show me the gardens now?” she suggested, carefully pulling the woman back from her shell with soft touches and softer words. 

“Y-Yes…. Yes, let’s go see the gardens….. I made them for relaxation purposes anyways. Yes…. You like gardening, too so it’s a really good area to go relax in,” she answered a bit mechanically, however the life was slowly beginning to bleed back into her eyes.

“Yes! I do enjoy gardening! I-I also enjoyed spending time with Akira-san and Yusuke-san this afternoon after father left.”

“I… take it… they were very good to you?” she asked as she turned and began heading towards the gardens, her gait stiff and slow.

“Yes, they were especially nice to me and Akira-san even gave me another meal… and let me borrow Morgana as my nap partner!” she told her, trying to engage the woman again as the three of them walked down the hall, Morgana not getting too close to Makoto.

“Morgana….. yes, Morgana is a good nap partner…. Won’t tell on you if you’re a sloppy sleeper,” she told her, her eyes continuing to fill with life slowly despite her body not relaxing.

“Ah, he’s very polite, isn’t he?” she asked as she smiled at the woman.

“Yes…. Here, the gardens are just out here…. Take a pair of geta just to be safe. You don’t want to harm your feet…” The woman herself stepped into her sandals and headed out the shoji door. Haru quickly followed her, putting her own sandals on and following the woman out only to gasp at the beautiful zen garden she was shown.

“WOW!!!! It’s so pretty~! Makoto-chan! You have an amazing garden!!!” she effused as she stepped forward, her eyes sparkling with happiness and her bruised face lighting up with her enthusiasm. The woman was quick to move forward and head for the nearest flowers, bending down to smell them before checking on their health. As soon as Makoto reached her, though, she was off to the next small cluster of flowers….. and then the next and the next. Makoto walked quietly behind her, her eyes continuing to warm up and her movements losing their stiffness as the woman’s childlike enthusiasm helped to pull Makoto’s mind away from her last few troubling hours.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LEFT MAKOTO-SAMA WITH OKUMURA-SAN?!?!?! Navi! Have you lost your MIND?! Makoto-sama needs to be put in her relaxation room and left alone for several hours so as not to hurt anyone. AND THEN YOU GO AND PUT HER WITH THE ONE PERSON SHE DOESN’T WANT TO HURT OR SCARE WHO DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT’S GOING ON OR HOW TO HANDLE HER?! How are you going to take responsibility if Makoto-sama ends up hurting Okumura-san?! How will you be okay with knowing that you’ve caused her great mental ang-“

“INARI!!!! It’s going to be FINE! Makoto-sama’s been with her for over half an hour and they’ve just been walkin’ around in the zen garden like nothing’s wrong. If anything, Makoto-sama seems to be coming out of it much faster than before. Just TRUST me on this one and watch, okay? I would’ve sent you four if things didn’t go over well…. But even Morgana seems less tense around her than normal for this kinda state.”

“Unthinkable! Makoto-sama would n- Well… she does look much better…” Yusuke admitted as he looked over Futaba’s shoulder at the monitors where Makoto walked along after a tiring Haru. The two watched as Haru finally took a seat in a grassy area and smiled up at Makoto, Makoto returning the smile with a very tiny one of her own.

“I tire out a lot easier! I think the baby needs me to rest often,” Haru’s voice came to them, colored with happiness but her fatigue as well. “But I just couldn’t stop until I’d looked at every flower you have here. They’re all soooooo beautiful!”

“They are,” came Makoto’s voice, much calmer and less mechanical than before, though still holding a twinge of those previous terrible feelings. “But is your baby growing well? M-….May I touch your stomach?” she asked, the trepidation in her voice not something her subordinates were used to hearing.

The silence that followed was tense and painful to listen to, but the small nod that followed left both spectators sighing in relief. “J-Just be careful…” Haru warned, sounding a bit afraid.

“Of course! Of course! I would never hurt a baby.” The insistence was genuine and the desire to reassure Haru was even clearer. The mother nodded once more, much more decisively and leaned back a bit more to reveal her slightly bumped stomach.

Makoto’s gentle hand came forward, the woman unintentionally leaning forward as well as she reached for the stomach that fascinated her. Carefully, her hand landed on top of the relatively flat kimono-covered stomach and with feather-light touches she felt for a sign that the woman was carrying a child.

As she moved her hand down, she watched the material of the kimono move with her hand and made sure it never looked too stressed, a sign that she was likely to hurting the woman or the child. When the stomach finally yielded what she was looking for, both girls gasped, Makoto in wonder and Haru in ingrained fear.

Makoto couldn’t even bother to pay attention to the sound Haru made as she moved even closer and watched the stomach with absolute fascination and growing happiness. “Wow~!” she gasped as she set her ear gently to the bump, not hearing anything, but happy to know that a child was there. She pulled back a little only to begin gently, slowly, rubbing the small bump like she was polishing the most expensive and delicate diamond in the world. “Wow~! I’ve never gotten to feel a baby in the womb before~ This…. This is amazing! It’s so small…. I…. I want to spoil and protect it… Haru-chan, can I? Can I spoil and protect your child from here to the moon?!” she asked, suddenly looking up at the woman with an animated, eager, and hopeful expression.

The change took Haru off guard and left her blinking as all of her fears were instantly melted away. “Oh…. Ye-yes…. I… I would like that…. Very much so…. If you’re okay with it, I would really like that since the baby doesn’t have a father to spoil it…” she admitted with a blush. “B-But if you do… it…. May come to think of you as a parent… I-I don’t know if you’d be okay with that…..” The second part of the admission was so soft that the two spectators had to strain their ears, the camera zooming in on the pair even closer.

“Of course I’d be fine with that! I don’t mind that kind of thing at all…. In fact, it would probably be a pretty nice feeling…. I… don’t get to consider making a family at the stage I’m at in my job so…. Having a surrogate family would be nice…” Makoto’s words made all who heard them blush just as red as she was.

“I-I don’t think I’d mind! I-I wouldn’t mind at all! Someone as kind and polite as Makoto-chan would be a wonderful wife for anyone, even just as a surrogate wife!” The woman stammered out quickly, unable to believe she was actually saying this to a woman she’d just met the day before.

A chuckle came and the woman sighed as she slowly snaked her other arm around the woman’s back. “Don’t go saying things like that or I may just want to cuddle you and eat you up~” she teased with a devilish smile on her face. The poor pregnant woman blushed harder and keened as she looked away.

“D-Don’t look at me like that! Don’t say those kinds of things! ….I may not be able to resist them since they’re things I’ve always wanted a lover to say to me…” she admitted quietly.

A gentle kiss came to the woman’s stomach before the authoritative woman pulled back completely, both missing the contact instantly. “Well, neither of us know the other well enough for that kind of a relationship, but…. We do have an obscene amount of time to get to know each other…. And if we’re in my rooms or your room, I see no reason for us to not sate the other’s desires to be held and cherished and to hold and to cherish. I’m sure your husband never gave you contact you enjoyed and your father seemed too busy as well before that…. If it’s a purely platonic action, I don’t see why we couldn’t do that…. Besides, whatever makes you happier makes the baby healthier.”

There was a long pause once more where the propositioned party considered the deal while the onlookers gaped and gasped in shock at the outrageous idea. Suddenly, words weren’t needed and Haru understood the underlying suggestion. She scooted closer and kept going until their thighs were flush and her head was leaned upon the strong shoulder of her hostess. It took a few more moments until Makoto could bring herself to turn some and wrap a gentle arm around Haru’s abused back and bring her other hand to her growing stomach, gentle petting resuming.

The two were given a small start when Morgana jumped up and draped himself over their laps, purring in obvious acceptance and contentment of their new decision. The happy trio stayed there for a long while until it began to cool outside and the more dominant of the two women sighed and detangled them. “Haru-chan, let’s go get some dinner.” A small nod was her only response before both women and the cat were up and headed in… the woman still close with Makoto’s arm refusing to leave Haru’s back.

As they sat down for the wonderful dinner in front of them, that same small girl who watched the two and delivered Makoto to Haru appeared in the room. “MakoMako!!!” she called as she entered, suddenly rushing up to the brunette and hugging her around the waist.

“Ah, Futaba! What are you doing?! C-Come now! There’s no need for hugs from me! Sojiro shouldn’t be out of town!” she protested, not returning the hug, just looking awkward.

The tiny child pulled back, pouting. “Awwww you let HaruHaru hug you all she wanted but when anyone else wants a hug it’s go hug your family…. No fair!”

“F-Futaba….” She groaned as she stood, pulling her away from the dinner table where Haru just sat red-faced. Around the corner, the woman half-heartedly glared at the child. “Futaba, you’re thirteen so I know a lot of things seem like they make sense, but don’t…. I….. I let Haru hug me because she needs it for her mental health! J-just as when you needed it, you could hug me, she needs it so she can hug me…”

“But MakoMako~” the sly child grinned, making her elder shiver in dread. “You don’t seem to realize just how much YOU need it, too~ Why not just allow everyone to give you the love and care you need as well~?”

“I do NOT need it! Futaba, we’re done talking about this. Don’t go spreading weird rumors. I don’t like being hugged randomly!” she turned on her heel, blushing a bit as she returned to her meal, feeling a bit nervous about how true the words rang in her heart. She only hoped that no one else would bother her about it.

As dinner was nearing completion, Haru seemed to have something to say, but an inability to say it. She set her fork down and sighed before looking pleadingly at Makoto and tugging gently on her kimono. Makoto met her eyes and smiled gently at her, reaching down and stroking the hand that grasped her clothing. With that silent transaction, both of them knew that a new routine would be established.

Dinner concluded and both stood silently, the shorter following the taller without a word or complaint. Both headed to a portion of the house previously unknown to Haru. Neither commented as the doors were opened by Akira and Goro, both males surprised, but afraid to comment as well. The air tensed as the doors closed behind the females and the leading one began to disrobe. The air didn’t dispel until the naked woman headed to a dresser and pulled out two nightgowns, tossing one at the guest before dressing in the remaining garment.

Realization of what was to actually come made Haru sigh calmly before smiling and releasing her fear. Soon, her clothing pooled around her feet, her shyness showing through despite the calm way she undressed under the woman’s watch. She could feel those eyes roving over her body and making her heat up all over, but whether that was in shame or something else she couldn’t figure out. She felt that the most intense location of staring at on her stomach… where the mottled bruised skin created an almost perfect ring around the growing bump that the woman had touched earlier that day with such tenderness. She blushed and turned around, unable to take that intense gaze any longer. Those eyes she tried to escape didn’t leave when she turned, but instead roved her backside as well.

The nightgown helped to shield her from those intense eyes, but when she turned around, she wasn’t ready for the pool of emotions in the woman’s red eyes. “Your husband… did not care enough for a woman as sweet as you… You should never have so many bruises… even if it’s clumsiness, he should’ve been caring for you better!” The righteous indignation in her voice and the way her fists balled up spoke of her rage and hatred for the man that she knew had actually caused each and every bruise, cut, and scrape on the woman standing before her in a thin black above-the-knee nightgown.

Taking a deep breath, the woman laid down in bed and tossed her arms out. “Come, Haru-chan, let me hold you and cherish you,” she commanded, her eyes still just as blazing with emotions. Those emotions scared her, but at the same time, the description of them were reassuring. Her movements were slow and hesitant, but Haru found herself on the bed soon after, stiff and unsure, but quickly engulfed in blankets and gentle arms which held her close like the frail being she was.

Makoto’s arms filled her with a feeling that she hadn’t realized she’d lost for so long. When the feeling of being cherished and cared for finally registered, the girl couldn’t help crying softly and curling into the woman’s arms more, coming to wrap her arms around her back like an insecure child. Makoto’s tears came not long afterwards as she allowed herself to relish in the feeling of human touch and unrestrained contact, a need she’d repressed for far too long. Together, the two cried themselves to sleep.

As morning came, the girls found themselves entangled and very serene. Haru awoke first, looking up at Makoto’s truly resting face. “Makoto-chan…” she whispered happily as she stroked her cheek, finding the smooth expanse of skin too enticingly curious to resist. A sudden pair of lips pressed against her hand as her victim awoke and smile, kissing the hand to keep it from running away, though her actions did cause that very outcome.

“Good morning Haru-chan. How did you sleep last night?” she asked as she looked down at the gaunt face she was beginning to see more color in.

“P-pretty well… I’m sorry I don’t know what I was-“ A soft finger-tip pressed against her lips and a smile cut her off.

“If it’s you, Haru-chan, I don’t mind. You’re more like a butterfly gently landing on me than someone touching me. I don’t mind at all… So if you’re curious about something, feel free to touch me… I, for one, am very curious about that lovely hair of yours. If you’ll allow me?”

“Ah, y-yes…. I don’t have a problem with it…” The two took a moment to blush and gather their courage before moving to touch their respective areas of fascination. “Your skin… is so smooth and soft. What do you use to keep it like that?”

“A simple moisturizer… what about you with this beautiful curly mane that I could never hope to even pretend to have? What do you use on it? Is it naturally this curly?”

Haru smiled as she nodded against the pillow. “It is…. But I do use a curl-specific shampoo and conditioner to help them retain their curliness. Mother… My mother was a very curly-haired woman and it’s something father loved of her. I take care of my hair very well because of that love.”

“You should take care of it that well because it’s simply a part of you and you deserve to have all of you cherished and taken care of. After all, what will you do when you fall in love with someone and you haven’t been cherishing yourself? Then you’ll make them sad and there’s nothing worse than seeing your lover sad because of something you could have easily prevented… But that’s a lecture for another day. Let’s focus on bathroom runs and breakfast, eh?”

“Y-yes, breakfast would be great!” The two separated and headed for the bathroom inside of Makoto’s large en suite. After tending to their human needs, the two of them dressed in a new set of kimonos and headed out to breakfast. Akira was still there, setting out plates of food, but froze as they entered.

“Y-You’re early, My Queen… I apologize, I’m not yet done setting the table and bringing the food out,” he explained, looking a bit sleep-deprived and nervous.

“It’s no matter,” she stated, observing him closely, using that tone she had spared Haru, but seemed to use on all others, a regal sound that spoke of a certain level of distance between the speaker and the listener. “Simply bring it as you can. Haru-chan here needs her nutrition… Is Shiho available for some time today? I’d like her and Haru to meet.”

“I believe she is. Ann is in the kitchen now so I’ll confirm when I come back with the next plate.” The two sat down as Makoto checked the time, nodding when she saw that she was indeed ten minutes early.

“Makoto-chan…. Is Akira-san okay? He looked tired…” Haru murmured as she looked down at the kimono she was wearing.

“Yes, he’s just fine. I’m sure he was simply kept up late by his lovers last night. They’re not the most considerate bunch, but they do love him deeply.” Even as she answered like that, she felt it had more to do with the fact that he saw her bring someone into her room last night and not send her away. Silently, she acknowledged to herself that there would be a number of rumors floating around about how Haru was now wearing a kimono that Makoto, herself, usually wore. Part of her questioned herself over her sanity for doing something that could easily outcast the woman beside her and upset her, but another, much larger portion of her mind was formulating plans to put her friends and employees in their places and make sure that all of them knew that this woman should be made happy at all times.

“Ann said that Shiho would be quite happy to see her today after breakfast,” he promised her as Ryuji and Goro came out with food, helping the male set the table faster. “Enjoy the meal.”

“Thank you very much,” she told them before looking expectantly at Haru who eagerly filled her plate.

“Thank you!” the woman chirped as she continued to pile her plate high before digging in. Their meal was quiet, but not uncomfortable. Before either could shake themselves from their thoughts, the meal ended and they stood. Makoto led the girl through the house to an area that didn’t seem to glimmer quite as much and seemed much more average. She ended up in a room covered in cloths, yarns, and other clothing materials scattered about. Makoto held her hand as she guided her right to the chair she would sit in for this conversation, smiling at her as she set her down next to a black-haired woman with an extremely large stomach who seemed bed-ridden.

“Haru, I’m going to attend to some business. It will be shorter than yesterday, I promise. For now, talk with Shiho, Ann’s wife. She’s the one I told you is pregnant. Try to learn what to expect from her and see if you can get any good information that will help you have a happy and safe pregnancy, okay?”

“Okay. Good luck with work Makoto-chan,” she told her with a smile.

“Of course. With a smile like that cheering me on, nothing will be too hard to overcome. Relax and call for Akira if you need anything. Shiho will help you do that since it doesn’t work in a private room.” The woman smiled and walked to the door. “Have fun!”

“It doesn’t work? I thought Akria-san could just hear whenever someone’s hungry….” She mused to herself with knitted brows.

“Well, the rooms are sound-proof, so of course he can’t hear you!” the woman on the bed stated as she smiled at the newcomer. “Welcome! I’m Shiho Takamaki, Ann’s wife, as Makoto-sama stated earlier. It’s nice to meet you. You’re pregnant like me, right? How far along are you?” The girl jumped a little but smiled and nodded.

“Y-Yes, it’s nice to meet you as well. I’m Haru Okumura. I’m here because my husband was assassinated and Makoto-chan is protecting me while I’m here. I’m about two months along, but it’s been a rough two months… I’m not exactly healthy enough for this, but I want to have this baby… I want to allow this life to live a happier life than I had and I can’t do that without getting better. Makoto-chan has been very adamant about me eating as much as I want and resting as often as I feel the need to. Is that what you were told?”

“Well, I wasn’t really told that until we realized I was carrying twins. The original plan was one child, but it didn’t want to be just one… not that Ann or I mind~”

The two smiled and began discussing pregnancy’s joys, common blunders, and best advice while Makoto went to straighten her people’s attitudes out and squash rumors before they could upset the delicate flower she’d taken in.

Chapter Text

While Haru was enjoying her time with her new friend, Makoto headed to the area where she would address her people. As she walked down the halls slowly, she looked to a particular corner of the walls where she knew her favored hacker friend was watching closely, probably scanning for any sign of a romp last night. “Futaba,” she called calmly, knowing the young hacker could hear her. “You are to summon everyone to the meeting room, minus, of course, Shiho and Haru-chan. Your time frame is by the time I get there.” She smirked a little at the sound of footsteps that increased around the house right afterwards and the fact that not one person crossed her path.

My little hacker is very good at monitoring and navigating the people here to their end destination without crossing my path. It was worth it to add in those secret passageways~ she thought to herself as she continued her leisurely stroll to the very large room now packed and silent with everyone of her employees and friends waiting to greet her. Akira and Goro stood at the doors and bowed to her as they opened the elaborate doors.

“Thank you. Join us,” was all she told them as she headed down the aisle that had formed, smiling as her people greeted her in unison. They all seemed to understand the severity of her calling them together on short notice.

Makoto took her seat on a soft pillow in a dias above her people and took a long moment to look each and every one of them in the face, gauging their attentiveness and their ability to sense the seriousness of her summons.

“We are here this morning to deal with a situation before it gets out of hand.” Red eyes watched as some of the people seemed to grow bloodthirsty at the prospect of putting down any person who would dare anger their leader. “This situation is not an external one, but an internal one. One that will undoubtedly cause me anger and problems down the road unless dealt with now. As some of you are aware of, I have taken in a little bambi of a girl by the name of Haru Okumura. She is both a guest and a hostage here. She is unaware of her hostage status and unaware of what we actually do. I want to keep it that way. ” She waited for the slower people in the room to comprehend what she said before nodding.

“As such, I will continue to treat her as a guest and pretend to be a hostess. It is the best way to attain what I want from her. This is simply the first part of our situation. The second part is the relationship I am fostering with her. I am welcoming her advances that I normally would never allow as a way to further ease her into her life-long captivity. Also, she is pregnant and extremely ill which is why I have chosen to personally see to her health, both mental and physical. I wish to use her child as my practice subject for when I finally produce an heir. We will pretend to be a family together to achieve this simulation. When I am comfortable with what all child-rearing will be like with myself as an integral participant, I will take a lover and produce an heir. At that time, I will move both Haru Okumura and her child to a separate wing and allow someone to court her and take over the position I vacate in their lives.

“Until such time, I demand that NO ONE treat her as a part of the true family and merely be friends with her. She is to know NOTHING of our business nor my plans for her. Treat her with respect and understand that any slight against her will be taken as a slight against me. If we’re clear, you all may leave.” The room stayed deathly silent as people thought over the words spoken. Akira raised his hand and broke the silence with the one question that loomed over everyone’s mind.

“So you do not love her, but you will pretend you do?” The entire room looked up at her, the trust so many people had put in her on the line pending her answer.

“Of course not. We have come to the mutual agreement that love is not in this situation, but I will treat her with preference and I will be her child’s surrogate parent when the time comes. She understands all of this. It is something she accepts and is happy with. It is also understood that nothing sexual will ever happen between us as a function of this arrangement.” The room seemed to relax greatly, minds eased with the knowledge that their leader hadn’t turned into the kind of person to play with hearts.

The room dismissed calmly and only a few stayed behind to personally question her.

“So… last night… You two didn’t do anything?” Akira asked, knowing that he was on thin ice for asking, but needing to know.

“Nothing. I simply let her cry herself to sleep on my shoulder last night. I didn’t care for her to be unclean in the morning and gave her a kimono of mine to wear.” The male nodded and allowed her answer to soothe his heart.

Haru enjoyed her time with Shiho, talking calmly as they discussed everything relating to pregnancy. Shiho had been eyeing her kimono all morning, and decided that she could finally ask.

“Sooooo…. I make all of the kimonos here…. And I know for a fact that the one you’re wearing is one of Makoto-sama’s favorite designs…. So…. how’d you end up in that one~?” she asked with a teasing tone to her voice. The tone alone and the underlying insinuation made poor Haru blush and look down with a meekness she felt would never leave her.

“We-well… I spent the night with Makoto-chan and sh-she told me to wear this today once we finished getting cleaned up.”

“Oh~?! Spent the night together~? That’s pretty amazing~” the woman teased, smiling coyly.

“Ah! N-Not like that! Sh-she just… she comforted me…. A-and made me feel special…. S-So it’s not like we did anything inappropriate! We promised each other it was a purely platonic thing! Sh-She wants to be a surrogate parent to my child since it won’t have a father and she can’t focus on having a family of her own yet… It’s nothing so scandalous as you’re suggesting….” she assured her, looking a bit nervous and somehow sad.

“Well… maybe someday it will be more… but for now, just enjoy your time with her. She’s a good woman and the fact that you have her attention is nothing short of a miracle. Usually a day or two at the most and she’s pushed a new family member into a group of people who best suit that person… but it sounds like she’s going to keep you near her for now. Soak it up while you can. It’s a very special privilege.”

“I-I see…I-” a knock came at the door before Makoto strolled back in, calm and confident.

“Are you ready Haru? Let’s go to lunch. Shiho, Ann will be by shortly with your meal.” The women exchanged farewells and with that, Haru was back in Makoto’s arm and being led to the dining room. When they arrived, they were greeted by Akira and Yusuke, both bowing to Makoto and exchanging friendly welcomes to Haru. A nod from Makoto spoke of how she approved.

And so a routine began from there. Day after day, Makoto and Haru would spend time in each other’s company and relax at night in each other’s arms. When Makoto needed to leave for work or handle an affair, she would leave Haru in the care of either Shiho and Ann or Akira and his lovers.

The two were inseparable when Makoto wasn’t working and it was obvious how in tune the two were from the way they shared little glances and small touches, especially as Haru began gaining weight and losing those terrible mottled bruises that marred her skin. As her stomach began expanding, Makoto noticed, being one to stroke that beautiful stomach night after night, and it didn’t take too much courage to come up behind Haru one night while she was changing and stop her while she was still just in her panties.

“Haru-chan~” she called as she hugged her gently. “I’ve noticed something recently… This here is growing~” she cooed as she looked down at the woman’s stomach over her shoulder. She took note as well of the girl’s expanding chest. “And so are these!” she giggled as she pointed to them.

“O-Of course they’d grow! I-I have a child growing inside me and it need space and so does the milk I’m preparing for it!” the brunette blustered, blushing a bright red, wondering why her friend wouldn’t let her get dressed before pointing such things out.

“Right! Well, if you aren’t careful and don’t take some preventative measures, you’re going to end up with stretch marks.” The woman paused, letting the words sink in for a long moment before continuing on. “We should apply lotion each night~”

“A-Ah….w-we?” she squeaked, as she looked down at the hands rubbing all over her stomach.

“Yeah~ You can take care of the breasts since those are pretty personal, but I want to lotion up your stomach!” The strong yakuza leader giggled as she hugged the girl against her more firmly before letting her go. “Come on, put on your nightgown and then we’ll put lotion on you~ I already have a lotion picked out. It’s the best one at preventing stretch marks.”

The expecting mother took a fewing moments to calm herself down and nodded, heading to the bed while she pulled the gentle material of the nightgown over her head. As she laid down next to Makoto, she felt surprisingly vulnerable in a way that she hadn’t with the woman since she’d arrived. Makoto gave her time to relax and get comfortable with the idea before she came closer and showed her the lotion. “See? Maximum healing strength! It’s what kept Shiho’s stomach from getting stretch marks and she’s got a huge belly!” she told her with a smile.

The woman laying down took a deep breath before nodding. “Alright. Alright… Let’s try it!” she pulled her nightgown up and revealed her stomach and breasts before holding her hand out for some of the lotion. As the thick cream fell into her hand, Haru couldn’t help but wonder if this was a form of happiness she’d always be allowed to enjoy or if it would be a temporary blessing. She resolved to spend her time relishing it.

“You know, for only three months along, you’re developing quite the lovely bump~” Makoto happily chirped as she gave herself her own dollop of lotion to put on the woman.

“W-Well, you have been doing wonders for making sure I rest and eat enough. This child will probably come out shining with how healthy it is!” Haru shivered as she began applying the cool lotion to her own breasts, surprised by how tender they were.

“Take it slow and make sure you get all of the skin, especially the skin that connects to your ribs since that’s the most likely to stretch,” Makoto warned softly as she began rubbing the lotion in slowly to the girl’s stomach. They worked silently for a few minutes before Makoto began again. “How is it?”

“It feels really nice, even though my breasts hurt a bit.”

“Ah, that’s probably the hormone change and the fact that they’re growing. It tends to make them more sensitive. Take it slower and use a gentler touch.” The pair quietly spent the next half an hour massaging the lotion into the woman’s skin and fell asleep entangled much like any other night. The pair continued to moisturize Haru’s skin every night afterwards. It was that next month that Shiho had her twins, an ordeal the two were not invited to. Haru was saddened when she found out she wasn’t allowed to visit her friends and their new babies for the next two weeks to give the women time to bond with them and Makoto took it to heart.

“Haru-chan, let’s go shopping today,” she announced calmly over breakfast.

“Sh-Shopping? B-But I can’t leave here, right? What about the assassin?!”

Makoto smiled to her over her cup of tea and set it down calmly, taking the girl’s hand in her own. “We’ll have Goro, Akira, Yusuke, AND Ryuji there with us. Nothing will go wrong. Those four can smell trouble coming a few miles away. Come on, let’s go shopping. You’ve been stuffed up in this house for two whole months. Let’s go get some fresh air…. I know a particular outdoor mall with LOTS of flowers~”

“W-Well… if you think it’ll be okay….” The cute way Haru shifted in her seat and fiddled with her fork told Makoto it was the perfect distraction for the girl’s melancholy. “Great! Oh, and while we’re out, we’ll be meeting up with a certain doctor who’s employed in my business. She’ll give you a physical and help ensure that your baby is okay. We can probably even get an ultrasound done!”

“That’d be really nice to have! I haven’t had an ultrasound done yet! I want to make sure that the baby is okay. After everything we’ve done to make sure that it recovered well and grows up healthy, it would be nice to know that we’ve accomplished that goal!”

Makoto nodded and after breakfast, the two dressed in more casual clothes and were greeted by their escort. The men had yet to fully grow used to seeing their immovable leader with her arm so possessively and protectively around another person, but it was beginning to feel natural to them.

“My Queen, in regards to the type of car we’re taking today, would you be fine with the black car or would you prefer the red one?”

“The black one suits our needs better. Use that one, Akira.”

“Of course.”

“What’s the red one?”

“It’s a convertible. I don’t particularly care to fix my hair later and I don’t want your curls to be messed up,” she cooed as her hand went to gently fondle the girl’s curl with an almost revenant look on her face. The blush her prey made only further encouraged her to continue her ministrations.

“C-Come on now, M-Makoto-chan, let’s go shopping like you said!” Makoto pouted a little, but pulled the woman closer and enjoy hugging her as they walked to the prepared car. The car was a simple design, meant to blend in with normal traffic. Akira stood at the back door and held it open for them. Makoto ushered the small woman into the car first and then joined her, clinging to her happily as the woman curled into the warm embrace.

“Haru-chan, is there anything you want to see while we’re out today?”

“Nothing in particular. I just want to be out and stretching my legs with you.”

“Then I suppose we’ll wander until something catches your eyes.” And they did just that when they arrived there, walking hand in hand from store to store, from flower to flower, just whiling away the time and enjoying themselves. Here and there they would buy items, but mostly they just looked around calmly until they came to a jewelry store where Haru was looking around with mostly disinterest.

“All of these are so flashy and bland… Makoto-chan, is there anything here you actually like?” she asked as she headed away from the diamonds.

“Not in particular. I’m more into-”

“MAKOTO-CHAN! LOOK! LOOK AT THIS!!!!!” the girl gasped as she stopped in front of a display. Inside was a ring with a beautiful rose design… but all of the petals of the rose were different colors.

“What a fine eye for jewelry you have!” The sales associate hummed as she leaned on the counter, looking at the ring. “It has 52 individually set gems in there and there are only three made in the whole world. It’s a beautiful ring, but it’ll never sell here. It’ll probably go to auction later this month. After all, no one has this kind of-”

“Haru-chan, do you like it?” Makoto said as she leaned on the small woman.

“I-I do… but it is REALLY-”

“No problem. We’ll take it. Can I use a card or do I need to send someone to get cash?” she asked as she began rubbing her pet’s stomach. The sales associate just looked at her for a long moment before she burst out laughing and shook her head.

“Miss, I was JUST saying that no one could possibly afford this! This isn’t something that you can put on a credit card and-”

“So you need cash then?” she insisted, staring at the woman seriously. The young sales associate paused and looked at her, slowly beginning to understand that this woman was deathly serious. Her face went pale and the blond woman took a step back, suddenly sobering up and righting her wording.

“I-If you have a debit card, I can call the manager in and he can handle the transaction for you Madam.”

“Yes, well you should do that,” she icily snipped as she hugged her Haru closer.

“M-Makoto-chan… you shouldn’t spend that much money on me… We’ve already spent a lot of money today…”

“Remember what I told you a couple months ago when you first came here, Haru-chan? I wanted to spoil you baby…. And now I want to spoil you, too… So you’ll just have to deal with it and enjoy this nice ring, okay? I know you’ll cherish it just like I cherish you, right?”

The woman being hugged thought on it for a few minutes before nodding, leaning into the woman’s arms more as they waited for a fat bald man to come waddling out, rubbing his hands together nervously.

Makoto paused when she saw the man and smirked coldly at him. “Why, hello there Mr. Shivonava. It’s so surprising to see you doing this kind of business. Did you decide to finally get a decent day job?”

“N-N-n-n-n-n-nI-JIMA-SAMA!!! M-M-my kind sweet Queen! Wh-Whatever brings you to my hu-humble jewelry store?! I-I was under the impression tha-that I was no longer on your bad list, M-Madam!” the male squawked, looking even paler and ready to lose the contents of his bowels.

“You aren’t on my bad list anymore. All the reports that I’ve gotten about you lately say that you’ve refrained from engaging in activities that I despise and have been living peacefully, albeit with a bit of eye-candy as your only indulgence. I can’t say I approve of the fact that you’re preying on high schoolers, but I don’t think it’s necessarily you preying on those who are ignorant to your ways,” she hummed as she looked at the sales associate. She nuzzled her sweet flower a little bit before continuing. “No, I’m not here for anything relating to that kind of business. I’m here on a trip with my own little gem… who just so happens to want that gem right there. I believe you’re well-acquainted with my associate, Robin Hood. I think you should hand over the ring and we’ll see if it needs sizing. If it does, you’ll do the resizing immediately while we are here, and if it doesn’t, we’ll be on our way and Robin Hood will be in shortly to finish the transaction.”

“Hey now! You c-”

“SHUT UP, LILY! SHUT UP NOW!” the man squawked as he rushed to the counter, unlocking the case with shaking hands. “She’s a VERY important woman! If she says she wants this ring now and her associate will pay later, I will wait forever for that payment! Don’t talk anymore Lily, Please! I’m begging you!” he hissed at her as he wiped his hands meticulously on a cloth and then put on gloves to pick up the ring and bring it out, showing it to the two women.

“Go ahead, Haru-chan, put it on and see if it fits,” Makoto gently instructed, hugging the woman calmly. “Don’t mind his nervousness. He’s a man intimidated by a strong woman… not to mention I know a few of his dirty secrets he’d like me to be quiet about.” The mother-to-be nodded and carefully reached out to the beautiful ring, carefully cradling it in her hands as she looked at it before beginning to try it on her fingers. She blushed when it fit perfectly on her ring finger.

“A-Ah that’s…” she began softly, unable to decide how she felt about it.

“You might as well wear it there~” Makoto teased. “After all, I’ll be your child’s surrogate parent. We might as well have a ring on your finger~”

“A-Are you really okay with that? What if the others misinterpret it for something more?”

“Well, let them think what they want. After all, if it makes you happy, then I’ll gladly make them understand that their opinion on the matter isn’t relevant and should be kept to themselves. Will it make you happy?” she asked, not willing to budge, her smile a gentle and kind one.

“Y-Yes… yes it would… even if they misconstrued it… I don’t think it would make me sad… It might even…. Might even make me happy…” Haru whispered as she blushed brightly.

“Ah~ Are you falling for me, Haru-chan~?” she teased, expecting the girl to deny her vehemently and push her away.

“M-Maybe….” she whispered, looking at her nervously as she shifted in her arms. The answer caught the woman off-guard only to make her laugh and grin, pulling her closer.

“Well, it happens to everyone it seems!” she told her with a grin. “But who knows? Maybe I’m falling for little Haru-chan, too~” she giggled before looking back at the man. “We’re done here. If you say a single word about anything that happened here, I won’t send Robin Hood to clean up, I’ll send Loki.” She turned as the man soiled himself and pulled her sweet blushing friend along with her.

“S-So… does that mean that…. You and I...?” Haru began, looking a bit hopeful.

“We can definitely think about if that’s something we want...but let’s leave that big decision for when we get home and into our room, okay?”

“O-Okay…..”

“Goro, go in there and pay the man for the ring. Bring a bit of Robin Hood to the table to remind him not to speak of what he saw and heard in there today. Haru and I will be going to get some ice cream.”

“As you wish, my Queen.” The male bowed and headed in while slipping on a mask that Haru couldn’t see much of, just that it was red. When the male rejoined them later, he looked happier and euphoric, like he’d as health treatment while gone.

“You really must send me on more Robin Hood missions, My Queen. They are entirely too much fun!” he hummed as he approached them.

“I’ll consider it. I thought you’d grown bored of them, though?”

“Ah, well, if those are the ONLY things I do, then yes, I can get bored…. But Robin Hoods here and there aren’t bad,” he assured her as the woman nodded.

“I’ll prepare one soon enough then.”

“What’s a Robin Hood mission?” Haru asked innocently. The group tensed and stayed silent for a moment while Makoto thought on a good excuse.

“It’s where he goes after bad rich people and legally makes then enrich the poor they’ve wronged.” The group nodded, even as all of them thought to themselves that the stalking and psychological warfare the male did to make those rich people go slowly insane and pay up was a less than legal means of going about it.

“How do you do that?!” she asked, looking amazed.

“I appeal to their innermost desires and show them how charity will cleanse their souls,” he responded with a smile so innocent that it chilled his lovers and reminded them of how much they were lucky to have him on their side.

“Wow~! You must be really persuasive, Goro-kun!” Haru praised as she missed the shiver the others had.

“Oh, I’m extremely persuasive~” he told her before looking at Akira and winking. “Aren’t I, Akira~?”

The male chuckled and kissed his lover briefly to quiet him. Haru watched the exchange and briefly wondered what a kiss with Makoto would feel like. Makoto caught her staring at her lips and chuckled to herself. “What~? You want some of this ice cream that badly~?” she teased as she spooned up some more of her own ice cream and put the spoon to her lips. “Then eat up~”

The poor pregnant woman blushed and took the bite, acknowledging that this was an indirect kiss and wondered if this was how Makoto’s lips tasted. “Oh! Th-there’s some watermelon taste to that chocolate ice cream?” she wondered aloud as she realized the odd combination.

“Ah, my lip balm tastes like watermelon~ Sorry~” she teased happily. “Let me have a bite of yours!” she reached over and stole the girl’s spoon, trying some of the ice cream and moaning softly as she found the girl’s own unique lip balm flavoring overriding the ice cream. “And you’re wearing grape today, aren’t you? Strawberry ice cream doesn’t taste like grape~”

Haru blushed and nodded. “Y-Yes, I’m wearing grape today….”

The four males watched the women in varying degrees of envy, but refrained from butting in. The group soon headed on back to the car and towards the doctor’s office… but Makoto was noticeably more physically attached to Haru, holding her even more intimately and even pulling her onto her lap in the car. It was all Haru could do keep herself in line.

When they arrived at the doctor’s office, all males were required to stay in the waiting room and only Makoto went back with her. “Do a check up, doc, and an ultrasound on her. She’s about four months pregnant. Her first two months were malnourished so be careful,” she warned as she hugged Haru a little more before letting go so she could get on the scale. “Haru, this is Doctor Takemi. She’s never been wrong about an illness and has impeccable skills. She’ll also be your midwife. After all, she just delivered Shiho’s babies.”

“Oh… Were they pretty babies?”

“Yes, they were very pretty… You can tell that Kurusu is the dad, though, but it’s really cute because one child looks a bit more like Shiho-san and the other looks a bit more like Ann-san,” she hummed. “But you know… that’s probably because of a certain string puller making sure that I used two eggs instead of one~”  the woman coyly insinuated as she looked at Makoto. Makoto busied herself by looking at Haru instead. “I have no clue what you’re talking about Tae.”

“Ouch, okay, I get it. No need to pull that one out,” the doctor pouted as she began taking note of Haru’s vitals and general information. “So far so good, but still a bit underweight for this far along. Tell that boy to beef up the protein and fat just a little bit. He’s not giving her enough to continue to bulk up, just enough to maintain which isn’t what she needs right now….” She patted the exam table and pulled over the ultrasound machine.

Haru got onto the table and pulled her shirt up, exposing her flawless stomach and blushed as Makoto instantly began petting it. “Makoto-sama…. I can’t do the ultrasound with your hand in the way,” Tae huffed, for once making Makoto jump a little.

“Ah, right…” It took a few minutes for them to find the child, but when they did, Haru gasped, recognizing the child on the screen even before Tae began pointing out the head and the feet.

“It looks a bit underdeveloped for this stage of the game, but it did have a bad start. It may be born premature even if you carry it to term… or it may be born late. Either way, I highly suggest you give birth in the clinic and not in the house. I know it’s not the preferred way, Makoto-sama, but it’s the healthiest way for her, in case something goes wrong. I’ll work on acquiring some neonatal units and making sure that I’m ready for whatever possibilities there are…. But otherwise, it looks to be fairly healthy. The heartbeat is strong and as you can see, it’s wriggling around a little. That’s a good thing. Let’s see…… looks like the placenta is good and well-stocked, a  positive sign…. And no other abnormalities…. Come back in a month and we’ll see if it’s developed enough to tell if it’s a boy or a girl,” she told them as she pulled the machine away and worked on printing a copy of the ultrasound as Makoto lovingly cleaned off the woman’s stomach.

“Thank you, Doctor Takemi. Haru, do you need a few minutes?” the leader asked as she stared down at her captive while she cried, staring happily at her ultrasound picture. All she got back was a nod. The two sat there, Makoto rubbing Haru’s back while Haru cried into her shoulder, holding the picture for dear life.

Chapter Text

When Haru calmed down, Makoto cleaned her face up and led her out to the waiting room where all four boys looked up instantly and blanched at her red eyes.

“Calm down, boys, it’s just a classic Mommy’s reaction to seeing her baby for the first time,” Makoto told them calmly even as she rubbed Haru’s back gently. “Let’s get home. It’s been an exciting day. Oh, and Akira, up the fat and protein content of the meals. She’s still not up to weight. I expect a nice meal an hour after we get home and a snack to tide us over in the meanwhile.” The men around them bowed, Akira stepping forward with an extra low bow.

“Yes, My Queen.” With that the men led them out and into the car. The two women were left to relax together in the back the whole ride home.

“So… are we really going to discuss…. us when we get home?” Haru asked, looking up at the woman who had done nothing but make her happy and comfortable for the last two months, who had respected her and made her feel special.

“Of course, Haru-chan, I was serious back there. I want to see where we stand now… after all, I haven’t ever felt like this with anyone else,” the brunette leader admitted as she curled in closer to her chosen woman. The smaller woman was left to blush and fiddle with the hem of her skirt, a blossoming of hope within her chest.

“Th-then I look forward to it,” she promised before glancing up at the gorgeous smile that Makoto was giving her. The rest of the ride was quiet as they just enjoyed each other’s presence. As they arrived home, Makoto diverted them from the bedroom to the kitchen, following Akira.

“We’re getting a snack first,” she reminded Haru at the confused look on the woman’s cherubic face.

“Ah, a snack would be good…” Haru agreed, twirling a curl slowly, leaning into Makoto’s chest a little more boldly than before. Akira watched the two out of the corner of his eye as he cut a few apples for them, sighing to himself sadly as Makoto smiled in a way he only ever saw directed to Haru and then pulled the woman closer, gently stroking her stomach, a serene look on her face. A part of him boiled angrily at the thought that someone other than his friends or himself would steal away Makoto’s heart, but the overwhelming portion of him was bittersweetly happy that his first love was finally finding someone to make her happy. He poured some honey into a dipping cup and put everything onto a platter, carrying it to Makoto with a smile.

“Your room, my Queen?” he asked, the sadness he felt coming through his words a little bit despite his best attempts to hide them. Makoto looked at him, his eyes saying what she thought she’d never hear from the male who had always been closest to breaking her shell. Go be happy. I give up completely. Congratulations Makoto. She nodded absently as she watched his face, the look of accepted resignation and the tiny, bittersweet smile on his lips as he left ahead of them.

“Is Akira-san okay?” Haru whispered as she looked up at the woman.

“I think…. I just broke his heart a second time…” she whispered sadly, a bit of vulnerability visible on her face. Haru turned in her arms and pulled her in for a hug.

“Oh Makoto-chan…. Makoto-chan… it’s okay! I-it’s… it’s something that they all acknowledged has to happen. C-Come on… it’ll be okay…” she promised as she stroked the taller woman’s hair. Ann walked into the kitchen at that moment and froze at seeing her boss clinging to her little pet, her shoulders shaking, and a small hiccup coming from her hidden face. The blond slowly backed out, but Haru saw her and glared at her, a look that made Ann’s blood run cold and made her run out of the room silently and guard the door from any others coming in.

“It’s okay Makoto-chan… just let it out… Just relax and let me comfort you like you’ve comforted me,” she cooed sweetly, rubbing the taller woman’s back. It wasn’t long before both were in a heap on the floor, Makoto crying her eyes out into Haru’s shoulder, her sobs small and almost unheard, but still there.

As Akira came back from delivering the snack to the room, he looked sad and upset, but surprised when he saw Ann blocking the kitchen door. “What’s up Ann?” he asked, stopping in front of her.

“You’ll have to wait a bit. The kitchen’s closed under Queen’s orders. Just… wait. Going in now would make her very upset…” Ann looked down, sighing sadly as she leaned against the door jam.

“Are…. are they in there kissing and…?” he asked, trailing off as his heart looked even more broken.

“Kissing? No, not at all! But… the Makoto Nijima in there isn’t the Makoto Nijima you and I are allowed to see… She’s not wearing her boss mask right now and it’s bad enough that I and Futaba saw it… She’ll be really upset if you see her like this, too… So just wait here and act like you were stopped here just talking with me.” The look on Akira’s face told her that he suddenly understood and knew he was the cause of the problem. Ann sighed and hugged him gently. “Why don’t you go find Goro-kun and ask him to make funny faces for a while? I’m sure Futaba will-”

“Oh, Akira… Thank you for delivering that. We’ll be taking our leave and will be back in an hour or so for a proper meal,” Makoto told him as she came out, eyes even redder than usual and hand tucked safely in Haru’s.

“Yes, my Queen,” he told her, instantly bowing after catching the redness and puffiness in her eyes. The women left and Ann embraced the male again, sighing.

“You silly man… You knew better than to hope… and yet you did… Come on, I’ll help you cook so it’ll go faster.”

Makoto and Haru arrived to their room without words as they tried to shake the sad atmosphere off. Even when they sat down and Haru snacked on the honey and apples, a melancholy stuck around.

“I knew…. I knew the moment I found someone I would love or marry that I would break a lot of hearts…. But it doesn’t help the pain of doing so…. I do love all of them… but I love them as family… and it’s very hard to hurt them, even if it’s necessary for their own good and for my own happiness going forward… They do so much for me, but still…”

“I’m honestly glad that you feel this way, Makoto-chan… It shows that you aren’t cold-hearted and that you know how to take others into consideration, even if there’s nothing you can do to prevent their pain… I don’t think Akira-san was mad when he had to give up again… If anything, if they truly love you…. Then they’ll give up and be happy for you. They’ll want whatever’s best for you and encourage you to get it. Don’t look at it as a negative thing… Just look at it like I do. This is a good opportunity for you to move on with your life and for them to get closure.”

The normally strong woman nodded, sighing as she tried to bolster her heart to stop her pain and sadness. “But that doesn’t make your feelings about the situation any less valid or real. You can show them a good face all day long, but at night, don’t be afraid to show me how you really feel. I feel like you hold a lot of stuff in and don’t relax properly… I want to be here for you and help you unload those feelings you can’t show them. Don’t hide anything from me and I’ll help you through all of it, okay?”

Makoto looked at the small pregnant woman smiling at her, stroking her hand gently to further reaffirm her words and smiled back softly. “Thank you, Haru… I’m going to take you up on that offer.” She pulled the woman’s hand up to her lips, gently kissing the back of it. “In return, I’ll continue to support your happiness and spoil you rotten. Together we won’t have any problems we can’t figure out, I’m sure.”

Haru blushed, but looked the woman right in the eyes, nodding resolutely. There was a beat of time where the two simply stared into each other's’ eyes before leaning closer and closer together. As they came within a breath of each other’s lips, Makoto paused, eyes mostly closed. “Are you sure about this?” It came out quiet and soft, but the words hit home hard for Haru.

“ Yes. ” With that, the normally docile and submissive woman leaned in and pressed her soft lips to the perfect watermelon-tinted lips. The meeting was a little rough, but quickly turned very gentle and shy as the two carefully began taking in the sensations and determining how they felt about it. For Makoto, she felt overwhelmed by how intensely she felt the woman’s gentle touch, unsure how to deal with such a tender feeling without hurting it. It made her feel nervous and even more cautious than normal. For Haru, she felt that the kiss was wonderful and very reassuring and that she was in control of it for the first time in her life. She slowly pushed a little harder and was pleasantly surprised to find Makoto squeaking and giving in to her touch, blatantly letting her lead this kiss.

It slowly dawned on Haru that this might be Makoto’s first kiss. The thought only spurred her on to put her hands on the small of Makoto’s back  and move closer, putting a bit more pressure into the kiss. A feeling of predation welled up slowly inside of Haru as the thought of making Makoto continue to squeak and wiggle around because of something she did excited her. She continued to kiss her a little bit more firmly as she searched for her goal. She was rewarded quickly with another squeak from Makoto who indeed did squirm and keen in embarrassment as she tried to process what was happening.

The two had to separate for air and the taller woman leaned back in her seat gasping and fanning herself as she continued to shift her legs some, confused by the heat within her. As she looked over at Haru, she knew something between them changed. The girl who had until now been so meek and unwilling to impose her will upon anything suddenly looked almost cocky and predatory. It made a shiver run up Makoto’s spine as her mind acknowledged that she was the prey in this situation.

“What in the world just happened?” she panted, looking panicked and dazed.

“We just kissed… and enjoyed it quite a bit if I can judge based upon the look on your face~” Haru teased, grinning slyly at her. “And I don’t think I’d mind doing it again~” Makoto couldn’t help the squeak that came forward as she hid her face, looking away.

“W-Wait! Wait a minute Haru! M-My heart can’t take all of this excitement at once!” she protested. Haru sat back in her chair and took another honey-covered apple slice in hand, eating it slowly, but making sure the first bite happened with a loud crunch, watching as the woman jumped and peeked at her.

“I can wait~” she elaborated, making the strong woman blush even more and hide her face more wholly behind her hands.

“How can you say such embarrassing things so casually Haru?!” she whined, suddenly feeling like a teenager again.

“Because~ you’re really, REALLY cute when you blush and hide like this~ I could say anything to make you blush like this and not feel any shame~” The strong-turned-weak woman only keened more and wriggled in place.

“Stop it!” she finally protested, looking over her now loosely-curled fists, staring at the woman who only grinned even more widely at the protest.

“Why~?”

“I don’t know how to handle this…. This weird feeling that makes me feel like I’m floating and drowning at the same time. I don’t know what’s going on…” she keened.

Haru giggled and moved into her lap, throwing her arms around the woman’s neck. “Silly, you’re supposed to just enjoy it and go with the flow~” She nuzzled their foreheads together before kissing her again, slowly, giving her time to get used to this change in their relationship and the sensations she was sure were overwhelming the poor woman.

For her part, Makoto couldn’t be more grateful at the gentler kiss. She still felt like she couldn’t breathe but she felt a little less overwhelmed. As the sensations began to calm down and she was able to decipher them, she found herself pointing out happiness, closeness, and an emotion she’d never felt before which made everything tingle and the points of contact between them sizzle like a skillet on low. It left her craving more and wishing to feel and discover more of Haru and her grape lip balm.

Slowly, the girls began pressing harder and harder together, their soft flesh easily conforming together as their bodies heated up. It was only when Makoto couldn’t breathe anymore that they pulled apart, Makoto putting her head on Haru’s shoulder, hiding her blush as she panted. Haru, for her part, tried not to think about how nice Makoto’s breath felt on her chest and collarbones, but it was a losing battle.

“You know, you keep breathing on me like that and I may have to give you a real reason to be breathless,” she panted lightly, trying to keep calm even as a redness began to crawl up her pale flesh from her chest.

“Huh?” Makoto asked, not moving from her spot, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion as her brain tried to work out what the words meant. The sound of Makoto’s breathless and unintentionally seductive voice overtook what little restraint Haru had, her chest, neck, and face becoming beat red.

“That’s it! You’re going to take responsibility for your actions, evil enchantress!” Haru whispered huskily into Makoto’s ear before leaning down a little and nipping at her neck, her hands suddenly wandering down the woman’s back to grip her rear in the seat.

“EEK! H-HARU!” Makoto squeaked, pulling back from the woman’s gentle nips as her hands went to apprehend the fingers sizing up her rear. The next thing Haru knew, she was the one in the chair, her hands held above her head as she stared up at a blushing, confused, and obviously disheveled Makoto.

“What were you doing?!” the woman asked, panting and trembling a little. Haru took a deep breath and reminded herself that this wasn’t going to lead to something painful.

“L-Let my hands go, please…” she timidly begged, her previous fire gone. Makoto was quick to pull back and sit in the seat Haru had previously occupied.

“S-Sorry, you spooked me and I couldn’t help it…” she whispered, trying to understand everything that was happening.

“N-No, it’s okay. I got carried away… but really… it’s not fair. You’re super erotic without even trying,” Haru pouted, her heart lifted up by how quickly she was let go and the lack of pain from the interaction.

“E-EROTIC?! ME?! H-Haru, don’t go saying such weird things! I-I’m not erotic!” she insisted, seeming to choke over the word. “I-If anything…. If anything, you’re the one who’s like that… I-I’ve never… never felt such things… a-and yet you seem really good with them…”

“Well, when you’re in a loveless relationship with a man who will never care about what you want, you start finding ways to get away mentally and books about romance taught me a lot… But it definitely feels better actually kissing someone who respects you and is kind to you… So… maybe we can continue that l-later?” she suggested, looking shy and hopeful.

Makoto couldn’t help her even darker blush that made her hide behind her hands again… but nodded. “Sl-Slowly… T-too much at once and I’ll pass out for sure!” Haru giggled and nodded back before leaning in and kissing each hand before pulling them down to gain access to her lips one last time, this a slow, gentle, lingering kiss full of tender emotions.

When they parted, Makoto was quick to push a honey-covered apple slice into Haru’s mouth to occupy her while she gathered herself back up. “Y-you’re so dangerous, Haru… You’re all cute and adorable and cuddly and then the moment I’m not paying attention you’re suddenly a seductress making moves on me,” Makoto pouted playfully, beginning to sort things out in her mind.

“Well~” Haru began with a giggle as she finished her apple slice. “It’s not my fault that you’re super innocent and cute and SOOOOOO tease-able! I could watch you blush all day and not get tired of it~”

“You’re cruel!” she huffed, but still leaned the girl onto her shoulder. “I really picked the most deceiving lover…”

“L-Lover… I like the sound of that… is that what we’ll tell the others we are now?”

Makoto took a long moment to think on that before nodding and looking down at her poofy-haired partner. “Yes, you’re my lover until I decide on whether or not to propose to you.”

“Well, you already gave me a ring, so I guess it’s just a matter of formality when you want to,” Haru giggled, not realizing how easily she’d accepted a marriage proposal before it was even made.

Makoto, though, noticed, and couldn’t stop her blush from intensifying yet again. She thought back to the intel she had on the woman and how it’d taken months and months and lots of coercing from her father and her ex-husband for her to accept the man’s offer.

She must really love me… ran through Makoto’s mind as she pulled the woman onto her lap again and hugged her tightly. “You’re too sweet, Haru.”

“Same to you, Makoto.”

The two spent the rest of their hour just hugging and cuddling as they adjusted to their new relationship status. When Makoto’s phone went off telling them dinner was ready, she was reluctant to release the woman, but knew she had to take her to food for their child’s health.

The two walked to dinner even closer than normal and the few people who passed them were surprised to see what was obviously two pairs of bruised lips. Before they even reached the dining room, a rumor about the two finally becoming an actual pair rushed around the house.

Akira saw them as he laid out the last of the food and smiled, although it was a bit sad. “Congratulations, Makoto-sama,” he told her as he retreated into the kitchen, his lovers already in there with Ann. “She’s definitely moved forward with her…” he announced, sighing sadly. “After all, she’s got small bruises on her neck and her lips tell a lot…” The group was saddened, but resolved not to make a big deal out of it for Makoto’s sake.

“We’d better go quiet the rabble down. I’m sure someone will try to say something and end up in the basement,” Ann huffed. “After all, Haru-chan doesn’t even know about our true jobs. What if someone says something about it and scares her away from Makoto-chan? Then we’d be in deep trouble.”

“You are not kidding. I can only imagine what kind of deadly disaster Makoto-sama would be without Haru-sama. They have been such good influences on each other lately that I cannot imagine Makoto-sama without her,” Yusuke conceded, sighing.

“Yeah…. But it still hurts… the one person who don’t understand how great she is gets her… It’s not fair…. But… I can’t say no to what Our Queen wants…”

“Ryuji-kun… don’t worry! I’m sure that we’ll find life even more enjoyable when they get closer. I bet- Oh…. I wonder if they even know how to have sex….” Ann pondered, looking suddenly concerned.

“E-Eh? O-Of course they do! I mean, Haru-sama’s pregnant and Our Queen ain’t stupid!” Ryuji protested, blushing like the rest of his lovers in the room.

“No. No, it may be a valid concern,” Goro chimed in, looking increasingly concerned. “Because they may only know of sex between a man and a woman…. But things are much different between two women. I know that sex between men is pretty easy to translate from sex between a man and a woman, but women are missing the main translation piece in that particular act.”

“R-really? Th-they couldn’t just…. Figure it out?”

“Do you remember when we first brought you to bed, Ryuji? You put your rear in the air and told Akira to put it in. You did not know lubricant and preparation are a necessity. There may be some intricacies in female copulation that we do not know about or that aren’t readily obvious to the inexperienced,” Yusuke explained, looking calm even as the male he spoke to blushed harder.

“Sh-Shut up! I-I guess…..”

“Well, it’s not that it’s something that could harm them like you guys forgetting lube, but it could definitely be a disappointing experience if they don’t know the main positions and the best things to do… Shiho and I will have to talk to them soon…”

“Thanks Ann. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it. Be sure to give them the site where you two order your toys so that they can get the most out of their bedroom time.”

“Yeah, I will Akira… But you know… I bet Makoto-chan will be a hell of a lot calmer and more relaxed around us after she finally gets laid,” Ann giggled. The rest of the group looked shocked or contemplative at her proposition.

“Most likely,” Goro agreed, nodding. “After all, what other outlet does she have to get stress out? Morning practice? That’s not enough.”

“Exactly! She’s going to be worlds more relaxed going forward!”

“We can only hope,” Akira sighed as he peeked out the kitchen door at the cute couple eating together, feeding each other. He watched as Makoto missed a piece of rice by her mouth, wishing he could remove it for her. Haru suddenly leaned forward and licked it up before kissing the woman. The way that Makoto blushed and hesitantly returned the kiss spoke volumes to the male who quickly closed the door, looking back at his friends.

“Makoto-sama….. Is definitely not the top in that relationship,” he announced, making everyone pause and look at him in confusion.

“How…. do you come to such an out of character conclusion?” Yusuke finally asked.

“Because Haru-sama is making the moves and Makoto-sama is the blushing mess unable to really react.” The group thought on it for a moment before all of them began heading out of the room and towards the security room where the moment Akira witness was already on loop on one of the monitors, Futaba watching in awe.

“Wow…. so she really is the bottom!” Ryuji blurted out.

“I think Haru-sama being a top is pretty surprising as well,” Goro hummed as they watched the two in the dining room. Makoto and Haru were done with their meal, but Haru seemed insistent upon kissing Makoto even as Makoto backed away, blushing and hiding her face. The next thing they knew Makoto was pushed down on the ground, Haru over her and kissing her entire face.

“M-Maybe we shouldn’t have been worried about them not knowing what they’re doing…” Ann quietly suggested.

“No, they definitely don’t know what they’re doing past this. Look, Haru-sama doesn’t know where to put her hands.” The group groaned, but acknowledged that the couple would need help. Suddenly Makoto was up and carrying Haru to her room, blushing and keeping her face mostly hidden in the girl’s shoulder.

“Ah, she probably remembered that the dining room is a public area…” Futaba realized.

“Oh well, let’s just let them have their time together. After all, we were about to become voyeurs right there.” The group agreed and disbanded from there to begin quelling rumors and instilling the correct fears and behaviors into their lower-ranking family members.

The women in the rumors went to their room. Makoto took them to the ensuite bathroom and sighed as she put the woman down. “Come on, let’s wash up and then put lotion on you. It’s starting to get late.”

The teasing woman she’d set down nodded and left the woman alone as she undressed and began their bathing ritual, aware that if she pushed too far too fast, she could harm their relationship.

The lapse into their normal routine helped calm Makoto’s frayed nerves and she looked more happy than ever to just have a bath next to her favorite person.

“If I ever do anything that upsets you or that you don’t like, please tell me. I’ll do the same for you, Makoto. I want this to be the relationship I should have had with my husband.”

“I’ll be sure to tell you… but honestly, we can’t do anything too intimate outside of our rooms and the baths… Th-there’s… there’s cameras all around the house f-for security reasons and so…. If we went any further in the dining room we’d be giving someone a show…” she told her, blushing brightly again.

“O-Oh! I didn’t have any idea that that was the case… I’ll be more careful next time,” she assured her, smiling softly. “But… maybe tonight… if you’re up to it…. Do you think you could help me put lotion on my breasts as well? You do such a good job with my stomach and I don’t think I’m all that good with getting it as well-worked in as you are…” The women blushed at the suggestion, but Haru wasn’t let down.

“O-Of course I’ll help you… After all… you deserve to be cherished,” she reminded the woman. Haru grinned and hugged her gently.

“And you deserve the same. Here, lean back. I’m going to wash your hair, okay?”

“Ah, sure… Be gentle, my head’s sensitive.”

“Of course!” The two relaxed as the smaller of the women washed her lover’s hair slowly and with gentle, nimble fingers. When finished, Haru smiled at Makoto and the two got out, drying off carefully and then heading to the bedroom to dress and lay down together, their normal routine. The only difference was this time, Haru didn’t get any lotion on her hands to work with. Makoto began with her normal worship of Haru’s stomach, making sure nothing would be missed. It was only after she was satisfied with that that she added more lotion to her hand and looked at Haru for permission which was quickly granted.

Slowly, hesitantly, Makoto’s soft, but firm hands began to press lightly on the sides of one growing breast. She allowed her fingers to massage in the lotion to the base of the breast tissue and worked diligently. The woman never noticed the way her partner bit her lip or shifted her legs through the whole ordeal until she’d worked her way up to the erect nipple. Blinking, she began working lotion into it as well and was rewarded with an extremely erotic moan that made her pause.

Glancing up, the brunette was greeted with a sensual expression on her lover’s face, one that spoke of need and desire, but a reluctance to stop her from her work. The queen allowed herself to continue her work, but her eyes now stayed glued to Haru’s face even as she moved to give the other breast the same treatment. Watching the emotions and desires play along that normally cute and innocent face caused heat to pool deep inside of Makoto’s stomach. Without realizing it, the woman was also shifting around, finding the minimal friction she received to be enough to continue edging her up on this wonderful, frustrating emotion.

As she finished with the lotion, she found she wasn’t yet done playing with the woman and took one nipple in each hand, rolling it between her fingertips carefully, watching to see what the optimal pressure was. Despite how narrowly focused she was on Haru’s expressions, she saw when the woman’s hand moved from gripping the sheets to snaking between her legs. She allowed a tentative hand to release its captive and overtake Haru’s hand, beating her to the area between her legs. She wasn’t sure of what she was doing, but the gasp she’d gotten from the woman encouraged her.

So she began rubbing at the front of the woman’s panties, wondering if that was what she was going to do. Finding no real reaction there, she kept moving further down until she reached something that made Haru cry out and spread her legs wide for her. She was about to ask if everything was okay when she felt a hand down between her own legs, surprising her. Her words died on her tongue as her lover found the same little bud she’d just found, making the woman cry out and press harder on the woman’s bud while unintentionally pinching her nipple. Haru moaned more, finding the sensations wonderful.

Haru moved her fingers up and down the quickly moistening underwear her lover wore, making sure to hit that little bud with every pass and to push in as far as she could go with the panties as she passed over the deepest part of her entrance. Makoto couldn’t do anything but writhe about on the bed, her fingers mimicking Haru’s. It didn’t take long for Haru to near completion. She took the woman’s lips with her own and used her tongue to pry her mouth open, both of them moaning into each other’s mouths as Haru encouraged Makoto’s tongue to dance with hers ‘til the end. When her end was only moments away, she found herself unable to be still and then the next thing she knew, she felt Makoto’s bare fingers gliding over her bud and then down, deep inside of her until she’d taken in all of Makoto’s two stroking fingers.

She cried out in pleasure and was quick to push her lover’s underwear away, thrusting her fingers deep into the woman as well, pressing her thumb to the woman’s bud as she pumped her fingers in and out of the tight entrance. She felt her lover copy her moves and screamed as her end finally came, her body tightening and spasming all about. Her fingers curled inside of Makoto, her thumb pressing more firmly against that special bud until the body she was pleasing finally gave in and let the pent up pleasure Makoto felt flow free, sending her jerking and spasming as well.

The two laid there, twitching and panting as they recovered from their ordeal. Haru removed her fingers first, receiving a shiver from Makoto who followed suit. “Th-that… that was… amazing~ ” Makoto finally gasped out. “What did we just do?”

“Well… I don’t know if it counts as sex, but that was definitely something sexual… It felt so good…. C-Can we do that every night when we do lotion time?” Haru asked, grinning sheepishly.

“I think we may have to… That was… so amazing… We-” The woman was cut off as her phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand. She sighed and let her head fall onto the woman’s shoulder. “There’s only a few people who can get through on that line this late at night. I’m sorry, I have to take it.”

“It’s fine. Go ahead. I’m not going anywhere,” Haru promised, stroking the woman’s hair. Makoto nodded and pushed herself up some, grabbing her phone.

“Hello? ….Ah, yes…. Really? Well- …. I-I suppose that’s true….. W-Wait! Sh-She doesn’t even- S-Sae-nee! Pl-please! I-..... Alright…. Alright, I understand. That was irresponsible of me… Yes, we can arrange for it to be the day after tomorrow…. Yes, thank you Sae-nee… I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.” She hung up and fell back onto the bed with a disturbed look on her face.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” Haru asked as she curled up to the woman, cleaning her lover’s hand with a tissue.

“Yes and no… my sister’s coming to visit the day after tomorrow…. And she’s insisting on meeting you…. And talking about things I’m not comfortable talking about yet.”

“Oh… well, I don’t have to be there when you two talk about it…. Or I could be there when you talk about it if it would make it easier on you.”

“No, we’ll be talking to you about it… and I’m not ready yet… but she’s right… It’s something we should talk about sooner rather than later… but nothing will come from worrying about it now. Let’s… let’s just get some sleep and enjoy as much time together as possible, okay?”

“O-okay… Good night Makoto…. I-I… I love you…” she whispered at the woman, who in turned stroked her hair and held her closer.

“I love you, too, Haru.” And I hope you’ll continue to love me in three days, she thought to herself with a troubled frown as she tried to drift off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The gang leader found her sleep fitful and often found herself waking up that night just to hug her lover closer, worried about where they were going to end up after her sister came. By the time the morning came, she was exhausted and upset, but unable to really do anything but stare at her lover’s sleeping face until she woke up.

“Good morning,” she whispered softly. She was greeted by a yawn and a stretch that warmed and hurt her heart. I may never be able to see this kind of thing again….  She thought to herself mournfully as she pulled the woman closer, rubbing her stomach to comfort herself.

“Good mornin- What’s wrong Makoto?” Haru asked, instantly able to tell something was wrong.

“Just didn’t sleep well is all,” she promised, nuzzling her shoulder.  “It seems like you did, though, and that makes me very happy,” she insisted quietly.

“I see… Well, a nap in the gardens today would be pretty nice, right?”

“M-Maybe, but… I just want to spend time with you today.” Haru smiled and hugged her tightly.

“You’ll have me all to yourself today!” she promised with a bright grin that helped the woman relax some.

“Yes… I will, won’t  I? Let’s get ready and go get some breakfast for our baby,” she told her as she carefully, slowly released the woman, her lingering touch not escaping Haru’s notice. She simply grinned happily and nodded to her.

The two dressed like normal, Haru asking  for more help and more touch than normal to help her lover’s distress. It seemed to be working for the most part. By the time they left the room, Makoto’s worry seemed to be a minor nagging problem that Haru tried to drown out by touching her and leaning into her as much as possible.

When they reached the dining room, Haru paused, frowning. “Sorry, give me just a minute. I don’t think my bladder was quite empty enough this morning. I’ll be right back. Will you fill my plate up for me? Thank you~!” she cooed as she leaned down and kissed the woman before dashing out of the room and down the hall before pausing and looking up. She frowned when she couldn’t see any cameras.

“Hey, security person. I know you can hear me,” she called out. “Have Akira-san put a sleeping medicine in Makoto’s lunchtime drink. She didn’t sleep well last night and honestly I’m not sure she did at all. I want to make sure she gets an afternoon nap, okay? Thanks!” She turned and headed back with a sigh as she entered.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to those sudden bathroom trips,” she complained as she plopped down carefully next to Makoto, leaning into her heavily. She smiled when she felt a hand on her hair and saw her plate full. “Thank you Makoto~!” she chimed as she kissed her lover’s chin gently before leaning forward and beginning her morning feast.

The couple spent the intervening hours cuddling and otherwise glued together in a drawing room that Makoto would often use for its comfy couch. Every time she began to nod off, she would jerk up and look around like she’d been shot only to calm down when Haru sweetly smiled at her and stroked her head.

By the time lunch came, Futaba, Ann, and Akira were in on the plan and executing it carefully. There were extra precautions to make sure that Haru wouldn’t end up drinking the spiked coffee and would instead drink the smoothie that they had made for her.

“Futaba said you looked a little tired, Makoto-sama, so here’s some coffee, your favorite way~ Of course, Haru-sama, I would offer you some as well, but I heard caffeine can be bad for the baby so I made you a smoothie instead which has all of your pre-natal vitamins in there so don’t go sharing it,” Akira chided kindly.

The woman nodded and smiled at him before kissing here lover’s cheek. “Look at this lovely lunch~! Akira-san is so good at cooking!”

“Yes…. He is very good at cooking,” Makoto murmured as she began drinking the coffee. Haru ate her lunch quickly.

“Let’s relax in here for a bit after this, Makoto, I love the pillows in here! Besides, it’ll take a bit for me to drink this smoothie even after I let it melt some.”

“I don’t see an issue with that if that’s what you’d like, Haru,” she murmured as she drank the coffee a little more deeply. The meal proceeded slowly, but as it did, Makoto began to lean towards Haru more and more. Haru grinned and eventually began to scoot back and offer her lap to Makoto. The woman was unable to resist and soon was asleep peacefully in the girl’s lap. The small woman took a few minutes to make sure the woman was deeply asleep before carefully transferring her lover’s head to a pillow and stroking her hair for a few more minutes.

Once she was comfortable with her lover’s state of sleep, she stood quietly and headed to the kitchen, her every move incredibly silent. Akira stood at the counter, preparing some chicken for a crockpot meal when something sharp pressed gently to his neck and a petite hand covered his mouth with a vice grip.

“Thank you for helping her nap. Now, you’re going to do exactly what I say or you’re going to make Makoto VERY unhappy… and I’m not putting up with unhappiness any longer. Am I understood, Akira-san?” she asked softly in his ear, a hiss that reminded him so much of his boss when she worked her magic. He could only nod carefully, grateful when the hand left his mouth, but still wary about the knife at his neck. “Good. Now, get your phone and call ‘Sae-nee’. I’ll do the talking so just put her on speaker phone.”

The male knew he could easily overpower this slip of a girl, but the shock of such a docile woman suddenly flipping on him and so radically kept him from doing anything other than her orders. The phone rang three times before a woman answered curtly. “Kurusu-kun, if this isn’t important-”

“Hello Sae-san,” Haru began cutely. “I’m Haru Okumura, Makoto’s lover. Now, I know you’re coming over tomorrow to talk with us, with me… but I don’t like how you’ve stolen Makoto’s smile with whatever you want to talk about tomorrow. Instead, I think you and I should have a quick chat right now, get the whole ordeal out of the way while Makoto naps, and then when  you come to talk tomorrow I can make sure that whatever you say, I can react  to it perfectly to make her happy.  Tell me, what were you going to tell me?” she asked, smiling cutely even as her hand began to shake as it held the blade to Akira’s neck, nicking him just a tiny bit.

“.......How did you get Kurusu-kun’s phone?”

“He’s right here. We’re on speakerphone right now, but I don’t think he wants to talk right now. You see, he’s not in the happiest of positions. But he could be back to his humming happy self if you would just hurry up and tell me what you were going to tell me tomorrow.”

“.....”

“S-Sae…. Do it!” Akira hissed, feeling the blade bite in just a tiny bit more.

“I see… well, she was supposed to tell you tomorrow, but I suppose it can come from me. She’s the leader of the Nijima Clan, the most powerful yakuza family in this city. She has killed before and she was the one who arranged for your husband to die. You were brought to her home as payment for saving you from him and your father is reforming his company to ensure that you don’t have any bad experiences there and that he can still see you… Makoto has also been known to use unsavory means to get information that the police need but cannot legally extract…. Now, was it something that you wanted to hear from me?” she asked calmly, but well aware that this phone call could be the last time she talked to Akira.

The line was quiet except for their ragged breathing. Slowly, slowly, the knife left Akira’s neck and the pregnant woman dropped it in the sink with a loud clatter as she slowly headed to where the first aid kit was. With shaking hands, the woman grabbed it down and came to the stunned man. The phone line stayed silent as the woman tried to keep an ear out for what was happening. It was only when the rubbing alcohol hit Akira’s wound and he hissed that things began moving again.

“KURUSU! KURUSU! Are you okay?!” the woman called out as the male moved back some, finally looking down at the oddly calm woman’s face.

“Don’t move. It only makes the disinfectinng take longer,” she softly cooed, coming closer again. He stayed where he was and let her disinfect his wound, nervous, but knowing that Futaba had to have had everyone else already there and ready to stop her again if she tried something.

“I’m fine Sae-san. I-I think this is r-resolved…. M-May I hang up, Okumura-sama?” he asked, well aware that she could flip again without a word.

“Hmmm… After we say goodbye, of course! I look forward to meeting you tomorrow for the first time Sae-san. Let’s pretend this little chat never happened. And Akira, really, don’t ever ask a clutz like me to bring you a knife again! Such a dangerous thing should never happen again!” she chided as she applied a bandage. The male swallowed and nodded.

“Ye-Yes, Okumura-sama. It won’t happen again. Talk to you later Sae-san.”

“Yes… I look forward to meeting you as well, Okumura-san.” The line went dead and the girl turned around, heading for the door to the dining room, surprised to see a number of people standing in the tiny kitchen, all with weapons poised at her. The calm look on her face suddenly turned frigid.

“If you want to continue living after tomorrow, you’ll move and pretend nothing ever happened. This is my one chance at happiness and I will eliminate anyone who gets in the way or upsets that woman in there!” she snarled, glaring at each person in front of her. No one moved for a heartbeat before Ann stepped to the side and began putting her whip up.

“Well, seems like Makoto-sama really knows how to pick ‘em!” she announced nonchalantly. Those closest to the boss began to move, but the backup lackeys stayed, unsure if they should move or not for the tiny woman who surely couldn’t harm them. The first male found his ankle in searing pain as Ann snapped her whip at it. “ Move! ” she snarled at them, making the rest of the men tumble over each other to get out of the way. Haru began to move towards the door again, but Akira came forward and partially blocked her way.

“Are you really okay with this?” he asked softly. She stopped and looked at him for a long moment before smiling softly, nodding.

“I knew she had to be involved in the yakuza somehow, but it’s just a bit more directly than I guessed… and how could I not be happy about her freeing me from that man while reforming my father? ...Besides, I feel like her feelings towards me are genuine and that’s all that matters to me.”

The male stared at her before bowing and moving out of her way. She walked into the room and took over her place as the woman’s pillow, waiting for her to wake up. She was just as happy to see her wake as she always was, despite her newly revealed past.

“Hello sleepyhead! You missed the action,” she pouted. “Turns out, I’m no good in the kitchen for anything but tea. I went in there for a drink and Akira-san asked me to bring him a knife as I came by, but I tripped and it was terrible! I nicked his neck! He was bleeding! It wasn’t deep or anything, but I’m not allowed back in there around sharp things at all…. And here I thought I’d gotten rid of my clumsiness… but I suppose you always keep me balanced and on point~” she giggled, smiling at her.

“A whole bunch of people showed up, too! I guess they thought I was trying to hurt him, but why would I? After all, who would make us such delicious meals and make those guys happy if something happened to him?!” she asked, watching as her lover listened with growing concern. The next thing she knew, Makoto was hugging her stomach, huffing as she continued to assure herself that the woman was okay.

“No one hurt you, right?” she asked.

“No one hurt me! Akira-san caught me from falling and made the others understand that it’s  all okay! I patched him up and I think he’s in there making the chicken for dinner!”

The woman sighed in relief and stood, pulling her closer. “Come on now. Let’s go relax in our rooms before dinner,” she told her as she led the woman up and out of the room. Haru didn’t complain and cozied up to her happily. The moment they arrived in the room, Makoto was gently stripping the woman of her clothes.

“M-Makoto! Don’t start something you don’t mean to finish!” she huffed.

“If you’re unharmed, I’ll finish it,” she promised, looking at her with an intense stare that made the woman blush a little. “Th-this time you’re going to lay down and I’m going to make you feel good first,” she pouted, letting her kimono fall open.

Makoto nodded and looked her over thoroughly before relaxing and smiling at her. “Good… I was worried I’d have to hurt my friend for being too rough with you.”

“Not at all! He’s very gentle… but I think you’re gentler~ I think you’re absolutely perfect, Makoto~” she hummed before kissing the woman before she could speak. “And red really looks the best on you.”

Makoto blinked and smiled at her softly. “You’re so sweet.” I want to keep you forever, but I don’t know if you’ll leave me after tomorrow. The woman pulled her closer, kissing her gently. Haru brought her hands up and began gently pulling on her kimono.

“You’re the most amazing woman, Makoto… Stay with me forever, okay?” Makoto looked down at her beautiful lover and smiled sweetly.

“If you’ll have me, I’ll definitely stay with you forever.” She lifted her hand and dragged her finger up from the bottom of the silky black bra that the woman was wearing until she peaked at her nipple where she pushed into the soft material, grinning at how Haru shivered and suddenly gained that same predatory look on her face from the night before.

“It’s your turn, Makoto. Go lay down on the bed and leave the bra on the floor, okay~?” she whispered seductively, running her hand over her lover’s cheek. The strong woman blushed, but nodded, slowly following the orders given to her as she tried to understand how such a meek woman could become so commanding and so persuasive when it came to bedroom matters.

As the taller woman dropped her bra off to the side, she looked over her shoulder at the woman, blushing brightly. “Sh-Should I leave my… underwear on as well?” she asked softly, unable to help the way her voice became husky as she spoke, her embarrassment keeping her meek.

Haru watched her and growled as she watched her, grinning at her. “Leave them on…” she purred, watching the woman nod and head back to her journey onto the bed. As she climbed on, she unintentionally put her rear high in the air as she crawled up the bed from the bottom. “I’m going to enjoy watching you squirm~” she purred as she came forward. “Lay down and spread your legs for me, Ma-ko-to~ ” The woman on the bed keened and laid down, squirming a little bit as she tried bring herself to open her legs.

Haru watched her as she struggled to overcome her embarrassment. Makoto keened again but couldn’t bring herself to do it. Haru took a long moment to watch her before grinning and jumping onto the bed and crawling up the bed to hover over the suddenly shy woman. “Don’t worry~ I’ll make you feel good,” she promised as she leaned in to kiss her gently, a motion to reassure the woman of her safety and love.

The two relaxed into the kiss as Haru’s small and soft hand reached down to stroke her lover’s breast gently. Makoto jerked and made a small sound of surprise but otherwise didn’t move away. She could feel that terrible, wonderful fire from the night before heating her up and making her wish she could enjoy the amazing pinnacle again, but unsure how she got there last time.

Haru didn’t have such confusion and was quickly leading her lover forth into her journey with gentle massaging touches. “Makoto… my perfect lover… You’re so cute and sexy~ Do you even know how much you excited me by turning as asking if I wanted you to take your underwear off, too? I almost pushed you down right there!” she admitted almost absentmindedly  as she nibbled the woman’s ear and trailed small bite marks down the column of pale flesh on Makoto’s neck.

“I-I didn’t do it t-to e-excite y-you… I-AH! Ah~n! Th-that! That’s good!” she moaned as Haru pinched her nipple, tugging on it a little bit, her thoughts derailed.

“Listen to you~” Haru cooed happily. “Already learning how to tell me what you like~ Come on! Moan more~ Let me hear what you like!” she demanded, a commanding tone in her normally docile voice. All it did was make Makoto feel that same wetness and fire from the night before even more.  Her body became more receptive to the slowly more demanding and confident touches it was receiving. It didn’t take too much longer to get aother moan to slip free, releasing a small but steady stream of those sounds as her lover took her time discovering every nook, cranny, and scar on Makoto’s body with excruiating detail as she headed down towards the woman’s legs.

The two moved closer and closer to that same fire from the night before, but a moment before Haru could reach her destination, a loud knock resounded from the large door. It opened just a hair, Akira’s voice calling out.

“Makoto-sama! Pardon the intrusion. We have an emergency!” he called out before closing the door again. It wasn’t a moment later that Makoto was off of the bed tossing her kimono on quickly as she walked out of the room, barely modest.

“Haru, stay there! Don’t leave the room!” she calmly commanded as she walked out, her mind all business as the door closed.

The poor pregnant woman was left sitting there bewildered and mostly naked on the bed, wondering how things changed so quickly. Slowly, Haru came to accept that the two of them wouldn’t be getting off any time soon and went to dress. Time began to sluggishly slip around her as she stayed in the room, her worry beginning to worm its way in like the grains of sand in the timeglass in her head.

Dinner time came and went, no word nor food coming. Before the pregnant woman knew it, it was time to bathe and she found herself in that too big hotspring all alone, rubbing her stomach. After she washed, she headed back to the bed and absentmindedly rubbed lotion into her stomach and breasts, remember the sensations of Makoto’s hands, wishing her lover was back even as sleep overttook her.

It was around four in the morning when the door opened and the lights were flicked on. A blur of motion and sound followed before a heavy weight fell to her side. When Haru’s soft brown eyes opened, she found that her lover’s face was there next to her. She smiled until she noticed the red on her cheek. With a frown, she reached out and wiped it away, only to see that there was a wound producing that red. Alarmed into full wakefulness, the woman sat up and took in the rest of her lover. Pale beautiful skin was revealed to all in the room, a splatter of bright red on the woman’s side.

An urge to scream welled up inside of her as she watched hands touch her lover’s body, pulling her this way and that way, making the red disappear  momentarily. A sliver of silver with a trail of white which quickly dyed itself red flashed before her eyes over and over again, disappearing into that beautiful pale flesh and reappearing, only to do it again. The red continued to be wiped up by white between flashes of silver emerging from the flesh she’d only just learned the softness of.  

When the red stopped coming and the silver and white stopped flashing before her eyes, she saw that creamy skin be covered by an ugly swatch of white that very slowly dotted itself red before being covered by more white. It was only when someone’s hand touched her cheek that she realized it was wet and that her hands were shaking violently. She looked away from that white patch to where the hand originated from.

“M-Ma-a-ak-kk-o-ooo-t-t-toooooooo!” she sobbed as those beautiful red eyes greeted her.

“What are you crying about? I’m fine. Akira patched me up nicely. I’m fine, Haru,” the woman assured her. There was nothing she could do but hold the woman as she cried and sobbed herself right to sleep.

“Do you think this is the beginning of the end for us, Akira?” Makoto asked her friend as she looked at her lover who had reacted so badly to a small two inch gash.

“I think it’s the beginning of your real relationship… But I don’t think it’ll end. After all, look at how hard she’s holding onto you.” The two of them looked at the way the woman clung to her lover’s shoulder. “It’s probably just her first time seeing a loved one injured.”

Makoto nodded and sighed, knowing she really couldn’t hide herr occupation from the girl any longer. “Make a huge breakfast tomorrow. We’ll be late coming down,” she promised before carefully curling into her lover’s embrace. “Good job today, Akira. You’re even better than a few months ago.”

“Well, after all, my boss is having a baby~” he teased, smiling as he headed for the door. “Someone’s gotta make up for the extra protection the baby will need from its parents.”

“Thanks Akira,” she murmured as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Morning caught Makoto off guard as the sensation of being stripped was what woke her. She opened her eyes and grabbed the hand that was pulling the fabric off so quickly. She was grateful that she used a moderate grip - one to stop, but not hurt - when she saw that it was her obviously distressed lover who was undressing her.

“You know… you could always ask and I’d get undressed for you anytime, Haru,” she softly told her, letting her hand go to trail up the woman’s arm to her face. There she gently stroked the smooth skin.

“This is why my sister wanted to have this talk happen,” she told her with a sad sigh as she sat up, staring her distressed lover in the eyes, hating the look of them so upset. “Come on, let’s get dressed and then go have breakfast. After breakfast we can talk… especially because you didn’t get dinner yesterday. I’m sorry, but no hands could be spared to cook,” she explained as she watched her unresponsive lover.

Haru couldn’t comprehend how her sweet Makoto was sitting there like nothing had happened, like this was a normal occurrence. Her eyes fixated on that untreated cut on Makoto’s cheekbone, wondering how anyone would ever find it in them to harm her. Even as the words her lover spoke registered in some distant portion of her brain, Haru couldn’t help the swirl of thoughts centered on never allowing harm to come to the woman again.

It was only when Makoto pulled her into a hug, stroking her hair and humming to her that she realized she was crying… again. Unlike last night, though, these were tears of rage, tears of anger, tears that promised revenge.

“Who….” she began, her voice shaking between her tears and her anger. “Who had the GALL to dare lay a mark on you?” she asked, shaking even more as her anger finally found a solid form.

“Don’t worry about it,” Makoto murmured as she held the woman tighter. “We need to get dressed and get some food in you. You don’t want to starve our child, right, Haru?” she coaxed, not letting go of the woman.

“Where is the person who did this to you?!” she demanded, though her threatening aura was put off by how she was still being held to her lover, much more like a petulant child than a bloodthirsty vengeance-seeking woman.

“You can’t see them, Haru… I think they’re either already six feet under or just waiting for the hole to be dug. Don’t worry… anyone who puts a mark on me and spills my blood ALWAYS ends up six feet under…. Unless it’s you~” she teased, trying to lighten the woman’s mood and gain her compliance.

It took Haru a long moment to process the information around all of the anger clouding her mind. When the knowledge hit, she calmed down and began letting out big, gusting sighs as she let her body come down from the frenzy it had just been about to fly into. The small woman went boneless into her lover’s arms, carefully hugging her.

“Let me use the bathroom and then we can get dressed,” she acquiesced quietly. The pair got off the bed, and true to her word, Haru went to the bathroom and came back quickly. She was surprised and slightly embarrassed to see Makoto standing in front of the bathroom door stark naked with her arms and legs spread wide.

“Go ahead. Check me over. Those two were the only wounds,” she announced. Despite her sudden shyness and blush, Haru made sure to double-check the woman carefully over. When her inspection was finished, she gently laid her hand over the red patch of gauze on her lover’s side.

“Doesn’t this need changed now?”

“Yes, but you can’t do it,” Makoto gently chided. “You’re pregnant and while I’m sure Akira sterilized the wound well enough last night, I’m not about to risk you or the baby getting sick. Let’s go scrub your hands.” She pulled the woman back into the bathroom and pushed her gently into the sink, using her larger frame to reach around her and turn the water on. Haru wanted to protest, but the way Makoto took her hands in hers and gently began scrubbing them with her form pressed so close shut up any complaints she’d had. She enjoyed the hug-like hand-washing and told herself she’d demand extra pampering tonight after all of the talks happened to make up for the stress of the last few days. She doubted Makoto would complain at all.

When she came up from her thoughts, the two of them were already dressed and Makoto was kissing her gently on the lips, almost like a goodbye. Hating that tepid kiss, Haru threw her arms around her lover’s slight shoulders and demanded a much deeper kiss by crushing their lips together passionately. She didn’t let up until Makoto stopped holding back and returned the kiss just as deeply.

“Don’t kiss me like we won’t be kissing tonight. Nothing could make me more anxious… unless you think there’s a reason you won’t be returning to our bed tonight….” The worry and anxiety reflected from one face to the other before Makoto gave in and laid her head on Haru’s thin shoulder.

“You may not let me sleep next to you after today,” she whispered, half-hoping the woman wouldn’t hear it. Unluckily for her, Haru heard it loud and clear and pulled her closer.

“Don’t say that kind of thing. There’s no way I would tell you not to sleep next to me… I love you, Makoto… and no matter what you do, you haven’t ever done any of the things that would scare me away from you. After all, you don’t drink, you don’t do drugs, you don’t hit me, and you don’t abuse animals or children. What could you possibly have done that’s so bad that you think you’ll lose me?” she asked, hoping that Makoto would catch on that she didn’t care about the woman killing.

Makoto just shook her head and turned from the woman, taking her hand with a sigh. “Let’s just go have breakfast…. And if you still love me after today I’ll be sure to pamper you like crazy for last night’s scare, okay?”

“I will  still love you after today and I will take you up on that offer so give me a big kiss and let’s go get breakfast!” she demanded, smiling when Makoto turned around and kissed her. The kiss still wasn’t what she wanted, but she figured she would get plenty of hot kisses tonight after they went to bed.

The two walked down the halls, but it wasn’t the normal view. Only a few feet away from their room there were burly men all over replacing panels in the walls and floors, obvious knife, sword, and blunt object holes all around. All of the men seemed to be a bit worse for wear, but none of them failed to stop what they were doing and bow deeply to Makoto.

“Good job last night, Queen-sama.”

“Thanks for the save last night, Queen-sama.”

“Please rest up today, Queen-sama, we’ll clean up.”

The praise and respect kept going until they reached to dining room, a frown on Makoto’s face to see that they wouldn’t be having breakfast alone. A tall silver-haired woman sat at the table sipping coffee calmly.

“Ah, Makoto, good morning. This must be the little birdie I’ve heard about, Haru Sugimura-san, right?” the woman asked, intentionally choosing the wrong name. She raised an eyebrow at the way the small pregnant woman flinched and hid behind Makoto, looking hurt and fearful.

“Sae-nee, I thought I told you the other day that she prefers Okumura and that we were going to get that paperwork  put through the office to get it officially changed,” Makoto scolded as she put an arm comfortingly around Haru’s small waist. “I’m sorry for her rudeness. Haru, this is my older sister, Sae Nijima. Sae-nee, this is my lover, Haru Okumura.”

Sae stood and bowed to the pregnant woman. “My apologies, Okumura-san, I had forgotten about that little fact. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that I met you as that man’s wife at dinner.”

“A-Ah, I’m sorry, I don’t remember having met you, but… I didn’t really pay any attention to those dinners that my deceased husband took me to. It’s nice to meet you,” she told her as she bowed as low as she could without straining her stomach.

“Alright, enough with the formalities. As you can tell, we had a bit of a scuffle last night and Haru didn’t get to eat dinner last night - and she really never should skip any kind of meal,” Makoto insisted as she steered the woman to the table. As they sat down, Sae stared intensely at the woman, trying to figure out how she had been the woman in the video from just the previous day.

“I-Is there something on my face Nijima-san?” she asked politely, hoping the woman would leave her be.

“I just can’t see how you’re the kind of person who can handle this kind of life.”

“Wh-What kind of life?” the small woman began to feel a bit nervous, her hands clasped in her lap as she tried not to tremor.

“The kind-”

“ Sae-san! ” Akira announced as he walked into the room, food on a platter. “I make you coffee and breakfast and you try to spoil it by talking about really unhappy things. Come on! Let the cute couple have breakfast before you start bringing down the mood…. Unless you want to come help me in the kitchen.” Despite his friendly tone of voice and smile, his eyes were yelling at the woman to shut up before he did something about it.

The woman simply smiled and returned to her coffee. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

Akira huffed and began setting food down, almost all of it in front of Haru. Only two plates were spared, one for Makoto and one for Sae.

“Haru-sama, please eat as much as possible, okay? You didn’t get dinner last night and I heard from Dr. Takemi that your baby is underdeveloped as is, right? I made sure that these would help you bulk up while being nutritious so please don’t hold back and don’t share, ” he told her even as he directed the last portion to Sae who looked a bit mischievous. Haru nodded nonetheless, smiling at him.

“Thank you… and thank you for your help with Makoto last night. She wouldn’t let me help her this morning so if you could please help change her bandage again-”

“Makoto, you were wounded?!” Sae cut in, looking livid as she looked at the woman.

“Yes, I was. This nick on my cheek wasn’t just from the air. Don’t worry, your people are already disposing of those two.”

“You never get hurt though… what distracted you?”

“Ann and Shiho’s twins,” she admitted, sighing. “Some idiot was trying to get in there. Ann was already busy and Shiho’s still not recovered from birth enough to get off of the bed, let alone hide,” she admitted sadly. “But better me than those children any day.”

“I watched, Sae-san, she definitely gave them five times the normal punishment for harming her. I doubt their families would-” Akira paused in his words, realizing there was one person there who was pretending not to know what had happened. When he looked at her, he grimaced at seeing her look nauseous.

“M-Makoto… what happened here last night? There’s…. So much damage here but… I didn’t hear anything….”

Makoto sighed and pushed a plate towards the woman, frowning when she just stared at the meal, appetite still not there.

“Well… it wasn’t how I wanted to tell you…. But last night we were being raided by the only other yakuza gang in the vicinity that can rival  us…” She let the words sit in the air, nervous as she watched the woman, the rest of the room uneasy as they watched the nervous expression on Haru’s face, watching as her shaking, trembling hands went to her stomach to shakily rub it, the tension in her fingers making the soft digits look  like badly misshapen claws.

“So…. last night…. You were fighting people…. In our home…. Because they attacked us?” she asked, looking down at her stomach.

“Y-Yes… that’s exactly what happened… and….. I killed a lot of the people who entered our home intending to harm our family….”

The room went silent for a long while, the silence suffocating all in the room until Haru turned to her lover and slapped her, a cold look on her face.

“It’s one thing to kill people outside of our home, but it’s a completely different subject when you kill someone inside of our home!” she yelled.  “As the woman I love and as the leader of everyone here, it is YOUR duty to make sure that this kind of thing never happens! We should never be INVADED! How can I raise a child here to be happy and carefree if you can’t provide a basic level of protection?! Shiho-chan should NEVER have to worry about having to leave her bed when she’s weak from childbirth! She should never have to fear for her children’s lives in her own home! What kind of boss are you that you allow this kind of atrocity happen in your own house?! I’m fine with you killing and killing your enemies, but letting them invade our home? Letting them get THAT close to your vulnerable members?! HOW DARE YOU?!” she demanded, standing up angrily. “You DESERVE those wounds! -And more! How could you be so lax as to allow those people who want to hurt us INTO our house?! I am LIVID! Take your meal and GET OUT of our dining room! Do NOT come back to our bed until you have dealt a DECISIVE blow to their confidence! I want PROOF! Until then, you are NOT allowed in our bedroom! I will bring you some clothes and whatever you need out, but THAT is your punishment for letting our home be invaded, for letting people mess up our pretty house, and for DIRTYING the floors where our child will run with UNWORTHY blood!” she finished, panting and shaking as she stood there. The room stayed quiet, Makoto still as a deer in headlights and Sae and Akira gaping like fish, silently betting themselves on the outcome.

“ Well?! ” Haru snapped, glaring at the woman heatedly. Makoto snapped to attention and quickly grabbed her plate, looking ashamed.

“Y-You’re right Haru… I-I’ll go and begin fixing this right now…. I’ll make sure every panel with blood on it is removed, burned, and replaced.”

“Don’t burn them!” she snapped angrily. “Clean them and then recycle them! But you’re right. I don’t want even a tiny speck of blood to be left for our child to accidentally find!”

The strong woman nodded, bowing low before rushing out of the room with her plate in hand like a kicked dog.

The silence continued on for a few more seconds before Sae began chuckling and Akira fell to his rear.

“There we go!” Sae announced victoriously. “A woman who can stand on par with my sister! I approve! I don’t think I could have scolded her better myself!” she cheered, grinning.

Haru took her seat frowning. “Really now… I didn’t think she was that irresponsible,” she huffed.

Akira continued to gape at her as she finally began eating.

“How in the world did your ex-husband ever get away with abusing you?” he asked without thinking. The room grew tense again and the woman set her fork down.

“It’s amazing what a difference both strength and weapons can make… Makoto could never hurt me like he did… She could raise a sword to me and never hurt me like he did… but the main difference comes from the fact that when I married him, I had already been victimized and taught to be a victim with no other alternative… But when I came here, Makoto showed me that being a victim is all about the circumstances you’re in. She showed me what it means to be alive and to be a free person, even if I wasn’t free. She constantly reminded me that I mattered and that whatever I want I can have. She allowed me to make decisions…. And gave me what I needed. So it’s not surprising that I feel comfortable fighting for our happiness and for reprimanding her when she makes egregious mistakes that could endanger our happiness… It will be painful to be away from her for so long but… But she must know that this is not acceptable… and we’re in an equal enough relationship that I can do that without fearing a few hours of being beaten and otherwise victimized….” she explained as she continued to eat. “Now, could you please go help the clean up effort? I would help if I wasn’t pregnant.”

The male nodded, leaving quietly, a soft, “I’m sorry to bring up those bad memories,”  floating behind him.

“You’re a lucky woman,” the remaining occupant of the room said, slowly picking at her food. “Makoto and I work together to clean up the crime around this city… Your husband was on my list of perps that I would have eventually been able to nab. If that had happened then you would have either died or been imprisoned for his crimes as an accomplice, despite never doing anything. Your complacency would have been enough.”

“To be fair, I didn’t pay enough attention to what he did to know that he was doing anything wrong other than being a slimeball and a terrible person at home. Especially when I got pregnant. I couldn’t do anything but fear for the child’s life and future. I wished for his death every morning and every night… and then Makoto and Goro-kun answered my prayers. It was like a miracle…. And then Makoto was so nice and sweet… and I hope that she stays that way after she fixes her mistake… But I’m worried she’ll shut me out because I acknowledged her other role… I really don’t want to have to crack that shell, but I will if I have to.”

“When she comes back, just continue to be her weak and cute little bride. I’m sure that’s all she’ll need to feel comfortable with you again,” Sae told her smiling as the woman began eating a bit faster.

It wasn’t long before breakfast was over and Sae excused herself, leaving Haru alone. Haru wandered back to her room, noticing how every person she passed bowed to her, even if they were busy. Part of her wanted to shrink down and run from them, the fresh memories of her deceased husband making her uncomfortable. Another portion of her wanted to stand tall and acknowledge and be worthy of the respect they were laying at her feet. She nodded to each and every male as she headed to her room to find Makoto standing outside of the room ordering men around and making sure that they understood their orders.

Haru completely ignored her as she headed into the room and grabbed seven kimonos out of the closet along with undergarments for her. She then headed to her old room and laid them all on the bed, stopping by a male who bowed to her.

“Tell Makoto that her clothes are in this room. Thank you.” She turned and headed down the hall without waiting for his compliance, missing his confused, but accepting facial expression. Haru headed back into the room and locked the door, heading for that hotspring that was too large. She allowed herself to cry unhampered in the large room, wallowing in loneliness at the prospect of not having Makoto by her side of her own volition. It’s required for the safety of our child, she reminded herself over and over again.

When lunch time came, she wiped her eyes, dressed, and headed to take her meal, wondering if she would have to scold her lover again. To both her relief and disappointment, she didn’t see the woman there, just a mountain of food for her. Her lunch was quiet and lonely. When she finished, she headed for the garden, disappointed to find that glass had shattered in it and that she wouldn’t be able to go there. So she headed for her room to wallow the hours away until dinner when she was again greeted by a lonely room and a food-filled table.

The woman laid her head down that night, sighing as she massaged lotion into her skin and couldn’t remember feeling this lonely before, her heart aching for her lover.

That was how her next four days went, quiet and lonely except for the workers around the house fixing it up, but even they gradually disappeared until the halls and the gardens looked like they had before the incident. She paused in a hall on the fourth day and looked up.

“Hey, security person…. Is Makoto doing okay? Is she eating well and sleeping? I just wanted to scold her for letting that happen, but I do still worry about her… especially since I haven’t see her at all…. If she’s okay, let me know somehow, okay? If not, let me know as well… or rather, have someone come get me and I’ll make sure she rests and eats.”

To her disappointment and relief there was a note on her bed as she returned to her room for  the evening stating all of the times that Makoto had eaten and what she had eaten as well as a sleep log. The woman could only sigh and do her pre-bed ritual.

Another week passed, the woman finding that she couldn’t sleep well anymore and that her appetite had all but disappeared. Still, she ate all that she could before feeling sick and laid down at the same time each night. It didn’t stop her from losing weight and losing it fast. By the beginning of the eighth day, Haru was had lost so much weight she looked like she’d lost a month of pregnancy. A knock resounded on the door, waking her up from her terrible sleep. She’d only just sat up when the door opened, Makoto walking in looking tired, but happy.

“Haru, I-... Haru? Have you been eating?” she asked, looking concerned as she came in, trying to get a better look at the woman.

“Every day at every meal,” she affirmed, feeling her resolve weaken as she saw her love. She held back her tears, though, and did her best to look authoritative. “So, where’s the proof I need?” she asked as she straightened her back.

“R-right here. We didn’t want to burn their home down since you didn’t like the idea of burning the wood panels with their blood on it, so we demolished their house instead. Here’s the proof.” She held out a picture showing a large house crumbled into the ground.

“We raided the house beforehand and kidnapped all of the children and the women who didn’t fight back so that we could make sure innocents weren’t harmed. Akira and Ann are interviewing the people we kidnapped to see if they were there of their own voli-” The woman stopped talking as Haru threw her arms around her neck.

“I get it. Now help me get to breakfast. I demand a month’s worth of cuddles and hugs and kisses for all the trouble I had to go through without you. I shouldn’t’ve had to wait so long…” she pouted, clinging to her lover.

“No…. you shouldn’t have…. I’m sorry it took so long Haru… but we made sure that everyone knew what happened and what the consequences are of messing with our home. No one will be stupid enough to come bothering us for a long, long time,” she promised as she hugged the woman, pulling her into her arms and relaxing as she finally got what she had worked so hard to get. Makoto lifted the woman into her arms and began carrying her to the door. “My sweet princess-consort Haru, I promise you that with my powers as Queen, our child will NEVER have to worry about attacks on our house and that you can rest assured what happened that night will NEVER happen again.”

“Good,” Haru huffed, curling into her lover more, not even aware that she was still in her nightgown.

When they arrived in the dining room, Ann and Shiho were there, grinning like crazy with two small bundles in their arms.

“Good news, Haru… it’s time to meet Shiho and Ann’s babies,” Makoto whispered in the woman’s ear, watching as she perked right up and looked around for the children. Ann smiled and stood, coming to them with the child that looked more like Shiho.

“Good to see you again, Haru-chan… Meet Hana-chan,” the woman cooed as she lifted the child up enough for the woman to see. Haru patted Makoto’s shoulder as she stared at the baby, waiting until she was set down on a pillow to reach out for the child. The baby made an excited coo and reached for her as well, Ann carefully transferring her over, a small look of nervousness on her face. Haru took the tiny child into her arms and revelled in her small, but sure weight. The baby looked at her with Shiho’s eyes and cooed again, reaching for her fluffy hair. Haru gave her her hand instead, smiling sweetly at her, especially the way the child latched onto the digit and didn’t seem inclined to let go.

“Aren’t you just a sweet little bundle Hana-chan?” she asked as she leaned down nuzzling foreheads with the child. She received a loud squeal and a gentle pat on the face as the child gained excitement from her new connection.

“I hope you and your sister get along with my baby, too, as you grow up,” she whispered softly to the child, smiling brightly, a glow of motherhood beginning to wax onto her face. She spent a few more moments cuddling the child before looking back at Ann. “May I meet your other child as well?”

“Of course,” the happy mother hummed as she carefully extracted her newborn from her friend. Shiho exchanged children and let Ann take the smaller child with Ann’s features over to the girl, grinning as she stroked her baby’s blond hair.

“My perfect little pair~” she cooed as she began handing the sleepy child off. “This is Ami-chan. She’s a bit sleepy, but she’s a sweetheart as well,” she promised as she finished passing the child off.

The baby opened her eyes as Haru carefully adjusted her in her arms. To her surprise, this child also had her mother’s eyes.

“Are you sure they aren’t just copies of you two?’ she giggled as she smiled at the baby.

Ami looked up at her and scowled for a long moment before blinking and suddenly clasping the woman’s nightgown, whimpering a little bit. “Ah, there there, little one,” she whispered to the child, beginning to gently rock her some, glad when the baby gave a small grunt before settling down and securing more of a hold on the woman.

“Oh my~ Seems like she’s got a favorite,” Shiho giggled, smiling as she watched the two. Ann clutched her hands into loose fists, trying to hold in her nervousness.

“N-Not more than her own mothers, though, right?” Haru looked up and smiled reassuringly at her.

“I’m sure that’s not possible. If anything, I bet they can just sense that they have a playmate coming and are trying to get on my good side so that we’ll arrange more play dates,” she told her, glad she’d said so when the woman calmed down and nodded.

Makoto went to Shiho to quietly greet and hold Hana… and the view was too much for Haru’s heart. As she watched the woman smile and commune with the baby, Haru’s tears began falling rapidly down her face as she absolutely grinned. Ann was the first to notice, suddenly nervous all over again. “H-Haru-chan? A-Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes…. I…. I just…. Can’t wait to see Makoto holding my baby like that!” she told her, a sob breaking through at the end, opening the floodgate for more sobs and tears. Ami looked up at her and patted the woman on the chest three times before settling in again to continue her nap, only making the woman giggle as she cried, pulling the child closer.

“Well, if it makes you feel better Haru, I can’t wait to see you holding your child either. I think I’ll have such a wonderful time just watching you that I’ll feel bad whenever I take the child from your arms even for a second.”

“But it’ll be worth it!” she told her, beginning to calm down, especially as Makoto handed Hana back to Shiho and came to embrace the woman.

“Now, give Ami-chan back to Ann and feed your baby,” she instructed softly, rubbing the woman’s belly. “It needs food to grow and develop so that it can meet us.” Haru nodded and smiled and she tried to hand Ami back to her mother only to be met with resistance. The child whined and clung to her vehemently.

“H-Hey now… You have to go back to your mommy. I need to eat Ami-chan.” The baby still refused to let go.

Makoto reached around and gently tapped the baby’s hand, smiling at her over Haru’s shoulder.

“Hello Ami-chan… could you please let go? You’ll make Haru VERy happy if you let go and let her feed her baby… and your own mothers will cuddle you so much you don’t even notice that Haru isn’t holding you.” The baby looked up at her for a long moment before letting go of Haru, watching her with rapt attention as she was taken away until Ann distracted her, the baby clamping onto her and giving a little grunt as she wiggled into her place.

Haru smiled even as she continued to cry, Makoto gently wiping those tears away and directing her attention to the food on the table.

“Hold me, Makoto,” she softly demanded as she began piling food onto her plate. Makoto was all too happy to curl around her lover, hugging her tightly before rubbing the growing stomach she’d missed so much.

Their meal was a quiet one, Ann and Shiho removing themselves and the babies from the room without fuss. The women didn’t even move from their seat on the large pillow as Haru finished eating, just cuddling and staying as close as possible. It wasn’t until some time later that Makoto realized her lover had fallen asleep, a smile on her face.

“She’s been eating…. And she’s only left about a plate, maybe a plate and a half at each meal, but she’s been very stressed, sad, and lonely,” Akira told her as he leaned on the doorframe to the kitchen. “I just watched the footage and she’s been walking around here like she’s been missing her other half -  which I suppose is true. I’ll keep adding more and more fattening healthy foods to her meals… So keep her happy, maybe invite her father over sometime soon and tell him about your relationship? It may help her become happier again sooner.”

Makoto nodded, hugging the woman closer. “I still just can’t believe she actually slapped me…. And yelled at me… but I deserved it. I might as well have been playing with a loaded gun in the same room as her with how reckless I was…. I’ll bring her to afternoon training with me tomorrow so that she’s not lonely, but I keep my skills up.”

“I’ll make sure you have some good opponents. I know Goro loved our recent mission and is pumped up, but Ryuji would really be a better match for you if you’re going to fight in the same room as her. After all, he’s still a bit hard-headed and bad at any sort of strategic fighting. It will be a good show of the people you usually fight.”

“But I’m not going to be doing it for show. I’ll be doing it to get better.”

“And if you care about her and her ability to handle the reality that you’re a boss of yakuza family, you won’t be so cruel as to fight an assassin who has the ability to mentally mess her up as he fights you just to mess you up,” he reasoned, watching a the woman paused and thought the words over well.

“Not to mention I want to be able to trust her to Goro-kun at some point if I ever need you on a mission with me… It would be wise to keep him away from her when we’re fighting. He can get a bit into it, too, so it may end up actually harming her. I’d really hate to have to kill my assassin for hurting my lover.”

“Exactly. I’ll go make sure that Ryuji keeps his afternoon open… Yusuke as well. Those two should be good enough for you to get a work out while she comes to understand this side of you.”

“Thank you Akira. I know it’s unfair to ask you for help when-”

“Not at all. I’ve pledged my life to you and I’ve made it my mission in this life to make you happy above all else. I wouldn’t have the happiness I have now without your kindness and your strength… So any bit of strength, advice, or help I can give you that will increase your happiness is simply repaying that debt… Besides, I’m hoping someday that you want a child of your own body to be a sibling to this one and that I can put a little portion of myself in you that way~” he told her grinning as he watched her blush lightly. “I’ll go see what those two are up to now.”

“Akira! ...Would you…. Be willing to be a donor so that I can have my egg put in Haru someday?”

The male smiled fondly at her and nodded. “I’d even be willing to donate enough to let you have as many children as you two want with either woman’s eggs. Anything to make you happy, my Queen.”

She smiled at him and rubbed Haru’s stomach more, a motherly glow alighting her face as well. “I see… then I guess I’ll have as large of a family as Haru wants and is willing to give me… You’d better be ready to help babysit them when we need a moment, though!” she told him as she smiled up at him.

“Of course~ Me and my lovers will ALWAYS help with the babies of this household.” Makoto smiled as he left, her lover still sound asleep.

“We’ll have a good life from now on, Haru,” she promised her as she relaxed with the exhausted woman.

Chapter Text

When Haru awoke, it was lunch time and her lover was kissing her gently on the lips. “Good morning…” she murmured as she raised a hand to rub away the sleep from her eyes.

“Good afternoon Haru… It’s time for lunch. Come on, you need to eat to get back the weight you lost.” The sleepy woman gave a small grunt of acknowledgement before turning in her lover’s arms, blinking slowly when she saw food right in front of her. Without much thought, she leaned down a little and began lazily shoveling food into her mouth, much to her savior’s mirth.

“Come on, eat properly. Wake up and eat properly, Haru.” She was met with a resistant whine and the girl’s fluffy head meeting the wood of the table as the woman continued to lazily shovel food into  her mouth without even realizing she wasn’t even chewing it. Makoto sighed and pulled her up off the table and pulled the fork from her hand. “Chew and swallow what you have in your mouth before you fall back asleep,” she lightly chided. To her surprise, her beautiful girlfriend did just that.

“I guess she hasn’t been sleeping very well lately. Sorry Akira, could you wrap this up and keep it for when she wakes up?” the male standing a few feet away nodded, chuckling at the peacefully sleeping woman in his boss’s arms.

“Of course. Why don’t you two go lay down and rest up?”  Makoto nodded to him, standing and heading to their room to relax with her sleeping loved one.

As she entered her room, she couldn’t help but wonder if Haru would be okay. Pulling out her phone, she texted her favorite family doctor and requested she come whenever was convenient for her. A text came not long after, announcing that the woman would be there first thing in the morning.

The hours slowly passed by the couple before Haru woke up, sitting up quickly, staggering out of bed and meandering purposefully to the bathroom. When she came out, Makoto sat on the foot of the bed, smiling. “Food?” she asked. The curly-haired woman nodded and headed out with her, walking with determination to get food.

“After food, I need some serious Makoto cuddling in the bath!” she announced, glancing at her hostess, wondering just how needy and demanding she could be before she angered the woman. Her heart lost some of its worry when Makoto’s face lit up, her red eyes flashing with excitement. “Yes~! Let’s definitely cuddle in the bath~!”

The couple ate in a contented silence, neither wanting to stem the flow of food to the baby. On their way back to their room, Haru quietly grabbed Makoto’s hand, wondering if she would be upset with the action. To her relief, she seemed just fine with it… but a part of Haru was growing a bit nervous and insecure. After the woman had come back, she had yet to initiate any contact with her lover that wasn’t prompted. Haru recalled how possessive and protective the woman was before their tiff and how she would always initiate touch, but something had changed… and her lover was no longer being as touchy as she was accustomed to.

Maybe I’m just being silly… I’m sure she’ll do it soon… Once in their private bathroom, Haru hesitated to take her nightgown off, wondering if Makoto would do it for her like she always did… but the woman just undressed first and then worked on the water. Haru silently pulled her nightgown off and waited, trying to keep her hurt off of her face. The woman got into the bath and smiled at Haru, offering her arms for the woman to use as she got in. “Come on. The water’s prefect.”

The young mother nodded, carefully getting in with her love’s help. To her dismay, those hands disappeared instantly once she was safely seated in the large bath. They soon returned with shampoo and the bathing portion of the bath began.

Makoto washed her hair and then moved to wash her lover, but felt that she shouldn’t do it, given how sullen and distant Haru seemed to be after she woke up. Makoto couldn’t help but wonder if Haru was still mad at her and if their relationship had been changed for the worse when she broke her love’s trust by not protecting their home well enough. She handed the soap to Haru instead.

In much the same way, the two tiptoed around each other as they bathed and then relaxed in the bath, Haru having to lean into Makoto to enact the cuddling portion of their lovey-dovey bath. By the time the two got out of the bath, both were sad and ready for sleep to make it better.

As they laid down in bed, Haru silently hoped her lover would take over lotion duty again, but as she pulled her nightgown up, Makoto handed her the bottle of lotion, hoping she would insist on her doing it. Both girls hurt each other with the action as Haru took it to mean that Makoto didn’t want to do it anymore and began the process herself. The two fell asleep that night face away from each other, both hurt by the turn of events and unintentional slights.

Morning found them wrapped up together, desperately craving their lover’s affections. Makoto woke first, feeling guilty for invading her lover’s space when obviously she didn’t want the contact. Haru awoke shortly later when the bed began to cool next to her. She found Makoto just coming out of the bathroom and hid her frown from her by pretending to yawn. The woman headed to the bathroom as well without greeting her, continuing her fake yawn as it turned into a real one.

Makoto dressed while she waited on her lover, a dress picked out for her when she came out.

“Good morning, Haru. Did you sleep well?”

“I guess… but I’m still pretty sleepy…” The taller of the two offered the kimono that she knew the woman would have trouble getting into alone and hid her frown when she simply began dressing, struggling her way through tying the difficult obi. When she failed for the third time, Makoto sighed and came to help her, wishing the girl would just ask for help. Haru heard her and tensed, worried it was a sigh of annoyance. The walk to breakfast that morning was tense and quiet and without the physical contact the two both desperately wanted, neither wanting to anger the other.

In the dining room Tae was waiting for them, a scale already set up. “Good morning Okumura-sama… Please get on the scale.” Haru looked close to tears as she got on the scale and saw that it indeed was very unpleased with her.

“You’ve lost a lot of weight… I heard from that kid in there that you’ve been eating pretty well…” The woman sighed and pointed to the food. “Just means you’ve got the kind of metabolism that runs fast when you’re stressed. Also means this pregnancy just became even more high-risk.” The couple in the room tensed at hearing that, Makoto wearing an angry look on her face that only stressed Haru out even more.

“As such, I’m going to be coming every week, maybe more often if things keep going badly. After you eat, I have an ultrasound machine set up in one of the rooms. We’ll go see if your kid’s been affected.” Although neither woman said anything in return, it was understood that there was no way either of them were going to miss this ultrasound. “Ah, and Kurusu wanted to talk to you, Makoto-sama. Better hurry up if you wanna make it to the ultrasound.”

The woman nodded and left the table, going to see what Akira wanted. Tae sat at the table, staring disinterestedly at Haru. “So…. what changed? You two were all over each other back in my office…”

Haru frowned and set her fork down again, looking at her stomach sadly as she fought back tears. “I…. I yelled at Makoto and slapped her for letting our house be invaded…. And I think…. Now she’s upset with me… especially since I banished her from our room and my sights until she made sure it wouldn’t happen again…. I think I messed up my one chance at happiness….” she whispered sadly as she tried to fight off the tears that rushed down her cheeks.

The doctor could only whistle at the idea. “You’ve got guts, kid… But I doubt that’s the problem here. You sure she knows she’s forgiven?”

“Of course she does! I let her back into my life when she showed me proof! ...But she doesn’t seem to like me anymore…. I think I was too forward with her and that she wants a quiet, delicate wife who doesn’t criticize her or step out of line….”  she admitted with a heavy heart. Tae stood, huffing and rolling her eyes.

“That’s absolutely stupid. There’s just no way,” she scoffed as she headed for the kitchen. What she didn’t realize was that her words were taken the completely wrong way… and the small, insecure woman silently stood and headed to the front door, a door she rarely visited… but that she passed through easily enough… and before long, the cute pregnant woman was gone into the streets of Tokyo in nothing but an elegant kimono.

“I’m telling you- Ah, Takemi-sensei… how is she?” Akira asked, cutting off his talk.

“In tears,” she simply said, watching as Makoto’s eyes widened. The woman rushed forward, but was caught on the doctor’s arm latching around her waist. “Because she thinks you hate her,” she finished, catching the woman’s attention. “And that you want a quiet docile wife who never steps outta line and doesn’t criticize you… Tell me… why would she get that idea, Makoto?”

“I don’t know why!” the woman huffed, looking at the doctor with annoyance born from worry.

“Well, you haven’t been very affectionate with her in the halls that I could see,” Futaba quipped as she looked at them over her shoulder as she waited for her food to heat in the microwave. “You’re nowhere near as touchy-feely as you were before the raid,” she pointed out calmly.

“Wh- B-But! I haven’t been forgiven yet! I can’t just go cuddling her like I want to because she’s  the one still mad at me !”

“That’s not how she sees it,” Tae sighed as she shook her head. “She said you were forgiven the moment she allowed you back in her life… Look, regardless of the way it happened, you two are caught in a weird misunderstanding and you need to go talk to her. Ask permission to touch her if you need to, but seriously, go make this right.”

The yakuza boss, looked frustrated, but nodded, heading into the dining room only to stop in the doorway. “What are you waiting on?” Tae asked as she came up behind the girl only to freeze as well.

“Wh-where is she?” the girl asked as she left the kitchen into the dining room. Futaba poked her head out to see what was going on before frowning.

“I’ll go see if she went to the bathroom. That’s probably what she’s doing.” The group calmed at the  suggestion and waited for the short girl to ring back in… But when she did, Makoto’s blood went ice-cold. “ OH SHIT!!! MAKOTO-SAMA SHE LEFT THE GROUNDS!!!! ” the girl screamed as she watched the surveillance tapes.

Within minutes every person in the house not caring for a child was looking for the woman who had escaped. Ryuji was the first to catch wind of her and it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He had Makoto on the phone as he began running as fast as he could.

“Hey! She’s been dragged off by some heavily tattooed men. I’m going after them now. Near Shibuya Square, heading north!” The male gasped as he rushed on, ending the call so he could focus on finding their vulnerable lady.

By the time he found the alley they’d taken her to, it was too late, they were already in a car, the woman clearly struggling in the backseat. He watched as a man punched her in the face before she sank down beneath the view of the window. He had only a moment to snap a picture of the plates before the car turned the corner and was gone. He sent the picture to Makoto and leaned against the wall gasping and crying in frustration. “Fuckin’ leg!” he cursed as Akira caught up with him, quickly figuring out what happened.

It wasn’t long before Makoto was standing in Shibuya Square shaking and looking downright murderous as she looked at her text message. Quickly she sent it to her sister before calling here.

“This must be pretty urgent if you won’t even let-”

“Haru’s been kidnapped! I sent a picture of the car she’s in, plates included. Tell me where she is!” The woman yelled, making the people around her give her even more room, whispering softly to their children not to look. Two small children slowly approached her, an odd color of silver hair and golden eyes. The woman looked at them, ready to snap at them when she noticed they were skin and bones.

“Excuse us…” The quiet child with a long braid in her hair said as she stepped forward, looking nervous. “W-We…. We know…..” she started before backing off, looking shy and frightened.

“We know where those men took her!” the other one with buns in her hair said, glaring up weakly at the woman.

“WHERE?!” she ground out, bending down to look the children in the eyes. She noticed that both of them had an eyepatch on and knew that any other day she would feel terrible for these girls and help them… but today wasn’t a day for that.

“They took her to the place we just escaped from!” the loud one announced, still trying to glare back at the woman.

“We can take you there,” the quieter one said, flinching when Makoto turned her full glare on the child.

“ IF you do us a favor!” the other insisted, taking the full stare from the enraged woman.

“ WHAT?! ” she demanded, unable to find her proper words.

“S-save our older sister!” the quiet one begged, beginning to sob. “She looks like us! She’s the one who helped us escape!”

Makoto stood up straight still looking ready to kill everyone around her. “Done,” she promised. “Now show the way.”

“Where’s our proof that you will?!” the bolder one demanded.

“Do I look like I’m going to let anyone live after touching my woman? There won’t be anyone left alive to keep her captive,” she promised as she waited. The shy one nodded first and began to lead the way quickly, her sister following, Makoto hot of their heels. She sent a quick message to Futaba who soon had the entire gang following them. The bold twin looked back and blanched at the mob assembling behind them.

“We really got some support this time….” she muttered as she overtook her sister, running faster. Akira soon scooped the lagging behind quiet one and carried her as they ran. Before long they came to an old-looking warehouse. The car was on the side of the building and that was all Makoto needed to have the entire place surrounded.

“No shooting until you know you won’t miss and won’t hit someone innocent. If you find Haru before me, or someone that looks like these girls, you’re to guard them with your absolute LIFE and if anymore harm comes to them after you find them, you’re in for some serious pain….. Charge! ” she yelled, suddenly leading the stampede into the place.

 ******** TRIGGER WARNING!!! (Rape mention. Lightly Explicit. Summary at end of section) ******** 

To her horror, it wasn’t just a gang they’d found. No, they’d found a human-trafficking ring that specialized in whoring out their wares before selling them. The rape going on before them was horrendous, but Makoto couldn’t bring herself to care until she knew her lovely Haru was safe.

The minutes ticked on, blood spilling left and right, but still, no sign of Haru or that anyone had found her yet. It only terrified and urged the gang along. Everyone knew that this woman was so very, very important to their boss and her happiness. They’d even come to welcome the feisty woman who had put a blade to their second-in-command’s neck and continued to be friends with him like it never happened.

Everyone worried and fought until someone found a cellar door and opened it…. The scenes down below were even worse and the screams coming from the area chilled the room to the bone. It didn’t take long before the dungeon was infiltrated and each cell cleared of the attacker, the victim left behind until Haru had been found. She was in the last cell, the biggest cell, screaming and crying as she was defiled by a fat man who surrounded himself with pregnant women who all looked dead inside and extremely malnourished. With precision that could only be cultivated with frequent use, Akira threw a knife over Haru’s shoulder and right into the man’s skull, making him loosen his grip on the pregnant woman who scrambled off of him screaming and crying as she pulled her kimono tighter around her.

 ******** TRIGGER END (Makoto's gang found a prostitution ring that broke their victims in before whoring them out. Haru was in the cellar being 'broken in' as well. Akira found her and killed the attacker with a dagger.)

Makoto stepped up to the cell and gave it the hardest kick she could muster, grateful when the lock broke and the gang was allowed to flood into the area. She picked up her struggling, screaming, fighting lover, hugging her close as everyone down there surrounded, them, aware there could be more danger.

“Haru! Haru! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry I didn’t get here in time,” the woman sobbed as she held onto the struggling woman who soon turned from struggling to get away to struggling to get closer.

It didn’t take long before the woman became overwhelmed and passed out in Makoto’s arms. Before Makoto could even call out, Tae was there, carefully examining the damage to the woman’s sensitive areas.

“She’s definitely not going to enjoy any touch down here for a while, but she’s lucky. His dick was too fat to reach too far in. The baby is safe from that point, but there’s no way this whole thing didn’t affect the baby with how much stress she just went through. When we get home, I’ll put her on an IV and bedrest for the next week at least. Stay with her and give her lots of attention to help with the mental damage from this.”

The woman sobbed as she held her lover closer, nodding. Akira took a deep breath and looked at the gang. “Secure this place then round up the victims. Bring them to the upstairs and I’ll handle them.”

Makoto silently thanked her friend before standing and heading for the door, everyone making way for them, Tae following close by. They found a car had been brought for them, Shiho waiting and smiling at them sadly. She drove the three home and headed back to see her children who she had left with Iwai and his son. Makoto took Haru right to bed, sobbing as Tae hooked her up to an IV and carefully disinfected the cuts caused by the man’s painful intrusion. Then she checked the woman over more, blanching at finding bruises all over the woman, even on her stomach.

“She’s got a long road to recovery, Makoto-sama…. Do your part and show her just how much you love her…. But definitely ask for permission to touch her.”

“Of course….”

Chapter Text

As a beautiful stream of soft light carefully touched Haru’s eyelids, the woman began to come back to her body, taking in how everything seemed to hurt… except for one hand that was very warm and encompassed by something very soft. She focused on that hand, hoping for the nice sensation to overpower all of the pain she felt.

‘It’s weird… I didn’t think that man would ever hire a staff member who would hold my hand… Maybe I’m in the hospital and it’s for show? ...No… the way they’re holding my hand feel so gentle and genuine… That soft thumb stroking the back of my hand is meant to soothe, not to wake me… the way it follows the bone is memorizing it reverently. The gentle yet firm hold of the fingers under my palm and around my thumb… they mean to show me that that person’s there while allowing me to lift my hand freely if I wished to. It’s not meant to trap me… The person who holds my hand must truly love me… Who could ever love a mess-up like me?’ she wondered as she began willing her eyes open to see who would hold her so considerately.

Before her eyes could even really do more than flutter, a soft heartbroken voice called out in a whisper that the girl almost missed, “Haru…” That voice filled the woman with a warm feeling until she remembered the fight and the subsequent terrifying experience. She tensed and felt tears slip out of her closed eyes, her peace ruined as her mind replayed everything over and over again.

“Haru,” the voice called out again, a bit louder and sadder, soft lips touching the back of her tenderly held hand. “Haru… it’s okay… You’re safe. You’re home and safe and in our bed. I’m right here and I love you so much, Haru… Please, calm down before you harm the baby inside of you that you love.” The woman opened her eyes, looking around for a moment before sobbing as her eyes landed on her lover, shame, fear, and self-hatred filling her up as she looked at that broken face of her lover. She didn’t know what to apologize for first and whether she should hide or run away from the woman she surely didn’t deserve anymore.

“Haru… please… please just talk to me!” Makoto begged, holding her hand with both of hers now, as if that was the only thing left that held them together.

Haru listened to her but didn’t know what words she could even use to express her anguish. The first words that came out of her mouth only hurt her worse. “Don’t look at me!”

Makoto felt her heart shatter at the command and part of her wanted to listen to her, but another reminded her that if she didn’t get to the root of the problem, the origin of the request, she would find her lover gone when she turned her back again. So she lifted her eyes to stare assuredly into her lover’s eyes and asked the question they would both struggle to understand.

“Why?”

The simple question only made Haru’s insides swirl more and her head to empty of blood and fill with painful emotion. She couldn’t control herself as she began to shake and fill and fill and fill with those painful emotions until she finally burst.

“Because I’m ugly and soiled and unworthy and useless and weak and you’re great, wonderful, beautiful, and strong! I’m an absolute bug in comparison to you and I hate it! I want to be able to stand next to you but I’m so weak and frail and stupid and I can’t even be the docile and quiet wife you want and it’s just so painful to be so in love with someone you’re so far from!” she yelled, releasing her pent up emotions, leaving her empty and sobbing lifelessly in the bed.

Makoto took in each of her words, mentally countering each argument, but not voicing them. She’d seen this before… she knew these broken words by heart… she had just hoped she’d never be on the receiving end of those words. She thought back to all the couples she’d helped work out these insecurities with and sifted through each one to see which one was most effective. In the end, she ended up taking Akira’s route that he used with Goro.

She took a deep breath before beginning. “May I touch your hair and face?” she asked calmly, her tone taking Haru off-guard. Haru looked at her for a long moment, working through the words in her mind. Makoto just waited for her to give her permission.

“N-No… I’m dirty…” she whispered back, beginning to fall back into that same sobbing as before.

“You’re not dirty. I gave you a bath after we got back. You’re clean,” she answered calmly. “May I touch your hair and face?”

Haru felt the urge to yell at her again for being stupid. She knew what kind of dirty she was. She’d seen her being harmed by that man. She’d surely known what had happened. “Don’t play stupid! You know what happened! You know that I’m dirty in the way you can’t clean off!”

“Actually, I don’t know what you mean. You’ve never chosen to sleep with someone else after you got together with me so there’s no way you’re dirty.”

“But that man-!”

“That man was dirty, yes, but you are not. You didn’t choose that. Ryuji said he saw you struggling to get away in that car. You’re still pure, Haru. Just because something dirty touched you doesn’t mean you’re permanently dirty from there on out. You’ve been cleaned up and your purity is intact. May I touch your face and hair?”

The woman laying in the bed could only look at her lover and fight internally about whether she was to trust those words or the feelings in her body.

“You’ll be dirty if you touch me.”

“I’m already touching you. I’ve been touching you since I got you back,” she assured her as she gave the hand she touched a gentle squeeze, reminding Haru of the comforting sensations she felt when she began waking up. “May I please touch your hair and face?” she asked again, this time getting a nod from the woman. “Tell me. Use your words, Haru,” she prompted, wanting the woman to put the assurity of her consent into words and make them even more powerful.

“Y-yes… you can touch m-my face and hair…” The woman nodded smiling as she kissed that small hand again.

“Thank you, Haru.” She slowly raised one hand, making sure the abused woman could see her movements as she headed for her hair, noticing how she still flinched and tensed until contact was made. It told her just how bad the mental damage had been.

“I wanted to clear something up from before, Haru… I wasn’t mad at you before… Honestly, I thought you were still mad at me because you never said anything that made me think I was completely forgiven. I thought I didn’t have permission to touch you yet, no matter how much I wanted to. I kept waiting for you to invite me to touch you and help you, but you just kept growing colder and colder to me and I couldn’t figure it out at all. I was thinking about how I could make it better and win you back over with a trip to a botanical garden after the ultrasound, but you left before I could grovel properly. I love you so much and when you slapped me that day, I knew you were the perfect woman for me and that I could never find another who was so perfect for me. You’re the perfect compliment to me, strong and smart where I drop the ball; smart and kind where I can be too cold and cruel… You’re exactly what I want in a partner and I will do anything to prove that to you, if only you’d let me,” she vowed as she gently stroked the woman’s hair and cheek, wiping away tears here and there.

Haru wasn’t sure how to take the woman’s words but she could help the small seed of hope taking root within her. A part of her wanted to take the woman’s words at face value but another portion, the larger portion, wasn’t so sure and conjured up every negative thing she’d ever heard or thought about herself to stifle that annoying seed of hope inside of her.

The result was a silent Haru minutely leaning into her lover’s hand.

“Are you hungry? Do you think you could eat?” Makoto tried instead.

“I am hungry…” Haru murmured, still looking very downtrodden.

“Then I’ll have food brought here.” The woman removed her hand from Haru’s hair and grabbed a cellphone from the nightstand, texting a message quickly before taking up her previous place in petting the woman’s hair. The entire time the woman made sure not to let go of the frail hand she held.

“Takemi-san said you will be on bedrest until further notice. She’s worried about how much stress you’ve been through. I am as well. We did an ultrasound while you were asleep and the baby is… not really developing as fast as it should, but its heartbeat is still strong and well. Takemi-san thinks that it may come out a bit underdeveloped at the rate it’s going, or stay in longer than normal. So far it doesn’t look like it will have any birth defects… but still… lay here, rest up, and gain weight she ordered.”

Haru nodded and laid there, feeling exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster she had just been on. Food came before she could process all that she’d been told about her baby and she was more than willing to eat, but as Akira laid eyes on her, she felt a deep shame well up inside of her again and this time she hid her face with the blanket. Makoto’s hand was still there and comfortingly squeezing her own before releasing it to take the large tray of food.

“Thanks Akira. I’ll text you later,” she told him as she took the food. A small wait occurred until the door closed and Haru peeked out of the covers to look at the food. Makoto smiled at her and offered her a fork full of a delicious meat. The woman cautiously took the bite and chewed until the morsel reached her empty stomach and awoke her hunger, making a certain glint reach her eyes as she began taking each bite much more enthusiastically.

The girl’s enthusiasm helped to further calm her partner. She remembered the doctor’s words clearly, her veins filling again with ice at the ominous words. “ If you let her get too stressed out again, I don’t know if her body will be able to handle it so well. She may lose the baby next time. If you want to avoid that, Makoto-sama, you must keep her calm and happy.”  Makoto reaffirmed to herself her commitment to keeping her lovely wife-to-be happy and healthy.

When the meal finished, Makoto took up the woman’s hand again, smiling at her. “Do you need anything, Haru? The bathroom? Water? Anything?”

The sated woman laid back in bed, thinking about that question. She felt lonely and gross with phantom hands all of her, but she didn’t want to feel anyone else touching her either, especially not the clean and pretty Makoto. She would surely get dirty from touching her. “I think I’m fine for now… I think I want to go back to sleep for a little while,” she murmured, closing her eyes, exhausted from all the stress, emotions, and crying. Makoto smiled and kissed her hand.

“Then rest up, my beautiful Haru. I’ll be here when you wake up.” The small woman knew the words would be true but she also felt like she shouldn’t trust those words too deeply or she would be hurt. She fell asleep wishing she wouldn’t remember the day she’d left.

She spent three days waking up, crying, eating, and heading back to sleep without much change in routine. As she fell asleep on the third night, she noted how tired and stressed Makoto seemed to be. A part of her was ready to change.

When Haru awoke next, Makoto was asleep in the chair next to the bed, her head next to her hand that she still held so gently. “I want to be a bride worthy of you…” she murmured as she looked down at the sleeping woman. “I need to be stronger, don’t I?” she asked as she looked to the phone on the nightstand. She took it carefully without waking up her lover and used the passcode she’d seen her lover use all the time. Carefully, she began looking through her texts, looking for Akira. He was only two conversations down. She selected his name and opened it up with a hesitant breath, wondering if it was okay to do this.

Makoto: Akira, this is Haru… I don’t want you to see me right now, but I want to talk to you.

Makoto: Makoto’s asleep…

Makoto: Tell me…

Makoto: How can I be a good wife to Makoto?

The send button seemed to be nearly impossible to hit, so she read it over again without realizing how hard she was beginning to press on the button until the message disappeared and reappeared back in the sent conversation area. She froze and then checked that the volume was off.

It took a few minutes of tense breathing and nervous twitches for his messages to finally come back.

Akira: Well, you were perfect for her the way you acted when you slapped her. That same loving yet fiery spirit really made her fall in love with you all over again.

Akira: She talked about how much she loved you and admired you and would work to be better for you during that week.

Akira: I know it’s not easy after the pain you went through, but you will need to regain that spirit that’s hidden inside of you again…

Akira: If you’d like, Goro’s been through a lot of the same kind of stuff. Maybe talking with him about it sometime will help?

Haru paused and thought over his words for a few long minutes. Goro had always seemed so perfect and kind and pure-hearted to her. He was the one who saved her from her husband, even if it was under orders to do so… So he’d somehow overcome the same kind of thing to become that… Haru didn’t think she could ever do it. It was one thing to be raped by one’s husband and forced into submission. It’s another to have a stranger force himself on you and laugh as you plead for him to stop for your child’s sake.

Makoto: I don’t think I could ever recover as well as he has...

She sent the message and began to prepare another when Akira texted back quickly.

Akira: He was more broken than you are.

That made her pause. More broken? She felt pretty broken right now, but he was more? How would he even know how broken she was to be able to compare? She scrolled up through the conversations and found that Makoto had been the one to tell him.

Makoto: She’s not even able to handle a hand coming slowly towards her face with her permission. She’s very scared and defensive. I’ll do my best to make sure that she doesn’t shut me out completely. I don’t know how I’ll handle it if she shuts down like Goro did.

The mother-to-be took in the text with a broken heart, but couldn’t dwell on it too much as another text came in.

Akira: Goro says he’d gladly come talk to you when Makoto-sama wakes up. He wants you to talk to him at least once. Will you hear him out?

Before she could even really think about it too much, the girl had replied back on instinct.

Makoto: Ok

The next text to come in was from Goro. She clicked on it without realizing it could be business related and actually for Makoto.

Goro: Okumura-sama, I want to talk with you when Makoto-sama wakes up, but until then tell me which emotion hurts the most right now.

The girl wasn’t sure what emotion was the most painful right now, but as she thought about it, shame, dirtiness, and unworthiness all fought for the title.

Makoto: Shame, dirtiness, and unworthiness… All of them hurt the worst.

The woman read her words over and over and felt each of them becoming more and more valid as time passed.

Goro: Shame - a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior.

Goro: Dirtiness - soiled with dirt; foul; unclean

Goro: Unworthiness - not deserving effort, attention, or respect.

Goro: Those are the dictionary definitions of what hurts you the most right now. I want you to think over those definitions and whether you agree with them about yourself. Then I want you to think over whether Makoto-sama would think those apply to you.

The thin woman had no answer to his text. She didn’t really agree to the exact definition of shame as her source of that feeling wasn’t necessarily from her doing anything wrong or foolish. She felt that she was unclean and that she didn’t deserve attention or respect anymore, but when she thought of the other portion of the definition, obviously Makoto thought her deserving of effort and attention given her position at her side.

She looked over and froze at seeing her lover staring at her in concern. “Who have you been texting?”  she asked softly.

Haru dropped the phone and shook in fear, worried that her lover would leave her. Makoto took her phone back and looked through it, reading the conversations, feeling her heart break a bit more before she shot a text off to Goro.

“It’s okay Haru… I haven’t given you your own phone so it makes sense that you would have to use mine when you’re bed-ridden as you are. Let’s get you into the bathroom before Goro gets here. I’ll go stretch my muscles while you two talk if that’s what you want.”

There was a tense moment before Haru just nodded, unable to form words. “I’d like to pick you up by your back and your knees. May I touch you there?” she asked softly as she had so many times before over these last three days, trying not to hurt her lover’s heart even more.

“Y-Yes…” Makoto didn’t push her anymore on it, carefully coming to pick her up. Both were saddened when Haru still tensed up at the gentlest touch and stayed that way until she was carefully released to use the toilet.

“Just for the record, I’m willing to work with you forever and will do anything to make you happy Haru because I love you and I think you -  when you’re happy and comfortable - are perfect.”

“I don’t know why you think so,” she murmured as she finished up, washing her hands carefully. “When you’re the one who’s perfect.”

“You’ll come to see someday, Haru, that I only speak the truth. For now, let’s get you back to bed. I’m going to pick you up again so please be ready and careful.”

Haru was tense as she was carried back again. “Are you hungry?” Makoto asked softly.

“Y-Yes,” she admitted sadly.

“Good, I told Goro to come with food.” A knock came at the door and it opened to reveal Goro with a large tray of food. “Great timing. I’m going to stretch my muscles. If you don’t feel comfortable, Haru, use my phone to text Futaba on the contact list. She’ll make sure I’m back in an instant. Remember to relax and eat as much as possible.” Makoto kissed her hand and sadly left, making the girl on the bed even sadder and full of bad emotions.

“So what hurts the most now?” Goro asked softly.

“L-Loneliness… and knowing I don’t deserve to call her back…” she sobbed softly.

“Loneliness is to be expected with those other bad feelings. Tell me, why do you feel that you don’t deserve to call her back?” he asked as he offered her a grape. She took it and ate it even though she couldn’t taste it too well.

“Because,” she finally began. “She’s so perfect and kind and I’m so terrible and dirty and unfit to stand by her!” she sobbed, hating to admit it.

“Why are you unfit to stand by her?”

“Because I’m weak and ugly and dirty!”

“You are weak physically, yes, but mentally you’re pretty strong. After all, you just went through living hell and you haven’t broken down too much. Besides, weakness is something you can change.

“As for the ugliness thing, any crying woman is ugly. All women should be smiling if they want to be beautiful. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have times where you cry and are ugly, but you have to remember that it’s a transient phase. You’ll be beautiful again when you can smile at Makoto-sama.

“As for dirty, didn’t you get a bath when you came home? I know Makoto-sama would have given you a bath. You’re not dirty. Now, defiled? Yes, definitely defiled. Someone did take your chastity. Now, when a person takes it against someone else’s will, it’s called rape which is illegal, immoral, and often not something one can fight off.

“I should know well enough… I… don’t like to talk about it… but part of the reason I’m here is because Makoto-sama took down a slave-master who would rape his slaves day and night. I was one of them…”

The two sat in silence as Haru took in his words and slowly ate the meal provided to her.

“It wasn’t a good time… I’d been with him since I was five so I didn’t know any better or any different by the time I was seventeen and Makoto freed me. She took me with her to  this house and treated me like a regular human being. She pushed Akira to be with me and help me through it all, but I couldn’t handle being able to make my own decisions, especially when surrounded by such sparkling and kind people.”

“I know what you mean… I feel that way about Makoto…” she murmured, nibbling the bread she picked up. “Like whatever move I make I could never-”

“Even begin to get close to being worthy of being near that kind of person?” Goro finished for her, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes…” The woman cast her eyes down and shrunk into herself more.

“Well, to be honest, how you are now, you don’t deserve to be around her,” he told her, calm and unaffected as he said such callous words that struck the woman’s heart with such accuracy.

“I wasn’t either,” he conceded sadly. “But now, no one would ever dare to say a single word against me being with Akira and the others, but especially not Akira.” She glanced up at him, trying to squash her hopes before she got hurt again.

“I didn’t know what to do to get closer to him. He was so sparkling and perfect and, of course, Makoto-sama was a goddess in the flesh for me… So I aimed at the Goddess’s attendant instead of her.

“Ann was around back then… and she’d already went through all of the stages of recovery that you have to go through and that I was going through. She saw me closing up and becoming a perpetual victim… and she slapped me and asked me what I was doing. If I loved Akira so much, why wasn’t I constantly working towards being worthy of him? Even a small snowflake can work hard and become a big snowball someday. So she took to showing me how to walk again. She told me my very gait was screaming please come victimize me.

“I hated that and I took deep offense to her words, because, of course, I knew they were true. So I told her that if she was going to say such shit, she’d better be prepared to teach me everything I possibly needed to know… and the crazy woman she was, she just said she already was…

“The whole reason I share this with you is that I’m prepared to teach you everything you need to know. I’m prepared to show you how to be worthy of her again… So if you’re willing to work at it with me, I’ll take you through recovery and show you how to get back to her side.”

The reticent woman laid there wondering how much of what he said would she be able to safely put stock into and how much she needed to hold back from hoping about.

“It won’t be easy… but was anything worthwhile ever easy?” he asked, with a knowing smile. “She’s waiting for you to join her. So, will you let me lead you forward?”

Haru put her hands on her stomach, thinking hard and long before taking a deep breath. “I want to be back by her side,” she told him softly.

“I don’t believe you. Tell me with conviction.”

“I want to be back by her side!” she insisted, beginning to get upset with him.

“I still don’t believe you! More!”

“I WANT TO BE BY HER SIDE!” she yelled, but he still wasn’t satisfied.

“I don’t believe you! If that’s the extent of your love-”

“ I’M TELLING YOU I WANT TO BE BY HER SIDE SO I WANT. TO. BE. BY. HER. SIDE!!!! ” she screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking in the bed as she glared at him. The door swung open to reveal a Makoto ready to slit his throat and an Akira holding her back.

“ IF YOU HURT HER-!!!! ” she screamed, struggling against Akira.

Goro only stood, grinning brightly. “Not at all… But I’m convinced now, Haru… I’ll believe you… So keep that fiery rage inside of you. We’ll be using it later. For now, you have three assignments. Lay in bed. Eat. Practice getting used to her touch. Do those three things until you’re allowed off bedrest. After that, I’ll undertake training you and truly making you worthy of that ring you’re wearing,” he told her, smiling as she looked down at her ring at the mention.

The male headed towards the exit, grinning as he bowed to Makoto. “She’ll make a full recovery… So go and practice getting her used to your touches again.” He was soon gone and Makoto was released to rush to her lover’s side, checking her over as well as she could without touching her.

“Are you okay Haru? You shouldn’t be stressed but you were yelling and I just so happened to be walking by and-”

“I-I’m okay… I-it felt nice… to be angry… after being sad so long,” she admitted, beginning to relax. “I think… it was the right thing to talk to him.”

Makoto examined her lover for a long minute, trying to see if there’d been a positive change or a negative one. She was relieved to see that the sadness that hung around Haru so much wasn’t as deep as before.

“I see… Then let’s practice touching. I’ll start at your hand and move up your arm. You pull away when it’s too much, okay?”  

“Okay... “ The progress they made was minimal. Haru pulled back the moment Makoto got to her wrist.

The two sighed, but Makoto promised to keep trying. They kept at it over the next few days, but they could never make it past the bruise on Haru’s forearm. Tae came to see them and get an ultrasound and the distress and nervousness that Haru felt with her stomach exposed was terrible. They did confirm, though, that the woman had gained weight again and that her child seemed to be developing a bit more. Haru was allowed off bedrest only, but limited to spending at least seven hours a day in bed.

After the check up, Goro came to greet her, having spoken about her progress with Makoto through text. He was both pleased that they made any progress and displeased by the tiny amount that was made. As he sat down, he quietly shooed his boss away waited for them to be alone.

“How did practicing touch go?” he asked.

“I-I think it went well enough,” she told him, not able to look at him as she played with her expensive engagement ring.

“Really? Well, tell me all about it! How far did she get to touch you? Are you two cuddling again? Already back to full-body nude touching?”  he asked, knowing just how far they actually went.

His suggestions made her freeze and realize just how little they’d actually done.

“N-No… Ju-Just to part of my forearm….”

“Well… that’s not the kind of progress I would call well… But it was something so that’s good. Let’s go for a walk and stretch your legs.”

The woman couldn’t say no, slowly getting out of bed and standing. Goro went  to the door and waited for her.

“Tell me, what do you want people to look at you and see?”

“Someone worthy of Makoto,” she responded instantly.

“And what does someone like that look like?”

“Someone confident, beautiful, powerful, and graceful.”

“Then I’ll teach you how to walk like that. Now, I’m going to touch you, it’s your job to keep calm for Makoto and the baby. I’ll make sure my hands don’t victimize you,” he assured her before placing a hand on her back. She squeaked and tensed up, panting hard in fear.

“Is this how you reacted to Makoto-sama? Did she pull away when you did this?” he asked, wondering which side was the offender.

“Yes and yes,” she panted, trying to fight through her fear.

“I see… well, I’m going to gently push on your back, I want you to use it to help you figure out how to stand up straight.” He began pushing, getting a whimper from the woman as she began standing up straighter and straighter, trying to get away from his hand. Another hand came to her shoulder. “Relax this,” he told her before moving to the other and repeating the directive.

“We’re going to walk like this, with my hand on your back both to help you get used to touch and to keep you in the proper posture. I want you to focus on matching my strides and walking by my side. I’ll keep your back straight.”

The woman nodded even as she looked close to tears. “This will be your first time out. There will be people out there. Whatever you do, do not look away from their eyes. You’re to stand next to Makoto-sama. They should be the ones to look away from you in deference of your position. Even if you cry, do not be the one to break eye contact.”

The woman shook a bit more, but allowed her friend to open the door and lead her out into the hallways.

Chapter Text

Hell. Pure Hell. That’s all Haru could think of this experience as she walked down the halls that were so familiar to her. There were people there… So many more people than there’d ever been when she walked the halls with Makoto. All of them looked at her, staring and whispering, breaking down her resolve over and over again.

Her tears came quickly and it seemed like no one would look away from her. They all seemed to gawk at her and all she could do was try to breathe. Goro would occasionally push on her back, making her stumble a little before she remembered her job was to keep up. The cold man never even spoke a word to her, just smiled at the others and exchanged greetings cordially. By the tenth person just staring at her she looked away and looked at Goro, obviously about to crumble.

The male glanced at her before pulling her into a room unexpected and locking the door behind them. The room held some lounging couches and flowers.

“Take a seat,” he told her as he led her to a couch. She dropped down onto the comfortable sofa and instantly began curling up, sobbing. He sat next to her and began stroking her back gently, aware of the way she flinched with his touch. He put a throw pillow in front of her and waited, watching as she took it and sobbed loudly into it.

“As you are now, you’re no better than a woman walking around naked with a sign around your neck begging others to victimize you,” he told her softly, the tone comforting, but the words painful.

“The good news is, you didn’t crack until ten times later than I initially did,” he continued, letting the words sink in. The woman paused as she came to understand what he’d said. When she looked at him, he nodded and continued his comforting lecture. “I could only look one person in the eye before I cracked and literally just fell to the floor in submission. Ann told me I looked like I wanted to be kicked so badly she had a hard time restaining herself. At least you just look like you want someone to push you around and use you like a lifeless housewife. Your ex-husband probably saw some of this weakness in you, exploited it, and magnified it. Makoto-sama sees this weakness and it only hurts her.  The next time you break eye contact imagine that doing so punches her in gut. Which is harder to handle: their stares or her being punched in the gut?”

The woman scrunched her eyebrows together. “B-But surely that’s not how bad it is!”

“Oh really? Let’s go watch some footage in the security center. After all, she was watching from the other end of the hall the whole time… But you didn’t even notice her because you couldn’t handle walking with pride yet.” The words hurt and made her tremble, panting as she tried to swallow down sobs.

“She didn’t look that hurt!” she asserted angrily.

“She did and I can prove it. I was watching her the whole time, after all.” Haru listened to him, looking at him angrily as she did her best to deny his words in her heart.

“Then prove it!” she demanded, hoping she was calling his bluff. He stood and looked at her with that perfectly polite smile she would someday realize was truly sadistic.

“Gladly. Stand and let’s head there while practicing more.” She hesitated for only a moment before standing, assuring herself as he touched her back that there was literally no way in hell he could be right.

They came to the door and again he reminded her, “Match my pace and don’t break eye contact.” The reminder angered her a little bit more, but mostly made her determined to prove to him that she didn’t need the reminder. As they stepped into the busy hall, she focused her eyes dead ahead and walked with him, but her steps held her anger and the overall image she gave off was a brutish and angry one. She didn’t even notice the people passing by her, but she didn’t see Makoto at the end of the hall, only further solidifying her rightness that he’d been lying. It only angered her more.

When they arrived in front of Futaba’s room, the door was already ajar, the room deserted, but the footage they needed up on the screens. “How considerate~” Goro hummed as he led her to the seat and pressed gently on her shoulders to make her sit. “Watch here,” he told her pointing to the middle-most screen.

Indeed, on the screen was Makoto in the same hall they’d been in, watching with anxiety and nerves, looking like she would come to them a few times, but ultimately being held back by Akira. When Haru finally broke and looked at Goro, Makoto looked devastated and indeed it looked like someone had punched her.

The woman watched herself almost as much as she looked at her lover and she hated how she looked. She really did look like she was just begging for someone to slap her to the ground and beat her.

“That woman isn’t the kind of woman who should stand by Makoto,” she found herself murmuring as she watched how weak she was.

“I agree,” Goro’s velvety voice called in her ear as he reached over her shoulder to bring up the other video for her to watch. “But neither should this one.” He noted how she only jumped at his voice and moved minutely away from him, the comparison to how he’d reacted before making him disappointed in himself.

The video he showed her was of her stomping out of the room and along the halls, people moving out of her way and looking disgusted or annoyed at her. “That’s not someone worthy of Makoto-sama, wouldn’t you agree?” he asked her. She looked down, playing with her beautiful, expensive ring.

“No… not at all.”

“Then I want you to think on it for a few minutes while I go make sure lunch is ready. When I get back we’ll practice walking again as we go to lunch.”

“Will Makoto be there?” she asked, part of her hopeful, but another part feeling unworthy.

“You haven’t made good enough progress to show her yet, so, no she won’t be.” Her heart fell and she began to feel that Goro was really mean even as another part of her agreed completely. She could only manage a nod as she leaned back in the chair.

After the door closed behind the kind man, the pregnant woman sat there, reflecting on her progress as she stroked her stomach. She wondered if she could ever do it right. The footage on the screens kept repeating in front of her, soon catching her eye. She memorized the look of pain on Makoto’s face when she crumbled and the victim-like gait she held even with Goro holding her up. She watched her temper tantrum with shame, real shame at her own foolish behavior.

As the screen replayed the video for the fifth time, she realized that Goro had been exuding grace and confidence while looking beautiful with his smile and powerful with the pride he walked with. She examined the sixth replay and it finally sunk in that that wasn’t his normal gait. He usually walked very calmly with purpose and a slight sway of seduction to his hips when he was around his lovers and a very quick, efficient stride when not around them.

“He’s showing me how to walk…” she murmured as she studied his gait carefully.

Suddenly the door swung in and slammed into the wall, making a loud noise that made her jump up to her feet, fear written across her face.

“Oho? Whadda we got here?!” a loud man called out as he walked in. He was burly and rotund… and very similar in shape to her previous attacker. She felt her blood go ice-cold as her hands went to her stomach. “A pregnant woman?!” he called out even louder as he took a step towards her. “I LOVE pregnant women!!!” he exclaimed as he began waddling a bit faster towards her.

The terrified woman looked around for an exit, but he blocked the only one she could see… so she sought out a weapon instead. The chair she’d just sat in looked good enough for her and she grabbed it, heaving it above her head before throwing it at him with a grunt of effort. The chair hit the man and made him fall over, but she didn’t waste a moment of time and instead rann to the door, rushing around him and out into the halls. With what little breath she could manage, she began to scream.

“ HELP!!!” She ran, stumbling as she went and gripping the walls for support. The first person she ran into wasn’t one she knew, but she struggled for breath and pointed behind her. “Molester in the security room!” she panted as she did her best to stay somewhat upright.

The man she’d spoken to nodded and rushed around her to go capture the molester, others following. She slumped against the wall and gasped for air, barely noticing when Goro and Makoto came rushing for her.

When she awoke next time, she was in her bed and Makoto held her hand just as lovingly as she had all the other times since she’d been harmed.

“Good morning Haru,” she greeted softly. Haru nodded and reached up to hold her head. “What happened? I feel… really bad…” she murmured as she looked at her body.

“You thought you were being attacked and threw a chair at our overly friendly IT guy,” she murmured as she stroked the woman’s hand. “And as such, you’re not allowed to be alone anymore. You got stressed out and almost lost the baby…” Makoto told her, gently gripping her hand. “But we got lucky. You didn’t lose the baby.”

Haru looked at her lover and saw just how exhausted she was, only feeling worse. “Have you been sleeping, Makoto?’

“Not much… but it’s hard to sleep without you anymore.” The two became silent as Haru tried to think of being touched like that again.

“Ask Akira to give you a sleep aid and then get some rest… I want to talk to Goro about the other day.” Makoto looked hurt, but nodded, kissed her hand, and headed out the door, Goro walking in right after.

“Well, I would like to congratulate you on fighting back,” he told her as he came in. “You never met our IT supplier so you never knew he wasn’t a danger… but honestly, after what you’d just gone through, I don’t blame you one bit. He did go and say that weird phrase.”

“You were showing me how to walk, but I wasn’t looking. Show me again so I can watch correctly,” she told him, her tone not authoritative enough for her words, but the progress palpable for him. He smiled at her and nodded. He stood and began pace along the room.

“Do you know if I’m allowed out of bed?”

“Absolutely not,” he answered, halting his gait to look her intensely in the eyes.

“Then… will you help me with something else? Something that doesn’t require me to get out of bed?” Goro came to take up the seat that Makoto had sat in tilting his head to the side as he settled in calmly.

“And what’s that?”

“I want… to become comfortable with cuddling again so Makoto can sleep.” The male just burst out laughing at her and it only hurt her more, but she didn’t take it back.

“Why should I help you get that kind of a reward? Why do you deserve to feel her hugging you?”

“I’m not doing this for me! She’s unable to sleep well without holding me! She just told me!” she argued, feeling indignant.

“Oh, I know the trouble she’s having but really, Haru-chan, isn’t that too much of a reward for you?” he asked smirking at her.

“Haru-chan? You never used to call me Haru-chan…”

“Oh, my bad! Trash -chan would be better, wouldn’t it?” he asked as he giggled a little. It was only then that she realized he was looking down on her. She felt conflicted as her first reaction was to take the abuse and cry about it later, but another part of her remembered his words from the other day, ‘ Makoto-sama sees this weakness and it only hurts her. ’ The woman struggled to sit up in the bed, staring at the man with fire in her eyes.

“Don’t talk to me like that!” she hissed. “You’re not allowed to call me Haru-chan or Trash-chan. To you I am only Okumura-sama until I take on the Nijima name!” she asserted. Her words were solid enough, but her tone wasn’t quite strong enough to pull it off.

“Well, Haru-chan , I’ll call you whatever I want to until you earn my respect. Tell me, why should I bother respecting you?” Haru caught on to his change in names and glared at him as she took a few moments to calm herself. She could feel her stress levels rising and bile beginning to crawl up her throat as her mind fought to keep from giving in to him, fought her forced docility.

A few tears escaped her and Goro mentally readied himself to turn off the mean act. It wouldn’t do well if this kind of pressure only pushed her down. Haru saw the look in his eyes shift and suddenly it made sense.

She understood now. He was playing a bad guy so that she could have exposure to those kinds of derogatory statements she might meet someday. It would do her well to calm down for her child and think about his words carefully. She brushed her tears away and straightened her back, coming back from the brink of a breakdown as she formulated her logical answer.

When she finally answered, Goro couldn’t help but be silently proud and amazed by how strong this woman was. “I deserve respect because I am a woman who treats you fairly and with respect. I deserve even more respect because the person you look up to loves me and wants me to be by her side. You said earlier that you were prepared to help me through recovery and I’m going to hold you to it. I want to be able to handle cuddling Makoto again so help me with it like you promised!” she finished, not realizing how her tone firmed up as she spoke.

“Well, when you put it that way, I guess I do owe you some respect,” he told her, his tone suddenly docile and kind again. “I like that you first bring up the fact that you treat me with respect and so I should treat you with it. It can be hard to remember that you are a human able to give respect and deserve it in return. Always remember that. I’ll help you with getting used to cuddling, but it’s probably not going to be solved today. We can start, though, and make progress.”

Haru took a calming breath and nodded. “Okay… what do I need to do?”

“Turn around and lay on your side with your back facing me. We’ll see how that goes. If it goes well, I’ll touch you with my hands. They won’t victimize you.” She nodded and turned her back to him, waiting for any actions. As she laid there, she realized why he was waiting. She felt very vulnerable not being able to see him. She became hyper focused on her back and trying to hear any movements he was making.

Next thing she knew, his hand was gently pressed against the center of her back, making her squeak and begin to move away from his hand when his words came back to haunt her yet again, this time accompanied by the look on Makoto’s face when she crumbled. She stopped moving and laid there, feeling his hand on her back and wanting it gone but also trying to relax with it  touching her. When she finally relaxed some, it began moving, first to one shoulder blade and then to another. The sensation wasn’t calming and indeed felt gross to her.

“How is it?” he asked, as if reading her mind.

“Gross… Without being able to see that it’s your hand, my mind assigns that man’s hand to it and I hate it.”

“Well, since you can’t see whose hand it is, why not do your best to replace the sensation with Makoto-sama’s hand?”

“Your hand’s too big and you put pressure into your palm while Makoto lets you feel her hand by fingertips first with the most pressure and then only sometimes a palm pressure… Yes, like that… And she usually has longer but just as dull nails… Yes, that’s much more similar to her hand, even if your fingertips are bigger than hers.” She told him as he adjusted his hand carefully, still trailing all over her back.

“How does it feel?” he murmured as he slowly began climbing onto the bed behind her.

“Not bad...I still don’t really like it or crave it like I used to, but it’s no longer making me sick,” she told him as she began relaxing a little only to stiffen at his endeavour to get on the bed. “Don’t get on the bed. I’m not ready.” He paused and waited, trying to see if she would allow anything more, but she eventually just turned to him with sad eyes. “That’s as much as I can do today.”.

“That’s fine,” he told her as he began straightening up, but moving to stroke her hair back. She flinched and pushed herself into the pillow, gasping as he made contact. It scared her, but she laid there, allowing it after he’d made the contact.

“Her hand really is the only one that feels good…” she pouted as she tried to take comfort in his touch, but failing to find much of any.

“We’ll work on it everyday. Makoto-sama will work with you on this same set of actions, too, after she gets back from her nap. Why not get some more rest yourself?”

“I need to eat, actually,” she told him as she finally pushed his hand away, too uncomfortable to continue allowing it.

“Then Akira will bring you food,” he stated simply, like it was the simplest and most expected reaction. Oddly enough, Akira walked in with a tray of food, smiling at them even as Haru instantly felt very uncomfortable.

“Are you going to let Makoto-sama be hurt like that again?” Goro asked calmly as he moved aside for Akira to set the food down next to her.

Haru’s eyes snapped up and she swallowed loudly as she stared into Akira’s eyes, doing her best to sit up even as her hands trembled.

“Don’t push her too far, love. Remember, if you’re the one who stresses her out enough to lose the baby I’ll lose you, too.”

Goro kissed his lover after he set the food down and smiled at him. “I know her limits well enough. Remember my specialty, dear. Now, go make sure the Makoto-sama is actually resting in a bed and not just laying on the floor somewhere.”

“Of course. I have Futaba helping with that as well. See you at dinner, Okumura-sama.” Akira bowed and let himself out before the girl deflated into a trembling, silently crying mess on the bed. Quickly, she grabbed the first food she could reach and began shoveling the delicious yet tasteless food into her mouth.

“That went well enough. You held on pretty well… Relax, we won’t work on anything else today so make sure you chew your food properly and take in all of those nutrients like a good mother.” Haru nodded but didn’t slow her roll until she’d finished the third plate. Only then did her hands stop shaking and her tears cease. The rest of the meal was silent and uneventful, the woman drifting off to sleep afterwards.

Upon awakening, she found Makoto there with her, stroking her hand and elbow in a weird, but not unpleasant way. “Good morning,” she greeted softly, not stopping her ministrations.

“Good morning… What are you doing?”

“Keeping your joints warm,” she said even as she began to slowly move her two hand towards each other, getting closer to the fading bruise on Haru’s arm. As Haru began to tremble, Makoto licked her lip before speaking. “My hands won’t victimize you, Haru.”

Haru looked into her eyes, confused as to where she got the words from, but it helped her a bit to calm down. Soon Makoto was touching the bruise gently.

“Am I hurting you?” she inquired as she watched the conflicted facial expressions her lover wore.

“No… It’s just…. Really scary…. Those men…. They all grabbed me there… and I couldn’t get away!” she squeaked before ripping her arm from her lover’s hands. She paused when the limb came free without even a little bit of fight. Makoto gently took her hand and elbow back, easing them back onto the bed before heading back down to the bruise. Haru broke away again, using less power this time.

Makoto just smiled and started the cycle again, letting the girl go each time she pulled away even just the slightest bit until all Haru did was move her arm a little bit and Makoto opened her hands, letting her escape if she wanted to. After a few long moments, Haru smiled up at her lover as she pushed her hand back onto her arm.

“Thank you,” she whispered happily, making her sweet lover cry as well, smiling just as much.

“Anything for you, Haru.” The mother-to-be smiled even more and nodded. It took her a moment before she took one of her lover’s hands and guided it to her face without flinching as it made contact.

“Let’s keep making progress, Makoto… Did Goro tell you what I wanted him to work with me on?”

“Yes, and how to continue that training… Want to do it?” she asked quietly. Haru just turned over and offered her back to her lover, waiting for her touch. Part of her was anticipating it happily while a small lingering fear reminded her that this could end badly.

Makoto took her time, waiting and watching for any tremors in her lover’s arms or shoulders. When none came, she smiled and placed her hand in the center of her back, waiting for a reaction. There was a slight flinch, but it melted away soon enough. Haru focused all of her senses on her lover and her gentle hand. It made her smile as she felt those small fingertips and blunt long nails graze over her back, the gentle ministration reminding her of the woman’s expert fingers on her stomach.

Soon enough, the couple found Haru’s hand on her stomach, stroking it to the rhythm of Makoto’s hand on her back. It wasn’t long before Makoto carefully began making her way to the woman’s arm, making contact with her elbow before coming to cover some of the woman’s arm.

“May I feel your stomach?” The request was gentle and very similar to the first time Makoto asked her for permission.

“Yes... Just don’t victimize or hurt my baby,” she told her gently.

“Of course I won’t… In fact, you lead me in touching it.” Makoto sat on the bed next to Haru and smiled as Haru laced her hand over Makoto’s, leading her to her round stomach as she resumed her gentle stroking actions. The two enjoyed the small victory for ten minutes until a knock came at the door making Haru stiffen and clutch her stomach more, plastering Makoto’s hand to it.

“It’s just Akira with breakfast,” she promised as she leaned down, kissing Haru’s curly hair.

“C-”

“Come in!” Haru yelled, her voice showing her fright, but her desire to get stronger showing through with the bold move. There was a momentary hesitance before the door opened and Akira came around the other side of the bed to place the food in front of Haru. The two exchanged a look with Haru not backing down even as she held to her lover’s hand a little more tightly. Akira soon deferred and bowed.

“Please let me know if you need anything, Haru-sama. I’ll tell Goro you’re a bit busy right now, if you’d like.”

A shuddering breath later and Haru nodded. “Yes, tell him he doesn’t need to come today. Makoto and I are busy.”

“Of course, Haru-sama.” The male quickly left, amazed at her progress while Makoto leaned down and showered her lover with kisses to the shoulder and back.

“That was so good, Haru!” she praised as her thumb began stroking the tense hand that held her in place.  “You did so well! I’m very proud of you!”

Haru slowly turned onto her back, staring up at her lover even as she trembled. “No part of you is allowed to victimize or hurt me… You have to stop the moment I tell you to or you’re a bad person who can’t be trusted with my baby. Understand?” she asked, hating how her voice trembled and showed her vulnerability.

“Of course! Of course! Anything you need! Anything to prove it to you,” she promised as she moved back so that she wasn’t over the vulnerable woman.

“Then feed me,” she demanded, her words still not forceful enough to be more than a pathetic begging.

“Of course!” Makoto took up the position next to the tray of food, preparing a bite for the woman only to be greeted by a nervous lover pushing herself upright.

“Here let me-”

“Let me do it myself!” Haru demanded, even as the movement seemed harder than normal. Makoto stopped trying to help and waited. She knew what was wrong, even if Haru wasn’t willing to admit it yet.

“We need to start waking you up for meals,” she explained when the woman had finally  settled in. “One a day isn’t nearly enough.”

“Has it really only been one a day?” Haru looked surprised and confused as she looked back on her time awake, soon admitting she wasn’t doing good on food intake. She found a fork at her mouth loaded with meat and took it without hesitance. She found that the taste hadn’t completely come back yet, but that this was better than before. Quietly the two made sure Haru was fed and then fed some more.

“Thank you… Can you carry me to the bathroom?” The yakuza leader smiled and nodded.

“Of course.” When Haru was picked up this time, she flinched a little but was able to soon relax into the comforting hold of her lover. The two found the tray gone when they returned and Haru was feeling sleepy and brave.

“Come lay next to me in bed on your back,” she whispered to her tired but happy lover.

“Are you sure?”

“I  want to try something,” she simply stated, glancing up at her lover through her eyelashes.

“How could I ever say no to such a cute look?” Makoto chuckled as she set Haru back into bed. “On my back, right?”

“Yes… Now don’t move…” she instructed as she began scooting closer to her lover until her stomach touched the woman’s arm. She carefully put the arm on its owner’s stomach before cuddling closer and close until she had a living Makoto body pillow to cling onto.

“Now sleep,” she ordered even as her own heart slammed in her chest. She watched her beautiful wife-to-be’s rose-red eyes close and a smile plant itself onto her face.

“Anything you wish,” she promised, slowly beginning to relax off to sleep.

It was only when the woman was asleep that Haru could feel herself calm down enough to join her.